Xi congratulates Masoud Pezeshkian on election as Iranian president Xinhua) 09:08, July 07, 2024 BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday sent a message to Masoud Pezeshkian, congratulating him on election as 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 said. The Chinese president said he attaches great importance to the development of China-Iran relations, and is willing work with Pezeshkian to guide the deepening of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Kou Jie) CPC delegation visits Ireland Xinhua) 10:52, July 07, 2024 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. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Kou Jie) Sue Gray's son is among dozens of new Labour MPs expected to push for closer ties with Brussels. Liam Conlon, whose mother is Chief of Staff to Sir Keir Starmer, became MP for Beckenham and Penge last week. He is one of 47 new MPs endorsed by the Labour Movement for Europe, which favours a much closer deal with the European Union including aligning with Brussels regulations. The new intake is set to greatly strengthen the pressure group, which is thought to have already had 80 members. Its chairman is Stella Creasy. Sue Gray's son is among dozens of new Labour MPs expected to push for closer ties with Brussels Liam Conlon, whose mother is Chief of Staff to Sir Keir Starmer , became MP for Beckenham and Penge last week The selection of Mr Conlon in October last year sparked a nepotism row, although allies point out he was chairman of the Labour Irish Society before his mother stunned Westminster by quitting the civil service to defect to Labour. The Labour Movement for Europe backed Sir Keir for the Labour leadership due to his 'strong pro-EU values'. The group cited his work in 'guiding the party' towards support for a second referendum in 2019 and said he understood 'the importance of keeping as close as possible a relationship with the EU'. Sir Keir pledged to 'bring back' free movement during the leadership campaign but has since dropped the promise. Counter-terrorism-style laws to combat the Channel crisis are being drawn up by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, it was announced last night. The Home Office promised 'early legislation', suggesting a new Bill will be contained in the King's Speech later this month. However, the Government has still not disclosed what the counter-terrorism powers will involve, or fully explained how they will help fill the vacuum left by the scrapped Rwanda asylum scheme. It is not yet known whether MI5, MI6 and GCHQ will be directly involved in small-boat investigations. The announcement came as Sir Tony Blair warned the new Labour government it must draw up a 'plan to control immigration' to see off the 'challenge' of Nigel Farage's Reform UK. Ms Cooper will also today launch the hunt for an 'exceptional leader' to head up her new Border Security Command, a Home Office spokesman said. Counter-terrorism-style laws to combat the Channel crisis are being drawn up by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, it was announced last night The Home Office promised 'early legislation', suggesting a new Bill will be contained in the King's Speech later this month (file photo) It is not yet known whether MI5, MI6 and GCHQ will be directly involved in small-boat investigations. Pictured: The headquarters of the British Secret Intelligence Service The successful candidate could be a former spy, senior police officer or military leader and is expected to start work within 'weeks'. The unit will tackle people traffickers behind small-boat crossings by bringing together the National Crime Agency, intelligence agencies, police, and the Home Office's immigration enforcement and Border Force teams. A 'significant' number of its staff will be based on the Continent alongside Europol and European police forces. During the election campaign Tory frontbenchers suggested the new agency was almost identical to existing set-ups. Labour's manifesto promised it will have 'hundreds of new investigators, intelligence officers, and cross-border police officers'. The 75million-a-year cost would be funded by scrapping the Rwanda scheme, the Home Office added. A spokesman said a 'core team' in the department is drawing up the agency's 'remit, governance and strategic direction'. Ms Cooper has also ordered her department and the National Crime Agency dubbed 'Britain's FBI' to report on the 'latest routes, methods and tactics used by people smuggling gangs across Europe'. The findings will be used in a major law enforcement drive over the coming months. Ms Cooper said: 'Criminal smuggling gangs are making millions out of small-boat crossings, undermining our border security and putting lives at risk. Leader of Reform UK Nigel Farage stands in front of a van reading 'Only Farage will stop the boats' The unit will tackle people traffickers behind small-boat crossings by bringing together the National Crime Agency, intelligence agencies, police, and the Home Office's immigration enforcement and Border Force teams (file photo) 'We can't carry on like this. We need to tackle the root of the problem, going after these dangerous criminals and bringing them to justice.' She added: 'The Border Security Command will be a major step change in UK enforcement efforts to tackle organised immigration crime, drawing on substantial resource to work across Europe and beyond to disrupt trafficking networks and to coordinate with prosecutors in Europe to deliver justice.' In an article for The Sunday Times, Sir Tony said a failure to implement proper border control would breed 'prejudices' and allow new political parties to 'run riot'. But his main proposal of a new identity card system similar to one he introduced in 2006 was immediately ruled out by the new government. 'We need a plan to control immigration. If we don't have rules, we get prejudices,' the former prime minister said. He added: '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... technology, we should move as the world is moving to digital ID. If not, new border controls will have to be highly effective.' A boy has been left in a critical condition following a lawnmower accident. Emergency services were called to a property at Waterford West, in Brisbane's south-east, at 5:28pm on Sunday. A boy was found in a critical condition with life-threatening leg injuries. The boy was rushed to Queensland Children's Hospital. more to come Violence has erupted on the streets of France after a shock exit poll predicted that a left-wing coalition is leading the snap election battle - dashing Marine Le Pen's hopes of forming the country's first hard-right government since the war. Shocking footage shows hooded and masked protesters running through the streets, launching flares and setting France ablaze - after 30,000 riot police were deployed across France amid high political tension. This comes after the second round of polls predicted the hard right National Rally (RN) is on track to come third - having led the race after the first round. The New Popular Front (NFP) alliance is on course to have 172-215 MPs with Emmanuel Macron's centrists on 150-180 seats and the RN on 115-155, according to projections by four leading polling firms. The party was formed last month, bringing together socialists, greens, communists and the hard-left into one camp - with the leader of the radical left, Jean-Luc Melenchon, vowing to implement several socialist policies, which critics fear will leave France 'ungovernable'. Melenchon, who is often compared to former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, promised to increase public spending by at least 150billion within the next five years, which will be financed by increasing taxes. The hard left leader, who has previously been accused of antisemitism, also said he would raise the minimum wage by 14 per cent, introduce a ban on price increases of essential goods and reduce the state pension age from 64 to just 60. But while the NFP leads in the exit polls, it does not have enough seats for a majority and the lack of such for any single alliance has plunged France into political and economic turmoil. PARIS: A protester throws a projectile near burning bicycles during clashes with police after the exit polls PARIS: Around 30,000 riot police have been deployed in France amid fears of violence breaking out Melenchon (pictured), who is often compared to former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn , promised to increase public spending by at least 150billion within the next five years, which will be financed by increasing taxes PARIS: Hundreds of people gathered together after exit polls predicted that a left-wing alliance was leading PARIS: French riot police were armed with batons and shields as they tried to tackle the violence PARIS: French CRS riot police run past burning bicycles during clashes with demonstrators PARIS: Firefighters extinguishe burning bikes during a gathering for the election night PARIS: The far-Right National Rally are predicted to come third - despite leading after the first polls PARIS: A protester kicks back a tear gas canister as clashes occur in the French capital PARIS: French riot police clash with activists on Sunday night PARIS: Anti-riot police officers stand next to a burning pole during a gathering NANTES: A demonstrator throws a smoke flare during reactions to projected results NANTES: Protesters launch molotov cocktails at riot police in western France PARIS: Demonstrators launch fireworks on the outskirts of the French capital NANTES: Masked protesters clash with anti riot police after the second round of elections NANTES: Furious protesters took to the streets after the second round of elections Marine Le Pen's (pictured) hopes of forming France's first hard-right government since the War have been dashed after a left-wing coalition took the most seats in the second round of the legislative election, exit polls predict Supporters of The Ecologists-EELV green party celebrate following the first results of the second round of France's legislative election during the party's election night event in Paris on July 7, 2024 The New Popular Front (NFP) alliance was on course to have 172-215 MPs with Emmanuel Macron's (pictured) centrists on 150-180 seats and the far-right National Rally (RN) on 115-155, according to projections by four leading polling firms Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said he would offer Macron his resignation on Monday but was ready to serve 'as long as duty demands', notably in light of the imminent Games. Some 30,000 riot police - including 5,000 in and around Paris - have been deployed to 'ensure that the radical right and radical left do not take advantage of the situation to cause mayhem', interior minister Gerald Darmanin said. Final results are not expected until late Sunday or early Monday in the snap election that was called just four weeks ago in a huge gamble for Macron. The deeply unpopular president lost control of parliament, according to the projections. The far-right NR drastically increased the number of seats it holds in parliament but fell far short of expectations. France now faces the prospect of weeks of political machinations to determine who will be prime minister and lead the National Assembly. And Macron faces the prospect of leading the country alongside a prime minister opposed to most of his domestic policies. In a somber speech after the second-round legislative election, Jordan Bardella, the president of the far right RN, denounced the political maneuvering that led the National Rally to fall far short of expectations. An unprecedented number of candidates who qualified for the runoff stepped aside to allow an opponent to go head-to-head with the National Rally candidate, increasing the chances of defeating them. Despite projections widely considered disappointing for the anti-immigration, nationalist party, it still increased its seat count in parliament to an unprecedented high, according to polling projections. 'Tonight, by deliberately taking the responsibility to paralyze our institutions, Emmanuel Macron ... is consequently depriving the French people of any responses to their daily problems for many months to come,' Bardella said. Hard-left France Unbowed leader Melenchon, 72, giving his first reaction, called on French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal to resign and said the left-wing coalition was ready to govern. 'The French people have voted with a conscience,' said Melenchon, a former presidential candidate and one of the main leaders of the NPF. 'Our people have clearly ruled out the worst solution to our problems.' Melenchon welcomed 'a result that had seemed impossible', adding: 'This evening the RN is far from having an absolute majority. This is a huge relief for millions of people who make up the new France.' MARSEILLE: People light flares as they celebrate the election results in France PARIS: Protesters occupy the Place de la Republique after the exit poll results were announced NANTES: Riot police officers charge at protesters during a demonstration PARIS: Several e-bikes were lit on fire near the Place de la Republique PARIS: Anti-riot police officers detain a protester during a gathering for the election night PARIS: People gather at the Place de la Republique after partial results in the second round of the early French parliamentary elections NANTES: An injured riot police officer is dragged away by colleagues amid the violence PARIS: An activist is detained by police in Paris on a night which descended into chaos NANTES: Protesters use umbrellas as they clash with riot police NANTES: A protester lets off a flare as he hides behind the cover of an umbrella NANTES: An injured riot police officer in western France NANTES: Police chase demonstrators during reactions to projected results after the second round of the legislative elections PARIS: Protesters have taken over the memorial on the Place de la Republique in the capital A supporter of the left wing coalition Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) gives the middle finger and holds a flare as she celebrates after the first results of the second round of France's legislative election during an election night event in Rennes on July 7, 2024 Supporters of French far-left opposition party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed - LFI) react after partial results in the second round of the early French parliamentary elections at Place Stalingrad in Paris, France, July 7, 2024 Supporters of the French left-wing Socialist Party (PS) watch a screen displaying the first results of the second round of France's legislative election during the party's election night event in Paris on July 7, 2024 PARIS: People stand in Republique Plaza as they react to the projection of results during the second round of the legislative elections PARIS: French police stand in position behind flares during clashes with demonstrators as people gather at the Place de la Republique after partial results in the second round of the early French parliamentary elections NANTES: Demonstrators set off smoke flares as they react to projected results after the second round of the legislative elections RENNES: Tear gas has been deployed as rioters clash with security forces following an election night event after the first results of the second round of France's legislative election A riot police officer was filmed as he drew what appears to be a rubber bullet gun Firefighters were deployed to put out several burning ebikes Several flares were set off around the Place de la Republique in Paris Victory for the NPF followed even Macron calling for a 'Republican Front' against the RN pulling candidates out of key constituencies so as to leave a single anti-RN one with a clear run at victory. Avoiding so-called 'Cohabitation' a lame duck President working with an opposition government will come as a huge relief to Macron, but he still has massive problems ahead. He called the snap election as a result of huge RN gains in the European Parliament, and had said a large vote for extremists could lead to 'civil war'. Former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said France needed a pact to make sure there is a stable government, adding that he was ready to take on this task and invited other to join him in the effort. 'I am ready', said Philippe. The RN deputy of the North, Sebastien Chenu, who was re-elected last week in the first round of the elections, reacted to the first results which placed his party in 3rd position. He denounced a France 'plunged into a quagmire' after 'unnatural alliances' were formed. LYON: Demonstrators run from smoke flares during reactions to projected results after the second round of the legislative elections NANTES: Police chase demonstrators during reactions to projected results after the second round of the legislative elections RENNES: A photographer takes pictures of tear gas during clashes with security forces following an election night event after the first results of the second round of France's legislative election PARIS: Supporters light red flares during the election night of left-wing party La France Insoumise (LFI) following the first results of the second round of France's legislative election at La Rotonde Stalingrad NANTES: Demonstrators carrying anti-fascism banners light smoke flares as they react to projected results after the second round of the legislative elections LYON: Demonstrators run from smoke flares during reactions to projected results after the second round of the legislative elections PARIS: Supporters light red flares during the election night of left-wing party La France Insoumise (LFI) following the first results of the second round of France's legislative election at La Rotonde Stalingrad LYON: Demonstrators light off smoke flares as they react to projected results after the second round of the legislative elections People deploy a giant national flag reading 'France is the fabric of migration' and a banner reading 'stop genocide' during an election night event following the first results of the second round of France's legislative election at Republique Square in Paris on July 7, 2024 A participant stands among anti-fascist symbols during an election night rally following the first results of the second round of France's legislative election at Place de la Republique in Paris on July 7, 2024 People celebrate after the first results of the second round of France's legislative election during an election night event in Marseille on July 7, 2024 Macron will attend next week's landmark NATO summit in Washington a diminished but not defeated figure and France has been left without a stable ruling majority less than three weeks before Paris hosts the Olympics. The snap elections in this nuclear-armed nation have potential impact on the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy and Europe's economic stability. They're almost certain to undercut Macron for the remaining three years of his presidency. The election campaign, the shortest in French history, has been marked by a febrile national mood, threats and violence - including racist abuse - against dozens of candidates and canvassers. Turnout was high, with left-wing and centrist candidates urging supporters to defend democratic values and the rule of law - while the far right scented a chance to upend the established order. By 5pm local time, according to interior ministry figures, some 61.4 percent of voters had turned out - the most at this stage of a legislative race since 1981. An outright RN victory would have seen Macron forced into an uneasy cohabitation with Bardella as prime minister for the remaining three years of his term. Even without that scenario, France is left with a hung parliament with a large eurosceptic, anti-immigration contingent. This would have weakened France's international standing and threaten Western unity in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 'Even if the right extreme less strong than expected, the country is more divided than ever,' Armin Steinbach, European economist and professor at Business School HEC Paris, said. 'Centre parties have lost compared to the last election in 2022. Extreme parties, from the left and right, have gained. The country is polarised.' PARIS: People light up the sky with fireworks as protesters gather on the Place de la Republique NANTES: Riot police arrest a protester who is holding their hands up in surrender Rioters in Paris set off flares as thousands took to the streets to celebrate or protest the election results Hundreds of riot police officers were deployed all over Paris to patrol the streets ahead of expected riots Shops in Paris were boarded up ahead of the expected protests in the French capital on July 7, 2024 People react to the projection of results for the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Nantes, western France Jordan Bardella, President of the French far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally - RN) party, delivers a speech on stage after partial results in the second round of the early French parliamentary elections in Paris, France, July 7, 2024 High street stores across Paris were seen boarding up this morning ahead of the second round of parliamentary voting amid fears of protests Several central areas within Paris are concerned with the possibility of protests erupting, including Rue de Rivoli, the Opera area, and the Champs-Elysees Supporters of the left wing coalition Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) celebrate after the first results of the second round of France's legislative election during an election night event in Rennes on July 7, 2024 France's Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (L) gives a speech following the first results of the second round of France's legislative election at Matignon in Paris on July 7, 2024 Demonstrators light off smoke flares as they react to projected results after the second round of the legislative elections, in Lyon, central France, Sunday, July 7, 2024 In a somber speech after the second-round legislative election, Jordan Bardella (pictured), the president of the far right RN, denounced the political maneuvering that led the National Rally to fall far short of expectations Far-right National Rally party leader Marine Le Pen answers reporters after the second round of the legislative election, Sunday, July 7, 2024 at the party election night headquarters in Paris Hard-left France Unbowed leader Jean-Luc Melenchon (right), giving his first reaction, called on French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal to resign and said the left-wing coalition was ready to govern French far-right Rassemblement National (RN) political party MP for Pas-de-Calais Marine Le Pen during an evening gathering of French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) on second round of French parliamentary legislative elections at Pavillon Chesnaie du Roy of Parc floral in Paris, France on July 7, 2024 Supporters of the French left-wing Socialist Party (PS) react following the first results of the second round of France's legislative election during the party's election night event in Paris on July 7, 2024 Supporters of the French far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally - RN) party hold French flags as they react after partial results in the second round of the early French parliamentary elections, at the RN in Paris, France, July 7, 2024 Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (pictured) said he would offer Macron his resignation on Monday but was ready to serve 'as long as duty demands', notably in light of the imminent Games Partcipants react as they listen to the announcement of the projected results of the second round of France's crunch legislative elections during a rally in Nantes, western France on July 7, 2024 Rassemblement National militants during an evening gathering of French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) on second round of legislative elections at Pavillon Chesnaie du Roy of Parc floral in Paris, France on July 7, 2024 Supporters the French Left wing coaltion parties 'Le Nouveau Front Populaire' (The new Popular Front in French) react after the second round of thelegislative elections results at Place d ela Republique in Paris, France, July 7, 2024 He added: 'A deadlock is the most likely outcome because of the lack of majority in parliament. A quick solution within days is unlikely. 'France has no political culture to make coalitions and compromises, like Germany or Italy. That is why it feels like a crisis for the French.' EU officials, already learning to deal with far-right parties in power in Italy and the Netherlands and frustrated by Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, are watching France closely. With the country on tenterhooks, last week saw more than 200 tactical-voting pacts between centre and left wing candidates in seats to attempt to prevent the RN winning an absolute majority. This has been hailed as a return of the anti-far right 'Republican Front' first summoned when Le Pen's father Jean-Marie faced Jacques Chirac in the run-off of 2002 presidential elections. The question for France now is if this last-ditch alliance of last resort can now support a stable government, dogged by a huge RN bloc in parliament led by Le Pen herself as she prepares a 2027 presidential bid. If no coalition emerges, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal could try to lead a minority government as, under French rules, the president can not dissolve parliament again and call a fresh poll for 12 months. Supporters of The Ecologists-EELV green party celebrate following the first results of the second round of France's legislative election during the party's election night event in Paris on July 7, 2024 Rassemblement National militants during an evening gathering of French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) on second round of legislative elections at Pavillon Chesnaie du Roy of Parc floral in Paris, France on July 7, 2024 People react to the projection of results after the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Nantes, western France France's President Emmanuel Macron (R), flanked by his wife Brigitte Macron (L), exits a polling booth, adorned with curtains displaying the colors of the flag of France, to vote in the second round of France's legislative election at a polling station in Le Touquet, northern France on July 7, 2024 People deploy a giant national flag reading 'France is the fabric of migration' during an election night event following the first results of the second round of France's legislative election at Republique Square in Paris on July 7, 2024 France's President Emmanuel Macron votes in the second round of France's legislative election at a polling station in Le Touquet, northern France on July 7, 2024 A barricade burned as protesters demonstrated against the French far-right National Rally party Anti-riot police officers pushed back protesters on Paris streets following the first round of voting on June 30 'France is on the cusp of a seismic political shift,' said analysts at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), warning of 'legislative gridlock' that would weaken 'France's voice on the European and international stage'. Professor Steinbach said that two main scenarios are possible now: 'Firstly, a minority government by the left-wing block because as the "winner" they have the legitimacy to form a government. 'With this result, there'll be no Macronist prime minister, hence a Cohabitation. Much depends on whether the NFP will stay united and not break up in old conflicts. 'They could in next days propose a moderate left-wing PM candidate. Francois Holland could be such candidate. 'Secondly, Macron's party and Republicans form a coalition as a minority government. This would be very unpopular and may trigger protests because he clearly lost the election.' They were the biggest security breaches in royal history. In July 1982, schizophrenic Michael Fagan twice broke in to Buckingham Palace in the space of a few days. On the first occasion, he had a foray into the throne room and drank from a bottle of wine that was among presents sent to Prince Charles and Princess Diana following the birth of Prince William. Having left undetected because alarms that he tripped were turned off by hapless police it was on July 9 - nearly 42 years ago - that he returned. After wandering into the Queen's bedroom at around 7.15am, he spoke to Her Majesty for several minutes, allegedly while sitting on her bed. She was rescued by the arrival of her devoted footman Paul Whybrew. Mr Whybrew, who served the Queen until her death in 2022, gave Fagan a glass of whisky to calm him down before police arrived. Michael Fagan infamously broke into the Queen's bedroom in July 1982 and woke her up, before allegedly speaking to her for ten minutes On July 9, 1982, Fagan broke into the Palace early in the morning and wandered into the Queen's bedroom Fagan got into the Palace on the first occasion by shimmying up a drainpipe and climbing in through an unlocked window on the roof. He spent half an hour wandering around while eating cheese and crackers. After looking at royal portraits, entering the throne room and drinking from the bottle of wine sent to Charles and Diana, he became tired and so left without being caught. A few nights later, he returned. He again got in by climbing a drainpipe. Fagan initially went into an anteroom, where he cut his hand after breaking a glass ashtray. Then, carrying a piece of the ashtray, he wandered into the Queen's bedroom. The Queen quickly pressed an alarm bell, but the policeman who had been on guard outside her room had finished his shift. Another alarm that Fagan had tripped before he entered the Queen's bedroom was turned off by police, who again thought it was faulty. Mr Whybrew, then aged just 20, was outside walking the dogs and her maid was cleaning in another room, so no one came. The Queen was rescued from her predicament with Fagan by the arrival of her devoted footman Paul Whybrew. He was made famous by his performance alongside the Queen and Daniel Craig in the sketch filmed for the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony Fagan (pictured above around the time of his break-in and right in 2006) was sent for psychiatric treatment at a secure mental hospital later in 1982 Michael Fagan was portrayed by Tom Brooke in the fourth season of Netflix series The Crown Emma Thompson (above) portrayed the Queen in 2012 TV drama 'Walking the Dogs' A sketch of Fagan speaking to the Queen in her bedroom on the morning of July 9, 1982 The Queen is said to have kept talking to Fagan to keep him calm, while she waited for someone to come to her aid. When a maid did return, the pair ushered him into a pantry. Mr Whybrew then returned from walking the dogs and came across the situation. Fagan allegedly kept saying to him: 'I want to talk to the Queen, My Queen.' The footman said: 'All right, but let her get dressed first.' Fagan allegedly then kept trying to walk past the footman, but Mr Whybrew stood in his way. He then offered him a drink to calm him down. Mr Whybrew said in his police statement at the time: 'The man still seemed very tense and I said: "Would you like a drink?" 'Immediately he became more affable and replied, "Yes please. I will have a Scotch.' After he gave him a glass of whisky, a policeman arrived and Fagan was arrested. When asked his name, he told officers: 'Rudolph Hess from Spandau.' The then Home Secretary, Willie Whitelaw, offered his resignation following the enormous security lapse, but Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher refused to accept it. Fagan was not charged with trespassing in the Queen's bedroom because, at the time, such an action was a civil wrong rather than a criminal offence. He was however charged with the theft of the wine during his first visit but was found not guilty in a trial at the Old Bailey. The jury decided that he did not enter the Palace with any dishonest intention. He had insisted that he drank the wine because he was thirsty. Fagan also issued a 'sincere apology' to the Queen'. He said via his solicitor: 'Along with everyone else in the world, I love Her Majesty the Queen, I have the deepest respect, the deepest respect for her. 'I would do nothing to embarrass her. I know she likes to help people and I thought she would like to help me. 'Your Majesty, please excuse my intrusion into your privacy - I didn't realise it would become a world topic. 'All I wanted to do was to discuss my personal problems, but the way I went about it has embarrassed Your Majesty's family. 'You were wonderfully understanding with me and I know you will understand that this apology is written in all sincerity.' Mr Whybrew gained a public profile when he appeared alongside his boss and Daniel Craig on film for a sketch shown at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics in 2012. Fagan was sent for psychiatric treatment at a secure mental hospital later in 1982 after pleading guilty in court to taking a car without the owner's consent. The Daily Mail's coverage of Fagan's break-in and the security blunders that allowed it to happen He was freed in January 1983. In 1984 he attacked a policemen in a cafe in Fishguard, Wales, and was given a three-month suspended prison sentence. Fagan was then found guilty of indecent exposure in 1987 after a female motorist saw him running around with no trousers on at a waste ground in Chingford, Essex. In 1997, Fagan, his wife and their son Arran were charged with conspiring to supply heroin. He went to prison for four years. He claimed in an interview in 2012 that the Queen was wearing a nightie with 'Liberty prints' that went 'down to her knees'. Speaking to the Independent, he also refuted the claim that the Queen kept him talking to keep him calm. 'Nah! She went past me and ran out of the room; her little bare feet running across the floor,' he said. He added that Her Majesty's accent was 'like the finest glass you can imagine breaking' as she allegedly said: 'Wawrt are you doing here?!' Fagan (pictured in 1987) has a string of convictions to his name. He is now 75 Fagan's break-in was depicted in the fourth season of The Crown. The criminal was depicted by Tom Brooke speaking to Olivia Coleman's Queen while sat on her bed. The saga was also depicted in 2012 drama Walking the Dogs, where Eddie Marsan depicted Fagan and the Queen was portrayed by Emma Thompson. Fagan slammed Brooke's portrayal, saying the star looked 'too ugly' and claiming he had 'no charisma.' After the Queen's death in September 2022, Fagan said that he was 'sad she is gone'. He said: 'I have no plans to go to the funeral but I have been to church to light a candle for her and hopefully it is all behind me. 'I think Charles will do a good job and look after the planet. He will be very good at that. 'There is also too much division between the rich and poor in society and I think Charles will help heal that.' The London apartment where Lord Elgin displayed the Parthenon marbles has been put up for sale for 26.25million. The 5,085 square feet apartment spans the entire fourth floor of the Grade II-listed 149 Old Park Lane. Ultra-high net-worth individuals are expected to be interested in the property which includes a grand foyer, 14 ft ceilings, crystal chandeliers, bespoke furniture, a reception hall, a master bedroom and four guest bedrooms which all have ensuites. It comes with a 64,000 service charge, believed to be among the most expensive in the country, and all the amenities one would expect - including 24-hour porterage and concierge. Along with its grandeur, the capital's property watchers are also fascinated by the address' unique and sometimes risque history. In 1806, Lord Elgin returned to Britain with the Parthenon marbles which he had removed from the Acropolis in Greece during his time as ambassador to the Ottoman Empire and took up residence at the address. The 5,085 square feet apartment spans the entire fourth floor of the Grade II-listed 149 Old Park Lane Ultra high net worth individuals are expected to be interested the property which includes a grand foyer, 14 ft ceilings, crystal chandeliers, bespoke furniture, reception hall, a master bedroom and four guest bedrooms which all have ensuites The property comes with a 64,000 service charge, believed to be among the most expensive in the country, and all the amenities one would expect - including 24-hour porterage and concierge Along with its grandeur, the capital's property watchers are also fascinated by the address' unique and sometimes risque history Lord Elgin put the treasures on public display at the address, which was then known as Gloucester House Lord Elgin put the treasures on public display at the address, which was then known as Gloucester House. More than 200 years later, the sculptures - originally crafted by the ancient Greek painter and architect Pheidias continue to fuel a war of words between the UK and Greek governments. But the diplomatic row over the museum pieces isn't the only colourful chapter of this property's story. Around the same time the marbles arrived, Lord Elgin made the discovery that his aristocratic wife Mary Hamilton Bruce had grown close to the MP Robert Ferguson. In 1807, the revelation led to an acrimonious courtroom drama which filled the newspapers of the day and would later become the basis for countless racy books - both historical and fiction. Lord Elgin sued Ferguson for 'seduction' and was awarded 10,000 a fortune worth millions in today's money. The Elgin Marbles also known as the Parthenon marbles was sculpted by Phidias, are a series of Ancient Greek sculptures created between 447BC and 432BC. They were previously housed in the Parthenon in Athens (pictured) Elgin alleged he was granted permission from the Ottoman Empire to bring the sculptures to the UK. Even though, there was quite a paper trail during this time period, no documents have been discovered to support his claims (Pictured: The Elgin Marbles) The Elgin Marbles (pictured) are a 17-figure collection of classical Greek marble sculptures made by architect and sculptor Phidias, a Greek sculptor whose statue of Zeus, the god of the sky in ancient Greek mythology, was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world More than 200 years later, the sculptures Lord Elgin's decision continues to fuel a war of words between the UK and Greek governments The current sale is being handled by UK Sotheby's International Realty The building gives a great view over London and nearby parks After the Elgins' divorce, 149 Old Park Lane was occupied by Prince William, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh from 1816-34 and then by Prince George, Duke of Cambridge until his death in 1904. Later in 1972, the first Hard Rock Cafe opened on the ground floor of the new building (designed by Colcutt & Hamp in 1905). Later still, in the 1990s, it would become Lord Sugar's first venture into property development in which he transformed the building into decadent apartments for the uber-rich. The current sale is being handled by UK Sotheby's International Realty. On the company's website they describe the five bedroom, five bathroom home as one with 'rich heritage' which is honoured throughout in the original fireplaces, traditional oak flooring and the period cornicing and panelling which have been hand restored. It continues: 'These traditional features blend seamlessly with luxury modern features such as underfloor heating, air conditioning, Sonos sound systems and Lutron lighting, adding a layer of total comfort. The exterior of Grade II-listed 149 Old Park Lane at night The bespoke, dine-in kitchen has been hand crafted from Jasmine white oak, the island, worktops and splashbacks are carved from polished neolith Calacatta and the space is fully fitted with state-of-the-art Gaggenau appliances The apartment also has a separate back-of-house staff entrance with live-in staff quarters, as well as 24-hour security in the lobby, secured doors and windows, all of which are alarmed, and a CCTV system which can be accessed remotely The property is managed by Loxone, the state-of-the-art building management system A desk overlooking London and nearby parks, with the iconic Shard building and London eye seen from the left hand side window The ensuite for the master bedroom has a modern light grey finish The property has original fireplaces, traditional oak flooring and the period cornicing and panelling which have been hand restored The property is being marketed by the luxury real estate company Dar Global - which listed on London's stock market last year - and its joint equity partner Fairway Capital The large living room allows for plenty of space for entertaining guests The living room and formal dining area are connected with a large archway The master bedroom has cabinet's on either side of the bed with custom lighting The ensuite bathroom of the master bedroom has polished Italian stone flooring The view from the living room looking into the formal dining room 'The finest natural materials have been used on the flooring throughout the home, Emperador marble with bronze inlay in the entrance hallway, bespoke oak parquet throughout the dining room, reception and kitchen, luxurious wool carpets and polished Italian stone flooring in the en-suite bathrooms. 'The bespoke, dine-in kitchen has been hand crafted from Jasmine white oak, the island, worktops and splashbacks are carved from polished neolith Calacatta and the space is fully fitted with state-of-the-art Gaggenau appliances. 'A large bay window floods the space with natural light. There is also an additional full service kitchen for staff with large industrial sized appliances and a separate formal dining room. 'All five bedrooms have ensuite bathrooms and the principal bedroom has its own dressing room. 'The apartment also has a separate back-of-house staff entrance with live-in staff quarters, as well as 24-hour security in the lobby, secured doors and windows, all of which are alarmed, and a CCTV system which can be accessed remotely. 'The property is managed by Loxone, the state-of-the-art building management system. Around the same time the marbles arrived, Lord Elgin made the discovery that his aristocratic wife Mary had grown close to the MP Robert Ferguson (pictured). In 1807, the revelation led to an acrimonious courtroom drama which filled the newspapers of the day and would later become the basis for countless racy books - both historical and fiction Lord Elgin sued Ferguson for 'seduction' of his wife Mary Hamilton Bruce, Countess of Elgin (pictured) and was awarded 10,000 a fortune worth millions in today's money Ziad El Chaar (pictured), chief executive officer of Dar Global, said of the Old Park Lane residence: 'This really is a time capsule to a golden age - a special address, rich in history, situated in one of the most sought-after parts of London' 'Located in Mayfair, this apartment sits between two of the finest parks in London, St James and Hyde Park, while also close to excellent restaurants, shops and Londons finest private members clubs.' The property is being marketed by the luxury real estate company Dar Global - which listed on London's stock market last year - and its joint equity partner Fairway Capital. Dar Global develops high-end second and vacation homes in some of the most desirable locations in the world, including Dubai, Oman and Marbella in Spain. Last year the firm announced a 240 million partnership with Automobili Lamborghini to develop 53 luxury villas in Marbella. Research published in the first quarter of 2023 revealed that London's ultra-prime housing market rose by 10 per cent in unit sales and 25 per cent by value of property. An estimated 70 per cent of all deals worth more than 15m are currently cash purchases. Ziad El Chaar, chief executive officer of Dar Global, said of the Old Park Lane residence: 'This really is a time capsule to a golden age - a special address, rich in history, situated in one of the most sought-after parts of London. 'Old Park Lane has, of course, long been synonymous with exclusive properties, but what's becoming increasingly clear from the interest in this property is that ultra prime London is in high demand despite an otherwise muted period for real estate in the capital.' SHOPPING Contains affiliated content. Products featured in this Mail Best article are selected by our shopping writers. If you make a purchase using links on this page, DailyMail.com will earn an affiliate commission. Click here for more information. The Dr. is in! When it comes to the A-listers we love, their hair and skin can often become enviable. But how do they get the effortless glow that emanates on and off the screen? This question can only be answered by one man: Dr. Diamond. Celebrity plastic surgeon Dr. Diamond is known for his facial work on several big-name stars such as Chrissy Teigen, Hilary Duff, and the Kardashians. His famous non-surgical InstaFacial has gone viral for its detailed science-backed methods that combine micro-needling, lasers, patient plasma (blood), and collagen. With so many people wanting to get their hands on his secrets to youthful skin, Dr. Diamond set out to bring his coveted InstaFacial straight to consumers by creating his own skincare line: Metacine. InstaFacial Collection From the work of famous celebrity plastic surgeon Dr. Diamond comes a new skincare line that gives you the results of an office from the comfort of your home. Backed by science you can reverse time with this two-product routine that A-listers such as the Kardashians swear by. Shop This two-product line is expertly designed and gives professional results without the price of an office visit. For just $550, you can have celeb-worthy skin right from the comfort of your couch. The InstaFacial collection is clinically proven, with 91% of tested users reporting visibly smoother skin after just four weeks. 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A fascinating documentary sheds light on what life is like on a remote island in the US, which remains peaceful and largely unchanged since the first settlers arrived more than 400 years ago. Due to its isolated, archaic state and concerns over rising sea levels, there are only around 200 residents left on Smith Island in Maryland. In a bid to find out more about the mysterious spot with extremely cheap real estate, YouTube creator Peter Santenello spent a day there with resident Jerry Smith as his guide. Jerry's family have been living on Smith Island since the 1600s, and the main industry there is crabbing. After taking a boat from the mainland, Peter lands in a tiny town called Ewell, which is considered the 'capital.' The remote Smith Island in Maryland has a peaceful way of life and extremely cheap real estate Facilities there include a post office, Methodist church, fire station and community center. Cell phone service is 'spotty or not at all', but a new high-speed internet connection is on the way YouTuber Peter Santenello spent a day on Smith Island in Maryland. Resident Jerry Smith (pictured) gave him a comprehensive tour of the outcrop Facilities there include a post office, Methodist church, fire station and community center. A website for Smith Island warns prospective visitors that they should bring cash with them as there are no ATMs. It also notes that the cell phone service is 'spotty or not at all', but a new high-speed internet connection is on the way with nearly $2 million of state money. To start, Jerry takes Peter on a drive around the island. Asked what type of people live there, Jerry responds: 'People who have already made their fortune in life and want to retire somewhere peaceful.' Many of the houses they drive past appear to be in a state of disrepair, and Jerry points to one property that he says he has never seen anyone live in since he has been there. Over the years, Jerry reveals that the population on Smith Island has steadily declined and in the mid 90s, 100 people left in one year as crabbing 'got really bad' and a prison opened on the mainland providing fresh job opportunities. 'I don't blame them... it was healthcare, a steady job and steady money.' Along with poor employment opportunities, Jerry says the rising water levels have also caused some to leave their homes as some parts of the island have become uninhabitable. Poor employment opportunities and rising water levels have caused some to leave their homes In the introduction to his film, Peter explains that Jerry's family have been living on Smith Island since the 1600s, and the main industry there is crabbing During the film, Jerry and Peter visit the local store where there are branded hoodies for sale After taking a boat from the mainland, Peter lands in a tiny town called Ewell, which is considered the 'capital' He explains, as the duo drive past a swathe of boggy land: 'It was a lot of salt water. 'You know, the the ocean was rising and rising and all this land that used to be farmland turned into marsh.' Making matters worse, two years ago a violent tornado spun through Smith Island and some properties were swept away, including a home belonging to Jerry's aunt. Miraculously she escaped the natural disaster unscathed. When they get back to Jerry's property, he explains that it dates to around 1880 and there are parts of the roof missing following the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy. He moved away for several years following the Category 3 superstorm, but returned to Smith Island in a bid to rescue his home from complete disrepair. The leaky roof is so bad that he is now confined to living in one part of the home. Continuing the tour, he leads Peter to an outbuilding, which is where he brings in his haul of crustaceans from crabbing. Detailing what life is like as a crabber - or as a 'waterman' as Jerry prefers to be known - he says: 'It's hard work. It's all in your back, and in your hands and your arms. 'Sometimes it's side to side... you don't stop all day until you get home.' Due to its isolated and archaic state, there are now only around 200 residents left on Smith Island in Maryland They pass by the pint-sized post office where Jerry's sister used to work Along with poor employment opportunities, Jerry says the rising water levels have also caused some to leave their homes as some parts of the island have become uninhabitable Jerry leads Peter to an outbuilding, which is where he brings in his haul of crustaceans from crabbing The duo's next port of call takes them to the village of Tylerton, which they reach by using a neighbor's boat. As they wander around, they meet a local couple who help deliver medicines to people and they pass by the pint-sized post office where Jerry's sister used to work. Filmmaker Peter seems taken by his surrounds, as he muses: 'So this is normal to you Jerry but it's super interesting. 'These narrow streets, these old houses... [It] all feels so miniature.' The duo go into a small store where items for sale include Smith Island-branded sweatshirts and kitchen condiments. One quirk of the island is that there is no alcohol for sale, although visitors are allowed to bring their own supplies to 'enjoy in moderation.' Jerry explains that in the summer, they can receive up to 100 tourists a day. He tells Peter: 'For about three hours it's a nightmare and then it's like, all gone.' One popular item that people like to try while on the outcrop is the famed Smith Island Cake, which features multiple layers coated in a chocolate fudge icing. Touching on how the cake's origins, Jerry says in one part of the documentary: 'The story of this cake is back in the probably late 1800s, early 1900s. 'The women would make this cake for their husbands on the drudge boats. [The men] would go away in October and come back in in December and their wives would send them with these cakes because they're moist and the fudge icing on it would hold the moisture. 'That way, they could keep [the cake] on the boat... for a few weeks and that's how the cake started.' One popular item that people like to try is the famed Smith Island Cake, which features multiple layers coated in a chocolate fudge icing Detailing what life is like as a crabber - or as a 'waterman' as Jerry prefers to be known - he says: 'It's hard work. It's all in your back, and in your hands and your arms' When Jerry first started out, there were 100 'watermen' on Smith Island but now he says there are around 20 Back outside, Jerry reveals that property on Smith Island is exceptionally cheap, starting from just $5,000. While he admits that many houses are in a bad way and 'need work,' he highlights that 'the land ain't going nowhere.' Looking to the future of Smith Island, Jerry indicates that it is being threatened by rising water levels and a lack of jobs. He highlights that the crabbing industry is gradually dying out as the younger generation has no interest in working on the water and various regulations are making it increasingly difficult to make a livelihood. When he first started out there were 100 'watermen' on Smith Island but now he says there are around 20. The population on Smith Island is also aging, and there are just three children there who to have attend a school on the mainland via a boat. Before bidding Jerry farewell to make his own way off the island, Peter says: 'Thank you so much for bringing us into your world. It was very interesting. 'You're very knowledgeable about the island.' Many viewers have thanked Peter for sharing Jerry's story and showcasing the beauty of Smith Island. One fan wrote: 'Mr Smith is one cheerful guy. He doesn't let a flood get him down. Seems like he's pretty happy with life, and that's something very special. Thank you Peter, for exposing me to a bigger world full of interesting people.' Another viewer mused: 'These videos renew my faith in America. Real people, good people, living their lives.' Netflix fans have blasted the performance of one star actor in a new rom com after it was released on the streaming platform last week. Taking to social media, fans were quick to notice how difference one star looked in the film after it dropped on the site. They were surprised by how much he had appeared to age in his latest role, with one user exclaiming: 'WTF! What happened to your face.' Another user was in disbelief as they wrote: 'Plastic surgery and aging .. oh but smoking probably. They can't fool us.' A third said: 'Trying to watch #AFamilyAffair with #ZacEfron, but Im way too distracted by whatever he did to his beautiful face, why would he do that to himself?' Netflix fans have blasted the performance of one star actor in a new rom com after it was released on the streaming platform last week Taking to social media, fans were quick to notice how difference one star looked in the film after it dropped on the site Fans were reacting to the appearance of Zac Efron in A Family Affair, which came to Netflix on June 28. The film centres on an unexpected romance - which triggers hilarious consequences for a young woman, her mother, and her boss. Zac plays the part of self-absorbed Hollywood star Chris Cole, starring alongside Nicole Kidman, who features as writer Brooke Harwood, a writer. In 2022, Zac appeared on the cover of Men's Health Magazine, and explained what happened to his face - after rumors of plastic surgery circulated since the prior year. In his interview, Zac revealed that he had a nasty accident at home that caused the massive transformation in his face. The star recalled how he slipped on a pair of socks while running at his home - causing him to smash his chin into a granite fountain. Zac said that when he was injured, the masseter muscles on the inside of his face and jaw then 'compensated' for his injury causing them to grow in size - hence his remarkable transformation. This saw others leap to his defence, citing his previous surgery following a serious fall years ago. Causing a stir: Fans noticed Efron's jaw looked quite different in a 2021 Earth Day video (pictured right) than from his High School Musical days (pictured left in 2006) Fans were reacting to the appearance of Zac Efron in A Family Affair, which came to Netflix on June 28 Zac plays the part of self-absorbed Hollywood star Chris Cole, starring alongside Nicole Kidman, who features as writer Brooke Harwood, a writer 'A tweet about Zac Efrons face goes viral literally every month & every single time someone has to explain what happened to his jaw & how he had to get reconstructive surgery & what not, this sh** is tiring.' Zac says the change in size of his masseter muscles explains why he looked so different at the time. 'The masseters just grew. They just got really, really big.' The High School Musical star also claimed to not know that he was a huge talking point on social media and had in fact gone viral for his different-looking jaw, until his mother called to ask if he had gone under the knife. 'If I valued what other people thought of me to the extent that they may think I do,' he told the magazine, 'I definitely wouldn't be able to do this work.' The Wiggles have been a staple on Aussie television screens for more than three decades and are beloved by children and parents alike. The rotating line-up of children's TV stars are well-recognised for their vibrant costumes and iconic jingles, from Fruit Salad to The Monkey Dance. But off screen, The Wiggles has a history of behind-the-scenes romances blossoming, while there are also little known family connections in the group. Lachlan Gillespie was married to fellow Wiggles star Emma Watkins for two years but they have since moved on with new partners who they also met on the Wiggles set in an unlikely love 'square'. There are also some obscure family connections within the performing group, with original Wiggle Anthony Field's daughter Lucia joining the line-up in 2022. Elsewhere, some of the other Wiggles have marked major milestones in recent months, with John Pearce confirming his wife is currently expecting their first child. Meanwhile, Caterina Mete also gave birth to twin daughters earlier this week after undergoing IVF with the help of an anonymous sperm donor. Here, Daily Mail Australia takes a look at everything there is to know about The Wiggles' personal lives. The Wiggles have been a staple on Aussie television screens for more than three decades, but what are the children TV stars' lives like off the screen? Lachlan Gillespie Lachlan, known as Lachy, became Purple Wiggle back in 2013 when he replaced Jeff Fatt in the children's performing group. It wasn't his first venture into children's TV as he previously placed Captain Feathersword in the Dorothy the Dinosaur series. In March 2015, he announced that he had been secretly in a relationship with Yellow Wiggle Emma Watkins for two years. The pair first met in 2009 and started dating just years later, but managed to keep their romance under wraps before finally going public with the news. Two months later, the couple delighted fans by announcing their engagement and they went on to tie the knot in April 2016. However, the fan favourite on-screen couple left the world shocked when they announced their separation in April 2018 after two years of marriage. Lachlan Gillespie secretly dated Yellow Wiggle Emma Watkins for two years before they went public with their romance. They got married but separated two years later in 2018 At the time, Lachy insisted that he and Emma were still the best of friends and that their impending divorce would not cause a fracture within the band. 'To be able to realise as a couple that we were going different ways and to stay as close as we are is a real testament, I think, to both of us,' he said. 'I love her more now than anything and she loves me more than anything.' The pair both remained performing with The Wiggles until 2021, when Emma decided to leave the children's group. At the time, Lachy thanked Emma for giving him a 'lifetime of memories' and for '12 years of friendship and fun' as he paid tribute to her upon her departure. Emma, who was the first female Wiggle, now runs a solo show called Emma Memma as she has taken her career in a new direction. Both Lachy and Emma have also moved on and found love again with other Wiggles crew members in a 'love square'. Both Lachy and Emma have also moved on and found love again with other Wiggles crew members in a 'love square'. Lachy moved on with dancer Dana Stephensen, who he met on set The couple surprised Wiggles fans in September 2020 when they revealed Dana had welcomed twin girls Months after his split from Emma, Lachy met his now-wife, ballet dancer Dana Stephensen, when she filmed a cameo for The Wiggles in December 2018. Dana previously said she spent most of her time on set getting to know Emma, but went on to form a close connection with Lachy and they started dating. Though rumours swirled about the romance, they didn't officially confirm their relationship until October 2019. The loved-up pair then announced they were engaged in April 2020, 18 months after first meeting. Just months later in September 2020, they shared the surprise announcement that Dana had welcomed twin baby girls Lulu and Lottie. The couple tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in November 2022, with their twin daughters both attending along with Dana's son Jasper from a previous marriage. Meanwhile, Emma has also since moved on with The Wiggles' full-time musician Oliver Brian, going public with their romance in December 2019 Meanwhile, Emma has also since moved on with The Wiggles' full-time musician Oliver Brian, going public with their romance in December 2019. She previously told Stellar: '[Oliver] is the very opposite to me. He's a very calm and thoughtful person and I've always been interested in his mind and his take on life, and his morals.' Oliver Brian plays various instruments on The Wiggles, including guitars and banjo, and has previously joined the band on several of their world tours. Away from the performance group, Oliver is also in a folk-rock band with Emma's ex-husband Lachlan. Emma and Oliver tied the knot on a country estate in a wedding attended by just 80 guests in May 2022, and the pair have been loved-up ever since. Caterina Mete Caterina is a well-known face on The Wiggles, having first featured as a regular dancer in recordings before officially becoming Red Wiggle in 2022. Caterina was the longest-serving Wiggly Dancer before she became the second red Wiggle, having first joined the group back in 2003. And earlier this week, Caterina shared the exciting news that she had given birth to her twin baby daughters - her first children - on June 25. Earlier this week, Caterina shared the exciting news that she had given birth to her twin baby daughters - her first children - on June 25 The Red Wiggle, 43, confirmed her pregnancy in February after undergoing IVF with an anonymous sperm donor, later revealing that she was expecting two girls. Caterina, who is single, shared an adorable post on Thursday confirming the arrival of her twins as she shared pictures and videos of herself cuddling her little ones. Caterina confirmed the adorable names of her baby daughters - Dolly and Gigi - as she gushed over their arrival. The children's TV star wrote alongside the precious snaps: 'I am so thrilled to announce the arrival of my precious twin girls, Dolly and Gigi. 'My heart is overflowing with happiness as I welcome to the world my two little miracles. Thank you all for your love and support during this special time.' Caterina had publicly shared her pregnancy news in February live on The Wiggles as she held up two Red Wiggle babygrows in a sweet announcement. Her solo IVF journey wasn't straightforward as she recently opened up about her heartbreaking miscarriage before she got pregnant with her 'miracle' babies. Caterina confirmed the adorable names of her baby daughters - Dolly and Gigi - as she gushed over their arrival in an adorable post She froze her eggs in her 30s and later created two embryos with her chosen sperm donor but devastatingly suffered a miscarriage from the first embryo transfer. 'It was certainly a shock to find out I had miscarried,' she told maternity brand The Inarra. 'I spoke to lots of women about it and was surprised to find out how common it is, I think talking about it has helped me through the healing process.' Caterina went on to have a second embryo transfer and was given the happy news that she was pregnant with twins. John Pearce Beloved TV star John first joined The Wiggles when he picked up the purple skivvy in 2021. But the 'hot' Purple Wiggle first rose to fame years earlier when his dance-pop group Justice Crew shot to fame following their 2010 Australia's Got Talent win. John continued working with the group during his beginning days with The Wiggles, but the hip-hop group have quietened down in more recent years. Beloved TV star John first joined The Wiggles when he picked up the purple skivvy in 2021 after rising to fame more than 10 years earlier on Australia's Got Talent The group - who have two ARIA chart-topping songs - last posted regular content to their Instagram page back in late 2021. Elsewhere, John started dating his wife Jessie Adamo in 2012 and the couple went on to tie the knot in a private ceremony in October 2019. In June of this year, John shared the exciting news that he and his wife Jessie Adamo are expecting their first child together. The couple announced the news on Instagram by sharing an adorable moment of the moment they discovered Jessie was pregnant. 'It has been a long journey but our beautiful angel has finally been sent to us,' they captioned the post. 'We are so full of joy and cant wait to meet you - baby Adamo Pearce due Dec 2024.' In June of this year, John shared the exciting news that he and his wife Jessie Adamo are expecting their first child together Anthony Field Anthony is the only remaining original Wiggle still performing with the group, after Murray Cook and Greg Page both retired. The fan favourite Blue Wiggle was in rock band The Cockroaches before becoming a TV performer, having grown up in a music-focused family in Sydney. He took a break from music to serve in the Royal Australian Regiment for three years in the 1980s as an infantry soldier, while he also played the bagpipes in parades. He met the other founding members of The Wiggles at university while studying Early Childhood Education and they soon started their now-famous group. Anthony worked as a preschool teacher in his early days with The Wiggles before the huge fame of the group forced him to quit the job and focus on performing. As well as working with The Wiggles, Anthony is also a registered breeder of miniature fox terriers and has done voiceover work for the RSPCA Animal Rescue on Channel 7. Anthony is the only remaining original Wiggle still performing with the group, after Murray Cook and Greg Page have both since retired Over the years, Anthony has spoken openly about his struggles with depression and frequently discusses the importance of men speaking up about their mental health. 'You might think bottling up is a brave thing to do, but letting it out is even braver,' the entertainer told the Canberra Weekly in 2021. 'No one ever knows what another person is going through unless they talk about it, I could have a big smile on my face, but behind closed doors, I'd be struggling and that's anybody.' In his personal life, Anthony married his dancer wife Michaela 'Miki' Patisteas in 2003 and the couple share three children - Lucia, 20, Marie, 18 and Antonio, 17. They keep their relationship and family life out of the spotlight, with Anthony rarely sharing pictures with them to his social media page, instead focusing on his job. Miki's family own Griffiths Coffee in Melbourne and it is currently run by brothers-in-law Peter Patisteas and Chris Togias. Anthony married his dancer wife Michaela 'Miki' Patisteas in 2003 and the couple share three children - Lucia, 20, Marie, 18 and Antonio, 17 (he is pictured with Marie and Antonio) Lucia Field Lucia has grown up as a Wiggles veteran, with her father Anthony still serving as the Blue Wiggle. Lucia, who was born in February 2004, is the eldest of Anthony's three children with his wife Michaela. After graduating from high school in December 2021, she followed in the footsteps of her legendary father, joining The Wiggles as a dancer in August 2022. She serves as the secondary Blue Wiggle as part of the extended line-up, sporting the same colours as her father in a sweet touch. Lucia serves as the secondary Blue Wiggle and has grown up as a Wiggles veteran, with her father Anthony still serving as the Blue Wiggle Lucia took on the role when Evie Ferris changed to yellow to better represent her aboriginal heritage. Continuing the trend of Wiggles romances, Lucia went public with her boyfriend Callum Hendry-Hodsdon earlier this year. Callum has worked with The Wiggles as a stage performer and merchandise manager since 2017. She went Instagram official with him on Valentine's Day with a loved-up snap after they previously featured on each other's social media feeds. Lucia often shares adorable pictures with her boyfriend to Instagram and they recently enjoyed a romantic getaway to Japan. Lucia, who was born in February 2004, is the eldest of Anthony's three children with his wife Michaela (both pictured last month) Continuing the trend of Wiggles romances, Lucia went public with her boyfriend Callum Hendry-Hodsdon earlier this year Evie Ferris Evie, 20, is a newcomer to The Wiggles family, having first joined the children's group in 2021. The dancer, who is of Aboriginal descent, first appeared as a guest in the We're All Fruit Salad! music video before joining as an additional member of the group. Evie now appears as part of the expanded Fruit Salad TV line-up, where she first sported a blue outfit before changing to a yellow skivvy. As well as her TV work, Evie has also been working with The Australian Ballet since 2015 and occasionally misses The Wiggles concerts to perform. Evie has already made her mark on the group, with original Wiggle Anthony naming her as his potential successor when he eventually retires. 'I actually said to Evie, "Hey you would look great in blue", and she said, "Well my favourite colour is blue",' Anthony teased to ABC News back in 2021. Late last year, Evie was hit by rumours of a rift with her co-star Tsehay Hawkins, but the pair were quick to hit down the speculation. Evie is a newcomer to The Wiggles family, having first joined the children's group in 2021 as part of the extended line-up, first wearing blue before swapping to a yellow skivvy Late last year, Evie was hit by rumours of a rift with her co-star Tsehay Hawkins (right), but the pair were quick to hit down the speculation The rumours began swirling after the pair were seen sharing an awkward moment in a video from a performance where they seemed to exchange an annoyed glance. However, Tsehay later shut down the rumours and insisted working on The Wiggles was like being part of one big family. 'It's seriously feels like such a family. Like a second family,' she shared at the time. 'We make jokes on set We give each other looks or whatever. But in the end, it's such a positive environment. 'And what you see on, like, all the joy that we have on screen it's just us.' Tsehay Hawkins Tsehay, 18, is also a relative newcomer to the long-running children's group, having joined the line up in 2021. She was a teenager when she first became a Wiggly Dancer and she replaced Emma as the Yellow Wiggle later that year at the age of 16. Tsehay - who was born in Ethopia and adopted by Australian parents - became the youngest ever member of the group in a huge achievement. Last year, she shared an adorable handwritten note she was given from a young fan as she spoke about the importance of representation on screen. Tsehay, 18, is also a relative newcomer to the long-running children's group, having joined the line up in 2021 - becoming the youngest ever member of the group The note read: 'Dear Tsehay, my name is Melody. I'm the usher up the back and I am in awe of you. The idea that these kids, living in the diaspora and seeing themselves, their curls, their colour was something unfathomable to me when I was young. 'To feel equal as a black child in Australia should have never been a request or unimaginable, yet the world we grew up in was just not ready for us. 'You can't be something, someone, if you can't see it. So from those of us who missed getting to see ourselves growing up, thankyou on behalf of the next generation. 'We see you, hear you and love you. Thankyou for running so our kids can sprint.' Simon Pryce Simon, 52, has been Red Wiggle since 2013 and has become a fan favourite in the touring group ever since. He has long been open about the tougher side of being a Wiggle and the mental strain of their fun-filled, high energy shows. Simon, 52, has been Red Wiggle since 2013 and has become a fan favourite in the group ever since In 2022, Simon told The Daily Telegraph that their seamless live act is like a heavy work-out, and keeping fit is a way to deal with the pressures of performance. 'Physical exercise is the main way that I take care of my mind,' he shared. 'Exercise has always helped me deal with any anxiety or stress that I may be feeling and gives me greater mental clarity.' He explained how the group take on a punishing workload of weeks-long touring, performing up to four shows a day. In his personal life, Simon has been in a relationship with personal trainer Laura Hannaford since 2011. The couple tied the knot in Sydney in January 2017 and welcomed their first child together in January 2021. In his personal life, Simon has been in a relationship with personal trainer Laura Hannaford since 2011 and they welcomed a son Asher William in January 2021 They had tried for years to have a baby before welcoming their son Asher William, who is now three years old. At the time, Simon told WHO magazine it was quite surreal for him and Lauren to suddenly have a baby in the household. 'We're in the kitchen making a coffee and we'll be like, "Hang on a minute, there's a baby in the other room!"' he said. 'It's funny though, now you actually can't imagine your life any differently.' 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Delaney said he would like to spend his own last moments in the living room were he said goodbye to his child in 2018. The room has additional significance for the star because his fourth son was born there later that year. Delaney, whose credits include Catastrophe and Deadpool 2, told Desert Island Discs: 'We don't live there any more but when we moved out I asked the landlord, 'Listen, if you are ever going to sell this place will you let me know first because I would like to buy it', so when I'm 81 I can crawl in here and die, in the same room that my son died in, that my other son was born in.' In a candid and at times emotional interview, American-born Delaney, 47, told host Lauren Laverne about Henry's last months. Comedy star Rob Delaney has revealed he would like to buy the former London home where his two-year-old son Henry died from brain cancer in 2018 Delaney previously shared on Instagram a photograph of his late son Henry sleeping, taken when he was only 15 months old and had just started chemotherapy Devastating: In a heartbreaking caption, the Catastrophe star explained how cancer surgery had damaged cranial nerves and left their son unable to swallow - Henry died in 2018 He said: 'He did have a good death. His final months we had four-and-a-half of them where we knew he was going to die his brothers were just so into him. 'They all loved each other so much I watched a four and a six-year-old hold their brother's dead body, I watched them take unbelievable care of him and learn difficult things because he required really intense things to take care of him. 'I just hate thinking about them not having him. I really hate it. 'They talk about him all the time and they love him, and they smile when they talk about him and they love to look at pictures of him and he is very much part of our lives.' Delaney also revealed he still spoke to his 'funny and clever' son. He said: 'I don't know what words to use, don't care. I talk to him. I don't know if he hears me. It doesn't matter... He is my son, I am his dad and I love him.' Delaney said he and his wife Leah had been unable to leave London 'for so many reasons... one of which is I like to go put my hands on the slide at the playground that Henry slid down. 'I like to see [the] nurses, periodically bump into them, that took care of him. So London is very important to me and London took very good care of him.' Desert Island Discs airs on BBC Radio 4 at 10am today and is also available on BBC Sounds Delaney revealed his other sons still speak about their 'funny and clever' late brother Delaney said he and his wife Leah had been unable to leave London 'for so many reasons... one of which is I like to go put my hands on the slide at the playground that Henry slid down' Delaney said 'London is very important to me and London took very good care of him', referencing the nurses who looked after Henry in his last months Lily Collins shared some behind the scenes video of the makeup process that changed her into a burn victim for her character in her new movie MaXXXine. The fright flick, which is the third in the X trilogy opened in theaters Friday. Collins, 35, previously shared some 'unhinged' BTS photos from the horror film, and now is taking her fans through the long process of her frightening transformation. 'GRWM - @maxxxinemovie edition,' she wrote next to the clip on social media. 'Major props to the glam and prosthetics teams for getting all of us slasher ready,' Lily Collins, 35, shared behind the scene video showing her transformation in Maxxxine The process began with makeup up artists using the Emily in Paris star's flawless complexion as a blank canvas. They began applying glue and textured patches to her face and neck to create an uneven surface. Some of the prosthetics were taken away as the technicians looked for the perfect look. They judiciously applied red and black coloring to make Collins look like she had been burned in a fire. ZZ Top's Sharp Dressed Man played beneath the video, which ended with the actress calling the finished product 'terrifying.' 'Ouchieee,' wrote pal Nina Dobrev in response to the transformation. 'This looks so real! So excited to watch it,' posted a fan. Collins plays actress Molly Bennett in the film set in 1980s Hollywood, where Mia Goth's Maxine Mink is looking for her lucky break. The actress told the camera she found the final look 'terrifying' They began applying glue and textured patches to her face and neck to create an uneven surface The technicians experimented with adding and removing the prosthetics to get the right look. 'Major props to the glam and prosthetics teams for getting all of us slasher ready,' the actress wrote next to the video on social media She previously shared some 'unhinged' BTS photos from the horror film Collins plays actress Molly Bennett in the film set in 1980s Hollywood, where Mia Goth's Maxine Mink is looking for her lucky break A-list stars including Kevin Bacon, Giancarlo Esposito, Elizabeth Debicki and Halsey added their talents to the production. Collins' beloved romantic comedy Emily in Paris will return to Netflix with season four next month. As with Bridgerton, the streamer is releasing the series in two different parts, with the first five episodes being available for binging August 15. The second five episodes will debut September 12. James Packer appears to have a new lease on life after going public with his new girlfriend Renee Blythewood at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The Australian billionaire, 56, who started dating the American model near the end of 2023, said he is now 'looking forward to the future'. After fleeing his home country to escape the shadow of his late father media mogul Kerry, he said on Sunday that life is starting to look up. 'I'm doing OK. Better in some ways than others, but overall can't complain at all, and am looking forward to the future,' James told The Daily Telegraph. The father-of-three also spoke about his fluctuating weight and admitted it remains a 'constant struggle' for him as he addressed his recent weight gain. James said he found it tough to lose weight when he was taking medication for his bipolar disorder, which he was diagnosed with in 2016. But the businessman attempted to wean himself off the medication and adjust his lifestyle by quitting sugar, smoking and drinking, and going on 'long walks'. While that helped him shed the kilos down to 110, James said he is 'embarrassed' to admit he started eating sugar again in February because he 'loves it so much'. James Packer, 56, (pictured) appears to have a new lease on life after going public with his new girlfriend Renee Blythewood at the Cannes Film Festival in May 'This time it's not the medication I'm off nearly all of those I just need to be more disciplined. I love sugar so much!' he admitted. 'I am going to address my weight again, but, to be honest, weight for me is a bit of a constant struggle.' It comes after James went public with girlfriend Renee in May when they were spotted at the star-studded Cannes Film Festival together. The Australian billionaire who started dating the American model near the end of 2023, said he is now 'looking forward to the future' In photos shared to Instagram, Renee smiled alongside the mega-wealthy businessman as they posed for a picture with a group of friends on the red carpet. The pair reportedly enjoyed a string of low-key dinners together during their time in Cannes, while Renee is said to have joined James on his luxury yacht. The lavish yacht had reportedly been moored off Antibes, France, for the week after travelling over from Barcelona for the esteemed film festival. Renee, who shares son Levi, 16, with a former partner, carved out a successful modelling career for herself at the young age of 10. As Fashion queen Vivienne Westwood lay dying, she summoned fellow designer Jeff Banks to her bedside and made a monumental request: to secure her legacy by becoming a director of the company she had spent decades building up. But less than two years after Dame Vivienne's death, Mr Banks has been forced out of the business amid reports of bitter in-fighting and a boardroom coup that has left the empire in chaos, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. The former host of the BBC's Clothes Show was ousted after disagreements over the direction of the fashion house and concerns that its founder's legacy was under threat, insiders says. 'It has made House of Gucci look like Play School,' one well-placed source said in reference to the 2021 film about the vicious fight to control the Italian fashion brand. On one side of the split dividing Vivienne Westwood Ltd lies Mr Banks, a friend of the late designer's son Joe Corre. On the other is Carlo D'Amario, the company's chief executive, and Andreas Kronthaler, Dame Vivienne's third husband and the label's creative director. Dame Vivienne Westwood and Jeff Banks pictured together in 2021 Dame Vivienne shot to fame by creating the Sex Pistols' punk image in the 1970s and went on to build up a 70 million business empire 'There's a mismatch between the heritage of Vivienne Westwood, where it is now and where it is going,' one insider said. Dame Vivienne shot to fame by creating the Sex Pistols' punk image in the 1970s and went on to build up a 70 million business empire. But towards the end, the designer, who was made a dame in 2006, had grown frustrated with how the label was being run, sources claim, and was said to be working on a book venting her irritation. She was said to be particularly concerned at a 'toxicity' within the business and that some of its designs were not creative enough. 'It reached a point where Vivienne wanted to shut it down,' one insider said. 'She always believed in quality over quantity. She would submit a load of designs and the complicated, creative stuff would be overlooked. 'She and her designers would be distraught over all that time spent making beautiful creations that would never be made.' Jeff Banks attends a private view of Vivienne Westwood: The Personal Collection at Christie's King Street on June 13 Days before her death in December 2022, aged 81, she summoned her longtime friend Mr Banks to her hospital bedside. 'I felt like Cardinal Wolsey going to see the monarch,' he later said. As they chatted, she asked him to protect the brand he had helped her establish in the late 1980s. But the MoS has learned that Mr Banks, 81, was recently voted off the board of the holding company and is now negotiating the terms of his departure. The insider said Dame Vivienne 'would turn in her grave at the thought of Jeff being pushed out.' Sources claim Mr Kronthaler supported the ousting of Mr Banks, who declined to comment this weekend. Vivienne Westwood Ltd did not respond to repeated requests to comment. Miles Teller and his wife Keleigh Sperry Teller enjoyed the 4th of July celebrations with their A-list friends. Former model Keleigh, 31, shared an Instagram carousel on Saturday, showcasing their fun-filled holiday with friends Nina Dobrev, Shaun White, and Chace Crawford. The first snap featured the married couple posing with snowboarding legend Shaun and his Vampire Diaries alum girlfriend Nina, who appeared to have recently suffered an injury as she leaned on a crutch with her knee bandaged. Another photo showed Keleigh enjoying a feast, looking stunning in a floral bikini top, white shorts, and a wide-brimmed sun hat. In a pic taken on a boat, The Boys star Chace showed off his muscular physique, posing in a swimsuit alongside several female friends. Miles Teller and his wife Keleigh Sperry Teller enjoyed the 4th of July celebrations with their A-list friends; (Shaun White, Nina Dobrev, Keleigh and Miles) Another photo showed Keleigh enjoying a feast, looking stunning in a floral bikini top, white shorts, and a wide-brimmed sun hat Another photo captures the stunning view from a lake house adorned with festive Fourth of July decorations, where a holiday dinner was being prepared. Keleigh, who is a close pal of Taylor Swift, first met Miles back in 2013 when they hit it off at a Grammys party. 'Keleigh had caught my eye early in the night, and we talked," the Top Gun: Maverick actor told Vogue. 'I didn't think it went well, but after a few more attempts, I got her to dance with me, and a week later, we went on a date. After we met, I knew she was the one.' The pair began dating May of that same year and were inseparable since as she said, he was 'so charming and charismatic. I adored him from the first moment we met.' After four years together, the pair got engaged at an African Safari in August of 2017. Keleigh reminisced about the special moment to People saying, 'I'll never get the image out of my head of him down on one knee with a tear in his eye. He really thought about every detail and was so nervous!' They said 'I do' on September 1, 2019 in a tropical Hawaiian wedding on the island of Maui. 'It's been pretty easy because right now, her full-time gig is kind of being with me and before her, I would never invite a girl into that world because I didn't think I could have both,' the actor said of his wife. In a pic taken on a boat, The Boys star Chace showed off his muscular physique, posing in a swimsuit alongside several female friends The red, white and blue theme was strong among the group Chace enjoyed a ride to the lake while making a few funny faces Another photo captures the stunning view from a lake house adorned with festive Fourth of July decorations, where a holiday dinner was being prepared The Hollywood 'it' couple said 'I do' in a tropical Hawaiian wedding on the island of Maui in 2019 'She's allowed me to be able to really focus on acting and do what I want to do. She can come to set and visit me and hang out and doesn't really distract me from it,' he added. Miles Teller is set to star opposite of Ashley Olsen and Callum Turner in an A24 film titled Eternity as he executive produces alongside Olsen. The movie is described as a romantic comedy in which each character must choose the person they want to spend eternity with, but the specifics of the plot are being withheld. With a release date pending, the film will be directed by David Freyne who has also worked on The First Wave and Dating Amber. Paris Hilton looked typically stylish as she posed in a tight leather outfit at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Saturday. The heiress, 43, wowed in a suitably themed outfit branded with her family's famous hotel logo. The form-fitting ensemble was made up of a blue, white and black leather jacket and a matching zip-up skirt. She styled the look out with a pair of leather gloves, thigh-high boots and shielded her eyes with a pair of dark shades. In terms of makeup, Paris kept things natural and let her straight blonde locks flow right down her shoulder as she adopted a pout. Paris Hilton posed in a tight leather outfit at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone on Saturday The heiress, 43, looked sensational in a suitably themed outfit branded with her family's famous hotel logo The Paris In Love star was also seen strutting her way through a pair of orange curtains as she made an appearance at the sporty event. Paris was not the only famous face to make an appearance at the acclaimed sporting event, with other A-Listers all turning up at the tracks. A beaming Brad Pitt, 60, was among the first celebrities to be spotted in the paddock ahead of this weekend's action in Northamptonshire. Sporting red and black shades and a stylish black and white coat, Pitt appeared in fine form, waving to the camera - with his appearance coming just days after he was seen on the London set of his Formula One movie. British actress Daisy Edgar-Jones, 26, joined Pitt in the paddock, with the Normal People star posing for selfies with fans in the pitlane. While British Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton was also pictured strutting in Silverstone sporting a bold outfit, including a white designer Dior handbag, as he walked his dog Roscoe. This weekend's action comes amid controversy around the cost of the event, with furious fans having slammed price of tickets, branding it a 'p*** take'. The Paris In Love star was also seen strutting her way through a pair of orange curtains as she made an appearance at the sporty event A beaming Brad Pitt was one of the first celebrities spotted at Silverstone ahead of the Grad Prix While British Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton was pictured strutting in Silverstone sporting a bold outfit and clutching a handbag as he walked his dog And British actress Daisy Edgar-Jones , 26, was seen in the paddock posing for photos with fans in the pitlane Even racing ace Hamilton raised his concerns about the three-figure toll and called for prices to be dropped - with a Grand Prix day retailing at 309 while a four-day event pass would cost race-goers 429. The seven-time world champion - who was today spotted signing an autograph for a young fan - feared the tickets could be 'hugely expensive' for families and called for a drop in the cost. Speaking ahead of the racing showcase, Hamilton said: 'We have to watch ticket prices. I think they're continuing to rise and the cost of living nowadays, I think it's too high. 'I'm just thinking from the perspective of a fan that would come with a family. It's hugely expensive, so I think it's looking into ways where you can make better accessibility for people.' The Bachelor star Sarah Herron gave birth to twins a year after tragically losing her IVF miracle baby. She and her husband Dylan Brown welcomed their twin daughters two months early, marking this milestone over a year after their son Oliver passed away shortly after being born extremely premature. The 37-year-old reality star, who competed on Season 17 of The Bachelor in 2013 and the first season of Bachelor in Paradise in 2014, took to her Instagram on Saturday to announce the happy news. 'World, meet Everette Rae & Colette Rose (Evy & Coco) born July 1st 2024,' Sarah wrote alongside videos of herself and her partner embracing their newborns in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit. 'Fraternal twin sisters, our little 32-weekers took us all by surprise a whopping 7.5 weeks early.' The Bachelor star Sarah Herron gave birth to twins a year after tragically losing her IVF miracle baby She and her husband Dylan Brown welcomed their twin daughters two months early, marking this milestone over a year after their son Oliver passed away shortly after being born extremely premature She continued: 'Were all adjusting to life in the NICU as we have a long road ahead of usundeniably filled with twists and turnsbut the girls are fighters and getting stronger every daywe all are. 'Were so grateful for our care team and any continued prayers for our tiny warriors. Todays plan: Sleep, breathe and grow!' Sarah concluded, 'Welcome to the world little ones! My heart is completely outside of my body for these two miracles.' In January, the Colorado advertising executive shared news of her pregnancy, just days before the first anniversary of Oliver's passing. Tragically, Oliver was born prematurely at 24 weeks and passed away shortly after birth. At the time, Sarah took tot her Instagram Stories to let her fans know she was expecting twins. 'Appointment today went well, the babies are growing on track! Next appointment in 3 weeks. The babies look so round and chubs! Little Rolly pollies!' she wrote. She also joked, 'F**k around with IVF long enough and one day you might definitely get multiples,' in another snap that showed both embryos. The 37-year-old reality star, who competed on Season 17 of The Bachelor in 2013 and the first season of Bachelor in Paradise in 2014 , took to her Instagram on Saturday to announce the happy news 'World, meet Everette Rae & Colette Rose (Evy & Coco) born July 1st 2024,' Sarah wrote alongside videos of herself and her partner embracing their newborns in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit 'Fraternal twin sisters, our little 32-weekers took us all by surprise a whopping 7.5 weeks early' She continued: 'Were all adjusting to life in the NICU as we have a long road ahead of usundeniably filled with twists and turnsbut the girls are fighters and getting stronger every daywe all are Herron went on to add that for a brief moment, she actually thought she was having triplets, thanks to a bizarre phenomenon. Herron went on to add that for a brief moment, she actually thought she was having triplets, thanks to a bizarre phenomenon. 'What's really crazy is, and I haven't talked about this yet, is that when I went in for 1st ultrasound, there were actually 3 gestational sacs,' she said. She explained that meant, 'Baby A tried to split and become identical twins, but a yolk and fetal pole never developed. 'SOOO... this means for about 15 seconds I had a heart attack there was going to be triplets,' she said. The ultrasound image clearly showed the two embryos - Baby A and Baby B - but there was an 'empty sac' that is called a 'blighted ovum' or a 'vanishing twin/triplet.' She then shared a snap of her and husband Brown, who tied the knot in August after getting engaged in May 2021. 'I feel like I have been really lacking on the content front lately. I'm just so exhausted that any minute I try to sit down, I have to take a nap,' she explained. 'Thank you for still showing up for my updates, even if they are sparse. Hopefully by the 2nd trimester, I'll have the energy to be creative again,' she said. She also inadvertantly revealed that the twins are girls in another Instagram story post, where she spoke about her grief over losing Oliver. Nearly a year after losing baby Oliver Sarah announced the pair were expecting twins 'Just BAWLED my eyes out in therapy. My grief for Oliver is heavy right now, as his heavenly birthday 12 days away,' she said. 'It hurts so bad, and simultaneously I know he's sending me these little girls to comfort me right now,' she said, revealing the twins are both girls. When someone responded to her story with the all-caps text 'GIRLS!!' and two red heart emojis, Herron responded, 'Oops. Cat's outta the bag. But yes, we know the sex of all our embyros.' Herron and Brown welcomed their son Oliver at just 24 weeks on January 28, but they revealed he passed away just hours after birth. Jackie 'O' Henderson has become the hottest socialite on the Sydney block recently and insiders say 'she is lapping it up'. The radio personality, 49, who was once a homebody with a very small group of work buddies, has now expanded her friend group to include Sydney's most glamorous. After striking up a friendship with P.E Nation founder Pip Edwards, the media star has carved out a niche for herself in high-society, reported Herald Sun on Sunday. 'She's hot, got style and has got cash it shouldn't come as a surprise everyone wants a piece of her. And she is lapping it up,' an insider told the publication. Jackie's social circle once included only KIIS FM news reader Brooklyn Ross, co-host Kyle Sandilands and business partner Gemma O'Neill. Now the blonde beauty has expanded her friend group to include Pip, 44, agent Milly Gattegno, top Sydney stylist Jess Pecoraro and make-up artist to the stars Max May. After a luxury getaway to Greece with Gemma, 41, Jackie was also recently spotted hanging out with Four Seasons condom heirs Michael and Alexander Porter. She attended the wedding of Alexander to his partner Chris Ledlin at Chateau de la Napoule in France. Jackie 'O' Henderson, 49, has become the hottest socialite on the Sydney block recently and insiders say 'she is lapping it up'. Pictured with Pip Edwards, 44, (L) and Milly Gattegno While at the union, Jackie was snapped in a photo with Michael and his husband Billy Mitchell which was uploaded to Instagram with the caption: 'Throuple.' Jackie has certainly turned herself into a style icon of late after she shed 20kg and began filling her wardrobe with designer pieces. The radio shock jock often stuns in elegant ensembles from Aussie designer Zimmermann and adds accessories from Italian fashion house Bulgari. The radio personality, who was once a homebody with a small group of work buddies, has now expanded her friend group to include Sydney's most glamorous. Pictured with Billy Mitchell After striking up a friendship with P.E Nation founder Pip Edwards, the media star has carved out a niche for herself in high-society, reported Herald Sun on Sunday Jackie also regularly gets her blonde tresses touched up at an upmarket Sydney salon, and recently spent three hours at the venue getting her hair done. She has become known for her glossy platinum blonde tresses and achieves her well-recognised and admired look with the help of hair dye and lengthy extensions. The historic $200million, 10-year radio deal she signed with co-host Kyle, 52, last November also helped Jackie become the latest 'It Girl'. Making a move on the Melbourne breakfast radio scene, the Sydney-based duo signed the record-breaking deal live on their Kyle and Jackie Show. Minnie Driver opened up about her past relationship on Saturday. The 54-year-old British actress who recently opened up about sexism in Hollywood explained that she dodged a bullet by not marrying her ex-fiance Josh Brolin, 56. She told The Sunday Times, 'This one time I was engaged, it would have been, I think, the biggest mistake of my life.' The pair was betrothed back in 2001, but the nuptials were called off just five months later. Driver explained that her own parents rocky relationship has reflected in her on. The Ella Enchanted star said her parents never married due to her father's infidelity. Minnie Driver, 54, explained that she dodged a bullet by not marrying her ex-fiance Josh Brolin; seen in 2024 The pair was betrothed back in 2001, but the nuptials were called off just five months later; Josh and Minnie seen in 2001 'If I look at my history, what it did was make me want to be married so much and then choose men who were so not the right men to be married to,' the Circle of Friends actress said. She continued: 'So I would carry on longing to be married and to have that conservative version [of a relationship], find men who had no interest in that, and then if one did, run a mile she went on. 'But now Im with someone who doesnt want to get married but who is the most devoted, loving, extraordinary Everything I could have wanted in my childhood idea of a husband, he actually is,' she finished. The British actress is dating her longtime love, American director Addison O'Dea, 45, who she was first linked to in 2019. She shares son Henry, 15, with television writer and producer ex Timothy J. Lea, 64. She and the filmmaker met at a Los Angeles party and immediately hit it off. Driver also romanced actor Matt Damon after they met while filming the 1997 film Good Will Hunting. Last month, The Beekeeper star opened up about her dating habits and advice she wishes she could've given her younger self. 'Don't date actors, but I had the best time doing it' Minnie said bluntly on the Today Show. 'I wish she knew all the stuff I know now.' She told The Sunday Times, 'This one time I was engaged, it would have been, I think, the biggest mistake of my life'; Minnie and Josh seen in 1999 'If I look at my history, what it did was make me want to be married so much and then choose men who were so not the right men to be married to,' the Circle of Friends actress said; Josh and Minnie seen in 2001 The British actress is dating her longtime love, American director Addison O'Dea, 45, who she was first linked to in 2019; seen in 2024 'Im with someone who doesnt want to get married but who is the most devoted, loving, extraordinary Everything I could have wanted in my childhood idea of a husband, he actually is,' she said of him; seen in 2023 'I would tell her, "Honey find a nice plumber, find an electrician, find someone who just wants to stay home and support you,"' she said. Minnie went on to explain that while looking back she is grateful for the experiences with the men she has worked with on set as an actress. 'I have only love, like it was the most extraordinary moment in my life,' she said to the outlet, 'nothing but love for all those men.' The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star Rachel Brosnahan glowed as she posed up a storm at Pokemon Go Fest on Randall's Island in New York on Saturday. Rachel became a household name on the hit Amazon Prime show, which follows the story of a rising comedian in New York in the 1960s. Now she has landed the coveted role of Lois Lane in the upcoming movie Superman: Legacy, in which the title character will be played by David Corenswet. But when she surfaced in New York City this weekend, Rachel was mingling with an emblem of a rather different showbiz tentpole. She could be seen gleefully posing up for the cameras with someone dressed up in a giant Pikachu costume in defiance of the sweltering July heat. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star Rachel Brosnahan glowed as she posed up a storm at Pokemon Go Fest on Randall's Island in New York on Saturday She could be seen gleefully posing up for the cameras with someone dressed up in a giant Pikachu costume in defiance of the sweltering July heat Brosnahan and Corsenwet will respectively play Lois Lane and Clark Kent in the new movie, taking on the mantle of Amy Adams and Henry Cavill, who previously held the roles. Corenswet played Jake alongside Lili Reinhart in 2022 Netflix film Look Both Ways and has previously also starred in Hollywood, The Politician, and A24 film, Pearl. Superman: Legacy will be released on July 11, 2025 and is described as about Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. Corenswet and Brosnahan were along a select few testing for DC co-chairs Peter Safran and director James Gunn in full costume and make-up. The tests took place over two days with three actors in 'full Superman attire' - following a months-long search for the new stars. Sources told the publication said each actor 'had closed test deals that would expire after two business weeks' and wanted it sorted before a potential SAG-AFTRA strike, which could start at midnight June 30. The other actors battling it out for the Superman role were British stars Tom Brittney and Nicholas Hoult, while Phoebe Dynevor and Emma Mackey were pipped at the post to the role of Lois. In January new DC Studios bosses Gunn and Safran defended their decision not to bring back Cavill, 40. as Superman as they rebooted the DC Universe with a new over-arching storyline. 'We didn't fire Henry. Henry was never cast,' said Gunn during a presentation to reporters announcing plans for five new DCU films and five new TV series, according to the Hollywood Reporter. In May a first photo of actor Corenswet as Superman was shared In January 2023, DC Studios bosses Gunn and Safran defended their decision not to bring back Cavill as Superman as they rebooted the DC Universe with a new over-arching storyline (Cavill pictured in 2013's Man of Steel) Cavill, who was widely expected to return as the man of steel after appearing in a credits teaser for Black Adam in October, announced the 'sad news' that Gunn and Safran did not plan to bring him back in December. 'I have just had a meeting with James Gunn and Peter Safran and it's sad news, everyone. I will, after all, not be returning as Superman,' Cavill began. 'After being told by the studio to announce my return back in October, prior to their hire, this news isn't the easiest, but that's life,' he added. 'The changing of the guard is something that happens. I respect that. James and Peter have a universe to build,' he added. 'I wish them and all involved with the new universe the best of luck, and happiest of fortunes,' he added. The actor will portray Clark Kent in the rebooted film series alongside Rachel Brosnahan, 32, (pictured in 2023) as Lois Lane, replacing Amy Adams, reports Deadline Cavill and Adams are seen in a romantic scene from 2016's Batman V Superman - Dawn Of Justice Legacy will be released on July 11, 2025 and is described as about Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing The actor went on to address, 'those who have been by my side through the years,' adding, 'we can mourn for a bit,' before addressing the future of the franchise. 'But then we must remember.... Superman is still around. Everything he stands for still exists, and the examples he sets for us are still there!' Cavill said. 'Everything he stands for still exists, and the examples he sets for us are still there! My turn to wear the cape has passed, but what Superman stands for never will. It's been a fun ride with you all, onwards and upwards!' Cavill concluded. Gunn explained: 'For me, it's about who do I want to cast as Superman and who do the filmmakers we have want to cast. And for me, for this story, it isn't Henry.' 'I like Henry, I think he's a great guy. I think he's getting d****d around by a lot of people, including the former regime at this company. But this Superman is not Henry, for a number of reasons,' he added. Cavill's shock announcement in December that he would 'not be returning as Superman' was one of many signs that Gunn and Safran planned major shakeups to the DC franchise. Following the merger that created new parent company Warner Bros. Discovery in April, DC's $90 million Batgirl movie was scrapped in the final stages of production, and plans for Wonder Woman 3 were cast aside last month. Cavill announced his axe from the role with an Instagram post which read: 'I have just had a meeting with James Gunn and Peter Safran and it's sad news, everyone. I will, after all, not be returning as Superman' Gunn is the writer-director who made the Guardians of the Galaxy household names for Marvel and revived The Suicide Squad for DC, before signing on to revamp DC Studios last year. Safran has produced many films for Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema, including Gunn's The Suicide Squad as well as Aquaman, Shazam and the horror films in The Conjuring universe. Gunn is writing the Superman movie, which is described as about Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. Cavill starred as the man of steel in three DC films prior to the merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery last year. Cavill played Superman in 2013's Man of Steel, 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, 2017's Justice League and 2021's Zack Snyder's Justice League. The first phase of the DCU will launch after several inherited projects that are set to debut in the next two years - including The Flash, with Ezra Miller, which Gunn said 'resets the entire DC Universe'. Renee Gracie is making moves in the podcast world. After making her mark on both motorsports and the adult industry, the 29-year-old is launching her own show. The OnlyFans creator will launch her new podcast, In the Back Seat, which she hopes offers another side to her media persona. 'I guess you could call it a rebrand but it's something I wanted to do to show a different side to me,' Gracie told the Herald Sun this weekend. 'I do have that label with OnlyFans but I'm not ashamed of it at all and I want people to think of me and think "that's the girl killing it on OF". I want to prove to people you can be good at one thing and you don't have to give up other things.' Gracie plans to take her new show global and has aspirations of expanding her career into TV. 'I'm the same person, just what you see is different when I'm clothed and unclothed,' the buxom beauty said. 'I want to do cool things on television and overseas is definitely on the cards.' Renee Gracie (pictured) is making moves in the podcast world. After making her mark on both motorsports and the adult industry , the 29-year-old is launching her own show The former racing driver ditched the sport to become an OnlyFans star, before making her stunning comeback in the GT series. Speaking with Daily Mail Australia ahead of the release of her Stan Originals documentary Revealed - Renee Gracie: Fireproof in May, Renee revealed how turning to OnlyFans has impacted her personal life and relationships. Unlike other adult stars, the busty Queenslander said she has no struggle navigating the dating pool while posting racy content online. In fact, it has done 'nothing but wonders' for her. 'It has not affected me in the slightest. I'm probably in a very fortunate position,' she admitted. Meanwhile, Renee opened up about what her father really thinks of her X-rated career. In her Stan documentary, she revealed her dad fully supports her work in the adult industry. The OnlyFans creator will launch her new podcast, In the Back Seat, which she hopes offers another side to her media persona 'Bit of an awkward conversation to have with your dad,' she says in the doco, recalling the time she told her dad about her newfound passion. Meanwhile, her dad added: 'I'm pretty easy. She's on OnlyFans, she's a porn star. That's how I describe her. Then people are so shocked, they're too scared to ask anymore questions.' Renee added that she could have gone down a very destructive path after her racing career was over in 2017, and after her mother suffered a tragic accident, which is all revealed in the documentary. 'I could have left motor sport, been down in the dumps, gone off the rails. I had every reason to go into a psychiatric assessment at some stages, because I thought I was loopy and I just thought I was crazy because of everything that I went through,' she said. 'I was down and out. So, I had many paths that I could have chosen and I chose one that made me very successful.' Renee added: 'I think most people overlook the fact that at least I'm earning good money. It's not like I'm doing anything illegal - I pay my taxes. I'm safe. I do it from the comfort of my home behind a camera. I've got a really good environment that I'm around as well. The former racing driver ditched the sport to become an OnlyFans star, before making her stunning comeback in the GT series 'So I think if you look outside of what I actually do to earn the money, I've actually got a very successful career that is safe, comfortable and earns me good money.' Renee once claimed she made more than $500,000 in one month through OnlyFans and stated in 2022 that she made 'almost $10million' online, allowing her to purchase three houses. But she is now coy about her current earnings, telling Daily Mail Australia she earns 'enough' from the subscription-based site. 'Everyone has guesses, everyone guesstimates but I make enough. I feel like everyone tries to officially pick and choose how much I make,' she said. 'I try and be respectful of everybody else, but I am successful. And I have been very successful on my OnlyFans page for pretty much the last four years. I'm very grateful for that.' Having had an unsuccessful stint in Supercars before turning to OnlyFans and making millions, Renee returned to racing and holds the 2023 GT World Challenge Australia GT Trophy. Mia Fevola is soaking up the sun in Europe. The model took to Instagram on Saturday to treat her followers to a gallery of snaps from her holiday in Milos, Greece. The 24-year-old daughter of AFL legend Brendan Fevola turned heads as she showcased her incredible tanned figure in a chic white bikini. The ensemble was accessorised with a chain necklace and matching bracelet. Mia simply captioned the post, 'Last bits of Milos.' Fevola has been enjoying the lavish getaway with her boyfriend Bass Miller. Earlier this year, Fevola revealed she will be keeping her beau out of the public eye. Mia told Stellar Magazine that she learned a hard lesson after going public with footy star ex-boyfriend Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, 22. Mia Fevola, 24, is soaking up the sun in Europe. Pictured The model took to Instagram on Saturday to treat her followers to a gallery of snaps from her holiday in Milos, Greece The pair became the target of relentless online trolls during their romance. 'I learned a lot from that [experience]. I overshared when I was younger and I learnt the hard way that some things are better left private' she said. '[The attention] would have happened with anyone, given I was posting about it so much' Mia continued. 'Any public relationship opens the doors for a lot of negativity. There are always going to be critics out there'. The makeup artist and psychology student also addressed speculation that she 'pays' for paparazzi images to be taken of her. The 24-year-old daughter of AFL legend Brendan Fevola turned heads as she showcased her incredible tanned figure in a chic white bikini Fevola has been enjoying the lavish getaway with her boyfriend Bass Miller 'It's funny because a lot of the trolls say that we're paying them to do that. It's so frustrating why would I want to look like that online?' she said. 'I'm unaware of it. I never am looking for them, so I never even notice it.' Mia and Jamarra split at the end of 2021 as a result of intense scrutiny over their fledgling romance, which saw the pair inundated with hundreds of bullying messages on social media. Mia and boyfriend Bass went public with their romance in July of 2023. Do you know more? Email tips@dailymail.com Sacked Channel Seven journalist Robert Ovadia has formally launched legal proceedings against his former employer, claiming he was unfairly dismissed. The veteran crime reporter's employment was terminated last month in the wake of allegations that he allegedly sent a series of 'strange' doctored images to a young female reporter four years ago. It is understood the junior staffer, who no longer works at Channel Seven, never officially complained about the images. She left the network in December 2020. Ovadia was dismissed after the ABC's Four Corners program learnt about an image and started inquiring about it as part of an investigation into allegations of a toxic culture at the network. It has since been revealed that Ovadia lodged legal action against Channel Seven and the network's news boss Anthony De Ceglie in the Fair Work Commission a week ago. He has lodged a general protections application and is seeking compensation for his dismissal, pecuniary penalties and reinstatement to his job, The Australian reported. Ovadia has appointed high-profile employment and media lawyer John Laxon, who has confirmed that documents were lodged with the FWC. The network has one week from the date the application was filed to respond. Former Channel Seven reporter Robert Ovadia (pictured) has lodged legal action, claiming that he was unfairly dismissed The matter will progress to conciliation between the parties if unresolved. 'Seven takes very seriously any allegations in relation to sexual harassment, bullying and other behaviours deemed to be inappropriate within the workplace,' a network spokesperson told the publication. 'We take complaints seriously, manage them confidentially and deal with any breaches decisively.' Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Seven for further comment. Ovadia declined to comment about the legal action. It comes after Daily Mail Australia revealed that Ovadia reportedly took images from a producer's personal Instagram page and turned them into a 'caricature' before sharing them with her, according to a former colleague. 'The pictures weren't doctored in a sexual manner - they were just strange,' the source told Daily Mail Australia. 'They showed [the young woman] in a slinky cocktail dress holding a champagne flute in cartoon and him in a cape with a sword and shield like he was some kind of knight (in) shining armour.' Ovadia, who worked at the network for 23 years and was a popular figure among his colleagues, revealed on June 21 he had been let go by management. 'Yes I've been sacked and there will be more to say about that in the appropriate forum at the appropriate time,' he said. He later revealed that he longer wishes to work as a journalist. 'I've been advised not to talk about my case so I won't, but if you're asking whether I'll be returning to journalism? No, I don't think so,' Ovadia recently told The Australian. Sacked Channel Seven journalist Robert Ovadia (above) allegedly sent a series of strange doctored images to a young female reporter before he was dumped by the network Ovadia was first stood down by the broadcaster on June 7 while the investigation took place. The network said: 'Seven is conducting an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour by Robert Ovadia.' On Saturday, sources told The Australian that Ovadia had also allegedly Googled and then sent an image of a flaccid penis to a male colleague. The colleague had allegedly requested a 'dick pic' while covering a court case featuring a man named Dick - prompting Ovadia to allegedly send the image as a joke. There is no suggestion the allegations are proven and Ovadia has previously said they are unfounded and that he would defend himself. Ovadia also allegedly Googled and sent an image of a flaccid penis to a male colleague after they allegedly requested a 'dick pic' while covering a court case featuring a man named Dick Meanwhile, the staff bloodbath at the network is set to continue with reports 150 jobs could be axed in the wake of a recent string of high-profile departures. Anthony De Ceglie, who recently became Channel Seven's director of news, told staff he has a 'zero tolerance' approach to bad behaviour in the newsroom amid the fallout from the Bruce Lehrmann Spotlight scandal. The network announced a reshuffle in its news leadership team last Thursday, installing a new news director in Sydney, and new executive producers for Sunrise and Weekend Sunrise. Rival network Channel Nine has also been battling a scandal after The Australian revealed former news boss Darren Wick left the station following a complaint by a female employee. Other staff members have since made allegations of bullying and sexual harassment at the network, prompting Nine to conduct its own investigation. Mr Ovadia declined to comment. Tasha Ghouri left little to the imagination in a tiny two-piece as partied in Marbella on Saturday. The former Love Island star, 25, opted for a see-through netted two-piece made up of a tiny bra, small thong and matching wrap. Tasha looked sensational in the tropical location as she covered her eyes with a pair of dark shades and let her tousled locks flow free, with leafy earrings complementing her overall look. She was in good spirits as she partied on the Spanish city with an unnamed friend and the pair of them soaked up the sun. The blonde beauty clutched onto her phone and looked cool and calm for the trip whilst sipping on a drink in the hot weather. Tasha Ghouri left little to the imagination in a tiny two-piece as partied in Marbella on Saturday. She was in good spirits as she partied on the Spanish city with an unnamed friend and the pair of them soaked up the sun. In a third snap, the TikTok star gave a wide smile as she sunk into a nearby pool and pulled her phone out to take a selfie. While Tasha is yet to walk down the aisle with her boyfriend Andrew Le Page, he has hinted it is definitely in the couple's future. The pair's romance blossomed on the 2022 series of Love Island as they made it all the way to the final before they finished in fourth place. Since leaving the villa, the pair have only gone from strength to strength, even going on holiday to Australia to visit Tasha's brother Andrew. They also showed their continued commitment to each other as Andrew, 27, gave his girlfriend a promise ring for Christmas 2022. The former estate agent Andrew gave dancer Tasha the glistening silver 265 ring by Tiffany and Co as a gift. Giving fans a glimpse at the jewellery on her YouTube channel, Tasha told her subscribers: 'Everybody is probably thinking this is an engagement box - Andrew got me a gorgeous promise ring and I love it so much. In a third snap, the TikTok star gave a wide smile as she sunk into a nearby pool and pulled her phone out to take a selfie. Tasha is yet to walk down the aisle with her boyfriend Andrew Le Page, who she met on the 2022 series of Love Island, but he has hinted it is definitely in the couple's future 'It's so simple and I love silver. I did not expect that at all, I nearly started crying. 'When I first saw the box I was like... because that is an engagement box.' The couple had flown to Guernsey to spend the festive period with Andrew's family. And Andrew revealed in November that he hopes to marry Tasha in the near future, as he vowed they won't 'ever' break up. Fiona Bruce has been one of the most familiar faces on television for decades. The TV star, 60, has been a journalist at the BBC, is the face of Antiques Roadshow and chairs the political debate programme Question Time. But away from the serious world of journalism and politics, Fiona has appeared on two of the most popular British sitcoms ever. In 2009, she starred in Only Fools and Horses spin-off The Green Green Grass when, in the episode, she arrived with her appraisal show crew. And more than half a decade later, she appeared in a Comic Relief special of The Vicar of Dibley opposite Dawn French. Fiona Bruce has been one of the most familiar faces on television for decades but she is mostly known for her presenting appearances She hosts the BBC political programme Question Time, and has to chair fiery debates between politicans and members of the public The ecclesiastical sitcom initially aired sporadically from 2004 until 2007 and followed the lives of the whimsical residents of the small Oxfordshire village. It made a comeback in 2015 when the title character of Geraldine Granger is being interviewed for the position of Bishop, but she is faced with some stiff competition. Other guest stars who appeared as candidates included the likes of One Foot In the Grave star Annette Crosbie, Gavin and Stacey actress Ruth Jones and Dawn's writing partner Jennifer Saunders. Harry Potter star Emma Watson is also in the running, but the residents of Dibley wrongly assumed Geraldine had got the job and recruited Fiona Bruce to become their new vicar. When Geraldine returns to the village, she is introduced to Fiona and promptly punches her in the face after realising that she is now unemployed. Fiona admitted shortly after it aired that the punch up was not initially in the script, but was an idea that Dawn had just before cameras started rolling. She told the Radio Times: 'The punch wasn't in the script, but when we rehearsed it, Dawn said, 'Surely at this point I'd be so cross I would punch her.' 'Richard Curtis [who created the show] told her to go for it. But every time she did, it made me laugh. I couldn't keep a straight face.' Fiona is also the face of Antiques Roadshow for the BBC, but has not done much acting in her career on screen Dawn French starred as Geraldine Granger in the BBC's Vicar Of Dibley from 1994 until 2007 and the show made a comeback in 2015 for Comic Relief A mix up at the village prompts the residents to recruit Fiona Bruce to take Geraldine's job as vicar When Geraldine returns to the village, she is introduced to Fiona and promptly punches her in the face after realising that she is now unemployed The Vicar of Dibley cast, pictured from left to right: John Bluthal, James Fleet, Dawn French, Emma Chambers, Gary Waldhorn, Roger Lloyd Pack and Trevor Peacock Following that special, The Vicar Of Dibley returned once more for a series of specials in lockdown. But by that time, Emma Chambers - who played the dim-witted Alice Tinker - had passed away, as had Roger Lloyd Pack, who starred as farmer Owen Newitt. John Bluthal, who played parish council minutes-taker Frank Pickle, passed away in 2018 at the age of 89 and Jim Trott actor Trevor Peacock died in 2021. After the death of Gary Waldhorn - who played Cllr David Horton - in 2022, James Fleet (Hugo Horton) and Dawn became the only surviving main cast members from the show. John Stamos used his Instagram platform to share a special father-son moment over the weekend. The 60-year-old actor was joined by six-year-old Billy as he drummed for The Beach Boys at Meadow Brook Amphitheatre in Michigan on Friday. 'Had a little help from my son BILLY on Good Vibrations last night - Wasnt it nice! @thebeachboys,' the Full House alum captioned a video excerpt from the show. John is currently appearing with the band on the Endless Summer Gold 2024 Tour. The clip showed Billy wearing protective lime green headphones as he stood beside his dad and helped him perform a drum solo to the 1966 tune. John Stamos used his Instagram platform to share a special father-son moment over the weekend; pictured with son Billy in December Stamos shares Billy, his only child, with wife Caitlin McHugh Stamos, with whom he tied the knot in 2018. Some of John's 4.3 million followers took to the comments to leave supportive messages. 'He will remember that forever! What a wonderful experience for both of you! You're such a great dad! I've been a huge fan since Blacky!' one fan wrote. Another praised Billy ,writing, 'He did a great job! Loved seeing you live last night! Thanks for an amazing night! .' 'Great job Billyanother drummer enters the family ' someone else contributed. Billy previously joined his father on stage in March 2023, during another Beach Boys show. The Endless Summer Gold Tour marks the iconic band's 50th anniversary of their album of the same same, which was released on June 24, 1974. John joined the music collective May 30 - June 20, and again July 5 - July 7. The 60-year-old actor was joined by six-year-old Billy as he drummed for The Beach Boys at Meadow Brook Amphitheatre in Michigan on Friday 'Had a little help from my son BILLY on good vibrations last night. Wasnt it nice! @thebeachboys,' the Full House alum captioned a video excerpt from the show He will return for another set of live shows from August 30 - September 1, ABC News reported in May. Also over the weekend, Stamos paid tribute to his late father, who passed away more than two decades ago. Sharing a video clip on stage, with a guitar strapped over his shoulder, he wrote in the caption: 'I lost my dad 23 years ago today. This song is called Forever - and thats how long love should last.' 'You know, the things that separate us seem to small compared to what brings us together,' he said to the audience in the outtake, getting choked up. 'Music unites us and it's so personal, yet it's so universal.' Nicki Minaj was forced to cancel her headlining performance at SAGA Festival on Sunday night due to a planned protest in Bucharest, Romania. The Grammy-winning rapper, 41, revealed she made the decision to pull out from performing, at the last minute, due to 'safety concerns.' 'Out of concern for the well-being of our team and myself, I have been advised by my security detail not to travel to Romanias festival tonight due to safety concerns regarding protests in the area,' she tweeted, just hours before her set. 'I look forward to seeing you all at another time.' She continued: 'As a mom, I have to make sure Im making sound decisions for me to make it home to my son and for my team to make it home to their families. To not heed the advice of security at this time is simply not what I think I should be doing. I love you and thank you for your understanding and support.' SAGA Festival also shared the update with a 'heavy heart' as they called her decision 'beyond' their powers. Nicki Minaj was forced to cancel her headlining performance at SAGA Festival on Sunday night due to a planned protest in Bucharest, Romania; seen in March 2024 'The news has left us all devastated, and we know its a huge disappointment for all of you, just as it is for us,' the organizers wrote. Anyone with an unscanned ticket for the Sunday festival will be able to receive a refund. Although Minaj did not specify what protest caused the security concern, according to Rolling Stone, there appears to be a 'march in Bucharest' planned for Monday. The publication cited a post, uploaded by Crisis2, which reads: 'Business groups and taxpayers are demanding improvements to the states fiscal policies and processes. Demonstrators will then rally in front of the Ministry of Finance until 13:30.' Crisis 24 reports that 'several hundred to low thousands of protesters will take part' and 'the demonstration will likely be peaceful.' Minaj will next perform in London at Wireless Festival on Friday. In May, Minaj was briefly arrested before being fined at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport on Saturday on allegations that 'soft drugs' were found in her luggage. She was traveling from Amsterdam to Manchester for her next Pink Friday 2 Tour show at the time. This led to her show in Manchester getting cancelled at the last moment as a result of her brief detainment. The Grammy-winning rapper, 41, revealed she made the decision to pull out from performing, at the last minute, due to 'safety concerns' Despite vehemently denying that she was carrying any drugs, the rapper was told that she needed to go to the police station in footage captured during an Instagram Live. In the recording, a man explained to her that she 'would get a lawyer at the office' and they would go 'as fast as possible.' During the Instagram Live, the Anaconda hitmaker said she was told 'to get into this [police] van and go into the precinct with no lawyer present.' She further alleged that someone working for airport security requested she made a 'statement with no lawyer present' after finding 'pre-rolls' in 'bags that they were not authorized to take.' It is currently unclear if she was booked at a police station. A spokesperson for the police in the Netherlands confirmed to NBC News that they 'arrested a 41-year-old American woman at Schiphol Airport because of possession of soft drugs.' They did not identify Minaj, or anyone else by name, as the person arrested. Before the arrest, Minaj shared a series of posts on X (previously known as Twitter), about her bags getting pulled for a thorough search at the airport. 'They've been trying everything they possibly can to TRY to stop this tour,' she wrote in one tweet, before theorizing that they were trying to 'plant things' in her luggage. In May, Minaj was briefly arrested before being fined at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport on Saturday on allegations that 'soft drugs' were found in her luggage; seen in 2023 Additionally, she shared footage on her Instagram of a man telling her that police needed to take a closer look at her luggage. In the clip, an airline crew member told her that a 'police officer told' him that they had 'to offload all the luggage and to search everything.' 'I'm so sorry to say that,' he continued. She, then, asked: 'But wasn't that what you planned on doing from the get-go? Why didn't you guys search it before it went on the plane?' 'They did just a random quick check, but now they want to open it,' he insisted. After she asked why, he said: 'First of all, because you filmed him... [and] ... he doesn't believe you that you don't have more with you than you say.' 'No, he asked me 'Do I have any more in those purses' and I said, 'No,' and I asked him where are my bags,' the rapper said. 'They took my bags and put them on the plane before I could know what bags are on the plane.' The airline crew member simply said he was 'so sorry for that.' 'Okay, of course,' she said before the video ended. In Minaj's caption, she wrote 'they took my bags before I could see them' then 'put it on the plane.' 'This is what it looks like when ppl are paid big money to try to sabotage a tour after all else failed. Everything they've done is illegal,' she wrote. Despite vehemently denying that she was carrying any drugs, the rapper was told that she needed to go to the police station in footage captured during an Instagram Live in May In the recording, a man explained to her that she 'would get a lawyer at the office' and they would go 'as fast as possible' Before the alleged arrest, Minaj shared a series of posts on X (previously known as Twitter ), about her bags getting pulled for a thorough search at the airport 'They've been trying everything they possibly can to TRY to stop this tour,' she wrote in one tweet, before theorizing that they were trying to 'plant things' in her luggage Minaj also tweeted that her 'filming every single thing made' airline employees and police 'mad' Minaj's went on to claim that she was told that she had five minutes 'to make a statement about' her 'security to the police precinct.' Earlier, she had noted on X that 'they said they found weed & that another group of ppl have to come here to weigh the pre-rolls.' 'Keep in mind they took my bags without consent. My security has already advised them those pre-rolls belong to him. Oh yea & the pilot wants me to take my ig [Instagram] post down,' she wrote. In another X post, she pointed out that marijuana is legal in Amsterdam. At just 28 years old, Jordan Bardella has helped make the far-right National Rally the strongest political force in France. And now he could become the country's youngest prime minister. After voters propelled Marine Le Pens National Rally to a strong lead in the first round of snap legislative elections on June 30, Bardella turned to rallying supporters to hand their party an absolute majority in the decisive round on Sunday. That would allow the anti-immigration, nationalist party to run the government, with Bardella at the helm. When Bardella replaced his mentor, Marine Le Pen, in 2022 at the helm of France's leading far-right party, he became the first person without the Le Pen name to lead it since its founding a half-century ago. His selection marked a symbolic changing of the guard. It was part of Le Pen's decade long effort to rebrand her party, with its history of racism, and remove the stigma of antisemitism that clung to it in order to broaden its base. Leader of the French far-right National Rally Marine Le Pen, left, and lead candidate of the party for the upcoming European election Jordan Bardella during a political meeting on June 2, 2024 in Paris Jordan Bardella poses after an interview with Associated Press in Nanterre, outside Paris, Wednesday, February 20, 2019 Jordan Bardella far-right National Rally leader for the upcoming election speaks to the media as he visits a farm in Chuelles, 85 miles south of Paris, Friday, June 14, 2024 She has notably distanced herself from her now-ostracized father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who co-founded the party, then called the National Front, and who has been repeatedly convicted of hate speech. Bardella is part of a generation of young people who joined the party under Marine Le Pen in the 2010s but likely wouldn't have done so under her father. Since joining at age 17, he has risen quickly through the ranks, serving as party spokesperson and president of its youth wing, before being appointed vice president and becoming the second-youngest member of the European Parliament in history, in 2019. 'Jordan Bardella is the creation of Marine Le Pen,' said Cecile Alduy, a Stanford University professor of French politics and literature, and an expert on the far right. 'He has been made by her and is extremely loyal.' On the campaign trail, Le Pen and Bardella have presented themselves as American-style running mates, with Le Pen vying for the presidency while pushing him to be prime minister, Alduy said. 'They are completely in line politically.' Acting head of the National Rally party Jordan Bardella applauds during a National Rally event in Frejus, France, September 12, 2021 Jordan Bardella attends a session at the European Parliament, Tuesday, January 16, 2024 in Strasbourg, eastern France Bardella delivers his speech after the first round vote of the legislative election June 30, 2024 in Paris 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 Bardella says he will press through a proposed legislation to 'combat Islamist ideologies' in France (two women are pictured wearing a niqab in France) It wasnt only having a different last name that made Bardella an attractive prospect for a party seeking to widen its appeal beyond its traditionally older, rural voter base. Bardella was born in the north Parisian suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis in 1995 to parents of Italian origin, with Algerian roots on his father's side - and far from seeking to deny these roots, he has used them to soften the tone (if not the content) of his party's anti-immigration stance and its hostility to France's Muslim community. Although Bardella attended a semi-private Catholic school and his father was fairly well-off, party-sanctioned accounts have stressed his upbringing in a rundown housing project beset by poverty and drugs. Never having finished university, Bardella's relatively modest background set him apart from the establishment. What's more, he could tell people directly - and crucially young voters - about it. With over 1.7 million followers on TikTok and 750,000 on Instagram, Bardella has found an audience for his slick social media content, which ranges from more traditional campaign material to videos mocking Macron and seemingly candid glimpses into the life of the National Rallys would-be prime minister. With a neat, clean-shaven look and social media savvy, he has posed for selfies with screaming fans. While his rhetoric is strong on hot-button issues like immigration - 'France is disappearing' is his tagline - he has been relatively blurry on specifics. It was Bardella who in a post on X called on Macron to dissolve the parliament and call early elections after the presidents centrist group suffered a crushing defeat by the National Rally at European elections in June. Your browser does not support iframes. French far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally) party President Jordan Bardella poses prior to a debate broadcasted on French TV channel TF1 (From L) French far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party President and lead MEP Jordan Bardella, France's Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and French MP of left wing party La France Insoumise (LFI) Manuel Bompard pose ahead of a political debate broadcasted on French TV channel TF1 When Macron did just that, Bardella, often wearing a suit and tie, hit the campaign trail, toning down his popstar image to seem more statesman-like despite his lack of experience in government. In recent months, the National Rally has softened some of its most controversial positions, including pedaling back some of its proposals for more public spending and protectionist economic policies, and taking France out of NATOs strategic military command. Laying out the party's new program, Bardella said that as prime minister he would promote law and order, tighter regulation of migration and restricting certain social benefits, such as housing, to French citizens only. He said that dual citizens would be barred from some specific key jobs, such as state employees in the defense and security field. He promised to cut taxes on fuel, gas and electricity, and pledged a rollback of Macrons pension changes. His law-and-order minded government would also extend to the nations public schools, extending the ban on cellphones to high schools. Rivals say his policies could do lasting damage to the French economy and violate human rights. On the international front, Bardella has aimed to counter allegations that Le Pens party has long been friendly toward Russia and President Vladimir Putin. He said he regards Russia as 'a multidimensional threat both for France and Europe,' and said he would be 'extremely vigilant' of any Russian attempts to interfere with French interests. Although he supports continued deliveries of French weaponry to Ukraine, he would not send French troops to help the country defend itself. He would also not allow sending long-rage missiles capable of striking targets within Russia. For voters with low incomes or who feel left out of economic successes in Paris or the globalized economy, Bardella offers an appealing choice, Alduy said. 'The feeling of vulnerability people have to factors that are beyond their control, calls for a radical change in the minds of many voters,' she said. 'He has a clean slate and comes with no baggage of the past.' Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, and nearby rural towns like it are being drastically transformed into distribution hotspots for major retailers like Amazon and Walmart - to the dismay of some longtime residents. With its endless acres of farmland, the tiny town is seemingly the perfect location for huge warehouses - and it is at most a day's drive away from one-third of the US population and half of Canada's, making it the ideal delivery truck epicenter. Many farmers who owned the land companies wanted to build on were unable to refuse the bags of cash they were offered to sell up, Bloomberg reported. But this has led to tension among locals. Some residents acknowledge the presence of industry titans has led to a boom in jobs. Others are furious at the farmers for 'selling out' and forever changing the idyllic character of the town they grew up in, with farms destroyed for warehouses and hills flattened for parking lots. Aerial shot of farmland surrounding Shippensburg during late fall Street views of the town of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania The job growth is hard to argue with after dozens of big name corporations opened warehouses in the Shippensburg area. P&G, which owns Charmin, Crest, Gillette and Pampers, was one of the first to do so in 2014, followed by Amazon.com, DHL, FedEx, Home Depot, Kohler, Lowe's, Office Depot, Pepsi, SC Johnson, Staples, Target, Ulta Beauty, Unilever and UPS, among many others. Shippensburg isn't the only town in the state that's being overhauled in order to keep up with the nation's massive consumption. In fact, Pennsylvania has added more than 170 million square feet of warehouse space in the last 10 years, double the amount of office space in San Francisco. What's happening in Shippensburg is similar to what's already happened to California's Inland Empire, which used to be a major center of agriculture. Now, this area of southern California is the nation's warehouse capital, home to Amazon and Walmart facilities. When Shippensburg was solely agrarian, locals had three typical career paths - farming, the military or manufacturing. But now high school graduates can take warehousing jobs that pay as much as $35 per hour. If they do decide to go to college, Shippensburg University even offers a supply chain and logistics major. Students who get that degree have a 99 percent job placement rate, with most graduates receiving a $60,000 to $90,000-a-year offer, the program's chair Robert Setaputra told Bloomberg. Shippensburg University offers a supply chain and logistics major now that its become a hub for distribution centers for dozens of big name companies Students who get a degree in supply chain management have a 99 percent job placement rate, with most graduates receiving a $60,000 to $90,000-a-year offer, the program's chair Robert Setaputra told Bloomberg This major has been around since 2007 but didn't start gaining traction until farmers like Robert Commerer Jr. allowed Shippensburg to be recrafted into a shipping megapolis. Commerer sold his 120-acre dairy farm in 2002 to Prologis, a warehouse developer. Even though he received a large payday - more money than a lifetime spent toiling away as a dairy farmer - it certainly wasn't an easy decision for him and his wife. Commerer bought the farm from his grandparents when he was 28, looking to make a living and support his two young children. But the reality of working a farm struck him rather quickly. The hours were long and the work was stressful, he said. So when developers began calling to tell him his farm was exactly what they were looking for - his land sat a few hundred yards from the I-81 exit ramp - he eventually took the offer from Prologis. 'You're taking out loans,' he told Bloomberg, 'hoping you get the right amount of rain, that you get your crops off in time. After a while it really works hard on you.' Twenty years later, there is still a stigma attached to selling your land from his fellow Shippensburg neighbors. 'Some guys kind of hated us,' Commerer said. 'Jealousy. Sometimes, you just avoid people after that.' Robert Commerer Jr. sold his 120-acre dairy farm in 2002 to Prologis, a warehouse developer A row of cattle feeding on hay in an open barn on a farm Josh Diller, one of Commerer's co-workers at Best Line Equipment, a company that rents commercial and industrial equipment to individuals and companies, didn't seem to begrudge him and other farmers for making an economical decision. 'Everyone gets mad at the farmers who sold out. He's worked his whole life. He's paying taxes on that land. Milk checks might be down,' said Diller, who works as a sales representative. 'He does have money in the land, but he doesn't have a bunch of cash flow, so then all of a sudden you get offered a stupid amount of money. His next generation might not want to farm. Wouldn't you take it?' Laverne Martin, who grew up next door to Commerer's farm, gave some insight into the types of offers Shippensburg farmers are receiving. Martin still lives on his 60-acre property, where he and his family run a metal roofing business for their primary income. On the side, they harvest corn and soybeans on their land. 'The most we ever got offered for that was over $100,000 an acre,' Martin told Bloomberg. He always refuses though, essentially leaving $6 million on the table in exchange for keeping the land that's been in his family for decades. Another nearby farm, he said, was going for $125,000 an acre. Courthouse in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, a town near Shippensburg that's going through many of the same changes The Volvo Construction Equipment manufacturing facility in Shippensburg Now, more than 20 years after Commerer's sale, his dairy farm is no more. Gone are his house, barn and 150 cows. Instead, there now stands a parking lot and 1.5-million-square-foot distribution center for Georgia-Pacific, which manufacturers everything from tissues, packaging and building products. Commerer noted that even the land itself is unrecognizable. His acreage used to be full of character, with rolling hills and valleys. But since warehouses require flat land, the hills were shaved down and the depressions were filled. As the character of Shippensburg does a complete 180 thanks to land-hungry warehouse developers, the question on some people's minds might be: was it worth it? But with employment in warehousing and storage tripling nationwide from 2010 to 2022, others argue that Shippensburg is simply going to where the demand is and meeting it. Young people who want to capitalize on that demand turn to Shippensburg University, often shortened to Ship, to get an education that will prepare them to be operations manager, purchasing analyst or inventory analyst. Pictured: Georgia-Pacific's distribution center, which replaced Commerer's 120-acre dairy farm after he sold it in 2002 Walmart's 1.8 million square foot fulfillment center in Shippensburg, which employs roughly 500 people in the town of about 5,500 These jobs have high salaries but are based in Shippensburg, allowing students who want to stay local to do so without feeling like they need to pick up their entire life and move to a major metro area. McKenna Borrell is one of those people, graduating from Ship in 2022 as a supply chain management student. She was in college as a supply chain management student during the Covid-19 pandemic, which plagued the US with endless supply chain issues we're still facing to this day. Borrell recalled the toilet paper shortage of 2020, sensing at that time that once she graduated, her expertise would be in high demand. After dozens of companies came knocking, she decided to take a job as an operations manager at Walmart's 1.8 million-square-foot fulfillment center in Shippensburg. The salary range for Borrell's position is $65,000 all the way up to $139,000, according to a job posting. Even earning $65,000 on the low end right out of college could be considered an amazing first gig, considering the average single earner in Pennsylvania makes just over $60,000 a year. Rook Smith is pictured alongside Brooke Commerer, the daughter of Robert Commerer. Like many Shippensburg Gen Z'ers, he decided to go into the warehousing business Rook Smith, who is engaged to Commerer's daughter Brooke, grew up sledding on a hill next to his soon-to-be father-in-law's farm. And when Georgia-Pacific broke ground on the massive warehouse, he said he remembered thinking, 'This might be something I need to get into.' Years later, he went to Ship and received offers from every single company he interviewed with at the university job fair. 'Everybody's really looking for people with supply chain skills,' Smith said. He works at Allen Distribution as a production supervisor managing a team assembling variety packs of Snyder's pretzels and other snacks. These eventually get shipped to Costcos and Walmarts all over the country. Smith and his fiance acknowledge the sad reality of picturesque farms like Commerer's getting swallowed up while simultaneously embracing the economic reality small towns like theirs face. 'Goods need to get to people,' Smith said. 'It's a necessary evil.' Savvy Americans have figured out a cunning way to build their reward points by signing up for the first ever credit card centered entirely around paying your rent. Wells Fargo and startup Bilt launched the Bilt Mastercard in 2022, a rewards credit card that attracted over one million new accounts in its first 18 months. With the Bilt card, users can pay their rent without their landlord passing the two to three percent transaction fee onto them. Their rent payment is also eligible for points - one per dollar spent - that can later be redeemed to book flights, hotels or rental cars. Or they can be transferred to travel partners including American Airlines, Air France and Marriott Bonvoy. Normally, some credit card customers carry balances over from month-to-month - needing to pay interest to the bank. However, the Wall Street Journal reports that the customers who took up the Bilt Mastercard are savvier than most - and aren't carrying balances at nearly the rate executives anticipated. Wells and startup Bilt launched the Bilt Mastercard in 2022, a rewards credit card that attracted over one million new accounts in its first 18 months Credit card issuers make the bulk of their money from interest they charge if their customers don't pay off their balance in full at the end of the month. But initial reports suggest Bilt card users have been paying off their card every month because they are primarily using it for rent, thereby racking up free points on what otherwise would be a mandatory expense. Wells expected 65 percent of purchases on the card would be non-rent prior to launch. The reality ended up being the opposite. That inaccurate prediction hit the bank hard because, under the existing deal, Wells takes a hit on much of the transaction fees renters would normally be responsible for. The San Francisco-based bank has also been paying its partner Bilt a fee of around 0.8 percent per rent transaction. And even though it earns fees every time someone swipes their card for anything but rent, Wells splits that with Bilt. Finally, Bilt receives $200 from the bank every time someone signs up for a new account. Wells told the Journal that dual brandings like this one are a 'modest piece' of its credit-card business. 'As with all new card launches, it takes multiple years for the initial launch to pay off,' said a spokeswoman for the bank. 'We look forward to continuing to work together tomake sure it's a win for both Bilt and Wells Fargo.' Bilt was harsher in its response to the bombshell piece, saying the Journal's reporting that the scheme is just beneficial for Bilt 'is an inaccurate representation' of the partnership. The startup said: 'Following our co-brand card's successful launch in 2022, we have been impressed by the early traction and growth and we are committed to a long term partnership with Wells Fargo that benefits all parties, most importantly - our customers.' The partnership between Bilt and Wells Fargo is in contract until 2029 - and the bank has refuted claims that there have been conversations to exit the agreement. Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf, left, signed off on the Bilt deal to hopefully reinvigorate the bank's credit card offerings and lead to more mortgages down the line Behind the scenes, Wells is reportedly telling Bilt that cardholders are not paying nearly enough interest for this to ever become profitable. Meanwhile, Bilt is upset over the bank replacing marketing of the Bilt card in Wells Fargo branches with its own native credit cards. The story of Bilt began in 2019, when Jain founded the company. His mission was to find a bank partner to issue its first credit card, since his firm wasn't capable of lending on its own. Major lenders such as U.S. Bancorp and Synchrony Financial passed on Jain's pitch. When Jain brought his proposition of a rent-based card to Wells, some employees apparently thought the idea was crazy, according to the WSJ's report. But at this time, Charlie Scharf was the CEO and one of his major goals was to revitalize the company's credit card offerings. The thought was that they could attract younger customers who were renting for the time being but had ambitions to get a mortgage someday. According to data, 70 percent of of Bilt cardholders are new customers to Wells Fargo - and their average age is 30, with an average FICO score of 760. CEO Jain emphasized the way this is benefitting Wells Fargo: 'These are highly valuable customers to any bank being acquired at a far lower cost.' The Bilt Mastercard offers 3x points on dining, 2x points on travel and 1x points on rent. Though data shows that more than half of transaction volume is dedicated to rent, which Wells Fargo makes the least money on If Wells was the one behind the popular Bilt card, perhaps those cardholders would pick them as their preferred mortgage lender down the line. The bank's reputation was also on the rocks at the time after admitting to a long-running fraudulent practice whereby company employees opened millions of unauthorized bank accounts in order to meet unrealistic sales goals. Wells agreed to pay $3 billion in penalties for this conduct back in 2020. The contract is set to last until 2029, meaning that Americans have roughly five years left to sign up for the card that's become the favorite of travel-hungry apartment dwellers. The Sebi-appointed expert group on exchange-traded derivatives started discussions on seven proposals to address regulatory issues and protect small investors from risks in index and stock option trading, sources said. The panel members would recommend short-term strategies to bolster investor protection and improve risk metrics in this market segment, they said. The expert group would deliberate in detail the pros and cons of each of the seven proposals to protect small investors engaged in futures and options (F&O) trading. We know that nine out of ten small investors lose money in F&O. The recommendations of this group will be considered by the Secondary Market Advisory Committee for a final decision, a source close to the development told PTI. Options are financial contracts that give a holder a right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset at a specified price within a contract period. The proposals included rationalisation or limiting weekly options, rationalisation of strike prices of the underlying assets and removal of calendar spread benefits on the expiry day, according to the sources. The other four proposals were an upfront collection of option premiums from buyers of options, intra-day monitoring of position limits, an increase in lot sizes and a hike in margin requirements near contract expiry. Both the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the Reserve Bank have expressed concern over the risks associated with retail investors, amid market volatility. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch recently said the capital markets regulator has anecdotal evidence of people borrowing money to place speculative bets in the derivatives segment and rued that household savings are going into such risky bets. The regulator has also noted that option volume spurts near the expiry of the weekly contracts. Currently, all five working days of a week have at least one expiry of NSE or BSE indices. According to Sebi data, the overall derivative turnover was Rs 210 lakh crore in FY18, which jumped to Rs 500 lakh crore in FY24, she said, adding that individual investors in index options jumped to 41 per cent in FY24 from 2 per cent in FY18. The rapid rise in F&O trade volumes in recent years could pose several challenges as retail investors who are not following proper risk management could be impacted by sudden market movements, a Reserve Bank report stated. The equity derivatives segment has been witnessing growing participation from retail investors in recent years, increasing by 42.8 per cent from 65 lakh in 2022-23 to 95.7 lakh in 2023-24. Trading volumes in the derivatives segment have seen exponential growth over the years in notional terms, while the trading volumes measured by the premium turnover have witnessed a linear growth pattern, said the RBIs bi-annual Financial Stability Report (FSR). The expert group will scrutinise the weekly options in detail as these are most attractive to retail investors who can participate with low capital, the sources said. Rationalisation of strike prices is another area of interest to prevent small investors from incurring losses, they said. Retail investors tend to buy options cheaply, hoping for very high returns, and go far from At the Money options leading to losing their premium paid, one of the sources explained. At the Money (ATM) describes a situation when the strike price of an option is equal to the underlying assets current market price. The expert group will also look into options for increasing lot sizes, the sources said. The lot sizes of index F&O were reduced by the National Stock Exchange after BSE re-launched its derivative products a year back. NSE, the worlds largest derivative exchange in terms of contracts traded, had reduced Nifty lot sizes to 25 from 50 and BankNifty to 15 from 25. Bharat Chamber of Commerce senior vice president and SKP Securities Ltd MD Naresh Pachisia said, SEBIs intent is in the right direction because when retail participation in options goes unprotected, it shifts from the useful wealth creation to addictive speculation, which is harmful to their financial health. Therefore, the regulator taking steps to prevent this is useful. He also added, However, at the same time, they need to ensure that long-term investors ability to hedge their portfolios, using options, is not affected. An impactful investor education/awareness campaign could be useful. With India emerging as a preferred destination for organ transplants among foreign nationals, the Union Health Ministry has urged the Ministries of External Affairs and Home Affairs to educate these visitors about the country's regulatory guidelines. The move aims to ensure compliance with legal requirements governing organ transplant procedures in India, emphasising transparency and ethical standards in medical tourism practices. In a letter addressed to Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Union Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, Chandra highlighted the necessity for sensitizing foreign nationals about these regulations. The initiative aims to ensure transparency and compliance with regulations, especially in light of concerns over potential commercial dealings in organs involving foreign citizens Chandra outlined measures including the preparation of scroll messages and creatives to be displayed at airports, on Bureau of Immigration portals, and on Ministry of External Affairs' websites and embassies abroad. I shall be grateful if you could kindly look into the matter personally and direct the concerned authorities to ensure that the enclosed messages may be circulated extensively through immigration for wide reach, the letter said. The scroll messages stated that when the donor or recipient is a foreign national, then prior approval of the authorization committee shall be required before removing or transplanting human organs or tissue or both. A senior official of the embassy of the country of origin in India is required to certify the relationship between the donor and the recipient as per form 21, the message states. In case a country does not have an Embassy in India, the certificate of relationship, in the same format, shall be issued by the government of that country. Foreign patients needing organ(s) from a deceased donor for transplant, can also seek registration in India through their treating hospital after which their name will be included in the waiting list registry.However, such cases would be considered for allocation of organs only when there is no Indian patient available to take that organ. The judicial commission set up by the Uttar Pradesh Government will speak to anyone required for its enquiry into the July 2 Hathras stampede, a probe panel member said on Sunday when asked if self-styled godman Bhole Baba will also be questioned. The commission will also issue a public notice soon, asking local people and witnesses of the tragic incident to share any evidence related to the stampede along with their statement, another member and chairperson of the panel retired Allahabad High Court judge Brijesh Kumar Shrivastava told reporters in Hathras. The commission will speak to anyone required for the Hathras stampede probe, former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Bhavesh Kumar said when asked if the judicial panel will question the godman as well. The three-member judicial commission, which includes former IAS officer Hemant Rao interacted on Sunday with locals in Hathras, besides officials and witnesses of the tragedy that claimed 121 lives. The panel reached Hathras on Saturday and visited the stampede site near Phulrai village along National Highway 91. On Sunday morning, the team camped at the PWD Guest House along the Aligarh Road in the district and continued its inquiry. We have been mandated to file our inquiry report within two months, Shrivastava told reporters on Saturday after reviewing the incident site. Hathras District Magistrate Ashish Kumar and Superintendent of Police Nipun Agarwal accompanied the team. So far, nine people, including key accused Devprakash Madhukar, have been arrested in connection with the stampede. On Saturday, Hathras police said they are also probing the suspected funding of the congregation by a political party and warned of the strictest possible action against it. Madhukar was the main organiser and fundraiser of the July 2 satsang of self-styled godman Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba where over 2.50 lakh people had gathered, much beyond the permitted limit of 80,000, according to officials. The godman was not named as accused in the FIR lodged at the local Sikandra Rao police station on July 2. Separately, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Uttar Pradesh Government is also probing the episode. The SIT is led by the Additional Director General of Police (Agra Zone) Anupam Kulshrestha. In a brazen hit-and-run incident, a high-end BMW car allegedly driven by the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Senas deputy leader Rajesh Shahs inebriated son Mihir Shah knocked down a two-wheeler, killing a woman and injuring her husband at Worli in south-central Mumbai in the early hours of Sunday. The accused Mihir who was behind the wheel at the time of the mishap has gone absconding after the incident, while his father and driver Rajendra Singh Bijawat were detained by police for questioning immediately after the incident. The mishap took place at 5.30 am between Atria Mall and Worli along the Mumbai Coastal Road, when a two-wheeler occupied by two fishmongers Kaveri and Pradik Nakva was rammed into by a speeding BMW allegedly driven by Mihir from behind. Kaveri and Pradik were returning from the Sassoon Dock at Colaba in south Mumbai after purchasing fish stock at an auction, which they sell at a local market. After being hit by the speeding car, the two were thrown into the air and they crash-landed on the bonnet of the SUV. However, the speeding car fled from the spot. Kaveri (45) was immediately taken to a nearby hospital where she was declared dead before admission. Paradik sustained severe wounds. Police sources said Mihir consumed alcohol at a bar with some of his friends at Juhu in north-west Mumbai and later left for home. En-route, he insisted that he would drive the vehicle and took over the wheel from the driver in a drunken state. The Worli police have registered a case under the various provisions of the newly-introduced Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Motor Vehicles Act. The Worli police are securing the CCTV footage of the bar where Mihir and his friends consumed liquor. The police are also looking for the absconding Mihir. The investigators have, meanwhile, recovered the BMW car involved in the mishap from Bandra in north-west Mumbai. On his part, Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shinde Sena chief Eknath Shinde has ordered a thorough probe into the incident. What has happened is unfortunate, very sad... Law will take its own course, everyone is equal before the law. I have spoken to the police and strict action will be taken against those found guilty, he said. In a related development, former Minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and party chief Uddhav Thackerays son Aaditya Thackeray, who is an MLA from Worli, demanded immediate action against the accused. Fisherman Pradik who survived the mishap said, It happened in front of me the car rammed us. I saw him inside the car, drivingI asked him to stop, however, he fled the scene. Friday evenings gruesome murder of Tamil Nadu BSP president K Armstrong in front of his house by six motorcycle-borne gangsters is reminiscent of the 1980s crime thrillers featuring underworld dons as characters. This is a tit for tat murder as the slain leader himself had underworld links, said a senior intelligence bureau official monitoring the case. Mayawati, the BSP supremo who flew down to Chennai on Sunday morning, said Dalits were not safe in Tamil Nadu. There is no law and order worth its name in the State. The murder of Armstrong should be probed by the CBI as we do not trust the Tamil Nadu Police, said Mayawati after paying homage to Armstrong. She consoled the widow of Armstrong and was seen hugging and kissing the one-and-half-year-old daughter of the slain BSP leader. The girl had been named Savitri by Mayawati herself. Mayawati said those held by the police in connection with the murder are not the real culprits. The murder of a hardworking and dedicated BSP leader and State party chief outside his residence has deeply hurt me and my entire family. Armstrong was associated with the philosophy of Ambedkar and was a follower of Buddha, so when he decided to work in politics, he chose BSP. He strove for the growth of the BSP in Tamil Nadu, said Mayawati after laying a big wreath on the mortal remains of Armstrong. The Dalit activists in the State held the DMK Government responsible for the murder of Armstrong. It is an open secret that Armstrong never liked the DMK and that is being seen as the reason behind Mayawatis refusal to forge an alliance with the Dravidian major. Armstrong was elected as a Councillor of Chennai Municipal Corporation in 2006 as an independent and joined the BSP in 2007. Impressed by his dedicated work, Mayawati appointed him as the State chief of the BSP in 2009 shunting out Selvaperunthagai, the then president. Selvaperunthagai crossed over to the Congress and was appointed as TNCC chief. In Tamil Nadus politics, Dalit leaders do not see eye to eye even if they belong to the same party. When Arcot Suresh, a gangster, was murdered in August 2023, there were reports linking Armstrong to the murder. All these leaders were notorious for the Kangaroo courts held by them. Armstrong was one of the prominent faces of Kangaroo Courts, said the intelligence official. According to Gauthaman Ramakrishnan, editor of Sri TV, the arrest of Ponnai Baalu late Friday night speaks a lot about the murder of Armstrong. Baalu is the brother of Arcot Suresh and his involvement in the case is curious, said Gauthaman. He said that one cannot swallow the claim by BSP leaders and activists that Armstrongs was a political murder. If you go through past instances, it could be proved that there was more than politics in such murders, said Gauthaman. He pointed out that Armstrongs gang had encroached many poromboke land on the pretext of building Viharas (Budha Temples). Armstrong had consecrated a Vihara in a lake adjacent to Cooum river which could not store the surplus water from the river. The Chennai flood of 2018 was a result of this illegal construction, said Gauthaman. In a major crackdown against the local terrorists active in Kashmir valley, a joint team of security forces eliminated at least six of them in two separate encounters in the South Kashmir district of Kulgam in the last 24 hours. Two soldiers of the Indian Army, including one para commando, were martyred in the anti-terrorist operations. Both encounters broke out on Saturday when security forces launched CASO (Cordon & Search Operation) in the Modergam and Chinnigam villages following information about the presence of terrorists hiding in these two villages. The martyred soldiers have been identified as Lance Naik Pardeep Kumar, a para commando, and Sep Pravin Janjal Prabhakar. Senior administrative, police, and Army officers attended a sombre wreath-laying ceremony at BB Cantonment before the mortal remains of fallen soldiers were dispatched to their native places on Sunday. In Srinagar, Director General of Police, RR Swain, on Sunday told reporters that encounters have happened on two different encounter sites in the Kulgam district. Six terrorists have been neutralised in the ongoing operations. DGP maintained this is a big milestone for the security forces and these successes matter in strengthening the security environment... People are coming together to end terrorism and the operations are gaining momentum. The current operation is still underway and has not reached its conclusion... We have received news of the involvement of local terrorists as well..., he said. The identities of the slain terrorists could not be ascertained immediately as the operation was still going on at one of the locations. So far the security forces have been claiming that the number of local terrorists active in the valley has come down and Pakistan was relying on foreign terrorists to keep the terror pot boiling. However, unconfirmed reports indicated the local terrorists killed in the operation joined the ranks of a pro-Pakistan terrorist outfit after the Abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. According to ground reports, the security forces blasted one of the hideouts to flush out the hiding terrorists in the Chinnigam village of Frisal while an encounter at another location of Modergam was still going on. After the Jammu region witnessed a sudden upsurge in the string of terror attacks in June 2024 the security grid in the Kashmir valley prevented large-scale terrorist violence by eliminating six terrorists in two back-to-back anti-terrorist operations. Of all the districts in the valley, the South Kashmir districts of Kulgam, Shopian, and Pulwama have witnessed the maximum number of incidents of terrorist violence this year. Since January 1, 2024, Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed around two dozen incidents of terrorist violence in which 27 terrorists have been neutralized, 17 civilians lost their lives and 4 security personnel laid down their lives in the line of duty. The North Kashmir districts of Kupwara and Baramulla witnessed infiltration bids in which small groups of terrorists were neutralized along the line of control by the alert troops. The non-locals were targeted by the terrorists in the Srinagar, Shopian, and Bijbehara areas of Anantnag district in the valley. On May 7, 2024, one of the most wanted terrorist commanders Basit Dar along with another terrorist was killed in a night-long anti-terror operation in the Kulgam district of south Kashmir. He was wanted in at least 18 cases of terrorist violence. He has been active in the area since April 2021, He was categorized as one of the most wanted terrorists by J&K Police and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on whom an award of Rs 10 lakh was announced. Ahead of the long tourist season in the valley, the security forces need to maintain a tight vigil as many tourists/pilgrims are visiting Kashmir valley to perform pilgrimage and enjoy the cool climes in picturesque locations. More than 1.70 lakh pilgrims have performed Amarnath pilgrimage this year. The maiden Assembly polls are also scheduled to take place any time after the culmination of the Amarnath yatra on August 19. The Election Commission is expected to take stock of the prevailing security situation before announcing the poll schedule. The Delhi Police has arrested a man who is a co-accused in duping a man of more than 2.50 lakhs on the pretext of selling electric bikes at reasonable rate with offers. The 35 year graduate, hailing from Jharkhand, used to provide bank details on commission basis to fraudsters. According to the police on Sunday, a complainant, who is working as a manager in Dwarkas Ayushman Hospital, alleged that he was searching on Google for buying electric scooters and bike for use in hospital, where fraudsters approached him and sent fake quotations of Electric Bike/Scooter RV-400 model in 1,18,999 rupees. Complainant agreed and paid the booking amount of Rs. 25,000 for eight electric bike/scooter i.e. 2 Lakhs. Further he also paid GST charges and in this way, the complainant sent a total amount of 2,63,992 rupees to the account provided by the fraudster. Later on the fraudster switched off mobile and the complainant realized that he was caught in a cyber-scam, DCP Dwarka Ankit Singh said. The details of the beneficiary account holder was obtained and were found in the name of Summy Kumar Agnihotry, hailing from Jharkhands Dhanbad. He was nabbed by the police from his village. His modus operandi is to provide/sell the bank accounts and its credentials on commission basis to fraudsters/co-accused persons and on behalf of this, he receives 20 per cent to 30 per cent of commission of credited amount in his account, the DCP said, adding that the hunt for the co-accused persons at Jharkhand is on. He further added, The co-accused used to contact people through Google, who were interested in buying electric scooters and bikes and provided them fake quotation of electric Bikes and scooters in the name of reputed company (i.e. Revolts Motor Company) and after receiving the money, they would disappear after switching off their mobile phones. In this way they cheated the innocent buyers and duped them. A case under section 420 and 120B has been registered. Hundreds of people were duped in a multi crore loan scam which was operating from a fake call centre in Noida. Noida police have arrested 11 people, including nine women, for defrauding people in the name of loans and insurance policies from a call centre here. The Noida Police said that the gang had data of 10,000 people. The gang, operating from a call centre on the fourth floor of a market in Sector 51, was busted on Friday in a joint operation by the Crime Response Team (CRT) and the local Sector 49 police station officials, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Shakti Mohan Avasthy said. "The action on the bogus call centre was carried out based on local intelligence and confidential information. The accused were targeting people in Delhi NCR under the guise of offering loans and insurance policies. They had data of 10,000 people," Avasthy said. The call centre, run by two former life insurance policy agents, operated from the fourth floor of a building in Noida's Sector 51 market for over a year. Police said the gang lured people from outside Delhi-NCR by promising high returns on loans and insurance policies. The scam's masterminds, Ashish and Jitendra, hired nine women to act as call centre executives who would call people and sell them these policies. The gang bought SIM cards through fake Aadhaar cards bought illegally. The police identified those arrested as key accused Ashish Kumar alias Amit and Jitendra Verma alias Abhishek. The nine women arrested are Nisha alias Sneha, Reju alias Divya, Lovely Yadav alias Sweta, Poonam alias Pooja, Aarti Kumari alias Ananya, Kajal Kumari alias Surti, Sarita alias Suman, Babita Patel alias Mahi, and Garima Chauhan alias Sonia. The police have found a case against them lodged in Ranchi, Jharkhand also, Avasthy said. "The gang lured people from states outside NCR with promises of high returns through loans and insurance policies. These individuals (women) assist Ashish and Jitendra on a commission basis, receiving their share in cash," a police spokesperson said. In a heart-wrenching incident in Agra, four children drowned in a pit located near Yamuna Expressway on Sunday morning. According to information, four children, bathing in the water filled pit near Yamuna Expressway roundabout drowned. To save these children, six other people, including a woman jumped into the water but they also started drowning. On getting information of the incident, the villagers and police pulled out everyone from the water but by then four children died. The other people were sent to hospital for treatment. Seven families of labourers from Kanpur and Auraiya are living in the area for the past few days by putting up tents at Khandauli Yamuna Expressway interchange. They go to nearby villages and sell goods. On Sunday morning, three children, Hina, Khushi and Chandni, jumped into a water filled pit nearby to take bath and soon all three started drowning. On hearing their screams, the women of the family Nagina, Anuradha, Ragini, Prachi, Sunny and Riya jumped into the pit to save them. However, they also started drowning. On getting information, the police reached the spot and pulled out all of them. However, by then Hina, Khushi, Chandni and Riya had died. In another incident in Rajapur village under Madiyahun police station of Jaunpur district, a man and his grandson were electrocuted to death on Sunday morning after coming in contact with the current in a pumping set room. Shesh Narayan Dubey alias Ganga Prasad Dubey (65) had installed his own tube well 500 metres away from the house. On Sunday, he was working in the field near his tube well. Meanwhile, his grandson Manish Dubey (15) reached there and went to keep some stuff in the pumping set room. There, he came in contact with the current flowing in the safety net inside the room. After some time, when he did not return, Ganga Prasad went inside the room to see Manish and found him lying on the safety net. As soon as he tried to lift Manish, he also came in contact with the current and was electrocuted. Meanwhile, in Gorakhpur district, a woman ended her life after learning on Sunday morning that her husband committed suicide on Saturday evening. The Cantonment police said that at around 8 am on Sunday, a woman committed suicide by jumping from the roof. The deceased was identified as Sanchita Sharan (28). Her husband Harish Bagesh had gone to Sarnath on July 6 and he committed suicide there. Under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the UP Defence Industrial Corridor (UP DIC) is rapidly progressing to enhance Indias self-reliance in manufacturing of defence products. Spanning six nodes across the state, the Kanpur node is witnessing the highest investment. Giving this information here on Sunday, an official spokesman of the government claimed that the Kanpur node will manufacture products related to the defence sector on the largest scale, including small and large weapons, ammunition and state-of-the-art military attire for the nations army. Additionally, equipment related to space science will also be manufactured here. Over 218 hectares of land in Narwal tehsil of Kanpur is being developed as part of the Defence Industrial Corridor. According to officials of Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), 24 companies have expressed interest in making investments, with five already commencing operations. The largest name among them is the Adani Group, which started its factory in the Kanpur node in February, investing Rs 1,500 crore. This project aims to manufacture a wide range of small, medium and large-caliber ammunition. Additionally, Modern Material and Sciences Private Limited has begun manufacturing advanced clothing for soldiers with an investment of Rs 38 crore. Furthermore, Netra Global Private Limited will produce artillery shells with an investment of Rs 360 crore, and Anant Technologies will manufacture equipment related to LEO (low earth orbit) and GEO (geostationary} satellites with an investment of Rs 3,500 crore. According to UPEIDA officials, more than 210 hectares of land has been allotted for the Kanpur node of the Defence Industrial Corridor. Expectations are high for creating over 18,000 jobs from the Kanpur node alone. So far, investments totaling more than Rs 1,700 crore have been materialised, resulting in immediate employment for 2,500 youths. The Yogi government plans to spend over Rs 62 crore on infrastructure development in the Kanpur node. Approximately Rs 33 crore worth of projects have already been completed, while construction is underway for projects exceeding Rs 16 crore. Tender processes are also underway for projects valued at over Rs 13 crore. elf-styled godman Bhole Baba's lawyer AP Singh claimed on Sunday that the Hathras stampede occurred because a group of 15-16 people sprayed poison during the religious event. The lawyer claimed the group of conspirators fled the venue after triggering the stampede. He alleged that witnesses told him some people opened cans containing a poisonous substance in the crowd during the July 2 Hathras 'satsang', triggering the stampede. Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Singh also alleged a conspiracy, which he attributed to Bhole Baba's "rising popularity", behind the stampede. The stampede after the 'satsang' of self-styled godman Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras left 121 people, mostly women, dead. "Witnesses have reached out to me and said there were 15-16 people carrying cans of a poisonous substance that they opened in the crowd. I have seen post-mortem reports of those killed and it showed that they died of asphyxiation and not because of injuries," Singh claimed. Alleging a conspiracy behind the stampede, he said, "There were vehicles parked at the site to help the men escape. We have proof and we will submit it. This is the first time I am speaking about it." Singh claimed the witnesses who reached out to him requested anonymity. "We will demand security for them." Preliminary probe reports say that the organisers had secured permission for the event with a maximum turnout of 80,000. However, over 2.5 lakh people attended the gathering. So far, nine people, including key accused Devprakash Madhukar, have been arrested in connection with the stampede. On Saturday, Suraj Pal Singh or "Bhole Baba" broke his silence on the Hathras stampede and said those who created the chaos will not be spared. "I am deeply saddened by 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 those who created the chaos will 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," the 'Baba' said. Hathras police said it was also probing into the suspected funding of the congregation by a political party and warned of the "strictest possible" action against it. Madhukar was the main organiser and fundraiser of the 'satsang' where more than 2.5 lakh people had gathered, much beyond the permitted limit of 80,000, officials had said. The godman was not mentioned as an accused in the FIR lodged at the local Sikandra Rao police station. The judicial commission set up by the Uttar Pradesh government will speak to anyone required for its inquiry, a probe panel member said when asked if Bhole Baba would also be questioned. Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote an emotional letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in which he once again urged him to increase the amount of compensation for the victims of the Hathras stampede and demanded strict punishment for the people responsible for this incident. In the letter written to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the Congress MP said that compensation should be given as soon as possible and proper treatment should be provided to the injured. A total of 121 people, mostly women, died in a stampede at the satsang of preacher Bhole Baba in Hathras last Tuesday. Rahul Gandhi met the victims families on Friday morning. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had announced that the families of the deceased would be given Rs 2 lakh each and the injured Rs 50,000 each as compensation. In his letter to the UP chief minister on July 6, Rahul Gandhi said, The compensation announced by the Uttar Pradesh government is inadequate. I urge that the compensation amount be increased and it be given as soon as possible. The Congress leader said that the injured should be given proper treatment and proper compensation. He said, I am shocked by the news of the death of more than 120 people in the stampede incident in Hathras. I am writing this letter to you with pain in my heart and I know that you too must be feeling that pain. Rahul Gandhi said that he met many victim families from Aligarh and Hathras districts and tried to share their pain. He wrote in the letter, The accident is so tragic that while meeting the family, I fell short of words to console them. Whatever many families have lost in this accident is not possible to compensate in any way, but we can definitely try to reduce their pain by helping the victim families in every possible way. The Congress leader said, The victims families also shared with me that the negligence and insensitivity of the local administration is responsible for this entire incident. A proper and transparent investigation in this case will not only be a step towards preventing such incidents in future, but it will also re-establish the faith of these victim families in the justice system. On Sunday, a large crowd of devotees imbued with religious sentiments gathered for the Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra in various Jagannath Dhams of the district. Lord Jagannath reached Mausibadi from Dham riding on a chariot. All rituals including worship, aarti by Sri Sri 108 Sri Jagarnath Mahaprabhu Thakurbari Temple Lohardaga Mahant Ram Naresh Sharan, Sri Ram Janaki, Mahant Omprakash Sharan of Tapovan Temple Ranchi, Ramesh Dev Puranic, Mohan Das, Ayodhya Das, Manoj Das, Vishnu Dev etc. Were completed. During this period, there was a continuous flow of devotees in Jagannath temples from the city to the rural areas. On the day of Rath Yatra, special worship of the deities was done in Jagannath Dhams and Mausibadi. The Rath Yatra started from Thakurbari located in Gudri Bazaar of the city, which reached Mousibadi via Mahavir Temple, East Gola Road. The Rath Yatra started from the three Jagannath Dhams of Thakurbari, Tetartar and Tiwari Doora temples in the city, which passed through various squares and intersections of the urban area and reached Mausibadi. On the day of Rath Yatra, hundreds of male and female devotees reached Thakurbari temple located in Gudri Bazaar and had darshan of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra. Special arrangements were made by the temple management for the Rath Yatra. Thousands of people participated in the historic Rath Yatra organized in Bhandara block. The grand Rath Yatra of the Lord started from Thakurbari located near the police station premises, which ended after reaching Mausibadi located at Akhileshwar Dham temple. Along with this, a crowd of thousands of people gathered in the fair held in Bhandara Bazaar Tand. Rath Yatra was organized in Korambe of Senha block. Devotees had come in large numbers from remote villages of the block to see the unique beauty of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple and the gods mounted on the chariot. On the occasion of Rath Yatra in Senha block, Rath Yatra was taken out from Jagannath Temple. Besides, a fair was also organized at Senha Thakurbari ground. Rath Yatra fair was organized in Hanhat village of Kairo block. In the temple located at Senha, Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and sister Subhadra were worshiped with full devotion. There was a rush of devotees in the temple since early morning. The fair held in the Senha temple premises was special for the children. Children bought sweets, toys etc. in the fair. A large crowd of devotees was also seen in the temple located in Korambe. The devotees sought their wishes from the Lord and then after the Aarti, the Lord was taken on a chariot and taken to Mausi Bari. Extensive security arrangements were made for the historic Rath Yatra fair. Strict security arrangements were made on the directions of Deputy Commissioner Dr. Waghmare Prasad Krishna and Police Captain Haris Bin Zaman. Under the leadership and direction of DSP Sameer Tirkey and SDPO Shraddha Kerketta, they continued to take stock of the security arrangements. Police forces along with magistrates were deployed at various intersections in urban and rural areas. Electricity supply remained closed due to security reasons. The whole city looked like a fair. People seemed eager to have the darshan of the Lord. Till late evening, crowds of people were seen on the streets of the city. In a major initiative, the Yogi Adityanath government has announced the establishment of Mitra Van under the Vriksharopan Jan Abhiyan-2024 along the borders of Uttar Pradesh and the neighbouring country of Nepal. Locations have been selected by 35 forest divisions for this purpose. On the instructions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the Forest department is coordinating with the neighbouring country and states to enhance greenery through the plantation of 35 crore saplings. Additionally, alongside planting saplings on UPs land at the borders, the Forest department will also involve dignitaries from other states in this mega campaign. Following the date set by Chief Minister Yogi (July 20), the Forest department is dedicated to ensuring the success of the Vriksharopan Jan Abhiyan-2024. Under this campaign, extensive tree plantation programmes will be conducted in the border districts of UP. Robust preparations are being made in the 35 districts that border neighbouring states in this regard. Comprehensive tree plantation programmes are being planned in Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Moradabad, Rampur, Bareilly, Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Siddharthnagar, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Deoria, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Sonbhadra, Mirzapur, Prayagraj, Chitrakoot, Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Jalaun, Etawah, Agra, Mathura, Aligarh, Noida, Ghaziabad, Baghpat and Shamli. The department is engaged in establishing the Yogi governments new initiative, Mitra Van. For this, a Vriksharopan Maha Abhiyan will be conducted not only along the bordering states but also near the friendly nation of Nepal. In a recent programme, Chief Minister Yogi had expressed concern over plantation near Nepal. In response, the Forest department will establish Mitra Van along the borders of districts adjoining Nepal, including Sonauli in Maharajganj, Lakhimpur Kheri, Shravasti, Bahraich and Pilibhit. During the plantation, coordination will be established not only with representatives from Uttar Pradesh but also with the neighbouring country and states to involve them in this programme. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and head of department, Sudhir Kumar Sharma, has directed 35 forest divisions to select the place for setting up Mitra Van and mark the plant species for plantation to be done by the dignitaries of the neighbouring country Nepal and the border state. He further instructed the coordination with Forest department officials from the neighbouring country and states to obtain their opinions on species selection and ensure the availability of plants, and to provide this information to the command centre at the forest headquarters. Along with Mitra Van, instructions have been given to establish special forests like Shakti Van, Yuva Van and Bal Van in each district under the Vriksharopan Jan Abhiyan-2024. Additional Chief Conservator of Forests PP Singh stated that under the Vriksharopan Jan Abhiyan-2024, Mitra Van will be set up around all states bordering UP, including Bihar, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. The department has completed all the preparations for this. On Chief Minister Yogis instructions, saplings have been prepared in nurseries for the plantation of 35 crore trees. Instructions have been issued to the divisional forest officers (DFOs) of the respective divisions to establish and enrich Mitra Van. Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Sunday said the state has witnessed unprecedented development and welfare of all sections of society under the BJP. At an event in Panipat district, Saini inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for 32 projects worth more than Rs 227 crore and lashed out at previous governments for allegedly promoting regionalism and nepotism. "The developmental work carried out during the tenure of the present government has surpassed the work done during the 48 years of previous governments," Saini said. Infrastructure is considered a measure of development for any nation or state. Strong infrastructure not only uplifts the standard of living of the people but also attracts industries and investments, thereby strengthening the state's economy, he said. "Haryana maintains an annual economic growth rate of 8 per cent due to its strong infrastructure, compared to the national average of 6.7 per cent," said Saini. Saini said when the BJP came to power in Haryana in 2014, "We faced many challenges as the previous government had left behind a dilapidated economy, a collapsed cooperative structure, and public sector undertakings running at a loss". He alleged that the previous governments had always prioritised regionalism and nepotism in development and jobs. "Under the previous governments, there was significant discrimination when it came to development and welfare schemes, with only one region witnessing growth and the rest of the state being neglected," he claimed. However, under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, following the philosophy of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Prayas, Sabka Vishwas' and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya's philosophy of 'Antyodaya', the pace of development has accelerated and equitable development has been ensured, he said. He said the BJP government considers every individual in Haryana as its own and has worked to uplift every section, following the mantra of 'Haryana Ek, Haryanvi Ek'. "Equal development of every region has been a priority for the government," he asserted. Saini also criticised the previous Congress government for allegedly failing to provide 100 square yard plots to the poor despite promises. "The plots were shown, but no documents or possessions were given. Eligible people were left running from pillar to post. Understanding their plight, the present government has given possession of 100-square-yard plots to all eligible people. "Where land was unavailable, a provision has been made to provide an amount of Rs 1 lakh each in the accounts of eligible beneficiaries to buy plots," he said. He said on June 30, the government issued social security pensions to 75,000 new beneficiaries. Saini also said that the state government has given more powers to panchayats to expedite development in rural areas. Now, sarpanches can carry out development work costing up to Rs 21 lakh without a tender, he said. A crowd watches a skateboarder bomb down Church Street in San Francisco on Saturday after the event, which police tried to stop, was relocated from Dolores Street. Jason Henry/Special to the Chronicle San Francisco police set up barricades on the east side of Dolores Park in preparation for the hill bomb skateboarding event. Connor Greene/The Chronicle Skateboarder Mark Shark Urbieta bombs down Church Street. Jason Henry/Special to the Chronicle San Francisco police set up barricades on the east side of Dolores Park in preparation for the hill bomb, but skateboarders used the west side of the park instead. Connor Greene/The Chronicle San Francisco police set up barricades on Dolores Street in preparation for the hill bomb, but skateboarders used Church Street instead. Connor Greene/The Chronicle San Francisco police set up barricades on the east side of Dolores Park in preparation for the hill bomb skateboarding event, which was moved to Church Street on the west side of the park. Connor Greene/The Chronicle San Francisco police assemble around Dolores Park in preparation for the hill bomb skateboarding event, which avoided the chaos of last years gathering. Connor Greene/The Chronicle The Dolores Park hill bomb occurred again this year just a block away from its usual location, with skateboarders speeding down Church Street after San Francisco police blocked off Dolores Street to avoid a repeat of last years chaos when the event devolved into vandalism and a major clash with law enforcement. Police deployed dozens of officers and placed barricades in an attempt to deter participants though officials had said they would arrest only those committing crimes, not skateboarding. Police partitioned five blocks from 18th to 20th streets and their intersections while skaters and onlookers peppered the perimeter. Roughly 40 to 50 officers patrolled the area in groups on foot and in vans. With Dolores Street blocked off, some skateboarders went into the park itself, swerving between barricades or lying on their boards and skating under police vehicles. Officers and park rangers responded by placing additional barricades. That prompted skaters to move to Church Street on the west side of the park, along with hundreds of observers, and start speeding down the hill. Police did not immediately intervene, and a spokesperson declined to comment. Advertisement Article continues below this ad You can never stop a skaters pride, said Mark Shark Urbieta, who tumbled off his skateboard on his fourth or fifth time riding down Church Street, walking away with some cuts on his hand. He noted that Church Street is gnarlier than Dolores Street because its narrower, but that skaters had been planning on pivoting there from the beginning. Were going to do it regardless. A skateboarder bombs down Church Street after police placed barricades to prevent skaters from using Dolores Street. Jason Henry/Special to the Chronicle Levi Smith, 16, said he wasnt originally planning on going down Church Street, intending only to watch. But someone gave me a helmet, so how could I say no? Smith added after bombing the hill several times. But some skateboarders, such as 32-year-old Thomas Freese visiting from Germany, said they were spooked by the police presence. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I was super stoked this morning, Freese said. Its too risky to get arrested. Paramedics carry away a skater on a stretcher after he tumbled into a median. Jason Henry/Special to the Chronicle It wasnt all rollicking fun. A fight broke out briefly atop Church Street, and a skater tumbled into the median at around 8:15 p.m., requiring medical attention. Paramedics rolled him on a stretcher to an ambulance as the crowd cheered. It had been initially unclear Saturday whether the event would occur, either at Dolores Park or elsewhere, with barricades blocking clear paths on streets near the park, but skateboarders arrived in hopes of finding a way. A social media account that had promoted the event to start at 7 p.m. later said it was canceled. Aaron Breetwor, a San Francisco skateboarding advocate, was at the hill Saturday with his family, handing out helmets. The city, he said, should do the same, planning for a street closure by removing speed bumps placed to deter hill bombing, and providing portable toilets. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I think its really challenging to get folks to have a discussion of the reality of the situation, Breetwor previously told the Chronicle. Police placed barricades on Dolores Street on the east side of Dolores Park, but skateboarders moved to Church Street on the parks west side. Jason Henry/Special to the Chronicle The annual spectacle is unofficially planned, bringing hundreds of skaters and spectators, a crowd police say is a public safety risk. Last year, police arrested or cited more than 100 people, mostly minors, on suspicion of vandalizing Muni vehicles, assaulting officers and lighting illegal fireworks. Some Muni light-rail lines were replaced by bus shuttles and streetcars Saturday. Last years response was deemed by some community leaders as heavy handed and led to allegations of civil rights violations by detained teenagers, who said they were held for hours on the street, without food or water, denied access to bathrooms, and separated from their parents actions that could lead to a class-action lawsuit. We do not intend to allow a hill bomb tomorrow, San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said at a news conference Friday, adding that arrests would be made only for crimes, not actual skateboarding that is not illegal. We are not looking for confrontation. We are not looking to spoil anyones fun. We are looking to keep our community safe. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Medics with the Community Liberations Program, a grassroots volunteer organization, were at the park Saturday to treat road burns, sprained ankles, concussions and other possible injuries. One of the workers, 29-year-old Seyed Ali, criticized the Police Departments response to last years event as an over-militarized and cruel. We wanted to show what a community-organized response looks like, he added. Skateboarder Omar Arroyo grimaces in pain after falling during the hill bomb skateboarding event. Jason Henry/Special to the Chronicle Before last years confrontations, the event had grown into something of a legend. Chizza Savage, 50, a skater for years who moved to San Francisco in 1994, came to Dolores Park to watch the hill bomb Saturday, as he has for the past seven years. Savage, who lives in the Excelsior neighborhood, said the event gained more popularity in 2017, when Jake Phelps, editor in chief of the skate magazine Thrasher, bombed the hill and ended up in the hospital after a serious fall. Phelps died in 2019 of unrelated causes. Advertisement Article continues below this ad How to provide safety measures and clear organization for whats become an inevitable and informal gathering of skateboarders is a running question. In addition to last years confrontation, serious injuries and at least one death have occurred in connection with the event in past years. Two police chases in Solano County on Saturday ended with dramatically different results one with a fatal wreck, and the other with a murder arrest. Getty Images Two police chases in Solano County ended with dramatically different results Saturday: one a fatal wreck, and the other a murder arrest. Early Saturday morning, Vallejo police tried to pull over a car near Sonoma Boulevard and Lemon Street in South Vallejo. The vehicle sped off, according to the news release, leading police on a short pursuit that ended after the car crashed into another vehicle about 2 miles north near Sonoma Boulevard and Tennessee Street. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Police officers and a Vallejo firefighter who responded to the crash attempted to treat the crash victims, but one of the occupants of the vehicle fleeing police died at the scene. Department officials did not clarify if the man who died was the driver or a passenger. The police pursuit comes amid a surge in police pursuits at the Vallejo Police Department over the past five years, peaking at 197 last year a 131% increase from the 85 that occurred back in 2018, according to a 2023 department analysis of its vehicle pursuits. Vallejo attributed one death to a police chase last year. Police departments across the Bay Area and elsewhere in the United States have come under increasing scrutiny over the deadly toll such crashes can take. A Chronicle investigation published this year revealed that police pursuits nationally have claimed the lives of more than 3,300 from 2017 to 2022, with more than 330 of those occurring in California. Most fatalities were not the drivers fleeing police, the newspaper found, but passengers or innocent bystanders. The Chronicles investigation also found that the vast majority of fatal police chases began with stops related to traffic infractions, nonviolent crimes or no crime at all. Suspects most often fled for relatively mundane reasons: Their license had been suspended, they were on probation, or they said they feared the police. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Vallejo Police Departments 2023 analysis found that most department chases were prompted by nonviolent crime or traffic violations. Of last years 197 pursuits, 55 occurred after officers flagged a stolen car, and 50 began with a stop related to reckless driving. In 22 chases, the driver was suspected in a burglary and nine began with a traffic violation. About half the chases ended when the pursuing officer ended the chase or lost the suspect, according to the departments report. The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services last year published a report that urged police departments to rein in vehicle pursuits by requiring officers to chase only people they believed were suspects in violent felonies or if police officers believed the driver was a risk to public safety. Vallejos chase policy is much more permissive, according to the Vallejo Sun, which found the department allows officers to chase suspects when an officer believes that a suspect, who has been given appropriate signal to stop by a law enforcement officer, is attempting to evade arrest or detention by fleeing in a vehicle. The newspaper found that Vallejo police have among the highest number of pursuits of California law enforcement agencies including statistics higher than much larger departments. On Saturday, Vallejo police officials said Solano Countys Major Crimes Task Force had taken over the investigation of the chase and fatal crash and pledged maximum transparency. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The department referred questions to the Solano County District Attorneys Office, but more information was not immediately available Saturday evening. Elsewhere in Vallejo on Saturday, sheriffs deputies ended up in a police chase after trying to pull a car over near Curtola Parkway and Cherry Street for a vehicle-code violation, Vallejo police said in a separate news release. The driver sped off, and crashed into a residential gate soon after, at which point deputies arrested the man, whom police identified as Corey Warren. Last year, Vallejo detectives sought murder charges against Warren in the Sept. 30 fatal shooting of a 45-year-old Vallejo man, department officials said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, Canada Zip Code Trilateral Commission member Keir Starmer is someone who has his orders from upon high. The pyramid of power extends over the entirety of the European Union and encompasses the United States and China. Sir Keir Starmer is a Marxist who still utilises capitalistic economic techniques to enrich the coffers of the Marxist Communist ideology. This technique is not frowned upon, and has been successfully utilised by the Maoist/Marxist construct of the Chinese Communist Party for decades now. By embracing capitalism yet keeping this within a communist political ideology, the Chinese have successfully been able to build up and modernise their military. The European Soviet Union utilises the same method to build up its wealth, with the German economy as its workhorse, but its modus operandi is to collectivise all the nations imprisoned within its walls to strip these nations of their sovereignty and economic individualism. Starmers orders are very clear, and he will begin by bringing ever closer union to the European Soviet Union. Britain never had a proper Brexit anyway, so his job will be made much easier. Naturally, maybe within the second Labour term the EU will demand that if the UK wants ever closer union, one of the prerequisites for this will be that the pound sterling currency should be ditched for the euro. Starmer and his Marxist economists have already okayed this, and will push it through a capitulated one party British parliament, where the Labour Party has a massive majority of seats and literally owns the House of Lords with planted Marxist peers. Ditching the pound sterling will lock and imprison the UK into the European Soviet Union, much like the other nations have been imprisoned and subjugated. Once this process of collectivism has been completed, Britains last remaining wealth will be siphoned off into the EU, propping up debt-ridden southern and eastern EU nations who are hungry for cash reserves and an injection of stolen wealth. Many Europeans are so poverty-stricken that they can only rent their properties. In Germany, 90% of the population can only rent, whilst in the UK homeownership is more common. Thanks to the Thatcher years, people were able to embrace homeownership in the UK, although in more recent decades, due to the rise in house prices, homeownership has declined amongst the young. Starmer and his Marxist minions will utilise this malaise of the youth to justify ditching the pound sterling which will destroy the property wealth of the UK, aligning it with the EU. This will be communist collectivism at work, and the redistribution of wealth under the European Soviet Union will be a profound change for the UK, plunging its inherent wealth into the abyss. Britain was always the cash cow for the EU, and nothing will change under Keir Starmers Labour, selling off the last remnants of the country to the EU for a pittance. Gordon Brown sold off Britains gold reserves at the bottom of the market, so this will be just another Labourite kick in the gangoolies for the former country of Britain. The gloating unelected EU Commission members will be laughing into their unlimited expense accounts. Daily Squib Book The Daily Squib Anthology REVIEWS: "The author sweats satire from every pore" | "Overall, I was surprised at the wit and inventedness of the Daily Squib Compendium. It's funny, laugh out loud funny" | "Would definitely recommend 10/10" | "This anthology serves up the choicest cuts from a 15-year reign at the top table of Internet lampoonery" | "Every time I pick it up I see something different which is a rarity in any book" DAILY SQUIB BOOK The Perfect Gift or can also be used as a doorstop. Grab a piece of internet political satire history encapsulating 15 years of satirical works.REVIEWS: "The author sweats satire from every pore" | "Overall, I was surprised at the wit and inventedness of the Daily Squib Compendium. It's funny, laugh out loud funny" | "Would definitely recommend 10/10" | "This anthology serves up the choicest cuts from a 15-year reign at the top table of Internet lampoonery" | "Every time I pick it up I see something different which is a rarity in any book" Kanye West, shown at the Anonymous Club fashion show in Berlin last week, visited the Exploratorium in San Francisco on the Fourth of July. Matthias Nareyek/Getty Images Kanye West, shown leaving the Anonymous Club fashion show in Berlin last week, is facing legal actions by former employees and an attorney. Matthias Nareyek/Getty Images Rapper Kanye West, who now prefers to be called Ye, and his model wife, Bianca Censori, spent the Fourth of July expanding their minds in San Francisco. The celebrity couple indulged in an educational outing at the Exploratorium, an interactive science museum on the Embarcadero, officials confirmed. According to TMZ, the couple engaged with several exhibits, standing out amid the typical crowd of schoolchildren and tourists. Photos show Censori, 29, in sheer leggings, a baby blue tube top and metallic heels, while West, 47, donned a baggy white hooded sweatshirt, pants and matching sneakers. He also picked up a black hood branded with the Exploratorium logo at the gift shop. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The pair explored multiple exhibits, including a mirror setup where they were photographed sitting across from each other, appearing totally engaged and blending in like ordinary citizens, per TMZ. Some visitors recognized them but largely respected their privacy. A representative from the Exploratorium said the staff was unaware in advance of the visit by West and Censori, who married in December 2022 after the rappers divorce from Kim Kardashian. The Independence Day outing comes amid another turbulent period for West. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles last week alleges that former employees developing an app for West were viciously bullied over their ages, races, genders, sexual orientations and national origins. New employees were reportedly added to a Discord channel called new slaves, a name later changed after an employee protested it was blatantly racist, according to a report from Court Watch. West, along with associates including Milo Yiannopoulos, forced workers, including children, to endure long hours, sometimes without sleep, sacrificing school and personal time, the lawsuit says. Those who refused were threatened with nonpayment, according to the lawsuit, which also says child workers were exposed to pornography by Censori during the development of an app called Yeezy Porn. Bianca Censori and husband Kanye West, dressed in all black, attend a soccer match in Italy in February. The couple visited the Exploratorium in San Francisco on the Fourth of July. Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images Meanwhile, Wests legal troubles continue as his attorney in a lawsuit brought by an autograph dealer seeking damages for alleged assault filed to withdraw from the case, citing noncommunication and nonpayment from West. In court papers filed Monday, July 1, attorney Brian Brumfield stated that West terminated their working relationship on June 21, adding, Defendant also will not speak to counsel and defendant refuses to pay counsel as well. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Councillor Robert Nash called for more communication around the proposed Simon Community development at the Quay during Tuesdays monthly meeting of Dundalk Municipal District. The Fine Gael councillor said that residents on Barrack street got leaflets through their door from the Simon Community detailing plans for the project, while residents in other nearby areas did not. Some residents got a leaflet through their door last week in Barrack Street, but residents in Hyde Park and Peter Street werent notified and obviously theyre skeptical down there about the plans for the new units. The people down there are looking for a meeting with the Simon Community and yourselves going forward. I hope that will happen for them because theres great concern down there about the housing [plans]. Its an older community down there, a lot of them maybe wouldnt have access to computers and maybe would only be getting word from their neighbours and rumours are starting so you really need to do something officially. He added: Theyre skeptical now and think theres something going on behind their backs and thats what we dont want. John Lawrence, Senior Executive Officer with the Housing Section told the meeting that: Notices were issued by Dublin Simon Community just to advise. We did say that this is a planning process that we are now entering into. There is a requirement to put up site notices and we did ask Dublin Simon to leaflet some of the area but we didnt say that they had to do all those areas. Mr Lawrence said he would contact the Simon Community to see if something could be arranged, adding: Its now a very public planning process . An application has been submitted, any resident or anyone in this country can make a contribution to that. He also said that hed look into the possibility of a meeting after the planning process. A group of 4th year Film and TV students took centre stage in London recently as they won the prestigious Undergraduate Factual Long Form award. This group were the only Irish nomination at the Royal Television Society (RTS) Student Television Awards 2024 which is sponsored by 4Skills - Channel 4s nationwide training and development strategy and walked away with this prestigious prize. Hosted by rapper, author and broadcaster Guvna B, the winners were crowned at the awards ceremony at the IET, Savoy Place on Friday 21st June. The RTS Student Television Awards is an annual celebration, showcasing the talent, potential and enthusiasm of students across the UK and Ireland, identifying exceptional skills and craftsmanship. Sinead Rocks, Managing Director, Nations and Regions at Channel 4 and Chair of the RTS Student Television Awards, said: The RTS Student Television Awards are a brilliant opportunity to recognise the next generation of industry entrants at the top of their games, who are creating dynamic, skilled films and soon to be transforming the screen industries. As we celebrate our winners and nominees, it is a reminder of the value of creating content and its ability to evoke conversation and change. The winning DkIT student documentary challenges the history of the Irish government while following the story of a woman who was directly impacted by the Irish mother and baby homes and has taken back control over her life. The documentary tells the story of Susan who is one of the nine thousand babies born and or raised in Bessborough mother and baby homes. She was adopted into a loving family when she was only two weeks old. Susan uses her art to construct an identity for herself given that her other forms of identity have been constructed for her. Labyrinths are tools for personal, psychological and spiritual transformation. For Susan, the labyrinth symbolizes a journey of self-discovery. The adoption system in Ireland is designed to remove all agency from the adopted person. It was designed so Susan would never discover if she had other family members. This is the story of how an abstract methodology such as art shattered that and at the age of 44, Susan discovered she had a brother. Jessica Doherty, from Dundalk, who was the Director of the documentary said: "I am absolutely thrilled and honoured that our documentary won the prestigious Royal Television Society Undergraduate Factual Long Form Award in London. Being recognized on such a significant platform is truly a privilege. This win is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our entire team. We were absolutely delighted to represent Irish talent on this international stage." In a world where traditional ceremonies often dominate the celebration of childhood milestones, Aoife Curran-Butler is carving out a unique space for inclusive, non-religious ceremonies that honor these significant moments. Aoife, a celebrant, primary school teacher, performer, and author, is dedicated to ensuring that every child is celebrated, acknowledged, and included in their community. Aoife's journey to becoming a celebrant began with her desire to create meaningful ceremonies for children at pivotal moments in their lives. I wanted to be able to create a ceremony for children who were moving through this milestone, she explains. Her search for support led her to Entheos, an organisation known for its inclusive approach. They deal with that massive wedge between religion and non-religion. And they're very inclusive. One of Aoifes standout initiatives is Aois na Cuise, a ceremony marking the "Age of Reason," which is celebrated around the ages of seven to nine. This developmental milestone is a time when children begin to understand themselves within the broader context of their family, community, and the world. Its a very important developmental milestone in a childs life, Aoife notes. It's one that has been celebrated for thousands of years within different civilizations. In contemporary Ireland, many children do not participate in traditional religious sacraments, leaving a gap and Aoifes ceremonies aim to fill this gap in a way that is inclusive of all backgrounds. But Aoife is quick to note, This is a fully inclusive ceremony. Even if a child has made their communion, they are very welcome to take part, she said. The inaugural Aois na Cuise ceremony, held over May and June, received overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants. There were about 50 people gathered to celebrate, and the feedback was incredible, Aoife recalls. They said that they were really moved by the experience, and how centered and child focused it was. But very much focused on celebrating the child in their moment now and not thinking about the child in the future or thinking about the child in the past, but just very much looking at the child in the present moment. One set of parents said: This was such a beautiful ceremony for the children participating. Aoife captured the essence of bringing families together to celebrate important milestones in their children's achievements and growth. This inclusive celebration has created cherished memories for the children, marking their Aois na Cuise for their families and the congregation. While another added: The ceremony was such a special and magical experience for us. What really stood out to me was not just the ceremony but all the wonderfully individual children and hearing about their own experiences and journey. Aoife had us captivated and definitely emotional , I felt extremely proud to be part of this day. Given the success of this event, Aoife has plans to expand her offerings. She is considering a similar ceremony for older children, Teacht na hAoise, which marks the transition into adolescence. Theres great interest, and Ive had support from Entheos, especially from the director Karen Dempsey, Aoife shares. This support, she says, has been crucial in pioneering what appears to be the first structured program of its kind in Ireland. Aoifes ceremonies are thoughtfully structured, beginning with a series of preparatory workshops. These sessions, held in nature and infused with Irish mythology, help children reflect on their past, present, and future. Each workshop had a different focus to help the child understand their journey to this point in their life, Aoife explains. The ceremony itself, while familiar in structure, is rich with symbolism and meaning. Participants are welcomed and introduced to the purpose of the gathering. The ceremony includes poetry, music, and a candle-lighting ritual that honors ancestors and connects families. Each child receives a butterfly pin, symbolizing transformation, and families express their hopes and wishes for their children by tying ribbons onto driftwood. There will be an information meeting held this September for parents hoping to take part in May and June of next year and Aoife can be contacted on celebrantaoife@hotmail.com or on Facebook Aoife Curran-Butler Celebrant. Louth Volunteer Centre are calling for members of the community to help shape the future of volunteering in County Louth, and they need your invaluable input! Whether you are a volunteer, a volunteer manager or you dont volunteer at all, Louth Volunteer Centre would love to have you engaged in the process. On Thursday 18th July, sessions are being arranged in Drogheda, Dundalk and Ardee where attendees will meet with other volunteers, local organisations, and researchers. Your feedback is crucial as we gather insights on volunteering, share stories on how volunteering has impacted you, and discuss what can be done to encourage more people to get involved in volunteering. Please find information and booking at www.volunteerlouth.ie or email info@volunteerlouth.ie. This research report, being developed as part of the County Louth Volunteering Framework, will be a key part of shaping and influencing policy making in Louth into the future. Your perspectives will directly influence our research and future initiatives. The County Louth Volunteering Framework, published in 2021, was informed by an in depth consultation process involving over 350 people across Louth. This Framework document is the first of its kind at County level in Ireland. It recognises and values the contribution of volunteers; seeks to expand the demographics of volunteering; supports those who support volunteers and aims to help make it easier for people in Louth to access voluntary activity. Work commenced on the delivery of the 68 recommendations contained in the framework in 2022 and will continue until 2024. You can view more details and view the document on www.volunteerlouth.ie The Framework is owned by the Louth Community Development Committee and is currently being delivered by a group of stakeholders from across various sectors in County Louth. This implementation group is led by a secretariat consisting of members from Louth Volunteer Centre, Louth County Council, Louth Local Development Company and Louth PPN. The development of a piece of research on the impact of volunteering in Co. Louth, including analysis of gaps in volunteering, is a recommendation from the Framework and is being funded and delivered by Louth Volunteer Centre and supported by the implementation group B-52s vocalist Fred Schneider, center, performs alongside band members Kate Pierson, right, and Cindy Wilson (not pictured) during the Mosswood Meltdown at Mosswood Park in Oakland. Don Feria/Special to The Chronicle B-52s vocalist Fred Schneider, center, performs alongside band members Kate Pierson, and Cindy Wilson (not pictured) during the Mosswood Meltdown at Mosswood Park in Oakland. Don Feria/Special to The Chronicle B-52s vocalist Fred Schneider performs alongside band members Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson (not pictured) during the Mosswood Meltdown at Mosswood Park in Oakland on Saturday, July 6, 2024. Don Feria/Special to The Chronicle Kate Pierson of the B-52s performs to a packed house during the Mosswood Meltdown at Mosswood Park in Oakland on Saturday, July 6, 2024. Don Feria/Special to The Chronicle B-52s vocalist Fred Schneider, center, performs alongside band members Kate Pierson, right, and Cindy Wilson, left, during the Mosswood Meltdow in Oakland on Saturday, July 6, 2024. Don Feria/Special to The Chronicle Festival attendees enjoy a set from the B-52s, who performed beloved songs Roam and Love Shack among others, during the Mosswood Meltdown at Mosswood Park in Oakland, California, on Saturday, July 6, 2024. Don Feria/Special to The Chronicle Festival attendees during the Mosswood Meltdown at Mosswood Park in Oakland on Saturday, July 6, 2024. Don Feria/Special to The Chronicle The Bay Areas July heat wave gave Mosswood Meltdown a new meaning during its first day as temperatures climbed into the 90s. But the pods of fans of the B-52s in lobster costumes at the outdoor Oakland festival didnt seem to mind as they waited in anticipation for a rare performance from the new wave legends. And the trio did not disappoint. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Following a short video featuring comedian Fred Armisen and a costumed actor playing a giant lobster named Claudia, the B-52s emerged to throw a delightfully peculiar party that culminated with the bands 1978 hit Rock Lobster at Mosswood Park, where the two-day festival kicked off on Saturday, July 6. B-52s vocalist Fred Schneider, center, performs alongside band members Kate Pierson, right, and Cindy Wilson during the Mosswood Meltdown at Mosswood Park in Oakland on Saturday, July 6, 2024. The band made a rare appearance at the annual festival after a farewell tour in 2022, and are now in residency at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas. Don Feria/Special to The Chronicle Leading the charge was Kate Pierson, Fred Schneider and Cindy Wilson. Having first formed in 1977, their energy remained high nearly 50 years later as they kicked off their set with the 1979 single Planet Claire. Dazzling in a shimmering red dress and matching red hair, Pierson, 76, proved her pipes havent gotten rusty as she danced and sang on one side of the stage opposite Cindy Wilson, 67, who was sporting a black leather jacket and a white beret as she also provided vocals and slapped at a pair of bongos. Cindy Wilson of the B-52s during the Mosswood Meltdown at Mosswood Park in Oakland, California, on Saturday, July 6, 2024. Don Feria/Special to The Chronicle At the center was Schneider, 73, wearing sunglasses, a dark blazer and a shiny silver shirt. A veritable virtuoso, he seamlessly switched from playing glockenspiel to slide whistle to cowbell as the bands set progressed towards its inevitable crustacean conclusion. He also had ample opportunities to showcase his sprechgesang (German for speak-singing), a signature component in many of the groups biggest hits. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Back in the Bay Area for the first time since 2022 and fresh off a recent residency in Las Vegas, the band sounded exceptionally sharp as ever on songs like Give Me Back My Man, Lava and Is That You, Mo-Dean? Midway through their slot, Schneider ceded the spotlight to Pierson and Wilson completely, allowing for the pair to barrel through a three-song run of Deadbeat Club, 52 Girls and Roam. One imagines even those cloaked in lobster garb may have felt goose pimples of awe through their exoskeletons as the duo showcased a chemistry and ease only achievable after nearly 50 years of collaboration and mutual respect. Festival attendees enjoy a set from the B-52s, who performed beloved songs Roam and Love Shack among others, during the Mosswood Meltdown at Mosswood Park in Oakland on Saturday, July 6, 2024. Don Feria/Special to The Chronicle Though the talent onstage offered few words beyond their 15-song setlist, the music was more than enough for Daisy Richards, 29, of Berkeley. Wearing lobster claws on both hands and a beanie crocheted with felt versions of the creatures stalk eyes, Richards told the Chronicle the spectacle was like being in the kind of dream it sucks to wake up from. More Information Mosswood Meltdown: Noon-10 p.m. Sunday, July 7. Mosswood Park, 3612 Webster St., Oakland. mosswoodmeltdown.com That was my first time seeing them, she said. I only hope it wont be my last. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Indeed, its hard to see the rapturous response that met the B-52s as anything but a hearty indication of what these titans of new wave still have to offer, despite their recently announced plans to retire. From the boisterous sing-alongs that broke out during the bands performance of 1989 single Love Shack to their set-closing payoff of enduring hit Rock Lobster complete with a cameo from Claudia the Lobster, who danced on stage with the band the B-52s are a band that continues to boil in all the best ways. Mosswood Meltdown continues Sunday, July 7, with performances from Big Freedia, the Mummies and more. RESIDENTS in Blackpool feel the have been failed by Cork City Council. Those attended a recent meeting voted unanimously that this was the case. All hands went up when we asked for a show of hands from anyone who thought Cork City Council had failed Blackpool, it was a resounding yes weve been neglected, Denis Fitzpatrick, chairperson of a residents group for the area told The Echo. The area being split across two wards made it difficult, Mr Fitzpatrick said. Were now politically divided, Blackpool is falling between stools. While discussing things the area needed, they realised that most of these had been identified in the city development plan in 2010, but not one of those things had been carried out, Mr Fitzpatrick claimed, explaining its very frustrating for people involved in community activism. Speaking to The Echo on the issue, Mick Moriarty, the owner of the Baldy Barber in Blackpool said that he had definitely noticed a decline in the area. Reflecting on his time in the area and the changes he has seen, Mr Moriarty said: There was eight shops selling sweets, newspapers, coffee and now there is none, there were five pubs and theyve all gone now. Theres nothing coming into Blackpool at all. He added that Blackpool had one of the first community centres in the country in the 1960s, and there were over 40 different projects there at the time and a range of citizens advice, but now everything is online. Sinn Fein TD for Cork North Central Thomas Gould hosted last weeks meeting of local residents in Blackpool Community Centre, and was joined by North West Ward councillors Kenneth Collins and Michelle Gould. A community group was established at the meeting and will be putting together an action plan and reaching out to the executive branch of the council. Mr Gould explained: Theres hundreds of new houses and apartments going in but no plan for services, the area needs GPs dentists, banks, supermarkets, creches, playgrounds, but instead, the services we have are closing. Ms Gould meanwhile, who is to be an administrator for the new working group, said it had been a very productive meeting, but added, you could sense the anger and the frustration in the room. Without services, its not a community, just building blocks. Blackpool has fierce potential and historical significance and could really thrive, Ms Gould said. Cork City North West Fianna Fail councillor and Blackpool GP John Sheehan said: Theres a lot more housing coming to the area, around 10 projects in process at the moment, nearly 500 new housing units on the Old Mallow Road. Those are mostly on brownfield sites, which are semi-derelict, and its always positive to see a bit of life and more footfall, but we need facilities and infrastructure to be able to cope with the additional population, buses, medical facilities, parks. He added that there is a regeneration group and a cleanup group who are working on visually improving the area, but said we really need to see derelict buildings brought back into use, because otherwise they can become hotspots for antisocial behaviour, and dereliction tends to invite more dereliction. Its going to be a challenge as a GP to service the growing population in Blackpool, Mr Sheehan said, but added that 30% more GPs were being trained and graduating at the moment. Its a good challenge to have. Its great to see more homes and new people coming to live in the area, Mr Sheehan said. A Cork City Council spokesperson told The Echo that a framework plan for Blackpool is being advanced at present in line with Objective 10.80 of the Cork City Development Plan: Cork City Council will produce a plan for the regeneration of the Blackpool Neighbourhood Centre. The coordinated provision of services, infrastructure, mix of land uses, transport and mobility, quality urban design and public realm development will form part of the overall framework. Music and television have always had an interesting relationship. TV brought rock n roll and pop into living rooms during revolutionary times for music in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. The 1980s are the decade we really associate with music and MTV provided many of the most enduring memories of a time when Michael Jackson, Prince, and Madonna reigned. Ironically, MTV were originally reluctant to play black artists, but Jackson will forever be associated with MTV and a decade when big-budget videos brought pop music to a new level. In Ireland, we had a more streamlined MTV, the Vincent Hanley-presented show MT-USA broadcasting for a few hours every Sunday afternoon. The channel choice in Ireland was limited in the mid-1980s and, as a teen, I used to find a lot of my music on BBC2 or Channel 4. MT-USA made a huge mainstream impact on a country that has always lagged behind for music choice via the media. RTE Radio 2 or 2FM only came on board in the late 1970s and as youngsters in the 1980s and 1990s my generation had to turn to pirate radio to hear anything different. In mainstream pop, the 1990s were more ambitious and by the end of that decade music videos had huge budgets. As the worldwide economy improved, so these budgets got really bloated. Hip-hop now became a huge commercial force and its hard to imagine the likes of Eminem and Missy Elliot becoming such big pop stars without the influence of TV. The 2000s had now come and while video directors such as Hype Williams continued to be hugely influential, there were changes on the horizon as the internet era began. MTV changed to reality TV and is hardly known for music anymore. Music videos remain important 20 years on, but are simply one big arm of content creation these days, and the consumption of television has changed greatly, too. Our own national broadcaster, RTE, has had big problems in the last few years, but television music programming has never really been their priority. There were valiant attempts, such as NO Disco in the 90s, but RTE has rarely invested much time and money in music on TV, and now that things are getting tighter, Id imagine music will be even less of a priority. Glastonbury was covered extensively on BBC over the weekend, and many people here watched it, so there were again calls on RTE to do something similar with a festival like the Electric Picnic. Theyve tried it before. Frankly, its not gonna happen, and with EP moving into mid-August, it probably wouldnt make much sense anyway these days. Our friends over in the UK certainly do a good job on Glastonbury, even though I can never totally get in to watching gigs on TV. The BBC have a great tradition in capturing music events though, and their coverage is as good as you can expect. They have good organisation, big budgets, tradition and expertise, and they have the viewing figures to match. A lot of the stages looked like they had sound problems and the vibe of live music rarely transforms into the living room anyway, but TV still has a role in the amplification of music in 2024 and we live in a very visual era. Music artists of all levels are aware of this visual side and even those without a budget are trying to post clips of their own music and work process on social media. One of the best things about social media is that the DIY approach means there is an opportunity for unknown artists to break through without a record company, but the music industry remains tough to crack and survival is everything for artists. The days when a whole country of young people sat down and simultaneously watched Top of the Pops are well gone, but music and TV will continue to have a relationship. These days its more likely to be on Tiktok or Youtube than RTE or BBC, but its still there! Elena Kadvany has been a reporter on the Chronicles Food & Wine team since 2021. She covers the ins and outs of the Bay Area food industry, from breaking news about the latest restaurant openings to investigative stories into wage theft and workers rights. In 2024, her food writing portfolio won second place in the Society for Features Journalism Excellence-in-Features awards. Previously, she covered restaurants and education for the Palo Alto Weekly; her work has also been published in Bon Appetit and the Guardian, and her reporting has been recognized by the California News Publishers Association. She can be reached at Elena.Kadvany@sfchronicle.com. By Jonathan McCambridge, PA Taoiseach Simon Harris has said the next generation will never forgive us if the opportunity to reset British-Irish relations is not seized following Labours landslide victory in the UK general election. Mr Harris acknowledged there had been clear policy differences and difficulties and challenges between the UK and Ireland in the years since Brexit, but said he was eager to work with new British prime minister Keir Starmer. In one of his first acts in power, Mr Starmer had a telephone conversation with the Taoiseach and invited him to Downing Street on July 17th. Mr Harris told the Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme on Sky News that the British-Irish relationship is really strong. He said: At the end of the day, were neighbours, were friends, in many cases were family as well, and theres an opportunity now, a real opportunity that we must seize and that the next generation will never forgive us for if we dont, to press reset, to say yes its been a difficult few years, but you know what? We have so much more in common than divides us. We have so many issues of mutual concern. We are two islands side by side. Lets work together and lets fulfil the promise of the Good Friday Agreement and a Good Friday Agreement that I know is very much in the DNA of the British Labour Party. And thats something that I really, really want to talk to, to Keir Starmer about. Keir Starmer has invited Simon Harris to Downing Street. Photo: Claudia Greco/PA The Taoiseach said one of the priorities of his meeting with the Labour leader later this month would be discussing ways of improving the structures for engagement between the two leaders following Brexit. It used to be that whoever the Irish taoiseach and British prime minister was would meet regularly through their membership of the European Union. Theyd meet on the fringes of European meetings. Those structures obviously arent there now. I respect that fact. But we do need to look for new ways of making sure that regular engagement happens. He said: I think when the relationship has gotten particularly challenging on occasion between Britain and Ireland, it has sometimes been through a lack of those structures. So thats the first thing I wanted to talk with him about, because I believe if we get that right, so much good can flow from that. Mr Harris said people didnt need a history lesson over why the relationship has been difficult in recent years. He said: Obviously, Brexit did make life challenging and challenging in relation to the relationship between the two islands and also, I suppose, changed that in many ways because no longer will be two countries within the European Union. Weve also had a situation where up until recently, there was a vacuum in Northern Ireland in terms of the institutions not functioning. Thankfully, thats now been been settled, and I think the fact that we now have a new British prime minister and indeed a new Irish taoiseach does present a real opportunity for both of us, both myself and the British prime minister, to dig deep in terms of resetting Anglo-Irish relations and both of us to show some leadership in that regard, because the relationship between our two countries, the relationship as close neighbours, our closest neighbours, it matters and it matters to people on both of our islands. He added: But there were clear policy differences and difficulties and challenges over, over the last number of years. Mr Harris insisted he had a very good professional relationship with Rishi Sunak. He also said Ireland would be an ally in any discussions the UK had in improving its relationship with the European Union. Referring to Brexit, he said: That decision has been made and my understanding is theres no British government that intends to revisit that in any manner or means. However, it is obviously important that Britain and the European Union continue to be good neighbours and it is absolutely in Irelands interest that we facilitate that in every way we can around any European table. Demonstrators protest outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Monday as decisions are announced. Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press The attacks on the Supreme Court for recent decisions appear to miss the point of its job in our constitutional government. The Supreme Court does not make laws by interpreting things as they should be in a vacuum. It judges whether laws adhere to the Constitution. Several recent rulings involved regulations imposed by executive branch bureaucrats without a law permitting them passed by Congress. This violates the separation of powers; laws should be made by Congress, signed by the president and enforced by the executive branch. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I am aware that the more liberal activists have used the courts, at times, to impose their views on such things as affirmative action, but that is the duty of Congress, not the courts. By the way, liberals call this the Trump Court although most of the justices in the conservative majority were not nominated by the former president The court is divided across the ideological spectrum, and the only consistency of its recent decisions is a deference to the Constitution. Peter Behr, San Anselmo Last task for Newsom A few years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom promised to get the Department of Motor Vehicles straightened out. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I have recently visited my local DMV office several times. The DMV is supposed to open at 8 a.m. But at 8, while the doors were unlocked, there were hardly any employees around. As I waited to have my car inspected, I watched employees drift in over the next 45 minutes, including, at 8:30, the person who inspected my car. The next visit was not much better. The DMV Get-in-Line service wasnt turned on until 9 a.m. I got my number and waited. And waited. I noticed that no one was at the registration desks until after 9:30. And, of course, by that time, the line out the door was longer than ever. The DMV keeps pushing its online services, which is fine, except the the process for registration or adding someone to a title is just as arcane as it was 50 years ago and you still have to go in. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Appointments are booked weeks out, so if you need something done, you have to stand in a glacially moving line or, if you know about Get-in-Line, wait inside hoping employees show up. Gov. Newsom, I know you are out of a job in 2027. But before you leave, can you please fix the DMV? Victor Gold, Berkeley Playing long game You gotta hand it to the Federalist Society. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Developing doctrine and cadres over four decades and packing the Supreme Court to destroy everything built by the American government going back to Franklin Roosevelt: social legislation, civil rights legislation, business regulation, laws protecting the environment and workers, and sending women back to their kitchens. 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 Donald Trump must have seemed like manna when he rode down that escalator. The unlooked-for gift. And here we are. Bangladeshi exports of leather apparel and accessories reached $144.188 million during January-April 2024, which was 11.62 per cent higher than the shipment of $129.270 million in the corresponding period of the previous year. The United States, Japan and India were the top three markets for these shipments. According to Fibre2Fashion's market insight tool TexPro, the US was the largest market where Bangladesh exported leather goods worth $24.222 million during the aforementioned period, accounting for 16.80 per cent of the total shipments. Interestingly, Bangladesh was not among the top suppliers of leather goods to this partner country. Its share was less than one per cent of the US' total imports of leather goods, which were valued at over two billion dollars in the first quarter. Bangladeshi exports of leather apparel and accessories reached $144.188 million in Jan-Apr 2024, an 11.62 per cent increase from the previous year. US, Japan and India were the top markets, with exports valued at $24.222 million, $23.810 million and $21.536 million, respectively. Bangladesh's share in the US market was less than 1 per cent. Bangladesh exported leather goods worth $23.810 million to Japan in the first four months of the current year, accounting for 16.51 per cent of the total. The shipment to India was valued at $21.536 million (14.94 per cent) in the same period. Among the top ten markets, Bangladeshi exports to China were valued at $19.764 million (13.71 per cent), the Netherlands $6.830 million (4.74 per cent), Belgium $6.628 million (4.60 per cent), Hong Kong $4.394 million (3.05 per cent), Mexico $3.901 million (2.71 per cent), Germany $3.491 million (2.42 per cent), and Canada $3.476 million (2.41 per cent). Bangladesh exported leather goods worth $450.611 million in the year 2023, which was slightly lower than the outbound shipment of $464.466 million in 2022. The value was noted at $326.209 million in 2019 but slipped to $266.186 million in 2020, before recovering to $354.319 million in 2021, according to TexPro. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Priyanka (@priyankachopra) Priyanka Chopra Jonas has been keeping busy. The actress is currently filming for The Bluff. Amidst all the updates shes been sharing on her social media handle, Priyanka shared an adorable video alongside her husband Nick Jonas and daughter Malti Marie.The video chronicles all the quality time Priyanka has spent with Nick and Malti while shooting for The Bluff. In one candid click, the three can be seen snuggling on a couch. Another clip sees Malti sweetly humming.Watch the video here:Priyanka captioned it, Bits and pieces (hand heart emoji) #thebluff, with a pirate flag emoji.Filming for The Bluff is underway in Australia. Priyanka has been sharing inside pictures including post-shoot clicks, gory SFX makeup and more, building intrigue around her latest project.Priyanka is also set to star in Heads of State with John Cena and Idris Elba. President Franklin D. Roosevelt discusses aircraft production problems with, from left, Donald W. Douglas of Douglas Aircraft Corp., California Gov. Culbert Olson and Douglas Vice President F.W. Conant in 1942. Olson served one term. U.S. Navy 1942 If youre ever inside the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn cemetery and hear laughter, its probably me visiting the tomb of Culbert Olson. Olson is perhaps the most anomalous figure in Californias political history. During the states long era of Republican dominance (1896-1958), he was the only Democrat to serve as governor. And he was an unapologetic atheist in our God-crazy country, refusing to say, So help me God while taking the oath of office in 1939. After an ineffective four-year term, he was defeated for reelection by Earl Warren. In this century, Olson is forgotten by all but the kookiest connoisseurs of Californiana, like your columnist, who cracks up every time he encounters our late, great God-denying governor in that cathedral-like mausoleum in Glendale (Los Angeles County), just steps from a stained-glass reproduction of Da Vincis The Last Supper. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Culbert Olson is rarely quoted, much less invoked, by powerful Californians today. This is what made Gov. Gavin Newsoms June 25 State of the State speech shocking for anyone who knows Olsons story. Newsom started his speech by invoking Olsons Jan. 2, 1939, inaugural address and its opening call for California to stand up in the face of the destruction of democracy. Back then, with Europe sliding into war, Olson said: As we witness destruction of democracy elsewhere in the world, accompanied by denial of civil liberties and inhuman persecutions, under the rule of despots and dictators, so extreme as to shock the moral sense of mankind, it seems appropriate that we Californians, on this occasion, should announce to the world that despotism shall not take root in our state; that the preservation of our American civil liberties and democratic institutions shall be the first duty and firm determination of our government. Though he only directly quoted one Olson line, Newsom noted that in 2024 we face the same choice. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The California way of life is under attack. For conservatives and delusional California bashers, their success depends on our failure. They want to impeach the very things that have made us successful, as a tactic to turn America toward a darker future. Then Newsom pivoted to a more familiar speech, including blasts at Republicans and reciting long lists of progressive policies. What Newsom didnt mention or, more likely, didnt know is that Olson is a very good model of how not to behave when democracy is under attack. Newsom isnt an Olson clone. He is Catholic, for starters. But he has enough in common with Olson each was the most progressive governor of his respective era that he might reflect on this particular predecessors failures. Olson not only had a huge agenda (including public pensions, universal health care and government takeover of the utilities), he was unusually strident in pursuing it. Like Newsom, he had a taste for public feuds. Where Newsom targets Fox News, Olson battled William Randolph Hearsts newspaper empire. Newsom has wisely made enemies of non-Californian politicians (like red state governors). But Olson got into self-destructive fights with Republican and Democratic legislators and the Catholic archbishops in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Olson, like Newsom, was criticized for pursuing too much. That 1939 inaugural speech resembles a Newsom speech in stating way too many progressive ambitions to accomplish. Olsons many legislative enemies in both parties blocked his broad agenda. Newsom, instead, often finds his grand ambitions foiled by a complicated, restrictive state governing system. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Newsom, like Olson, has made warnings about democratic decline a major talking point. What should be sobering for the current governor is Olsons utter failure to protect liberties and democratic practice. Notably, when World War II came, the governor failed to defend civil liberties, most obviously, with the incarceration of Californians of Japanese heritage. Olson knew this was wrong, and warned against it publicly. He wrote President Franklin D. Roosevelt to defend Japanese Americans as loyal citizens and lobbied Gen. John DeWitt against the imprisonment. But when DeWitt imposed the policy, Olson, as governor, stopped fighting and embraced it. Similarly, Newsom, after years of pursuing pro-immigrant policies, has bowed to the political winds and supported President Joe Bidens rights-violating restrictions on immigration and asylum. Olsons protect-democracy rhetoric accomplished little. We are learning this lesson again. When elected officials claim they are defending democracy as Newsom and Democrats are doing now they make democracy look like just another talking point. When elected officials issue warnings, they spread not hope but fear, and fear is an ally of authoritarians. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Purity, progressivism and strong faith (or lack thereof) are not nearly as convincing as affection and hope. Political rhetoric that taps our fears doesnt encourage democracy nearly as much as the hard work of building solidarity with our opponents. 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 And nothing is healthier for democracy than granting everyday people the power to make decisions themselves. In other words, keeping our democracy is not up to governors, but to the people. Heaven help us. Hong Kong, China--(Newsfile Corp. - July 7, 2024) - Hong Kong-based developer of mobile applications, OctagonLab Limited, has introduced its latest innovation: the iPhone Fax app, designed to integrate the reliability of traditional faxing with the ease and mobility of modern devices. This new app aims to redefine document transmission, offering a seamless and secure solution for sending and receiving faxes through iPhones and iPads. OctagonLab Limited Launches New iPhone Fax App To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8814/215618_2e6c2a02746e1b4c_002full.jpg Despite the rise of digital communication, faxing remains essential for secure document exchange, especially in sectors with stringent regulatory requirements, such as healthcare, legal, and finance. Recognizing the continued need for faxing capabilities in a mobile world, OctagonLab Limited developed the iPhone Fax app to cater to professionals and businesses seeking efficient and reliable fax solutions without the constraints of conventional fax machines. Anna Bates, Marketing Director at OctagonLab Limited, remarked, "Surprisingly, searches on how to fax from iPhones have surged, underscoring a persistent demand for mobile-friendly faxing options. The Fax app meets this demand by offering a user-friendly platform tailored to the dynamic needs of today's users. It enables faster and more secure faxing directly from iPhones and iPads." The iPhone Fax app effortlessly integrates with mobile workflows, bridging the gap between traditional faxing and contemporary mobile convenience. The app transforms iPhones into comprehensive faxing tools, eliminating the need for dedicated fax machines or phone lines and redefining the perception of fax communication in the digital age. The app supports global faxing with just a few taps, offering unparalleled flexibility, accessibility, and security for all faxed documents. The app also simplifies fax management, enabling users to handle their faxing needs from any location. Whether working remotely, in the office, or traveling, users can scan, edit, sign, and send documents directly from their iPhones. The app's user-centric design ensures efficient and straightforward document transmission, providing a significant upgrade from conventional fax methods. One of the standout features of the Fax app is its commitment to eco-friendly business practices. The app's robust functionalities include round-the-clock faxing with delivery confirmations and support for over 200 file formats, including PDF, DOC, JPG, and HTML. Users can add signatures to ensure document authenticity and security, track their faxes, and maintain comprehensive records for better organization. An integrated scanner within the app enhances document handling capabilities, allowing users to capture and edit documents on the go. Security remains a top priority for the Fax app. All data transmitted through the app is encrypted and not stored in the cloud, ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive information. By offering a secure and convenient faxing solution, the app helps businesses and individuals streamline their workflow and reduce the costs associated with traditional faxing methods. The iPhone Fax app is setting a new standard in secure document delivery, equipping users with the tools to navigate the evolving landscape of business communication confidently. OctagonLab Limited continues to set benchmarks in user experience by providing innovative and seamless faxing solutions. The iPhone fax app delivers enhanced efficiency and accessibility in modern faxing, staying true to the brand's promise of user-friendliness for all faxing requirements. As a feature-rich solution, the app is poised to transform the fax industry, making it an ideal choice for small businesses and individuals who depend on faxing for their professional and personal needs. The Fax app is now available on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fax-from-iphone-send-doc/id1577102077 Contact Info: Name: Alex Spasskiy Email: me@octagon-lab.com Organization: OctagonLab Limited, Hong Kong Website: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fax-from-iphone-send-doc/id1577102077 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/215618 SOURCE: Plentisoft Barcelona, Spain--(Newsfile Corp. - July 7, 2024) - Xcelirate, a prominent leader in digital transformation and technological innovation, today announces the opening of its new headquarters in Barcelona, Spain. Operating from its vibrant headquarters in Barcelona, Xcelirate is more than just a technology company-it is a nexus where visionary ideas and passionate individuals converge to shape the future of the tech industry. Xcelirate Establishes Barcelona Headquarters to Strengthen Global Technological Innovation To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8814/215619_ab91d4dd546e08c3_002full.jpg The decision to establish a headquarters in Barcelona, a city celebrated for its dynamic tech ecosystem and rich cultural tapestry, underscores Xcelirate's dedication to embedding itself in hubs of innovation and creativity. This new office will serve as a central node for Xcelirate's European operations, facilitating closer collaboration with clients and partners and allowing for more agile and responsive service delivery. Xcelirate specializes in crafting next-generation technologies that resonate across various industries, from advanced cloud computing and data analytics to robust cybersecurity and workflow automation. These solutions are designed to be universally adaptable and forward-thinking, ensuring that businesses can navigate the complexities of the digital age with ease and efficiency. Xcelirate's headquarters in Barcelona is a testament to the company's commitment to fostering a dynamic and inclusive workplace. The office serves as a creative hub where talented professionals from around the world collaborate to turn visionary ideas into reality. The team at Xcelirate includes members from Spain, Portugal, France, Ukraine, Italy, Peru, and more, creating a rich tapestry of perspectives and expertise that drives innovation and excellence. From its base in Barcelona, Xcelirate is uniquely positioned to serve a diverse and global client base. The company's strategic location allows it to offer localized support and insights, making it a trusted partner for businesses looking to excel in the digital landscape. Xcelirate's international community of innovators is driven by a shared passion for technological advancements and a commitment to excellence. For more information about Xcelirate's new headquarters and its suite of digital transformation services, visit www.xcelirate.com. About Xcelirate Inc. Xcelirate Inc. is a global leader in digital transformation, offering innovative solutions that enhance operational efficiency and drive growth. Known for its forward-thinking approach and commitment to excellence, Xcelirate empowers businesses worldwide from its headquarters in Barcelona, Spain. Contact Info: Name: Leva Canc Email: social@xcelirate.com Organization: Xcelirate Website: https://www.xcelirate.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/215619 SOURCE: Plentisoft Dior and Giorgio Armanis handbags carrying a Made in Italy label are purchased by the fashion brands from manufacturers for a few thousand bucks and then sold for lakhs. A probe by Italian prosecutors has also revealed worker exploitation at the manufacturing units of these items read more Dior paid as little as 53 euros for a handbag to a supplier. File Photo/Reuters Two luxury Made in Italy handbag brands are facing scrutiny after reports of alleged labour exploitation came to light. Probes by prosecutors in Milan, Italys fashion capital, have revealed that the luxury giants Dior and Giorgio Armani pay a small sum to produce handbags that retail for lakhs of rupees. Milan prosecutors are investigating the supply chain of about a dozen fashion brands this year. Heres what we know about the probe involving units of luxury LVMH, which owns Dior, and Giorgio Armani. Advertisement The real cost of luxury bags The investigation by prosecutors shows that a small manufacturer got as little as 53 euros (Rs 4,779) to make a handbag for Dior. This is exclusive of the cost of raw materials such as leather. The fashion giant sold these items in shops for 2,600 euros (Rs 2.4 lakh), Reuters reported last month. Earlier probe had found that sub-contractors paid workers 2-3 euros (Rs 180-270) an hour for a 10-hour work day to manufacture handbags. These were bought by Armani suppliers for 93 euros (Rs 8,386), re-sold to Armani for 250 euros (Rs 22,543), and were sold to customers for 1,800 euros (Rs 1,62,311), according to documents seen by Reuters. Worker exploitation charges Local factories in Italy that produce handbags and leather goods for Dior and Armani have been found to exploit labour, The Wall Street Journal has reported citing an investigation by Milan prosecutors. They have alleged staff were working in illegal conditions. The prosecutors said most of the workers were from China. As per a Reuters report, workers were employed for extra hours, working until night and during holidays. Some of the staff were sleeping at their workplace, did not have regular contracts and two were found to be illegal immigrants. Advertisement Inspections by Italian police in March and April revealed workers were subjected to hygiene and health conditions that are below the minimum required by an ethical approach, the WSJ reported citing the 34-page court order. The report also says workers were made to operate machines from which safety devices had been removed to increase output. Giorgio Armani is facing heat over worker exploitation probe. File Photo/Reuters As per the court ruling, one of the subsidiaries of Armani, GA Operations, hired two subcontractors, which went on to recruit several Chinese-owned subcontractors in Italy. A prosecution document alleged Dior didnt adopt appropriate measures to check the actual working conditions or the technical capabilities of the contracting companies, Reuters reported. Advertisement Manufacturing units of Dior and Armani have been put under judicial administration for a year. Milans court of justice has proposed that luxury firms should increase checks on suppliers to ensure they respect labour laws. Armani responded to the controversy, saying it had control and prevention measures in place to minimise abuses in the supply chain and was collaborating with the utmost transparency with authorities, the WSJ reported. Common practice Italy makes for 50-55 per cent of the global luxury goods output, according to consultancy Bain. While luxury brands decide product design and development, they often outsource production to suppliers. Italys prosecution said that violating labour rules in the fashion world was a generalised manufacturing method aimed at boosting profits. Advertisement Its not something sporadic that concerns single production lots, but a generalised and consolidated manufacturing method, court documents said, according to Reuters. Fabio Roia, the president of Milans court system, told Reuters, The main problem is obviously people being mistreated: applying labour laws, so health and safety, hours, pay. But there is also another huge problem: the unfair competition that pushes law-abiding firms off the market. If we managed to eradicate labour exploitation, profits would diminish, but there could be legal competition among businesses. Italian laws say that brands outsourcing production are responsible for implementing adequate checks on suppliers. When we step in, business owners always say its impossible to make checks on sub-contractors, but if thats true one could for example insert a clause in a contract saying that direct suppliers cant hand out the work further, Roia said. Advertisement With inputs from agencies The second round of the legislative elections on July 7 could mark a significant shift in Frances political landscape. Opinion polls indicate that unless the far-right National Rally (RN) secures enough seats to form its first government since World War II, Sundays run-off vote could result in a hung parliament without a clear majority read more People gather at Republique plaza in a protest against the far-right, Wednesday, July 3, 2024, in Paris. AP All eyes are on France. The second round of the legislative elections on July 7 could mark a significant shift in the countrys political landscape. Opinion polls indicate that unless the far-right National Rally (RN) secures enough seats to form its first government since World War II, Sundays run-off vote could result in a hung parliament without a clear majority. Heres a look at some facts about the election and whats next. The voting process Advertisement There are 577 constituencies in the National Assembly and the lower house of parliament. Each one has a seat up for grabs in this election. During last Sundays first round of voting, 76 parliamentarians were elected, 39 of whom were from the far-right RN and its supporters. This means that 501 seats are up for grabs in the decisive round. Marine Le Pen, French far-right leader and far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally - RN) party candidate, delivers a speech after partial results in the first round of the early French parliamentary elections in Henin-Beaumont, France, June 30, 2024. File Image/Reuters Voting concludes this Sunday at 6 pm (9.30 pm IST) in small towns and towns and 8 pm (11.30 pm IST) in large cities. Based on early partial results from polling places, pollsters will provide their initial national forecasts at 8 pm. These are usually reliable. Vote counting is usually fast. The actual result, however, might not be known until the wee hours of Monday if the vote is close, as in the case of the RN, who is only a few seats away from an absolute majority. The possible victory With one-third of the vote, the RN won the first round. According to opinion polls, it will surpass all other parties in the number of seats won, but its margin of victory is narrowing and it is expected to fall short of a working majority. To strengthen the position of the front-runner against the RN in their districts, the left-leaning New Popular Front (NPF) and a coalition of centrist parties that back President Emmanuel Macron have pulled more than 200 candidates from second-round races. Advertisement In the past, a more divided field has benefited the far right. French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron stand in the voting station before voting in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, northern France, Sunday, June 30, 2024. AP According to the most recent polls conducted following the withdrawal of candidates, the plan is working, and a hung parliament is the most likely outcome, with the far right losing out on an absolute majority. That outcome would lead to the most political uncertainty. What to expect Voters decision to support the far right, abstain despite their preferred candidates recommendation to the contrary, or endorse the anti-RN candidate in their constituency is a crucial matter. To gain an absolute majority and carry out their anti-immigration, eurosceptic programme, the RN and its allies will need to win 289 seats. Advertisement The party declared that Jordan Bardella, its leader, will be its prime minister candidate. Supporters of French far-right leader Marine Le Pen react after the release of projections based on the actual vote count in select constituencies Sunday (June 30) in Henin-Beaumont, northern France. AP Gabriel Attal, Macrons prime minister, would step down right away. Macron would designate a new prime minister, whose job it would be to put together a Cabinet. If Macron thought a nominee was unsuited for the position, he could veto the appointment. Regarding what it would do if it came up just short of an absolute majority, the RN has eased its position. Although Bardella had stated that he would not head an unstable minority administration, RNs Marine Le Pen has made it possible to recruit additional MPs should the party just be short on seats. Advertisement In case of a hung parliament Rather than attempting to establish a coalition government, Attal has stated that the mainstream right, left, and centrist parties might form ad hoc alliances to vote through specific bills in the new parliament. On the left, however, some have touted the idea of forming a ruling coalition. In its recent political history, France has never experienced a wide coalition leadership, in contrast to Germany and many other European nations. Both of these scenarios would probably delay changes and create political uncertainty. No deal It is possible that none of the three groups the far right, Macrons centrist alliance or the left will be big enough to govern alone, reach a coalition deal or provide the assurance that they can run a viable minority government. Advertisement In such a case, France would risk political paralysis, with little or no legislation being adopted and a caretaker government running basic daily affairs. The possibility of Macron resigning Macron has hitherto ruled this out, but it might become more appealing to him if policy paralysis prevails. Neither parliament nor the government can force a president to resign. Repeat vote: not an option The constitution says there can be no new parliamentary election for another year, so an immediate repeat vote is not an option. With inputs from Reuters The Keir Starmer-led Labour trounced the Conservatives in the UK elections. Now with a new government taking charge, change is on the cards for Britain. But what will this mean for India and the world? We decode the poll results and bring you other big stories from around the world read more Britain's Labour Party Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria arrive in Downing Street and greet supporters in London, on July 5. Stammer won the general election on and was appointed prime minster by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace. AP 2024 is the year of the election and this week has seen hectic developments around the world. Rishi Sunaks Conservative Party suffered a big defeat in the UK general election. The country has a new prime minister Labours Keir Starmer. The United States is still reeling from Joe Bidens debate debacle. (Seriously, what was that?) The Democrats have panicked and there is a growing buzz about demands to replace the incumbent president as the party nominee. Advertisement Iran has a new president and France is holding the second round of snap legislative polls today. The far-right National Rally (RN) cruised to victory with 33 per cent of the vote in the first round of voting last Sunday (30 June). However, it is unlikely to secure a majority in the second round, reveal polls. With so many elections, political parties and new leaders, it can get confusing. But we try to simplify it for you in our weekly roundup of explainers. 1. Lets talk about the UK. Rishi Sunak is out, Keir Starmer is in. After 14 years and five prime ministers, the Conservative Party shared a crushing defeat. Starmers Labour has promised change to Britain. We look back at the history of the Labour Party, its leaders, the promises it has made and its policies. Keir Starmer smiles as he speaks to his supporters at the Tate Modern in London. The Labour leader met King Charles at Buckingham Palace on Friday and was formally invited to form a government. AP 2. A new government in the UK comes with a new foreign policy. India features prominently on Starmers agenda. From the India-UK Free Trade Agreement to Hinduphobia, the Labour promises to pay attention to all. The victory of the centre-left party might be good news for India. Heres why. 3. Rishi Sunaks Conservative Party suffered a humiliating defeat in the UK general election. It lost more than 250 seats and will now be in the opposition. Sunak resigned as party leader and several Cabinet ministers including former PM Liz Truss lost their seats. So what went wrong for the worlds oldest party? We analyse. Advertisement Britains Rishi Sunak turns away after speaking outside 10 Downing Street before going to see King Charles III to tender his resignation in London, on July 5. Sunak and his Conservative Party lost the general election held July 4, to the Labour Party. AP 4. Londons most famous address is 10 Downing Street. It has been the locale of British prime ministers since 1735. But whats behind the black door, where some of the biggest decisions in Britain have been taken? We give you a sneak peek. 5. From the UK, lets move to the United States. The presidential election is months away but the pandemonium surrounding it has been going on for a while. Its not looking good for Joe Biden after a disastrous performance at the debate with Donald Trump. Doubts have persisted for long that the 81-year-old incumbent is no longer up to the job. Now his dismal show at the 27 June debate has made even Democrats nervous. But can the party replace him? And what happens if they do? We have some answers. Advertisement Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump speaks during a presidential debate hosted by CNN with President Joe Biden, on June 27, in Atlanta. AP 6. The death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May led to a presidential run-off in Iran. Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian has defeated Saeed Jalili Masoud, a hardliner. The 69-year-old winner is a heart surgeon, a lawmaker and a Centrist. The president-elect has vowed to reach out to the West and end Irans isolation from the world. But can he bring about changes when Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei remains the final arbiter on all matters of state? We explain. Irans President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian greets his supporters in a meeting a day after the presidential election near Tehran on July 6. AP 7. Our next story comes from space. It has been more than three weeks since Sunita Williams went to space on Boeings Starliner spacecraft with Butch Wilmore. But they now appear to be stranded. Advertisement The crewed test flight, which started on June 5, faced various problems such as helium leaks and thruster failures. Whats going on and when will the astronaut return? Find out in one of our most-read explainers of the week. 8. This sounds straight out of an episode of Black Mirror. Its shocking yet true. In South Korea, a robot is said to have died by suicide. The reason stress. Is that even possible? Whats the real story? Thats all from us this week. Hope you enjoy your recommendations. Bookmark this page, if you like the way we explain the news. PS: You might now be up-to-date with UK politics, but your crash course is incomplete if you havent read about Larry the Cat. Actor Hina Khans social media post about her stage-3 breast cancer has left many thinking about the vulnerability of younger women to the disease. Firstpost brings out an experts opinion on the most common cancer among women read more Popular Indian TV actor Hina Khan was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is 36 and undergoing treatment for stage-3 cancer, busting the myth that older women, especially those in their late 40s and 50s are vulnerable to the disease. Firstpost spoke to Dr Huma Noor of Medical Oncology department at Fortis Escorts hospital in New Delhi to understand the changing pattern of breast cancer in particular and cancers in general. Excerpts: Advertisement Breast cancer has emerged as the most common cancer with over 2.3 million cases a year worldwide. Some agencies say its second most common after lung cancer. Why are we witnessing such a surge in breast cancer? The reason for rise in breast cancer may be attributed to Westernised lifestyle - consumption of fast foods, oil-dense foods, lack of proper exercise, sedentary habits, overweight and obesity, late age marriage, and delayed motherhood. Family history has strong bearing with cancers. A study by Cancer Journal showed an increase of about 40 per cent in cancer cases among Indian women since 1990. Are the factors causing breast cancer the same in India as elsewhere? In general, yes in our country the risk factors are the same except in India, breast density is more as compared to western counterparts which has a direct link with breast cancer risk. Rest of the risk factors are early menarche (before 12 yrs), late menopause (after 55 years), advanced age, obesity increased waist-hip ratio, increased BMI (> 25), delayed motherhood (after 30 years), never pregnant, family history of breast cancer. A lot of new cases are being diagnosed among younger women. Does family history make younger women more vulnerable? Absolutely right. In BRCA 1 type 55 to 72 per cent and BRCA 2 45 to 69 per cent of chances of breast cancer. In the general population, it is 13 per cent. As per NCCN guidelines (largest Cancer-related society globally), for high-risk breast cancer for example family history of cancer, breast cancer screening should start at least 10 years earlier than the last diagnosed patient or by 30 years. (For average risk we start breast cancer screening by 40 years). Advertisement Specialists often talk about genetic mutations such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 and also sedentary lifestyle as contributing factors for an increase in breast cancer cases. What are the common risk factors for developing breast cancer and can they be controlled? Sure. Genetic factors, as you have enumerated, certain genetic factors like BRCA 1 and 2 mutations. Other genes involved are PTEN, CDH 1, TP 53, and STK 11. These genes can be detected on biopsy samples. Old age, first child after 30 years, obesity, dense breasts, early menarche (<12 years), delayed menopause (> 55 years), alcohol use, use of hormonal therapy, prior exposure to radiation. Advertisement Some people point to economic well-being leading to delayed childbirth as a factor for younger women to develop breast cancer. Is it actually the case or is it one of the growing myths about breast cancer? It is a fact. Delayed childbirth is an established cause of breast cancer. Childbirth after 30 years increases breast cancer. Earlier, diabetes and gout-like diseases were blamed on our lifestyle. Is the modern lifestyle the real villain for breast cancer too? Its not a lifestyle disease but lifestyle is a contributory factor Some ayurvedic practitioners say that cancers of all kinds are essentially a result of oxygen deficiency in the cell. Do breathing exercises help lower the chances of having cancer, especially breast cancer? Advertisement Exercise has a positive effect on our body as well as mind. It has been proven by numerous studies, exercise does help in the prevention of cancers. More cases have raised the awareness level about breast cancer and so screening has gone up. At what age should a woman think of getting screened for breast cancer? For normal women, breast cancer screening should start at 40 years. For high-risk women, for example those with family history of breast cancer, screening should begin by 30 years. Screening is done by examination by a medical oncologist and mammogram (breast x-ray) once a year. For younger women, breast USG is advised. Advertisement Breast cancer treatments have vastly improved in the past two-three decades. Are all stages of breast cancer fully treatable and what are the general survival rates? Breast cancer is divided into four stages. Stage I and Stage II are early breast cancers, Stage III is locally advanced cancer and Stage IV is advanced cancer. Stage I to III cancers are curable. Even for stage IV, the disease can be controlled for decades. Breast cancer treatment has undergone revolutionary changes in the past two to three decades, particularly due to the use of anti-Her 2 treatment, immunotherapy, PARPi inhibitors, CDK 4 /6 inhibitors, and antibody drug conjugate therapy (ADCs). One final question, is breast cancer a preventable disease? Fortunately, we can prevent breast cancer by adopting a healthier lifestyle. Following steps could be helpful in preventing a cyst or tumour turning into cancer: Keep weight in check Be physically active Eat fruits and vegetables Avoid alcohol Judicious use of hormonal therapy First child before 30 years Encourage breastfeeding In case of family history, begin screening for breast cancer by 25-30 years of age. Demonstrators rally outside the Supreme Court as it hears arguments over President Donald Trumps effort to ban immigrants from several Muslim-majority countries on April 25, 2018. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Getty Nearly 25,000 migrants who were denied U.S. visas under President Donald Trumps Muslim ban can reapply for free under an agreement between immigrant groups and the Biden administration that has been approved by a federal judge in San Francisco. Trump who declared during his 2016 campaign that Islam hates us and that he would prohibit all Muslim immigration to the United States released his first version of the travel ban a few days after taking office, barring U.S. entry from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Federal courts rejected it as an act of discrimination based on religion and nationality, and also blocked a slightly scaled-down version issued two months later. His final version, in September 2017, banned most U.S. entry of migrants from five predominantly Muslim nations Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen or from North Korea and of officials from Venezuela. The Supreme Court allowed it to take effect in December 2017, and ruled 5-4 in June 2018 that Trump had acted within his authority to determine that admission of certain classes of aliens would harm the national interest. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts said Trump had acted out of national security concerns and was not discriminating against Muslims. President Joe Biden repealed Trumps order after taking office in 2021, but that didnt help the migrants who had been unable to get visas while the ban was in effect. Immigration advocates accused the administration of foot-dragging, and U.S. District Judge James Donato agreed. Justice Department lawyers agreed to a settlement in early 2023 and then abruptly backtracked, Donato said in a decision in March allowing the immigrants to proceed with their case. He said the administrations lawyers then agreed to allow no-cost reapplications by thousands of previously denied immigrants, only to declare at a later hearing that they had never agreed to a settlement. This is an egregious record of poor performance by the government, Donato wrote. This conduct has hobbled the fair administration of justice. On Wednesday, the judge approved the final settlement. It allows anyone from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, North Korea or Venezuela who was denied a visa under Trumps policy to reapply during the next year, without having to pay a fee. Donato said immigrants would be notified by phone and email of their eligibility to apply, and that notice would also be posted in English, Arabic and Farsi on the governments travel.state.gov website. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Despite the rescission of the Muslim Ban, the lingering effects continue to haunt countless individuals who have been trapped in this situation for far too long, Paris Etemadi Scott, an attorney with Pars Equality Center, one of the groups that took part in the settlement, said in a statement. This agreement offers a glimmer of hope, providing a clear pathway for visa reconsideration. Participants said the case has become more urgent with the possibility that Trump will be elected again in November. He has said that if he wins, he would expand his previous ban and would exclude refugees from Gaza. Iran, one of the oldest democracies in the region, has been governed by Islamic theocracy blended with democratic institutions, even if accused of being more selective than elective by the West. But having reformist presidents in a broadly conservative political landscape is something that needs to be appreciated. Recent elections are not an exception, which were necessitated by the sudden death of President Ebrahim Raisi in the weird helicopter accident along with his Foreign Minister Abdollahian, among others. Advertisement Several presidential hopefuls were projected; some were dropped and others dropped out for the June 28 elections, in which none of the candidates could get the prescribed majority of 50 per cent to be declared winners. Hence the runoff on July 5 between the two top grossers, which included Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist candidate, and Saeed Jalili, a conservative preferred by the Ayatollah, who would have followed the same policies as the late Ebrahim Raisi. However, the Iranians, suffering through the sanctioned economy, dearth of opportunities, and general distrust in the way things are in Iran, voted to elect Pezeshkian, who in the runoff got nearly 53.7 per cent of vote share defeating Saeed Jalili by three million votes on his For Iran campaign. Earlier, the voters empathy and interest were missing, but in the runoff, 49.8 per cent of the 61 million voters cast their vote, which was reasonably higher than the dismal 39.9 per cent in the first round. Even though the margin may not be very high, to call it a decisive mood in the country and to extrapolate it to say that the Iranians are completely unhappy with the state of play in the country would only be half the truth. But the message is clear. Pezeshkian contested on the premise that he would bring about reforms and moderation at home and greater outreach in foreign policy, including with the West as well. He will take over in the next 30 days and will be sworn in as the ninth president of the Islamic Republic. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamanei said that the election boycott campaign by the enemies was defeated and that the president and government must focus on improving the country and lives of the people and preserving the establishment. He may have his governance challenges as the Parliament is broadly dominated by conservatives and hardliners; hence, treading the cautious path could possibly be the way in the beginning. However, Speaker of Majlis Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who finished third in the elections and was said to be the favourite, assured the President-elect that the Parliament would help the new administration. Hopefully, the Parliament will let him choose his foreign and economy ministers and the cabinet in general. It is expected that former Foreign Minister Jawad Zarif (widely criticised by the conservatives and a major supporter of the new President) and former Economy Minister Ali Tayebnia (with a proven record) might return. Saudi King and Crown Prince Salman and many of the leaders from across the world welcomed the successful elections and congratulated Pezeshkian. Leaders of Russia and China also expressed hope that they would continue to work closely with the new administration. Given his penchant for peace and progress, his efforts to de-escalate tensions may have given greater comfort to regional powers, even though his own powers in this regard will have inherent limitations given the subjective mix of the Iranian governance architecture. But issues pertaining to domestic discontent, isolation, the economic downturn, and attendant issues are problems that will have to be addressed irrespective of those limitations since time for turnaround and delivery will be shortening by the day. Advertisement The outcome of US elections later in the year and expanding rightist dispensations in Europe and elsewhere will have their own impact on the way the Iranians will respond and contend with. The fate of the Iran Nuclear Deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) remains in a limbo, which has destabilising potential since Tehran and its conservative establishment will not take kindly to the Western rebuff much longer. This could be an ongoing challenge for the new president, especially as he moves to relax hijab enforcement and outreach to the West. Pezeshkians message to Iranians is quite tellinginforming them of his difficulties and his resolve to overcome them, at least for now. He said, The difficult path ahead will not be smooth except with your companionship, empathy, and trust. I extend my hand to you, and I swear on my honor that I will not leave you alone on this path. Do not leave me alone. Advertisement Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been sincerely engaged in developing the civilisational strategic relationship with Iran on mutually beneficial terms despite the difficulties due to Western sanctions, congratulated Pezeshkian on X, stating, 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. India-Iran relations have picked up steam in recent times. India has refocused on the development of the strategic Chabahar port and its inclusion in the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). India and Iran also signed a ten-year Chabahar Port Management Project, which will help in its rounded development and better utilisation of the facilities. Advertisement Regular, high-level exchanges have continued. PM Modi met late President Raisi last year in Johannesburg, when New Delhi supported Iran as a new member of the BRICS along with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Ethiopia, and Egypt. In addition, under Indias presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Iran was admitted into its fold as a full member. Hence, greater regional cooperation in these organisations has become commonplace. Foreign Minister Jaishankar was the first foreign leader to call on the then-newly elected President Raisi. The Indian Parliament paid homage to the deceased President Raisi in its very first session. All these clearly subscribe to the sincere intent of further enriching bilateral ties and collaboration in the regional matrix. Of course, New Delhi will have to deal with the Iranian request to resume the import of Iranian crude, which used to account for nearly 11 per cent of Indian imports but was reduced to near zero due to the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) sanctions by the US. New Delhis continued import of oil from a highly sanctioned Russia gives Tehran the leeway to raise the issue. Iran is also central to Indias connectivity aspirations with Afghanistan and its Connect Central Asia policy. Advertisement Regional security in the Middle East is a major concern for India, especially as the Israel-Gaza war has every element of escalation that could flare up, and Tehran is a key pivot in this dynamic. Hence, it is imperative that India and Iran confer more frequently, along with other stakeholders, to ensure and avoid accidental escalation, even if not designed. The author is the former Indian Ambassador to Jordan, Libya and Malta and is currently a Distinguished Fellow with Vivekananda International Foundation. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. The undue interest of Western Christian countries in Nepals internal matters and their apparent panic against provisions in its Constitution and National Penal Code against proselytisation are concerning read more On April 7 of this year, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Nepal, instructed 77 district administration offices to rein in religious conversion. According to them, there were several organisations as well as foreign nationals that were holding religious conferences and conversion programmes across the country. Even though Article 26 of the Constitution of Nepal (2015) states, Every person who has faith in religion shall have the freedom to profess, practice, and protect his or her religion according to his or her conviction," this freedom has limitations. Clause 3 of Article 26 states, No person shall, in the exercise of the right conferred by this Article, do, or cause to be done, any act which may be contrary to public health, decency, and morality, or breach public peace, or convert another person from one religion to another, or any act or conduct that may jeopardise the others religion, and such act shall be punishable by law. Advertisement Furthermore, Articles 158(1) and 158(2) of Nepals National Penal (Code) Act, 2017, criminalise converting and attempting to convert, irrespective of inducement. The fine for violation of these articles is punishable by imprisonment for up to five years and a fine of up to 50,000 Nepalese rupees. According to a report released by the National Christian Community Survey (NCCS) in 2022, there are over 683,261 Christians and 7,758 churches in the country. They claimed that this was data that included the churches that followed the Apostles faith and the Catholic community. Though many other Christian organisations in response suggested that the number of Christians in the country was much higher, the National Christian Federation of Nepal stated that the number was closer to 3 million. The number is staggering, not in regard to the total population of Nepal, which is approximately 30.5 million, but because of how quickly the conversion process has taken place. In the 1950s, the number of Christians in Nepal was less than 30. Even though Christian missions in Nepal had been set up as early as 1715 by Capuchin friars from Italy, the mission did not achieve any real success, with missionaries finding a real chance again only in the 1990s. By 2001, the number of 30 had jumped to 102,000, and a decade later, it had tripled to 375,000. With the fall of the monarchy (which had expelled Christians to India under the rule of King Prithvi Narayan Shah in 17651799) and the victory of the Maoists came the establishment of a new secular multiparty state. Religion became a political debate as secularism formed a central point of demand for the Maoists. Religious freedom and missionary activity found space in the new system adopted by Nepal. This change resulted in a surge in Christian conversions. A 2013 report by Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary found that Nepals church was the fastest-growing in the world, with 10.9 per cent annual growth and constituting 10 per cent of the countrys population. Many analysts observing Nepals demography argue that these numbers are perhaps more reliable, as the census in Nepal reports demographic change. Advertisement While it can be argued that the economic status or orthodox sociocultural positions of Hindu society propelled the rate of conversion, it is equally true that there seems to be a growing interest in Nepal by Western countries. Dalit and tribal communities account for nearly 65 per cent of Christians in Nepal. What demands attention is that this target population is being earmarked for conversion. In India too, during the British colonisation of the country, it was the same communities that were seen to be easier to convert. An interesting correspondence between David Scott, a British officer in India, and W B Bayley, secretary to the British government in 1825, gives a revealing insight on why these communities were targeted. Scott wrote, The great error of the missionaries appears to me to be that of directing their attention to polished natives instead of rude tribes who are still in that state of national childhood." The Machiavellian ways of the colonisers in India seem to be repeating themselves in Nepala different era but the same context. Advertisement After the massacre of the royal family of Nepal in 2001, Pope Benedict XVI elevated the Church of Nepal to a vicariate on February 10, 2007. In 2014, the then-British ambassador to Nepal, Andrew Sparkes, in an article in the English daily Republica advised Nepals constituent assembly members to ensure that the right to change ones religion is protected under the new constitution. Not only was Sparkes called out for his breach of diplomatic conduct and blatant interference in Nepals internal affairs, but also for wanting a clear path for proselytising by Christian missionaries in the country. In 2018, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), headed by American Professor Robert Goldman, published a report funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion and Belief, and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. The report titled Challenges to Freedom of Religion or Belief in Nepal quoted a Pew report stating that Hindu politicians made speeches attacking the epidemic of conversions and Christians who sought to convert Hindus, and local communities in the Kathmandu Valley opposed burials by perceived outsiders, making it difficult for Protestant churches to access land they had bought years earlier. Advertisement Reportedly, unlawful restrictions by the government on the freedom of religion were also on the rise. Some of these unlawful restrictions include laws relating to proselytism and blasphemy. The Constitution of Nepal, as well as the new Penal Code, 2017, which comes into force in August 2018, retain a range of provisions prohibiting and criminalising proselytism in a manner that is incompatible with international standards. Similarly, the new Penal Code contains a number of vague and overly broad anti blasphemy provisions that criminalise hurting religious sentiment and feelings. These laws are similar to blasphemy laws that exist elsewhere in the region, including in India, Pakistan, and Myanmar, where their enforcement has resulted in widespread abuse, particularly because these so-called religious offences have been instrumental in the persecution of people belonging to minority religions. Advertisement The 2023 United States Commission for Religious Freedom (USCIRF) report also slammed Nepal by giving an overview of religious freedom conditions in the country and examining how Nepals criminalisation of proselytism, blasphemy, and cow slaughter violates protections for the right to freedom of religion or belief under international human rights law. It also examines how legal impediments outside of the constitution and the National Penal (Code) Act, 2017, violate the right to freedom of religion or belief under international human rights law. Furthermore, this year, an atheism agenda by the US was revealed by Congressman Brian Mast, who questioned spending by the US State Department of half a million dollars to promote atheism in Nepal. The funds were allegedly given to organisations to promote atheism. The undue interest of Western Christian countries in Nepals internal matters and their apparent panic against provisions in Nepals Constitution and Nepals National Penal Code against proselytisation are concerning but not perplexing. The truth behind the panic is that Western countries continue to virtue signal and pressure Nepal in order to gain dominance over the unique geo-strategic position of the Himalayan nation. With Chinas growing influence on the country, the stakes are high for countries like the US. Perhaps the promotion of proselytisation could be seen as a crucial arm of Western foreign policy. While Nepal feels that the advantage taken by missionaries in a country that struggles with poverty and remote populations creates social conflict, the agenda behind proselytisation may be far more sinister. Rami Niranjan Desai is an anthropologist and a scholar of the northeast region of India. She is a columnist and author and presently Distinguished Fellow at India Foundation, New Delhi. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of Firstpost. On the small island of Divar, in Goa, a big dream is slowly, imperceptibly, taking shape. The dream of making a stitched ship as ancient Indian seafarers did and taking it out on an oceanic voyage has obsessed historians, navy architects, scientists, boat builders, shipwrights, sailing experts, and maritime enthusiasts over the last few years. This is finally coming to fruition at the Hodi Innovations shipyard on Divar, under the watchful eyes of master shipwright Babu Shankaran and the energetic builder Prathamesh Dandekar, the boss of Hodi. Prathamesh, the young Turk, brings an impressive and varied skill set in shipbuilding and engineering from India and abroad, but the biggest weapon in his armour is the guidance and oversight of his father, the legendary boat builder Ratnakar Dandekar. Advertisement For the uninitiated, Ratnakar is the man who built the iconic sailing vessels Mhadhei and Tarini (among others), which Dilip Donde, Abhilash Tomy, and the Womens Sailing Super Six led by Varthika Joshi have successfully used for their circumnavigation voyages. One of these two ships will be used by the Navy for the next circumnavigation voyage, to be announced soon. And yet, even for Ratnakar and his team, the stitched ship may turn out to be their biggest challenge. Let us see why. Background Indias varied and rich maritime canvas going back into antiquity has for long been known, even if not adequately recognised. The fact that ancient India had cultural and commercial links with countries as far east as Japan and Korea and as far west as Greece and Rome, that Indian Ocean was the emporium of ancient world in which goods and ideas were traded and, of which, India was the epicentre, has been written and commented upon by many scholars and historians. The imprimatur of those splendid exchanges are visible even today in the form of architecture, places of worship, cuisine, manners and modes of people in the region that we define as Indo-Pacific today. None of this would have been possible if India did not have a thriving maritime ecosystem in which rulers, religious leaders, venture capitalists, traders, seafarers participated wholeheartedly and in which ports and other maritime infrastructure, contextual to that time, were built and sustained. As Priyasha Dixit, a research scholar in her recent essay for the National Maritime Foundation (NMF) says, India was an independent and crucial player in well-established mercantile trade in the Indian Ocean for centuries, well before the arrival of any colonial powers. Since ancient times, Indian sailors ventured into the seas thanks to their knowledge and use of the monsoon winds. This deep understanding of seasonal patterns allowed them to travel safely and efficiently, opening up trade routes to faraway lands. Axiomatic to all of this was the availability of a shipbuilding industry. It is obvious that seafaring whether by staying close to the coast or going across oceans would not have happened without robust shipbuilding capabilities. Ships built in India, by Indians, traversed across the Indo-Pacific and closer home in coastal and riverine waters. As Dixit brings out with regard to the Mauryan empire that the criticality of shipbuilding is also proven by the fact that the State also gave tax incentives to build ships. Maritime trade and connectivity were, therefore, a significant feature of ancient societies. Advertisement But what sort of ships were these? How were they built? Which were the important shipbuilding centres? Unfortunately, much of popular literature on Indias maritime past has focused more on the civilisational links, goods traded, human experiences and such like. Therefore, knowledge about shipbuilding techniques, engineering aspects and other technical dimensions remained in penny pockets or in some scholarly treatises. Recently, as a part of Indias pursuit to rediscover its Indic knowledge systems, more effort has been put into revisiting its ancient shipbuilding knowledge. The stitched ship is one such magnificent quest. Central to this endeavour is author, historian, economist and currently a Member of the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to the Prime Minister, Sanjeev Sanyal. His books The Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History and The Incredible History of Indias Geography make a reference to the stitched ship. Advertisement During the course of his research having come across this unique way in which ancient Indians constructed their ships, viz, by stitching the hull together with a kind of coir/rope rather than being nailed, Sanyal had, for long, envisioned constructing a stitched ship to celebrate Indias rich shipbuilding heritage. While contemplating the way forward, serendipity struck, when on December 21, Sanyal who was then the Principal Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Finance, met Commander Y Hemanth Kumar. Most fortuitously, Hemanth turned out to be a qualified naval architect. He instinctively felt that the Indian Navy, which is a pioneer in indigenous shipbuilding as well as a key player in ocean sailing and yachting, could play an important role in this mission. It was almost as though Sanyal had found a kindred spirit who shared his enthusiasm and dedication. Advertisement This led over the next few months to the Indian Navy and the Ministry of Culture coming on board. It is to the credit of the higher leadership in both these establishments that they enthusiastically bought into the proposal. While the Indian Navy took the lead on technical and design issues, the Ministry of Culture expressed willingness to fund the project. Thus, the endeavour was informally greenlighted. However, a lot of groundwork needed to be done. Before that, a bit more about stitched ships to contextualise the project. Stitched Ships Past and Present As brought out earlier, Indias ancient voyages of trade and exploration were done on vessels that used a peculiar technology - the ships were stitched together rather than nailed. The evidence of the existence of stitched ships in the Indian iconography and archaeological findings has been known in scholarly circles. Speculations abound on why this was so. Some attribute it to superstition that magnetic lodestones in the sea would suck in ships which bore iron nails. Others attribute it to the likelihood of rusting in iron nails which would have affected safety and stability of the vessel. However, Sanyal and his cohort differ. They argue that this was done despite the knowledge of rust-free iron (as evidenced by the Mehrauli pillar) as well as exposure to Roman and Chinese ships that used nails. In their view Indians (and later Arabs) adopted this technology as it made the hulls flexible and less prone to breaking up on shoals/sand bars. Advertisement Sanyals book on Indian Geography states that It is more likely that this was because ships sailed in waters full of atolls and reefs and had to be beached at many places due to lack of sheltered harbours or due to the rough monsoon seas.. It was only with the arrival of the Europeans that the Indian Ocean world shifted to ships nailed to frames to allow use of cannons (the stitched ships could not handle the blowback and tended to warp). Interestingly, one of the oldest stitched ship representations is found in Sanchi sculptures of 2nd Century BCE. Even more fascinatingly, today the stitched plank constructions are practiced in limited communities along both the Western and Eastern coasts of India. Despite advancements in modern techniques, this age-old practice continues to endure, carried on by the last remaining shipwrights of this type of construction. Unlike modern shipbuilding techniques, the method of stitching ships is a labour-intensive process that requires great skill and knowledge. The hulls are stitched together using coconut coir twines, coconut fibres, and then covered with fish oil to make them waterproof. On the West Coast of India, Kettuvellam boats of Kerala are constructed using stitching methods. These vessels ply only in the inland waters and are mostly used for recreational purposes, like houseboats. In Goa, the stitched vessels are found along the rivers of Tiracol, Chapora and Amone of North Goa. These boats are locally called revenchem vodem and are used for transporting river sand to land. Along the Konkan and Karnataka Coast, stitched boats include Machuvas, Manji and Phatemars. Stitched boats of Lakshadweep Islands are spread across the Islands of Amini, Kadmat, Kiltan, Kavaratti, Agatti and Chetlat. In the order of increasing size, the stitched boats are called odi/cheriyath, rendu valikkindad, aru valikkindad, ettu valikkindad, Kondalam and Odam (also called odakappal or valia odam). The East Coast of India also has several stitched boat forms. Along the southern coast of Andhra Pradesh (south of Krishna delta), keel-less stitched boats are found; they are primarily used for fishing and belong to boat types called Peddavala Padava and Karravala Padava. Further north, along the northern coast of Godavari delta and Visakhapatnam, keeled stitched boats called Padavas are predominantly used. Another important stitched boat found all along the Andhra Coast is Masula. It is predominantly used for seine net fishing. On the Odisha coast, stitched boats called teppa and odisha paduva are used. On both coasts and across states, the largely common factor is that this art of stitched shipbuilding has been passed down from generation to generation within the coastal communities. This intricate process is not based on documented processes or precise calculations, but, instead, relies on the skill and knowledge of the shipwrights who create these amazing vessels. As one of the officers working on the group said With each stitch being carefully planned and executed, this centuries-old tradition embodies the essence of civilizational memory - a living connection to Indias deep maritime heritage that stretches back thousands of years. With regard to the wood there is much greater clarity. As Dixit says, Various historical and archaeological sources in Sanskrit, Pali and other vernacular languages detail the use of timber for shipbuilding and the meticulous techniques employed to maintain the longevity of those ships. Paninis work, called the Ashtadhyayi, which dates back to the 5th century BCE, elaborates greatly on different timber species and their use in ship construction among many other purposes. Patanjalis work from the 2nd century BCE, likewise, mentions the particular use of Deodar for the construction of different parts of the ship, and the general variety of timber employed in the construction process. Many other foreign records, while expounding the many merits of Indian teak, mention that teakwood was exported to distant lands for shipbuilding, and construction of buildings, temples, and palaces. It is also a matter of common knowledge that Indian teak because of its superior quality was used as raw material for building British ships during the colonial epoch. In Dixits words The coming together of this wood and stitching is often seen in the Dhows, which are a mix of Indo-Arab techniques and have been seen in the Western Indian Ocean region for many centuries. The masts and yards of traditional dhows were originally constructed using Indian teak and coconut wood. Early versions had their sails woven from coconut or palm leaves, while the subsequent use of cotton (which was also from India) made longer voyages possible. The planks used for the hull were often stitched or sewn together and the vessel most often featured a triangular (lateen) sail, which allowed it to sail much closer to the wind than a square sail would have allowed. Getting It Going To come back to the project, Sanyal and Hemanth set the ball rolling. From there, more stakeholders joined along the way and embarked on a long challenging journey to bring this vision to life. Over a period of one and a half years, this endeavour was painstakingly put together brick by brick. All the available sources had to be scanned and studied. Constructing a boat requires more than literary references or rock inscription; it needs detailed drawings and equipment specifications. Indias largely oral tradition of dissemination of history meant that written documents on such subjects were not readily available. On the other hand, as brought out above, the tradition of building such ships has been passed down generations largely as a family inherited skill. Therefore, traditional shipbuilding yards had to be scouted to survey the craft (and craftsmen) available. The efforts of the team from the Navy, especially the Directorate of Naval Architecture (DNA), were tireless, involving detailed research into ancient shipbuilding techniques and seeking an in-depth understanding of stitched ship construction. They poured over many scientific papers, ensuring that every technical aspect was meticulously noted for planning and execution. One of the most challenging aspects of the project was assembling the right team, particularly someone who had experience in this craft. Their research led to a person called Babu Sankaran who was reputed to be one of the few remaining master shipwrights from India capable of building stitched ships. It emerged that Babu Sankaran and his team had previously constructed stitched ships in Oman that successfully undertook sea voyages. But, tracking him down was easier said than done. His contact details were not available. The DNA team, in true Sherlock Holmes style, searched several YouTube videos on stitched ships where Babus name was mentioned. Through these videos, they identified Tom Vosmer from the University of Western Australia and Eric Staples from Zayed University as key figures associated with these projects. An extensive online search was conducted to find their contact information. After locating their email addresses, and several attempts later, Tom Vosmer replied and connected Cdr Hemanth to Eric Staples, who in turn led him to Babu Sankarans son Anoop. This entire process spanned over four months. But more challenges lay ahead and took a great deal of negotiation skills. Babu Sankaran could only speak Malayalam; therefore, help was sought from Malayali friends to motivate Sankaran to join the team. Ensuring that a formal contract was in place at the right time was also crucial, as the team had other commitments in Oman, and, without a formal contract, it would have been difficult to prevent them from accepting further engagements. The officials at the Ministry of Culture made this possible by ironing out any anticipated bureaucratic creases and proactively accepted the contract requirement even when the end product still remained nebulous. The next step was to dial Ratnakar Dandekar, the one stop answer for any such adventure. Apart from his proven expertise in designing sailing craft that have circumnavigated the world and that he possesses readymade boat building infrastructure, Ratnakars biggest calling card is that he relishes a challenge. He has a sense of history and is equally driven by the passion of doing something different. The shipyard, in turn, approached Indias first solo circumnavigator, Captain Dilip Donde to join the core team. His extensive experience in ship design and circumnavigation would be useful both, in the design stages as user input, and also, for training the Indian Navy crew, who would undertake the voyage when the ship was ready. On the technical front, Hemanths expertise gained during his post graduation in Hydrodynamics at IIT Madras was instrumental. He held several discussions with Prof R Vijayakumar, a faculty at the Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras (and former Naval Officer), and discussed several nuances of stitched ship construction with him. This culminated in IIT Madras undertaking the project for model testing for the stitched ship the first time in India. Model testing being undertaken at IIT Madras Meanwhile, in parallel, Sanjeev Sanyal briefed senior political and administrative functionaries in various echelons and put across the idea of celebrating Indias ancient maritime tradition by way of the stitched ship project. The response was uniformly positive and all of them were on board. The first public declaration of the stitched ship project was made at a lecture delivered by Sanyal, on November 8, 2022, at the Shikha-o-Anusandhan (SOA) University, Bhubaneswar. The event on Indias maritime history and tradition, appropriately called Samudra Manthan was part of Indian Knowledge System (IKS), a joint project of the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Culture. For illustration, a replica of the stitched planks design was shown to the public for the first time. This author was present at the function and clearly recalls the enthusiasm with which the announcement was greeted. From here on, there was no looking back. Just a few days later, the core team visited Hodi Innovations Shipyard, Goa, their first visit to the boat builders workplace. This time they were joined by Admiral Karambir Singh, the immediately preceding Navy Chief. At this point, the Admirals deep commitment to the project is worth bringing out. Having had discussions with Sanyal earlier about the stitched ship and nursing a deep passion for history himself, Singh complemented the efforts of the rest. One of the challenging tasks Admiral KB Singh helped accomplish was finalising the shipyard for the ships construction. This brief was very difficult for any shipbuilder to execute, yet Admiral KB Singhs expertise and persuasive powers made it possible to secure a suitable shipyard, ensuring the projects continued progress. Next, he also stepped in to refine the concept design. As one of the core team members says, Admiral KB Singh meticulously reviewed the draft presentation, smoothing out the rough edges and ensuring it met the necessary standards. His keen insights and constructive feedback were instrumental in refining our approach. Third, when the name of Babu Shankaran was being contemplated, Singh reached out to top officials in the Khimji Ramdas Group, seeking technical advice based on their experience with the Oman Stitched Ship Voyage. While the Ministry of Culture and the Navy pursued official channels with various agencies, Admiral KB Singh worked on the informal networks in the background. Whenever bottlenecks arose, a prompt message or call from Singh to the right people, usually, resolved the issue. On February 13, 2023, the Stitched Ship Project received formal approval from the government as part of the Commemoration Project of Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav (AKAM) for 75 years of Independence. Exactly two months later, on April 13, 2023, the Prime Minister and the Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh were given a detailed briefing on the project, at Bhopal, on the sidelines of Combined Commanders Conference. It was brought out to the dignitaries that the Navy would oversee the project to induct a sea-worthy vessel, which they hoped to sail across the Indian Ocean, along 2000-year-old sailing routes. Once all the important stakeholders were onboard, it was still necessary to conclude the contract with the shipyard. In early July 2023, Babu Shankaran and his team undertook their first visit to the Hodi premises. Once he was on board, clause-by-clause contract discussion with the Shipyard took place. Finally, on July 18, 2023, a tripartite contract was signed between the Indian Navy, Ministry of Culture and Hodi Innovations Pvt Ltd. As per the contract, while the Ministry of Culture will fund the project, the Indian Navy will oversee the construction by Hodi Innovations, undertake acceptance trials of the vessel and training of the crew, as well as undertake subsequent sorties culminating in a transoceanic voyage. Finally, signalling the commencement of the business end of the task and moving from planning to execution, the keel laying of the vessel took place, about 10 months ago, on September 12, 2023. Present on the occasion were Meenakshi Lekhi, the then Minister of Culture, Admiral R Hari Kumar, the then Chief of the Naval Staff, Sanjeev Sanyal and other dignitaries as well as members of the core team. While the stated aim of the project is the reconstruction of an ocean-going sail ship using the ancient Indian art of stitching and undertaking a voyage along ancient sailing routes using traditional navigational methods, there are other objectives too. These could be seen as the revival of cultural memories of Indias maritime past and understanding how the monsoons and equatorial currents shaped interactions across the Indian Ocean including trade, flow of Indic culture, technologies and geo-political rivalries. In addition, it has also been conceived to inculcate a sense of pride in Indian maritime heritage among the present generation. Keel Laying Ceremony of the Stitched Ship September 12, 2023. Seen in pic Meenakshi Lekhi, Admiral R Hari Kumar, Saneev Sanyal among others Current Status and Timelines In May this year, I had the great privilege of visiting the shipyard, getting a firsthand experience of the intricate construction involved in the stitched ship and seeing history being made. As workmen chipped and chiselled under the watchful eye of Babu Shankaran, there was noticeable enthusiasm and passion as would accompany any pioneering initiative. In his typically engaging manner, Prathamesh told me that offsets and lines plan were developed by Hodi Shipyard from the scratch. It was based on varied sources such as the research conducted by Sanyal, other research of stitched ships and sewn plank constructions mentioned in the International Journal of Nautical Archeology, Ajanta painting of a 4th-5th century ocean-going sailing ship, other ancient depictions, descriptions in old texts, surviving boat-building traditions and Omani reconstructions, as well as by in-house research and ongoing testing. But unlike other vessels that they build to very definite and specific design parameters given by the user, the challenge in this case was to derive them de novo. Meanwhile, from Dilip Donde and Hemanth I learnt that there have been regular design and project reviews to constantly stay on top of the situation. I could see for myself the hull shaping up well and the frames getting positioned for stitching. It now seemed that the project culmination was in sight. As per estimates of the shipyard and core team, all going well, the vessel should be ready for launching in water in early 2025 and following extensive trials, be ready for delivery to the Navy in mid-2025. The transoceanic voyage, most probably from Mandvi in Gujarat to Muscat in Oman, retracing an ancient maritime route, could happen by the end of the next year. Recently, on 17 June, to add to the feeling of reassurance, the model testing of the vessel was conducted in the towing tank facility at Dept of Ocean Engineering of IIT Madras. The model testing was undertaken by a team led by Prof R Vijayakumar in the presence of Indian Navy representatives. This confluence of ancient Indian maritime prowess and modern technology augurs well for the future. Stitched Ship as it looks now in June 2024 Conclusion The stitched ship project is not merely about crafting something in wood and coir, though it is also that. It is not merely about a pioneering initiative, though it is undoubtedly that. Ultimately, it is about a dream. A dream that obsessed one man, then spread among few and has now engulfed many. It is a dream that seeks to revive an ancient Indian maritime tradition and to bring the maritime in the forefront of Indias popular lore and narratives. Sanyals dogged pursuit, the Ministry of Cultures enthusiastic backing, the Navys undiluted support and the dedication of the core team members brought together historical expertise, modern naval capabilities and traditional shipbuilding skills. The coordination shown by all, from the planner to the shipbuilder, have resulted in seamlessly stitching the entire project together. By transforming a visionary idea into a tangible celebration of Indias illustrious shipbuilding legacy, the Indian Navy has set a precedent for future historical and cultural endeavours and for similar such creative collaborations. It is precisely this very spirit of exploration and adventure that propelled our ancestors to establish trade routes by sea (and land) across the Indo-Pacific Region and informed their multifaceted experiences. As Priyasha Dixit says in her essay, the ancient Indian seafarers excelled at comprehending the potency and complexity of the monsoon winds. They designed and built ships and craft that were capable of utilising these seasonal winds to effect not merely close-coast voyages but ones that involved sailing out of sight of land for protracted periods, thereby laying the foundation for trade routes spanning the Indian Ocean and farther regions. Evidence suggests that it was not just voyagers but Indian maritime craftsmen, too, who were adept at employing their refined skills to develop indigenous shipbuilding methods. Their innovative approach displayed ingenuity and resourcefulness that marked them apart from the rest of the world while actively contributing to the development of robust and seaworthy vessels. Divar islands date with destiny looms large on the horizon. For long, renowned as a place dotted with houses of Portuguese architecture, it might just retrace its historical markers many centuries before to a time when the Indian Ocean was an Ocean of Churn and India at the epicentre of global activity. Cmde Srikant Kesnur, a Navy veteran, writes on maritime issues. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect those of Firstpost or any other organisation. Some of the material on ancient Indian stitched ships has been derived from the research conducted by the Core Team, which contains the necessary sources. All photographs are courtesy Indian Navy. The government is listening now because of the protests. So we are kind of happy, but theres also a lot of sadness because so many people died for the government to listen, activist Boniface Mwangi, who was attending the concert, said. So were also mourning, and were telling the families of those who lost their loved ones, were with you, and we shall honour their sacrifice. read more Hundreds of Kenyans attended a concert in the nations capital Nairobi on Sunday, chanting slogans and dancing, to commemorate the more than three dozen people killed in recent anti-government protests. At least 39 people were killed in the demonstrations that started on June 18, as protesters pushed for planned tax hikes to be scrapped and the resignation of President William Ruto. The government is listening now because of the protests. So we are kind of happy, but theres also a lot of sadness because so many people died for the government to listen, activist Boniface Mwangi, who was attending the concert, said. Advertisement So were also mourning, and were telling the families of those who lost their loved ones, were with you, and we shall honour their sacrifice. At the concert of local artists in Uhuru Park, a vast green space in the centre of Nairobi, youth held placards reading RIP Comrades and We promise well keep fighting, while the crowd chanted Ruto must go. Others hammered crosses into the ground. As the protests intensified last month, Ruto scrapped the finance bill, which would have introduced a raft of new taxes that Kenyans say would have raised the already high cost of living. On Friday, Ruto also proposed new austerity measures including reducing the number of his advisers and the dissolution of 47 state corporations to help fill a budget gap caused by the withdrawal of the tax hikes, that were due to raise $2.7 billion. Sundays concert was held on Saba Saba Day, July 7, which marks the day in 1990 when similar protests began that eventually forced the government of the late leader Daniel Arap Moi to return the country to multi-party politics. In a joint statement after the summit, the leaders of the three nations stated that they would release a treaty to formalise the confederation read more Leaders of the military regimes of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger conducted their first joint summit and announced the formation of a confederation of three Sahel states. The summit took place in the Nigerien capital of Niamey. In a joint statement after the summit, the leaders of the three nations stated that they would release a treaty to formalise the confederation. The military regimes came to power in the three nations after they staged military coups within their respective nations. Advertisement This summit marks a decisive step for the future of our common space. Together, we will consolidate the foundations of our true independence, a guarantee of true peace and sustainable development through the creation of the Alliance of Sahel States Confederation, Capt. Ibrahim Traore, the leader of Burkina Faso, wrote on X, formally known as Twitter. Aux cotes de mes pairs, leurs Excellences le General TIANI et le Colonel GOITA, je prends part, ce samedi 6 juillet 2024 a Niamey, au 1er sommet des pays membres de l'Alliance des Etats du Sahel (AES). Ce sommet marque une etape determinante pour lavenir de notre espace pic.twitter.com/KSPlMYT33h Capitaine Ibrahim TRAORE (@CapitaineIb226) July 6, 2024 The summit marks their departure from ECOWAS Many believe that the controversial summit indicated their departure from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). In the past, the three leaders said that they would leave the Western African coalition by this year, despite frequent efforts at reconciliation by the bloc. Advertisement The ties between the ECOWAS and the three Sahel nations deteriorated after General Abdourahamane Tiani ousted President Mohamed Bazoum in a coup in Niger, last year. Immediately after the Niger coup, ECOWAS imposed sanctions on the African nation and threatened to intervene. The threat is what many believe irritated the trio. The AES (Alliance of Sahel States) is full of enormous natural potential which, if properly exploited, will guarantee a better future for the people of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso," said Traore. The three countries have a combined population of 72 million and the new alliance can be a concern for other neighbouring nations. Within the confederation, the three nations are expected to cooperate on security issues and form closer economic ties. Advertisement With inputs from agencies. Local media speculated that Shibl had accumulated dangerous enemies during her political career and the list of enemies also included Assads wife read more Amid all the mayhem that has engulfed the Middle East, Syrian President Bashar al-Assads close advisor died in a fatal car accident in Damascus. A day after the death of the key advisor Luna al-Shibl, the Syrian media suspected that it was a case of assassination. According to the pro-Qatari Arab newspaper Al-Jadeed, many in Syria are referring to the incident as a deliberate accident, implying an assassination attempt. As per the reports, the driver of the car was arrested after colliding with al-Shibls car. Advertisement Immediately after the accident, the advisor was taken to the hospital with severe injuries. However, her condition deteriorated and the doctors announced her death after she suffered a brain haemorrhage. Local media speculated that Shibl had accumulated dangerous enemies during her political career. Assads wifes attempt to remove Shibl According to Ynet, the Syrian presidents wife has attempted to get Shibl removed from her position in the past, following rumours of an affair between Assad and the key political advisor. The local media also highlighted the tensions between Shible and Assads media advisor Bouthaina Shaaban. Amid the chaos, reports emerge that Hezbollah operatives in Syria accused her of handing sensitive information to Russian figures operating in the Middle Eastern nation. Meanwhile, Shibls brother was suspected of passing intelligence to Israel and her husband was arrested on accusations of embezzlement and bribery. Interestingly, after the announcement of her death, Iran demanded four senior officers at the Syrian palace to be arrested and interrogated by a senior Revolutionary Guard stationed in Damascus. Luna al-Shibl enjoyed a special status, known as very vigilant and loyal to Bashar Assad. Only in the last month did her troubles begin, when Hezbollah and the Iranians targeted her, rightfully so in their view. It was clear the story would end in disaster, a source who was close to the Assad regime, and who escaped to Europe told Ynet. Advertisement The death of the advisor came at a time when the country was undergoing a severe economic crisis because of which the Syrian military was forced to announce reforms. Earlier this month, Damascus announced changes in Syrias military structure, releasing tens of thousands of soldiers from the reserves. The move is touted as a cost-saving measure. Another such measure is the Assad regimes decision to merge several corps with similar functions or missions, such as the Transportation Directorate and the Vehicle Directorate. With inputs from agencies. Diplomatic relations between the two countries have been icy in recent years, with Beijing and London sparring over tightening communist control in former British colony Hong Kong read more Li told Starmer that China is "willing to work with the new UK government to consolidate mutual political trust and expand mutually beneficial cooperation" The first senior figure in Beijing to formally congratulate the newly elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on his election was Chinese Premier Li Qiang, according to state media on Sunday. According to Chinese news agency Xinhua, Li told Starmer that China is willing to work with the new UK government to consolidate mutual political trust and expand mutually beneficial cooperation. They made their call following several days of non-statement by senior Beijing officials, who limited their statement to noting the UK election results. Advertisement By comparison, Chinese leader Xi Jinping congratulated Irans incoming president Masoud Pezeshkian just hours after his election on Saturday. China was Britains fifth-largest trading partner as of 2023, according to the UK Department for Business and Trade. But diplomatic relations between the two countries have been icy in recent years, with Beijing and London sparring over tightening communist control in former British colony Hong Kong. The two sides have also traded accusations of espionage, with Beijing saying last month that MI6 had recruited Chinese state employees to spy for the UK. Xinhua on Sunday said Li told Starmer that the strengthening of bilateral coordination and cooperation was in the interests of both sides. Parts of Nepal have been receiving heavy rainfall since Thursday, prompting disaster authorities in the Himalayan nation to warn of flash floods in multiple rivers read more Lashing rains in Nepal causing flash floods and landslides have killed at least 14 people across the country, with disaster teams searching for nine missing, police said Sunday. Flooding in neighbouring India, as well as in downstream Bangladesh, has also caused widespread damage and impacted millions. Police are working with other agencies and locals to find the missing people, Nepalese police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki told AFP. Those killed and missing are in multiple locations. Advertisement Monsoon rains from June to September bring widespread death and destruction every year across South Asia, but the numbers of fatal floods and landslides have increased in recent years. Experts say climate change and increased road construction are exacerbating the problem. Parts of Nepal have been receiving heavy rainfall since Thursday, prompting disaster authorities in the Himalayan nation to warn of flash floods in multiple rivers. There have been reports of inundation in several districts of lowland areas bordering India. Last month 14 people were killed in Nepal in ferocious storms that brought landslides, lightning and flooding. In India, floods have swamped the northeastern state of Assam, with six people killed in the last 24 hours, Assams Disaster Management Authority said Sunday. That takes the death toll from the downpours since mid-May to 58. In low-lying Bangladesh, downstream from India, the disaster management agency said floods had impacted more than two million people. Much of the country is made up of deltas where the Himalayan rivers the Ganges and the Brahmaputra wind towards the sea after coursing through India. The summer monsoon brings South Asia 70-80 percent of its annual rainfall. On Saturday, the Gaza health ministry said 16 people were killed in a strike on a school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA that was sheltering displaced people in Nuseirat, in central Gaza read more Israel carried out deadly air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday as the war entered its 10th month, with fighting raging across the Palestinian territory and fresh diplomatic efforts underway to halt the violence. Lebanons Hezbollah movement fired another 20 rockets at northern Israel, leaving one person injured there, the latest cross-border attacks launched in solidarity with Gazas Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. Egypts Al-Qahera News reported that Cairo was hosting Israeli and American delegations to discuss the outstanding points for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, citing an unnamed high-level official source. Advertisement Mediators were in contact with Hamas amid intensive Egyptian meetings this week with all parties to push efforts for a truce, said the news report late Saturday, without giving further details or dates. Israel has also said it would send a delegation in the coming days to continue talks with Qatari mediators, even though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus spokesman said Friday that gaps remained with Hamas. US President Joe Biden announced a plan in late May that included an initial six-week truce and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners. 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 the groups new ideas had been conveyed by the mediators to the American side, which welcomed them and passed them on to the Israeli side, adding that now the ball is in the Israeli court. The fighting and bombardment in besieged Gaza raged on unabated on Sunday, with medics and emergency services in the Hamas-run territory reporting yet more deaths in several strikes. Advertisement The Palestinian Red Crescent said the bodies of six people including two children were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah. And paramedics said six people were killed in one strike on a house in Gaza City and three in another elsewhere in Gazas largest urban area. The Israeli army said that in Shujaiya, its troops eliminated several terrorists, dismantled terror infrastructure sites and located numerous weapons, including explosive devices, AK-47 rifles, machine guns and pistols. It also said 30 terrorists had been killed in far-southern Rafah over the past day and that Israeli forces had carried out an operation in nearby Khan Yunis where Hamas had taken up position in a municipality building. Advertisement On Saturday, the Gaza health ministry said 16 people were killed in a strike on a school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA 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. Efforts towards a truce continued with US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators hoping to halt the worst-ever Gaza war, which has caused mass civilian casualties and devastated the coastal territory since Hamass October 7 attack on Israel. Just 3% of Palestinians want the terrorist group Hamas to continue running the Gaza Strip, according to a survey read more As the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip drags on, Palestinians there have increasingly started to criticise the enclaves Hamas rulers. The terrorist group Hamas has ruled Gaza since 2007 when it took control of the Palestinian enclave after defeating and driving out Fatah, the mainstream Palestinian party that runs the internationally-recognised Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank. Under Hamas control, Gaza has suffered economically as jobs remain scarce and has had little personal freedoms as the terrorist group does not allow dissent or criticism. As the control of the group has slipped from large swathes of Gaza since the Israeli invasion amid the ongoing war, Palestinians have begun to criticise the group for bringing to them death and destruction. Advertisement Yahya Sinwar, the chief of Hamas in Gaza and the architect of October 7 attack that triggered the ongoing war, has been fuelling the conflict and encouraging the deaths of civilians and destruction of Gazan infrastructure with the intention of driving the conflict further and isolating Israel internationally. Support from Hamas after October 7 attack has now fallen The popularity of Hamas soared among Palestinians with the October 7 attack on Israel in which terrorists killed more than 1,200 Israeli and foreign nationals and injured thousands more. They also indulged in rampant rapes and sexual abuse of women and took more than 250 hostages. Videos from the time showed Palestinians in Gaza cheering as the attack unfolded in Israel and sloganeering was also seen as injured hostages were being paraded by Hamas in Gaza. A survey by Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) released in December 2023 affirmed the support. Wide public support for Hamas offensive on October the 7th, but the vast majority denies that Hamas has committed atrocities against Israeli civilians, said the PCPSR in the summary of the survey report, adding that the Hamas gained support at the expense of PA. Such fawning views of Hamas have, however, reversed now, according to a survey conducted in March. Advertisement The survey by the West Bank-based Institute for Social and Economic Progress (ISEP) found that majority of Gazans 59.9 per cent rejected Sinwar, the Hamas chief of Gaza who has been using them for the terrorist groups agenda. The survey found that Gazans similarly rejected 57.6 per cent of them the overall Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, who is based in Qatari capital Doha where the terrorist group has its headquarters. The survey found that Gazans do not want Hamas to rule them at all. Just 3 per cent of Gazans wanted Hamas to rule them after the war. Their preference for post-war rule in Gaza was: PA: 44.6 per cent, unity government: 33.9 per cent, Arab/international coalition: 18.5 per cent. Advertisement May God curse them In media reports from Gaza, Palestinians have increasingly been quoted being critical of Gaza in recent days. I pray every day for God to punish the one who brought us to this situation. I pray every day for the death of Sinwar, said Mohammed from Gaza to Financial Times in April. In a video recorded by the BBC outside a hospital, a resident accused Hamas of pushing them into the war. I am an academic doctor. I had a good life, but we have a filthy [Hamas] leadership. They got used to our bloodshed, may God curse them! They are scum! Im one of you but you are a cowardly people. We could have avoided this attack! said the resident. Advertisement The report further said that there is anger against Hamas for hiding hostages in civilian houses and firing rockets into Israel from civilian neighbourhoods. For a long time, Israel has accused Hamas of embedding itself in the midst of civilian areas to carry out terrorist activities and has blamed such practices for the destruction of localities and civilian casualties in the cross-fire. Gazans have been swearing and cursing at the leaders of Hamas in the markets, according to the report. Locals told the BBC that they have named their animals like donkeys after Hamas leaders like Sinwar and shout Yallah, Sinwar to drive their donkey carts. Advertisement People say things like, Hamas has destroyed us or even call on God to take their lives. They ask what the 7 October attacks were for - some say they were a gift to Israel, said a man to the BBC. Rep. Adam Schiff, a U.S. Senate candidate, became the first California Democratic official to present a specific challenge to President Joe Biden after the presidents poor debate performance. Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle U.S. Senate candidate Adam Schiff said Sunday that President Joe Biden must win overwhelmingly or he has to pass the torch to someone who can, making the legislator the first California Democratic official to suggest the president might have to step aside if he cant defeat Donald Trump. Rep. Schiff, D-Burbank, joined a chorus of congressional leaders from other states who have expressed concerns about Bidens ability to beat former President Trump, 78, after Bidens poor performance during the June 27 presidential debate. Bidens performance renewed concerns about his age, 81, and cognitive abilities, prompting some Democrats to call on the president to step down from the 2024 election. In a Sunday interview on NBCs Meet the Press, host Kristen Welker asked Schiff about Bidens debate performance and whether the president should drop out of the race. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Schiff said Biden has been an extraordinary president, but his performance on the debate stage, I think, rightfully raised questions among the American people about whether the president has the vigor to defeat Donald Trump. Either he has to win overwhelmingly or he has to pass the torch to someone who can, said Schiff, who is polling far ahead of Republican rival Steve Garvey in the November Senate race. Schiff said deciding whether to stay in the race or pass the torch is the most important decision for (Biden) to make right now. If the president takes the time to consult people and has an open mind about this, he will do what Joe Biden always does, which is he will make the right decision, Schiff said. You make the decision in the best interest of the country. Thats what he has always done. Im confident thats what he will do. President Joe Bidens poor performance during the June 27 presidential debate has renewed concerns about his age and cognitive abilities. Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press When asked whether the president should take a cognitive test, Schiff said Biden and Trump both should be willing to take a test. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Ultimately, the decision is going to come down to what Joe Biden thinks is best, and if his decision is to run, then run hard and beat that SOB, and if his decision is to pass the torch, then the president should do everything in his power to make that other candidate successful, Schiff said. Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, has said that its legitimate for voters to question Bidens fitness for office but that the same is true of Trump. Asked by George Stephanopoulos of ABC News last week whether he would stay in the race if his Democratic allies told him he would lose to Trump, Biden said: Im not gonna answer that question. Its not gonna happen. Welker asked Schiff whether he thinks Vice President Kamala Harris the former U.S. senator from California, state attorney general and San Francisco district attorney is a stronger candidate than Biden to beat Trump. His response: I think she very well could win overwhelmingly, but that decision is ultimately up to Biden. What makes the rise of the coalition concerning for the West is the fact that the group plans to end European support for Ukraines defence against Russias invasion read more Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbans rightwing political movement has attracted enough parties to achieve recognition from the European Union parliament. The new feat for the Pro-Russian leader came after he announced his intention to form an EU parliamentary grouping called Patriots for Europe. On Saturday, the Danish Peoples Party and the Flemish nationalist pro-independence Vlaams Belang announced that they would join Orbans coalition, making it enough to meet the EU parliaments threshold for formal recognition. Advertisement Other parties that are part of the coalition are the Austrian far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), the centrist ANO of former Czech prime minister Andrej Babis, the Party for Freedom (PVV) of Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders, Portugals far-right Chega party and Spains Vox, The Guardian reported. Le Pens party can join the coalition as well Meanwhile, Frances National Rally could become another ally to the alliance as the party awaits the results of the second phase of French legislative elections. Italys League, led by Matteo Salvini, has also expressed an interest in joining the movement, however, their participation is still not confirmed. After Orbans party surpassed the threshold, the alliance would meet on Monday in Brussels. With the formation of Patriots for Europe, the Hungarian premier is bidding to become the dominant hard-right force in the EU parliament. What makes the rise of the coalition concerning for the West is the fact that the group plans to end European support for Ukraines defence against Russias invasion. Orbans controversial visit to Russia The concern became even more prominent after Orban met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Friday. The visit drew severe criticism from other European leaders. Orbans trip came days after he made a similar unannounced trip to Kyiv, as he attempted to position himself as a peace broker in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Advertisement During his visit to Moscow, the two leaders held talks that a senior Moscow aide called a frank conversation covering all issues related to the raging war. Speaking at a joint press conference after the meeting with Orban, Putin indicated that he is willing to compromise if Ukraine accepts the demands he made last month. Putin went on to repeat his earlier ultimatum to end the war, demanding Kyiv cede more land, withdraw troops deeper inside its own territory and end its bit to NATO. With inputs from agencies. Sundays Day of Disruption started at 6:29 AM, the moment that Hamas militants launched the first rockets toward Israel in October. Protesters blocked main roads and demonstrated outside of the homes of members of Israels parliament. Near the border with Gaza, Israeli protestors released 1,500 black and yellow balloons to symbolize those who were killed and abducted read more Marking nine months since the war in Gaza started, Israeli protesters blocked highways across the country Sunday, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down and pushing for a cease-fire that could bring back hostages held by Hamas. The demonstrations come as international mediators have renewed efforts to broker a deal, with Hamas over the weekend appearing to have dropped a key demand for an Israeli commitment to end the war, according to Egyptian and Hamas officials who spoke to The Associated Press. This could deliver the first pause in fighting since November and set the stage for further talks. Advertisement The war, triggered by the Palestinian militant group following a cross-border attack on Oct. 7, saw 1,200 people killed and 250 others taken hostage. A retaliatory Israeli air and ground offensive has killed over 38,000 Palestinians, according to the territorys Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The war has caused widespread damage and precipitated a vast humanitarian crisis. Sundays Day of Disruption started at 6:29 AM, the moment that Hamas militants launched the first rockets toward Israel in October. Protesters blocked main roads and demonstrated outside of the homes of members of Israels parliament. Near the border with Gaza, Israeli protestors released 1,500 black and yellow balloons to symbolize those who were killed and abducted. Hannah Golan said she came to protest the devastating abandonment of our communities by our government. She added: Its nine months today, to this black day, and still nobody in our government takes responsibility." About 120 hostages remain captive after more than 100 hostages were released as part of a November cease-fire deal. Israel has already concluded that more than 40 of the remaining hostages are dead, and fears spread the number may grow as the war drags on. The Israeli prime minister had previously said he was open to pausing the war as part of a hostage deal, but added that Israel would press on until it reached its goals of destroying Hamas military and governing capabilities and bringing all hostages home. Advertisement Meanwhile, fighting in Gaza continued, with nine Palestinians reported dead from Israeli strikes overnight and into the early hours of Sunday. Six Palestinians were killed in central Gaza after a strike hit a house in the town of Zawaida, according to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Another Israeli airstrike early Sunday hit a house west of Gaza City, killing another 3 people, the strips Hamas-linked civil defense said. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Saturday an Israeli airstrike killed at least 16 people and wounded at least 50 others in a school-turned-shelter in the Nuseirat refugee camp. The Israeli military said they were targeting Hamas militants and had taken numerous steps to reduce civilian casualties. Advertisement Also Sunday morning, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it launched about 20 projectiles toward Israel in the north. The launches targeted areas more than 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, deeper than most launches. A 28-year-old Israeli man was seriously wounded in Kfar Zeitim, a small town near the city of Tiberias, Israels national rescue service reported. The barrage came after the Israeli military said in a statement an airstrike targeted a car and killed an engineer in Hezbollahs air defense unit Saturday. Hezbollah confirmed al-Attars death but did not give information on his position. Near-daily clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces over the past nine months have threatened to turn into an all-out regional war and have catastrophic consequences for people on both sides of the border. The strike hit the Al-Jawni school at Nuseirat in central Gaza, following which the 50 injured people were rushed to a nearby hospital read more Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, an Israeli strike on a school in Gaza killed 16 people and injured 50 others. The death toll was confirmed by the Palestinian health ministry which also stated that the school was used as a shelter by displaced people. The strike hit the Al-Jawni school at Nuseirat in central Gaza, following which the 50 injured people were rushed to a nearby hospital. The Palestinian health ministry went on to describe it as an odious massacre. Meanwhile, the Hamas-run governments press office maintained that 7,000 people were sheltering at the school. Advertisement The paramedics at the location also confirmed that a journalist died in the strike. Meanwhile, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said two of its workers were killed in a strike at Al-Bureij in central Gaza. The agency has a large food warehouse in the district. No place in Gaza is safe Following the incident, many raised concerns about the escalating crisis in Gaza. Absolutely no place in the Gaza Strip is safe, said civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal. The war which was triggered by Hamas October 7 attack on southern Israel led to the death of over 40,000 Palestinians in the region. The militants also seized hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza including 42 the Israeli military says are dead. On the same day of the strikes, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) said that it struck several terrorists operating in structures located in the area of Al-Jaouni School. Based on IDF and ISA intelligence, the IAF struck several terrorists operating in structures located in the area of @UNRWAs Al-Jaouni School in central Gaza, the Israeli military wrote on X, known as Twitter. This location served as both a hideout and operational infrastructure from which attacks against IDF troops operating in Gaza were directed and carried out. Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken in order to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise aerial surveillance and additional intelligence, the statement further reads. Advertisement Based on IDF and ISA intelligence, the IAF struck several terrorists operating in structures located in the area of @UNRWAs Al-Jaouni School in central Gaza. This location served as both a hideout and operational infrastructure from which attacks against IDF troops operating pic.twitter.com/XOaDQygm83 Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) July 6, 2024 Eyewitnesses told BBC that the attack targeted the upper floors of the school which is located near a busy market. This is the fourth time they have targeted the school without warning, a woman told AFP. Advertisement The strikes became concerning since they came at a time when both Israel and Hamas are negotiating a ceasefire deal. With inputs from agencies. Pakistans Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb insisted that a tax-heavy budget which was announced last month aimed at shoring up public revenue and satisfying the IMF read more Pakistans Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said that the bailout to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will not be the countrys last one if the government fails to significantly boost tax revenues. The finance ministers warning came amid growing backlash on Pakistans latest budget. Aurangzeb said that he was relatively confident of reaching a staff-level agreement with the IMF on a loan, which his ministry has previously pegged at between $6 and $8 billion. But it will not be our last fund programme if we dont bring our tax revenues up, he told the Financial Times. Advertisement He insisted that a tax-heavy budget which was announced last month aimed at shoring up public revenue and satisfying the IMF. The international financial body has asked Islamabad to improve tax collection along with other controversial measures. The budget passed by the Pakistani parliament aims to raise PKR 13 trillion by next July. The aim is to bring down the debt burden that has caused 57 per cent of government revenue to be swallowed by interest payments. The tax-heavy budget that puts a dent in common peoples pocket However, the tax rise will mostly fall on the salaried workers. What makes the Pakistani budget so controversial is the fact that instead of providing any relief to the middle class, the National Assembly increased the effective income tax rate of a salaried person to 39 per cent, for the association of persons to 44 per cent and for the non-salaried individual the number jumped to 50 per cent from last year. Interestingly, the Shehbaz Sharif administration exempted income tax on sales of properties by serving/retired bureaucrats and serving/retired military personnel. The taxes on the already stressed salaried class are being increased at a time when the particular section of society has lost almost half of its purchasing power in the last five years. Aurangzeb defends the budget The Pakistani finance minister emphasised that the country needs the capacity to repay all its loans. We need to create the capacity to repay loans, Aurangzeb said. As long as this economy stays import-based, what happens is the moment it heats up . . . we run out of dollars [and] we have to go back to the lender of last resort on our knees," he added. Advertisement Aurangzeb emphasised that Gulf investors are also looking for equity. Its about time we get real, Aurangzeb said. The ball is in our court to provide bankable, investable projects. He also expressed discontent with the reputation for corruption at the Federal Board of Revenue, Pakistans tax collection agency. People dont want to deal with the tax authority because of corruption, because of harassment, because of people asking for speed money, facilitation money. Thats not sustainable," Aurangzeb averred. I empathise with the pain people will feel, I was one of the highest taxpayers, at least in the banking sector, he added. During the meeting, the British premier emphasised to his cabinet the need to bring reform to the countrys creaking public services and reset damaged relations abroad read more The new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, laid down his ambitious agenda to his brand new Cabinet in the first meeting of the government after coming to power. Earlier this week, the UK woke up to a new government with Starmer at the helm of it all. During the meeting, the British premier emphasised to his cabinet the need to bring reform to the countrys creaking public services and reset damaged relations abroad, The Guardian reported. In the meeting conducted 48 hours after the Labour Party saw a landslide victory in the snap elections, Starmer told his ministers that he was restless for change and determined to deliver on his campaign pledges. Advertisement He also stressed the importance of each ministry in delivering the partys pledge. I had the opportunity to set out to my cabinet precisely what I expect of them in terms of standards, delivery and the trust that the country has put in them, he said while addressing his team in the first cabinet meeting. Country first, party second. I held my first Cabinet meeting this morning. My government is ready to serve the people of Britain. pic.twitter.com/hoktYD5Yo8 Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) July 6, 2024 Self-interest in yesterdays politics: Starmer to his ministers In the meeting, Starmer made it clear that under his leadership, politics would be returned to a duty of service, in contrast to the last 14 years of Tory rule. Self-interest is yesterdays politics, he said. Shortly after the meeting, the Labour Starwalt attended his first press conference as the prime minister. While addressing the media, Starmer made it clear that his party would not waste any time to commence the task of national renewal. He mentioned that work to realise Labours pledge of 40,000 extra NHS appointments a week starts straight away. Defending his plan, Starmer took examples of how St Thomas Hospital in central London and other hospitals across the country, including Leeds had already increased appointments of their own volition. Weve talked through with them how they did it they will go across the country to be deployed to help set up the model in other hospitals as quickly as we can, he said. Advertisement So I cant say by day X it will happen, but weve already had quite some discussions about how that will be rolled out from day one," he added. During the presser, the British prime minister also emphasised that actions were needed urgently to address the issue of overcrowded prisons in the country. Weve got too many prisoners, not enough prisons. Thats a monumental failure of the last government, on any basic view of government, to get to a situation where you havent got enough prison places for prisoners doesnt matter what your political stripe, that is a failure of government," he asserted. Hence, it will be interesting to see how the Labour administration will navigate through these challenges. Advertisement With inputs from agencies. The developments at Pangong Lake coincide with new images indicating increased Chinese military activity at Shigatse air base, a dual-use high-altitude airport in the Tibet Autonomous Regions second largest city, and the disputed Doklam tri-junction, the site of a 73-day standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in 2017 read more According to satellite pictures, Chinas military is preparing for the long haul in the area surrounding Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh, having built subterranean bunkers to store weapons and fuel, as well as hardened shelters for armoured vehicles at a crucial base in the region. The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) post at Sirjap, hidden among mountains on the northern bank of Pangong Lake, is the headquarters for Chinese forces stationed around the lake. It was established in an area claimed by India and is around 5 km from the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Until the start of the LAC conflict in May 2020, this region was nearly entirely free of human settlements. Advertisement The station, which will be erected between 2021 and 2022, will have subterranean bunkers that may be used to store missile systems, fuel, or other supplies, according to photos given by BlackSky, a US-based company capable of obtaining photographs 15 times each day with its satellites. One photograph, taken on May 30, clearly depicts the eight sloping entrances to a massive subterranean bunker. A smaller bunker with five entrances is positioned near the bigger one. Aside from many big command buildings, the site contains reinforced shelters and covered parking for armoured vehicles stationed in the region. According to experts, these shelters are designed to shield cars from air assaults using precision-guided weapons. On the condition of anonymity, a BlackSky analyst said the base hosts an expanse of armoured vehicle storage facilities, test ranges, and fuel and munitions storage buildings. According to the analyst, the bases current construction comprises artillery and other defensive positions fortified by enormous berms and connected by a vast network of roads and trenches that are not apparent on publicly available mapping apps. The outpost is located somewhat more than 120 km southeast of Galwan Valley, the location of a deadly combat in June 2020 that killed 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese forces. There was no immediate response from Indian officials to the photographs. A former Indian Army general who deployed in the region surrounding Pangong Lake, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Chinas expanded development of subterranean infrastructure made perfect military sense. According to those familiar with the situation, India has built a number of roads, bridges, tunnels, airfields, and helipads around its borders for military movement and logistics support since the stalemate began in 2020. Advertisement Indias infrastructure development has focused on improving troops living conditions and amenities, as well as protecting weapons and equipment in forward regions. This border infrastructure drive has been fueled by greater investment and the rapid implementation of important projects to assist military operations. In 2023-24, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) completed 125 infrastructure projects totaling 3,611 crore, including the Sela tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh. The developments at Pangong Lake coincide with new images indicating increased Chinese military activity at Shigatse air base, a dual-use high-altitude airport in the Tibet Autonomous Regions second largest city, and the disputed Doklam tri-junction, the site of a 73-day standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in 2017. Advertisement While satellite photographs from earlier this year showed roughly half a dozen Chengdu J-20s, Chinas most sophisticated stealth combat fighter, at the Shigatse facility, a BlackSky image dated May 30 showed six J-20s parked next to eight Chengdu J-10 multi-role combat jets on the centre apron. The Shigatse facility is around 300 km from the Indian Air Forces (IAF) Hasimara base in West Bengal, which contains a squadron of Rafale combat planes. Experts think Chinas deployment of J-20s is aimed at combating the IAFs Rafales, which are among its most modern aircraft. While some J-20s have been deployed in Xinjiang, the majority of these planes have been stationed in Chinas coastal and interior regions, and their deployment in Tibet signals a significant shift, according to analysts. A more recent satellite image from June 30 showed at least two J-10 planes on the centre apron of the Shigatse Air Base. Advertisement Satellite photographs of the Doklam plateau show China maintaining an extensive network of roads that connect military equipment near the disputed boundary with India. A large number of military vehicles were discovered in a satellite photograph from April, both in the rear base and forward While criticising the partys performance, Braverman slammed her ex-boss, former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for pursuing an idiotic strategy read more Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman launched a scathing attack against her peers after the Conservative Partys embarrassing defeat in the 2024 UK General Elections. While criticising the partys performance, Braverman slammed her ex-boss, former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for pursuing an idiotic strategy. She went on to accuse, Sunak of treating voters like mugs. The former home Secretary said that her party failed in office and deserved this result. The provocative comments were made by Braverman in her article for The Sunday Telegraph. Advertisement She called it the partys worst-ever defeat and attributed it to an idiotic strategy of intermittently and inconsistently making Tory Right noises which disintegrated when set against our liberal Conservative record. I say again, whatever some of my colleagues think, the voters arent mugs: they saw what we did in office and ignored what we insincerely said while campaigning, she furthered. Braverman blames insane political correctness to Tories loss While the former home secretary retained her seat of Fareham and Waterlooville, she blamed high taxes and high immigration as well as insane political correctness for the Conservatives loss. The problem wasnt people like me and David Frost warning about the mistakes being made, it was the mistakes! she wrote. However, in the article, Braverman did not mention whether she would launch her bid for the Conservative Partys leadership after Sunak made it clear that he wouldnt run for the post again. Other Tory MPs who are expected to launch leadership campaigns include former security minister Tom Tugendhat, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, former business secretary Kemi Badenoch and former home secretary Dame Priti Patel. In the article, Braverman suggested that Conservatives needed to overhaul our party organisation so that MPs listen to members. We must not entertain any talk of removing the grassroots from a leadership election, she said. They did not give us the leader who lost two-thirds of my colleagues their seats. We MPs did that, Braverman added, referring to the fact that the party effectively crowned Sunak to be the Tory leader after former PM Liz Truss downfall. Advertisement Braverman also garnered eyeballs after she suggested that Tories must leave the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and scrap the Human Rights Act to facilitate a crackdown on migration as well as fix Labours Equality Act. She also reacted to Reform Party leader Nigel Farages win. Nigel Farage is in the Commons now. He has no record in office to defend. He can just say the right things. But we have to do them. Its long past time that we started, she concluded. Turkey severed ties with Syria in 2011 after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, in which it supported rebels looking to oust Assad. It has carried out several cross-border military operations against militants it says threaten its national security, and formed a safe zone in northern Syria where Turkish troops are now stationed read more Turkey will extend an invitation to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad any time for possible talks to restore relations between the two neighbours, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday. We will extend our invitation (to Assad); with this invitation, we want to restore Turkey-Syria relations to the same level as in the past. Our invitation may be extended at any time, Erdogan said, according to a presidency readout of an interview by Turkish media. Advertisement Turkey severed ties with Syria in 2011 after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, in which it supported rebels looking to oust Assad. It has carried out several cross-border military operations against militants it says threaten its national security, and formed a safe zone in northern Syria where Turkish troops are now stationed. Speaking to reporters on his flight back from Berlin, Erdogan also said Ankara would reciprocate any positive steps from Damascus, and that Russias President Vladimir Putin and Iraqi Prime Minister could contribute to facilitating the contact. We have now arrived at a point where if Bashar Assad takes a step towards improving relations with Turkey, we will also show that approach towards him, Erdogan said. Putin and the Iraqi prime minister have an approach for talks to be in Turkey. We are talking about mediation everywhere, why not with our neighbour? he was quoted as saying by the Turkish presidency. Erdogan in June did not rule out a possible meeting with Assad to revive relations. Syrian officials however have repeatedly said that any normalization in ties can only come after Turkey agrees to pull out thousands of troops from the rebel-held northwest. Sir Keir Starmer has taken over as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at a time when Europe faces its worst security crises since the World War II read more Sir Keir Starmer, the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, will have little time to settle before embarking on his first security and foreign policy assignment. On June 9-11, Starmer will be in Washington DC to attend the NATO Summit to mark the 75 years of the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations (NATO) founding. But it will not be an anniversary gala. The NATO Summit would be taking place at a time when Europe is facing the worst security crises since the World War II as Russia continues its war on Ukraine and a number of European countries live in apprehension of the conflicts escalation. A spiralling war is also raging in the Middle East and Chinas hegemonic designs in the Indo-Pacific region runs afoul of the rules-based international order. Starmer has to hit the ground running as there is no honeymoon period. Advertisement The possibility of a second term of Donald Trump, who has indicated he would pursue an isolationist foreign policy, has also made Europe anxious. Rishi Sunak, the previous British PM, had said that the UK stands at a crossroads ahead of some of the most dangerous years. It is now Karmers job to navigate the UK through these challenging times. The Russian challenge to Europe and direct threats to UK Starmer takes over the British premiership at a time when the Russian threat looms large over Europe and specifically the UK. Over the past decade, Russian agents have targeted dissidents on British soil and Russian state-backed cybercriminals have attacked British critical infrastructure. Just last month, a Russia-sponsored cyberattack on the British National Health Services (NHS) compromised the system and led to the cancellation of thousands of operations and appointments. Starmer has pledged to keep supporting Ukraine in the war with Russia and has supported the formation of Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression and helping Ukraine became a member of NATO. The i newspaper cited three sources in the British intelligence services as saying that Russias hybrid war will increase in the next six months. A fourth source said that the Russia-sponsored cyber-attacks are expected to hit new levels. A fifth source warned that further chaos, further disruption, and further harm were on the cards if the UK does not work swiftly to become more resilient on national cyber-security. Advertisement Russian President arrived in Beijing on a state visit to China on Thursday (Photo: AP) A sixth source told the paper that the NHS attack was just a tester and the UK is not just isnt ready for large-scale cyber-attacks. Departments are not co-ordinated and we have no central department other than the Cabinet Office which isnt equipped to lead and manage. The UK doesnt have the assets or the skills to defend against them, said this source. Moreover, the convergence of Russia and China is also an issue that Starmer will have to deal with. Starmer appears to have recognised the problem. In the Labour Partys election manifesto, the need for investment in cyber-defence was mentioned and the growing threat of hybrid warfare was flagged. A clear pathway to address these concerns, however, was not mentioned. Advertisement The China challenge The Labour Party has promised that it would conduct an audit of British relationship with China within the first 100 days of the government-formation. In the recent years, China has emerged as the leading security threat to the United Kingdom and the West at large. China has been accused of spying within the British parliament, harassing Hong Kong officials in the UK, bugging British vehicles, and chasing MPs critical of Beijings policies, and trying to access voters data. At the time, the Chinese belligerence in the South China Sea and hegemonic designs in the Indo-Pacific region are also rising. As fears of an invasion of Taiwan also increase by the day, three British intelligence sources questioned whether the new Labour government has an effective contingency plan should China escalate tensions in the region, according to the i newspaper. Advertisement The Government must work to craft an effective programme of confronting China across all strands of its activity, both being carried out on our homeland and abroad, said another British source to the paper. Iran and Middle East crises The war in Ukraine is not the only one raging in the world and where the UK is a party even if not a co-belligerent. The ongoing Israel-Hamas War, the humanitarian crises in the Gaza Strip, and the escalating tensions in the Middle East fuelled by Iran thats at the threshold of becoming a nuclear-armed state pose a grave challenge to the UK and Starmers new government. Advertisement The challenge is higher as Starmer has to mount an outreach to the British Muslims who have punished the party over Starmers stand on Middle East. Starmer will have to accommodate domestic political compulsions and British national interests. Protestors slamming Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmers stand on the war in Gaza (Photo: Reuters) Along with the US Navy and Air Force, the British forces have been central to operations against the Houthis in the Middle East since last year. The British forces were also part of the defence of Israel in May when Iran launched hundreds of missiles, drones, and rockets at Israel in an unprecedented attack. As a nuclear threshold state, Iran is more belligerent as ever and, along with allies, the new British government will have to find a way to deal with it. Trump-proofing NATO & UKs security & foreign policies A major challenge of Starmer and fellow European leaders will be to Trump-proof NATO and prepare security and foreign policies such that they are protected against uncertainties of the United States. Trump-proofing refers to the idea of ensuring NATO remains functional and European countries remain protected even if former US President Donald Trump wins later this year and embarks on an isolationist foreign policy. Trump has said that he could cut aid to Ukraine and not support NATO if fellow member-states dont fund the alliance as per his satisfaction. He has said that he would encourage Russia to do do whatever the hell they want with NATO members if they dont spend as per his satisfaction. Former US President Donald Trump has indicated he would pursue an isolationist foreign policy Trump has also said he would strike deals with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and it any agreement with Russia or China is bound to come at the expense of European partners. Starmer will have the challenge to protect British interests in case Trump wins and pursues such an unpredictable and erratic policies. We are in a completely different era of global instability. Starmer will need to quickly assert himself as a statesman, ready to make moves on the worlds chess board, said an intelligence source to the i newspaper. Previously, another source in the British intelligence had described the second Trump term as the biggest threat to UK security. Starmer, who said he has a mandate to do politics differently after his partys landslide victory, will meet Scottish First Minister John Swinney in Edinburgh in an effort to turn disagreement into cooperation. That begins today with an immediate reset of my governments approach to working with the first and deputy first ministers, he said. Meaningful co-operation centered on respect will be key to delivering change across our United Kingdom. read more British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is heading off Sunday to the four corners of the UK as part of an immediate reset with governments in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Starmer, who said he has a mandate to do politics differently after his partys landslide victory, will meet Scottish First Minister John Swinney in Edinburgh in an effort to turn disagreement into cooperation. That begins today with an immediate reset of my governments approach to working with the first and deputy first ministers, he said. Meaningful co-operation centered on respect will be key to delivering change across our United Kingdom. Advertisement While each of the devolved nations in the UK elects members to the House of Commons in London, they also have their own regional parliaments. Starmers Labour Party trounced Swinneys Scottish National Party for seats in Parliament. But the SNP, which has pushed for Scottish independence, still holds a majority at Holyrood, the Scottish parliament. The trip to build better working relations across the UK is part of Starmers broader mission to work toward serving people as he tackles of mountain of problems. The Labour government inherited a wobbly economy that left Britons struggling to pay bills after global economic woes and fiscal missteps. It also faces a public that is disenchanted after 14 years of chaotic Conservative rule and fiscal austerity that hollowed out public services, including the revered National Health Service, which Starmer declared broken. Starmer said he wants to transfer power from the bureaucratic halls of government in London to leaders who know whats best for their communities. After his brief tour, hell return to England, where he plans to meet with regional mayors, saying in his first news conference Saturday that he would engage with politicians regardless of their party. Theres no monopoly on good ideas, he said Im not a tribal political. On Tuesday, Starmer will jet off to Washington for a NATO meeting. Meanwhile, his top diplomat, Foreign Secretary David Lammy, was due in Poland and Sweden Sunday after visiting Germany on Saturday for his first trip abroad to strengthen ties with European partners. Advertisement German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on the social media platform X that the UK was an indispensable part of Europe and they were working with the British government to see how it could move closer to the European Union. Lammy reiterated Starmers pledge not to rejoin the EU single market after British voters in 2016 voted to break from the political and economic union. Let us put the Brexit years behind us," Lammy told The Observer. We are not going to rejoin the single market and the customs union but there is much that we can do together. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said Sunday on Sky News that the UK should look for ways to improve trade with the EU and that removing some trade barriers was sensible. But he said the Labour government was not open to the free movement of people that was required as a member of the union. Rajan Rao holds his camera to photograph birds at Lake Merced in San Francisco on June 26. The 17-year-old is co-leader of the nine-member Northern California chapter of the California Young Birders Club. Minh Connors/The Chronicle Rajan Rao has observed and cataloged 950 different species of birds in his 17 years of life, but standing on the Lake Merced concrete bridge at 8:30 on a June morning, the rising high school senior is talking obsessively about one bird that he hasnt seen: the American black swift. They are small and jet-black with sicklelike wings. They can fly 110 miles an hour. You see reports of them in some random waterfall in the Sierras, or, I dont know, the remote Rocky Mountains, he said, adding that hes gone to many waterfalls in search of the elusive avian. Its really hard to get there. There is also an ounce of bad luck. I just seem to miss them when other people get them. Man, I need that black swift. Rajan, who is going into his senior year at Lick-Wilmerding High School, is the co-leader of the 11-member Northern California chapter of the California Young Birders Club. Along with his friend, fellow Bernal Heights resident Eddie Monson, he leads monthly trips to birding hot spots from Point Reyes to Arrowhead Marsh in Alameda and Hawk Hill in Marin. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Birding exploded during the pandemic, and even before that, with a 44% jump in sightings between 2019 and 2020. A recent survey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service suggests that 35% of the U.S. population consider themselves to be a bird-watcher of some level. And while birding is often considered to be a hobby for older people, that survey includes ages 16 and above. Teenage birder Rajan Rao watches a Western gull before it takes off at Lake Merced in San Francisco. Minh Connors/The Chronicle Many birders have a spark bird an experience seeing a particular species that becomes a gateway into the hobby. Rajan said he didnt have that. His fascination was a slow progression that began when he was 7 or 8 and visiting Herons Head Park, the restored salt marsh in the Bayview near India Basin. There were snowy egrets, great egrets and great blue heron, which Rajan describes as tall and elegant with interesting beaks. Afterward, he started studying one of those laminated field guides with the 50 most common Bay Area birds, which led to thicker and thicker Audubon guides, which he would study before bed. A lot of kids have that nature phase, but I never grew out of it, he said. I just got hooked. I thought it was so interesting you could go outside and see these species and know what they are and make notes about them. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Because Rajan is 17 and doesnt have his drivers license, he does most of his birding by public transport, taking BART, Caltrain, Muni and ferries across the region. He might go to Lake Merritt to seek out a wintering tufted duck and then Arrowhead Marsh in Alameda in search of rails and the ever elusive Nelsons sparrow. Mount Diablo is a favorite spot. We will go to one spot, find a bird, hop on a bus, find a bird, hop on another bus, find a bird, he said. You wouldnt think you could bird in a city, but you actually can, and in many instances its actually better because the birds are concentrated in small parks. Rajan Rao talks about his passion of bird-watching as a swallow flies above at Lake Merced in San Francisco. Minh Connors/The Chronicle Rajan is somehow capable of simultaneously keeping up a stream of consciousness and listening intently for bird calls and songs. As he discusses the pros and cons of bird feeders he doesnt personally like them but thinks they are a way for non-birders to connect with birds he puts up a hand. Hear that accelerating dit-dit-dit-dit-dit-dit thats a Wilsons warbler, he said. I can show you one on my phone. Its gorgeous black and body is bright yellow. Advertisement Article continues below this ad He hears a purple finch they are not purple at all. I have no idea why they are called that which he says is easier to recognize by song than sight. Then he observes a bird swoop into a eucalyptus tree. Thats a female Nuttalls woodpecker its got that stripe on its tail. That is what I was looking at in flight. Thats cool. Rajan describes with poetic precision birds plumage and songs and migratory patterns. He sees the city geography through the eyes of a birder and sometimes seems to adopt the point of view of the birds themselves. Billy Goat Hill in Upper Noe Valley, for example, has a patch of pride of Madeira that is quite popular with vagrant hummingbirds. The Duncan & Castro Open Space is good for the Rufous hummingbird. Asked for the best time of year for birding, he did not hesitate. Its Sept. 26, Rajan said. The weather patterns change around late September. We get these warmer days which is good for raptor migration, actually good for all migrations in general. Birds that have been cooped up by that August fog get all released at once during late September. Trust me, go birding on Sept. 26, and I guarantee youll find something good. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Rajan Rao, 17, photographs birds at Lake Merced in San Francisco on June 26. So far, he has observed and cataloged 950 different species of birds. Minh Connors/The Chronicle Rajans mother, Geeta Rao a deputy director with an affordable housing group who Rajan said is not into birds said she feels a mix of pride and baffled amusement when older birders discuss Rajan and his younger brother Adi, who is also a Young Birders Club member, and ask her how she managed to raise two such astute birders. She said birding has taught the boys patience, keen observation and a love for nature. It makes traveling fun because they find joy wherever the family goes the side of the road or a Safeway parking lot although she is less amused when the hobby gets in the way of other activities. Recently during a long weekend trip to Mendocino, My husband and I ended up in the Ukiah sewage treatment plant tracking down a rare bird instead of tasting Pinots or hiking in the redwoods. Thats us, she joked. We are enablers. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Dominik Mosur, an animal care attendant at the Randall Museum who leads birding tours, said he has watched the Rao brothers grow up. I remember (Rajan) coming into the Randall with his mother and little brother and his mother saying, My sons are really into birds. Mosur started seeing the Rao brothers out bird-watching, and Rajan became increasingly active on eBird, where members can report species. When he reports something, its always worth looking into because he is very sharp, Mosur said. He goes through the eBird database and is great at pointing out photos that are incorrectly identified. He has a really good eye. And Rajan doesnt love all birds. He can sound like a harsh critic when he discusses how the mallards lose their feathers in the summer. So they cant fly. All their feathers get replaced. They just sit around in their disgusting looking plumages. And he thinks the California quail the state bird is grossly overrated. Seriously, we could use the condor at the state bird. These quail, man, they are so dumb. They sit out in the open, and they are fat balls of good meat. Ive seen birds swoop down and pick one up off the ground. Hearing her sons opinion of the state bird, Geeta Rao was amused. Poor quails, she said. What the hell did they ever do to Rajan? Rajan is hoping to study biology or ecology in college Cornell University has a famous ornithology program and will pass the birder club down to his brother and other up-and-coming birders. Thats the thing about the birders club too: Young birders eventually leave their nests. Standing on the bridge looking out over Lake Merced, he points out baby bank swallows and tree swallows, which have a bright blue back. These swallows, he said, were probably born in April. Hezbollah has traded near daily fire with the Israeli army across Lebanons southern border since its Palestinian ally Hamas attacked Israel last year, triggering the war in Gaza read more A representative for Starmer's 10 Downing Street office stated that the "situation on the northern border of Israel was very concerning, and it was crucial all parties acted with caution" Image Courtesy AFP In his first phone contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since his election, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called on all parties to exercise caution on the border between Israel and Lebanon on Sunday. A representative for Starmers 10 Downing Street office stated that the situation on the northern border of Israel was very concerning, and it was crucial all parties acted with caution when he spoke with his counterpart. In a show of support for Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organization based in Gaza, Lebanons Hezbollah movement fired another 20 rockets at northern Israel on Sunday, injuring one person. These cross-border strikes were carried out on Sunday. Advertisement Hezbollah has traded near daily fire with the Israeli army across Lebanons southern border since its Palestinian ally Hamas attacked Israel last year, triggering the war in Gaza. Discussing the conflict, the prime minister reiterated his condolences for the mass loss of life during the October 7 attacks, the spokesperson said. He then set out the clear and urgent need for a ceasefire, the return of hostages and an immediate increase in the volume of humanitarian aid reaching civilians. In his conversation with Netanyahu, Starmer added that it was also important to ensure the long-term conditions for a two-state solution were in place, including ensuring the Palestinian Authority had the financial means to operate effectively. Efforts towards a truce are continuing with US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators hoping to halt the worst-ever Gaza war, which has caused mass civilian casualties and devastated the coastal territory. The spokesperson said the prime minister also spoke by phone to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. Starmer told Abbas that his longstanding policy on recognition to contribute to a peace process had not changed, and it was the undeniable right of Palestinians. The October 7 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures. Advertisement Hamas also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza, including 42 the military says are dead. In response, Israels military offensive has killed at least 38,153 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Lammy said he was visiting Britains key partners in Europe Poland, Germany and Sweden, all NATO members for cooperation and security talks. He said that Britains military, economic, political and diplomatic support for Ukraine will remain unwavering, while it wants a reset with Europe in the areas of climate protection, energy and migration read more Britains new Foreign Secretary David Lammy held talks with his Polish counterpart on Sunday as part of his first international trip seeking to tighten U.K. relations with the European Union and stress support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. Lammy said he was visiting Britains key partners in Europe Poland, Germany and Sweden, all NATO members for cooperation and security talks. He said that Britains military, economic, political and diplomatic support for Ukraine will remain unwavering, while it wants a reset with Europe in the areas of climate protection, energy and migration. Advertisement Lammy was appointed Friday after the Labor Partys landslide election victory. Prime Minister Keir Starmer will fly to Washington on Tuesday for a NATO meeting. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski hosted Lammy in his mansion in Chobielin, some 300 kilometers (190 miles) northwest of Warsaw. US President Joe Biden is in the midst of severe scrutiny over his physical and mental health after the disastrous presidential debate with Donald Trump read more A top neurologist who specialises in Parkinsons Disease had a meeting with US President Joe Bidens personal doctor at the White House, according to a report. The Parkinsons Disease is a neurological condition that progressively leads to physical and mental decline of a person and is often characterised by stiff movements, tremors in hands, blank facial expressions, and slurry speech signs that Biden has shown in recent years. Following the disastrous presidential debate with former US President Donald Trump, Bidens physical and mental health has been under renewed scrutiny. Throughout the speech, he struggled to speak coherently and at times could not complete his sentences and appeared to lose the train of thoughts. Advertisement Now, The New York Post has cited the White House visitor logs records reported that Dr Kevin Cannard, a Parkinson Disease specialist at the Walter Reed Medical Center met with Dr Kevin OConnor, the personal doctor of Biden, at the White Houses indoor clinic on January 17. The newspaper further reported that Dr John E Atwood, a cardiologist are Walter Reed, was also part of the meeting. One more person was part of the meeting but was not named in the report. OConnor has refuted that Biden has Parkinsons Disease. As per a memo from OConnor in February, detailed health examinations, including a neurological exam of Biden, found no findings that would be consistent with neurological disorders such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, or Parkinsons disease, according to CNN. The meeting was likely about Bidens health, says report Since Biden and his immediate family, such as First Lady Jill Biden, are the only ones to be treated by OConnor, who has been the Physican to the President since 2021 when Biden assumed the presidency, the meeting was most likely about Bidens health, according to the report. Ronny Jackson, a Republican lawmaker who was the personal doctor to former President Barak Obama and Trump, said that the Biden family is engaged in a cover up. Jackson told The Post, I believe he and Jill Biden have led the cover up. Kevin OConnor is like a son to Jill Biden she loves him. Its crazy. Kevin OConnor 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. Advertisement Rob Howard, a professor of old age psychiatry at University College London, was quoted by the newspaper as saying that Biden displayed several signs consistent with the Parkinsons Disease. Bidens fluctuation in attentional function, his facial appearance, and his gait were all signs that something is amiss, said Howard, who stressed that he was not offering a formal diagnosis. Howard further said, I am not saying its Parkinsons disease, I am just pointing out that there are features to him that are consistent with Parkinsons disease. In response to the story, the White House said that several doctors from the Walter Reed come to the White House for the treatment of many military personnel who work there. Notably, Walter Reed is the premier US military-run hospital. Advertisement 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, said the White House in a statement to The Post. In the first round of French elections, Marine Le Pens far-right National Rally (RN) won 33.15% of the votes President Emmanuel Macrons centrist bloc was relegated to the third place with 20.04% votes read more Marine Le Pens National Rally (RN) party appears to be at the cusp of an unprecedented victory in Frances parliamentary elections. If the RN wins the majority, it will form the first far-right government in Frances history. Le Pen rejects the label of far-right even as her agenda includes curbing immigration and immigrants rights and pushing for an insular foreign policy. The victory does not come naturally to Le Pen. The credit, even if just in part, goes to French President Emmanuel Macron. Following the European Parliamentary elections last month in which RN routed Macrons centrists, he dissolved the parliament and called snap elections three years ahead of schedule. In line with the surveys, Le Pens RN comfortably won the first round of elections on June 30. The call for the elections has therefore been dubbed as a bet gone wrong. Advertisement Jordan Bardella of the National Rally appears set to be the next French Prime Minister (Photo of a poster of Bardella and party leader Marine Le Pen, Credit: AFP) But is that really the case? Macron has long been a maverick in French politics so much so that he is often dubbed as the James Bond of European politics for his mannerisms, sharp suits, and carefully-shot photographs. Shock and awe have been central to his governance style. His decisions are usually his and his alone and he has governed in a strict top-down model sometime to his own peril. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, the wonderkid of Macron whom he brought just this year to set the country straight, was said to be among the last to know of the decision to call snap elections. Then, was it plain hubris that led Macron to erroneously call for elections that would serve the country to far-right on a platter or was there something that analysts are not yet able to grasp? The belief that Macron gambled and lost the plot is very simplistic and incorrect as he is a very seasoned leader and is unlikely to be so disconnected from the reality to make such a losing gamble, says Swasti Rao, a scholar of European politics at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA). Has Macrons bet worked as centrists & leftists come together? Initially, it was understood that Macron had hoped that faced with the choice of extreme left that has proposed raising taxes and is tainted with antisemitism and the far-right, the French voters would opt for his pragmatic centrism. That has clearly not been the case so far as voters have chosen Le Pen over him. In the first round of elections, Le Pens RN won 33.15 per cent of the votes against 27.99 of the new left-wing coalition New Popular Front (NPF) and 20.04 per cent of Macrons centrist bloc, according to France 24. Advertisement But Macrons calculation has not been wrong altogether as his centrists and NPF have come together in an ad-hoc alliance for the second round of elections with the singular objective of halting RNs march. behind one candidate and prevent the break-up of non-right voters. The idea is to combine Macrons and NPF voters behind the centrist or left-wing candidate most likely to win so that the far-right candidate on the seat does not win. Non-right groups are converging in France. This is a photograph from a protest against the far-right in Paris this week. (Photo: AP) But is it too little and too late? Thats too early to tell for now. The French voters are casting their ballots at the time of writing of this piece and final results will be known by either Sunday night or Monday morning. Advertisement In the French election system, a candidate needs to win more than 50 per cent votes to win in the first round. If no candidate wins 50 per cent votes, then all those who won more than 12.5 per cent votes compete again in the second round and the one with the most votes wins. As per France 24, the RN won 39 of the 76 seats won outright in the first round of the elections. A gamble or a calculated risk? Macron has won two presidential elections and has staved off the rise of far-right once already in the 2022 elections. He has long known what he is up against. Advertisement The rise of far-right in France is not isolated but part of the broader political trend in Europe. While a lot has to do with the rising acceptance of right-wing agenda, the support for the right-wing is also a result of a dissatisfaction against the status quo of long rule of centrists and leftists. Ankita Dutta, a scholar of Europes right-wing politics at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), told Firstpost last month that the right-wing parties in Europe have capitalised on crises in the past few years, such as the financial crisis, migration crisis, cost of living crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the conflict in Ukraine. Advertisement These issues added to the disillusionment and insecurity of people and fortified their beliefs that these issues have not been tackled properly by mainstream parties. Therefore, it is more of a protest vote. But that should not be taken as a momentary development because these parties now have a dedicated base among the lower economic sections of the society who have faced the brunt of economic slowdown and increasing migration, said Dutta, an Assistant Professor at the Centre for European Studies of JNUs School of International Studies. Instead of a mere protest vote, it is a classic example of politics of resentment, said Dutta. Even if Marine Le Pens National Rally wins, President Emmanuel Macron will continue to be in charge of foreign and defence affairs (Photo: AFP) Macron understands this perfectly and has worked towards addressing these concerns over the years. Even though Macron is a centrist as per French political standards, he is effectively a moderate right-wing leader when looked at from a non-French perspective particularly from the British perspective. In a discussion hosted by The Spectator magazine, journalist and political commentator Douglas Murray said that French centrists and even leftists have positions that appear to be more right-wing than the British Conservatives. Referring to former French PM Manuel Valls, a leftist, Murray said Valls would speak in a manner that the Right of the Tory Party would baulk at Conservatives are informally called the Tories. Why? Thats because they have got a serious demographic and illegal immigration issue and a serious security concern. People dont realise that ahead of the Olympic games in Paris, the centre of the city is in a very near-lockdown. They just thwarted another plot to carry out a terrorist attack during it and everybody is on the edge about it. Thats why as the situation in the country changes, the politicians change in response, said Murray. Indeed, over the years, Macron has adopted a tough national security policy, checked illegal immigration, and appointed right-wing figures to key government posts such as cultural ministry to check the rise of far-right and address the concerns that he was moving to the left or wokeness was taking over. He has also emerged as the foremost champion of Ukraine and has been at the forefront of flagging the importance of Europe crafting its own security arrangements regarding the Russian threat. Then, how do you make sense of the losing gamble that Macron appears to have made with the snap elections? Swasti Rao, the Europe scholar at MP-IDSA, says that it does not appear to be a gamble at all but a calculated move after proper thinking. Macron appears to have been convinced that you cannot stop the far-right from statements alone. That would explain why he called these elections and let the French people choose while continuing efforts to converge efforts to minimise Le Pens gains. The idea driving Macron appears to be that if people still end up electing Le Pens government, they would realise that the National Rally (RN) has nothing substantial to offer. As per this idea, people would see that the RNs government has no solution to offer except for populist overspending and rhetoric on immigration and would realise they chose poorly and, in the next elections, revert to the centrists, says Rao, an Associate Fellow at the Europe and Eurasia Center at MP-IDSA. As far as Macrons agenda is considered, there would be a risk of disruption, but he should have enough room to continue it as foreign and defence affairs remain the domain of the president and not the prime minister, says Rao. Macron will stay in office till 2027. As this was his second and last term, there was no risk of harming his re-election prospects as well. The question that everyone is asking is has President Macron walked into his careers sunset with the snap elections? (Photo: AP) Therefore, it appears that Macron has played a calculated move to give Le Pens RN a chance at running a government and then counting on its failure to make the French public realise that the far-right is not a solution to their issues. Even if a calculated move rooted in ground realities, there is flipside to it as well. If the RN wins now and Jordan Bardella takes over as prime minister and the RN also wins the presidential election in 2027, then Le Pen could finally become the president in her fourth attempt and that would cement the far-rights hold in France, the second-largest European economy and the foremost military power. If that happens or whether voters revert to the centre is to be seen in the coming years. SAN DIEGO Illuminated by a full desert moon, a 29-year-old Sudanese computer scientist hauled himself up a rope over the U.S.-Mexico border wall. He had been traveling for a month fleeing Sudans civil war to arrive at a section of the border near the southern San Diego neighborhood of Otay Mesa, where two 30-foot-high fences are meant to deter migrants from entering the U.S. The mans goal was to surrender to border patrol agents and request asylum, which would place him in a line of at least 1.1 million pending asylum cases in the U.S. as of December 2023, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. In Khartoum right now, nothing is open, the man said, referring to the Sudanese capital. The man spoke on the condition of anonymity in accordance with Chronicle policy because he feared retaliation against his family back home. No schools, no companies, no jobs, no work. Nothing. Unknown to him, while he was preparing for a two-week journey on foot from Nicaragua to Mexico, President Joe Biden issued an executive order that could quash his hopes of obtaining asylum in the United States. The June 4 order, implemented through a rule issued by the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, deems migrants ineligible for asylum if they crossed the southern U.S. border unlawfully with few exceptions, and places them in expedited removal, a process by which they can be deported without a hearing. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A family from Colombia walks along a railroad track in Jacumba Hot Springs (San Diego County) toward an open-air site where migrants say they are directed to wait by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle Essentially, asylum access has been cut off for people who are fleeing very dangerous situations, said Melissa Shepard, directing attorney at San Diego-based Immigrant Defenders, which provides legal representation to migrants facing deportation. This version of an asylum ban is really an attack on the U.S. asylum system, which is a form of legal immigration. In addition, it appears the new rule is not being applied equally. According to a leaked U.S. Customs and Border Protection memo, first reported by conservative news outlet the Washington Examiner, border agents in San Diego have been instructed to release migrants into the U.S. with notices to appear in immigration court if they are from countries considered not easy to remove a person to, such as China, Turkey and Sudan. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A U.S. border patrol agent cuts a Chinese womans shoelaces off. Before being taken unto U.S. custody, migrants are typically ordered to remove their shoelaces and jewelry. The only objects they are allowed to carry on them in a detention facility are their passports and cash. Their bags are tagged, and each migrant is given a claim slip. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle A woman from Colombia embraces her daughter after being separated from her husband and son by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Jacumba Hot Springs. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle People who are to be fast-tracked for deportation include single adults from certain countries in Central and South America, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, as well as Cuba and Haiti, the agencys memo stated. Agents were also instructed to conduct expedited removal proceedings for families from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia, Peru and the Dominican Republic. For those easy-to-remove nationalities, weve seen a drastic increase in removals, said Erika Pinheiro, an immigration attorney and executive director of binational legal aid nonprofit Al Otro Lado, which has offices in San Diego, Los Angeles and Tijuana, Mexico. Theres no universal presentation of what this process is, so a lot of people just dont even understand whats going on. The Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protections San Diego office did not respond to Chronicle questions about the memo, but Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a June 26 speech that the rule is changing the calculus for those considering crossing our border. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In the first three weeks of the rule being in effect, the Department of Homeland Security said it doubled the percentage of noncitizens removed from the U.S., deporting more than 24,000 people from more than 20 countries. It also said arrests for illegal southwest border crossings have fallen, suggesting the rule was affecting migrants decisions to travel. Agents are instructed to conduct expedited removal proceedings for families from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia, Peru and the Dominican Republic, as well as for single adults from additional countries. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle The agency did not respond to a request to share deportation statistics by nationality. Pinheiro said migration tends to slow during this time of year. In 2022 and 2023, border patrol encounters with migrants at the southwest land border dropped sharply from May to June, according to Customs and Border Protection data. Asked what effect the executive order has had on the number of migrants entering the U.S. illegally, Pinheiro said, Zero effect. Advertisement Article continues below this ad People are still physically crossing the border, she said. Over four days in June, the Chronicle witnessed the lengths dozens of migrants underwent to reach U.S. soil through its southwest border and the different reception they received based on their countries of origin. Those who come Over 30 hours on June 21 and 22, the Chronicle observed about 160 migrants being taken into custody by Customs and Border Protection after entering San Diego County through three locations along the U.S.-Mexico border. On the morning of June 22, in the San Diego County desert town of Jacumba, agents separated a group of about 80 migrants into two lines one for South and Central American migrants, the other for migrants from other countries before loading them into vans. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A group of women from China looks into a van as they are taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection near the U.S.-Mexico border in Jacumba. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle Dislodged concertina wires droop from the U.S.-Mexico border wall in Jacumba Hot Springs. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle Two men from Turkey said they were escaping religious oppression. Members of the Alevi faith, Turkeys largest religious minority, the friends follow an offshoot of Islam in a country led by a Sunni Muslim president and said they have to observe Islamic practices such as fasting during Ramadan, contrary to their own beliefs, or risk being fired from jobs. A woman from the Chinese province of Fujian said she was seeking better economic opportunities. A Colombian man said he came because of politics, violence, money, jobs, everything. For a better life. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Both candidates in this years high-stakes presidential contest have campaigned on curbing illegal immigration. The politicking around the border, which is seeing a seasonal drop in arrivals, has angered immigrant rights advocates who say Biden is reacting to perception rather than reality, but fear Trumps vow to conduct the largest deportation project in the nations history if elected. Unfortunately, we saw that (Biden) has chosen to double down on failed policies that he thinks would make him look tough on the border and immigration, Shepard said. Its just really disheartening to see how vulnerable people fleeing danger are used as part of political theater. Immigration law expert Kevin R. Johnson, dean of the UC Davis law school, said Trumps platform of mass deportations and limited legal pathways into the country is pulling Democrats rightward on the issue. Every indication is that (Trump) wants to be tougher on immigration than he was his first time around, Johnson said. Its affecting the Biden administration. Even before Bidens executive action on asylum, his administration was working with the Mexican government to step up policing of migrants crossing the border without authorization. Aid workers have drawn messages in dust on solar panels on a hilltop in Marron Valley (San Diego County) along a route frequented by migrants trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle In February, the Mexico National Guard stationed soldiers by two popular desert crossings south of the border, where migrants would crawl through gaps in the fence where it meets a base of rocky hills. The Biden administration deployed military personnel to the southwest border last September. Humanitarian aid workers in the region say stricter enforcement has driven migrants to take bigger risks, such as scaling sections of the 30-foot wall or hiking eight hilly miles around the Otay Mountain Wilderness, where no wall exists. An aid worker replenishes a cache of water on a trail used by migrants to cross into the United States from Mexico near Marron Valley in Barrett Junction (San Diego County). Stephen Lam/The Chronicle People have just rerouted, said Karen Parker, a 61-year-old retiree who provides water, food and first aid to migrants in the San Diego desert region known as Mountain Empire, where she was raised. Human beings migrate; its what human beings have always done. A social worker by training, Parker has turned her cellphone into an on-the-go medical chart, where she meticulously logs details about each patient she encounters. Shes administered CPR, bandaged wounds and given Pedialyte to dehydrated migrants. I feel its my responsibility, she said. This is our land. Our government needs to take responsibility, and I dont see that happening. Parker said she has encountered migrants who injured themselves falling from the border wall. The first time was on April 17, she said, showing the Chronicle notes she had taken at the time of the encounter. A woman had broken both her legs, Parker said. At midafternoon on June 21, the Chronicle observed a Colombian woman, aided by her husband, limping along a portion of the border wall by the vast Tijuana River watershed toward Whiskey 8, one of the open-air lots where migrants and aid workers say Customs and Border Protection directs newly arrived migrants to wait to be processed. Left: Kumquats, a pamphlet in simplified Chinese, a used mask and empty water bottles are scattered at an outdoor site used by migrants while waiting to be taken into Border Patrol custody in Jacumba Hot Springs (San Diego County). Right: Labels for clean water written in English, Spanish, Chinese and Arabic are affixed to a water tank near an empty site used by migrants in Jacumba Hot Springs. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle Top: Kumquats, a pamphlet in simplified Chinese, a used mask and empty water bottles are scattered at an outdoor site used by migrants while waiting to be taken into Border Patrol custody in Jacumba Hot Springs (San Diego County). Above: Labels for clean water written in English, Spanish, Chinese and Arabic are affixed to a water tank near an empty site used by migrants in Jacumba Hot Springs. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle The man said his wife had injured her leg after she became dizzy trying to climb the border wall. She fell on top of him when he tried to catch her. When she looked down, Boom! he said in Spanish. The woman sat on a metal chair and closed her eyes. Her husband crouched beside her and took her hand. Customs and Border Protection agents showed up about 15 minutes later; the ambulance they called arrived 15 minutes after that. As the paramedics lifted her onto a stretcher, her husband waved goodbye before joining a line of migrants waiting to be taken into custody. Sister Sandra Salazar, a Colombian nun of 17 years, watched the scene unfold. She has been volunteering at the site since November, handing out bananas and bottles of water, and briefing migrants on what to expect in custody. Now, with all the deportations, it is hard. It is sad, she said. You see the people coming and at this time, with the new legislation, I feel more concerned for them. Those who stay A middle child with eight siblings, the Sudanese man is the first in his family to make this journey. He was a third-year student studying computer science at Khartoum University, one of the nations premier colleges, when civil war erupted in April 2023 between a powerful paramilitary group and the military that had been running the government since 2019. Classes stopped. His family members spent their days at home, unable to work, he said. He heard about this migration pathway from a friend who arrived in New York earlier this year and now drives for Uber Eats. With the help of his mother and father, he saved $8,000 in U.S. funds to arrange his journey through eight countries. My parents want to come here, too, but it is very expensive, he said. On June 23, after a day and a half in border patrol custody, the man and a friend from his village were released with notices to appear in federal immigration court. They disembarked from a Customs and Border Protection bus at the Iris Avenue transit center. A woman from Guatemala listens to instructions from a border patrol agent while her 4-year-old son sleeps on the U.S. side of the border in Jacumba Hot Springs. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle Migrants entering the U.S. through its southwest border are received differently based on their countries of origin. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle The man will have to wait until December 2025 and find a way to New York, where his hearing is scheduled. He is one of the migrants whove escaped expedited removal proceedings under Bidens new order. He counts himself as one of the lucky ones. He took the trolley from San Ysidro to Old Town, watching the sunset reflected off glass high-rises in the city center. At the suggestion of aid workers, he exited at San Diego International Airport to charge his phone and sleep on the floor as he figured out his next move. He recognized a Sudanese man seated by a prayer mat unfurled in a quiet corner by the baggage carousels. They became travel companions in Mexico City and were separated in border patrol custody. They nodded to each other. They had both made it one step further. Library of Congress An 1858 drawing from Harpers Weekly Magazine gives an impression of what an Army wagon caravan, such as the one commanded by Col. William Loring that same year, would have appeared. Fri Friday 86 /52 Times of sun and clouds. Highs in the mid 80s and lows in the low 50s. NEW YORK, NY, July 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Identity wallet project SAFLE has undergone a major overhaul under the leadership of Apoorv Shankar and noted blockchain expert Shikha Mehra. With a valuation of $77 million, the Web3 startup is planning new AI and cross-chain features and gearing up for $SAFLE listings on leading exchanges in July 2024. The exit of the previous management under Abhimanyu Kashyap has paved the way for a new leadership, bringing with it a restructured cap table and a vision for an exciting chapter in SAFLE's journey. SAFLE is back in action and going from strength to strength in 2024 SAFLE, a self-sovereign identity protocol and non-custodial wallet, first gained prominence in 2021 when it raised at an average valuation of $35 Million USD from leading VC funds like Draper Dragon, Woodstock, GSR, CryptoOasis, and Mapleblock, as well as angel investors like Polygon's founder Sandeep Nailwal, former EU Parliament member Tony G and many more. The protocol's multichain identity wallet and SafleID allow users to manage assets on 10+ blockchains through a single human-readable username. In 2024, SAFLE successfully secured additional private funding from investors based in the Republic of Ireland through equity sales, achieving a combined valuation of $77 million USD. This financial backing will accelerate SAFLE's expansion plans, including multiple listings on centralised exchanges. SAFLE's journey has been marked by resilience in the face of challenges that could have derailed even the most ambitious projects. The fact that the company is now thriving and its market valuation is constantly growing is a testament to SAFLE's ability to adapt to the constantly changing Web3 environment. Apoorv Shankar, who now leads Technology and Product Vision at SAFLE, has been building cutting-edge products across IoT, AI, and Blockchain since 2013, demonstrating exceptional expertise in the convergence of technology and finance. Shankar has been joined by Shikha Mehra, head of a well-known Web3 consulting firm, who now presides over the Strategy and Governance arm at SAFLE. Shikha Mehra's expertise has been sought by entities as varied as the OECD, the UK Government (F&CO), ECB, and Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC). She assisted the European Economic & Social Committee in drafting MiCA, as well as helped St Lucia in the Caribbean to plan new crypto-friendly legislation. SAFLE product roadmap is set to transform Web3 experience In the past few months, SAFLE has expanded its in-house development team with top-tier specialists in blockchain technology, AI, and cross-chain integrations. They will work on delivering new cutting-edge features, including: AI: Artificial Intelligence will be used to enable account abstraction, transaction execution, and data analysis; SSI (onchain identity); Seamless pseudonymous onboarding; New chain integrations, with a focus on Bitcoin's emerging L2 ecosystem; Enhanced DeFi support, including a web portfolio viewer, unified portal for connecting to dApps, as well as in-wallet access; Cross-chain features, including swaps, bridging and transactions; UX improvements, such as advanced recovery options and a Wallet Connect integration; Intent-based architecture: a new approach to Web3 transactions, where the SAFLE app automatically determines the best execution path to fulfil the user's intent, rather than prompting the user to specify all the parameters. A Vision for the Future The new Strategy & Governance Head Shikha Mehra says, "I admire the team of SAFLE for their resilience in the times of crisis. Even in the depth of the bear market, they have maintained a clear vision of what they wanted to bring to Web3: the best self-sovereign cross-chain identity solution out there. 'Keep building' may be a common blockchain trope, but it fully applies to SAFLE - and I am really proud and excited to be leading the team on the next stage of this journey." The next major step in the new roadmap is the listing of $SAFLE on leading centralized exchanges, scheduled for July. These will be accompanied by a host of new partnerships. Stay up-to-date with listing announcements and $SAFLE development news via X (Twitter) , as well as the official website. Social Links X: https://twitter.com/GetSafle Discord: https://discord.com/invite/F7QbdGanQf Github: https://github.com/getsafle Medium: https://safle.medium.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/GetSafle/ Telegram: https://t.me/saflechat Media Contact Brand: SAFLE Contact: Media team Email: support@safle.com Website: https://safle.com SOURCE: SAFLE Luton, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom, July 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Exactitude Consultancy, the market research and consulting wing of Ameliorate Digital Consultancy Private Limited has completed and published the final copy of the detailed research report on the Automotive Plastic Additives Market Global Automotive Plastic Additives Market Research Report 2024-2030 is a valuable source of insightful data for business strategists. It provides an industry overview with growth analysis and historical and future cost, revenue, demand and supply data (if applicable). Research analysts provide detailed explanations of value chain and retailer analysis. This Automotive Plastic Additives market study provides comprehensive data that enhances the understanding, scope and application of this report. This report also provides an analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry. The global automotive plastic additives market size was valued at USD 6.49 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 12.30 billion by 2029, with a CAGR of 7.36% from 2022 to 2029. Click Here to Get Sample Copy: https://exactitudeconsultancy.com/reports/28394/automotive-plastic-additives-market/#request-a-sample Top leading companies in the global Automotive Plastic Additives market includes: Hitachi Limited, Siemens AG, Trimble, Inc., Wabtec Corporation, Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd, Robert Bosch GmbH, Nokia Corporation, Cisco Systems, Inc., IBM Corporation, Atos Corporation, Sierra Wireless, Tech Mahindra Limited, Calamp Corp. Recent Development: May 17, 2023 By utilising the findings of 3D sensing of the surrounding vehicle environment, Hitachi Astemo, Ltd. created an autonomous driving technology that aids in safely and smoothly passing by incoming cars on tight highways and in other scenarios. Utilising 3D sensing data from new stereo cameras with enhanced cost advantages, Hitachi Astemo sought to increase its cost competitiveness. May 16, 2023 Innovator in cloud and software-as-a-service (SaaS) application data discovery, continuous monitoring, and security, and a solution to the rising shadow data issue, Polar Security was bought by IBM. The market for automotive plastic additives is primarily driven by the rising demand for lightweight automobiles. To decrease vehicle weight, improve fuel economy, and lower emissions, the automobile industry uses lightweight materials including plastics and composites. The need for automotive plastic additives that can enhance the strength, use, and processing of plastics has increased as a result of this. The automobile sector is using plastics increasingly frequently due to their low cost, adaptability, and simplicity of processing. The need for automotive plastic additives that may enhance the qualities of plastics, such as their strength, durability, and processing, has increased as a result of this. Automotive Plastic Additives Market segmentation: Market segment by Type: Passenger Cars Light Commercial Vehicle Heavy Commercial Vehicle Electric Vehicle Market segment by Application: Exterior Application Interior Application Under the Hood Electronics & Electrical Report Link Click Here: https://exactitudeconsultancy.com/reports/28394/automotive-plastic-additives-market/ We will contact you within 24 hours to help find the research report and further customization you need. Investigator Observers Strong Growth in Specific Regions: North America (United States, Canada, and Mexico) Europe (Germany, France, United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, and Rest of Europe) Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia, and Australia) South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Rest of South America) Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, South Africa, and the Rest of the Middle East & Africa). Some key questions answered in the Automotive Plastic Additives market report: What is the Automotive Plastic Additives market growth, sales, production, consumption, import and export, trends, latest developments, etc. of each region/country? Which key regions or Automotive Plastic Additives market segments will drive market development in the near future? The short-term and long-term factors affecting the industry due to COVID-19. Historical, current and future market development, growth and market size during the forecast period. The detailed qualitative analysis and quantitative insights provided in the report contribute to future growth. Comprehensive mapping of key players and the latest strategies adopted by industry players, Manufacturer behaviors analysis. Purchase the full report: https://exactitudeconsultancy.com/reports/28394/automotive-plastic-additives-market/#request-a-sample Important functions under the reported products and main highlights: Detailed overview of the Automotive Plastic Additives Market Changes in industry market dynamics History, current and projected market size in terms of volume and value Detailed Automotive Plastic Additives market segmentation by type, application, etc. Recent industry trends and developments Competition Situation The high-frequency inductor market key company and product strategies shows promising growth potential and niche segments/regions The research includes historical data from 2019 to 2024 and forecasts to 2030, making the reports an invaluable resource for industry managers, marketing, sales, and product managers, consultants, analysts, and others looking for key industry data in easily accessible documents with clearly presented tables and graphs. Finally, the Automotive Plastic Additives Market report is the believable source for gaining the market research that will exponentially accelerate your business. The report gives the principal locale, economic situations with the item value, benefit, limit, generation, supply, request, and market development rate and figure, and so on. Automotive Plastic Additives industry report additionally Presents a new task SWOT examination, speculation attainability investigation, and venture return investigation. We offer customization on Automotive Plastic Additives market report based on specific client requirement: 1: Market Report in PDF and Excel format. 2: Access to 20% free customization. 3: Access to our analysts facts for the following 1 year. About Us: Exactitudeconsultancy is a global front-runner in the research industry, offering contextual and data-driven research services to customers. Customers are supported in creating business plans and attaining long-term success in their respective marketplaces by the organization. The industry provides consulting services, Exactitude Consultancy research studies, and customized research reports. More Research Finding: Automotive NVH Materials Market - https://exactitudeconsultancy.com/reports/29243/automotive-nvh-materials-market-growth-2/ The global automotive NVH materials market was valued at 6.20 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach 8.00 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 3.7% from 2022 to 2029. Inverter Duty Motor Market - https://exactitudeconsultancy.com/reports/29200/inverter-duty-motor-market/ The global inverter-duty motor market is expected to grow at a 10% CAGR from 2022 to 2029. It is expected to reach above USD 9.00 billion by 2029, up from USD 4.64 billion in 2022. 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Automotive ECU Market - https://exactitudeconsultancy.com/reports/28615/automotive-ecu-market/ The Global Automotive ECU Market Is Expected to Grow At 6.9% CAGR from 2020 To 2029. It Is Expected to Reach Above USD 52.77 Billion By 2029 From USD 30.3 Billion In 2020. Automotive Digital Cockpit Market - https://exactitudeconsultancy.com/reports/28463/automotive-digital-cockpit-market/ The global automotive digital cockpit market size was valued at USD 19.57 billion in 2020, and projected to reach USD 41.81 billion by 2029, with a CAGR of 8.8% from 2022 to 2029. Automotive Data Logger Market - https://exactitudeconsultancy.com/reports/28420/automotive-data-logger-market/ The global automotive data logger market size was valued at USD 2.91 billion in 2020, and projected to reach USD 5.54 billion by 2029, with a CAGR of 7.41% from 2022 to 2029. Automotive Connectors Market - https://exactitudeconsultancy.com/reports/28378/automotive-connectors-market/ The global automotive connectors market was valued at 10.39 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach 17.19 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 7.47% from 2022 to 2029. Automotive Motors Market - https://exactitudeconsultancy.com/reports/28375/automotive-motors-market/ The global Automotive Motors market was valued at 34.79 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach 54.42 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 6.6% from 2022 to 2029. Automotive Hydraulics System Market - https://exactitudeconsultancy.com/reports/28365/automotive-hydraulics-system-market/ The global automotive hydraulics system market was valued at 43.49 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach 65.61 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 6.05% from 2022 to 2029. 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Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. The class action concerns whether Roblox and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. You have until August 9, 2024 , to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class if you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Roblox securities during the Class Period. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. [Click here for information about joining the class action] On May 8, 2024, Roblox hosted its earnings call for the first quarter of 2024 and released its associated financial reports. The Company announced that it was reducing its previously-announced bookings guidance to $4.0 billion for 2024. It also announced bookings growth of only 19% for the first quarter of 2024. Roblox attributed the results to its digital economy, new purchasable items, and platform expansion. On this news, Robloxs stock price fell $10.12 per share, or 24.96%, over the following two trading sessions, to close at $30.42 per share on May 9, 2024. Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com . Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. NEW YORK, July 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Uranium Energy Corp. (UEC or the Company) (NYSE: UEC). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at newaction@pomlaw.com or 646-581-9980, ext. 7980. The investigation concerns whether UEC and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. [Click here for information about joining the class action] On June 10, 2024, UEC filed its quarterly report for the quarter ended April 30, 2024 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Among other items, UEC reported an adjusted loss per share of $0.05, missing consensus estimates. The Company also reported zero revenues and an operating loss of $13.8 million, compared to revenues of $20 million and an operating loss of $3.5 million for the same period in the prior year. On this news, UECs stock price fell $0.49 per share, or 8.09%, to close at $5.57 per share on June 11, 2024. Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com . Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. 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 Max Verstappen of old would probably have reacted very differently to the incident between him and Lando Norris in Austria. Yet the Dutchman reacted very maturely in the media to the whole situation last weekend. The three-time world champion explains why. During a media moment with the Dutch press, including others on GPblog, it was about the problems Verstappen had during qualifying at Silverstone. Indeed, he had to make do with a damaged floor. However, the Dutchman remained calm. "I think in general I'm always pretty relaxed," Verstappen told us. "I don't think I'm very stressed in the car. You always want performance and then you are just critical when things go wrong or right. How the car felt was always just good." He was then asked whether the Max of four years ago would have reacted the same way. "Back then, of course, I didn't have as many wins and titles either. I think you are a bit more relaxed about it then,"' the Dutchman said. Verstappen remained calm after Norris incident in Austria Unlike Verstappen, Lando Norris did react quite emotionally in the media to the moment in Austria. "I understand it all and because of that I also thought to myself of just let it cool down. That's for the best. I understand being emotional and being disappointed of course. Of course, I was also disappointed with what happened in Austria, but of course in the end you don't have to shout everything on camera right away," Verstappen told wisely. This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy 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. Alpine super happy with Mick Schumacher test Mick Schumacher is clinging to his dream of a return to Formula 1, and may have taken a big step towards that earlier this week. Mick Schumacher, Brazilian GP 2022 Haas The former Haas driver is clearly in the running to replace Esteban Ocon next year, and last week took part in a head-to-head test against Jack Doohan in a two-year-old Alpine at Paul Ricard. Renault's factory F1 team has been coy about the results. From what I know from Alpine, it was a super test for him, Toto Wolff, boss of the Mercedes team, where Schumacher is the reserve driver, told Sky Deutschland at Silverstone. He really delivered and I'm happy to hear it, he added. That's the message I got. They are super happy, but that was to be expected. One theory at the moment is that while Doohan appears more likely for the Alpine seat next year, Schumacher could be loaned to Mercedes-powered Williams. Williams chief James Vowles, who is close to his former Mercedes boss Wolff, even hints that the struggling Logan Sargeant could be replaced within 2024. We're continually evaluating it, he admitted at Silverstone. We're open-minded to things. And when also asked about Schumacher, the 25-year-old son of F1 legend Michael Schumacher, Williams boss Vowles was quoted as answering by DPA news agency: He's a world-class driver. (GMM) Antonelli not an option for Williams says Vowles Andrea 'Kimi' Antonelli is firmly back in the running to make his Formula 1 debut, as he secured a breakthrough F2 win at Silverstone. Kimi Antonelli, Austria test 2024 Mercedes Just 24 hours earlier, the 17-year-old's mentor Toto Wolff was hinting that Carlos Sainz might be a better option to replace Lewis Hamilton next year. A major concern is that all the speculation about his likely leap into Hamilton's cockpit for 2025 had contributed to Antonelli's lacklustre F2 campaign so far. He has a lot of pressure, Mercedes boss Wolff said. "He's being talked a lot about. And it's clear that the pressure ramps up. You know, it's like Bernie (Ecclestone) said: 'Last week I had an opinion, this week I have a different one'. But the boy-faced Italian then shone in difficult conditions during the British GP support race, securing his first Formula 2 win. It was an important win, Wolff said, "because he's had a lot of bad luck with the car and made small mistakes. Those days were important for today's dominant win, he told Sky Italia. "I'm sure he'll make the step up to Formula 1 and have a great career. I would say this was a turning point for him. He was a second faster than the others and always in control. Kimi made a big step today and I'm sure he'll do great things in F1. Antonelli admitted he felt emotional as he crossed the line and felt a big weight taken off my shoulders . It's a very important moment, he added. It hasn't been a good season so far and on a mental level this success gives me a lot of energy. There have even been rumblings at Silverstone that a perfect F1 prelude for Antonelli could be replacing the struggling Logan Sargeant at Mercedes-powered Williams - and perhaps even before the 2024 season is concluded. But Williams boss James Vowles insists: Kimi is not a possibility for Williams at the moment because he is a Mercedes driver. So that's a no. (GMM) Verstappen hits back at McLaren Max Verstappen has returned fire at rival team McLaren's CEO Zak Brown, in the wake of a stinging attack at Silverstone. Max Verstappen, British GP 2024 Red Bull Lando Norris is rapidly becoming Verstappen's only real rival for the 2024 title, prompting McLaren bosses Andrea Stella and Brown to ramp up their rhetoric following the crash in Austria one week ago. Until someone tells Max, 'Hey, that's against the regulations', he's not going to know any different, Brown said on Friday. The McLaren CEO accused Christian Horner of running Red Bull without respect . We've seen there be lack of respect, said Brown, whether it's financial regulations or sporting, issues with fathers and things of that nature. I just don't think that's how we need to go racing. Some, however, actually applauded the extra off-track spice in the increasingly close and exciting on-track battle in 2024. I thought that criticism was great, laughed former Dutch F1 driver Christijan Albers, on Viaplay. "Zak Brown's political game is beautiful. A stab here and a string there, taking on Horner - even Andrea Stella went crazy. Finally the fire is back! When asked about Brown's attack, however, Max Verstappen was quoted as having responded by Algemeen Dagblad newspaper: Who is Zak Brown? The triple world champion even denies his clash with Norris last week was even mentioned in the FIA drivers' briefing. No, said Verstappen. "It was actually just about current issues, things that we can perhaps improve for the future with the circuits, track limits, things like that. We didn't talk about it (the Norris incident) anymore, the Red Bull driver insists. (GMM) July 7, 2024: NATO is depending more on locally developed weapons and munitions rather than obtaining them from the United States. The war in Ukraine has encouraged this trend because European nations now realize that they have a very real threat next door with Russia. The Americans are concentrating on how to deal with growing Chinese aggression in the Pacific. The Result is NATO fending for itself more than any time in the past. For example, Germany is currently building the first of six F-126 frigates. These will be the largest warships to serve in the German navy since World War II. The first of the six 10,000-ton F126s will enter service in 2028. Each ship will cost about $1.5 billion. These frigates are 177 meters long and have a top speed of about 50 kilometers an hour. Economical cruising speed is 21 kilometers an hour. Max range is 7,400 kilometers at cruising speed. Endurance is 21 days before refueling and resupply is needed. The crew of 114 can be augmented by 84 additional specialist personnel, including special operations troops. There is a full range of electronics including surface and air search radars as well as fire control radar and sonar for detecting and tracking submarines. Radios include one that uses a satellite link. There are several decoy systems to disrupt the guidance systems on incoming missiles. If that doesnt work there are several anti-missiles systems using autocannon and missiles. There are also VLS cells for up to 64 anti-aircraft missiles. Eight NSM anti-ship and land attack missiles are carried. There are also two 27mm autocannon and four 12.7 machine-guns. There are also non-lethal water cannon and long range acoustic devices to send warnings to small boats approaching the frigate. Two helicopters and one UAV are carried along with a hangar to hold all of them. The F-126 is designed to be continuously deployed for two years without need for major maintenance. This means a F-126 can operate for 5,000 hours a year, which means 57 percent of 365 days in a year. Warships tend to spend a lot of time idle in port. While the F126 was built for combat, its predecessor, the F125 frigates, also contained many innovations. Unfortunately that resulted in an unexpected and unwanted distinction; the first ship of the class, the Baden-Wurttemberg, was rejected by the navy after failing to perform during sea trials. The builder quickly addressed the most serious problems, which were all software related. The Baden-Wurttemberg finally entered service in 2018. The Baden-Wurttemberg did not begin a year of sea trials until the end of 2016. This produced a growing list of problems the builders hustled to fix while also dealing with some of the defects. The list of problems was too long and the navy refused to accept, or commission, the Baden-Wurttemberg into service. While this was embarrassing, it was also the right thing to do because otherwise the problems would have become a major scandal. Not all the problems were made public, if only because some involved new tech that was highly classified. It was known that a new computerized command and control software system for the CIC (combat information center) had an unacceptable number of bugs as did some of the other software for automating operation of the ship and making possible a smaller, by about 50 percent, crew than would normally be needed. The new radar system and other sensors had problems as did the damage control system. All these are easily fixed. There was also a perceptible 1.3 degree list to starboard, which has since been fixed. The four F125 frigates displace 7,200 tons each. This is larger than some destroyers, but it's become unfashionable in Europe to call a warship a destroyer. Those attitudes played a role in the failure of the Baden-Wurttemberg. It was no secret that attracting the best engineering and design talent to warship construction has been difficult. Since the Cold War ended in 1991 and Germany was reunited, it became fashionable to downplay defense in general and working in the military or defense industries became less popular. Even though these industries remained major employers and Germany continued to export innovative warship designs, the F125s were more innovative than any surface warship Germany had put into service during the last century. Before World War I Germany produced battleships that, ship-for-ship, were superior to those any other nation was building. In both World Wars German developed and produced the most advanced submarine designs. During the Cold War Germany was divided and concentrated on its land forces. The Cold War West German navy concentrated on coast defense, mine clearing and ASW (Anti-Submarine Warfare). Thus the F-125s were an ambitious effort that, it turned out, the German navy lacked the project management talent to handle problems. The shipbuilding industry also proved unable to cope. Some of the problems were higher up. The government thought, as did many others, that Russia would remain a benign neighbor. Russia was, for a while, but by 2008 the Russian government was dominated by former KGB secret police officers who decided to revive the Cold War and police state rule inside Russia. German leaders were slow to realize that this revival of Russian aggression was not temporary but growing. That became obvious in 2014 when Russia seized Crimea and portions of two adjacent provinces from Ukraine and made more threatening moves in the Baltic Sea. That was bad news because the four F125s were replacing the eight smaller 3,700 ton F122 class ships that were designed and built in the 1980s to defend the Baltic. For this the F125s were much less capable. The F125s were designed for global operations, a first for German warships of this size. They were called peacekeeper or commando cruisers only half in jest. But now the threat is greatest where it has always been, the Baltic and the North Sea. The main deficiency of the F125s was the lack of sonar and ASW (Anti-submarines warfare) torpedo tubes. The F125s are 149.5 meters long and highly automated. They have a crew of 110, although there are accommodations for up to 190. This allows the ship to carry commandos, aid workers, or whatever. Actually, they have two crews, so the F-125s can stay at sea for long periods of time with the crews changing every four months. Armament consists of eight anti-ship missiles, two RAM anti-missile missile systems (with 21 missiles each), one 127mm gun, four 27mm automatic cannon, five remotely controlled 12.7mm machine-guns, two manually controlled 12.7mm machine-guns, and water cannons. There are also two NH90 helicopters and four 11 meter long, high speed (74 kilometers an hour) boats for the commandos who could also use the helicopters) and one or two UUVs (unmanned underwater vehicles) for clearing mines. There's also space for two 20 foot shipping containers carrying any special equipment. Electronics includes a phased array air search radar as used on Aegis ships and the usual complement of communications and countermeasures equipment. What is missing is the ASW capabilities the F122s had although these can be added. The helicopters can be equipped with dipping sonar and sonobuoys as well as ASW torpedoes. A towed sonar array can be added to the F125s as well as the electronics needed to operate it. That will take time and be costly. Germany ordered theF125 class frigates in 2007 and the first was to service in 2016. Each ship cost nearly a billion dollars. Some innovations did work. In 2012 Germany received the OTO/Melara 127mm/64 five inch gun for the F125 frigates. This 127mm Lightweight Naval Gun Mount was ordered five years earlier and is an automatic cannon that is operated by remote control. There is, in effect, no gun crew in the conventional sense. The gun system weighs 25 tons, including four magazines, so up to four different types of shells can be used including high explosive, anti-aircraft rounds, or GPS guided. The gun can fire up to 35 rounds a minute. The gun barrel can be elevated 70 degrees. Standard unguided shells have a max range of 30 kilometers, while the Vulcano (GPS guided) version can hit targets over 100 kilometers away within 20 meters of its aiming point. The U.S. Navy spent nearly a decade and over $600 million to develop a similar guided shell and failed. There are doubts that Vulcano will succeed in being affordable and reliable but so far tests have been successful and even the U.S. Navy considered buying it. Until 2022 only Italy, Germany and Qatar used Vulcano shells. In 2022 Germany began shipping 155mm Vulcano shells to Ukraine and within a year Ukraine became the largest user of Vulcano shells, using them successfully against Russian targets. The ball is in your court, Samsung. Last weeks poll shows that the Motorola Razr 50 and especially the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra are very popular among those looking for a new flip foldable. There are some concerns about the price of the Ultra and they are valid, but likely temporary the Razr 40 Ultra has been on sale for months on end and the Razr 50 Ultra should follow the same path. But even at a lower price, many commenters are not happy with Motorolas updates their quantity (Moto promises 3 OS updates and 4 years of patches), but also their frequency. Even the quality of the updates may not be up to par, as some reported experiencing buggy updates. The addition of Always On Display on the Moto Razr 50 Ultra was met with approval or maybe its more accurate to say that people knocked other Motorolas for lacking AOD. A longer focal length for the telephoto camera would have been appreciated, though the high-resolution 50MP sensor will help with zooming in. Some commented that they prefer a tele lens over an ultra wide one, so it seems like Motorola made the right choice. Among those interested in a flip foldable, few think there is viable competition for the Ultra right now. Some do prefer the vanilla Motorola Razr 50, though. Even this cheaper model was met with some concerns about the price, but that should fall over time. And we havent seen what the Galaxy Z Flip6 will cost. Yes, there have been rumors about the price, but nothing official yet. That said, the Z Flip5 was always more expensive than the Razr 40 (and rarely matched the Razr 40 Ultra). While flip foldables are not exactly rare in Asian markets, there is less competition elsewhere, especially in the high-end. Google and OnePlus only have a horizontal foldable, Apple hasnt entered the market at all. In a few weeks, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 will arrive and then we will see if and how the sentiment on the Razr 50 duo changes. But right now, Motorola is looking at two potential bestsellers. Jazmin Taitano on Friday was crowned 2024 Miss Guam Curve, in a pageant that celebrates diversity and body positivity. If Im crowned the title tonight, my platform will still be veterans mental health awareness, Taitano said during the question-and-answer part of the pageant. The pageant, hosted by Pitbull Empire Guam at the University of Guam Fine Arts Theater, seeks to empower local plus-size women through leadership and community service, and be a role model for others. Bonny Duenas won 1st Runner Up and the Miss Guam Plus title. Justice Brub bagged 2nd Runner Up and the Miss Guam Diversity title, while Jaevynn Cruz won 3rd Runner Up and the Miss Empire Plus title. The delegates strutted their way for a chance to represent Guam in both national and international competitions. One of the most exciting portions at pageant night was the candidates native wear competition, each one sashaying with their creative fashion pieces inspired by latte stone, octopus, flowers and the CHamoru legend of Puntan and Fuuna. Taitano later said she chose the octopus as an inspiration for her national costume because it is one of the smartest animals despite it being an underestimated one. Pitbull Empire Guam, meanwhile, has been around since 2013 and manages contestants who join pageants, coordinate local pageants on island, and recruit local women to represent Guam in national and international pageants. The team brought home the first national title of National Miss Curvy in 2020 when Madison Cruz represented Guam. The last time Guam brought home a title crown was in 1980. Since then, the team has sent other women to compete, and has been successful. Casey Mendiola took home continental crowns back-to-back with Miss Voluptuous Asia Pacific 2023 and Miss Voluptuous Oceania 2022. In 2023, Pitbull Empire also took home the National Miss Curvy crown again with Shaeleen Salas. Were now at a point in time where people are talking about Biden is too old. Hell, Im older than Biden! Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) said to a cheering crowd at Essence Fest in New Orleans on Saturday, July 6. Trump has told you who he is! He is a no good, deplorable, lying, despicable human being! The 85-year-old California Congresswoman spoke alongside Rep. Joyce Beatty, Rep. Steven Horsford and other congressional leaders in a rallying call for unity, before welcoming Vice President Kamala Harris to the stage. Harris interview at Essence Fest marked her first major address since Bidens widely criticized debate against Donald Trump on June 27. In the last week, numerous calls have been made for the president to step aside as the Democratic presidential nominee. Rep. Joyce Beatty reiterates her support for Pres. Biden during a panel at Essence Festival.Emily Topping " Theyre turning your back on this president, Beatty said, before pointing to Bidens 2021 infrastructure bill as evidence of his competency. It was President Biden who put his signature on 1. 2 trillion. Thats the power of black folks, when you stick together and when you vote, she continued. So, if we freeze up a little bit, dont turn your back on us. Because were coming back, just like President Biden is coming back. While Vice President Harris didnt directly acknowledge calls for Bidens dismissal, she instead focused her address on the potential disastrous consequences of a Trump 2024 presidency. You have the former president, who is running to become president again, who has openly talked about his admiration of dictators and his intention to be a dictator, Harris said. Following suit with her previous Essence Fest appearances, Harris also spoke at length on the importance of reproductive care, while slamming Trump for his appointment of three conservative Supreme Court Justices who voted with the majority to overturn Roe v. Wade. The appearance comes at a critical time for the Biden administration. A CBS poll released earlier this week shows while 50% of likely voters favor Trump, while 48% favor President Biden. Haiti - Politic : Dominicans will support the Mission in Haiti Roberto Alvarez, the Dominican Chancellor of Foreign Affairs, reiterated this week before the UN Security Council that the Dominican Republic will collaborate with the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti by offering medical assistance to treat if necessary wounded, members of the mission, emphasizing " we will not provide any other assistance or collaboration with regard to military questions, our support is strictly humanitarian in the area of our hospitals," recalling the firm positions of President Abinader of May 13, 2024 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-42333-haiti-news-zapping.html Furthermore, Roberto Alvarez added that another specific support that cannot be missing and that must increase for this Mission is financial "that is why we urgently call on all the countries that have pledged funds for this Mission in Haiti to respect their offers, to submit them now, and to maintain their contributions in a sustained manner. To countries that have not yet considered contributing, we strongly urge them to consider doing so with the urgency required by the situation in Haiti." Likewise, he recognized the clear vision of Prime Minister Garry Conille expressed during his presentation on the direction that Haiti should take and insisted that the Security Council accelerate the application of resolutions 2653 and 2699, relating to the embargo on weapons and sanctions for sponsors and criminal organizations in all their forms in Haiti. Alvarez praised the commitment and solidarity shown by the international community, notably the United States, Canada and Kenya; the Caribbean Community (CARICOM); the leadership of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres; and the work of the Security Council. SL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Economy : International Day of Cooperatives (Speech by the President of the CPT) Saturday July 6, 2024 brought back International Cooperatives Day, celebrated this year under the theme "Cooperatives build a better world for all". The Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH) recognizes the importance of these institutions, in particular the Savings and Credit Cooperatives (CEC), one of the pillars of the promotion of financial inclusion, due to their presence in the most remote areas, which also contribute to the economic and social development of Haiti. According to the International Cooperative Alliance, a cooperative is "An autonomous association of people voluntarily brought together to satisfy their common economic, social and cultural aspirations and needs through an enterprise whose ownership is collective and where power is exercised democratically." On this day of celebration, Edgard Leblanc Fils President of the Presidential Transitional Council (CPT) delivered a speech. Extracts from the speech of the President of the CPT : "[...] In Haiti, the 87-year-old movement has a large network of cooperatives, the majority of which are Caisses Populaires. It has assets of nearly 9.3 billion gourdes, savings of more than 6.5 billion gourdes and a credit portfolio of 5.5 billion gourdes [...] On this anniversary day, it is important to take stock of the historical and current contributions of cooperatives in building a more secure future through the acceleration of efforts to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 2030) [...] Thanks to democratic governance and collective ownership, cooperatives offer an example of building Peace and Stability by putting people from diverse backgrounds on an equal footing and promoting respect and mutual understanding [...] Some people thought that the cooperative crisis in Haiti at the beginning of 2002, caused by the excessive remuneration of certain Caisses Populaires, would spell the end of the Haitian cooperative movement. Fortunately [...] traditional cooperatives anchored in good practices and respectful of prudential standards continued to operate normally [...] Since then, cooperatives have strengthened and have been able to play their role in the fight against poverty and in the creation of wealth, allowing members to cope with the continued deterioration of the country's economic situation. [...] In my own name and in the name of the Presidential Transitional Council, I express the hope that the stimulation of the sector of cooperative activities through the integration of young people representing more than 60% of the population will contribute to reducing unemployment which affects nearly of 70% of the active population and in turn will positively influence the efforts of state authorities mobilized in the fight against the crime of armed gangs which are bringing the country's economy to its knees. Long live the Haitian cooperative movement !" HL/ HaitiLibre League of Women Voters presents Chris Cooper program on politics The Henderson County League of Women Voters will host Chris Cooper, political science and public affairs professor at Western Carolina University and a specialist on North Carolina poilitics, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, July 23, at Agudas Israel Synagogue, 505 Glasgow Lane. Please feel free to bring your lunch; beverages and sweets will be provided. The program will begin at noon. The event is free and open to the public. For more information go to www.lwvhcnc.org. On the last day of June 2024, external affairs minister S Jaishankar visited Doha, meeting top Qatari officials, including Prime (and Foreign) Minister Mohammed al Thani. This came at the heels of Jaishankars visit to UAE and Sri Lanka. The fact that two of Jaishankars first three visits since his reappointment as EAM have been to the Middle East, shows the regions enhanced position in Indias foreign policy matrix. However, the ministry of external affairs statement on the Qatar visit was brief, comprising only two points that both sides share historic and friendly relations, and that both sides will review various aspects of bilateral relations including political, trade, investment, energy, security, cultural and people-to-people as well as the regional and international issues of mutual interest. The only addition to this was an appreciation by the EAM of al Thanis insights on the Gaza crisis. By comparison, the ministrys readout of the EAMs UAE visit was more comprehensive. This is natural since the India-UAE bilateral has flourished in recent years with the trade volume between the two reaching USD 83.74 billion in 2023-2024; a 16 percent jump from the previous year. However, some underlying factors make the Qatar relationship more complex than the rest. The bilateral snapshot While India-Qatar trade stood at USD 13.46 billion in 2023, India has remained Qatars second-largest trading partner. However, the relationship has often been rocked by both internal and external challenges. The most recent case has been that of Qatar arresting eight former Indian Navy officers working for the Al Dahra consulting company on the charge of spying on Qatars submarine acquisition programme and then sentencing them to death. It took personal outreaches by PM Narendra Modi, in February 2024, supplemented by frantic backchanneling to secure their release. The chronology of events, however, followed a familiar script. By 2016, India owed Qatar $2 billion due to differences in volumes of gas shipments. High-level meetings between PM Modi and the Qatari Emir in 2015 and 2016 and diplomatic maneuvering, influenced Qatar to waive this debt, and slash its gas prices by half. With Qatar now focused on expanding its natural gas supply to India, QatarEnergy and Indias Petronet signed their biggest LNG deal in February. The 20-year agreement worth $78 billion, helps India save at least $6 billion, even as Qatari gas prices remain linked to global oil prices. Moreover, India now seems keen on reviving an at least twenty-year-old effort to purchase 12 second-hand Mirage 2000-5s from the Qatar Emiri Air Force, to expand the IAFs nuclear-capable Mirage fleet. While both sides are presently stuck on pricing issues, Qatar has come to the table on the back of an unsuccessful deal with Indonesia for the same jets (priced at $790 million), arguably providing India some negotiating room. Notwithstanding occasional rifts, India has arguably steered its Qatar relationship to its benefit helped in no small part by the fact that Indian expats form about 25% of Qatars population (mostly comprising migrant workers). It is geopolitics then, that presents a new picture. Dohas geopolitical clout As Israels bombardment of Gaza continues (more than 38,000 deaths according to Gazas health ministry), Qatar and Egypt continue to be the key mediators between Israel and Hamas. Qatar, in particular, has long played host to the Hamas leadership and thus occupies an inextricable role in the regions quest for a ceasefire and stability. It is here, however, that the geopolitical picture becomes more interesting. Qatar, along with states such as Oman and Turkey, are noticeable absentees in the India- Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). While Turkeys Erdogan has declared that there can be no corridor without Turkey, Qatar can more directly influence the outcome of the newest and most challenging obstacle to IMEC the burst of instability in the Middle East which was gradually drifting towards stability through economic integration. This is not to suggest, however, that Gaza is the start and end of Qatars stick. Doha is still fresh out of the turbulent diplomatic crisis that defined its relations with Saudi Arabia, UAE, and other Gulf Arab states that imposed a blockade on the country from 2017 to 2021. In these three years, there has been little to suggest that Dohas underlying differences with Riyadh have been fully reconciled. While Qatar remains (quietly) opposed to normalisation with Israel, the end of the Qatar blockade failed to incentivise Doha to rejoin OPEC. Qatar left the organisation in 2019 to focus on natural gas, even as its resentment against Saudi dominance of the organisation became increasingly public. In 2021, Qatars energy minister even declared that there is absolutely nothing that would bring us back (to OPEC). Moreover, as Qatar is the fourth largest producer of natural gas, the IMECs pipeline risks undercutting its position if a potential Israeli gas pipeline part of IMEC begins supplying to India. Natural gas currently forms the springboard for the India-Qatar bilaterals future with Qatar supplying at least half of Indias natural gas imports in 2023. What only adds to Dohas growing geopolitical clout, is its emergence as the ground zero of global engagement with the Afghan Taliban (both pre and post-August, 2021). India, which had long played second fiddle to China, Russia, and Pakistan in terms of engaging the Taliban, held its first formal talks with the group in 2021 through its Ambassador in Qatar. Now, with India having a seat at the table, MEA Joint Secretary JP Singh has emerged as the point diplomat entrusted with New Delhis cautious outreach to Taliban-ruled Kabul and representation at meetings in Doha the most recent being on the 1st of this month. Essentially, even as the Gulfs geopolitical lines were being redrawn prior to October 7, Qatar retained its own diplomatic space as a sui generis actor. As Israels brutal campaign in Gaza rages (with Hamas continuing to hold Israeli hostages), Qatar holds both strategic and tactical cards that are crucial in determining the future of the Middle East, including Indias connectivity projects. New Delhis expansion of ties with the UAE and advancement on the India-UAE leg of the corridor is promising, but the question of what role states such as Qatar, Oman, and Turkey might play, remains open. In earlier intra-Gulf crises such as between 2017 and 2021, Indias deft diplomatic manoeuvring allowed it to isolate its relationship with the Gulfs maverick, from other powerhouses such as Saudi Arabia and UAE. Now, India has a more prominent geopolitical objective at stake in the form of the IMEC which goes beyond India-Qatar bilateral ties. Thus far, it has been the Gulf Arab states that have had a Qatar problem. While India does not, it might in the future should Qatar not feel sufficiently accommodated. Bashir Ali Abbas is a research associate at the Council for Strategic and Defense Research, New Delhi, and a South Asia Visiting Fellow at the Stimson Center, Washington DC. The views expressed are personal. Its important to incentivise research and development, provide tax concessions, and create effective intellectual property rights to develop India's pharmaceuticals industry and hotels should be recognised as infrastrucure and not a luxury, PTI wrote, quoting industry bodies. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (PTI) What does India's pharma industry expect from the 2024 Union Budget? Anil Matai, Director General of the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) sought incentives for training pharmaceutical employees, along with effective intelectual property rights for the pharma sector, both domestic and global to introduce innovative therapies in India for addressing unmet needs. He also recommended creating more centres of excellence (CoEs) for R&D on rare diseases. Also Read: Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma talks about Paytm issues, expectations from union budget 2024 Apart from this, "expanding the list of life-saving drugs eligible for GST/import duty exemptions, including all oncology medications, will further improve patient affordability," Matai said, adding that the government should give incentives for investing in bonds of pharma companies. OPPI represents pharmaceutical companies like AstraZeneca, Novartis and Merck, in India, that are involved in research. Sudarshan Jain, Secretary General of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) said that continuous investment in the pharma sector is crucial due to high risk, lengthy development periods, and low success rates in research. The members of the IPA include Cipla, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Sun Pharma and Lupin. What does the hospitality sector expect from the 2024 Union Budget? The hospitality sector wants the government to give infrastructure status to hotels, rather than classify them a luxury, to make investments on new properties more attractive. Also Read: Indian pharma companies hope to get incentives for innovation: Union Budget 2024 The sector is burdened with high taxation, expensive and multifarious licences, approvals and compliances, Hotel Association of India (HAI) President KB Kachru told PTI. Hotels are capital intensive with a long gestation period. Cost of operating hotels is high and largely fixed. Lower utility tariffs, reduced property taxes, easier access to finance and softer loans are crucial for reducing the cost of doing business, ensuring the long-term viability of the sector, Chalet Hotels Ltd Managing Director and CEO Sanjay Sethi told PTI. Royal Orchid Hotels Chief Finance Officer Amit Jaiswal said that that the hospitality sector has high expectations from the upcoming Budget, as it has been heavily impacted by recent economic fluctuations. Jaiswal also said the sector anticipates favourable tax reforms, highlighting that "India imposes one of the highest GST rates on tourism compared to countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and even European nations". Also Read: Union Budget 2024: Date, time and all you need to know US short-seller Hindenburg Research had shared an advance copy of its damning report against Adani group with New York-based hedge fund manager Mark Kingdon about two months before publishing it and profited from a deal to share spoils from share price movement, according to market regulator Sebi. Founder and former MD & CEO, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Uday Kotak. Hindenburg alleged that Sebi conspicuously failed to name Kotak Bank in the show cause notice. (PTI) The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), in its 46-page show cause notice to Hindenburg, detailed how the US short seller, the New York hedge fund and a broker tied to Kotak Mahindra Bank benefited from the over USD 150 billion routs in the market value of Adani group's 10 listed firms post-publication of the report. Sebi charged Hindenburg of making "unfair" profits from "collusion" to use "non-public" and "misleading" information and induce "panic selling" in Adani Group stocks. Also Read: In Kutch, Gujarat to reclaim grazing land allotted to Adani Ports after HC plea Hindenburg, which made public the Sebi notice, in its response, has described the show cause as an attempt to "silence and intimidate those who expose corruption and fraud perpetrated by the most powerful individuals in India" and revealed that the vehicle used to bet against Adani's flagship firm Adani Enterprises Ltd belonged to Kotak Mahindra (International) Ltd, a Mauritius-based subsidiary of Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. KMIL's fund placed bets on Adani Enterprises Ltd for its client Kingdon's Kingdon Capital Management. Sebi notice includes extracts of time-stamped chats between an employee of the hedge fund and KMIL traders for selling future contracts in AEL. Kotak Mahindra Bank has stated that Kingdon "never disclosed that they had any relationship with Hindenburg nor that they were acting on the basis of any price-sensitive information". Sebi -- which last year told a Supreme Court-appointed panel that it was investigating 13 opaque offshore entities that held between 14 per cent and 20 per cent across five publicly traded stocks of the Adani group -- has sent notices not just to Hindenburg but also to KMIL, Kingdon and Hindenburg founder Nathan Anderson. Is there a Chinese link to the Adani-Hindenburg saga? Senior lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani, who had in the past spoken for the Adani group, in a post on X claimed that Kingdon had a Chinese link. Kingdon is married to "Chinese spy" Anla Cheng, he claimed. "Accomplished Chinese spy Anla Cheng, who along with her husband Mark Kingdon, hired Hindenburg for a research report on Adani, engaged the services of Kotak to facilitate a trading account to short sell Adani shares; made millions of dollars from their short selling; eroded Adani market cap enormously," he alleged. Also Read: Indian loan-taking to grow faster than GDP growth this year: SBI Capital Markets Kingdon, which had a controlling stake in KMIL's K-India Opportunities Fund Ltd, had a pact to share with Hindenburg 30 per cent of profit made from trading in securities based on the report, the Sebi letter said, adding this profit share was cut to 25 per cent due to the extra time and effort needed to reroute trades via the K India fund. The market regulator said Kingdon transferred USD 43 million in two tranches to build short positions in AEL. The K India fund built short positions for 8,50,000 shares ahead of the report release and squared off these positions soon after the report was released. What is the Adani-Hindenburg saga all about? According to Sebi, Hindenburg published a report titled 'Adani Group: How the World's 3rd Richest Man is Pulling The Largest Con in Corporate History' on January 24, 2023 (United States time - January 25, 2023, according to IST) during pre-market hours. "Prior to the release of the Hindenburg Report, concentration in short-selling activity was observed in the derivatives of Adani Enterprises Ltd," it said. "Pursuant to the release of the said report, the price of AEL fell by around 59 per cent during the period from January 24, 2023 to February 22, 2023" -- from 3,422 to 14,04.85 per share. Also Read: RBI penalizes 5 banks, including PNB, for regulatory non-compliance: See details Sebi said K India Opportunities Fund Ltd - Class F (KIOF Class F) opened a trading account and started trading in the scrip of AEL just a few days prior to the publication of the report and then squared off its entire short position post-publication of the Hindenburg Report, making significant profits of 183.23 crore (USD 22.25 million). "The net profit after trading and legal expenses comes to USD 22.11 million," Sebi said. As part of the deal, Kingdon owned Hindenburg USD 5.5 million, of which USD 4.1 million had been paid as of June 1, the notice said. In its response to Sebi, Kingdon Capital said it had got legal option that it could "enter into a research services agreement with a third-party firm that publicly releases short reports on companies, pursuant to which Kingdon Capital would be given a draft copy of the report before it is made publicly available and would have the opportunity to accordingly made investments before the report's public dissemination". A show-cause notice is often a precursor to formal legal action that may include imposing financial penalties and barring participation in the Indian capital market. Sebi can also seek government help to geoblock the research firm's website. Sebi has given Hindenburg 21 days to respond to its allegations. Hindenburg, which published the Sebi notice on its website, in its response stated that it made just USD 4.1 million from its declared positions on Adani stocks and criticised the regulator for not focusing its investigation into the January 2023 report "providing evidence" of the conglomerate creating "a vast network of offshore shell entities" and moving billions of dollars "surreptitiously" into and out of Adani public and private entities. It said that while Sebi was seeking to claim jurisdiction over a US-based investor, the regulator's notice "conspicuously failed to name the party that has an actual tie to India: Kotak Bank," which created and oversaw the offshore fund structure used by Hindenburg's investor partner to bet against Adani. The regulator "masked the "Kotak" name with the acronym "KMIL", it added. KMIL refers to Kotak Mahindra Investments Ltd, the asset management company. Bengaluru could see its second dengue-related death, as an 11-year-old boy named Gagan is suspected to have passed away from the viral disease at a private hospital in the city on July 5, The Hindu reported. Earlier, on June 28, a 27-year-old man named Abhilash from Kaggadasapura also died due to dengue, contributing to the total of six dengue fatalities reported in the state so far. Bengaluru Rural MP Dr CN Manjunath urged the Karnataka government to declare dengue as a state medical emergency. (HT Photo) Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Chief Tushar Giri Nath spoke to reporters and said, In these cases, we get a report which says that cause of death is suspected to be dengue. After that, we run lab tests and then send the report to the Health Department. They check at their end before declaring the cause of death as dengue. So we cannot declare it as a dengue death until the audit report comes. READ | 24-year-old electrocuted in Bengaluru while plugging his phone for charging: Report Dr CN Manjunath urges Karnataka to declare dengue as a medical emergency In this light, Dr C N Manjunath, a prominent cardiologist and Bengaluru Rural MP, has urged the Karnataka government to declare dengue as a state medical emergency. He stressed the critical need to control mosquito breeding to prevent the spread of diseases such as chikungunya and zika, according to The Indian Express. Dr Manjunath also called for the establishment of a task force comprising health officials, urban development authorities, zilla panchayat members, and water supply and sewerage board representatives to effectively manage the current outbreak. The cases are soaring close to 7,000 in the state with about six to seven deaths. Hassan, Chikmagalur, Bengaluru, and Mysore, among other districts, are seeing a steep rise in dengue cases. The government has to declare a state medical emergency to control the infection, he said, as quoted by the publication. The monsoon rain coupled with unfinished road work, and construction of flyovers and underpasses is increasing the breeding ground for mosquitoes. Ideally, civic bodies should have finished monsoon-related works during summer, but they are still pending, he added. Additionally, many children are falling victim to dengue these days. School management should hold a meeting to identify ways to protect children from being infected. There is no treatment for dengue if the infections get complicated. In most of the cases it leads to death, he further stated. Bengaluru, A meeting will be convened soon to decide the location for the proposed second airport for the city, Karnataka Minister for Infrastructure M B Patil said on Sunday. HT Image Before making a final decision, the government would consider two main aspects: passenger load and connectivity to the existing Kempegowda International Airport , he said. "If we prioritise passenger load, areas such as Sarjapura and Kanakapura Road are strong contenders. On the other hand, if connectivity to the existing airport becomes a priority, places like Tumkur and Dabaspete will be in the lead," Patil said. "These considerations will be discussed in the next departmental meeting and further reviewed with the chief minister. The matter will also be taken up in the cabinet meeting," he told reporters. The exclusivity clause with the KIA's operator Bengaluru International Airport Limited which restricts the establishment of another airport within a 150-kilometer radius, ends in 2032, allowing the potential development of a new airport by 2033. Considering the time required for land acquisition and compensation for landowners, the government has initiated the planning process, the minister said. Highlighting that major cities like New York and London have multiple airports in close proximity, he said, "In Mumbai, the distance between the two airports is 36 kilometers." Regarding the Tamil Nadu government's decision to build an airport in Hosur, Patil mentioned that it needs to be examined whether the exclusivity clause with BIAL applies to this situation. Noting that KIA is the third busiest airport in the country, following Delhi and Mumbai, the minister's office had recently said, last year the airport handled 37.5 million passengers and over 4,00,000 tonne of cargo. The current airport is projected to reach its peak passenger handling capacity by 2033 and its maximum cargo handling capacity by 2040, it has said. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. Rain lashed several parts of Kalaburagi district in Karnataka on Saturday. Anganwadis, schools, and pre-university colleges in Dakshina Kannada district were closed on July 6 due to heavy rainfall. (PTI) Visuals showed people wearing raincoats for protection from the rain. Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for rains for the districts of Uttar Kannada and Udupi while it is a yellow alert for Shimoga and Chikmagalur. READ | 24-year-old electrocuted in Bengaluru while plugging his phone for charging: Report It stated "Isolated very heavy rainfall very likely over Konkan & Goa on July 6; Coastal Karnataka during July 6 - July 9; Madhya Maharashtra, South Interior Karnataka on July 6 -July 7 and Gujarat region on July 6." Earlier in the day, it was reported that Anganwadis, schools, and pre-university colleges in Dakshina Kannada district are closed on July 6 due to heavy rainfall as IMD has issued a red alert. READ | Woman makes hoax bomb threat call to Bengaluru airport to stop boyfriend from flying, detained: Report Kannada District Deputy Commissioner Mullai Muhilan issued an order that mentions 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," Kannada District Deputy Commissioner Mullai Muhilan said in an order. The district administration has also instructed fishermen not to venture into the sea for fishing activities on July 6."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 order stated. READ | Mumbai watch out! Buyers are now lapping up over 10-crore luxury apartments in Bengaluru As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), "Isolated very heavy rainfall is very likely over Coastal Karnataka on July 5 and July 6; South Interior Karnataka on July 6." "Isolated heavy rainfall is very likely over Coastal & South Interior Karnataka during July 7-9; North Interior Karnataka on July 9," as per the IMD. Hoping to return to his homeland, Tibetan spiritual leader in exile, the 14th Dalai Lama, turned 89 years old on Saturday. Exiled Tibetans wait to perform a traditional dance at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday the Dalai Lama at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala. (AP) While the Dalai Lama is in the US for knee treatment and is recovering now, hundreds of Tibetans, including monks, nuns, school students and foreign followers gathered at the event to mark the 89th birthday of the ageing spiritual head. In his birthday message, the Dalai Lama said, I am nearly 90 now but I do not feel unhealthy, except for the slight discomfort in my legs. I am basically healthy. I would like to thank all my fellow Tibetans in and outside Tibet for your prayers on my birthday. I was born in the land of Dhomay (Amdo) and I bear the title of Dalai Lama. I did my best while I was in Tibet and after coming into exile, I have served to the best of my ability. Accordingly, it seems I have been beneficial to a good measure. There is a growing interest in the Tibetan cause in the world and I feel I have made a small contribution towards it. I wish to ask everyone, especially the fellow Tibetans inside Tibet to feel at ease and be relaxed, he added. Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang attended the function as the chief guest, while Arunachal Pradesh MP Tapir Gao also attended the function at Tsuglakhang Temple at McLeodganj near Dharamshala. We are happy to celebrate the birthday of his holiness at the holy place of Mcleodganj in Dharamshala. Although His Holiness had to face many ups and downs during his childhood, nevertheless his holiness has continued to advocate peace and harmony in the world. No longer is his grace bounded by political borders, his spiritual teachings flourished beyond all boundaries. It is commendable that the whole world is now benefiting from the teachings of His Holiness, Tamang said. Addressing the gathering, the Sikyong (president) of the Tibetan government-in-exile, Penpa Tsering, said after the Resolve Tibet Act was passed in both houses of the US Congress last month, a seven-member high-level bipartisan US Congressional delegation purposely visited Dharamshala and presented a framed copy of the legislation to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The legislation aimed at resolving the Sino-Tibet dispute recognises the Sino-Tibet dispute as unresolved and that the legal status of Tibet is as yet to be settled under international law, as the official policy of the US government. It acknowledges the Tibetan peoples right to self-determination, points out the distorted narrative of Tibetan history by the Chinese government, and urges negotiations, he said. Tsering said the Kashag will strive to work towards similar policy adoption in other free democratic nations as well and urged every Tibetan and Tibet supporter everywhere in the world to join in the common effort. US Congress passed a bill urging China to re-engage with the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan leaders to resolve the dispute over the status of Tibet. The talks have been frozen since 2010. Meanwhile, the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, in its statement, said the situation in Tibet continues to be such that Tibetan people are being subjected to false criminal charges, violent repression, beatings, arrests and detentions, and imprisonment without any fair judicial procedure. China continues to implement in Tibet genocidal policies that trample on the Tibetan peoples human rights and that are designed to decimate them as an ethnic group. These have been continuously criticised and reported on internationally, the parliament said. The high-level US delegation after meeting the Dalai Lama in McLeodganj last month, delivered speeches during that event, affirming unwavering and selfless strong continued support on the issue of Tibet. The event sent a clear message to the government of China that the Tibetan people are not alone in their struggle against its rule. It also gave a new fillip and a renewed hope to the Tibetan peoples struggle. Besides, it gave a new boost to the Tibetan peoples struggle and became a source of renewed encouragement to them, the parliament said. Born as Tenzin Gyatso on July 6, 1935, in a humble farming family at Taktser village in the Amdo province of China-occupied Tibet, the 14th Dalai Lamas life has been one of extraordinary resilience. Following the unsuccessful uprising against the Chinese occupation in 1959, the Dalai Lama sought refuge in India, where he set up the government-in-exile in Dharamsala, and became the global face of the struggle. Though the Dalai Lama had anticipated a temporary exile, Beijings control over Tibet has only strengthened, making his return to his homeland increasingly impossible. A food delivery worker was killed in a hit-and-run when a speeding car hit his bike on Tibba Road. The Tibba police registered a first-information report (FIR) against the unidentified driver of the car. (iStock) The incident occurred near Ludhiana East MLA Daljit Singh Grewals office. The victim, identified as 38-year-old Rajesh Kumar, was out to deliver an order when the accident took place. The Tibba police registered a first-information report (FIR) against the unidentified driver of the car. Onlookers jot down cars plates The onlookers noted the registration number of the car and gave it to the police. The victim was a resident of Ranchi Colony at Tharike Road. The case was registered after a statement by Lakhi Mahato, the victims wife. She said her husband used to work as a delivery worker with a food delivery aggregator. On July 4, she had a telephone conversation with her husband, who informed her that he was about to pick up an order from an eatery and would reach home after delivering it to the Bhai Bala Chowk side. Mahato added that when her husband did not reach home, she tried calling him, but to no avail. After some time, a co-worker of her husband informed her that Rajesh had met with a road mishap on Tibba Road. She rushed to the spot and found from the people in the area that a speeding car had hit her husband. The victim was rushed to the local civil hospital, where he succumbed on July 5. Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Gurdial Singh, who is investigating the case, said that an FIR under sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 324 (4) (committing mischief and thereby causing loss or damage) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has been registered against the unidentified driver of the car. The police have contacted the regional transport office for the details of the owner of the car. The Bharatiya Janata Party national president and Union minister JP Nadda on Saturday asked the party rank and file to go full throttle for the upcoming assembly polls and ensure the saffron partys victory in the UT. BJP national president JP Nadda being welcomed by party workers upon his arrival in Jammu. (PTI) Addressing the partys executive working committee meeting in Jammu, Nadda said, The BJP has a clean policy, a clear conscience and has devised programmes. I urge all of you to gear up for the assembly elections and ensure the partys win. Last year, the Supreme Court ordered the Election Commission to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir before September 30 this year. Referring to eight medical colleges set up in Jammu and Kashmir under BJP rule, he said, If Jammu has to progress and develop further, Lotus has to bloom here. He also accused the Opposition, including principal opponent, the Congress, of indulging in vote bank politics. Earlier in his address at a rally he said, I have the privilege of coming here on the birth anniversary of our founding president Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee. I pay my respects to him. Mukherjee had a special relation with Jammu and Kashmir. Mukherjee never stopped in his life, he did not work for any position, prestige and rather dedicated his life to strengthen the idea of Bharat Mata Ki Jai, he added. Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Ravinder Raina also urged workers and leaders to work together to ensure that the BJP wins with a clear majority to have its first chief minister. We have to take a pledge that we will work with the aim of getting a majority in the next assembly elections. Our resolve is to form the next government on our own and have a BJP Chief Minister and we will have to work together to achieve this goal, he asserted. Raina also accused the Congress and the National Conference of exploiting various sections of the people for their vote bank politics, expressing gratitude to the 15 lakh party workers, who worked hard and ensured the victory of BJP candidates from the two Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir. We have to rededicate ourselves and do better than the Congress and the National Conference, he said, adding that the Modi-led government provided justice to various deprived sections of the society, including West Pakistani and PoJK refugees, Gujjars, Bakarwals and Paharis. Other prominent BJP leaders, including union ministers G Kishan Reddy and Jitendra Singh, national general secretary, Jammu and Kashmir in-charge Tarun Chugh and former deputy chief ministers Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta also attended the meeting. Reddy, who is the BJPs election in-charge for Jammu and Kashmir, said the meeting is part of the partys nationwide programmes for the next four months. The party has planned similar meetings in other states as well. We are having a relook at the Lok Sabha results, receiving feedback from workers and preparing a roadmap for the next three to four months, he said. Following the abrogation of Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir now has a positive atmosphere and you will see that the partys support base is getting stronger, he said. The last elected government of the BJP and the Peoples Democratic Party had fallen apart on June 19, 2018 after the former pulled out of the alliance over a worsening security scenario. The last assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir was held in 2014 that saw a coalition government of BJP and PDP headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. After Sayeeds death in 2016, the coalition was headed by his daughter, Mehbooba Mufti before BJP pulled the plug on June 19, 2018. Next year on August 5, the BJP government at the Centre had revoked Article 370 and 35-A, which guaranteed separate constitution and special status to Jammu and Kashmir. That day J&K was bifurcated into two union territories Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Former Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president and Sirsa Lok Sabha MP Kumari Selja Sunday announced to embark on a padyatra from the last week of this month to connect with urban voters ahead of the assembly elections slated for October. MP Kumari Selja said a workers meeting will be called soon and through this yatra, the message of the Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi will be taken to every urban voter. (HT Photo) Selja, a former Union minister and All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary, said that analysis of the Lok Sabha election results shows that the ruling BJP in Haryana gained an edge over the Congress in at least 44 assembly segments, most of which are urban. With the Haryana assembly elections approaching, Congress needs to focus on urban assembly areas under a new strategy, she said in a statement, underlining that the main objective of the padayatra is to strengthen the Congress in urban areas and gain a decisive advantage over the BJP. Planning of the padyatra is underway. The route of the yatra and its start date will be announced soon. According to Selja, a workers meeting will be called soon and through this yatra, the message of the Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi will be taken to every urban voter. She said people will be informed in detail about the misrule of BJP in the past 10 years. Selja said the Congress is not as weak in urban areas as BJP tries to show. She said Congress still has a strong workforce in urban areas. Once the morale of urban workers is boosted, nothing can stop the Congress from coming to power in Haryana, she said, adding that every third family is trapped in the vortex of property ID and every second family is entangled in the Parivar Pehchan Patra mess while shopkeepers and traders are terrified of extortion incidents. Through the padayatra, people will be made aware of the anti-people decisions taken during BJPs 10-year rule, she said. Divided House The Congress, which is the principal Opposition party in Haryana, is a divided house. A section of the frontline leaders of the Congress in the state are hostile towards each other. Even after winning five Lok Sabha seats of the total 10 in Haryana, the party leaders are pulling in different directions. At the core of this renewed tussle is as to who will be the chief minister if Congress comes back to power in the state. It was the result of this factional feud that senior Congress leader Kiran Choudhry (a sitting MLA) along with her daughter Shruti Chaudhry, a former Bhiwani-Mahendergarh MP, joined the BJP after the Lok Sabha results were announced. In her resignation letter, Choudhry had indirectly hit out at former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, saying that the Congress party in Haryana is being run as the personal fiefdom leaving no space for sincere voices like mine, who have been stifled. After the results were out, Selja had also trained guns at Congress state in-charge Deepak Babria over the issue of allotment of tickets in parliamentary polls. She had said that the Congress Haryana in-charge did not give proper feedback to the party high command regarding Lok Sabha tickets allotment. In January also, Selja had launched the Congress Sandesh Yatra from Hisar, ignoring partys state in-charge Deepak Babarias directive not to run any other campaign in the state without prior approval. On the other hand, Haryana state party chief Udai Bhan and leader of opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda had started the Ghar-Ghar Congress, Har Ghar Congress campaign. Then accompanying Selja during the Congress Sandesh Yatra were Randeep Surjewala and Kiran Choudhry. Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan had termed the yatra as a programme of the three leaders- Selja, Randeep and Kiran- who are later referred to as the SRK group. The National Conference has sought suggestions from the public to frame its election manifesto for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls that could be held in September. NC vice-president and former Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah (File) Recently, the NC formed a high-level committee headed by senior leader and former finance minister Abdul Rahim Rather to frame a manifesto for the assembly polls. Besides, newly elected MPs Aga Ruhullah and Mian Altaf and other senior members of the party were also members of the panel. NC leaders said suggestions from the people of Jammu and Kashmir will be included in the manifesto, which could be ready by the end of this month or early next month. The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Manifesto Committee is seeking suggestions from the general public to help shape our future. Share your ideas by emailing manifesto@jknc.co.in within the next week. Every suggestion will be thoroughly reviewed. Lets build a better tomorrow together, the party wrote on its X post, which had been shared by senior party leaders. In the past three decades, this marks the first time that the party has sought suggestions from common people prior to framing its manifesto. There may have been occasions in the past when inputs were sought. However, with this being the first election since 2019, the stakes and aspirations are high. The involvement of the general public is crucial, which is why theres a strong emphasis on making this manifesto inclusive, party chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq said. NC, buoyed by its recent performances in the Lok Sabha polls, has taken the lead in preparing for the assembly elections. The party had won two of the three Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir and polled the highest number of total votes. The last assembly elections which were held in 2014, the NC stood third after PDP and the BJP. After delimitation there are now 90 assembly seats in Kashmir Valley and NC leaders are hopeful the party will emerge as the largest party in the UT. The lone African elephant at the Delhi Zoo has come into musth a state of aggression where increased reproductive hormones are released by the animal prompting the zoo administration to reach out to the forest and wildlife department of the Delhi government, seeking assistance to tranquilize it. The zoo administration said that it was also strengthening the boundary walls of the animal enclosure as last September, the elephant, Shankar, broke a part of the boundary wall of its enclosure in a state of musth, injuring itself as well as a zookeeper, officials aware of the matter said on Sunday. The decision to chain the elephant has drawn criticism from international organisations. (HT Photo) The animal has also been kept chained for large periods since the incident took place in September last year, not allowing it to roam freely. The chains were biting into the animals legs, only adding to the animals aggression, said a zoo official on condition of anonymity. In a letter sent to the Delhi forest department, dated July 6, the zoo has sought assistance from the forest department to bring the animal under control. The National Zoological Park (NZP) has an African elephant about 29 years old and it is in musth. For better upkeep of the elephant, it needs to be tranquilized, said the letter, sent by the Delhi zoo director Sanjeet Kumar, a copy of which HT has seen. The zoo further called for the assistance of Dr Sumit Nagar, a veterinarian under the forest department, along with anesthetics such as xylazine hydrochloride (100 mg/ml) along with ketamine (100 mg/ml). The director, when contacted, said that the zoo was looking to take all precautionary measures to protect its staff, the animal and visitors. Shankar is currently in musth. Whenever it has come into musth, we had to chain it to prevent the animal from getting injured, or hurting others. We are looking to treat the animal and experts have been called. We are also strengthening the boundary walls, Kumar told HT. Shankar arrived at the Delhi Zoo in 1998. It was presented as a diplomatic gift by Zimbabwe to Delhi and was named after the ninth President of India Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma. Shankar came with a companion Bombai, who died in 2005. The animal has been a lone species at the zoo since then. Besides Shankar, the zoo also has two Indian elephants. In 2022, a teenager approached the Delhi high court and filed a petition, seeking the animal to be released and rehabilitated elsewhere, citing poor living conditions at the Delhi zoo. The elephants living conditions under scanner Chaining Shankar for long periods and its condition came under the scanner of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) a global alliance of regional associations, national federations, zoos and aquariums worldwide. In a letter sent to the Delhi Zoo, dated June 20, WAZA has sought details of how long the animal is kept chained in a 24-hour period and whether it has been kept chained since September 2023. Other questions include the protocol being followed and whether other solutions were first looked at, before taking this step. Can you please provide medical records evaluating if the chains have impacted Shankars foot health or other health parameters and any efforts made to address concerns if they were detected? Do you also conduct routine welfare assessments on Shankar? Were any differences noted between September 2023 and March 2024?, read another question, sent as part of the letter, addressed to both the Delhi zoo and the Central Zoo Authority (CZA). HT has seen a copy of WAZAs letter. Kumar did not comment on the letter and whether the Delhi Zoo responded to WAZA. A second zoo official, on condition of anonymity, said that the animal was seldom released into its enclosure and was largely kept chained. The animal is developing a wound in one of its legs due to the chains. The fact that it is kept tied up, is also increasing its aggression, the official added. Kumar, however, denied these allegations. The animal is released into its enclosure and it is kept chained only for a few days, when the animal becomes aggressive, he said. A Delhi court on Saturday issued bailable warrants against movie director and producer Rajkumar Santoshi in a cheque dishonour case filed by businessman Jhoolan Prasad under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. Filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi is known for hits such as Andaz Apna Apna, Damini, and Ghayal. (HT Archive) Judicial magistrate first class Aakash Sharma issued the warrants, noting that Santoshi had deliberately failed to appear before the court. The order specified: Issue fresh B/Ws against the accused no. 2 in the sum of 10,000/- to be executed through SHO concerned on the filing of PF within thirty days from today, returnable on 11.09.2024. The court has scheduled the next hearing for September 11. The case arose from a financial transaction between Prasad, represented by advocate Sangeet Rai of Rayasa Law Partners, and Santoshi for the production of the film Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh. To repay the funds provided by Prasad, Santoshi issued a cheque for 1 crore. However, the cheque was dishonoured due to insufficient funds upon deposit. Despite legal notices sent by Prasad demanding repayment and clear accounts, Santoshi allegedly did not respond. Santoshis counsel, advocate Dilip Kumar, sought an exemption on his behalf, arguing that Santoshi only received the summons on July 2. However, the court on Saturday observed that summons were served on April 15 as well as on July 2, thereby rejecting the exemption request and proceeding with the issuance of warrants. Rajkumar Santoshi is known for directing hits such as Andaz Apna Apna, Damini, and Ghayal. Despite his success, he has faced legal troubles before. In February, a Gujarat court convicted him in a similar cheque bounce case, sentencing him to two years imprisonment and imposing a fine of 2 crore. The court, however, stayed the execution of the sentence to allow him time to appeal. Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act deals with the dishonour of cheques for insufficiency of funds. The penal provisions under this section include imprisonment for up to two years or a fine which may extend to twice the amount of the cheque, or both. The aggrieved party must provide a written notice to the drawer of the cheque within 30 days of receiving information about the dishonour. If the drawer fails to make the payment within 15 days of receiving the notice, the payee can file a complaint in court. New Delhi Saurabh Bharadwaj has claimed the LG wants to malign the image of the Delhi government. (HT Archive) A day after lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena approved an investigation into an alleged incident of bribery against former minister Satyendar Jain, in connection with a CCTV camera project, Delhi urban development minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the probe was political in nature and an attempt by the LG to create a perception that the Delhi government was corrupt. Bharadwaj said the probe, ordered under the Prevention of Corruption of Corruption Act, 1988, is among a series of such new investigations launched by the LG every week and officers who fall under the jurisdiction of the LG are found at fault in every case. We have never heard till date that a company of the Indian government will bribe the Delhi Government (in CCTV case). The LG has complete freedom to order investigation on anyone on any given day; so, every week, he orders a new investigation so that a false perception develops that there is corruption taking place, Bharadwaj said. He said that no such allegation of corruption has been proved in any of the cases so far. In all these cases, the fault is ultimately found to be at the end of officers, all of whom come under the LG. He decides who will become the secretary of which department and which works will be done. He alone can take the disciplinary proceedings against them. LG has all the autonomy, but there in no accountability. Who will ask him what has happened in all these cases? It is all political, he said. The LGs office did not respond to requests for comment. BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said, Why is Saurabh Bharadwaj afraid of investigation? Whenever there is talk of investigation, the Aam Aadmi Party opposes it. Why should the truth be affected? They (AAP) know that they will be found guilty in the investigation. On Saturday, LG Saxena approved the proposal of directorate of vigilance (DoV) to refer the matter under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption (PoC) Act, 1998, to the Union ministry of home affairs, for approving investigation against the former Delhi minister Jain by the anti-corruption branch (ACB) of the Delhi government. Jain has been accused of receiving a bribe of 7 crore for waiving off penalty of 16 crore imposed on Bharat Electronic Limited (BEL) for delay in installing 140,000 CCTV cameras in Delhi, at a cost of 571 crore. LG secretariat officials said the allegations against Jain emerged on a complaint by an employee of BEL in September 2019, wherein the complainant alleged that the BEL paid Jain 7 crore through its vendors. An official said that besides the complaint, the ACB also obtained information from undisclosed sources that corroborated the case of the complainant. Last month, United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres said that the coming year and a half is critical in the fight to limit the rise in global temperature to just 1.5 degrees Celsius (C), and to avoid the worst of a climate chaos. Heavy rainfall waterlogged parts of the national capital last month. (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo) It is climate crunch time, he said, addressing the World Summit on Climate in Vienna. It is widely recognised that addressing the climate crisis requires action at the local level not only are cities the biggest sources of C02 emissions, but they also suffer the most from extreme weather events due to their high population density, income disparities, resource and infrastructure gaps, and civic mismanagement. Indian cities are prime examples of this. Although delayed, actions to minimise the impact of an expected climate upheaval have been initiated across our country. Facing bouts of deadly heat waves and urban floods triggered by unusually heavy rain, a number of cities are working to tailor their governance models to embrace climate resilience in day-to-day operations. We just had temperatures creep closer to the 50-degree mark in Delhi, so the window for action is closing rapidly. It is time for a paradigm shift in our governance frameworks, looking at climate as a part of our regular operations, said Shruti Narayan, managing director (regions and mayoral engagement) at C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, a global network of around 100 cities that has, among other initiatives, committed to formulating climate action plans aligned with the 2015 Paris Agreement. While five Indian cities are members of the C40 cohort, Mumbai is among a dozen cities selected worldwide as a pilot for climate budgeting. Mumbai was also the first Indian city to get a Paris Agreement-aligned climate action plan (CAP) in March 2022. Released on June 5, the citys climate budget report identified projects totalling 32% of the current 31,775 crore annual budget to achieve the CAP targets, and an additional 6.81% of projects worth 2,163.8 crore for integrating some of its components. By implementing the climate budgetthe first for an Indian city and the fourth globally after Oslo, London, and New York on the C40 cities networkMumbai has embedded climate action in governance. Last June, Chennai became the second C-40 city in India to launch a CAP aligned with the Paris Agreement. The city is revising its master plan for 2026-2046 to embed climate action in a legally binding framework. In addition, the Chennai City Climate Investment Opportunities Diagnostic has been developed to evaluate and secure financing for the implementation of CAP and is planning to undertake a climate budgeting exercise. Bengaluru, another C40 city, adopted a climate action plan in November 2023. With World Resources Institute-India (WRI-India) as its knowledge partner, Bengaluru set up a climate cell in January. As mandated in the CAP, climate budgeting is next on the card. Other cities are fast catching up. C40 is giving Delhi and Kolkata technical assistance for their CAPs. WRI-India is helping Nasik, Solapur, and Aurangabad with the same. With technical support from ICELI-South Asia a network of local governments Ahmedabad released its Climate Resilient City Action Plan in July 2023, aligning it with Indias goal of bringing greenhouse emissions to net zero by 2070. Three months ago, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation formed a net zero and climate resilience cell to operationalise the plan. This March, Nagpur, with support from ICELI and WRI, launched Indias first city-specific zero-carbon plan for building designs, materials used, and construction practices, with the target of achieving net zero emissions in the sector by 2050. Vadodara, Rajkot, Coimbatore, Thane, Siliguri, Udaipur, Trichy, and Tirunelveli, all with support from ICELI, have also adopted customised climate action plans. Using a robust, internationally accepted, Paris Climate Accord-compatible methodology, we have already built capacities of more than 40 cities to mainstream climate action in municipal budgets and leverage Central government missions such as the Smart Cities Mission, the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (Amrut), and state finance commission grants. Alongside, we are tracking the budget allocation in eight cities over the last five years for climate action, said Soumya Chaturvedula, deputy director at ICLEI-South Asia. Experts sound caution While optimism surrounds these initiatives, caution is warranted. Given Indian cities poor track record in implementing plans and policies due to institutional, political, and financial impediments, experts emphasise the need for a comprehensive overhaul. The climate impacts will be so severe that we need a holistic re-envision of what the Indian city looks like, said Aditya Valiathan Pillai, a fellow at the Sustainable Futures Collaborative (SFC), a research organisation based in New Delhi. He questioned whether Indian cities have the governance framework and financing structures yet to support climate action. Institutional support Operationalising a climate action plan requires an institutional mechanism. Lubaina Rangwala, associate director at WRI, said Mumbai took two years to establish these structures and capacities. Currently, WRI-India is conducting training in 43 towns in Maharashtra and supporting Mumbai with CAP. Rangwala explained that the first step in Mumbai was restructuring the department of environment and climate change with statutory powers. Minesh Pimpale, deputy municipal commissioner of the department, said they focussed on hyper-local-level coordination so that there was no blame game and plans did not fall through the cracks. Each of the 25 administrative wards under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has an engineer to coordinate with local departments. Administratively and financially, Mumbai is best placed to launch these reforms since the BMC, Indias wealthiest municipality, controls most of the important departments. However, other cities do not have the same advantage. The Bengaluru climate action Plan has 266 proposed actions across seven sectors. The city corporation is in charge of greening, lake management, roads and storm-water channels, while water and wastewater are handled by another utility, and a separate entity has been created for solid waste management. Several departments run and plan for public transport and energy services. The climate budgeting exercise must take all these stakeholder partners on board, said Shrimoyee Bhattacharya, programme head-urban development at WRI-India, who is based in Bengaluru. Policies and institutions are also vulnerable to political whims. SFCs Pillai emphasised that building institutions that last through political cycles is crucial. Also, the plan-to-action transition is one of the weakest links in policy implementation. Rangwala said government departments must learn to convert CAPs into well-defined actions with deliverables, timelines and budgets and think holistically. While CAPs aim to mitigate, adapt to, and build resilience against climate risks, these projects are also about improving life in cities. A non-polluting and efficient public transport system, unclogged streets, fresh air, a greener cityscape, a reliable and equitable water supply, clean energy, and safe and comfortable housing are, in fact, the fundamentals of sustainable urban living. City governments must understand that climate is no longer a separate issue. They must manage the drains, stormwater networks, roads, and paved surfaces to prevent urban flooding. Thats a part of civic governance and climate action, said Narayan. Budgeting climate action Local governments receive funds from the Centre, based on the finance commissions recommendation and allocations made under the National Climate Action Plan. However, these funds are insufficient to address the required scale of investment. In such a situation, say experts, the most workable strategy is to align the citys existing capital expenditures with climate goals. Narayan said that it is important to understand that the climate budget is not a different layer like climate finance is. Instead, it is looking at the municipal budgeting system through a climate lens where a city does not need an additional hundred million to spend. Even if it has one million, it needs to ensure that its climate targets are integrated with the municipal budget and actions are taken within the existing framework, she explained. Climate budgeting was first used by Oslo in 2017, when it integrated its GHG emission reduction targets with its annual municipal budget cycle. Almost 90% of the citys emissions came from waste incinerators, heavy vehicles and construction machinery. But Oslo has since electrified its public buses, ferries, and trams, laid bicycle lanes, and aims to make all construction sites zero-emission by 2025. (WRI-Ross Center for Sustainable Cities) However, it is not a prescriptive model, said Narayan. The climate budget gives cities a methodology based on local governance and budget cycles. But it is not to say that the municipal government needs to do it all at once, she said. In Mumbai, 20 climate-relevant departments were asked to match this years budget items with the 24 action tracks mentioned in CAP. Based on their inputs, actions were categorised as direct and quantified, direct and not quantified, and enabling actions. Of the 10,224 crore climate budget, 9,707 crore was allocated to urban flood and water resource management one of Mumbais five critical climate hazards identified in the CAP. Future-proofing cities In its budget report, BMC said it aims to refine the monitoring, evaluation, and reporting system to measure progress on emission reduction and resilience targets. The corporation is updating the GHG inventory, an indicative dashboard that gives cities emission contributions from each sector. This is then used to assign responsibilities, actions, and reduction targets accordingly. Besides being an iterative process, climate budgeting needs to be calibrated to the actual climate vulnerabilities. The actions taken today should stand against future climatic risks. Unfortunately, future proactive action is less politically salient than present-day action. Building a smog tower or a seawall will gain (immediate) political benefits, but will that seawall save a city during coastal floods in the future? Thats the political conundrum at the heart of climate adaptation, Pillai said. New Delhi The lieutenant governor met with a delegation of teachers on Sunday. Lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena on Sunday suggested that the mass teacher transfer orders be kept in abeyance, asking chief secretary Naresh Kumar and the directorate of education to take a holistic and sympathetic view in cases of teachers who have completed 10 years at a school. The move comes after the LG received multiple representations from government school teachers and held a meeting with a teachers delegation on Sunday. Teachers were accompanied by MPs Manoj Tiwari, Kamaljeet Sehrawat, Yogender Chandoliya and Bansuri Swaraj. Raj Niwas, in a series of posts on X, said: LG VK Saxena, consistently striving for better service conditions for government employees, so that they can perform optimally, has advised the chief secretary & Directorate of education to take a sympathetic, holistic and fair view into the recent transfer orders pertaining to teachers. He has suggested that in the interim, the orders be kept in abeyance. LG had received several representations from different government school teachers associations and today met their delegation at Raj Niwas. Delhi education minister Atishi has been ordering the education department to halt the mass transfers of over 5,000 teachers under the new policy, which mandates transfers of teachers who have completed 10 years at the same school. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party and the LG for allegedly hampering Delhis education system. On Sunday, Delhi education minister Atishi said that after strong opposition from the Kejriwal government, the BJP and LG had to withdraw the order. This transfer was done against my order. These 5,000 teachers were transferred because these are the teachers who have transformed the government schools of Delhi with the Arvind Kejriwal government in the past 10 years. I am happy that today, the BJP and their LG have had to withdraw the decision to transfer these 5,000 teachers. This is not only the victory of Delhis teachers and parents, it is the victory of all Delhiites. We have stopped BJPs conspiracy to ruin Delhis schools. BJP should stop the conspiracy to harass Delhiites and spoil Delhis government schools. The people of Delhi will never forgive you for this, she said. On June 11, the education department issued a circular informing about the teacher transfer. On July 1, the education minister issued written directions to the education department to recall the decision and withhold teacher transfers. Atishi issued show cause notices to the senior education department officers on July 3 on the grounds of wilful disobeyance of the order and subsequently, asked the chief secretary to halt the mass transfers. On Sunday, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva led a delegation of Delhi BJP leaders and a large group of government school teachers to meet the LG and seek his intervention. Sachdeva said that the callous and confrontational working of government education minister Atishi with her department officials resulted in the order, saying she repeatedly questioned why teachers continued to work in the same school for decades. The confrontational policy of minister and service regulations, which say every government employee, including teachers, have to be transferred after three years forced the officials to order transfer. We call upon the minister to stop misleading teachers, he said. A man in his late 20s allegedly killed himself after trying to kill his wife in Maurya Enclave, north-west Delhi on Sunday evening, police said. Police said that preliminary inquiry revealed that the man was unemployed and his wife was a homemaker. (Representational image) Police said that their control room received a call at 4.30pm in which the caller said that a man has killed himself after stabbing his wife. When police reached the spot, they were informed that the man was dead but the woman was alive. They were both rushed to a nearby hospital where the man was declared dead. The woman is undergoing treatment and is said to be critical, police said. Police said that preliminary inquiry revealed that the man was unemployed and his wife was a homemaker. They were both living with the womans father. They are from a village in Uttar Pradesh and were married for eight years. Inquiry revealed that the two often fought. The man was an alcoholic and often fought his wife. The man wanted to go back to the village and the woman wanted to stay here, the officer said. On the day of the incident, police said, the couple fought over the same issue and in a fit of rage and drunkenness, the accused stabbed his wife and then slit his own throat, police said. According to police, the body has been preserved for an autopsy which will be conducted on Monday. New Delhi A view of the Yamuna in Delhi-NCR. (Sunil Ghosh/HT) Heavy rainfall over the past week has led to a spike in ammonia levels of the Yamuna over the past three days, as evidenced by testing of raw water drawn from the river at Wazirabad, according to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), which cited slush of industrial waste from upstream Haryana as the cause for the spike. Officials said that initial monsoon spells carry the industrial waste accumulated in the drains of Haryana. Ammonia levels between 2 and 3 parts per million (ppm) were observed over the past three to four days, they said. A senior DJB official said that the ammonia level reached over 3ppm on Thursday, following the first increased water flow. Pollutants are getting diluted progressively and the level is currently at around 1.3ppm, the official, not wanting to be named, said. DJB can treat up to 0.9 ppm of ammonia level in raw water, but beyond such a high level, neutralisation of ammonia with chlorine gas regularly leads to toxic chloramine compounds. Reports of the DJB show that the water utility supplied 938 MGD (million gallons a day) water against a target of 1,000 MGD on July 4, as the production was impacted at both Chandrawal and Wazirabad water treatment plants due to high ammonia levels. On July 5, the water supply level dipped further, to 934 MGD, and recovered to 972 MGD on July 6. High ammonia levels are indicators of industrial waste and dyes in raw water. DJB officials said that the pollutants, such as dyes, chlorides and ammonia-based chemicals, flow from the Panipat industrial dye drain. We can treat other impurities, but not ammonia beyond 0.9 ppm. With the drains flowing at full capacity due to rainfall in upstream states, pollutants accumulated at the base of drains get flushed out. The situation is now slowly heading towards normalcy, the official cited above said. Besides Panipat, DJB also cited the intermixing of industrial waste in Sonepat, where two canals carrying freshwater and industrial water run parallel to each other, separated by a sand wall of a few inches. Haryana has maintained that there are no leaking pollution sources in its industrial areas. On July 5, HT reported that images of dead fish floating in the Yamuna surfaced over the last few days, which is an indicator of low BOD (biological oxygen demand) and DO (dissolved oxygen). Locals said dead fish began showing up along the river floodplain almost a fortnight ago, with the situation improving in the last few days. Faiyaz Khudsar, scientist in charge of DDAs biodiversity parks programme, said a drop in oxygen in the river generally occurs when the river receives a large quantity of sewage and effluents. For the dissolved oxygen to improve, a lot of water needs to be released from Hathanikund, which washes away the pollutants. After rains began last week, the DO has started improving gradually, Khudsar said. The problem of high ammonia levels in raw water is witnessed throughout the year, but the frequency of ammonia spikes recorded in winter (between January and March) is relatively higher, with the city witnessing 15-20 such episodes every year. Over the past few years, DJB has repeatedly announced that it will install advanced ozonation and in situ treatment plants at water treatment facilities to increase ammonia treatment capacity, but the project remains a work in progress. The judicial commission set up by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe the July 2 Hathras stampede, will question anyone required for the inquiry, retired police officer Bhavesh Kumar, who is on the three-member panel, said on Saturday. Hathras, July 04 (ANI): A team of police personnel investigate the 'Satsang' event site where the stampede incident occurred, in Hathras on Thursday. At least 121 people lost their lives in the stampede incident that happened on July 2. (ANI Photo/Mohd Zakir) We will speak to anyone required, Kumar replied when asked if the commission will question self-styled godman Bhole Baba as well. The stampede, which occurred at a satsang of Surajpal alias Narayan Sankar Hari alias Bhole Baba, claimed 121 lives, most of them women. Meanwhile, panel chairperson Brijesh Kumar Shrivastava, a former Allahabad high court judge, said that locals will be asked to join the investigation. We will issue a public notice soon asking local people and witnesses to share any evidence related to the stampede. We will also record their statements, Shrivatsava stated. Ex-bureaucrat Harish Rao is the third member of the group. The team reached Hathras on Saturday and visited the incident site near the Phulrai village along National Highway 91. We have been mandated to submit our report within two months, Shrivastava, the commission chairperson, told reporters after reviewing the site. The group was accompanied by Ashish Kumar, District Magistrate (DM), Hathras, and Nipun Agarwal, the Superintendent of Police (SP). On Sunday morning, the members camped at the Public Works Department (PWD) guest house and continued their inquiry. So far, nine people, including key accused Devprakash Madhukar, have been arrested in connection with the stampede. Madhukar was the fundraiser and main organiser of the event, which was attended by more than 2.5 lakh people, nearly three times the permitted limit of 80,000. However, the godman himself has not been named in the First Investigation Report (FIR), which was lodged at the local Sikandra Rao police station on July 2 itself. (With PTI inputs) A three-member judicial inquiry commission, constituted to probe the stampede that claimed 121 lives in Hathras, reached the Uttar Pradesh district on Saturday to initiate interrogation of the people relevant to its investigation. The pandal at the site of the satsang in Hathras where the horrific tragedy occur (Sakib Ali/HT Photo) Members of the commission spent about 45 minutes at the site of the satsang where a stampede on July 2 led to the horrific tragedy. Justice Brijesh Kumar Srivastava, a retired judge of the Allahabad high court who is heading the commission, said that the site where the stampede took place was analysed in detail. Also Read | Main accused Devprakash Madhukar was Bhole Babas eyes and ears We have taken account of the sequence of incidents that happened leading to the tragedy. We aim to complete the probe within two months and meanwhile statements will be recorded from whomsoever is deemed required during the course of the probe, he said. The judicial probe was announced by chief minister Yogi Adityanath during his visit to Hathras a day after the incident. The commission has been tasked with completing the investigation within two months. A day after heavy rainfall, local train services in Maharashtra's Thane district, adjoining Mumbai, were suspended on Sunday morning, July 7. According to officials, the train services have been affected between Kasara and Titwala stations. Mumbai local train services on suburban line hit after heavy rain(HT File) There has been reports of waterlogging on tracks between Vashind and Khadavli stations on the Kalyan-Kasara route. Train services are affected with long distance trains getting diverted or short terminated. Railway officials said around 6:30am, the tracks on the busy Kalyan-Kasara route were declared to be unsafe due to soil between Atgaon and Thansit stations owing to heavy rainfall. Along with this, a tree also fell and blocked the tracks near Vashind station. Train services between Kasara and Titwala have been suspended temporarily, a spokesperson of the Central Railway (CR) said in a statement, reported PTI. Meanwhile, another Central Railway spokesperson said an overhead equipment (OHE) pole tilted, and the pantograph of a train got entangled near Vashind. Officials said that restoration work is underway and that efforts are being made to clear the tracks as soon as possible. Notably, the suburban local train services are considered the lifeline of Mumbai and neighbouring areas, including Thane, Palghar and Raigad. More than 30 lakh commuters travel daily on this suburban network. Routes where train services were affected The following trains were short terminated and short originated due to waterlogging between Vasind and Khadavli section: Train No. 20705 J - CSMT Vande Bharat Express Short terminated at IGP Train No. 20706 CSMT - J Vande Bharat Express Short Originate from IGP. The following trains were diverted via DIVA - BSR - JL due to waterlogging between Vasind and Khadavli section: Train No. 12534 CSMT - LJN Pushpak Express Train No. 12519 LTT - AGTL Express Train No. 12336 LTT - BGP Express The following trains were diverted via JL- BSR - DIVA due to waterlogging between Vasind and Khadavli section: Train No. 11060 CPR - LTT EXP JCO (06.07.2024) Train No. 12294 PRYJ - LTT Durronto EXP JCO (06.07.2024) Train No. 12742 PNBE - VSG EXP (06.07.2024) Train No. 14314 BE - LTT EXP JCO (06.07.2024) Heavy rain in Mumbai Mumbai and its adjoining regions have been witnessing occasional heavy rainfall since last month. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted moderate rainfall with a generally cloudy sky in the city on Sunday. The city is expected to witness light rainfall on July 8 and 9, and moderate rainfall on July 10. The minimum temperature in Mumbai stood at 26 degrees Celsius, while the maximum temperature is expected to reach around 33 degrees Celsius. Earlier, the regional met centre director at Mumbai, Sunil Kamble, predicted that heavy rainfall is unlikely to occur in the city in the next two to three days. July has already started but heavy rains are unlikely to occur in the next two-three days, yet there is an orange alert in some districts of ghat areas. Once the weather conditions improve, we will inform about the aspects of heavy-very heavy rainfall, he told ANI on Friday. Meanwhile, according to the IMD data, central Maharashtra is likely to witness isolated very heavy rainfall on Sunday. (With inputs from ANI, PTI) Around 80 tourists visiting the Pali waterfall in Goa were stranded after incessant rain turned the mountain streams into raging torrents by Sunday afternoon, officials said. The Goa police said that the rescue operation is ongoing, and the situation is under control. (Goa Police) North Goa superintendent of police (SP) Akshat Kaushal said, North Goa Police Team is working closely with the Fire Department to rescue persons trapped at the Pali waterfall. The rescue operation is ongoing, and the situation is under control. Around 50 persons have been rescued so far while around 30 are still to be rescued. The Pali waterfall is a popular trekking and tourist spot at Valpoi, nearly 50 kms from the state capital Panaji, that comes to life during the monsoons. Following the incident, the state forest department has shut access to all waterfalls in the state for one week. Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert in the state. The Goa Education Department has declared a holiday for schools on Monday in view of the red alert issued for the state. The incessant rain caused landslides, cave-ins and water logging across the state, including Panaji, which received 115 mm of rainfall in 6.5 hours on Sunday morning. Landslides were also reported at Ponda, blocking the Panaji-Belagavi national highway. There is nothing like a love for chocolate! On World Chocolate Day today (July 7) we find out how chocolatiers, homebakers, bakeries and cloud-kitchen runners are doing their bit and making Lucknow chocolaty-sweeter with each passing day. Kashmiri cherry, chocolate and jaggery gateaux de voyage cake prepared by Niharika Bajaj Sweet ride A famous one in Lucknow market is chocolate momos. Those who enjoy dessert at our store, chocolate momos served with ice cream is a must have. Many come just for this and its a takeaway favourite, says Ranjeet Singh Rawat of Nainital Momos. Danbro by Mr Brown has launched two new variants. Pure Belgium Chocolate brings lingering taste and lasting memories. We have introduced Silk Pastry and Hazelnut Pastry for chocolate lovers, tells its founder Tanushree Gupta. Chef Himani of Sassy Canteen says, Our Fig and chocolate brownie pudding made with sea salted caramel, tea, figs and dark chocolate and served it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream is a favourite dessert for all. At your doorstep Amrita Shukla, Choc-oh! Bakery and Patisserie owner, says, Lucknow is readily accepting the constantly evolving world of chocolates to how it was when I started my bakery set up in 2018. Many do not prefer deviating from traditional flavours of chocolate cakes and pastries, but it has surely witnessed a right jump in product in supply and demand of handcrafted chocolates. Chocolate-coated light wafer cookies have been my signature item and to celebrate the occasion with every delivery I am giving away a sample of my signature chocolate cookies. Connoisseurs delight For those with developed taste buds for authentic chocolate there are now options available in the state capital as well. Home-baker Niharika Bajaj, who prepares desserts using hi-end ingredients, says, Bakers are nowadays not using chocolate butter as there is a shortage and is manifold costly, but we use only that as people who know the taste buy products made from original and authentic ingredients. Then using stuff like jaggery and honey over is very healthy and tastes wow. Choco is the way Chocolatier-duo, brothers Priyansh and Abhinav Bajpai who have been making, marketing and teaching online how to make the best of chocolate at home, feels that taste of baked sweets in Lucknow has come a long way. We introduced our start-up Chocoa that was inspired by small chocolate-businesses in Belgium where I visited as a former Navy officer. Till date, I have taught what I learnt about handcrafted artisan chocolates to over a thousand students. Now, people love and indulge in the flavours of handmade chocolates much more. Soon, we plan to resume our pandemic-hit artisan chocolates supply business in the city where we marketed our special chocolate-stuff to bakeries and local kitchens. Jyotsna Habibullah founder of Lucknow Farmers Market says people are now getting educated about homegrown stuff sourced directly from farmers and growers. We promote cocoa, which is procured from farmers in Kerela, and customers are buying them to support them, she says. JKBOSE 11th Result 2024 Live: Jammu and Kashmir board Class 11 results will be declared on jkresults.nic.in JKBOSE 11th Result 2024 Live Updates: The Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE) is expected to declare the Class 11 final examination results soon. When released, the candidates can check their marks on the board's website, jkbose.nic.in. The scorecards will also be released on jkresults.nic.in. To view the JK board 11th result, candidates need to use their registration and roll numbers....Read More How to check JKBOSE 11th result 2024? Go to jkresults.nic.in. Open the Class 11th result link Enter your roll number and registration number. Submit and view the JK board Class 11 result. The Jammu and Kashmir board's Class 11 examinations for Arts, Science, and Commerce streams were held from April 22 to May 26, 2024 in the soft zone areas and from April 2 to May 1 in the hard zone areas. Last year, the JKBOSE Class 11th result was announced on July 10. The results of this year's Class 10 and 12 final exams have already been published and Class 11 results are awaited. Follow this live blog for all the latest information on JKBOSE Class 11th results 2024. New Delhi, Actor Varun Sharma, best known for the "Fukrey" franchise and "Chhichhore", says buddy comedies continue to be a relevant genre as friendship is one of the strongest emotions a human being can experience. Friendship is one of the strongest emotions: Varun Sharma on appeal of buddy comedy films The actor's next outing is the Netflix comedy "Wild Wild Punjab", which follows a group of drunk men who decide to avenge a friend's breakup by crashing his ex's wedding. This impromptu plan leads to unforeseen adventures as they travel through Punjab. Varun, popularly known by his "Fukrey" character Choocha, said he hopes the upcoming movie also finds an audience on the streamer. "Buddy comedies or buddy films are attractive because friendship is one of the strongest emotions that we have in our lives... It is a stronger emotion than even what you feel in love... I really hope 'Wild Wild Punjab' resonates with people... "Whether it's 'Pyaar Ka Punchnama', when that came out back in 2011, it was like a new take about buddies and then 'Fukrey' came out in 2013 to a 'Chhichhore' that was again a college flick with IT boys and what madness happens amongst friends and all that, to a 'Madgaon ' to a 'Crew'," the actor told PTI in an interview here. Presented by Gulshan Kumar, Bhushan Kumar, "Wild Wild Punjab" is a Luv Films Production. It is directed by Simarpreet Singh and produced by Luv Ranjan and Ankur Garg. The film is all set to premiere on July 10 on Netflix. Varun said not only Hindi films, but the South has also explored the theme of friendship in recent Malayalam releases such as "Manjummel Boys" and "Aavesham". "You go down South, they had 'Manjummel Boys' recently and it did fantastic business and what a beautiful film. There is 'Aavesham' for that matter... 'Dil Chahta Hai' is something we still talk about 'Friends' was made 30 years ago, it is still relatable," he added. "Wild Wild Punjab" also stars Manjot Singh, Sunny Singh, Patralekhaa, and Ishita Raj. It may be set in Punjab but the story of four friends makes it relatable and universal in nature, said Manjot, popular for playing the character of Laali in "Fukrey" movies. "It could have been Wild Wild Gujarat or even Wild Wild Tokyo. So, it's just four Punjabis that live in Punjab, they are friends, they meet and then what all happens is the story... "There are many excellent scenes in the film... There are wild, wacky, crazy and bizarre things happening in this film. People will have fun watching it... I am very excited... It was a lot of hard work and fun so I hope people can see all of that," the actor said. It's a homecoming of sorts for Sunny and Ishita, who have previously worked with Ranjan on his directorial ventures "Pyaar Ka Punchnama" films and "Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety". "Luv sir is like a mentor . Like in the old times, there used to be a guruji from whom you learnt so much. I have always had that respect for him . That is a form of love, it's the same I have with my father," said Sunny. Even though they had worked together before, Ishita said she and Sunny became friends after featuring in "Wild Wild Punjab". "Sunny for us was a very silent guy. Even if we were at a party together in the end we would ask each other 'Did Sunny come?' He was that silent. To my surprise, we got to know that Sunny is so talkative... During our shoot, if we had a break, Sunny doesn't let you talk after a point of time. So, that was a surprise," she added. Doing an out-and-out comedy film like "Wild Wild Punjab" was a first for Patralekhaa. "It is the toughest genre, tougher than drama. It was a big opportunity for me and I lapped it up. I had such amazing co-actors... These guys have done 'Pyaar Ka Punchnama' and 'Fukrey', which are this generation's iconic films. To be working with these actors, who were so skilled, was a big learning experience for me and I had a good time," she said. "Wild Wild Punjab" also stars Jassie Gill. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. Los Angeles, Michael Sarnoski, director of "A Quiet Place: Day One", says he hopes his sci-fi horror film gets a sequel treatment from Paramount Pictures. Director Michael Sarnoski teases sequel of 'A Quiet Place: Day One' The movie, starring Lupita Nyong'o and Joseph Quinn, is receiving rave reviews and has already grossed USD 118 million worldwide since its release on June 28. "A Quiet Place: Day One" is a spin-off movie, which is based on an idea from actor-filmmaker John Krasinski, who directed and starred in the first two films in the "A Quiet Place", a post-apocalyptic horror franchise. Asked about the possibility of a part two, Sarnoski told Variety: "Absolutely. I bet you will. But I dont know at this point, Im just recovering from making this one. So Im sure Paramount will come up with something very fun next." "A Quiet Place: Day One" follows the story of Sam , a cancer patient, who gets trapped in New York City invaded by sound-sensitive aliens. As she tries to escape the danger along with her service cat Frodo, she meets Eric , a young English law student trying to save his life from the invaders. The director, also known for his 2021 directorial "Pig", said he would like to see "something similarly off-beat", like an unexpected character in this world. "What attracted me to this story was the uniqueness of Sam, following this dying person who isnt even really fighting for survival.... The 'Quiet Place' universe does open itself up to any characters that you want to follow and want to explore. Im not sure. "I put so much into Sam and Eric. That was all the love and care that I had right now to find these characters. I would have to think of a character that I could really fall in love with and really want to be surprised by seeing the world through their eyes," Sarnoski added. "A Quiet Place: Day One" also features Djimon Hounsou and Alex Wolff. Distributed by Paramount Pictures, the story has been written by Sarnoski and Krasinski. A third part of the original franchise is currently under development. Krasinski is returning to direct the movie, which will be released in 2025. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. Dunedin , I first saw A Hard Days Night at a film festival over 20 years ago, at the insistence of my mum. By then, it was already decades old, but I remember being enthralled by its high-spirited energy. Still fab after 60 years: how The Beatles A Hard Days Night made pop cinema history A Beatles fan, mum had introduced me to the bands records in my childhood. At home, we listened to Please Please Me, the bands 1963 single, and the Rubber Soul album from 1965, which I loved. Television regularly showed old black-and-white scenes of Beatlemania that, to a ten-year-old in the neon-lit 1980s, seemed like ancient history. But then, Id never seen a full-length Beatles film. I had no idea what I was in for. When the lights went down at Dunedins Regent Theatre, the opening chord of the films title song announced its intentions: an explosion of youthful vitality, rhythmic visuals, comical high jinks and the electrifying thrill of Beatlemania in 1964. This time, it didnt seem ancient at all. Since that first viewing, Ive returned to A Hard Days Night again and again. I now show it to my students as a historically significant example of pop music film making visually inventive cinema, emblematic of a fresh era in youth culture, popular music and fandom. Beatlemania on celluloid A musical comedy depicting a chaotic 36 hours in the life of the Beatles, A Hard Days Night has now reached its 60th anniversary. Directed by Richard Lester, the film premiered in London on July 6 1964, with its first public screening a day later , and the album of the same name released on July 10. The bands popularity was by then reaching dizzying heights of hysteria, all reflected in the film. The Beatles are chased by hordes of fans, take a train trip, appear on TV, run from the police in a Keystone Cops-style sequence, and play a televised concert in front of screaming real-life Beatles fans. Side one of the album provides the soundtrack, and the film inspired pop music film and video from then on, from the Monkees TV series to the Spice Girls Spice World and music videos as we know them today. The original music video Postwar teen culture and consumerism had been on the rise since the 1950s. In 1960s Britain, youth music TV programmes, notably Ready Steady Go! , meant pop music now had a developing visual culture. The youthful zest and vitality of 60s London was reflected in the pop-cultural sensibility, modern satirical humour and crisp visual impact of A Hard Days Night. Influenced by French New Wave film making, and particularly the early 1960s work of Jean-Luc Godard, A Hard Days Night employs cinema verite-style hand-held cinematography, brisk jump cuts, unusual framing and dynamic angles, high-spirited action, and a self-referential nonchalance. The film also breaks the fourth wall, with characters directly addressing the audience in closeup, and reveals the apparatus of the visual performance of music: cameras and TV monitors are all part of the frame. Cutting the shots to the beat of the music as in the Cant Buy Me Love sequence lends a visual rhythm that would later become the norm in music video editing. Lester developed this technique further in the second Beatles film, Help! . The closing sequence of A Hard Days Night is possibly the films most dynamic: photographic images of the band edited to the beat in the style of stop-motion animation. Sixty years on, it still feels fresh, especially as so much contemporary film making remains hidebound by formulaic Hollywood rules. Slapstick and class awareness As with much popular culture from the past, the humour in A Hard Days Night doesnt always doesnt land the way it would have in 1964. And yet, there are moments that seem surprisingly modern in their razor-sharp irony. In particular, the bands Liverpudlian working-class-lad jibes and chaotic energy contrast brilliantly with the films upper-class characters. Actor Victor Spinettis comically over-anxious TV director, constantly hand-wringing over the boys rebelliousness, underscores the era-defining change the Beatles represented. Corporate pop-culture consumerism is also satirised. John Lennon snorts from a Coca-Cola bottle, a moment so knowingly silly it registers as more contemporary than it really is. George Harrison deflects a journalists banal questions with scathingly witty answers, and cuts a fashion company down to size by describing their shirt designs as grotesque. And there is Paul McCartneys running joke that his grandfather played by Wilfred Brambell from groundbreaking sitcom Steptoe and Son is very clean. Even the films old-fashioned visual slapstick still holds up in 2024. Showing the film to this years students, I didnt expect quite as much laughter when Ringos attempts to be chivalrous result in a fall-down-a-hole mishap. In 2022, the Criterion Collection released a high-resolution restoration of the film, so today A Hard Days Night can be seen in all its fresh, black-and-white, youthful vigour. Happy 60th, A Hard Days Night. And happy 84th, Ringo. Both still as lively and energetic as ever. NSA NSA This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. On Sunday morning, there were widespread reports on social media that Malayalam star Fahadh Faasil had signed on another project with Superstar Rajinikanth post Vettaiyan. Apparently, Coolie director Lokesh Kanagaraj, who had worked with Fahadh in Kamal Haasans Vikram, was keen to sign him on for Coolie and was in talks with the Aavesham actor. The shooting for Coolie has already started and is progressing at Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad. (Also Read Rajinikanth, Mohan Babu show off their years-long camaraderie in a candid photo: Friendship is life) Fahadh Faasil approached for Rajinikanth's Coolie Currently, Fahadh Faasil is in Chennai dubbing for Rajinikanths Vettaiyan, directed by TJ Gnanavel, and pics of this have gone viral on social media. With Coolie signed on, Fahadh would have two back-to-back projects with the Superstar and thats no small feat. Sources in the film industry confirmed to Hindustan Times exclusively that Fahadh had indeed been approached for Coolie. They stated that, unfortunately, the Maamannan actor had numerous other projects already lined up back-to-back and was unable to do this film. This would be disappointing news for fans since Fahadhs roles in recent Tamil films have been widely appreciated. About working with Rajinikanth in Vettaiyan, Fahadh had stated recently that he played a funny character in the movie and it would be different from the usual villain roles in Tamil cinema. The Superstar plays a cop who stands for righteousness and since the two stars will be seen on screen together for the first time, there are high expectations. Other than Tamil film Vettaiyan, Fahadh Faasil has Telugu films Pushpa 2 with Allu Arjun, Dont Trouble the Trouble and Oxygen; Malayalam films Odum Kuthira Chadum Kuthira and Bougainvillea. Vettaiyan is directed by Nelson Dilipkumar and has a strong cast, including Amitabh Bachchan, Rana Daggubati and Manju Warrier. This film is produced by Lyca Productions and is up for release on October 10. Meanwhile, Pushpa 2: The Rule by director Sukumar is up for a worldwide release on December 6. Badminton player Jwala Gutta has joined Grammy Award-winning music composer Ricky Kej in calling out actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu for contentious medical advice on her podcast Take 20. Jwala asked Samantha if she'd take responsibility for any fatality caused by her prescription. (Also Read Ricky Kej supports Liver Doc for calling out Samantha Ruth Prabhu, says she endorses unhealthy food for money) Jwala Gutta slams Samantha Ruth Prabhu for her medical advice What Jwala said Jwala took to X on Saturday and wrote, My only question to the celeb whos prescribing a medicine to the huge number of people who are following her I ustand the intention is to help. Butjust in case..just in case the prescription doesnt help and causes a fatalitywill u be taking the RESPONSIBILITY too????? Will the doctor who you have tagged also take the RESPONSIBILITY?? Several X users supported her argument. One of them commented, If something goes wrong for them, they can afford the best treatment. Who knows even Govt would also come forward to help them. But WE WILL DIE HELPLESSLY. Thats it. Another wrote, Correct! Spreading pseudoscience is dangerous regardless of the good intentions. While it is irresponsible for influencers to prescribe medications, its equally foolish to follow their advice without consulting a professional/doing research, opined a third one. Samantha's medical advice After a doctor on social media criticised Samantha as a "health and science illiterate" for sharing alternate health treatments, the actor called him out for being rude. Samantha, who has been open about her battle with Myositis diagnosis, had recently shared about the benefits of hydrogen peroxide nebulisation, but the doctor, whose real name is Dr Abby Philips and goes by the social media handle The Liver Doc, had slammed the actor for sharing misinformation with her fans. According to his X profile, he is a hepatologist. He has over 2.5 lakh followers. Samantha said her post was not a paid endorsement but she will be more careful in future. It would have been kind and compassionate of him had he not been so provocative with his words, especially the bit where he suggests that I should be thrown in prison. Never mind. I suppose it goes with the territory of being a celebrity, she wrote. Samantha will be next seen in Citadel: Honey Bunny. Teresa Giudice is facing severe criticism for unhinged Photoshop fail in her latest Instagram post. The Real Housewives of New Jersey star shared a picture of herself with Larsa Pippen, wishing her a happy birthday. Although the duo posed in swimsuits, the beachy backdrop was obviously edited. RHONJ star Teresa Giudice is being slammed by fans for 'worst' photo editing(Instagram/ @teresagiudice) RHONJ star slammed for worst Photoshop fail The 52-year-old television personality shared the edited beach pic with fellow Bravolebrity on Instagram Saturday. She captioned the post, Happy Birthday to my girl @larsapippen wishing you all the best to come. Love you. It is visibly evident that the outline of their bodies was cut from a different photo and was placed on a separate picture of a beach. ALSO READ: Hawk Tuah Girl: Here's how much Hailey Welch is profiting off NYC appearances Although her fans blasted Giudice for embarrassing photo editing, The Real Housewives of Miami star was unbothered by it as she commented, Love u so much. Pippen also shared the post on her Instagram story along with the message, Love u @teresagiudice. One fan queried, What in the world was the original background that this was preferable? One more fan said, Its giving Zoom background, while another commented, Photoshop nightmare. So embarrassing. Winner of the worst photo edit, quipped another. After a slew of brutal comments, Giudice turned off the comments on the post but let it stay on her Instagram grid. ALSO READ: Kate Middleton's friend reveals the truth behind her Wimbledon appearance, It is no secret Meanwhile, Pippen, who turned 50 on Saturday, went on a night out with friends at LIV nightclub in Miami, Florida. The RHOM star shared a childhood photo of herself on her Instagram with the caption, Celebrating the journey of another year. Several other stars of the Real Housewives franchise wished her on her special day, including, The Real Housewives of Dubai co-stars Caroline Stanbury and Chanel Ayan. Taarak Mehta Ka Oooltah Chashmah actor Gurucharan Singh returned to Mumbai for the first time on Saturday after he went missing earlier this year. The actor was spotted at the Mumbai airport with his pet. He was seen in a floral shirt and black pants, carrying a backpack. (Also Read | Taarak Mehta's Gurucharan Singh smiles next to police officer is first pic since returning home after 28 days) Gurucharan Singh was spotted at the Mumbai airport. Gurucharan on Taarak Mehta payment dues In a video shared on Instagram, a paparazzo was heard asking Gurucharan Singh if the Taarak Mehta Ka Oooltah Chashmah production team cleared his payment dues. Gurucharan , Haan ji, sabka kar diye almost. Almost. Kuch ka mujhe nahi pata hai, woh mujhe puchna padega (Yes, they have cleared almost everyones payment. I don't know about some, that I'll have to ask). Gurucharan talks about returning to TMKOC When a person asked him if he gets calls, he said that his phones are switched off. He added that once he turns on his phone, he will talk to people. He was also asked if he would be back on the show. Gurucharan replied, God knows. Rab jane. Mujhe kuch nahi pata hain. Jayse hi pata chalega, aapko bataunga (God knows, I dont know anything. As soon as I get to know, I will tell you guys). Gurucharan went missing earlier this year Gurucharan went missing in Delhi on April 22 and returned to his home after nearly a month. DCP South West Delhi, Rohit Meena had given an update and said that he was facing some personal and professional issues due to which he went on a spiritual journey. Gurucharan went on a spiritual journey He told news agency ANI, "Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah actor Gurucharan Singh aka Roshan Singh Sodhi had been missing from April 22. Yesterday, Gurucharan Singh came back home. It was revealed that he was facing trouble in his personal and professional life and therefore had gone on a spiritual journey...He later realised that he should return home...We recorded his judicial statement yesterday..." Soon after he returned to his residence in the national capital, the actor was questioned by Delhi Police and his statement recorded before a local court. The actor deposed that he left home for a spiritual journey, the police informed. In April, Gurucharan's father filed a complaint with Delhi Police, detailing his son's sudden disappearance since his departure for Mumbai. According to his father's statement, Gurucharan, who was visiting his parents in Delhi, was expected to return to Mumbai. But he never reached the city. After finding fame essaying the role of Roshan Sodhi in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, the actor quit the popular show a few years ago. K-drama star Kim Ji Won, fresh off the success of Queen of Tears was briefly hailed as Dior's newest brand ambassador. Fans rejoiced online, picturing the actress slaying in Parisian fashion. But the excitement was short-lived. Just hours later, the post vanished from Dior's feed, replaced by something else entirely. This sparked confusion among fans, leading to an outcry on social media. Kim Ji Won from Queen of Tears Is Kim Ji Won Diors new face? Following her appearance at Dior's Diamond Towers boutique opening in Taipei, the brand's social media account shared a photo of the actress and, in a surprise move, called her a "House Ambassador." Fans rushed to her account, envisioning Ji Won slaying in French Luxury haute couture and joining Dior's prestigious Korean roster alongside A-listers like BLACKPINK's Jisoo, NewJeans' Haerin, BTS' Jimin, and ASTRO's Cha Eun Woo. Congratulations poured in, flooding Ji Won's social media with well wishes. Also read: Justin Bieber looked 'happiest ever' as he performed at Ambani's event in India amid expecting first baby The post mysteriously disappears Moments later, the brand edited the post, removing the section that designated her as the House Ambassador. This action left many fans confused, though some speculated that an official announcement might come later. Eventually, Dior deleted the original post entirely, replacing it with a new one describing Kim Ji Won just as "the image of elegance." Things went from celebratory to confusing when criticism began to mount. In what appears to be an attempt to control the narrative, the brand disabled comments on the post. The brand hasn't given a clear reason for the sudden change and deletion. It all seems to point towards a social media blunder, especially considering Kim Ji Won's existing brand partnerships with luxury labels like Bvlgari Allegra and The Whoo. Also read: Danny Trejo reacts after throwing punch and being knocked down at 4th of July parade: I would be embarrassed' Kim Ji Won K-dramas The 31-year-old is one of South Korea's most beloved stars, and her global popularity skyrocketed after starring in Queen of Tears, one of Netflix's most-watched K-dramas. She has previously appeared in hit shows such as My Liberation Notes, Descendants of the Sun, Lovestruck in the City, and Arthdal Chronicles. Chocolates are an integral part of life for many people, and Kubbra Sait couldnt agree more with the emotion. On World Chocolate Day, a fellow chocolate lover tells us that she has felt connected with the delicacy since childhood. While growing up, if you have been a good kid and are getting good grades, chocolate for me always used to be like a treat. Chocolate was the reward that my mum used to give me each time I did something good. Chocolate is so indulging, I feel like I have grown with chocolate, says the actor, who was last seen in The Trial (2023). Kubbra Sait on World Chocolate Day Ask her what kind of chocolates she prefers to eat and Sait shares, Dark chocolate with nuts has become my level of sophistication now. But earlier also, I always used to choose a roasted almond or fruit and nut over plain chocolate. Now, chocolate is not about how sweet it is, it is more about how rich it is in cocoa. I dont have a sweet tooth as such, but its about the flavour and richness. I never liked white chocolate. I prefer having the crunchy one and not the gooey chocolate, I love nuts in it. I feed myself well now. Its about the quality instead of quantity now. Even if I am having a little piece, the chocolate should be of good quality. Chocolate is a mood lifter. I try to eat a piece of dark chocolate when I am feeling low, I enjoy it. I still sometimes eat gems like the good old times - picking my favourite colours, sucking it, and then eating the chocolate part. I love eating them by layers. You dont need one day for anything good. I will eat chocolates the whole year and not just for that one day, I feel the same for all special days. Chocolate makes me happy, everyday can be a chocolate day, the 40-year old further adds, highlighting that she doesnt need a specific day to relish chocolates. Kubbra Sait on World Chocolate Day Also Read: Exclusive: Kubbra Sait to play a cop alongside Shahid Kapoor in Deva Recalling her trips to New York and Belgium, the actor tells us that visiting chocolate factories has been a major part of outings. I went to the chocolate factory in Belgium, it was the most amazing experience. It was a bliss and fascinating. I learned there how chocolates were made using the best milk from cows. The cow was one of the most expensive commodities and a mark of wealth in earlier times. The richer the chocolate, the better the milk in it is. I even visited the chocolate factory in New York. I tried a chocolate martini there, it was such an interesting concept. There was a huge beautiful hot chocolate fountain right in the middle, she reveals, in her excited voice. Sait works out everyday but its a double motivation for her when she binges on chocolates. I anyway workout everyday but I focus is on my abs more whenever I have had chocolates on that day. I dont go very hard on myself, but the aim is to enjoy and relish it more and more, she says, adding that she wants to attend a chocolate or cake baking workshop someday in the future. There are so many options of chocolate dishes these days, but I dont like overdoing it so I prefer eating a raw OG chocolate instead of the too much sweet delicacies made using it. But yes, I would surely love to attend some workshop to learn how to make a chocolate or cake, I have never tried it before, I dont even know how to operate an oven. Security forces killed six militants in two separate gunfights in south Kashmirs Kulgam district, ending operations on Sunday more than 24 hours after they began, even as the Indian Army laid to rest two of its soldiers who were killed in the gunfights on Saturday. Army personnel stand guard at the encounter site where a jawan was killed in a gunfight with terrorists, in Kulgam. (ANI) The encounters erupted on Saturday in the villages of Modergam and Chinigam, about 20km apart, after security forces received intelligence about militant presence in the area. Jammu & Kashmirs director general of police RR Swain called the operation a big milestone in improving the security environment. On the basis of confirmation of bodies, we have the news of the killing of six terrorists, Swain told reporters. Without doubt, this is a big milestone, a progress to strengthen the security environment. On Saturday, officials said they had seen the bodies of four but the gunfights went on till Sunday afternoon. Four militants and one soldier were killed on Saturday in Chinigam, while another soldier died in Modergam. The remaining two militants were killed Sunday as the Modergam operation concluded. The first encounter erupted when a joint squad of police, army and Central Reserve Police Force reached Modergam village after they received intelligence about the presence of militants on Saturday afternoon. It was here that lance naik Pardeep Kumar from the 9th Rashtriya Rifles unit of the Indian Army suffered fatal injuries. The exchange of fire and explosives continued in the night with two militants confirmed dead on Sunday. The second encounter broke out in the Frisal Chinnigam area on Saturday evening after security established contact with militants during a cordon and search operation. In the exchange of fire, four terrorists were killed and sepoy Pravin Janjal Prabhakar from 1 Rashtriya Rifles took fatal injuries. Jammu and Kashmir: NIA arrests absconding accused in Pakistan-linked narco-terrorism case Swain said some of the slain militants were believed to be locals, but their identities and affiliations were still being verified. The police chief credited local intelligence for the successful operations, saying it indicated growing public support for ending militancy in the region. On substantive and messaging level, this is indicative of security architecture and the flow of intelligence from people. This reveals that the fight will reach its logical conclusion. These successes will happen continuously whatever efforts from the other side as they make efforts, said Swain. Our security architecture, including J&K police, Indian Army, agencies and central armed police forces particularly with peoples support, we will indeed win this (fight), he said, adding: We think all people are joining this (fight) to save other peoples lives and end the chaos. This is attaining more pace. Armys commander of Chinar Corps, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, along with J&K DGP Swain offered homage to the two fallen soldiers. In Jammu, security forces launched a search operation after several rounds of bullets were fired near an army camp in Jammu and Kashmirs Rajouri district. Kulgam encounters updates: 2 soldiers, 4 terrorists killed in Jammu and Kashmir According to officers in the army who asked not to be named, the incident occurred in the Manjakot area of the district on Sunday morning. The forces were conducting a search operation in the Galluti area of the Manjakote sector. The DGP spoke on the situation in Jammu and said that notwithstanding some incidents, the forces have been able to finish the terror ecosystem in Kashmir. Numbers dont reveal the security situation. We take every incident with seriousness. In the Jammu side there are efforts to activate old (militancy), that is why after the last incident in 2006-07, there have been incidents or attempts now. Obviously, there is a concern. But that doesnt mean that the enemy has achieved any major success, he said. He drew a comparison between conducting a terror incident and establishing a support base for terror. These are two different things. If we talk of Jammu, then go to Gandoh, Doda, Udhampur and other places, you will find, and when you talk to people, you will find that the situation has not remained the same. The ecosystem to spread terror is not there now. That is our biggest achievement. Based on that success, we hope to establish peace and security, he said. Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh has disowned a statement made by his mother, Balwinder Kaur, about his stand on Khalistan, a secessionist idea promoted by the hardliners for a separate Sikh nation, on the day of his oath-taking, as per a written statement issued by the jailed Sikh leader from the jail through his team on Saturday night. Amritpal Singh. (HT File) Replying to a query of newsmen on July 5, his mother said, Amritpal Singh is not a supporter of Khalistan. Raising a voice for the rights of Punjab and working for the betterment of the youths do not make anyone a supporter of Khalistan. He contested the elections within the limits of the Indian constitution. Now, he has also taken an oath of the constitution. In such a situation, he should not be mentioned as the same. Video of this statement went viral over social media, which invited criticism from the Sikh hardliners, who raised objections over it. On Saturday, his mother appealed to the Sikh segments not to decode her statement in the wrong sense. On Saturday night, Amritpals statement also surfaced. When I discovered today the statement made by Mata ji yesterday, I felt deeply hurt. Even though I believe Mata Ji spoke unknowingly, such a statement should never come from my family or anyone who supports me, it reads. He said, Dreaming of Khalsa Raj is not just a right but a matter of immense pride. Countless Sikhs have laid down their lives for this dream, and we cannot even fathom stepping back from this sacred path. I have often declared from stages that if ever faced with choosing between the Panth and my family, I will always choose the Panth without hesitation. The historical example of Baba Banda Singh Bahadars young companion stands as a testament to this principle. When the mother tried to save her son by denying his Sikh identity, the boy bravely proclaimed that if she claims I am not a Sikh, then she is not my mother. Though this example may seem harsh for this situation, it profoundly captures the essence of unwavering commitment, he said. I unequivocally warn my family that not even thinking about compromising on the concept is Sikh State could be entertained. Such lapses must never occur in future while engaging with the Sangat, he added. It is worth mentioning here that the issue of Khalistan remained missing from the poll campaign of the radical Sikh leader, and he was mainly projected as an anti-drug crusader and religious preacher. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Chief Mayawati left her residence in Delhi on Sunday morning to travel to Chennai. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati (Hindustan Times) She will pay her respects to the party's Tamil Nadu Chief, K. Armstrong, who was brutally murdered by unidentified assailants near his residence in Perambur, Chennai. BSP's National Coordinator Akash Anand also travelled to Chennai earlier today to honour the slain party leader. Greater Chennai Police Commissioner Sandeep Rai Rathore announced on Saturday that eight suspects have been apprehended in connection with Armstrong's murder. ALSO READ| BSP Tamil Nadu chief hacked to death: Mayawati reacts. Who was K Armstrong? "Eight 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 stated. He assured that the situation in Chennai remains normal and emphasized their commitment to solving the case, promising to investigate all angles and bring all culprits to justice. Earlier, BSP Chief Mayawati demanded the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government to "punish the guilty." She condemned the murder, describing it as "highly deplorable and condemnable." Mayawati highlighted Armstrong's role as a strong Dalit voice in Tamil Nadu, urging the state government to take swift action. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin expressed his grief over the incident, terming it "deeply saddening." CM Stalin assured that the police have been directed to expedite the investigation and ensure that the culprits are brought to justice. He conveyed his condolences to Armstrong's family, friends, and party members on 'X,' acknowledging the shock and sadness caused by the assassination. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Sunday demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the murder of the party's Tamil Nadu chief, K Armstrong. Meanwhile, the police suspect the involvement of the associates of a slain gangster, Arcot Suresh, in the killing of the BSP leader. Chennai: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati pays her last respects to the mortal remains of party leader K. Armstrong. (PTI) Mayawati today claimed those arrested by the local police were not the real culprits. "The way he was killed, shows there is nothing called law and order in Tamil Nadu. Those who have killed him, the real culprits have not been nabbed," she said. She also threatened the government that her party would launch a protest. "Our party has taken this incident very seriously and we will not sit quietly. Our state unit will not sit quiet and will exert pressure on the state government to refer this case to the CBI... I will pray to god to give his family and supporters strength to bear the loss... To ensure action against the accused, the party cadre should come forward but at the same time, stay within the limits of law and show that the weaker section does not take the law into their hands," she added. What did the police say about K Armstrong's murder? On Friday, Tamil Nadu BSP chief K Armstrong was hacked to death near his residence in Chennai's Perambur. The police have arrested eight people and seized seven blood-stained weapons. In an interview with ANI on Sunday, Asra Garg, Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), North Chennai, said, "After sustained interrogation, due analysis, and diligence regarding the facts and circumstances of each suspect, we have arrested eight people. We have seized seven blood-stained weapons, one Zomato t-shirt, a Zomato bag, and three bikes that were used in the commission of the offence." The officer said the associates of Arcot Suresh believed that Armstrong plotted Arcot Suresh's murder last year. The officer said that a gang murdered Arcot Suresh in August 2023. "Armstrong was murdered by associates of Arcot Suresh, including his brother, who we have arrested," added the ACP. On Saturday, the Chennai police had ruled out any political angles in the BSP leader's murder. With inputs from ANI, PTI MBABANE Despite being regarded as a fugitive of the law in the Kingdom of Eswatini, exiled President of the Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO) has vowed to be in neighbourig South Africa, come November 2, 2024. On the aforementioned day, he will be located in an area that is situated a few kilometres from the Kingdom of Eswatini. He has said that he will be in attendance at an event organised by his party dubbed The Gathering of Nation set to be held at KaMhlushwa in Mpumalanga. The former Member of Parliament (MP) introduced his upcoming event on Thursday during his online show dubbed Family Meeting, where he invited emaSwati to come in numbers. Simelane began his address by stating that he was never in the Kingdom of Eswatini last week as many might have been made to believe. Received a tip-off He claimed that he had heard that the countrys security forces searched for him after having received a tip-off that he had arrived through a train. What I can assure emaSwati is that I will travel to Africa after the month of October. When travelling to Africa, I will be going to Kamhlushwa Stadium, which is 20 kilometres from the Mananga Border Post. I am going there to call out to God and join other emaSwati. This will be during the day, he said. Elaborating, the former MP said the event was all about uniting all emaSwati who want democratic change, since they cannot be allowed to gather in the Kingdom of Eswatini. It will be very helpful for emaSwati to gather, let alone the fact that I will be there. We will be praying against all evil and the success of the movement, he said. He vowed that all talk at the event will be directed to God and that by the end of the year, there will be a huge change in the country. Also, he said his political party will engage certain institutions, one of them being the United States Embassy to enquire about a petition that was delivered over two years ago. He said since the general elections have been concluded in South Africa, SWALIMO will make sure that it mobilised the political parties of the neighbouring country in calling for a democratic Eswatini. According to Simelane, an anticipated huge turnout at the upcoming event will convince the people of South Africa that emaSwati want change. invite MPs We will also invite MPs from other countries in the SADC region so that they can hear our story. Even here in the United Kingdom, we will try and engage two or more MPs to be part of us at the upcoming event. We want the global world to be with us on the day, said Simelane. He said on the day, emaSwati in attendance will be the ones given the platform to speak and not him. Detailing the preparations for the event, Simelane pleaded for support in terms of funds. He cited that in order to secure a sound system, about E85 000 was needed. Interestingly, the exiled former MP said he was aware that his followers might have fear that he might be arrested at the event due to that the Kingdom of Eswatini has bilateral relations with South Africa. Also, he cited the recent trip by the Eswatini delegation to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva and said a presentation made there regarding events of the political unrest in 2021 was not true. Raided the homes Furthermore, Simelane used his online show to condemn the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) for having raided the homes of Siphofaneni MP Nomalungelo Simelane and former politician Ngomuyayona Gamedze a few days ago. During breaks, the former MP would play video clips of gospel artists and local representatives of other political organisations who declared that they will support the event. One of the organisations appearing on the clips is Swazi Democratic Party (SWADEPA) whose President Barnes Dlamini said: We appreciate the work that is being planned by SWALIMO of wanting us to speak to God. We are here to give assurance that we will support it fully. Let us go there to sharpen our holy weapons. We will be shouting Gods name and that is all. On the side of artists, Pastor Scara Maziya appears on the clips, where he is heard inviting other emaSwati to grace the event. It should be noted that early this year, this publication reported that Simelane had been granted a refugee asylum stay in the United Kingdom (UK) for the next five years. Refugees have the right to apply for welfare in the UK, in line with nationals in that country. If one is a refugee, they are able to work in the UK without any restrictions. He shared a copy of a letter dated February 8, 2024 written by the UK Home Office detailing that his application for a stay had been approved. Simelane fled the Kingdom of Eswatini in July 2021, shortly after news of an arrest warrant against him made rounds. His warrant of arrest was issued along with those of incarcerated former MPs Mthandeni Dube and Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza. The two were arrested on July 25, 2021 and charged under the Suppression of Terrorism Act of 2008. After fleeing the country, Simelane stated that he was in the UK in a quest to spread the word about the human rights violations in Eswatini. He said he was on a global advocacy drive. When announcing the news of being granted an asylum stay to his followers, Simelane revealed that the Government of Eswatini had cancelled the diplomatic passport that had been issued to him. The passport was given to Simelane as a working tool in his capacity as an MP. The granting of the asylum stay meant that the UK Government had accepted that Simelane had a well-founded fear of persecution and, therefore, could not return to the Kingdom of Eswatini and had, therefore, been recognised as a refugee under the 1951 Refugee Convention. By definition, a refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. International refugee Seeking asylum is not an unlawful act, and as such, international refugee and human rights law standards protect from penalisation even those who have entered or remained in the territory of a State without authorisation, including penalisation in the form of detention or other restrictions on their movement. According to research, the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, also known as the 1951 Refugee Convention or the Geneva Convention of July 28, 1951 is a United Nations (UN) multilateral treaty that defines who a refugee is and sets out the rights of individuals who are granted asylum and the responsibilities of nations that grant asylum. Research also makes mention of a relation between the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees and what is known as the 1967 Protocol? The 1967 Protocol broadens the applicability of the 1951 Convention in that it removes the geographical and time limits that were part of the latter. These limits initially restricted the convention to persons who became refugees due to events occurring in Europe before January 1, 1951. Silchar: The flood situation in Assam remained grim on Saturday in spite of comparatively less rainfall. According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authoritys (ASDMA) Saturday evening bulletin, 2.3 million people across 29 districts of Assam were affected by the floods and with six more deaths on Saturday, the toll climbed to 58. 2.3 million people across 29 districts of Assam are affected by the floods in Assam this year (File Photo) Meanwhile, home minister Amit Shah dialed Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to take stock of the situation and assured adequate assistance from the central government. Shah, after a discussion with Assam CM, wrote on X, 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 (National Disaster Response Force) and the SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) are working on a war footing, providing relief and rescuing the victims. Shah said that spoke to the Prime Minister about Assams flood situation. 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, he wrote in X. Assam CM thanked Shah for the support., Honble Home Minister Shri Amit Shah Ji, thank you so much for your concern and support. The Government led by Honble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji has been providing us with constant support and guidance to overcome this challenge, Sarma wrote on X. Among the six deaths on Saturday, two were reported from the Charaideo district while one each was reported from Goalpara, Morigaon, Sonitpur and Tinsukia. A minor boy drowned in Guwahati on Thursday night, he remained untraced till Saturday, officials said. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday predicted heavy rainfall in Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. However, Assam received 25% less rainfall than the normal amount. The big rivers in the state, including Brahmaputra, Barak and their tributaries are flowing above the danger level, according to the ASDMAs report. The water levels of the Brahmaputra and nine other rivers have risen above the danger mark in Neamatighat, Tezpur, Dhubri, and Goalpara. Though most rivers are in spate, CM Sarma said it was slowly receding. On Friday evening, a boat carrying a team of officials from the District Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department went missing in the Brahmaputra river. The team went to distribute relief materials, according to the disaster management officials. Officials said that at around 7pm, the team lost contact, following which the SDRF was deployed. On Saturday morning, the team was rescued safely. In a similar incident, Assam minister Jayanta Malla Barurah, along with a team of 50 people, got stranded at the Brahmaputra river while going to some flood-affected areas. They were later rescued by the disaster response forces. Dhubri district is the worst hit, followed by Cachar and Darrang. In Dhubri 797,918 people have been affected, followed by 175,231 people in Cachar, 163,218 people in Darrang, 131,246 people in Barpeta, 109,470 people in Golaghat, 105,372 people in Nalbari, and 100,926 people in South Salmara district. As many as 577 relief camps have been established in the state across 27 districts and over 5,26,000 people are currently taking shelter in them. Meanwhile, CM Sarma took a dig at the Congress party, saying most of the bridges and infrastructures damaged in this years floods were constructed during the Congress rule. However, he said that the current Assam government is capable of handling the situation. Responding to this, Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah said that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Assam government in the last five years requested the central government to provide Rs.10,785 for flood-related relief and reconstruction but could only get Rs.250 crore. Narendra Modi has limited his love for Assam to writing platitudes on social media, and Himanta is busy finding faults in the quality of our embankmentsA mere Rs.250 crore in five years is not even enough to provide relief, what to talk of infrastructure maintenance, Borah said. The Supreme Court will examine a clutch of petitions on Monday demanding the re-conduct of NEET-UG 2024, citing alleged paper leaks and other malpractices a hearing that comes at a critical juncture with the anxiety of more than 2.3 million candidates who took the exam hanging in the balance. Student organisations protest over the alleged irregularities in the NEET exam at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. (Arvind Yadav/HT) The sanctity of the all-India medical entrance examination, and the responses from the Union government and the National Testing Agency (NTA) opposing a re-exam, will be put to the test by a three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud. The other members of the bench are justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. The stakes are high for the candidates who appeared for NEET-UG 2024. The examination, conducted on May 5 by NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS and other related undergraduate courses across India, has been mired in controversy, with allegations of question paper leaks and inflated marking issues that have become a nationwide flashpoint for political parties, leading to thousands of students protesting for weeks. This years examination was conducted at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 abroad. The results, declared on June 4, sparked controversy when 67 candidates achieved perfect scores of 720, with some of them belonging to the same examination centre. The Union government has already replaced the head of NTA after the controversy erupted. NTA, formed in 2017, conducts a bunch of Indias most high-profile entrance examinations, including the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) and the CSIR-NET, among others. On Friday, the Union government filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court opposing the re-conduct of NEET-UG 2024. The government argued that such a move would disrupt the academic calendar and is unnecessary due to the lack of widespread evidence of malpractice. 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, stated the affidavit filed through the Ministry of Education. Supporting this stance, NTA, which conducts NEET, also filed an affidavit separately in the top court. It contended that cancelling the exam would be counterproductive and jeopardize the career prospects of meritorious students, despite instances of malpractices being minuscule, sporadic, and scattered. The NTA emphasized that strict actions are being taken against identifiable individuals involved in these malpractices at specific locations. NTA highlighted that the present case does not involve a systematic failure across the entire examination process. The data analysis of the performance so done by NTA succinctly indicates that the alleged malpractices have not either impacted the sanctity of the entire exam or resulted in any undue benefit to the students appearing at the aforementioned centers, said NTA. It asserted that the performance of students at the questioned centres is neither abnormally high nor significantly different from the national average. Even on Sunday, student organisations held protests over the alleged irregularities in the conduct of NEET, with several groups organising at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, demanding a retest. Editorial: NEET needs a total makeover The Supreme Court has previously acknowledged the seriousness of the allegations and emphasised the need for maintaining the integrity of the examination process. In an earlier hearing on June 18, the vacation bench of the apex court underscored the importance of thoroughly dealing with even 0.01% negligence on the part of NTA in conducting the NEET-UG 2024. Addressing reported instances of irregularities, the Centres affidavit on Friday detailed that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is conducting a comprehensive investigation into the alleged malpractices. The Union ministry of education has asked the CBI to probe the entire gamut of alleged irregularities, including conspiracy, cheating, impersonation, and breach of trust. The Bihar government also filed a short affidavit informing the court of its initial investigations, which have since been handed over to CBI. To address and mitigate future concerns, the ministry has constituted a high-level committee of experts, headed by Dr K Radhakrishnan, former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation. This committee, the affidavit said, is tasked with suggesting effective measures for conducting transparent, smooth, and fair examinations. Regarding 67 candidates receiving perfect scores, NTA maintained that the perfect scores were a result of the reduced syllabus due to the pandemic. The Centre on June 13 told the top court that it proposed to withdraw scorecards issued to 1,563 students awarded grace marks on account of loss of time during the May 5 test, giving candidates the option of appearing for the fresh exam on June 23. That exam was, eventually, attended by only 48% of the 1,563 students, with the rest opting to retain their scores sans the grace marks. The imbroglio over public examinations in India boiled into a political firestorm, with the Opposition attacking the Centre and accusing it of leaving the futures of millions of students in peril. The Congress also demanded a discussion on the NEET issue during the recently concluded session of Parliament, requests that were turned down. However, several lawmakers, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi addressed the issue in their speeches on the floor of the House. The Supreme Courts decision on Monday will be closely watched, as it will not only determine the fate of the NEET-UG 2024 examination but also set a precedent for handling future allegations of examination malpractices. Since the NEET controversy, a raft of key entrance exams, including the NEET-PG, UGC-NET and CSIR-UGC-NET have also been cancelled. The top courts decision will test the arguments presented by the Centre and the NTA, the integrity of the examination process, and the robustness of the responses to allegations of malpractice. All eyes will be on the Supreme Court as it navigates this complex and high-stakes issue, with the potential to impact the academic careers of millions of students across the country. New Delhi, The Delhi High Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, arrested in the Delhi Excise 'scam' cases, seeking additional meetings with his lawyers. Delhi HC to hear on Monday Kejriwal's plea for additional meetings with lawyers The plea is listed for hearing before Justice Neena Bansal Krishna. Kejriwal has challenged a trial court's July 1 order rejecting his application for directions to the prison authorities for granting two additional meetings in a week with his lawyers through video conferencing. Presently, he is allowed two meetings with his lawyers in a week. In the plea before the trial court, Kejriwal said he was facing around 30 litigations across the country and on the grounds of the right to a fair trial, he required two additional meetings with his lawyers through video conferencing to discuss the cases. The trial court had rejected the plea, saying the counsel for the applicant had failed to convince the court as to how the applicant was entitled to two additional legal meetings through video conferencing on the same grounds which have been discussed and dealt with in the earlier order. In separate petitions, Kejriwal has challenged his arrest in the corruption case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the alleged excise policy scam and also sought bail. Both the petitions are pending before the high court. The Aam Aadmi Party national convener was arrested by the CBI on June 26 from Tihar Jail, where he is still lodged in judicial custody in a connected money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate . Kejriwal, who was arrested by the ED on March 21, was granted bail by the trial court in the money laundering case on June 20. However, the trial court's order was stayed by the high court. The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after the Delhi lieutenant governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption involving its formulation and execution. According to the CBI and ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours extended to the licence holders. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. New Delhi, Many low-lying areas in West Bengal's sub-Himalayan region were reeling from a flood-like situation while major rivers in Bihar were flowing above the danger level at several places as unabated heavy rain lashed the country's eastern parts on Sunday. Flood-like situation in north Bengal, rivers hit danger levels in several Bihar districts amid rain In Assam, where 29 districts were affected by severe floods, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited relief camps in Kamrup to take stock of supplies and facilities provided to the inmates. Altogether, nearly 24 lakh people in 107 revenue circles and 3,535 villages remained affected by the floods, according to official information. Several rivers, including the Brahmaputra and the Barak, were flowing above the danger mark in many places. In West Bengal, heavy rain is likely till July 12 in the sub-Himalayan districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar and Alipurduar, the Met office said. Officials said traffic movement to and from Sikkim was being regulated through other routes. The water levels of the Teesta and the Korola rivers were also being monitored, they said. Several places in Dhupguri, Moynaguri and Kranti in Jalpaiguri district, apart from the headquarters town, were affected by the torrential rain. Jalpaiguri town recorded 166 mm rainfall in 24 hours till 8:30 am while Bagdogra received 103 mm. In Bihar, the water resources department said in a bulletin that heavy rain lashing various parts of Bihar in a 24-hour period caused major rivers to flow above the danger level at many places. The Bagmati touched the danger mark in Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur, Sheohar, Aurai and Suppi and adjoining areas. In Gopalganj and Sidhwalia, the Gandak was flowing above the danger mark till 8 am. The Kamla Balan touched the danger mark in Madhubani, Lakhnaur and Jhanjharpur. The Kamla was also flowing above the danger mark in certain areas of Madhubani and Jainagar, the bulletin said. In Araria, the Parman was flowing above the danger mark, the Mahananda crossed the danger mark in Purnea and Baisi. The Kosi and the Lal Bakeya touched warning levels in Khagaria, Beldaur and Sitamarhi and its adjoining areas. In Uttar Pradesh's Shravasti district, 12 women working in a field and their children were rescued from floodwaters amid a rise in water levels in many rivers at several places as the monsoon gathered pace in the state, an official report said. Water levels of several rivers rose in many areas of Kushinagar, Balrampur and Shravasti districts, triggering floods and flood-like situations. According to a report from the Relief Commissioner's Office, water level of the Gandak river in Kushinagar crossed the danger mark. It said 66 people were trapped by floodwaters on an island in the district's Narayanpur area. Of them, 62 people were rescued and an operation was underway to bring the remaining four to safety. The Rapti river crossed the danger mark in Shravasti, affecting 18 villages. The river passes the danger level in Balrampur as well, leading to floods. In Maharashtra, the National Disaster Response Force rescued 49 people from a waterlogged resort in Thane and 16 villagers in Palghar amid heavy rain, officials said. The Uttarakhand government, meanwhile, suspended the Char Dham Yatra following prediction of heavy to very heavy rain in the Garhwal region on July 7-8. Heavy rain in parts of Uttarakhand over the past few days triggered landslides in the hills with the highway to Badrinath blocked at a number of points by rubble. Two pilgrims from Hyderabad were killed on Saturday after being hit by boulders falling from the hillside following a landslide in Karnaprayag of Chamoli district. The rivers were also in spate with the Alaknanda flowing near the danger mark at Vishnu Prayag near Joshimath. Taranagar in Rajasthan's Churu district recorded 141 mm rainfall in a 24-hour period while Surot in Karauli registered 131 mm as heavy rain continued to batter the state. Light to moderate rainfall was recorded at many places in eastern Rajasthan and some places in western Rajasthan in the 24 hours that ended at 8:30 am, a Met official said. Heavy to very heavy rainfall was recorded at some places in Churu, Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Dausa, Karauli, Jaipur and Dungarpur districts. Light rain was recorded in a few parts of Himachal Pradesh, with the regional Met office issuing an alert for low-to-moderate flash flood risk in isolated parts of Shimla, Kangra and Chamba districts in the next 24 hours. The Met office has also issued a 'yellow' alert for heavy rain, thunderstorm and lightning at isolated places on July 10-11. In the 24 hours ended at 5 pm, Rampur received 33 mm rainfall, followed by Sarahan , Shimla , Wangtoo and Jubbarhatti , and Chauri and Bajaura . This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. Guwahati, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday that he was focusing on finding a solution for the state's annual flood crisis rather than getting it recognised as a "national problem". Focus on finding solution, not getting 'national problem' tag: Assam CM on floods He said the Centre has already made funds available for combating the floods, and more money will be provided for developing infrastructure to tackle the crisis, such as embankments. Speaking to reporters after visiting flood relief camps in Kamrup district, Sarma said, "If the flood is declared a national problem, how will it benefit us? Rather foreigners will stop coming here when they find it out." "Our focus is on finding a solution. We will benefit if some national solution is there," he added. Sarma said damage to embankments has been much less this time compared to previous years. "There has not been much flooding near embankments this time, the problem is on the riverside. In 2004, 300-400 embankments had breached, this time it is about two-three," he claimed. He said work on different embankments is already in progress and the Centre will be providing more funds to undertake such projects, as necessary. "The Centre has given 13,000 crore to us this year in advance. We have not spent much of the money so far," Sarma said, maintaining the state government has adequate funds. On his interaction with the inmates in the camps, the CM said they had informed him of getting adequate relief materials. He said the district commissioner has been asked to draw up a list of people whose houses have been damaged so that they can be compensated. Mega medical camps will be organised once the water recedes to ensure no outbreak of diseases, he said. Sarma visited three relief camps that are being operated at Amrit Chandra Thakuria Commerce College in Palashbari, LP School in Nahira and Nahira Guimara Regional High School. He took stock of the essential supplies being provided to those who had taken shelter in these camps and directed the administration to ensure the availability of medical facilities, drinking water and other necessary materials. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. New Delhi, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday for describing Assam's floods as a "flood-like situation", and said it shows a lack of knowledge and sincerity as more than 70 people have lost their lives due to the deluge. Gogoi criticises Shah for his comment on Assam floods, says it reflects lack of knowledge Gogoi said this is not the first time that Shah has made a "strange remark" on floods in Assam, and added that it only highlights the failure of the BJP government in helping the people of the northeast combat the impacts of climate change. "The statement of Minister of Home Affairs Shri Amit Shah regarding the tragedy in Assam shows a lack of knowledge and sincerity. More than 70 people have died due to the floods yet the Minister chooses to describe the current disaster as flood-like situation," the Congress MP wrote on 'X'. On Saturday, Shah said "a flood-like situation" has occurred in Assam due to heavy rains and that he has spoken to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The Union minister also said that the NDRF and SDRF were working on a war footing, providing relief and rescuing affected people. The Jorhat MP also said that the people of Assam were in distress due to the recent floods and erosion. The level of erosion that is taking place every year in Majuli is scary, he added. Gogoi said erosion creates more long-term losses compared to floods as villages, schools, acres of farmland, homes and health centres are swallowed up by the rivers. "It is the poor esp women and children who face the greatest brunt from climate change. We need massive investment in flood and erosion management in Assam. International institutions, local communities, district and state administrations, central government everyone needs to lend a hand," he said. Gogoi also expressed grief over the death of an eight-year-old boy, who was swept away in an overflooded drain after falling from his father's scooter in Guwahati two days ago. "One of the most tragic stories of loss during the recent floods in Assam. An 8 year old boy riding with his father falls and gets swept away in an over flooded drain. Ordinary Indians are paying taxes but continue to be neglected," he said in another post on 'X'. The flood situation in Assam remained grim on Sunday with close to 24 lakh people reeling under waters, official sources said. Several major rivers, including the Brahmaputra, were flowing over the danger level across the state. The toll in this year's flood, landslide and storm is at 70. Twenty-nine districts have been affected by the floods, with Dhubri being the worst-hit where more than 7.95 lakh people were reeling under waters. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. Lucknow, From witnessing the ignominy of the recent stampede that claimed 121 lives, Hathras is also known for giving Swami Vivekananda one of his first disciples Swami Sadananda, who transformed himself from a station-master to a monk. How Hathras figured in Swami Vivekananda's life Swami Sadananda is also credited with introducing the tradition of addressing the monks as 'maharaj'. "These days, Hathras is in the news and is making headlines for negative reasons. But it is the same place where the seeds of divinity and spirituality germinated at its railway station when destiny virtually handed over to Swami Vivekananda one of his first disciples, whom the world today knows as Swami Sadananda," Swami Muktinathananda who heads the Ramakrishna Math in Lucknow told PTI. In the book titled 'Monastic Disciples of Swami Vivekananda' written by Swami Abjajananda, the author says, "In the latter half of 1888, a wandering monk was travelling to Rishikesh from Vrindavan, when he got down from the train at the Hathras station. How, and with whose help he was to proceed further was uncertain. Despite this, the monk was absolutely calm, and there was no sign of anxiety on his face. On the contrary, his eyes radiated a strong air of detachment and self-confidence. However, his journey had tied him, and he was sitting on a bench on the platform." "The station master happened to see the monk. His bright eyes and his happy countenance attracted him, so he went to him and started a conversation. 'Well, Swamiji' he said, 'Why are you sitting here? Won't you go further?' 'Yes surely I will go,' answered the monk. Slightly encouraged, the station master came closer and asked, Swamiji, would you like to have a smoke?' This time the monk answered in a detached way, 'Yes, if you offer me one'," the author says further in the book. Unveiling the mystery in the subsequent paragraphs, the author says, "This wandering monk was none other than the famous Swami Vivekananda, and the station-master was Sharatchandra Gupta, who later became Swamiji's disciple and was given the name Sadananda. He was also known in the Ramakrishna Order as 'Gupta Maharaj'. This is how the first first meeting between the guru and disciple took place. It is believed that this station-master of Hathras had the honour of being the first disciple of Swami Vivekananda." However, the author in the footnote also mentions a different account of the first meeting between Swami Vivekananda and Sadananda. The footnote reads, "In the reminiscences of Swamiji, entitled 'Swamiji Vivekananda As I Saw Him', Sister Christine gives a slightly different account of Sadananda's first meeting with Swamiji. According to her, Sadananda saw Swami Vivekananda sitting in a railway compartment, and being captivated with his bright eyes, pleaded with him to get down. It seems that only a few nights before, he had dreamt of those very eyes. Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda, Advaita Ashrama, the publisher in a note also mentions that "the present volume is a translation of the original Bengali book, Swamijir Padaprante by the late Swami Abjajananda, which was published on the occasion of Swami Vivekananda's birth anniversary". Throwing light on the pre-monk life of Swami Sadananda, the author said, "Sharatchandra Gupta was born in Kolkata on 6 January 1865. His father Jadunath Gupta, migrated some time in the year 1869 to Jaunpur, a place near Varanasi, along with his family, and had settled there. Being brought up in North India, Sharatchandra, though a Bengali by birth, was more familiar with the Hindi and Urdu languages." The author also says in the book that "in those days there was no fixed mode of addressing the Swamis. Swami Sadananda, following the customs prevalent in western part of India, started addressing the monks as 'Maharaj'. Slowly, this became the accepted mode of addressing them". Mentioning another incident related to Sharatchandra in which he makes repeated requests to Swami Vivekananda to be his disciple, the author said, "Seeing his determination and sincerity, Swamiji said: 'Can you really follow me? Then take my begging-bowl and go and beg for our food from the porters of the station.' No sooner was the order given than Sharat went to beg from his own subordinates. Having collected some food he brought it to the Swami Vivekananda, who in turn blessed him heartily and accepted him as his disciple. Sharat resigned from his job, dyed a few clothes ochre, and made himself ready to accompany Swamiji as a monk. He was later formally initiated into the monastic vows and given the name Sadananda," the author wrote. According to the official website of the Hathras district administration, "In the memory of Swami Vivekanand's first arrival at Hathras a 'shilalekh' was established at Hathras City Railway station, which reveals that Swami Vivekanand has given the name Sadananda to his first disciple, who was the station master of Hathras City Railway station." This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) plans to form an alliance with its former partner, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), for the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections later this year, the party's state unit chief, Rampal Majra, said on Sunday. BSP supremo Mayawati and INLD chief Abhay Chautala during a meeting in Delhi on Saturday. (HT Photo)(HT_PRINT) He said that both parties have agreed in principle to this alliance, with a formal announcement expected on July 11. Majra said that discussions regarding seat sharing and other alliance details are currently underway. INLD secretary general Abhay Singh Chautala recently met with BSP president Mayawati at her residence in Lucknow on Saturday to discuss various state-related issues. Majra said that there is a need for all non-BJP and non-Congress parties to unite and support Abhay Singh Chautala, who he described as a strong advocate for farmers and labourers. He added that several such parties are already in contact with INLD. In the recent Lok Sabha elections, both INLD and BSP contested separately in Haryana but performed poorly. The BSP contested nine out of 10 parliamentary seats, while INLD contested seven, with neither party winning any seats. Abhay Chautala, the lone INLD MLA in Haryana, also lost his bid for the Kurukshetra parliamentary seat. ALSO READ- Armstrong murder: Mayawati demands CBI probe; police explore revenge angle The BSP ended its alliance with INLD in February 2019 after nearly nine months, during a period when INLD was the main opposition in Haryana. This split came amid internal disputes within the Chautala family. Former MP Ajay Singh Chautala, Abhay Chautala's elder brother, and Ajay's son, Dushyant Chautala, formed the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) in December 2018 following the INLD split earlier that year. ALSO READ- Rivals propaganda misled BSP supporters, caused defeat: Mayawati This renewed alliance between INLD and BSP aims to consolidate their voter bases and present a united front against major parties in the upcoming elections. The official announcement on July 11 is expected to detail the seat-sharing arrangements and campaign strategies. (Inputs from PTI) Om Birla was reelected as the Lok Sabha Speaker last month after the first election for the position since 1976 was held following a breakdown of talks between the government and the Opposition over the deputy presiding officer post of Parliaments lower House. He also became the first Speaker to retain the post in four decades. Days after presiding over the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha, Birla spoke to HT in Bundi in his Lok Sabha constituency of Kota (Rajasthan) about his priorities, expectations, quality of debates, challenges, etc. Edited excerpts: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. (ANI) You are the first Speaker since the 1980s to get a second term after serving for five years. What are your priorities? The last Speaker who got two terms [Balram Jakhar] won from Punjab [Firozpur] and Rajasthan [Sikar]. I won [Kota Lok Sabha seat] in the same state [Rajasthan]. People have blessed me. Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] has expressed his confidence in me. As a Speaker, I want to use my experience to establish new milestones based on the rules and precedents. We are the worlds biggest democracy. We have the best Constitution. I want to see peoples confidence grow in Parliament in the next five years. Our parliament should send a message to the world on the power of parliamentary democracy. Agreements, disagreements, and differences of views are part of the democratic process. When different points of view come up during debates, it also helps the government shape its policies and laws...a positive atmosphere is created in the country. More discussions will also lead to better results. The next Parliament session is starting in 15 days. After the tumultuous first session, what is your message to the Opposition? I do not see any lawmaker as an Opposition or a ruling side MP [member of Parliament]. All MPs are elected by the people of this country. They get tens of thousands of votes to come to the Lok Sabha. They get elected based on their partys ideologies. This is the beauty of our democracy. Naturally, the members have their party agendas and articulate the same in Parliament. But what I expect is there should be very high-quality debates in Parliament. Agreements and disagreements are also welcome. But constructive and positive debates will be good for the nation. It is our duty as lawmakers to enhance the faith of the people in Parliament. Agreements and disagreements should happen as it shows the strength of our democracy. The diverse views also help the government, and it is beneficial for [the goal of] Viksit Bharat [developed India]. Given the Oppositions increased strength and the way Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi led it in the first session, do you foresee a challenge to running the House the way you want to do it? Every challenge offers a new opportunity. A strong Opposition that wants to put forward its arguments is important in a democracy. But we should all stand together on issues of national importance. Unsubstantiated allegations marred the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha. How do you plan to curb this? The rules for Parliament [proceedings] have been made as per the Constitution. Every party must follow the rules and traditions of Parliament. You announced a panel will come up with suggestions to maintain the sanctity of the oath-taking ceremony. Why was it necessary? We must abide by the format envisaged in the Constitution while taking oath. The panel will talk to all parties and come up with suggestions. You won the Kota Lok Sabha seat for the third time. You are also the Speaker. What are your plans for your constituency? Kota-Bundi is family to me. I was born here, grew up, and joined public life, and have been fighting elections since 2003 from this place. People love me and have repeatedly given me their blessings. This place has tremendous possibilities for agriculture-based industries. After the Delhi-Mumbai expressway is completed, it will boost the agriculture sector. We also have the Chambal River...we do not face any water shortage. We also have two national parks. We will try to develop Kota-Bundi as a tourism hub. Also, tens of thousands of students come to Kota to prepare for competitive exams. We are making plans to ensure that they get jobs here. Jagannath Rath Yatra 2024 news Highlights: The annual Lord Jagannath's Rath Yatra began in Odisha's Puri on Sunday. This year, due to specific celestial arrangements, the religious event will go on for two days. President Droupadi Murmu witnessed the Rath Yatra in Puri, along with millions of devotees from across the country....Read More The Odisha government has made elaborate arrangements for smooth and timely conduct of the annual festival. Special security arrangements was put in place for the Presidents visit to the festival. While a VIP zone has been planned for the Odisha governor, chief minister, Union ministers and other dignitaries, a buffer zone has been planned for the President, ADG (law and order) Sanjay Kumar told news agency PTI. Usually a one-day religious event, the Rath Yatra was last held for two days in 1971. During the Yatra, rituals related to the Hindu deities - Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra - take place. Also known as the Chariot Festival, the Yatra marks the Holy Trinity's journey to their maternal aunt, Goddess Gundicha Devi's Temple, and concludes with their return after eight days. Ahead of the Yatra, the chariots have been parked in front of the Lion's Gate of the Jagannath temple from where they would be taken to Gundicha temple where the Raths will stay for a week. MBABANE There is a proposal on the table regarding possible engagement of former Botswana Minister Tshekedi Khama as a tourism consultant for the country. Investigations by this newspaper revealed that the contract for Tshekedi, the brother to Ian Khama, the ex-President of Botswana, will not come easy. This is because there are reportedly strong forces that are against the engagement of Tshekedi as a consultant for the Eswatini Tourism Authority (ETA), a public enterprise or parastatal. In short, the ETA is a government company. Impeccable sources said there were fears that, if the contract was to be finally signed, Tshekedis status may qualify him to enjoy a Cabinet ministers salary and benefits. If he were to be tied to a contract with ministerial benefits, Tshekedi, the former Botswana Minister of Environment, Conservation, Natural Resources and Tourism, may get a monthly salary of E72 398. It is worth emphasising though, that nothing is yet conclusive as negotiations are reportedly ongoing. Discussion Constance Vilakati, the acting Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, said there was a proposal under discussion by the Board. She said the proposal was, so far, outside the ambit of the ministry/directorate and Attorney Generals Office. The acting PS said ETA would, in turn, advise the minister on the employment terms once concluded. Vilakati said negotiations were ongoing, addressing all the questions this newspaper raised, which included the job description or terms of references (TORs). Efforts to get in contact with Tshekedi were unsuccessful. During the official opening of the first session of the 12th Parliament, His Majesty the King said the country recognised that tourism contributed to the economic recovery and growth potential. Therefore, the King said government was engaging stakeholders in order to fully appreciate their contributions to the tourist value chain - from tour operators to front-line workers. The head of State said great effort was needed to increase visitor numbers and tourism spend, as well as promoting the country as a destination of choice. Anticipated His Majesty said the country needed geographic spread of sites to attract all types of travellers. The Ingwenyama encouraged the industry to offer visitors a royal experience in Eswatini. He anticipated that government would expedite the merger of Lubombos five game parks to put more on offer for tourists. In his 2024 budget speech, Neal Rijkenberg, the Minister of Finance, said government would continue to promote Destination Eswatini as an advocacy strategy to ensure that Eswatini continued to be recognised as the preferred destination of choice both locally and internationally. Rijkenberg said international visitors increased by 77 per cent from January to October 2023 when compared to the 2022 calendar year. The minister of Finance said, even though the increase in tourism was encouraging, the country had not yet reached the pre-COVID 19 tourism levels. In 2024/25, he said government would be working towards operationalising the International Convention Centre (ICC). The minister said the ICC carried huge prospects of significantly boosting the tourism sector. As a result, he announced that government, in this years budget, would allocate E1.1 billion for the final completion of the Convention Centre. When completed in 2024, and if managed well, he said this project should give the nation 0.25 per cent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) and 0.75 per cent GDP in 2025. Development The Finance minister said government would continue to work on the construction and development of the Big Five National Park. Rijkenberg said this project would also bring about numerous jobs, both directly and indirectly. He said it would increase tourism numbers, and for the first time, the country would have free roaming predators in a conservation park. If this project is rolled out correctly, he said it should give a 0.25per cent GDP growth in 2027 and 2028. He mentioned that Eswatini was pioneering the global concept of Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECM), to increase the area under conservation in the country. The minister said the Big Five National Park project has a huge potential, not only to increase the countrys conservation estate but to also contribute to global conservation efforts, while implementing the Global Biodiversity Framework. He said this project has been fully funded by government so far which demonstrated the countrys commitment to implementing the global biodiversity framework and to increase the area under conservation to 10 per cent of the countrys total area. Rijkenberg said weather and climate extremes have become more frequent, costing the Eswatini economy millions of Emalangeni. While hastening efforts to mobilise external resources to deal with this climate change related challenge; he said the Government of Eswatini has also taken it upon itself to contribute to improving the countrys early warning systems, in line with the call by the UN secretary general. collaboration and coordination among sectors. Warning This is done to issue effective and targeted early warning messages, to develop plans and strategies for early warnings and risk management. He said there was a need to mobilise resources to further climate change mitigation as adaptation remained very key. It has been learnt that Tshekedi was elected to the National Assembly in Serowe North West in a 2008 by-election as a Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). He was subsequently re-elected in 2009 and 2014. From 2012 until 2018 he was the minister of Environment, Conservation, Natural Resources and Tourism. Sources told the Times SUNDAY that the interest in him was generated, mostly or partly, by the number of awards and accolades Botswana received during his time in office. It is understood, therefore, that his successes and experience in the tourism sector will be beneficial to Eswatini, in terms of wooing tourists to the country. Motivation The motivation to engage him in the negotiations stems from his involvement in high profile conservation organisations, mainly the Giants Club Summit and Rhino Conservation Botswana. His wife, Thea, was also a patron of the Global March on Elephants, Lions, Rhinos and Pangolin initiative and his brother. His brother, Ian, is one of the Board of directors at US-based Conservation International. Speaking to an NGO called We are Africa, Tshekedi said: We have made a deliberate decision to grow tourism in this country and become imaginative in the way in which were doing that. I believe we are probably the best destination in the world with ecotourism. A big claim, but the stats dont lie. Outstripping Attracting up to 2.7 million tourists a year (comfortably outstripping its own population of two million), the tourism industry accounts for up to 14 per cent of the countrys GDP, with as much as five per cent being specifically driven by ecotourism. In 2022, the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) detained Tshekedis wife, Thea, a situation that was condemned by Ian. He (Tshekedi) was also detained alongside his wife, with Ian seeing persecution of his family by the Botswana Government. Ian, the former Botswana President alleged that government ordered the detention of his twin brothers, Tshekedi and Anthony by the State security. Custody Khama alleged that the Botswanas Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) had his brothers in custody. Fellow-citizens, I have just received the news that my twin brothers, Tshekedi Khama and Anthony Khama, have been detained by the DIS and are being kept at the DIS offices in Sebele, Ian said. He said he did not know his brothers were being detained alongside Tshekedis wife. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday arrested a key accused in a narco-terrorism case in Jammu and Kashmir that is linked to Pakistan-based terrorist outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), the anti-terror agency said. National Investigation Agency (Representative file photo) Syed Andrabi, the accused, had been absconding and carried a reward on his head, the NIA statement noted. Syed Saleem Jahangir Andrabi @ Saleem Andrabi, had been on the run since June 2020, and had subsequently been charge-sheeted under various sections of NDPS Act, IPC, and UA(P) Act in the case RC-03/2020/NIA/JMU, the statement read. His arrest marks a major success in the NIA's efforts to destroy the narco-terror nexus and dismantle the ecosystem created in India by terrorist organisations across the border, the release added. What is the case? According to the Greater Kashmir website, the central agency took over the investigation in the case from the local police on June 26, 2020. The NIA, during its investigation, found that Andrabi, the accused arrested on Sunday, was part of a deep-rooted conspiracy for procuring and selling narcotic drugs and generating funds in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of India. The case was registered at the Handwara police station after the arrest of one Abdul Momin Peer, from whose intercepted vehicle, 20 lakh cash and 2 kg of heroin were seized. Peer's questioning led to the recovery of another 1.15 crore in cash and 15 kg of heroin. So far, the NIA has charge-sheeted total 15 accused in the case; the charge-sheets were filed between December 2020 and February 2023. Investigations into the narco-terrorism case continue, as per the agency. An Indian Army soldier was injured, on Sunday, when terrorists opened fire on a security post in the Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, news agency PTI reported. Soldier injured as terrorists open fire on Army camp in J-Ks Rajouri (PTI File)(HT_PRINT) Also Read: Kulgam encounters updates: 2 soldiers, 4 terrorists killed in Jammu and Kashmir The incident took place in Galuthi village, in Manjaokte area, around 4am when terrorists fired at a sentry post of Territorial Army leading the troops to also retaliate with fire. Officials told PTI that the soldier was injured during this exchange of fire that continued between both sides for half-an-hour. The terrorists managed to escape into a nearby forest but search operations for them are ongoing. Also Read: Pakistan-based terror group LeT behind Reasi terror attack This comes a day after two soldiers were killed due to gunshot wounds in two encounters with terrorists in Kulgam district of south Kashmir. The four terrorists were killed in an encounter in Frisal Chinnigam area. Also Read: 3 terrorists gunned down in Doda encounter: Police Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed a spike in terrorist attacks in the last few months. In the month of June, three terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Doda district. The terrorists were associated with the killing of a special police offer in Doda on June 11. On June 9, a bus carrying pilgrims was attacked by terrorists in the Reasi district and fell into a gorge, leading to nine fatalities and 33 injured people. Jammu and Kashmir Police chief RR Swain, said on Saturday that foreign mercenaries were being used to create a fear psychosis among people to sustain terrorism in the state. He also stated that the police's commitment to cooperating with all security agencies to eliminate terrorism in the state, 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. Recently, seven special police officers were promoted to constable status for their bravery in the anti-terrorist operations in Gandoh and more such officers are being deployed across villages for better working of an anti-infilitration grid. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Sunday initiated disciplinary action against Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal and a deputy commissioner of police (DCP) for allegedly maligning the office of West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose by promoting and spreading canards. West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose has alleged that Kolkata police officers were not allowing victims of post-poll violence to meet him.(HT_PRINT) According to a PTI report, the governor submitted a report on Goyal and DCP (Central) Indira Mukherjee, alleging they were functioning in a manner which is completely unbecoming of a public servant. In his report submitted to Union home minister Amit Shah last month, the governor alleged that Kolkata Police officers did not allow victims of post-poll violence to meet him despite him issuing the requisite permission, the PTI report added. "The Union Home Ministry has initiated disciplinary action against IPS officers based on a detailed report submitted by Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose," the Raj Bhavan official told PTI. The copies of the letter were sent to the state government on July 4, the official added. The governor has also accused other police officers, posted at the Raj Bhavan, of promoting and encouraging concocted allegations by a woman employee during April-May 2024, the official added. "These IPS officers through their acts have not only tarnished the office of the Governor but also functioned in a manner which is completely unbecoming of a public servant. They have conveniently chosen to ignore the Conduct Rules," he added. On July 4, the Calcutta high court said that it will hear the defamation suit filed by the governor against West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on July 10. ALSO READ: Woman says harassed by Bengal governor; Bose denies charge CV Ananda Bose had filed a defamation case against the chief minister on June 28, a day after she alleged that women complained to her saying that they were afraid to visit the Raj Bhavan. The governor's counsel Dhiraj Trivedi mentioned the matter before the court of Justice Krishna Rao, who had adjourned hearing of the suit on Wednesday, for an early hearing date, PTI reported. New Delhi, A day after Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar lashed out at him over his "part-timers" remark on the new criminal laws, Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday said drafting of such crucial bills should have been entrusted to the Law Commission and not to a committee whose members served part time. Law Commission should draft crucial bills, not panel with 'part-time' members: Chidambaram Chidambaram said in a post on X that the Union home ministry constituted a committee in May 2020 for reforms of criminal laws that had a chairman, convenor and members. Its composition was changed from time to time but, in the end, the committee had a convenor and five members, the former Union home minister said. All but one member were serving professors of various universities and served as part-time members of the committee, Chidambaram said. It is this committee that submitted drafts of the three new criminal laws, he said. Eventually, Parliament passed the laws, he added. "I maintain that the drafting of such crucial bills should have been entrusted to the Law Commission and not to a committee whose members served part time and had other responsibilities," the Congress leader said. His remark came a day after Dhankhar lashed out at him over his comment that the three new criminal laws were "drafted by part-timers". The vice-president termed the comment "inexcusable" and urged the Congress leader to withdraw his "derogatory, defamatory and insulting" observation. Dhankhar said he was "shocked beyond words" when he read Chidambaram's interview to a leading national daily in which he had said that "the new laws were drafted by part-timers". Addressing an event in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday, Dhankhar referred to Chidambaram's comment and said, "Are we part-timers in Parliament? It is an inexcusable insult to the wisdom of the Parliament I do not have words strong enough to condemn such a narrative being set afloat and an MP being labelled as a part-timer." "I appeal to him from this platform, please withdraw this derogatory, defamatory and highly insulting observation about the Members of Parliament . I hope he does it," the vice-president had said. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. The Madras High Court has rejected a writ petition seeking to bury Tamil Nadu BSP state president K Armstrong on the party's office premises. His cremation will now take place on private land in Pothur village, Thiruvallur district in Tamil Nadu. K Armstrong was the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Tamil Nadu president, K Armstrong was assassinated near his residence in Chennai on Friday evening by unidentified men. Justice V Bhavani Subbarayan of the Madras high court observed that the proposed burial site at the BSP office was a passageway. She also questioned the petitioner about an alternative location, given the residential nature of the area. K Porkodi, Armstrong's wife, had filed a petition seeking approval to bury him at the party office. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government objected, citing the residential location. Armstrong's body is currently at Corporation School Ground in Chennai for public homage. Party leader Mayawati and national coordinator Akash Anand paid their respects and demanded a CBI investigation into the murder. ALSO READ- Armstrong murder: Mayawati demands CBI probe; police explore revenge angle Eight suspects have been arrested so far, and police are investigating the case from multiple angles. Earlier on Saturday, BSP supporters protested and raised slogans demanding the arrest of the culprits and a CBI investigation. They also called for chief ninister MK Stalin's resignation. Several BSP workers held a sit-in protest on Poonamallee High Road in Chennai, causing a traffic jam and halting vehicular movement. ALSO READ- Tamil Nadu BSP chief killed: 8 suspects detained; party workers block Chennai road Meanwhile, CM Stalin also expressed grief over the incident. Taking to 'X', the Chief Minister 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. Agra/Kanpur: Devprakash Madhukar, the main accused in the Hathras stampede, earned a mere Rs.11,000 a month as a technical assistant with MNERGA in Etah district36 kilometres from his bungalow-like house in Sikandara Rau town of Hathras and travelled the distance in his car. Devprakash Madhukar was arrested by the UP police from Delhis Najafgarh (File Photo) Madhukar, who had the ear of the self-styled godman Suraj Pal Jatav, known to his followers as Narayan Sakar Hari or Bhole Baba, saw a dramatic financial rise in the last 14 years of his association with the preacher. He was made the chief sevadar, heading a committee of 78 wealthy people responsible for Babas satsangs and managing all the arrangements. Madhukar handled all the cash, amounting to crores. In Sheetalpur, block where he has been working since 2010, Madhukars responsibilities extended to managing vouchers and bills for MNREGA at the village level, where he closely interacted with lower-income groups. His ability to connect with rural communities greatly enhanced Babas influence, solidifying Madhukars position as the primary liaison for Suraj Pal Jatav, said people who are privy to details following his arrest. About 14 years ago, he came in contact with Bhole Baba through his in-laws but never looked back after leaving his paternal village Salempur in Etah and shifting to Sikandra Rau in Hathras. Also Read: Hathras stampede: Key arrested accused had political links, say police Soon, he was in close proximity to Bhole Baba for his skill in organising and managing satsangs. Residents of his parental village in Etah were baffled after they heard about Madhukars arrest on Friday in the high-profile Hathras stampede case. The house in Salempur was found locked by police when they went there in search of Madhukar on Thursday. His parents and brother had moved away. People were aware that Madhukar had grown in stature in recent years and was a trusted lieutenant of Bhole Baba, so much so that he was tasked with collecting donations and organising crowds at the satsangs. Madhukar was active in getting residents of his native village associated with Bhole Babas organization. He also contested the election for village pradhans post but lost. About 30 people in his village, where his parents lived, had gone to attend satsang in Hathras but returned home safe. The accused Dev Prakash Madhukar had a long association with the organisation holding the satsang and was involved in raising funds and running the organisation. It was revealed during interrogation that Madhukar had contacted a few political parties, superintendent of police, Hathras, Nipun Agarwal said at a press conference on Saturday. Madhukar was arrested by the UP police from Delhis Najafgarh after being named in an FIR registered at Sikandra Rau police station of Hathras in connection with the stampede that claimed 121 lives. Dev Prakash Madhukar had left the village about a decade ago but his parents continued to reside here. His brother resided in Nidholi Kalan town of Etah. Madhukar had no links with Bhole Baba till he was here. We knew that after settling in Sikandra Rau in Hathras district, Madhukar was into something big but the exact work done by him was not known, said a villager at Salempur on condition of anonymity. People said he became affluent after he moved to Sikandra Rau. What surprised many is that though he earned just 11,000 per month from his contractual job at Sheetalpur block in Etah as a technical assistant, he owned a house in the New Colony of Sikandra Rau in Hathras and reconstructed his parental house at the village in Etah. Madhukars wife is a panchayat assistant. He used to take people mainly of low-income groups to the Babas discourses in vehicles that he used to arrange, said an official, adding that Madhukar had become an integral part of Babas empire. He had not reported for work as MNREGA technical assistant since July 1 but once his name appeared in the FIR filed in the stampede case, the block development officer (BDO) initiated action for his removal by ending his contract as technical assistant. The permission sought from the Sikandra Rau subdivisional magistrate for the satsang was in the name of engineer Dev Prakash Madhukar as the charge of the satsang. After the stampede, the police went to his house at Sikandra Rau for a raid but found it locked. Madhukars importance in the organisation of Bhole Baba could be gauged by the fact that AP Singh, the counsel for the preacher, on Friday described him (Madhukar) as an engineer, an able and social man but a heart patient. The Mumbai Police on Sunday said that the speeding BMW which hit a two-wheeler borne couple in Worli, belonged to a leader of a political party based in Palghar. Worli Police told HT that two individuals named Mihir Shah (son of Shiv Sena politician Rajesh Shah) and Rajrishi Bidawar, who is in his early thirties, were allegedly present in the BMW car. Rajesh Shah has been detained for inquiry while his son is still absconding. The damaged BMW car that was involved in an accident, parked on the premises of Worli police station, in Mumbai.(PTI) Kaveri Nakhwa, a 45-year-old resident of Mumbai's Worli Koliwada, was killed after a luxury car crashed into the bike she was riding with her husband. The woman's husband was injured and is undergoing treatment at a hospital. According to the police, the incident took place at 5:30 am when the couple riding on a bike were passing in front of the Atria Mall in Worli. The husband managed to jump off the speeding vehicle. According to an NDTV report, the woman was dragged by the car for 100 metres, resulting in severe injuries. She succumbed to her injuries during treatment. After the incident, the driver fled from the spot with his car, the police officials said. ALSO READ: Pune Porsche case: Teen driver submits road safety essay as part of bail conditions Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde said,"The Mumbai hit-and-run case that has happened is very unfortunate. I had a conversation with the police. Whoever is guilty, action will be taken against them...We treat everyone equally. Whatever happens will be legal." Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray visited Worli police station and spoke to senior officials investigating the incident. I will not go into the political leanings of Mr Shah, the accused of the hit and run, but I hope the police will act swiftly to catch the accused and bring him to justice. Hopefully there will be no political refuge by the regime. MLC Sunil Shinde ji and I also met Mr Nakwa, the husband of the victim and promised him that we will do everything to bring the accused to justice, the former minister said. In a hit-and-run case on Sunday, a speeding luxury BMW car hit a two-wheeler borne couple in Mumbai's Worli, dragging the woman for 100 meters to death and injuring her husband, ANI reported. Worli hit and run case: Police official inspecting the BMW car involved in the accident at parking stand of Worli police station, in Mumbai on Sunday, 07 July 2024. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande)(HT Photo) According to the Mumbai Police, the couple from Koliwada area of Worli was returning home from Sassoon dock after fetching fish. Around 5.30 am near Atria Mall, a speeding BMW car hit their two-wheeler from behind. The vehicle overturned after the husband Pradeep Nakhava lost balance and the couple onto the bonnet of the car. The husband managed to jump off the moving car, but his wife, Kaveri Nakhava (45), was unable to do so as she was carrying a heavy load. Kaveri was dragged for 100 meters, leading to severe injuries. Both were rushed to the Nair hospital for treatment, but the woman succumbed to her injuries. The Worli Police has seized the BMW car and detained its owner Rajesh Shah, a local leader of Shiv Sena (Shinde) in Palghar. Police have also nabbed the absconding driver of the vehicle. Rajesh's son Mihir Shah is still believed to be absconding. Both driver and Mihir Shah are suspected to be inside the car at the time of the accident. No arrests have been made so far in the case. Police also inspected the car involved in the accident. DCP Zone III Krishnakant Upadhyay told PTI that a case has been registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the investigation is underway. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackrey visited Worli police station and met the husband of female victim on Sunday, (Photo by Bhushan Koyande)(HT Photo) Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackrey later visited the Worli Police station and met the husband of woman. Posting on social media platform X, he said that Mumbai's traffic discipline and safety has to be brought back. "The accident is unfortunate and sad. I have spoken to the police, there will be no interference in the case and strict action will be taken according to the law. The police will not protect anyone. I want to tell this clearly that everyone is the same before the law. Even if he is a Shiv Sena worker, law will take its own course. Our government's stand is to give equal justice to all," said Chief minister Eknath Shinde over the Worli hit and run case. He made the statement soon after Aditya Thackeray visited Worli police station. The incident comes on the backdrop of a sensational hit-and-run case in Pune involving a 17-year-old minor, who had hit a motorcycle and killed a young couple. The accident happened on May 19 when the teenager was allegedly under the influence of alcohol. Pune police is expected to approach the Supreme court against the Bombay High court's decision to grant bail to the accused. (With ANI, PTI inputs) Nupur Sharma, a former Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson who was suspended from the party for her controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad in 2022, took a veiled dig at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over his recent violent Hindus comments in Parliament that stirred a massive political row. In a purported video doing rounds on social media, Nupur Sharma claimed that there is a conspiracy behind such statements. Former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma When people in high positions claim that Hindus are violent, or when others say that Sanatanis should be wiped out, one should understand this conspiracy, Nupur Sharma said without naming Rahul Gandhi. The former BJP spokesperson was reportedly addressing an event in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad. She also spoke about the controversy that took place two years ago over her statements during a TV debate. What I have seen in the last two years is there have been attempts to wipe out Sanatanis. And if Hindus were violent, then a Hindu daughter would not have to live under such heavy security in her own country, Nupur Sharma said, referring to the death threats she received after her remarks. Claiming that no one should go through what she did, Nupur Sharma said, The country will be governed by its Constitution, not by any Sharia law. Her alleged derogatory remarks on the Prophet during a debate on national television in July 2022 not only triggered a nationwide controversy but also triggered a massive diplomatic row with a number of Muslim nations, including Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE, raising the issue. Amid the row, the BJP suspended Nupur Sharma from the party and also issued a statement saying it respects all religions and strongly denounces insults of any religious personality. According to the police, Sharma was charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 153A (promoting enmity between groups) and 505(2) (statements conducing to public mischief). Meanwhile, the controversy led to several violent incidents in the country, including the beheading of a tailor in Rajasthan's Udaipur who supported Sharma. The issue also reached the Supreme Court after Sharma began receiving death threats. However, the top court came down heavily on Sharma, saying that he was single-handedly responsible for what was happening in the country. Sharma's loose tongue has set the entire country on fireHer outburst is responsible for the unfortunate incident at Udaipur. She should apologise to the whole country, the court had said. Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday appeared undeterred by Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar's vitriolic attack over his "part-timers" jab, as he maintained that the crucial criminal bills must have been entrusted to the Law Commission. Congress leader P Chidambaram. (ANI) "In May 2020, the MHA constituted a Committee for Reforms of Criminal Laws. It had a Chairman, Convenor and members. Its composition was changed from time to time but in the end, the Committee had a Convenor and five members. All but one member were serving Professors of various Universities and served as part-time members of the Committee. It is this Committee that submitted drafts of the three new Criminal Laws. Eventually, Parliament passed the laws," he wrote on X. "I maintain that the drafting of such crucial Bills should have been entrusted to the Law Commission and not to a Committee whose members served part-time and had other responsibilities," he added. Also read: Defamatory and insulting: VP slams P Chidambarams remarks on new criminal laws Chidambaram had told an English daily that the laws should not have been scrutinized by the panel of part-timers. On Saturday, Dhankhar described his words as an "inexcusable insult to the wisdom of parliament". "I do not have words strong enough to condemn such a kind of narrative being set forth. A member of parliament being labelled as a part-timer, ultimately it is a parliament that is a last source of law formulation," he stated. Addressing the 12th convocation of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Dhankhar said Chidambaram's remark had stunned him. "This morning when I read a paper, an informed mind, who has been the finance minister of this country, a parliamentarian for a long and a Member of Rajya Sabha currently, he stunned me because I took great pride that this parliament has done a great thing. It had unshackled us from colonial legacy by giving us three laws that our epochal dimension from "Danda Vidhan" has come to "Nyaya Vidhan," he said. He said Chidambaram and several other Opposition members didn't participate in the debate on the three laws in the Parliament. He asked the Congress leader to withdraw his "derogatory, defamatory and highly insulting observations". The three new criminal laws Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 came into effect on July 1. The bills were passed in the Parliament during the Winter Session last year. Before the passage of the bill, over 140 Opposition parliamentarians had been suspended. With inputs from ANI, PTI Russia said it is expecting a very important and full-fledged visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Moscow, which is crucial for Russian-Indian relations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. (AFP File Photo) Prime Minister Modi will be in Moscow from July 8 to 9 at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit. This will be PM Narendra Modi's first Russia visit since the since Russia-Ukraine war that began in February 2022. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in an interview with Russias state-run VGTRK television channel, said on Saturday the programme of Prime Minister Modi in Moscow will be extensive and the two leaders will be able to have informal talks. PM Narendra Modi's Russia visit: Top points PM Narendra Modi and Vladimir Putin will review the entire range of multifaceted relations between Indian and Russia and exchange views on contemporary regional and global issues of mutual interest, the Ministry of External Affairs said in New Delhi on Thursday while announcing the high-level visit. "Obviously, the agenda will be extensive, if not to say overbusy. It will be an official visit, and we hope that the heads will be able to talk in an informal way as well, Dmitry Peskov said. Peskov said Russian-Indian relations are at the level of strategic partnership. He added that there would be both one-on-one talks in the Kremlin and those involving delegations. We are expecting a very important and full-fledged visit, which is so crucial for Russian-Indian relations, he was quoted as saying by the official Tass news agency. Modi's last visit to Russia was in 2019 when he attended an economic conclave in the Far East city of Vladivostok. The annual summit between the prime minister of India and the president of Russia is the highest institutional dialogue mechanism in the strategic partnership between the two countries. PM Modi's Austria visit Modi will be travelling to Austria for his first visit on July 9 and 10, after his Moscow visit on July 8 and 9 at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin to hold the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit. Ahead of his visit to Austria, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday the shared values of democracy, freedom and the rule of law form the bedrock upon which the two countries will build an ever-closer partnership. Modi's remark came a day after Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer posted on 'X', I very much look forward to welcoming Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, the world's largest democracy, next week in Vienna. "This visit is a special honour as it marks the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in over 40 years and a significant milestone as we celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations with India," he said. Responding to Nehammer, Modi said, Thank you, Chancellor Karl Nehammer. It is indeed an honour to visit Austria to mark this historic occasion. I look forward to our discussions on strengthening the bonds between our nations and exploring new avenues of cooperation. "The shared values of democracy, freedom and rule of law form the bedrock upon which we will build an ever closer partnership," he said. (With inputs from agencies) For over a year, a private body contracted by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) was allegedly paid crores while dumping hazardous waste in local communities instead of properly disposing of it at cement factories hundreds of kilometers away, according to internal civic agency inquiries and comments from officials and environmentalists. Waste dumped illegally at Sector-29 near Leisure valley park. (Parveen Kumar) MCG paid 5.52 crore per month for at least 15 months to a contractor called Patheya, which identifies itself as a non-profit, to process and transport refuse derived fuel (RDF) from the Bandhwari landfill to cement factories in Madhya Pradesh. However, instead of fulfilling this contract, the company allegedly dumped the waste in various locations around Gurugram, raising serious environmental and health concerns. The issue involves forged disposal certificates, the possible complicity of some MCG officials, and crores in taxpayer money paid for services not rendered, the people cited above said. Documents seen by HT suggest that MCG was aware that RDF never reached the specified sites mentioned in the disposal certificates provided by the agency. A committee set up by the corporation visited three cement companies in Madhya Pradesh for inspection, of which two denied having received RDF as claimed by Patheya (The Peoples Association For total Help and Youth Applause). The companies also said they havent issued any certificates for the receipt, the committee said in a confidential report filed in September last year. HT has seen a copy of the report. The third company, ACC, which has a cement plant in Kaymore of Madhya Pradesh, said it received RDF from another private agency working with MCG but did not mention Patheya. Read Here: Manesar residents criticise municipal bodys plan for waste management Patheyas response is that the confusion is on account of changes in the management of the Madhya Pradesh companies, and insisted that the deliveries were being made as committed contractually. MCG officials who asked not to be named said the bills were cleared by a chain that went thus: junior engineer, assistant engineer, executive engineer, joint commissioner, superintendent engineer, and the audit and accounts departments. One MCG official said the body received multiple complaints about the company and senior officials were informed, but nothing happened. Officials who raised questions, this person added, were transferred. For instance,an executive engineer who sent a notice to contractor in October, 2021 and an assistant engineer who sent another notice in December, 2021, were shifted out. Finally, the problem came to light when the former MCG commissioner, PC Meena, ordered a review of all disposal certificates by vendors. Read Here: MCG starts mapping garbage burning spots The incumbent MCG commissioner, Narhari Singh Bangar, said that he has asked the team to reopen the case and investigate the matter since he was not aware of its finer details. In September 2021, MCG accepted a tender from Patheya for legacy waste processing at Bandhwari, and work started in October the same year. Within two months, the executive engineer deployed at the Bandhwari landfill issued the company a notice. The notice stated that while the understanding was that in two months between 15.09.2021 and 14.11.2021 the company would shift and process 200,000 metric tonne of waste, so far only 4799 (MT) has been shifted by you i.e not even 3% of allotted work. The notice, which has been seen by HT, went on to accuse the company of negligence. The notice added: Looking at your methodology , it seems that you have no experience in this regard because neither you have any action plan nor you are taking proper action in this regard. By December 2021, another notice was issued to the company. Read Here: MCG fines 498 violators for dumping waste in open spaces On February 1, the two officials were transferred and relieved of duties. MCG said that their transfers were routine, but both officials, asking not to be named, disputed it and suggested their transfers were linked to the notices. They added that the circumstances of their transfers were odd as they were not given time to handover files when they were relieved of their duties. One of the officials is now back at MCG, reappointed in February, 2024 when the new commissioner took over. Meanwhile, Patheya went on about its work, raised bills, claimed the work was done by June 2023, and was paid. It was only in July 2023 that one of the officials deputed by the then MCG commissioner tipped off the agency about the irregularities in Patheyas works. Refuse derived fuel (RDF) is produced from domestic and business waste, which includes biodegradable material as well as plastics. Non-combustible materials such as glass and metals are removed, and the residual material is then shredded. As per CPCB guidelines and NGT instructions, RDF can be only accepted by cement factories and waste-to-energy plants as it is not organic waste that is harmful to flora and fauna. That RDF from Bandhwari was not being disposed of the way it was meant to be came to light when social activists in Gurugram approached the National Green Tribunal (NGT). They registered complaints on September 29 and November 6 in 2023 . In an affidavit filed before the tribunal in September, MCG claimed it was sending RDF to cement factories in Madhya Pradesh, and that it was paying 5.52 crore a month to a private agency for transporting 60,000 tonne of waste. All told, according to MCG officials, 30 crore was paid. Read Here: Waste mismanagement remains an issue in Gurugram But when HT called up Smart Utilities MSW Pvt Ltd at Jabalpur , officials said the company received no waste RDF from Gurugram. Narender Mohan Sahare, manager of supply chain management of Jabalpur, told HT that to the best of his knowledge, the company received no RDF nor issued any certificate. Two officials from MCG visited us on July 11, 2023 and after checking all records, we told them that we had not received any material including RDF from any company from Gurugram. We wrote three emails also confirming the same, he said. HT has seen all three e-mails. Later the team visited another factory in August, said officials. Kamal Narayan Pathak, general manager of Trimula Industries limited in Singrauli in MP, said that two MCG officials visited the factory on August 23 and 24 in 2023. We had no entry or exit record of any company that was sending RDF from Bandhwari in Gurugram. As per our records no kind of RDF material has been received in this plant and no kind of co-processing certificate of RDF material was issued by us, he told HT. Pathak said he sent an email on August 24 to the additional commissioner of MCG informing him of this. One of the officials who visited the factories confirmed on condition of anonymity that the bills and certificates submitted to release the payments were found forged, but that by then, the payments had already been made. Sheeshpal Rana of Patheya blamed his rivals for spreading false allegations about the company. He insisted that the company was delivering RDF to three factories in Madhya Pradesh. He claimed that the confusion rose from to changes in management and staff at these factories. Two companies did not verify our RDF disposal because their managements changed three times. Earlier, they had submitted to MCG that they received our RDF, He said. He added that his company has told MCG that it could withhold the payment for this. But we already processed an extra quantity 80,000 tonne more than what the work order specified. The issue has been resolved now. If MCG believes we havent transported RDF, they can impose a penalty and deduct it from the payment they still owe us for the 80,000 metric tonnes we processed. We are ready to bear the brunt of it. Read Here: Manesar civic body fines violators of solid waste management rules MCG commissioner Bangar said that he took over only on January 4, 2024, and needs to verify the allegations. Since I have joined no fresh bills have been submitted and no payment has been released without proper verification. I am not aware of this fraud and will enquire. Yash Pal Yadav, director of Urban Local Bodies, said that the issue should have been flagged at the local level. Gurugram deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav, who heads the district, said that he was not aware of the issue since it involved a civic agency. Sanjay Singh, minister of state (independent charge), environment, forests, and wildlife said the state had a zero-tolerance approach towards irregularities. The agency involved in dumping RDF in Bandhwari and nearby areas has not been awarded any other tenders. Furthermore, our partnership with NTP for a green charcoal plant will address these issues and prevent future scams, he said. Harbeer Harsana, a local from Bandhwari village, and one of the people who complained to MCG, expressed his concern about RDF being dumped in the vacant areas and outskirts of the village, leading to serious health issues. The roads leading to the village have been closed due to the waste accumulation, making access difficult for residents and emergency services. Over 100 complaints have been made but to no avail, he said. Another local from Mangar village said that they caught drivers dumping RDF. The drivers confessed they were paid 3,000 to dump a trolley of waste near Bandhwari to save on transportation costs. Despite multiple complaints, no action has been taken, leaving the villagers to deal with the ongoing health hazards, including respiratory issues and contamination of local water sources. These illegal dumping practices are causing significant environmental damage and jeopardising the health and safety of the local communities, he said. RDF has been dumped in Bandhwari, Mangar, Baliyawas, Palli and Sainik colony in Faridabad, said social activists. Vaishali Rana, a city-based environmentalist, alleged that more than 40 local residents and a school complained about RDF being dumped, but that MCG ignored it. RDF, as it is called, is being dumped indiscriminately in water bodies, stormwater drains, creeks, in agricultural fields and around schools there, she said, adding that efforts to involve the National Green Tribunal had been ineffective and the citizens would consider approaching the Supreme Court. Rana said that, in February this year, an affidavit was filed in NGT informing them about the illegal dumping of RDF/mixed waste in the surrounding villages of Bandhwari, Baliawas in Gurugram, and Mangar, Pali, Sainik Colony in Faridabad. On February 22, a private school in the city complained to the Gurugram deputy commissioner and social activists about dumping of waste near their school. The indiscriminate dumping of waste near Made Easy School in Bandhwari, Gurugram, is having detrimental effects on the school environment and the health of hundreds of our students and staff, said the school administration. Over the past few weeks, students, staff, and faculty members have witnessed numerous instances of trucks blatantly dumping waste in close proximity to our premises. The accumulation of waste near the school has led to several alarming consequences. Firstly, the foul odours emanating from the waste are making it increasingly difficult for students to concentrate on their studies. Moreover, there is a growing concern about the contamination of our groundwater sources due to the proximity of the waste dumping site. This poses a significant health risk to everyone in the vicinity, including our students, teachers, and local residents. Furthermore, the presence of such waste near the school is tarnishing its reputation and creating an unsafe and unsanitary learning environment for our children, they said. We urgently request the intervention of the authorities to address this issue and put an end to the illegal dumping of waste near our school. We also seek assistance in implementing stringent monitoring and enforcement measures to prevent further harm to our environment and the health of our community members. As concerned members, we are committed to working collaboratively with the relevant authorities to find a sustainable solution to this problem. We believe that by taking prompt and decisive action, we can safeguard the well-being of our children and preserve the integrity of our educational institutions,it added. The unique two-day Jagannath Rath Yatra 2024 in Odisha's Puri is scheduled to commence on Sunday, July 7. President Droupadi Murmu will join the annual festival, which will attract lakhs of devotees. Typically, the Rath Yatra for Lord Jagannath is a one-day event, but due to specific celestial arrangements, it will span two days this year, a rarity last seen in 1971. Ratha Yatra, also known as the Chariot Celebration of Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra, and Lord Balabhadra, is being observed today, (File)(HT Photo/Debabrata Mohanty) The newly elected Odisha government has implemented special arrangements for President Murmus visit, given her roots in the Mayurbhanj district, and to ensure the festival proceeds smoothly. Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi has declared a two-day public holiday on July 7 and 8 for the Rath Yatra. The chariots are positioned in front of the Lion's Gate of the Jagannath temple, ready to be taken to the Gundicha temple, where they will remain for a week. Devotees will pull the chariots on Sunday afternoon. What is special about this year's Rath Yatra? Departing from customary practice, several rituals involving the three sibling deitiesLord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra, and Lord Balabhadrawill be performed on a single day this Sunday. This year, the Rath Yatra and associated rituals like Nabajouban Darshan and Netra Utsav will all take place on July 7. Typically, these rituals are conducted before the Rath Yatra. Nabajouban Darshan signifies the youthful appearance of the deities, who remain behind closed doors for 15 days during Anasara (quarantine) following Snana Purnima. According to mythology, the deities fall ill due to excessive bathing on Snana Purnima and thus stay indoors. Before Nabajouban Darshan, priests perform the special ritual Netra Utsav, where the deities' eyeballs are freshly painted. The Rath Yatra, also known as the Chariot Festival, is believed to be as ancient as the Jagannath Temple in Puri. The festival marks the Holy Trinity's journey to their maternal aunt, Goddess Gundicha Devi's Temple, and concludes with their return after eight days. In essence, the festival spans from Akshaya Tritiya (in April) and concludes with the Holy Trinity's return to the Shree Mandir premises. Arrangements by Odisha govt The state government has made arrangements organised to ensure the annual festival proceeds smoothly and on time. With the cooperation from all stakeholders, all the rituals are going on smoothly. With the blessings of Lord Jagannath, all other rituals will also be conducted according to schedule, Puri Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain was quoted as saying by PTI. Puri Superintendent of Police (SP) Pinak Mishra was quoted by the news agency PTI saying that 180 platoons (one platoon comprises 30 personnel) of security forces from both the state and central governments have been deployed to manage law and order and control the crowd during the festival. A green corridor is prepared to quickly transport anyone who falls ill from the crowd to the hospital. Artificial Intelligence-based CCTV cameras have been installed at Badadanda, the festival venue, and other key locations in the town, according to ADG (law and order) Sanjay Kumar. Special security measures are in place for the Presidents visit to the festival. A VIP zone is planned for the Odisha governor, chief minister, Union ministers, and other dignitaries, while a buffer zone is reserved for the President. A dedicated team led by a senior SP rank officer has been organised to oversee President Murmus visit to the pilgrim town. Expecting a crowd of 10 to 15 lakh people, the fire service department has made necessary arrangements. DG, fire service, Sudhanshu Sarangi, mentioned that 46 modern fire tenders have been stationed throughout the town and along the sea beach for the Rath Yatra. To combat the expected hot and humid weather, water will be sprinkled on the crowd to keep them cool, he said. (With PTI, ANI inputs) Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, will meet the displaced residents of Manipur staying in Assams Cachar district before heading to the violence-hit northeastern state on Monday. Rahul Gandhi. (PTI) Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah on Sunday told the media that Rahul Gandhi will fly from New Delhi to Kumbirgram Airport in Assams Silchar in a special aircraft and will go to meet the displaced people first. He will reach Silchar airport at 9am on Monday and will go to Manipurs Jiribam by road. He will meet the displaced people staying in Assam before that. After visiting Jiribam, Gandhi will come back to Silchar airport and will fly to Imphal, Borah said. Over 1,700 residents of Manipurs Jiribam have taken shelter in the Lakhipur area of Cachar district after fresh violence broke out in their homeland last month. Most of them said that they crossed the Barak River, which is the state border in large parts, at night. The Assam police strengthened security post their arrival and some senior cops issued strict warning against the displaced residents. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on June 17 asked the local administration to extend support to the displaced people on humanitarian grounds but not allow any violation of law or attempt of violence. Inspector general of police (IGP) (Law and Order), Assam, Prasanta Kumar Bhuiyan on June 23 told the displaced people to remember that this is Assam and not Manipur, while suggesting them to stay away from violating laws. The Assam Congress president on Sunday said that Rahul Gandhi will talk to the displaced people and will try to understand the situation more intensely. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are ignoring Manipur. They are not trying to solve the conflicts there. Rahul Gandhis visit is important because he is trying to bring peace in Manipur, Borah said. He said that Gandhi will stay in Imphal for one day and on July 9, hell return to Delhi. This will be Rahul Gandhis third visit to Manipur since the ethnic violence started in May last year. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has written to United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer congratulating him on his landslide electoral victory. In another letter, the Congress MP on Saturday extended commiserations to the UK's Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak on the party's electoral defeat, saying victories and setbacks are inevitable part of democracy and we must take both in our stride. UK's Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak (left), Congress MP Rahul Gandhi (centre) and UK PM Keir Starmer.(Agencies) In his letter to Keir Starmer, Rahul Gandhi said the Labour Party's emphasis on economic growth with equality, better opportunities for all through stronger social services, and community empowerment struck a chord with the people of the UK. "I extend my heartiest congratulations on your remarkable electoral victory, a significant achievement for the Labour Party and for you personally. Your campaign's emphasis on economic growth with equality, better opportunities for all through stronger social services, and community empowerment clearly struck a chord with the people of the UK, reflecting their aspirations for a brighter future," the Congress leader said in his letter. Also Read | Starmers landslide victory is a bright light ahead Rahul Gandhi added that he too believed in the same ideals stated in their campaign. "As someone committed to these ideals, I congratulate you and the people of the UK for championing them. Your victory is a testament to the power of a politics that puts people first. I also look forward to the continued strengthening of the bilateral relationship between India and the UK," the letter further reads. "I wish you all the best for your tenure, and I look forward to meeting you in the near future," he said. Also Read | After crushing defeat, fight begins for soul of UK Conservative Party Rahul Gandhi's letter to Rishi Sunak In his letter to Rishi Sunak, Rahul Gandhi hailed the former British prime minister's dedication to public service and commitment to the British people. I would like to extend my commiserations on the recent electoral outcome. Victories and setbacks are both an inevitable part of the journey in a democracy and we must take both in our stride, Rahul Gandhi's letter reads. "Your dedication to public service and commitment to your people are commendable. I also deeply value the efforts you made to strengthen the ties between India and the UK during your term in office," he said. The Congress MP expressed confidence that Rishi Sunak would continue to contribute to public life with his experience. I wish you all the best for your future endeavours, the former Congress president said. On Friday, Keir Starmer became the UK's new prime minister 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. The Labour Party secured 412 seats in the 650-member House of Commons, up 211 from the 2019 elections. (With inputs from agencies) New Delhi, Self-styled godman Bhole Baba's lawyer Singh alleged on Sunday that witnesses told him some people opened cans containing a poisonous substance in the crowd during the July 2 Hathras 'satsang', triggering the stampede. Some people opened cans of poisonous substance in crowd, triggered stampede: Bhole Baba's lawyer Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Singh also alleged a conspiracy, which he attributed to Bhole Baba's "rising popularity", behind the stampede. The stampede after the 'satsang' of self-styled godman Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras left 121 people, mostly women, dead. "Witnesses have reached out to me and said there were 15-16 people carrying cans of a poisonous substance that they opened in the crowd. I have seen post-mortem reports of those killed and it showed that they died of asphyxiation and not because of injuries," Singh claimed. Alleging a conspiracy behind the stampede, he said, "There were vehicles parked at the site to help the men escape. We have proof and we will submit it. This is the first time I am speaking about it." Singh claimed the witnesses who reached out to him requested anonymity. "We will demand security for them." So far, nine people, including key accused Devprakash Madhukar, have been arrested in connection with the stampede. On Saturday, Hathras police said it was also probing into the suspected funding of the congregation by a political party and warned of the "strictest possible" action against it. Madhukar was the main organiser and fundraiser of the 'satsang' where more than 2.5 lakh people had gathered, much beyond the permitted limit of 80,000, officials had said. The godman was not mentioned as an accused in the FIR lodged at the local Sikandra Rao police station. The judicial commission set up by the Uttar Pradesh government will speak to anyone required for its inquiry, a probe panel member said when asked if Bhole Baba would also be questioned. The commission will also issue a public notice soon, asking locals and witnesses to share any evidence related to the stampede, along with their statements, another member and chairperson of the panel, retired Allahabad High Court judge Brijesh Kumar Shrivastava, told reporters in Hathras. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. Seven people died and some others are still feared to be trapped for over 12 hours after a multi-storey building collapsed in the Sachin area of Gujarat's Surat on Saturday amid heavy rain for several days in the region. While a woman was rescued soon after the collapse, the body of three others was pulled out by night, Surat police commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot said. Police and fire department personnel conduct a rescue operation after a Four-floor building collapsed, in the Sachin area, Surat on Saturday. (ANI ) Surat building collapse: What we know so far The building collapsed around 3pm on Saturday in the Sachin area of Gujarat's Surat. Several people living in the building are trapped under the debris. Immediately after the incident, police and fire brigade reached the spot. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and the fire department are conducting the rescue operations, the police said. According to the police on Sunday, seven bodies have been retrieved from under the debris so far, while some people were still strapped. Surat Police Commissioner Anupam Singh 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. A woman was successfully rescued who was trapped under the debris. Among the 30 flats inside the building, four to five were occupied, and the rest were empty, reported ANI citing officials. Reportedly, several people were at work, and those who were sleeping got trapped. Notably, the building was constructed in 2016-17. Meanwhile, in another incident in Gujarat this year, four workers were injured after a section of an under-construction medical college building in Morbi town collapsed in March. While, another labourer was rescued after being trapped in the debris for seven hours. The incident took place around 8 pm on March 9 while workers were working on roof filling on the first floor of the new building. (With inputs from agencies) Ahmedabad: At least seven people were killed and 15 others injured after a six-storey building collapsed in Gujarats Surat city, with the rescue operation still going on as more are still believed to be trapped under the rubble, officials said on Sunday. A six-storey building collapsed in Sachin Pali village in Surat on Saturday afternoon (Twitter Photo) A six-storey building collapsed in Sachin Pali village in Surat on Saturday afternoon. The incident took place following several days of incessant rain in the region. The building, which was approximately eight years old, housed textile workers and their families in rented apartments. We have recovered seven dead bodies so far. All the deceased have been identified. They were mostly workers employed in the textile industry, police inspector J R Chaudhary told HT on Sunday. According to officials, soon after the incident was reported around 3pm on Saturday, emergency services, including fire officials and teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), were rushed to the site. Rescue operations began immediately, with workers sifting through a mountain of concrete debris in search of survivors. Initial reports indicated that one woman was rescued alive from the rubble, while several others were feared trapped. As the search operation progressed, one dead body was found around 9.30pm on Saturday. The death toll rose to seven by Sunday morning. Rajesh Parmar, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (Zone 6), stated earlier that four to five individuals were believed to be trapped inside the debris. The search and rescue operation is ongoing. Eyewitnesses described the scene as horrifying, with large chunks of concrete slabs piled atop one another. Officials noted that the building was in a dilapidated state prior to the collapse, raising questions about building safety standards in the area. Authorities are investigating the cause of the collapse and the buildings structural integrity, said an official. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Russia visit is a great opportunity for him and the country's president, Vladimir Putin, to hold direct talks on a host of issues including trade, said external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Sunday. External affairs minister S Jaishankar S Jaishankar pointed out that certain issues between India and Russia need resolution. "There are issues...like the trade imbalance...So, at a leadership level, it will be a great opportunity for Prime Minister Modi and President Putin to sit down and directly talk to each other. And then obviously, as per their directions, we will see how to take the relationship forward," he said. He said both India and Russia value the need for an annual summit between the two countries. "Now, this was a tradition. It's a good tradition. We are two countries that have such a strong and very steady history of working together. So both of us value very much the need for an annual summit," he told ANI. "Even last year, I went to Moscow at the end of the year, and at that time, I carried a message from the prime minister that we are committed to the annual summit, and we will do it sooner rather than later," he added. India-Russia annual summit after three years PM Modi will head to Russia on July 8. He was invited by Putin for the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit. The Summit will take place after a gap of three years. The 21st bilateral Summit was held in December 2021 when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited New Delhi. PM Modi is expected to discuss issues of regional and global importance with Putin. Meanwhile, India's ambassador to Russia, Vinay Kumar, called Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit "very significant". "Russia is now one of the very important sources of energy resources in India. Also, trade has expanded in other areas. So this visit becomes very important for the leaders to exchange views on all these developments in the bilateral relationship, but also other regional and international issues of mutual interest," he said. Also read: PM Narendra Modi's 2-day Russia visit begins on July 8: What's on the agenda? What will PM Modi do in Russia? PM Modi will be in Moscow on July 8 and July 9. PM Modi's program includes a private meeting with President Putin, delegation-level talks, restricted talks, lunch hosted by President Putin for the Prime Minister and his delegation, visit to an exhibition centre in the VDNKH Complex, Rosatom Pavilion, and also exchange of documents which we are preparing to sign and exchange during the visit, the official said. PM Modi will also address a gathering of Indian diaspora. He said the two leaders will discuss global issues, including the Ukraine-Russia war. He said the India-Russia trade has crossed 65 billion dollars but there is a trade imbalance in favour of Moscow. "Trade, as I was mentioning, in the last three years, trade has expanded, crossed USD 65 billion. We have two challenges. One is to balance the trade because trade is very heavily in favour of the Russian side. So expanding India's trade basket, export items, and also increase in the quantity to better balance the trade, while at the same time finding ways and means to sustain this growth in bilateral trade," he said. "We are looking at new items, including agricultural products to export to Russia, ceramic tiles, auto components and engineering goods, chemical products, of course, pharmaceuticals has been one of the traditional areas, products that we have exported to Russia. We want to increase their volume and also add new items to the trade basket," he added. With inputs from ANI Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday accused the Eknath Shinde government of luring women voters with the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana ahead of Maharashtra assembly polls and asserted the initiative will stop in two to three months. Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray accused the Eknath Shinde government of luring women voters with the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana(PTI) Also Read: Battered by poll result, Ajit Pawar makes emotional appeal to voters Addressing party workers here, he also renewed his demand to waive farm loans in line with the government's announcement of a scheme to write off electricity bills of farmers. Thackeray accused the BJP of driving a wedge between castes in Maharashtra. Also Read: Eknath Shinde blames voters on holiday for NDA's Lok Sabha election setback in Maharashtra The former chief minister demanded that the Centre increase the cap of 50 per cent reservation by passing a law in Parliament to facilitate quota for Marathas and other communities without hurting the interests of Other Backward Classes. "Many schemes are being launched. This is a ploy to lure women voters before the polls. The schemes are only for two-three months. Their government will not return and even if it returns, the schemes will be wrapped up after that," he added. In the budget tabled in the assembly last week, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar announced sops ahead of state polls, which are likely to be held in October-November. Pawar announced Mukhyamantri Annapoorna Yojana , Mukhyamantri Yuva Karyaprashikshan Yojana, Mukhyamantri Krishi Pump Yojana as well as Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana and a scheme to provide free education to women. "Schemes are being announced but there is a drought when it comes to their implementation. The government is trying to hide its sins with these schemes," Thackeray alleged. Speaking about the recent Lok Sabha polls, Thackeray said the defeat of his party candidates in Aurangabad, Raigad and Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg him hard. He urged his workers to ask voters the reason behind party candidate Chandrakant Khaire's loss from Aurangabad. Thackeray said Shiv Sena leader Sandipan Bhumre's win in Aurangabad was achieved by stealing his party's name and symbol. The former CM acknowledged the 'burning torch' symbol of the Shiv Sena , which it got post the split, could not effectively reach people in the Lok Sabha polls. He said assembly polls will be fought to protect Maharashtra's self-respect. What is common to Maoists in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, insurgent groups and village volunteer guards in Manipur, even Myanmars anti-military forces? Security personnel with seized walkie talkie sets. (HT Photo) The answer is Baofeng walkie talkie sets, thats what. Made by Chinas Fujian Baofeng Electronics Co., huge numbers of these walkie talkie sets have been seized wherever there is insurgency. They are inexpensive, hardy, easy to use, and have a range of 5 km, which can be extended to 10 with an easy hack. On June 22, deep in the jungles of Chhattisgarhs Sukma district when a joint team of CRPF and Chhattisgarh police recovered a cache of fake currency notes, ink and printers, it also found eight Baofeng walkie talkie sets. Hours later the same day, in Manipurs Kakching area, acting on a tip-off about a hidden arms dump in the jungle, the forces dug a specific area in the jungle and recovered two Baofeng set along with 37 hand grenades. Read Here: Satellite images show China digging in close to Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh A senior security officer in Manipur, who asked not to be named, said security forces have recovered over 100 such walkie talkie sets in the past year. The number is easily in hundreds. Insurgents and even village volunteers are using this set to communicate in the jungles. Throughout the ethnic clashes, which started in May last year, we have recovered Baofeng walkie talkies. Sometime in June-July last year, the state government banned their sale. Walkie talkies are no longer sold openly but people manage to get it from nearby states such as Mizoram, Assam, Nagaland, or online. Available for prices ranging from 1800- 16000 online, Indian forces have even intercepted shipments of the sets being smuggled out by Myanmars anti-military rebel forces . On May 18, an Assam Rifles team arrested a member of the Myanmars rebel force, Chinland Defence Force (CDF) who was transporting 14 Baofeng devices across the border to Myanmar. Our probe in different cases have revealed that the walkie talkies can be used to communicate within 5 km. This efficacy of the device is reduced if there is a hill or a barrier in between. But people have found ways to connect their devices at a specific frequency to increase its efficacy. We have seen that when three such devices are connected at one frequency, the distance can be increased to almost 10 km, the security officer posted in Manipur said, adding that while the armys Signal Intelligence Unit has the resources to monitor these conversations ,state police forces are not equipped to do so. Read Here: India, China foreign ministers agree to resolve border issues at earliest According to Mizoram police, from January 1 till May 30, they recovered 314 Baofeng sets and 10 other walkie talkie sets. Lieutenant general, Konsam Himalaya Singh(retired), a Manipur resident, who served in leadership roles in the army, and headed the 27 Rajput in Siachen glacier during this service, said, We had seen this trend in Jammu and Kashmir more than a decade ago. But the army could track the communication. The terrorists there then graduated to using Thuraya satellite handsets. During my time, we recovered a lot of walkie talkies and later Thuraya sets. With no cell network in the jungle areas, communication for insurgent groups is important so they are using walkie talkie sets. They use the frequency band which is available for public use. The sets that they use will have less than 10 channels and are of low quality but it serves their purpose. These are Chinese companies. There is a Chinese footprint here. With no electricity in the jungles, insurgents use solar panels to recharge their sets. We have also recovered solar panels. In the recent case of the fake currency seizure, the Naxals were using solar panels to use charge the handsets as well as the printers, said Kiran G Chavan, Sukma districts superintendent of police. Awadhesh Prasad, the member of parliament from Faizabad seat in Ayodhya district of Uttar Pradesh, claimed on Sunday that there were murmurs within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the constituency in the Ram temple town. There were discussions around it. Prime Minister Modi had visited Ayodhya and held roadshows. The BJP cadre was low on morale on hearing about my candidature. I don't practice caste politics. People of all castes and communities respect me. The fear-stricken BJP leaders began to say how will I win as the PM is going to contest (polls), Prasad told Hindustan Times' Kumkum Chadha in an interview. Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Prasad won Lok Sabha election from Faizabad in Ayodhya district.(YouTube/Hindustan Times) Why did the BJP lose in Ayodhya? In the just concluded Lok Sabha elections, Prasad stunned everyone by winning the Faizabad seat in Ayodhya district, where the Ram temple stands. Recalling how he was fielded from the high-profile seat, the lawmaker said,"Akhilesh Yadav told me he wants to honour me in a big way. He told me you have to contest Lok Sabha election. He told me that if I contest, I will win irrespective of any BJP candidate against me." ALSO READ: Samajwadi MP Awadhesh Prasad says infrastructure in Ayodhya crumbling, blames BJP When asked why did the saffron party lose months after the pran pratishtha of the Ram temple, Prasad said,"It is the defeat of the BJP's mindset and ideology. Ayodhya is the land of Lord Ram. It was believed that no citizen will face any difficulty here. In this Ram Rajya, homes of people were demolished. Expensive land was acquired at throwaway prices," Prasad told HT during the interview. India's public does not express its anger. But conveys its angst from time to time, the 78-year-old leader said. ALSO READ: How SP managed to stun BJP in Uttar Pradesh despite Ram Temple hype When asked about his prospects of becoming the Lok Sabha deputy speaker, Prasad,"God has been kind to me. I am a nine-time MLA. My wife has been a Panchayat chief. I have a been a six-time minister." The Faizabad MP said he is not aware of becoming the deputy speaker. I have no official information regarding this. Whatever I know is because of media coverage, he added. Will make Akhilesh Yadav the PM Awadhesh Prasad, who has been associated with the Samajwadi Party since its inception, said he has never changed his party affiliation for the past 45 years. Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) could not become the prime minister. Three months ago, I told Akhilesh ji that I couldn't make Netaji the PM. But I will make you the prime minister, he said. Ahmedabad: The Congress will defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the next assembly elections in Gujarat the same way the INDIA bloc candidate did in Ayodhya in the Lok Sabha polls, Congress leader and the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi (File Photo) On Saturday, Gandhi visited Gujarat and met families and relatives of the victims of the Rajkot gaming zone fire tragedy and Congress workers in Ahmedabad and said that his party would defeat the BJP in the 2027 assembly election. Addressing a convention of party workers in Ahmedabad, Gandhi said, 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. Gandhi was referring to a clash that broke out between members of the Congress and the BJP outside the Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan, Congresss state headquarters in the Paldi area of Ahmedabad, on July 2, during a protest by BJPs youth wing members against Gandhis remarks in Parliament. Take it in writing that Congress will contest in Gujarat and defeat Narendra Modi and BJP in Gujarat as we did in Ayodhya, he said on Saturday. He added that no poor person was visible at the event. Gandhi also highlighted issues surrounding the Ram Temple construction in Ayodhya and criticised the BJP-led government for not adequately compensating those whose land was acquired for the project and the new international airport. He pointed out that local Ayodhya residents were absent from the Ram Temple inauguration, suggesting this contributed to the BJPs defeat in the constituency. PM Modi wanted to contest the Lok Sabha poll from Ayodhya, but his surveyors said he would be defeated, and his political career would end, Gandhi said. Invoking the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, Rahul emphasized Gujarats historical significance in shaping the Congress partys ideology. Our biggest leader who showed us the way when the Britishers were ruling us was Mahatma Gandhi, who gave this slogan of daro mat, darao mat and the fire started from Gujarat, he said. Apart from meeting the families of the victims of the Rajkot fire, in which 27 people were killed, Gandhi also met the families and relatives of those who lost their lives in various tragedies in Gujarat in the past few years, including the boat capsize incident at Vadodara in January this year where 14 people were killed after a boat capsized in Motnath Lake and the Morbi bridge collapse where a British-era suspension bridge on the Machchhu river in Morbi collapsed in October 30, killing 135 people. Deepika Padukone wore a bejewelled purple saree to attend Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant's wedding sangeet celebrations. The nine yards of grace is from the shelves of the clothing label Torani. Stylist Shaleena Nathani styled the mom-to-be in the ensemble. Read on to know the price of the ensemble and the details that went into creating the look. (Also Read | 'PHAT' Shloka Mehta recreates Kareena Kapoor's iconic Bole Chudiyan look for Anant Ambani's sangeet. Pics) Mom-to-be Deepika Padukone stuns in a beautiful purple saree that took 3,400 hours to make. (Instagram) Deepika Padukone's purple jewelled saree took 3,400 hours to make: What is its price? Deepika Padukone, who is expecting her and Ranveer Singh's first child, rocked her baby bump in the Torani saree. According to the label, the ensemble took 3,400 man-hours to make. It takes inspiration from 'the 16th-century architecture of Hyderabad's Chowmahalla Palace, and the Chaukhandi tombs of Karachi'. It features hand-embroidered pearls, zari, and dori embellishments. With the nine yards, Deepika showed her appreciation for Indian crafts and heritage. The Torani saree is called the Hukum Ki Raani Saree Set. It is from their couture collection, Leela, and costs a fortune. Adding the ensemble to your closet will be worth 1,92,000. The price of the purple saree Deepika Padukone wore. (torani.in) Decoding Deepika Padukone's jewelled saree look Deepika draped the jewelled saree in traditional style, letting the pallu fall from her shoulder in a floor-sweeping length, displaying the intricate kadhai. She paired it with a matching blouse featuring hand-embroidered zari work, a deep neckline, half-length sleeves, and a cropped hem. She accessorised the ensemble with a pearl choker necklace, matching earrings, and rings. Meanwhile, for the glam, she chose bold winged eyeliner, smoky eyes, kohl-lined lids, feathered brows, mauve lip shade, rouge-tinted cheeks, and mascara-adorned lashes. Lastly, she styled her tresses in a centre-parted bun. Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh are expecting their first child Deepika is expecting her first child with Ranveer Singh in September 2024. The couple has been happily married for almost 6 years now. They tied the knot in an intimate ceremony on November 14, 2018. The Gregorian calendar that consists of 365 days is different from the Islamic lunar calendar followed by Muslims that is based on the phases of the moon and has about 354 days that are divided into 12 months where Muharram is the first, tailed by the months of Safar, Rabi-al-Thani, Jumada al-Awwal, Jumada ath-Thaniyah, Rajab, Shaban, Ramadan, Shawwal, Zil-Qadah (or Dhul Qadah) and Zil-Hijjah (or Dhul 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. Muharram 2024: Date, history, significance of Islamic New Year, rituals (Photo by Freepik) Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar and the first date of the month holds great significance for Muslims worldwide since it is celebrated as Islamic New Year, also known as Al Hijri or Arabic New Yea. It was in this holy month that Prophet Muhammad migrated from Mecca to Medina however, the 10th day of the month, known as Ashura, is mourned by Muslims in the remembrance of the matryrdom of Prophet Muhammads grandson, Hussain Ibn Ali. Date: The Islamic calendar is based on the lunar cycle, so the dates of Muharram vary each year in the Gregorian calendar. The crescent moon for Muharram was not sighted in Saudi Arabia on Friday evening i.e. July 05, 2024 which corresponded to 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 and 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. The same goes for UAE, USA, United Kingdom (UK), Oman and other Gulf nations or countries in the West that follow KSA's moon sighting. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and other South Asian countries usually gear up to sight the crescent moon of the holy month of Muharram a day later. However, the crescent moon was not sighted after Maghrib on July 06, 2024, that corresponded to 29th Dhul Hijjah in the country hence, July 07 will be the last day of Dhul Hijjah 1445 while the Islamic New Year 1446 will be celebrated by the Muslims in our country on July 08, 2024, which will be the first day of Muharram 1446/2024. Muharram 2024 date shared by Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahali from Lucknow (HT Photo) History: Muharram has historical importance for both Sunni and Shia Muslims. It commemorates significant events, including the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (the grandson of Prophet Muhammad) in the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE. This battle holds immense religious and political significance in Islamic history. The battle took place during the caliphate of Yazid I, the second Umayyad caliph and it involved a conflict between the forces of Imam Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad and the ruling Umayyad army. Imam Hussein, along with his family members and a small group of loyal companions, refused to pledge allegiance to Yazid I due to concerns about his unjust rule and violation of Islamic principles. They embarked on a journey to the city of Kufa in present-day Iraq, responding to calls for support from its inhabitants however, upon reaching Karbala, Imam Hussein and his companions were met with a large Umayyad army, which vastly outnumbered them. Despite the odds, Imam Hussein and his followers remained steadfast in their commitment to uphold justice and the true teachings of Islam. On the 10th day of Muharram, known as Ashura, Imam Hussein and his supporters faced a brutal battle against the Umayyad forces where the small group of Imam Hussein's followers including men, women and children, were surrounded and deprived of food and water for several days. Ultimately, they were mercilessly killed and Imam Hussein himself was martyred in the battle. Significance: 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. The events of Karbala and the martyrdom of Imam Hussein hold great significance for Muslims. The sacrifices made by Imam Hussein and his companions are seen as a symbol of resistance against oppression and the importance of standing up for justice, even in the face of tyranny. Observance and rituals: Muharram is observed differently by Sunni and Shia Muslims, although mourning and remembrance are common aspects. Shia Muslims engage in mourning processions, hold gatherings called "Majlis," and commemorate this tragic event through mourning rituals, processions and gatherings in mosques, Hussainiyas or community centers to listen to sermons by religious leaders that recount and highlight the events of Karbala, paying homage to the martyrs and expressing grief and sorrow. They may also engage in self-flagellation or chest-beating as expressions of grief. Shia Muslims refrain from attending and celebrating all joyous events in this period and observe a faaka on the tenth day of Muharram, commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, who was the son of Hazrat Ali and the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, in Karbala. As for Sunnis, observing a fast on this day is considered a sunnah since Prophet Muhammad kept a roza on this day after Prophet Musa or Moses as per the Sunni tradition. Sunni Muslims may observe fasts on the 9th and 10th or 10th and 11th days of Muharram, known as Ashura, as recommended by Prophet Muhammad where the two fasts of Ashura is also observed to distinguish from the Jewish observance of Yom Kippur. It was in the month of Muharram that Allah saved the Children of Israel from Pharaoh hence, as a sign of gratitude to Allah, Prophet Musa or Moses fasted on the day of Ashura that is the 10th of Muharram. In 622 CE, when Prophet Muhammad migrated from Mecca to Medina in the month of Muharram, he learnt from the Jews that they fasted on this day following the ways of Prophet Musa. Wanting his followers to show the same gratitude to Allah, Prophet Muhammad decided to observe a two-day fast - one on the day of Ashura and one on the day prior (that is the 9th and 10th day of Muharram). These are the traditional customs of Sunni Muslims. The 10th day of the month or Ashura is mourned by Muslims in the remembrance of the martyrdom of Prophet Muhammads grandson, Hussain Ibn Ali, in Karbala. The Shia community remembers the massacre on Ashura when Imam Hussain was said to be beheaded in the battle of Karbala and to mark public mourning and remembering the pain given to their great leader and his family, members of Shia community wear black clothes, observe abstinence, faaka and take out processions on this day. It is important to note that Muharram is a solemn time for reflection, remembrance and honouring the sacrifices of Imam Hussein. It is a period of mourning and respect and individuals partaking in its observance do so with reverence and sensitivity to its cultural and religious significance. In today's competitive world, young people face a myriad of ambitions, expectations and obstacles and whether striving for academic excellence, career advancement or personal development, the quest for success often imposes significant pressures on mental health. In this ever-changing landscape, prioritising mental well-being becomes not merely a suggestion but an essential component for sustainable progress and fulfilment. Balancing ambition and mental health: Essential strategies for young achievers (Image by gpointstudio on Freepik) Read on as we examine crucial approaches for young aspirants to safeguard their mental health while pursuing their aspirations. By cultivating self-compassion, setting attainable goals, defining boundaries and embracing self-care, young individuals can navigate life's journey with resilience, clarity and equilibrium. Young achievers planning for different entrance exams can manage their health issues. In today's highly competitive environment, the mental health of individuals gearing up for different competitive exams holds significant significance. In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Neha Tripathi, Counselling Psychologist at Toprankers, provided invaluable insights into addressing mental health challenges during the exam preparation phase. She stated following things to consider to manage mental health while preparing for competitive exams - 1. Encourage Breaks and Leisure Activities: Don't underestimate the power of breaks! Schedule them regularly and engage in activities you enjoy. Whether it's painting, playing a sport, or catching up with friends, these moments of leisure will help you unwind, fresh and come back to your studies with renewed focus. 2. Celebrate Achievements: Acknowledge your progress, big or small. Recognising your achievements will boost your confidence and keep you motivated on the path to success. 3. Promote Healthy Lifestyle Habits: Emphasise the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including regular exercise, nutritious meals, and sufficient sleep. These habits can improve cognitive function and mood, ultimately enhancing exam performance. Adding further emphasis, Professor (Dr) Padmakali Banerjee, Vice Chancellor, IILM University Gurugram, offered profound insights into this crucial aspect. According to her Managing mental equilibrium and dispelling of stress and anxiety are paramount for young achievers for success and happiness in life. For that youngsters must imbibe and inculcate positive thinking and a sense of optimism every step of the way. This is a sustained process that needs to be practiced diligently on a regular basis with maximum sincerity and dedication. Positive thinking brings in positive emotions and optimism that drive the mind to focus on finding solutions and learn constructively from failures instead of dwelling on setbacks and feel disheartened. Nishi Khosla, Career Counsellor at Seth Anandram Jaipuria School in Lucknow, also stressed on the importance of mental health among young achievers. She stated, In today's fast-paced world, the relentless pursuit of excellence often takes a toll on mental well-being. As individuals strive for success, their psychological health can become collateral damage. Recognising this, schools, colleges, and communities are called upon to create nurturing environments where individuals can openly express their concerns without the fear of judgment. This includes fostering a culture that values mental health as much as academic or professional achievement. Equipping individuals with coping mechanisms is essential. Techniques such as mindfulness, meditation, and stress management provide invaluable tools to navigate the highs and lows of life's journey. Moreover, instilling a growth mindset, where failures are seen as opportunities for growth rather than obstacles, promotes resilience and perseverance. She suggested, Finding a balance between ambition and self-care is key. Setting realistic goals, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and making time for hobbies and relaxation are vital components of this equilibrium. Additionally, encouraging young aspirants to seek support from friends, family, mentors, or mental health professionals is paramount. It's essential to destigmatize failure and embrace imperfection, recognizing them as inherent parts of the human experience. By celebrating one's unique journey and cultivating self-compassion, individuals can build a strong foundation for mental well-being. Prioritising mental health alongside personal and professional goals is crucial for overall success and fulfilment. By nurturing supportive environments, teaching coping strategies, and promoting self-care practices, society can empower individuals to thrive in both their endeavours and their well-being. Tanzania's government is expanding its nature preserves, but in doing so, it is displacing Maasai herders from their ancestral lands. The plan is to attract more luxury tourism and Berlin is a major backer. Life is becoming ever more difficult for Tanzania's ethnic Maasai, as a representative for the group's women told DW. She did not want her name to appear in print over concerns for her safety. Numerous representatives of the ethnic herding people have been arrested over the past several years whenever they have criticized the policies of the Tanzanian government. Tanzania's Maasai concerned about encroachment of their traditional lands.(Hua Hongli/picture alliance) "Two pregnant women recently died," said the representative. She reported that there had been heavy rain and roads were impassable. "Nearly every week there is a pregnant woman dying in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and in Loliondo," she said. Other DW sources have confirmed the statement. The Maasai say the government of Tanzania is to blame. Medical flights that used to transport patients to hospital emergency rooms were shut down by the government a couple of years ago, for instance, purportedly over licensing problems. Still, there are suggestions that this is simply part of a larger plan to shutter all health and education services in areas populated by the Maasai in order to get them to leave the savannah in northern Tanzania for good. A government spokesperson abruptly ended an interview with DW when confronted with the growing health services problem. Expanding nature preserves but at what price? President Samia Suluhu Hassan has big plans. She intends to expand the amount of Tanzanian lands under conservation protection from 30% to 50% of the country's total territory. Yet her plan for Tanzania is having devastating consequences. Conservation laws stipulate that no people can inhabit such areas, nor can houses, schools or hospitals be built upon them. There is one exception though for tourism infrastructure. Existing government infrastructure currently occupying the area will simply be allowed to crumble said Joseph Oleshangay, a Maasai chief in Ngorongoro and a lawyer who has represented the Maasai people in numerous legal battles. "On April 12, 2021, the government issued a public statement declaring its intention to demolish nine government schools, six healthcare centers, nine villages and four churches," stated the complaint filed by Oleshangay. it was successful: A court ordered the government to halt its plans. But it was to no avail, said the lawyer. "Meanwhile, we have healthcare stations without a single paracetamol for any of our children," he said. Other sources in the area confirmed the statement, but they, too, prefer to remain anonymous. Luxury tourism displacing cattle herders By expanding its preserved lands, Tanzania hopes to attract billions in foreign investment as well as more tourists. Last year, more than a million people visited Tanzania's protected nature parks. China, for instance, invested more than $9 million (8.3 million) in a geopark in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, named after the Ngorongoro Crater. The area was fenced in to protect tourist camps, luxury hotels and picnic areas with panoramic viewing platforms. The Maasai, whose ancestors used to live on the land, are now denied entry. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) have also invested more than $7 billion in Tanzania. Among their investments, a hunting ground in Loliondo. Luxury lodges and an airstrip for private planes are being built to welcome wealthy sheiks flying in to hunt big game. This area, too, is being fenced in, even though it is a traditional grazing area for Maasai cattle herds during the dry season. Tanzania's parliament is currently debating another proposal, which DW has seen, for the creation of still more protected areas. The plan will require the removal of at least 100 further Maasai villages. That would mean a total of more than 300,000 people would be displaced say non-governmental organizations (NGO) and the affected. "If the plans are carried out, the Maasai will lose 80-90% of their traditional lands," according to Roman Herre of the German NGO FIAN, which supports the rights of the Maasai. "This would essentially amount to the total destruction of their way of life." A new settlement far from home In order to make way for major investors, Tanzania's government has established a settlement for the Maasai further east, in Msomera, which is located in the Handeni district. The settlement, some 600 kilometers (373 miles) from where the Maasai currently live, will feature block houses for the semi-nomadic people to dwell. Wilson Sakulo, the commissioner responsible for the project, emphasizes that the Maasai are "voluntarily" leaving their current homelands and says it is important that they not be dissuaded by "all of the misinformation" surrounding the program. Hundreds of millions in funding frozen over human rights concerns So far, numerous international partners have given support to Tanzania's protected areas expansion plans, including the German federal government in Berlin. For decades, Tanzania has been one of Germany's most important partners when it comes to nature conservation in Africa. In all, the German KfW Development Bank has invested nearly 30 million in Tanzanian conservation programs. A small portion of that, around 220,000, was frozen last year over concerns the Maasai could be displaced. In April, the World Bank also suspended 150 million in tourism expansion funding to Tanzania over human rights concerns. And in June, the European Commission withdrew a project bid worth some 10 million. Despite having reservations last year, the KfW committed another 9 million in German conservation investments in early 2024. The Development Bank clarified to DW that part of that money would go toward building a new healthcare station and schools in Maasai communities located near the protected area. The nearby communities the bank was referring to are those into which Maasai not wanting to relocate to Msomera are being moved meaning Berlin is indirectly financing the Tanzanian government's policy of displacing the Maasai in favor of luxury tourism and foreign investment. The afternoon of November 8, 1793 was marked by a tragic event in the history of France. Marie Roland, the French revolutionary, philosopher, politician, and writer, was guillotined that day. O Liberty, what crimes are committed in thy name! were her final words. I recall these words of Madame Roland while observing the proceedings in Parliament; O democracy, what are they doing in your name? How can our Members of Parliament (MPs) conduct themselves in such a manner in Parliament? The general election concluded last month. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had been in power for two terms, was denied a thumping majority for a third term, though it had everything on its side: Prime Minister Narendra Modis capable leadership, the largest party organisation, and vast resources. The Congress, the largest Opposition party, was not in the reckoning. No one expected regional parties to be strong enough to challenge the BJP, but they proved to be the biggest obstacle to a sweeping victory for the party. What message does this mandate give both parties? To the ruling party, the clear message was that it will need to revisit its style of functioning. The lesson for the Opposition was to not be boastful. They have made progress, of course, but they have to put in significantly more effort to return to office. The first test of whether these parties have learnt these lessons came in Parliament. So who passed, and who failed the test? Perhaps you, like me, were shocked by the debate over the Presidents address to the joint session of Parliament. The ruling party appeared to be contemplating an attack as a defensive measure after failing to achieve the desired results. For the first time, the ruling party passed a censure motion against the conduct of the Opposition, in the opening session itself. The Opposition, too, appeared to be in the mood for retaliation rather than resistance. A speech given by Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, a skilled orator, is an example. Her style is outstanding, and her articulation sharp. She spoke logically and pointed out that the government had paid a high price for its mistake of expelling her from the House the last time. Mahua said, The last time I stood here, I was not allowed to speak. But the ruling party has paid a heavy price for throttling the voice of one MP. Mujhe baithane ke chakkar me, janta ne aapko 63 seats par permanently baitha diya (Termination of my House membership cost you 63 seats in the general election). Similarly, more than a hundred MPs who were previously suspended or disenfranchised for alleged indecent conduct were retaliating. As a result, Opposition members of both Houses were targeting the treasury benches. Shouldnt the leaders of the ruling alliance and the Opposition engage in some serious thought in this House during the next five years? They have many matters to discuss. They live in New Delhi, and until last week, the Capital was parched. Now the rains have brought devastation rather than respite to the Capital. In just hours, the Capital became a reservoir. More than half a dozen people died and property worth crores of rupees was destroyed. This was the same metropolis where, in the summer, blood was shed for water. If the city where our parliamentarians dwell is in such a state, how can we expect Parliament to project visions of happiness for their constituents? Many issues of national concern require both sides to reach a consensus. How can this be expected when personal grudges and animosity have gained the upper hand? The trend of retribution and retaliation is not limited to within the House. Politics is evolving in different ways across the country. An example is the action taken by the new regime in Andhra Pradesh against the deposed Jagan Mohan Reddy in June. Reddy once imprisoned Chandrababu Naidu, who is currently the chief minister. Naidu is now hellbent on destroying Reddy. Similarly, in Karnataka and Telangana, there have been charges that the Congress is dealing with its opponents the same way that it has accused the Centre of doing. The behaviour of our politicians, both within the House and outside, does not augur well for the future of our democracy. This trend needs to be halted. However, the pressing question remains: Who will take the initiative to put an end to it? The answer is that, actually, it is the job of none other than our honourables. Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan. The views expressed are personal While big-ticket property deals are common in Mumbais real estate market, Bengaluru is fast following its footsteps. High-end residential units priced at 10 crore and above have seen growing demand and developers are reciprocating with proportionate fresh supply, industry players who spoke to HT Digital said. With rising aspirations amid a robust economic growth, Bengaluru is seeing increasing number of takers in the upper end of its luxury housing market(Pexel) Both enquiries and conversions have gone up, said Praveer Shrivastava, Senior VP, Residential, Prestige Group. According to a JLL report, approximately 680 residential units priced above 5 crore were sold in the IT capital during the January-March period of 2024. The upper end of the luxury housing market, ranging from 5 crore to 20 crore, is typically a niche and slow-moving market featuring limited inventory during a year. In the past two years, prices in this bracket must have increased by an average of 10% and volumes must have risen by 20-30%, said Shantanu Mazumder, who is an executive director for Bengaluru region at property consultancy Knight Frank India. Also read: Share of luxury homes' sales now almost at par with affordable housing units Bengaluru-headquartered luxury real estate developer MAIA Estates recently sold out 4,118 -square feet 4 BHK units priced at 8.7 crore, in its first project located in North Bengaluru, company founder and chief executive Mayank Ruia said. The brand plans to push the envelope to offer 4.5 BHK units priced at 25 crore in its upcoming project. However, even as Bengaluru plays catch up, a luxury property in the IT capital with similar price specifications as its counterpart in Mumbai, offers significantly more. Presently, the built-up area in 4 BHK housing units priced around 10 crore in Mumbai ranges between an average of 2,000 - 3,600 square feet, local brokers said. Meanwhile, in Bengaluru, 10 crore can fetch one a 4BHK unit in prime locations across micro-markets, sprawling anywhere between 3,600-8,000 square feet. Due to high land cost and scarcity in Mumbai, the focus is on optimizing space efficiency, experts said. Top deals in Q1 2024 According to information accessed through real estate data aggregation platform Zapkey.com, Bellandur in South-east Bengaluru and Rajaji Nagar in the citys Western corner emerged as the top performing areas for real estate deals priced at 10 crore and above during the first quarter of the ongoing calendar year. Adarsh Palm Retreat Villas in Bellandur recorded five transactions for 3 and 4 BHK units spanning over 3,000 square feet, and so did Phoenix Kessaku in Rajaji Nagar for units measuring between 6,179 - 11,967 square feet, data shared by Zapkey showed. Also read: Bengaluru and Delhi NCR require the least time to liquidate unsold housing inventory Meanwhile, Raheja Vivarea in Koramangala saw four transactions for 3, 3.5, 4 and 5 BHKs currently under construction and Embassy Boulevard in North Bengalurus Yelahanka clocked three transactions for 4 and 5 BHK villas ranging between 4,000-7,400 square feet, data showed. Key offerings in the segment Project location is a key consideration in premium luxury projects as prospective residents prioritize safety, connectivity and privacy. Location for these projects within a micro market is very important. Typically, there needs to be good access, a certain view. There has to be a certain amount of exclusivity attached to these projects, explained Mazumder. Amenities in these projects are far lesser in number compared to those in the affordable or mid segments, entailing standard offerings such as a clubhouse, swimming pool, gymnasium and so on. They are however, top-of-the-line. Also read: Relocating from Noida to Bengaluru? Here are 5 things you should know before renting an apartment in the city The project is conceptualized in a manner to avoid any differentiation, ensuring each unit within the facility has the same features. Pricing may, however, differ on account of vertical placement, with units on upper floors commanding a higher premium. These projects also include a limited number of units. Maintenance charges In terms of services, everything is a call away, made available by a professional property manager. Owing to high service expectations and delivery levels, maintenance charges in these projects may vary from 12-18 per unit, as opposed to an average of 5-8 in apartments priced between 3-5 crore, experts said. For instance, Embassy One located near Mekhri circle consists of 109 residences spread across two towers and is serviced/managed by Four Seasons. Who are the buyers? The primary takers in this segment comprise high and ultra-high net worth individuals, rich nonresident Indians, C-suite executives, promoters and entrepreneurs. Of late, the age profile of these buyers has also reduced with many professionals now climbing up the corporate ladder in their mid-thirties, said sectoral experts. They bring along a certain degree of vibrance in the segment with their no-compromise attitudes, they added. Also read: Non-resident Indians from the US dominate real estate sales in Bengaluru; 2BHK and 3BHK housing units most popular Resale market Demand for high-end apartments priced between 5-7 crore far exceeds supply in the secondary market, especially in traditionally posh locations within the Central Business District such as Defence Colony and Koramangala, local brokers who spoke to HT Digital said. Accordingly, prices have increased by an average of 20% in the last 12 months. However, in the 10 crore and above bracket not many transactions are happening in the resale market. A buyer would rather buy a plot of land and construct the property himself/herself, said Kiran Kumar, vice president of Hanu Reddy Realty. Also read: Why are real estate developers making a beeline for Mumbai and Bengaluru markets? Bengalurus real estate market also enjoys a robust demand for high rent-yielding commercial properties priced between 10-20 crore, Kumar added. In the UK general elections, the Conservative Party, led by Rishi Sunak, was beaten by the Labour Party. Rishi Sunak, Britain's former prime minister, said that the opposition had won and conceded defeat. After the major loss in the UK general elections, Sunak's wife Akshata Murty, recently posted a picture of her "home" on social media. What's notable, numerous supporters of Sunak and Murty took to the comments section of the post and thanked the two for their service. The Conservative Party, led by Rishi Sunak, was beaten by the Labour Party in the UK general election. (Instagram/@akshatamurty_official) "My home," wrote Akshata Murty in her post. She also shared a picture of herself, her daughter and her dog taking a walk in an open lush green area. (Also Read: Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murty wears 42,000 Indian label dress at resignation speech. It becomes viral joke) Take a look at the post here: This post was shared a few hours ago. Since being posted, it has gained close to 13,000 likes. Many people took to the comments section and thanked Sunak and Murty for their service. A few also appreciated their efforts and said that Sunak did a "fantastic" job as UK prime minister. (Also Read: Who is a better cook? Wife Akshata Murty gives thumbs up to Rishi Sunak) Here's how people reacted to it: Instagram user Mina said, "PM Sunak did a fantastic job, given the circumstances. It's easy to forget how he steered the debt market out of a mess. You've been gracious!" Another user, Gauri Fauzdar, wrote, "Proud of Rishi! He made us all so proud and our hearts full of joy, especially being an Asian myself. And of course you are surely his biggest supporter. Love to you guys." "What an amazing job Rishi did, so proud of him and you for standing by him. I feel so sad that Rishi is no longer PM. However, I'm sure you are both exhausted and deserve a good rest and quality time with the girls. Wishing you all the best for a beautiful summer break," commented Lina Thakrar. User Sally-Ann Boshoff shared, "Your husband is not the reason for the Conservatives' loss of the election. He was one of the best PMs this country has ever had. The perfect leader after a pandemic and cost of living crisis. If everyone in this country had his work ethic, moral fibre, intelligence, and dedication, this country would flourish and be productive. He will be missed." New Delhi, July 6 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday spoke with new UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and congratulated him on assuming charge as prime minister of UK and for his Labour Party's remarkable victory in the UK general elections. The PM also said that India is committed to deepening the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership. Prime Minister Modi also invited the new UK PM Starmer for an early visit to India. 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. An official statement said that PM Modi spoke with Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom today, and congratulated him on assuming charge as Prime Minister of UK and for the remarkable victory of the Labour Party in the UK general election. 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, the statement 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 close people to people ties. Prime Minister extended invitation to Prime Minister Starmer for an early visit to India. Both leaders agreed to remain in touch, it said. A UK readout of the phone conversation said that the two leaders exchanged congratulations on their respective election wins, and reflected on the strength of the relationship between the UK and India. 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. 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. Discussing the Free Trade Agreement, Prime Minister Starmer said he stood ready to conclude a deal that worked for both sides. The leaders hoped to meet at the earliest opportunity, it added. 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. 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 Toronto: Gold, worth over CA$ 30 million, stolen during the largest heist in Canadian history, may have ended up in India, according to law enforcement. The vehicle used for the heist and its driver, last April. (Peel Regional Police) The gold, in 6600 bars, was stolen from an Air Canada cargo terminal in Torontos Pearson Airport on April 17 last year. But it may not be recovered, as a Peel Police Service Board heard during a June 21 meeting, details of which appeared in Canadian media on Saturday. We believe a large portion has gone overseas to markets that are flush with gold, Peel Regional Police or PRPs lead investigator in the case Detective Sergeant Mike Mavity said. That would be Dubai, or India, where you can take gold with serial numbers on it and they will still honour it and melt it downand we believe that happened very shortly after the incident, according to a report in the outlet CBC News. PRP had earlier described this theft as the largest gold heist in Canada ever. According to PRP on April 17, 2023, at 3:56 pm, a flight landed at Pearson International Airport from Zurich, Switzerland, with a cargo containing 6600 bars of .9999% pure gold, weighing 400 kilograms, and CA$ 2.5 million worth in foreign currency. Shortly after landing, it was offloaded and transported to a separate location on Airport property. On April 18, 2023 at 2:43 am, the cargo was reported missing to police. Two Indo-Canadians working in the warehouse from where gold was taken were allegedly involved in the heist. They were Parmpal Sidhu, 54, from Brampton, who was arrested in May this year, and Simran Preet Panesar, 31, also from Brampton, who worked as a manager there and actually gave the police a tour of the facility after the robbery, before resigning and is now believed to be abroad. A friend of Sidhu, 36-year-old Archit Grover, who was also wanted in the case, was taken into custody in May after returning to Canada from India. On April 17 this year, PRP said working with the Philadelphia Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives or ATF, it had identified and charged or issued warrants for nine individuals with over 19 charges. Among them was Sidhu, Amit Jalota, 40, from Oakville, Ammad Chaudhary, 43, from Georgetown, Ali Raza, 37, from Toronto, and Prasath Paramalingam, 35, from Brampton. Canada-wide arrest warrants were issued at the time for Panesar, Grover and Arsalan Chaudhary, 42, from Mississauga. Another accused Durante King-Mclean, a 25-year-old man from Brampton, is in custody in the United States. Israel launched deadly strikes Sunday on the Gaza Strip as its war against Hamas entered its 10th month, with diplomatic efforts underway to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal. Deadly Gaza fighting, Hezbollah rockets as war enters 10th month Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, an ally of Palestinian militant group Hamas, fired rocket salvoes at northern Israel, in the latest cross-border clashes that have sparked fears of a full-scale war. In Israel, anti-government protesters demanding a hostage release deal blocked roads in the commercial hub of Tel Aviv as they marked a nationwide "disruption day" from 6:29 am, the time Hamas launched their attack on October 7. Efforts towards a truce continued with US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators hoping to halt the Gaza war, which has caused mass civilian casualties and devastated swathes of the coastal territory. Egypt's state-linked Al-Qahera News said Cairo was "hosting Israeli and American delegations to discuss the outstanding points", citing an unnamed high-level official source. Mediators were in contact with Hamas amid "intensive Egyptian meetings this week with all parties", said the news report late Saturday, without elaborating. Israel has said it would send a delegation to continue talks with Qatari mediators, though a government spokesman said Friday there were still "gaps" with Hamas. US President Joe Biden announced a plan in late May that included an initial six-week truce and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. Talks quickly 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 US mediators "welcomed" the group's latest proposals "and passed them on to the Israeli side". "Now the ball is in the Israeli court," said Hamdan. At a rally in Tel Aviv, Israeli data scientist Yoni Peleg, 34, said protesters were crying "out for help... to end the war" and pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to secure the release of the remaining hostages. The fighting and bombardment in besieged Gaza raged on unabated, with medics and emergency services in the Hamas-run territory reporting yet more deaths in several strikes on Sunday. The Palestinian Red Crescent said two children were among six dead when a central Gaza house was hit, and paramedics reported nine fatalities in two strikes on Gaza City. An AFP correspondent said Israeli drones were firing in Gaza City's Shujaiya district, which has been largely evacuated and rocked by intense battles for nearly two weeks. The Israeli military said that in Shujaiya, its troops killed "several" militants and "dismantled terror infrastructure sites". Israeli forces killed 30 Palestinian militants in far-southern Rafah over the past day, the military added, also reporting clashes in nearby Khan Yunis. Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel that set off the war resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. The militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza, including 42 the military says are dead. Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel has carried out a military offensive that has killed at least 38,153 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to data from the territory's health ministry. The health ministry toll includes 16 people killed Saturday in a strike on a UN-run school in the central Nuseirat refugee camp that was sheltering displaced Palestinians, which the Israeli military said had been used by militants. The war has uprooted nearly all Gazans, left almost 500,000 people enduring "catastrophic" hunger and shuttered most hospitals, UN agencies say. Dr Muhammad Salha, acting director of Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia, said severe shortages amid Israel's siege of Gaza left the facility with "no fuel". "The situation is very difficult," he said. "We have postponed many scheduled operations due to the lack of fuel." Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have exchanged almost daily cross-border fire since the Gaza war began. The attacks and rhetoric have escalated in recent weeks, sparking fears of a wider conflagration. While the exchanges have been largely restricted to the border areas, Israel has repeatedly struck deep inside eastern Lebanon, including on Saturday in an attack that killed a Hezbollah operative. Early on Sunday, air raid sirens sounded across northern Israel and the military reported that 20 rockets were fired, with some intercepted. Hezbollah said it had targeted an Israeli army base west of Tiberias "in response to the... assassination" carried out the day before. Israeli police said one person was wounded by shrapnel in Kfar Zeitim near Tiberias, around 30 kilometres from the Lebanese border. Hezbollah later claimed a second barrage of rockets targeting a military base elsewhere in northern Israel. burs-tw/fz/ami This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. Toronto: India has communicated its displeasure to Ottawa over recent allegations that it had interfered in Canadas internal affairs. A Canadian flag in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Reuters) That sentiment has been conveyed by Indian diplomats in Canada to senior officials including National Security and Intelligence Advisor or NSIA Nathalie G. Drouin, a person familiar with the action said. Multiple agencies have accused India of foreign interference in their reports. In June, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians or NSCIOP stated that India has emerged as the second-most significant foreign interference threat to Canadas democratic institutions and processes after China and displacing Russia. In its Public Report 2023, issued in May, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service or CSIS noted, The report stated, Major perpetrators of foreign interference and espionage in both Canada and the West include the Peoples Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and India. In 2023, these states and their intelligence services continued to engage in a variety of hostile foreign interference and espionage activities to advance their objectives and interests. Day before that, the Initial Report from the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions, headed by Justice Marie-Josee Hogue, said that India undertakes foreign interference activities which aim to align Canadas position with Indias interests on key issues, particularly with respect to how the Indian government perceives Canada-based supporters of an independent Sikh homeland (Khalistan). In a statement last week, Indias High Commissioner to Ottawa Sanjay Kumar Verma described these allegations as politically motivated. We completely reject politically motivated claims that India has interfered in Canadian elections. No concrete evidence has been shared for these claims to be evaluated. These allegations could, most probably, be based on hearsay, possibly peddled by Canada based anti-India extremists and terrorists, whose sole aim is to disrupt Canada-India relations and meddle in Indias internal affairs, he said. The concerned Canadian institutions, leveling these unsubstantiated claims - most likely based on uncorroborated intelligence inputs, have followed opaque processes to reach such conclusions, he added. These accusations have increasingly come to the fore after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus statement in the House of Commons on September 18 last year that there were credible allegations of a potential link between Indian agents and the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar three months earlier in Surrey, British Columbia. While investigators have arrested four Indian nationals this year in connection with the murder, the Indian angle has not been substantiated though they have said the probe in that direction is ongoing. Meghan Markle has reportedly wrapped up the filming of a new cooking series for Netflix. This was part of Prince Harry and her $100 million five-year deal with the platform. However, the Duchess of Sussex has been feeling under siege as there is ambivalence about her various new projects. This has also caused her relationship with Prince Harry to become strained, the expert said. Meghan Markle finishes filming cooking series for Netflix (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)(AP) The filming of the cooking show, which remains untitled, is reportedly over. It all went well, and it is in the can, a source told The Daily Beast. A filming permit obtained by the Daily Mail revealed that the show was filmed in at least two locations. While the first was a premium wholesale florist a 10-minute drive from Montecito, California, the second was a $5m property located two miles from the $11m mansion Meghan shared with Harry. Some famous people from the cooking world are believed to have worked on the show, including Michael Steed. Meghan feels very much under siege Meanwhile, royal author Tom Quinn told The Mirror that there is a growing rift between the Duke and Duchess caused by Meghans increasing concern that her life is not going in the direction she had planned. She loves media attention and hates the fact that surveys suggest she and Harry are no longer of much interest to the American public, Quinn said. Ever since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped down from the royal family, Meghan has been involved in several projects. The degrees of success varied in case of every venture. Meghans Spotify podcast Archetypes was created as part of a $20 million deal with the streamer. After garnering mixed reviews, the podcast was not renewed for a second season. Meghan has reportedly signed with Lemonada to create a new podcast, a series which is said to have been postponed until next year. Her and Harrys five-year Netflix deal is set to expire in 2025. Meghan is also set to launch her new lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard. However, Meghans projects have failed to get the broader attention of the public. Her Netflix contract is believed to be under threat, and her lifestyle brand has been widely criticised. 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, Quinn said. She has reached the point now where she thinks that anything and everything she does will be unfairly criticized, Quinn Had previously said. Like her husband, she feels that people are unfairly picking on her she cannot understand why people dont admire her work. NATO's 75th anniversary summit was meant to showcase the triumph of a larger, stronger alliance. Instead, leaders are coming together in Washington in the shadow of setbacks in Ukraine and electoral headwinds on both sides of the Atlantic. A Ukrainian national flag is pictured in front of the NATO emblem(REUTERS file photo) US President Joe Biden, fighting for his political life after a disastrous debate against NATO skeptic Donald Trump, will turn his attention away from campaigning to welcome leaders of the 32-nation transatlantic alliance for three days from Tuesday. Biden has also invited the leaders of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, a sign of NATO's growing role in Asia in the face of a rising China. ALSO READ| NATO is spending more on defence, but it's likely not enough But the star of the summit is set to be Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is looking for firm signs of support although NATO will not be extending his country an invitation to join. Founded in 1949 to provide collective defense against the Soviet Union, NATO returned in some ways to its original mission when allies rallied to Ukraine's defense after it was invaded by Russia in 2022. Ukrainians heartened most of the West by repelling Russia in its push for a quick victory. But Moscow's troops have been grinding on, making advances in the east. A European official acknowledged the mood ahead of the NATO summit has become "gloomy" with Ukraine slipping on a fragile frontline. "This summit will be very different from the initial plans because it is happening at a critical juncture for European security," the official said on condition of anonymity. "Russia is today in a situation which is quite comfortable. They think they can simply wait it out," he said. - Trump casts shadow - Max Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia and Eurasia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the summit comes at "the best of times, and the worst of times." "The best of times, in the sense that the alliance knows what it's about -- deterring Russia. Alliance members are spending more," he said. "But it's also sort of the worst of times -- obviously because of the war in Ukraine, challenges of ramping up European defense spending, concerns about the reliability of the United States." Trump, who has voiced admiration in the past for Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, has long criticized NATO as an unfair burden on the United States, which spends far more than any other ally. The 2024 Republican presidential candidate -- whose first term was marked by an impeachment over his strong-arming of Zelensky -- has insisted he can stop the war, with his advisors floating the possibility of conditioning future US assistance on Ukraine entering negotiations to surrender territory. Trump has enjoyed a narrow lead against Biden in recent polls. Meanwhile France -- where President Emmanuel Macron has mulled sending troops to Ukraine -- is also facing a political shift with the strong gains in legislative elections by the far-right, which is historically close to Russia. Those setbacks come as Putin recently hosted Viktor Orban, the Russia-friendly prime minister of Hungary, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency. The NATO summit is also expected to mark a diplomatic debut for a new leader -- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, after his Labour Party's landslide election victory. - Finding a path for Ukraine - NATO's outgoing secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, has led efforts to put the alliance itself, not the United States, in the lead in coordinating military assistance for Ukraine. Stoltenberg also wants allies to commit to provide at least 40 billion euros ($43 billion) per year in military aid to Ukraine, ensuring reliable and consistent support as Kyiv prepares for a long war against Russia. Diplomats have dubbed such measures as "Trump-proofing" the alliance, although few believe that NATO or support for Ukraine could endure in the same way without the United States, which under Biden has approved $175 billion for Kyiv in military and other assistance. The summit also comes on the heels of two more nations joining NATO -- Finland and Sweden -- which both overcame earlier reluctance to formally enter the alliance after witnessing the invasion of Ukraine, which had unsuccessfully sought membership. Diplomats say that the United States is eager to stage a smooth, drama-free meeting and avoid the bitter recriminations at NATO's summit last year in Lithuania, where Zelensky failed to win firmer commitments for Ukraine to join the alliance. Ukrainian officials acknowledge there is no chance of a change of heart in Washington. Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have led opposition to Ukrainian membership, believing that admitting a country already at war would be tantamount to NATO itself confronting nuclear-armed Russia. Biden instead has reached a 10-year security agreement with Ukraine, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin saying the United States will soon announce $2.3 billion in new military assistance. Islamabad, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said a new era of Pakistan-China cooperation in the information technology , communication, mining, and energy sectors has dawned and will lead to economic development and deepening of the time-tested bilateral relationship. New era of Pakistan-China cooperation has dawned, says PM Shehbaz Sharif Sharif's remarks came as he chaired a review meeting in Islamabad on Saturday on the implementation of agreements and MOUs reached during his recent visit to China, Radio Pakistan reported. The prime minister said that the promotion of Pakistan-China cooperation in these fields will lead to economic development, strengthening of regional ties, and deepening of the relations between the two countries. Referring to the time-tested Pak-China friendship, he said that China had always supported Pakistan in difficult times. China has emerged as the strongest economic power and Pakistan can emulate its development, he added. The 72-year-old Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader said that no disruption will be tolerated in the implementation of agreements and memorandums of understanding signed during his visit to China, announcing to personally monitor the implementation of these agreements and MoUs. The prime minister was also briefed about a delegation of Chinese shoemaking companies recently visiting Pakistan to shift their manufacturing units to the cash-strapped country and that the Chinese companies have the potential to invest USD 5-8 billion in this sector. Regarding the agriculture sector, he was apprised that 12 leading companies of China will participate in the Food and Agri Expo to be held in Pakistan this year. Sharif also reviewed the progress regarding sending 1,000 students from Pakistan to China on government scholarships for advanced training in the agriculture sector. He directed that students from all four provinces, including Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir , should be sent to China on the basis of merit, while students from backward areas of Balochistan should be given special priority in the programme. Sharif instructed to start sending students for modern agricultural training in China from the next academic semester. Besides, the meeting was told that over 100 Chinese companies are in contact with Pakistani companies for business and investment. The meeting was also briefed about the progress on the technical training of 3,00,000 students by Huawei, a one-stop operation to facilitate business, smart governance and smart city. The prime minister was also apprised of the progress made by China on various communication, infrastructure, and electricity projects in Gwadar. Sharif advised expediting measures for the development of Gwadar Seaport, Gwadar Airport, and Gwadar Industrial Zone to make Gwadar the hub of trade corridor in the region. He also instructed to speed up the negotiations with Chinese solar panels and equipment manufacturing companies to move their factories to Pakistan. The 72-year-old leader embarked on his first visit to China after he took over as prime minister for the second term after his PML-N party-led coalition government assumed power in March. Addressing the Pakistan-China Business Forum last month, Sharif assured all-out facilitation to Chinese investors and the security of Chinese individuals, projects, and investments in Pakistan. He said his government had taken various measures to ensure fool-proof security to protect the lives of Chinese workers in Pakistan. Five Chinese nationals and a Pakistan driver were killed in a suicide attack in Dasu in March. Pakistan paid USD 2.58 million as compensation to the families of those killed in the attack. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. The UK's new defence minister pledged on Sunday to deliver more artillery guns, ammunition and missiles to Ukraine, stressing London's ongoing support for Kyiv during a visit to the southern city of Odesa. Britain's Defence Secretary John Healey (AFP) John Healey, appointed defence minister Friday by new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, was visiting the port city, a frequent target of Russian missile and drone strikes, on his first international trip. "There may have been a change in government, but the UK is united for Ukraine," Healey said, according to a statement published by Britain's defence ministry. Healey pledged a new package of assistance including artillery guns, 250,000 rounds of ammunition, de-mining vehicles, small military boats, missiles and other equipment, the defence ministry said. In Odesa, he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov. London has been one of Kyiv's staunchest backers since Russia invaded in February 2022. Zelensky posted footage showing Healey laying flowers at a memorial to mark Ukraine's Navy Day. He said he had briefed Healey and Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans -- who also took up the post last week -- on the situation on the battlefield. In the capital Kyiv over the weekend, the Netherlands' Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp pledged to begin sending F-16 fighter planes to Ukraine "without delay". Britain's Healey also said a major UK aid package announced in April would be delivered "in full to Ukraine within the next 100 days". Kyiv has regularly complained about the late arrival of Western military supplies, which are vital to its outmanned and outgunned forces fighting off the Russian invasion. Pakistan police on Sunday raided the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) residence of Secretary-General Omar Ayub Khan, reported ARY News. However, Ayub said that the federal and provincial governments are attempting to arrest him. In an official statement, the party said that Omar Ayub will continue as PTI secretary-general and benefit the party with his political experience and leadership. (File) The police personnel entered his house in Sector F-10 and conducted a search operation after the Sargodha anti-terrorism court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Ayub. Reacting to the incident, Omar Ayub said that the federal and provincial governments are attempting to arrest him. He said that the struggle will continue for the party's rights and until the PTI chairman becomes the prime minister, according to ARY News. Notably, the PTI rejected the resignation of Omar Ayub Khan. It said that Omar Ayub will continue serving on the post in line with instructions given by PTI founder Imran Khan, The News International reported, citing a party statement. In June, Omar Ayub stepped down as the secretary-general of PTI "to focus" on his role as the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of Pakistan. However, PTI's core committee and parliamentary party opposed his step, asking him to withdraw his decision to step down from the party's coveted post. In an official statement, the party said that Omar Ayub will continue as PTI secretary-general and benefit the party with his political experience and leadership. The statement read, "The parliamentary party as well as core committee of PTI through separate unanimous resolutions, reposed trust in him, commended him for his services and requested him to continue as PTI secretary general. "The PTI said that Imran Khan also appreciated the services of Omar Ayub and acknowledged his services for the party. On June 22, 2024, Omar Ayub submitted his resignation through a letter addressed to PTI founder Imran Khan and PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan. In his resignation letter, Omar Ayub said that further changes would be made in the organisational structure of the PTI in the coming days as per the instructions given by former Pakistan PM. The development came amid reports of rifts in the ranks of PTI. PTI-backed 27 Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) lawmakers were thinking of resigning from the National Assembly in protest against PTI's top leadership, according to sources, The News International reported, citing Geo News report. Of the 27, the insiders had said 21 of its lawmakers indicated forming a forward bloc over PTI top leadership's inability to secure the release of Imran Khan from prison, as per sources. The Philippines and Japan are set to sign on Monday a key defence pact that will allow the deployment of troops on each other's territory. Philippines, Japan on verge of key defence pact Japanese Defence Minister Minoru Kihara and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa will hold high-level talks with their Philippine counterparts Gilberto Teodoro and Enrique Manalo in Manila. The Philippines and Japan longtime allies of the United States have been deepening defence ties in the face of an increasingly assertive China. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos will witness the signing of the reciprocal access agreement , which the countries began negotiating in November, the Philippine Presidential Communications Office said. The accord would provide the legal framework for Japan and the Philippines to send defence personnel to each other's territory for training and other operations. Negotiations were "close to conclusion", Tokyo's ambassador to Manila, Kazuya Endo, said in a speech on Thursday, as he flagged "significant developments" in Japan's defence equipment supplies to the Philippines. The talks follow escalating confrontations at sea between Chinese and Philippine ships as Beijing steps up efforts to push its claims to nearly all of the South China Sea. The most serious in a number of incidents happened on June 17 when Chinese coast guard personnel wielding knives, sticks and an axe surrounded and boarded three Philippine navy boats during a resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands. A Filipino sailor lost a thumb in the clash. Tokyo and Beijing are also at loggerheads over Japan-controlled disputed islands in the East China Sea. The RAA was important because it would enable the Philippines "to enhance our interoperability with like-minded partners," said Manila-based geopolitical analyst Don McLain Gill. "This would also complement what we are trying to do in terms of enhancing our security partnerships within the US hub and spokes network." Washington has been strengthening its network of alliances in the Asia-Pacific region to counter China's growing military might and influence, which Chinese officials have said is a US effort to create a "NATO" in the region. Leaders from Japan, the Philippines and the United States had their first trilateral summit in April aimed at boosting defence ties in Washington. It was held on the heels of four-way military drills that included Australia in the South China Sea, riling Beijing. The Philippines has been a key focus of US efforts to build an arc of alliances, owing to its position in the South China Sea and proximity to Taiwan, which China claims as its own. Philippine support would be crucial for the United States in the event of any conflict. Japan, wary about possible future changes in US policy in the region, was also seeking "to play a larger role" as an independent and stabilising force, Gill the analyst, said. Tokyo has signed similar reciprocal access agreements with Britain and Australia in recent years. The Philippines has equivalent pacts with the United States and Australia and plans to pursue one with France. Japan, which invaded and occupied the Philippines during World War II, is a top provider of overseas development assistance to the country and also a supplier of security equipment. "The Japanese would like to impress upon the Americans that Japan is the linchpin of US security presence, military presence here in the region, and of course, the most reliable ally of the United States," said Renato Cruz De Castro, professor for international studies at De La Salle University in Manila. pam-amj/sn This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. Joe Biden is actively trying to reverse the damage his candidacy sustained after the CNN debate debacle. The 81-year-old is facing new calls to step aside as more supporters are losing their faith in him. After his shaky performance sent Democrats into a panic mode, Biden sat down for an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos. During the 22-minute chat, the President blamed his poor debate on a really bad cold. More Democrats are losing faith in Joe Biden's candidacy, calling him to step aside(AP) Dems lose faith in Biden amid growing concerns about his candidacy According to a New York Times report, several Democrats have admitted to losing faith in Biden's candidacy, calling it unsustainable. Representative Scott Peters, Democrat of California, said, I have less and less confidence in this campaigns ability to win this race. If we know were going to lose, we would be foolish not to look at another course. Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig shared similar fears, urging the President to quit the race. I do not believe that the president can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump, she said, per the outlet. Just hours after the first presidential debate was broadcast, speculations about Democrats considering dumping Biden from the ballot started making rounds on the internet. Republicans, including Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, flooded social media with claims about Biden's impending dropout from the 2024 Presidential race. The NYT report further added that a senior White House official who has known Biden since the Obama administration said in an interview Saturday that the President shout not seek reelection. The unnamed official worked with him throughout his presidency, vice presidency, and the 2020 campaign. Republican and former lieutenant governor of Georgia, Geoff Duncan, who campaigned for Biden the day before his CNN appearance against Trump, said that the debate was a huge eye-opener for him about the President's physical and mental well-being. It will take a significant amount of counterevidence to unwind what I saw and heard during that debate. That seems like an unlikely scenario at this point, Duncan added on Friday, per the outlet. Ted Olson in The Conversation: In early 1824, 30 members of Viennas music community sent a letter to Ludwig van Beethoven petitioning the great composer to reconsider his plans to premiere his latest work in Berlin and instead debut the symphony in Vienna. Beethoven had lived in Vienna since 1792, when he left his hometown of Bonn, Germany, to pursue a career as a composer. Beethoven rose to world renown, but by the 1820s he had fallen out of favor with Viennese arts patrons who, at the time, were drawn to the sounds and styles of Italian composers. Beethoven had not appeared before a Viennese audience in a dozen years, but he was moved by the letters sentiment and agreed to debut his new work, Symphony No. 9 in D minor, in the city. The premiere performance was on May 7, 1824, at Karntnertor Theater. More here. A California family recently went viral on social media for their $444 receipt from Trader Joe's. The hefty amount ignited an affordability row online, with netizens comparing the cost of groceries to other stores. The video, which has been making rounds on the internet, has garnered over 17 million views on X, formerly Twitter. GREENBRAE, CALIFORNIA - MAY 15: A customer shops at a Trader Joe's store on May 15, 2024 in Greenbrae, California. According to a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) slowed during the month of April with an uptick of 0.3% over the previous month, just shy of economist forecasts of a 0.4%, and 3.4% over the prior year. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by JUSTIN SULLIVAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)(Getty Images via AFP) What items were included in the $444 receipt? In the 19-second video, a father of six pans the camera across the massive receipt and says, Heres what it takes to feed six kids [for] about a week and a half. The invoice includes fresh produce like strawberries ($4.49 a pound), a bag of four avocados ($4.99), and cucumbers ($2.49 each). The family also bought a variety of frozen food items, such as Trader Joe's chicken and cheese tamales ($3.99 each), burritos bean rice ($3.69 each), chicken soup dumplings ($3.49 each), and Margherita pizza ($4.79 each). The bill also included pricey goods like frozen Korean-style beef short ribs ($13.99 each), breaded chicken tenderloins ($8.99), and a rib-eye steak ($7.27). Netizens flooded the comment box, comparing the prices at Trader Joe's to other grocery stores like Aldi, Costco, and Walmart. An X, formerly Twitter user wrote, Feeding 6 kids at a Trader Joe's is insane. Take them to Walmart or something. Another said, Shopping at trader joes instead of costco with 6 kids is insane. Would cost 1/3 that at Aldi, wrote one more user. Meanwhile, others called him out for buying premade food instead of raw ingredients, as one user wrote, Trader Joes is cheap but this person didnt buy anything to cook, its all prepared stuff which is always more. Buy ingredients and make food. Yet another said, He went to Trader Joe's, first mistake. Second, nearly half of everything on the list is organic, which is a luxury. Also things like Gnocci Alla Sorrentina, surfine capers, and Brazil nut body wash (!)? If he's going to cry about prices, at least have some buying discipline. The US EB-5 program has been a highly sought-after gateway to American Green Cards for many, including Indian applicants. With the rising number of investors, India has especially become one of the most crucial players in this visa class. India, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, and South Korea collectively accounted for almost 92% of all EB-5 visa issuances of the current fiscal year up to May. According to the Department of State's data, 512 EB-5 visas were issued to Indian applicants in FY24 so far, which accounted for a 22% productivity decline. (Representational Image) According to USCIS, this investor program opens the doors for those seeking permanent residence in the US if they Make the necessary investment in a commercial enterprise in the United States and Plan to create or preserve 10 permanent full-time jobs for qualified US workers. The latest FY2024 numbers, between October 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024, have shown considerable growth in the overall issuance of EB-5 visas. However, Indian investors received less than expected during these eight months. Also read | Detroit shooting: 2 dead, over a dozen injured amid violent 4th of July holiday weekend nationwide EB-5 visa issuance numbers for Indian applicants According to the Department of States data, 7,173 EB-5 visas were issued through consular processing. Although this marked a 42% growth compared to the same period in FY2023, the number of EB-5 visas issued to Indian applicants during this period represented a 22% decline. Even with visa processing picking up pace in December 2023, the monthly visa issuance to Indian investors at the US Consulate in the Indian state of Mumbai witnessed a falling graph. Here, 50-60 visas were processed monthly, resulting in only 4 EB-5 visas being issued in May. For the FY2024 figures thus far, only 392 EB-5 visas issued to Indian investors were processed at the Mumbai Consular Office, which means that 120 Indian applicants who got their EB-5 visas during the first eight months of FY24 reside outside India. Also read | French leftists win most seats in elections, pollsters say; lack of majority to create turmoil Ultimately, 512 visas in this category were sent out to Indian applicants from Oct 1, 2023, to May 31, 2024. However, these numbers merely indicate EB-5 visas issued via consular processing. On the contrary, a grand percentage of Indian investors secure their green cards through adjustment of status (AOS), but that data isnt accounted for. Therefore, it doesnt necessarily indicate an overall low issuance of EB-5 visas among Indian cases. On further observation, the DOS data also revealed that May 2024 demonstrated the second-highest monthly visa issuance rate so far in FY2024, as that month alone issued 1,222 EB-5 (via consular processing). Out of the total 7,173 EB-5 visas issued during the first eight months of FY24, more than 1,990 belong to the adjustment of status side, all under the Unreserved category. Amid the joyous Fourth of July long weekend, a piece of heart-breaking news has emerged from Detroit. Early Sunday, reports of a mass shooting from the Michigan city's east side painted a gruesome image that left two people dead and 19 others injured, according to the Michigan State Police. Detroit shooting: 2 people died, and 19 people were left injured after a shooting on the city's East side, in the area of Reno St and Rossini Drive. Authorities were seen setting up a three-block perimeter. (Video from WXYZ Detroit) Initial reports suggest that the State police did not take anyone into custody and that 19 victims had various injuries. Per a social media post on X/Twitter, the state officials are assisting Detroit police with the case. Detroit Police Cpl. Dan Donakowski said the department would be releasing details on the matter later Sunday. The Michigan State Police is assisting the Detroit Police Department on a shooting investigation through our partnership on the Homicide Task Force. Preliminary information is there are 19 victims with various injuries and 2 fatal victims. Currently, there is no one in custody. The Detroit Police Department is the lead agency for media contacts. Anyone with information on this shooting is being asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1.800.SPEAK.UP, MSP Second District wrote on X/Twitter. Also read | Biden faces calls to step aside as more Democrats lose faith in his candidacy: Report What did the witnesses make of the Detroit shooting? The incident is said to have happened in the area of Reno St and Rossini Drive. According to WXYZ Detroit, this particular tragedy stemmed from a block party gone wrong. According to The Detroit News, hundreds were gathered at the party. 21-year-old Michael Pope, who was also at the gathering claimed he heard gunshots at about 2 am. Invited to the place by a childhood friend, Pope said there were a lot of people who went to school with each other. It wasn't no arguing, no fighting. He also seemed to have witnessed a man suffering from a gunshot wound to his chest while another woman grappled with the pain of a gunshot wound to her kneecap. Pope claims to have taken off running after he heard the shooting. Everybody took cover, stampeding over people, he added. Also read | Georgia: Blue-faced 2-year-old boy's death in boiling hot car was not an accident, police say Other sources said that afflicted victims were taken to St John Hospital in Detroit for aid. The Detroit shooting is not the first of its kind to plague the country amid the ongoing Fourth of July long weekend. Moreover, it only adds to the general trend of rising violence during the summer months. The Associated Press reported that researchers often attribute this to a package of influential factors, including social events and alcohol consumption. Officials call out how shootings have become the new normal Detroit Police Commissioner Ricardo Moore condemned how these shootings have been normalised. Come Jan. 1, the police will say crime is down and then well start all over again. Funeral homes, hospitals and florists are the only people who profit from Detroit crime. On the same page of the conversation, US Rep Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, tweeted: We can not normalize this. Another senseless shooting today, leaving families in our community, shattered. We owe it to our families to address this crisis with urgency. We need to save lives now. Watch authorities set up a three-block perimeter in the area: Blue-faced 2-year-old boy, Jacob Eliel Vieras, tragically died after being left inside a boiling hot car for an extended period of time in Georgia on Tuesday night, according to Cobb County Police. Police believe his death was not an accident. Jacob Eliel Vieras. (Pic credit: Davis-Struempf Funeral Home & Crematory) On Tuesday, police responded to the unprecedented report just before 7 pm, as they found the baby was left blue-faced after being exposed to the extreme conditions inside the scorching car. Although they immediately took him to the hospital for aid, the toddler tragically died. A GoFundMe page set up by a family friend to make arrangements for Jacob's funeral described the toddler's demise as an accident. According to Davis-Struempf Funeral Home & Crematory, he is survived by his parents, Jose Noel Vieras and Jessica Mejia; sibling, Jaylin Vieras; grandparents, Jose Marcos Mejia, Elvira Chacon, Jose Francisco Vieras, and Maria Paula Hernandez. Also read | Khyree Jackson tragedy: NFL rookie's totalled car seen for the 1 time after fatal Maryland accident My brother Noel just lost his 2-year-old son in an accident and the family didn't have insurance to Bury him, the fundraiser informed without further explanation. "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." According to The Mirror US, a funeral service was held on Saturday at the Iglesia Pentecostal Roca de Salvacion in the wake of Jacob's passing. Where is the investigation headed? The police have not released further details of the ongoing investigation. Despite the early stages of the process, officers claimed there was no evidence suggesting that baby Jacob was left in the car by accident. Whether anyone will face criminal charges concerning the incident has yet to be revealed. Also read | Tragic moment US dad dances minutes before dying after placing firework on his hat at July 4 block party: Watch 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. We need some time to sort this out before we really know what happened, Cobb County Police Chief Stuart VanHoozer said. Another similar infant death reported This tragic report of an infant death comes just days after a Florida woman was apprehended for allegedly leaving her 2-year-old grandchild in an unattended baking hot vehicle while grocery shopping. 63-year-old Elena Grady was ultimately charged with neglect of a child causing bodily harm. Publix store managers found the child alone in the parking lot and reported the case. Volusia County sheriffs deputies responded to the call around 3 PM. They later posted on Facebook that the child appeared lethargic, locked inside the car, which happened to be parked in full sun, no shade, not running, with the windows cracked. The mental acuity of US President Joe Biden has become a national concern lately. The concerns arose because of the presidents behaviour during some major events in recent times with gaffes, meandering sentences, and confusion on stage. President Joe Biden's personal physician, Kevin O'connor, says he does not see a need for cognitive test, Wis. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)(AP) The presidents doctor, Kevin O'Connor said that he does not require any cognitive tests. As reported by the Washington Post, he has not taken any cognitive tests since he was elected the president of the States including the duration of the three annual physical exams. The White House officials also informed O'Connor has never recommended Biden to take up a cognitive test. The scrutiny, thus, has now shifted to the White House doctor's way of handling the president's health. Also Read: Joe Biden's first black woman gaffe followed despite White House sending questions for radio interview beforehand Many coerce Biden for cognitive test post-debate performance The Biden-Trump debate was one of the key events in the initial stages of the upcoming elections and the formers performance raised many concerns. The presidents mental acuity took up priority as he stumbled and mumbled throughout the debate. The Presidents doctor has claimed that he has not seen a need for a cognitive test for Biden. However, anonymous sources who were formal colleagues to OConnor at the White House said to the Washington Post that the president should go for a cognitive test post-debate performance. The president of the American Osteopathic Association, Ira Monka, also suggested the same. He said, Some of the stumbling and missing of the words, whatever was going on, would be a sign to say, maybe this person needs not maybe this person should get testing just to rule out the fact that there could be some underlying changes. However, in an interview with ABC on Friday, Biden declined any need for cognitive tests through his statement, I have a cognitive test every single day, by which he meant him fulfilling his presidential duties every day is a test enough of his cognitive abilities. Also Read: Biden slips up again, declares he will beat Trump again in 2020: Internet shows no mercy for latest gaffe Who is Kevin OConnor? Kevin OConnor is a doctor of osteopathic medicine who is in service for the White House. He is also a retired Army colonel and has been Bidens personal physician since 2009. According to the Washington Post, the two have grown a close bond since then and Kevin has never recommended a cognitive test to the 81-year-old. The presidents doctor has repeatedly denied requests for interviews and press. He has also never appeared for a formal address regarding the presidents annual physical and other medical concerns including the period when Biden contracted Covid-19 in 2022. However, few of his colleagues have reassured that he would have suggested a test if had seen any indications. Reamer L. Bushardt who was the the former dean at the GW School of Medicine & Health Sciences and hired OConnor in 2017 to work at that institution was confident when he said, I know hes someone of integrity that wouldnt be influenced or driven. And if you ask him a question, hes going to tell you the truth. Four people died and three others were wounded in a shooting at a northern Kentucky home on Saturday, July 6. The suspect eventually died after being pursued by cops in a vehicle. The suspect has been identified as 20-year-old Chase Garvey, who prompted a police chase after fleeing the scene southbound in a vehicle. Kentucky mass shooting: 4 killed, 3 injured after man opens fire at birthday party (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)(AP) The incident took place at a home on Ridgecrest Drive, located in the city of Florence, at around 2:50 am, Florence Police Chief Jeff Mallery confirmed at a press conference, according to Fox News. Gunfire erupted at the residence while a 21st birthday party was taking place. Police arrived at the scene after receiving calls about an active shooter. Shots were still being fired when they arrived. At least four people were found dead at the scene, and many others injured. Garvey subsequently fled the scene in a car, prompting a police vehicle chase. He then shot himself, and his car fell into a ditch on Dale Heimbrock Way near Hicks Pike. Cops found him with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. This image provided by the Florence, Ky., Police Department on Saturday, July 6, 2024, shows Chase Garvey (Florence Police Department via AP)(AP) This is the first time we've had a mass shooting in Florence The four people who died have been identified as Delaney Eary, 19, Hayden Rybicki, 20, Melissa Parrett, 44, and Shane Miller, 20. The party was taking place at Parretts home for her 21-year-old child. Mallery said that Garvey knew the people who were celebrating, but had not been invited to the party. A motive for the crime remains unclear. "We've never dealt with this before and now it's going on through the nation, but this is the first time we've had a mass shooting in Florence, so yeah, it's very emotional, Mallery said. "We train on this, hoping it would never happen, but unfortunately, weve been touched like so many departments and cities," he added. The three victims who were injured were taken to a local hospital. They are now listed as critical but stable, and are expected to recover completely. As Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have maintained distance from the Royal family, their children have had little opportunity to interact with their grandparents and cousins in the United Kingdom. However, the Duke has recalled the demise of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth and her encounter with Archie and Lilibet. Prince Harry admitted that Queen was bemused by Archie and Lilibet's conduct and that she had anticipated them to be more American.(AP) While Royal fans enjoy seeing Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis on special occasions like Trooping the Colour, they surely miss the absence of Queen's great-grandchildren Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. Harry and Meghan stepped down from their position as senior royals in 2020 and moved to California with their son Archie. With the exception of the revelations made in Harry's memoir Spare, the family has maintained their privacy. In the US, the Royal couple reside in a magnificent $14 million Montecito mansion with their kids. In a rare admission, Prince Harry stated that Queen was bemused by Archie and Lilibet's conduct and that she had anticipated them to be more American. "For days and days we couldnt stop hugging the children, couldnt let them out of our sight though I also couldnt stop picturing them with Granny. The final visit. Archie making deep, chivalrous bows, his baby sister Lilibet cuddling the monarchs shins. 'Sweetest children,' Granny said, sounding bemused. Shed expected them to be a bit more...American, I think? Meaning, in her mind, more rambunctious, he wrote, as per Hello Magazine. Also Read: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle gear up for special celebration with kids Archie and Lilibet Prince Harry highlights couple's big day Meghan gave birth to Archie at Portland Hospital on May 6, 2019, while the couple welcomed their second kid, Lilibet, at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital on 4 June 2021. Remembering the big day when Lilibet came to this world, Harry said it was a blissful moment as they did not have to worry about anything -- be it Royal rules and regulations or journalists at the front gate. He wrote that they calmly reached the hospital with their bodyguards, who brought fries and burgers for them, as well as fajitas for Meghan from a nearby Mexican restaurant. The Duke mentioned they ate and ate and also did the Baby Mama dance in the hospital room, stating that the moment was just filled with joy and love. Prince William is set to star in a two-part documentary shining a spotlight on a critical issue. Titled Prince William: We Can End Homelessness, the series will explore the first year of his ambitious initiative, Homewards. A step which aims to make homelessness a rare, brief, and unrepeated experience in the UK. The Prince of Wales, partnering with The Royal Foundation, has launched a resource centre to tackle this issue in the UK. Their approach focuses on community-based initiatives. The documentary will also feature well-known advocates of the program. Prince William currently holds the title of Duke of Cornwall.(Instagram/@princeandprincessofwales) Prince William: We Can End Homelessness Following the journeys of those currently facing homelessness, as well as William himself as he launches the program across the country, the documentary promises an in-depth look at the challenges and potential solutions to end this helplessness. A new picture from his documentary recently surfaced glimpsing the future monarch addressing the issue. Earlier, while discussing the charity, William mentioned that his initiative, Homewards, aims to inspire people across the country with hope, suggesting that homelessness can be prevented through collaborative efforts and visible progress. Its a big task, but I firmly believe that by working together it is possible to make homelessness rare, brief and unrepeated, and I am very much looking forward to working with our six locations to make our ambition a reality, the future monarch remarked, as per The Mirror. Also read: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle face growing rift as Duchess fears they are no longer What is Homewards? Launched in 2023 by the Prince of Wales, Homewards is a five-year initiative focused on developing and demonstrating new ways to stop and get rid of homelessness, creating successful models that can be adapted widely and easily. Together, they will create tailored plans to address homelessness in multiple UK areas including Newport, South Wales; Dorset towns, Lambeth in south London; and the cities of Belfast, Aberdeen, and Sheffield. On July 7th, The Royal Foundation, led by the Prince and Princess of Wales, announced a special exhibition titled 'Homelessness: Reframed'. This exhibition aims to harness the power of art to enhance the nations awareness of homelessness and foster hope that it can be eradicated. An art exhibition bringing to life the breadth and complexities of homelessness across the country and giving the public an opportunity to engage with, and better understand, the stories of those with experience of homelessness, the Royal Foundation website described the vision. Also read: Danny Trejo reacts after throwing punch and being knocked down at 4th of July parade: I would be embarrassed' Dave Martin, David Tovey, Marc Davenant, Opake, Rankin, Robi Walters, and Sam DCruze are among the renowned artists participating in the exhibition, which starts on Wednesday, August 7th, and runs for six weeks until Friday, September 20th. A heartbreaking video shows a South Carolina father dancing, decked in a stars and stripes outfit and top hat, before his head blew up after he placed firework on his hat during 4th of July celebrations. 41-year-old Allen Ray McGrew put up the show for his neighbours during the block party in the town of Summerville. SC dad Allen Ray McGrew died after placing firework on his hat at a July 4 block party (Allen McGrew/Facebook) McGrew reportedly died at the scene. As per WCBD, he suffered fatal injuries after placing the large firework on his head around 10:30 pm, the Dorchester County Sheriffs Office said. His wife told deputies he was trying to show off even though his family members begged him to stop. He was holding this firework over his top hat, Paige McGrew told the Post and Courier. I thought he was just showboating before he set it on the ground. I didnt realize he had already lit it. A police report obtained by the outlet said that McGrew had been drinking for several hours before the incident took place. His son recently got engaged. McGrew loved Independence Day and wore a new Uncle Sam costume during the party. Allen loved this holiday, his wife said. 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 last night, she said, adding that she would remember her husband as a genuine, good person who loved life. Why do people mess with fireworks? In the comment section of the video, users stressed the importance of being serious about handling fireworks. This is one of those stories you ask yourself Why? one user said, while another wrote, I will always ask this question every year. Why do people mess with fireworks? How many more examples do people need to take fireworks seriously? This is tragic, one user wrote. Another said, Wow. Such a tragedy. People dont realize how powerful fireworks really are. Even little ones. Leave it to the professionals people. That's so sad. Why do people do these stupid things? Play stupid games win stupid prizes. Rest in peace. Prayers to his family, one user said. Fireworks can be deadly. You have to have common sense. Prayers for his family, another wrote. One commented, Damn.thats just so sad. Of course it was a dumb move but after reading that, I just feel awful with no room to critique. 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. Lois Parshley at The Lever: In early May, Google announced it would be adding artificial intelligence to its search engine. When the new feature rolled out, AI Overviews began offering summaries to the top of queries, whether you wanted them or not and they came at an invisible cost. Each time you search for something like how many rocks should I eat and Googles AI snapshot tells you at least one small rock per day, youre consuming approximately three watt-hours of electricity, according to Alex de Vries, the founder of Digiconomist, a research company exploring the unintended consequences of digital trends. Thats ten times the power consumption of a traditional Google search , and roughly equivalent to the amount of power used when talking for an hour on a home phone . (Remember those?) Collectively, de Vries calculates that adding AI-generated answers to all Google searches could easily consume as much electricity as the country of Ireland. More here. Large numbers of French voters cast ballots Sunday in the second and final round of elections to decide whether the country will give the far right a parliamentary majority for the first time since it was occupied by the Nazis during World War II. As of noon local time, turnout was 26.6%, up slightly from the 25.9% recorded at the same time during heavy Round 1 voting on June 30, according to the interior ministry. "The individual freedoms, tolerance and respect for others is what's at stake today," Thomas Bertrand, 45, told the Associated Press after voting at a school in Paris. Pierre Lubin, 45, said he was worried whether France would wind up with an effective government, and Valerie Dodeman, 55, said she was pessimistic about the outcome. "No matter what happens, I think this election will leave people disgruntled on all sides," Dodeman said. President Emmanuel Macron called for snap elections after his centrist allies were crushed by far right opponents during June 9 voting for the European Parliament. In Round 1, the anti-immigration National Rally party led by Marine Le Pen scored its largest gains ever, and Sunday's voting will decide control of France's National Assembly and the next prime minister. Le Pen has called on voters to give her party an absolute majority and opponents scrambled to cut deals for a ruling coalition if the National Rally party doesn't win outright, AP said. Simone Puorto explores the transformative potential of AI in reshaping digital interactions, heralding the advent of a "post-search" era. Using examples like Netflix and TikTok, he illustrates how AI-driven personalization is replacing traditional search methods by predicting user preferences and delivering relevant content proactively. This shift towards AI-centric interfaces, exemplified by tools like ChatGPT and Claude, suggests a future where conversational AI becomes the primary medium for accessing web information, integrating various data sources seamlessly. Such a development could render traditional websites and apps obsolete, leading to a more unified, intuitive, and human-like digital experience. Puorto envisions this evolution as a significant leap in how we interact with the web, moving from fragmented searches to holistic, AI-driven interactions that align more closely with natural human behaviors. In recent years, we have been evolving towards what I call a post-search era. Take Netflix as a paradigmatic example. With a catalog of thousands of titles and a highly diverse user base, it is almost mandatory for them to offer not only hyper-personalized title suggestions but also to propose them in an equally hyper-personalized manner. A particularly effective strategy the video streaming company uses is the customization of artwork used to represent the content. Personalizing not only the titles based on tastes but also how those titles are presented allows Netflix to maximize the click-through rate and, consequently, the time spent on the platform. It's unsurprising that, according to McKinsey, as much as 75% of the content viewed on Netflix today comes from algorithmic recommendations rather than active and conscious searches (source: How retailers can keep up with consumers) No longer "search," in short, but "post-search." This trend is evident, though to a lesser extent, in e-commerce. Today, the most successful companies are not those with the most content but those capable of offering that content in a more finely calibrated way, focused not so much on position but prediction. The validity of this thesis can be empirically proven by the growing dominance of platforms like TikTok in the field, not only of social media but also of search itself. The AI heart of TikTok, Monolith, tailors content increasingly suited to user preferences. Once we overcome a first wave of generic content, as we interact with Monolith, the algorithm begins to reward us with increasingly relevant results, to the point of making Facebook seem more like a mass media platform than a social media platform in comparison. It is no coincidence that in recent years, there has been a change in user preferences, especially among young people, who increasingly tend to favor platforms such as TikTok and Reddit for their searches, to the detriment of Google. Read or listen to the full article The Hotel Yearbook Technology 2024 The HOTEL Yearbook Technology 2024 delves into the transformative power of data in the hospitality industry, exploring how the "everything-data decade" is reshaping the landscape. This year's edition emphasizes the surge of data-focused innovations and products with open architectures for seamless data exchange and micro-applications embedded in diverse tech stacks. As data, often dubbed "the new oil", becomes pivotal for hotels to refine brand identities and the struggle to offer hyper-personalized services, it also plays a critical role in managing labor and energy resources efficiently. The publication provides essential insights and recommendations into harnessing data for superior service delivery, agile resource optimization, robust data security, and crafting extraordinary guest experiences. www.hotelyearbook.com/edition/technology-2024.html Pop quiz time! What do TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat have to do with hotel loyalty programs? Ready to be surprised? The answer is instant gratification. Globally, people are craving instant gratification. They seek it from their social channels and hotel loyalty programs. Your guests want personalized and instant loyalty perks rather than a blanket points-based loyalty program. Here are some numbers. According to the 2023 McKinsey Report on Travel Loyalty, members of travel loyalty programs are becoming increasingly disloyal. Since 2021, the likelihood that a guest would recommend a hotel loyalty program to a friend or colleague has steeply declined. However, they will recommend brands. Travelers, especially those between the ages of 18 and 24, are loyal to brands (not loyalty programs). These travelers are looking for room rates that are good value for their money and a brand with an excellent reputation. At the NAVIGATE Miami and London conferences, we held sessions and great discussions on next-level loyalty and creating compelling guest benefits and perks. We even polled hoteliers in Miami and asked them what guests expected from loyalty programs. Discounts and room upgrades were the top two answers. Member rates, early check-in/late check-out, and F&B credits came last. So what does this mean for how your hotel should approach loyalty programs? Lets dive in. What guests really want from a loyalty program 78% of guests are looking for immediate benefits rather than waiting for their points to build up. Hoteliers can design hotel loyalty programs to meet these expectations if they know their guests and what will satisfy them. Putting the guest experience at the programs core allows you to deliver unforgettable guest experiences through immediate personalized benefits. How to redefine loyalty programs for todays guests Looking to move away from your current points-based program? Heres a good starting point. Take a closer look at your guests spending history, on-site reservations and activities, and retail/shopping activities. Building a guest profile with all these data points will guide you toward personalized recommendations and offers. For example, lets say the Avertine Hotel uses Revinate CDP, giving them access to Rich Guest Profiles for every guest, including historic stay data alongside spending history and other interactions across the guest journey. It shows that guest Caroline Bretell has stayed with the hotel four times, visiting the spa and dining on-site each time. Having that information at your fingertips allows you to personalize her loyalty perks and offer a discount at the spa or a credit for on-site dining rather than perhaps offering her a discount for another amenity that she might not use. According to McKinsey, 78% of guests and consumers are more likely to make a repeat purchase when offered a personalized experience. If you want your guests to come back, make sure that the offers and messaging you send to them are relevant to their interests. Looking at guests stay history or having them complete a preferences survey will allow you to gain insight into their interests and offer them a more personalized experience. How Ennismore and Daniel Thwaites redesigned their loyalty programs Ennismore shook up the current loyalty landscape when it launched its Dis-loyalty program. Carlo Del Mistro, Chief Digital Officer at Ennismore, presented the behind-the-scenes story to hoteliers at NAVIGATE London. The program encourages guests to discover the new and rewards them for first-time stays at hotels within the group and stays at newly opened hotels. Plus, it offers discounts on F&B, return stays, free coffee year-round, and access to various experiences and events. But in keeping with what guests want, they offer instant access to all benefits no points or tiers involved. Daniel Thwaites has also taken a modern approach to loyalty, putting the guest experience at the core of their philosophy. The staff at the properties uses Revinates Arrivals Report to identify repeat guests and reward them with perks upon check-in. Internally, the hotel calls this their Together program, and guests never even know they are members. This approach offers true instant gratification and surprise and delight to guests as they check-in and are rewarded perks for their loyalty. The result has been rewarding for the hotel, with an increase in NPS and overall hotel ratings. We can help At Revinate, we make it simple to start a loyalty program and reward your guests with personalized benefits. Revinate Marketings loyalty features allow hoteliers to: Automatically add guests to loyalty tiers based on confirmed stays within a time-boxed period, e.g. since 2019. Automatically attach badges to guests in their Rich Guest Profile and in the Arrivals Report that includes their loyalty tier status. Send automated campaigns notifying guests when the next loyalty tier is reached and set-up nurture campaigns to keep them engaged. And remember, the more guest data you can collect and include in the Rich Guest Profile, the more personalized your loyalty perks can be, and the more likely your guests are to return. Learn more about how you can personalize guest communications with Revinate by requesting a demo. About Revinate Revinate empowers hoteliers to directly connect with their guests. Our Guest Data Platform and communication solutions unlock revenue for hoteliers and put them in control of the full guest experience initial research, booking, check-in, throughout the stay, and even after check out all via the communication channels that guests prefer, whether it's voice, text, email, or web. More than 12,000 hotels globally bank on Revinate to drive direct revenue and deliver delightful guest experiences. Ask us how we do it. Visit our website to get a demo. Sanjana Chappalli VP of Brand Marketing and Communications Revinate, Inc. View source Veteran Spotlight: Coast Guard Lt. Joseph Ponti FALMOUTH, Mass. Joseph Ponti served his country in the Coast Guard from 1961 to 1965, and was discharged as a lieutenant. He grew up in Lawrence and graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy as an ensign. His first assignment would take him aboard a weather ship, the USCG Casco. "We went on five-week patrols, carried meteorologists onboard and did search and rescue missions," he recalled. His other roles would include 1 1/2 years as a deck watch officer, six months as a student engineer as well as an engineering watch officer. He would also serve as a marine inspector, inspecting any American ship that carried people. Lt. Ponti would offer this when asked about the holidays: "We made the best of it. They always made something special, we had very good cooks onboard so we made do. There were no cell phones or high-level technology back then so you really lost contact with your family." One way the could communicate at sea was to send weather balloons up 30,000 feet to report conditions to passing aircraft. "We communicated with mostly the stewardesses and dictated postcards to our family," he remembered. Ponti was in Boston in 1962 when his ship received an emergency call. "This was during the Cuban Missile Crisis," he said. "We came to board our ship and there was an armed guard standing in front. Our assignment was to go to the Atlantic as a rescue ship during the crisis. "We were in communication with the mainland and finally got the call to return to port to resume our normal duties." Other voyages weren't quite so harrowing, including leaving Boston in 1963, he said, "on oceanographic mission to collect water samples and such, ended up in Rio De Janeiro and that was really nice." When asked about a mentor in the service he said, "most of my mentors were my classmates, guys I served with. Our motto was '61 Never Outdone,'" he said laughingly. His thoughts on being a veteran? "I really keep in close contact with my classmates," he said. "We've known each other for 60-plus years. We're ROMEOs Retired, Old, Men, Eating Out. We've all kept very close and that's what so special about being a veteran that served his country: the camaraderie. "We love to jab each other and talk about what body parts are going on us. We're already planning our next gathering. I love these guys like brothers." One of his favorite hobbies is writing articles on Coast Guard ships, which he submits for publication and also presents informative lectures at assisted living centers. Lt. Joe Ponti, thank you for your service to our great country. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Get our The Life Cinematic email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, the hit Netflix sequel to the long-running action comedy franchise, contains a subtle dig at a maligned Eddie Murphy flop but only some fans have noticed. The new film, released on Netflix this week, sees Murphy reprise the role of police detective Axel Foley, who returns to Beverly Hills after the life of his former partner, Judge Reinholds Billy Rosewood, is threatened. The film has been met with an uproarious response online, while The Independent praised it for being a potent reminder of Murphys incredible skill set after years of being wasted as a comic performer. One joke that has gone over the heads of some, however, is a reference to one of Murphys least-liked films and one that Murphy himself has critiqued. In an early scene, Axel is arrested by the Beverly Hills PD, with Joseph Gordon-Levitts hotshot cop Bobby Abbott going over his rap sheet with him. This is a lot, Abbott says. Disturbing the peace, various shootouts, evading the police. This is from 84, then theres one from 87 and then 94. Not your finest hour. The line is a subtle reference to the years in which the original Beverly Hills Cop films were released, and notably the release of 1994s Beverly Hills Cop III, a universally maligned sequel that put the franchise on ice for 30 years. The film introduced a new creative team to the series, and saw Axel facing off against a gang of counterfeiters who operate out of a theme park. Murphy famously dislikes the film, calling it garbage in 2015 and suggesting there were problems with the script from day one. John Landis, the films director, has also claimed that the movie didnt work as Murphy had decided to play Axel as a more strait-laced character meaning not particularly funny to reflect his maturity. He added, in a 2005 interview, that production of the film was a very strange experience. open image in gallery Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F ( Netflix ) The film has also been so widely panned that the director of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Mark Molloy, was advised not to watch it while preparing to take the job and even revealed in an interview that Hollywood super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced the first, second and fourth movies in the series, hasnt seen it either. Theres been so much history with this franchise, but I never actually saw Beverly Hills Cop III, Molloy told The Hollywood Reporter. Ive never seen it, and Jerry hasnt either. When I came in, I said to Jerry, I havent seen Beverly Hills Cop III. And he was like, I didnt do it, so you dont need to see it. And I was like, OK, cool, Jerry. Im going to let it go then. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is streaming on Netflix. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Get our The Life Cinematic email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Minnie Driver has said that it would have been the biggest mistake of her life to marry the Marvel actor Josh Brolin. The actor and musician who is best known for her roles in Good Will Hunting and Grosse Pointe Blank revealed in her 2022 memoir Managing Expectations that she discovered at the age of 12 that her parents had never married as her father was already married to a different woman, and had a second family. In a new interview, the Return to Me star discussed how her fathers double life impacted her own relationships with men. If I look at my history, what it did was make me want to be married so much and then choose men who were so not the right men to be married to, she told The Sunday Times. So I would carry on longing to be married and to have that conservative version [of a relationship], find men who had no interest in that, and then if one did, run a mile. She continued: The one time I was engaged it would have been, I think, the biggest mistake of my life. Driver was referencing her engagement to Brolin, who she met on the set of the 2000 thriller Slow Burn. The pair were engaged in 2001 but announced their split five months later. Brolin, who played Thanos in the MCU and has appeared in films including No Country for Old Men and Dune, would go on to wed the actor Diane Lane and subsequently the model Kathryn Boyd. He is also the son of the actor James Brolin and stepson of Barbra Streisand. open image in gallery The actors Minnie Driver and Josh Brolin, who were formerly engaged ( Getty Images ) In her new interview, Driver added that she is now in a relationship with a man the writer and director Addison ODea who, like her, has no interest in marriage. Now Im with someone who doesnt want to get married but who is the most devoted, loving, extraordinary she said. Everything I could have wanted in my childhood idea of a husband, he actually is. Earlier this year, Driver who was formerly in a relationship with her Good Will Hunting co-star Matt Damon said that she would advice her younger self to not date actors. Separately this year, the actor revealed that the producers of her 1998 action thriller Hard Rain refused to let her swim in a wetsuit on-camera so that her nipples were visible. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The ending of Lost is the most misunderstood series finale in television history but it almost drew to a close in a far different way. Remember that flashback which sees Ben being taught about the island's volcano as a youngster by the Dharma Initiative? Probably not but you will soon considering the hit drama has just been added to Netflix in the UK and US, ahead of its 20th anniversary on 22 September. The scene occurs in third season episode The Man Behind the Curtain and it has since emerged that this was one of the first hints of an endgame. Showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse spoke to EW about the scrapped plans in 2017. *Spoilers follow you have been warned* The story goes that Cuse - very much the duo's big-dreamer - got the idea of including a volcano at the end of the series after visiting Hawaii's Big Island with his family, and later envisioned it being home to the climactic showdown between Jack (Matthew Fox) and the smoke monster, incarnated as John Locke (Terry O'Quinn). We were always looking to cannibalise anything on Hawaii to aid in the visual storytelling of the show, Cuse said. We also thought of the island as a character on the show, so we were always looking for things that would give it more personality. For those who don't know (and if you haven't seen Lost, go watch it immediately), season six presented the concept that the island was a metaphorical cork bottling up some very bad things that, if unleashed into civilisation, would cause all kinds of destruction. Lindelof who followed up Lost with The Leftovers and Watchmen added: The question was always, how do you basically visualise and dramatise the idea that the island itself is all that separates the world from hellfire and damnation? And the answer was the volcano. open image in gallery The volcano was mentioned in a season three flashback He continued: The volcano had been dormant for the duration of the series but based on moving into this endgame, the island had become unstable and the volcano was going to erupt. "We were going to have lots of seismic activity, and ultimately, there was going to be this big fight between the forces of good and the forces of evil, which ended up in the series manifesting as Jack and The Man in Black, in the midst of magma. Magma spewing everywhere! Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free The volcano was later deemed too expensive by the bigwigs at network ABC forcing the writing duo to improvise; the fatal battle ended up happening on a cliff as the island crumbled to the sea. ABC was like, Guys, we love you, and were letting you end the show; we cant let you bankrupt the network in the process', said Lindelof. Just in case you're one of the people who misunderstood the ending, allow us to spell it out for you: they were not dead the entire time. to anyone who hasn't seen LOST and thinks they won't bother because they've heard the ending is bad, this is not true and the show will change your life https://t.co/J9FCFm9P5D Jacob Stolworthy (@JacobStolworthy) July 1, 2024 Emmy award-winning series Lost originally aired in 2004 and drew to a natural close in 2010. Its ensemble cast included Evangeline Lilly, Michael Emerson, Elizabeth Mitchell and Josh Holloway. The first ever episode of Lost will eceive an anniversary screening in London for the first time ever on Thursday 19 September. Find a ranking of every single Lost episode here. Whether youre a longtime fan of Lost or simply looking for a new series to start, subscribe to new podcast The LOST Boys following two of our writers respective journey watching from the very beginning one for the first time, the other for the eighth. Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Margot Robbie is reportedly pregnant with her first baby. The 34-year-old Barbie actor and her husband, actor and film producer Tom Ackerley, 34, are expecting their first child together, multiple sources told People. The couple, who were married in 2016 have yet to speak out about the news. The Independent has reached out to representatives for the couple for comment. open image in gallery Margot Robbie reportedly expecting first baby with husband Tom Ackerley ( Getty Images ) Robbie and Ackerly first met back in 2013 while they were filming Suite Francaise, a Second World War romantic drama, in Belgium. At the time Robbie was still rising to fame as an actor and Ackerly was the films assistant director. One year later, they launched a production company together called LuckyChap which has gone on to produce major movies including Birds of Prey and Barbie, both of which starred Robbie in the lead role. The two are known for keeping their personal lives private. Their engagement was never announced and they were married in a secret ceremony in Byron Bay, Australia. The Suicide Squad actor told Vogue back in May 2016 that her relationship with the best-looking guy in London was unexpected. I was the ultimate single gal. The idea of relationships made me want to vomit, she said. And then this crept up on me. We were friends for so long. I was always in love with him. Robbie continued: But I thought, Oh, he would never love me back. Dont make it weird, Margot. Dont be stupid and tell him that you like him. And then it happened, and I was like, Of course were together. This makes so much sense, the way nothing has ever made sense before. Robbie has previously voiced her annoyance at being continuously asked in interviews when she would be having children. It made me really angry; how dare some old guy dictate what I can and cant do when it comes to motherhood or my own body? she said back in 2019 toRadio Times. Unfortunately, its a conversation were still having. Im so angry that theres this social contract, she added. Youre married, now have a baby. Dont presume. Ill do what Im going to do. Recently, the couple opened up about their relationship in an interview with The Times. When asked whether or not they argue at home, Acklerley explained that their most common fight is over chocolate biscuits and whether Tim Tams or Penguins are better. He added that he wished there was more of a sporting rivalry between Australia and the UK, noting that he feels like an honorary Aussie while Margot feels like an honorary Brit. They also revealed that when both of them arent working, they spend 24 hours a day together. Its seamless, Ackerley said. We dont have a toggle on, toggle off. Its all become one thing. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} An outspoken Iranian lawyer who has publicly criticized how the government handled the 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini has been arrested, state media reported Sunday. The unrest followed the death of the 22-year-old detained by the police for allegedly not properly wearing her mandatory hijab. The massive protests quickly escalated into calls to overthrow Irans four-decade Islamic theocracy. The judiciarys Mizan news agency said Sunday that Mohsen Borhani had been previously sentenced but did not give further details on his case or jail time. Borhani, also a university professor, became popular on social media for his critical views of the Iranian government during the 2022 demonstrations that shook the Islamic Republic and sparked a security crackdown that killed more than 500 people and saw over 22,000 detained. U.N. investigators said Iran was responsible for the physical violence that led to Amini's death. The lawyer's arrest came a day after reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian was elected to lead the country. Pezeshkian promised to ease enforcement of the countrys mandatory headscarf law and reach out to the West after years of sanctions and protests squeezing the Islamic Republic. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} 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. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Landlords have come under fire for banning prospective tenants from working from home, resulting in calls for new legislation to protect renters. In what appears to be a new trend, adverts for shared homes have been appearing, specifying that the potential new occupant must not work from home. Now, the charity Generation Rent has called upon the new government to impose regulations to stop the practice, which is arguably given force by Section 21 no-fault eviction powers. Concerns have been echoed by British renters, including one fully remote disabled worker who told The Independent that such practices put people at risk of homelessness when it leaves them unable to work. A lawyer confirmed to The Independent that landlords cannot stop tenants working from home, although the situation is more complicated where a tenant seeks to run a business from their rental property. A recent post on Twitter/X, which went viral, claimed that a landlord was attempting to rent a double room for 1,300 a month where the tenant would be unable to work from home despite a desk being placed in the room. It read: 1300, no working from home allowed even though the room has a desk? 1300, no working from home allowed even though the room has a desk? Loool pic.twitter.com/e3a3BXKSUH Pistachio (@HarleyShah) June 18, 2024 The post has been viewed by more than four million people. It ignited an intense debate about the legality of such requests and whether or not they were fair, especially with the increased prevalence of fully remote and hybrid jobs in the post-Covid world. The Office of National Statistics found that the average monthly rent in the UK increased by nine per cent from 2023 to 2024. Reacting to the post, one Twitter/X user wrote: Thats utterly ridiculous! I think its insurance reasons, as landlords get asked if the property is used for business purposes, speculated a second. Im sure thats what landlords are referring to. A third questioned: No wfh allowed? How is that legal? No running a business I can understand. An investigation by The Independent found that such ads were far from uncommon on rental websites such as Spareroom, and were particularly prevalent among live-in landlords. We are looking for a female professional who is neat and tidy and not WFH, specifies one Spareroom ad for a double bedroom costing 800 a month. Another bedroom that costs 800 a month is advertised with the specification no WFH on either a full- or part-time basis, adding that the prospective tenant ideally wont use the kitchen much. If you snore please dont apply, it adds, stressing that the ideal tenant should love their own space. London, in particular, is famed for its expensive, often poor, rental accommodation. Pictured here is a cupboard that has been turned into a studio flat in the city ( Vicki Couchman/Shutterstock ) Referring to the first advert, a spokesperson for Spareroom told The Independent: This isnt an ad placed by a traditional landlord, it comes from someone living in the property. Its not unusual for these type of ads, whether theyre from a lodger landlord or the current flatmates, to express some type of preference when it comes to working from home. There could be all sorts of reasons for that, from the space not being suitable, or the extra load on wifi, to the effect on bills. But the problems that this can create for prospective tenants are huge, especially in light of the prevalence of remote and hybrid roles since the pandemic. One fully remote worker, who is currently looking for a new rental property, told The Independent: After the 2008 market crash and the proliferation of zero-hours contracts I moved my work model to freelancing. Much of this involves working from home for preparation and admin. So when the pandemic hit I was fortunate in having few adjustments to my work pattern, and with a progressive disability, this has allowed me to continue working full time. Im currently looking for a new rental property and any stipulation that I could not work from home would either exclude me from housing or exclude me from the workforce. This is not a choice anyone ought to face, and it certainly ought not to be being imposed by private landlords. A British landlord described the practice of banning tenants from working from home as insane ( Getty ) Abtin Yeganeh, a senior associate in the dispute resolution department at solicitors Lawrence Stephens, explained that renters do have one protection in this area. While landlords can seek to exclude a tenants right to work from home, The Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (subject to several exclusions) provides that landlords cannot unreasonably refuse a tenants request to do so, he said. However, the continued existence of Section 21 evictions means that tenants could still be forced to move on if they try to work from home, making this a complicated issue for all involved. Ben Twomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, echoed these concerns, telling The Independent: If youre paying rent for a home, it should be none of your landlords business what you do in it. Unfortunately, in practice, there is little stopping landlords from imposing draconian conditions on their tenants, because they can threaten a Section 21 eviction if you dont comply. It doesnt matter if an unreasonable requirement is lawful being able to evict without needing a reason trumps everything. When the next government reforms tenancies, as all major parties have promised, it must abolish Section 21 and make clear that unfair terms like banning working from home are not legal. That way, the selfish preferences of a landlord will not mean homelessness for a tenant. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The Prince of Wales is set to feature in a new documentary series about his project aimed at tackling homelessness. The future king has set his sights on making rough sleeping, sofa surfing and other forms of temporary accommodation a thing of the past with his ambitious initiative called Homewards. The two-part series, which has the working title Prince William: We Can End Homelessness, will go behind the scenes of the first year of the programme and will be broadcast by ITV this autumn. The Prince of Wales will feature in a new documentary series about his homelessness programme ( John Walton/PA Wire ) It will follow William as he launches Homewards across the country, and will feature the journeys of those currently facing homelessness or who have lived experience of the issue. The documentary will also feature well-known advocates of the programme, alongside those leading individual projects across the UK. Homewards is a five-year project launched by William in 2023 to bring together a range of individuals and organisations to develop bespoke homelessness solutions in Newport, South Wales, three neighbouring Dorset towns, Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch, the London borough of Lambeth, Belfast, Aberdeen and Sheffield. Jo Clinton-Davis, controller of factual content at ITV, 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. Director Leo Burley said: Over the past year we have spent time following Prince William and The Royal Foundation through the first year of the Homewards programme. William is pictured during a visit to a Homewards Sheffield Local Coalition meeting, to join discussions about the impact of the scheme ( Oli Scarff/PA Wire ) Weve heard some incredibly moving stories from people across the country 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. Everyone weve filmed with has welcomed the spotlight that Prince William and Homewards are placing on the UKs homelessness crisis. Royal Foundation chief executive Amanda Berry 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. The Prince of Wales during a visit to a housing workshop at The Learning Zone in Sheffield in March ( Temilade Adelaja/PA Wire ) This two-part documentary will help raise vital awareness and demonstrate that, by working together, it is possible to end homelessness. William has long been a supporter of causes addressing homelessness and became royal patron of charity The Passage after visiting one of its shelters with his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, when he was 11. In 2009 he spent a night sleeping rough to understand the plight of the homeless at Christmas and he has joined a Big Issue seller at his pitch for the last two years in a row. Press Association Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Suella Braverman has become the first potential Conservative leadership candidate to admit that the partys very existence is now at stake after the most disastrous general election result in its history. The former home secretary was one of three potential leadership candidates to do the Sunday morning political shows, along with ex-health secretary Victoria Atkins and former immigration minister Robert Jenrick in an attempt to start diagnosing what went wrong. It followed the Tories winning a mere 121 seats, their worst result in the partys 190-year history, as millions of their voters switched to Nigel Farages Reform UK. Suella Braverman believes Nigel Farage could destroy the Tories ( PA ) Mr Farage told The Independent on Saturday he will no longer seek Tory MPs past or present as defectors or push to take over the party. Instead, he has decided he wants Reform to replace the Conservatives altogether. Speaking on GB News on Sunday, Ms Braverman addressed the surge in support for Mr Farage and Reform and its effect on the Tories, warning: We are facing an existential crisis. No party has the right to exist. Ms Braverman also claimed there is a serious attempt to cut out the [party] membership from the next leadership vote, warning this would be a disaster for a party that has lost contact with its base and seen millions switch to Reform UK. She went on to say: There is no urgency to elect a new leader. What is urgent and absolutely essential now is that we as a party reflect on what got us into this existentially damaging situation. But, having penned an article attacking Rishi Sunaks election campaign just 48 hours before polling day, she was also challenged on the issue of loyalty and party discipline. Ms Braverman hit back at her critics arguing that they had done the same in forcing Boris Johnson out. Mr Farage speaking to David Maddox ( Stuart Mitchell ) What is party discipline? she asked. What is loyalty? Over the last several years we have had prime minister after prime minister. I mean many people were dismayed that Boris Johnson was brought down in the way he was. Her comments came as ex-Tory MP Marcus Fysh, a fellow Brexiteer on the right of the party, suggested it would be better for the country if the Conservatives did cease to exist. He told Times Radio: I just dont think it is a viable entity anymore. The new composition in parliament means I dont think there is any chance it will do the things needed to be actually electable again. Im just calling it how I see it; if it was my business I would wind it up. One rival on the right, Mr Jenrick, struck a more managerial note on why the party had been turfed out of office, arguing that it had been a failure to deliver. The former minister said he was being painfully honest about what went wrong, adding the Tories didnt have a good enough diagnosis of just how broken some of our public services were. Former health secretary Victoria Atkins and former immigration minister Robert Jenrick both appeared on the BBCs flagship political show but insisted they were not yet launching leadership bids ( PA ) He told the BBCs Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: And we didnt have the willingness to take the tough decisions that were necessary to deliver for the British public; when we said, for example, on immigration that we would do whatever it takes, we didnt do whatever it takes. Mr Jenrick suggested migration was at the heart of the defeat, adding: Two-thirds of the constituencies that sadly we lost at the general election, the majorities, the margin of defeat was less than the Reform vote and that was the case in the North, the South, in Scotland, Wales, everywhere including, for example, in seats that we lost to the Liberal Democrats. He is understood to have the support of influential figure Danny Kruger, founder of the New Conservatives, who also argued that lack of competence was the main cause for the humiliating defeat. Writing for the Telegraph, he said: 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. Lord Ben Houchen, the Mayor of Teesside, the only major Tory election success in recent times, warned about competency in an article for The Sunday Times. He wrote: If my experience tells me anything, it is that reactionary politics are not the answer to our recent setback. The Conservative Partys true failing was not ideological; nor was it due to the election campaign or Rishi Sunak. The loss stemmed from a loss of confidence and trust, and a lack of belief in our ability to deliver at Westminster. Former health secretary Victoria Atkins, who is being championed by the One Nation left of the party, did not rule out standing in the Tory leadership race but said it was not yet time for candidates to launch their campaigns. This weekend is not about leadership, she told Kuenssberg. The absolute focus at the moment, and the reason I came on today, was genuinely not to talk about leadership because this is not the moment for this. We need to show the public that we understand they have sent us some very, very loud messages, that we are listening, that we are reflecting and then we as a party need to get together and unite and work out what we want for the future. But already there has been a warning from leading figures outside the parliamentary party that tacking to a managerial line will not help defeat Mr Farage and Reform. Former David Cameron adviser and ResPublica think tank director Phillip Blond said: Lots of stuff from putative leadership contenders for the Tory leadership and advocates out there but its all visionless management speak that wont shift a single voter. Stuff about delivery is a necessary but not sufficient condition for renewal whats missing is recognition that the whole original Tory offer is an abject failure and whats needed is not more technocratic wish fulfilment but a genuine enhancing new vision of Conservatism. Without this voters will stream to Farage. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The European Union is willing to offer Sir Keir Starmer a new deal on post-Brexit issues, the Irish prime minister has indicated. Simon Harris said there was space to work more closely with the UK, and Ireland would be an ally in any negotiations. His comments were welcomed by the new business secretary Jonathan Reynolds, who said the UK should explore ways to improve trade relations with the bloc. But he ruled out any return to freedom of movement. Taoiseach Simon Harris has said he wants to see improved Anglo-Irish relations ( PA ) On a visit to Edinburgh Sir Keir Starmer said work had already begun to build closer ties with the EU following Labours landslide election win. The PM said he wanted better trading and security relationships with Brussels as he vowed to rip up the botched deal struck by Boris Johnson. Foreign secretary David Lammy has also travelled to Europe for talks with key players, with a promise that the UK would be a good neighbour after the years of Brexit strife. Speaking to reporters in Edinburgh, Sir Keir said: We intend to improve our relationship with the EU and that means closer trading ties with the EU, it means closer ties in relation to research and development and closer ties in relation to defence and security. Obviously, there are many discussions to be had and negotiations to be had. But I do think that we can get a much better deal than the botched deal that Boris Johnson saddled the UK with. Mr Reynolds told the Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips programme on Sky News that removing some of those barriers to trade makes sense, adding: Weve talked about recognising each others professional qualifications, again completely sensible, pragmatic. If you are in the creative industries youve really suffered in your ability to move around the EU. These are practical things. But pressed on free movement, he said: Were not open to the free movement of people, that is something that is part of membership of the EU and, as I said, were not revisiting that. He added that going forward a relationship to Europe that is not determined by the internal politics of the Conservative Party is very much in the national interest in the UK. So we're not going to revisit those constitutional arguments, but of course where its in the mutual interest of both the European Union and the UK to work together, that good faith relationship has got to make sense. Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds ruled out a return to freedom of movement ( PA ) In one of his first acts in government, Sir Keir held a telephone call with the taoiseach and invited him to Downing Street on 17 July. Asked if there would be a willingness to renegotiate parts of the Brexit deal, Mr Harris said: I do absolutely think there would be a fair hearing for any proposal that the British government or indeed that the EU has about ironing out practical issues in terms of having a relationship that works. He said Brexit had happened and the British people had made their decision. But absolutely is there space to have a veterinary agreement, is their space in terms of student mobility, is their space to work closer together on issues? I think there absolutely is. And I do think there would be a willingness in Europe to have those conversations in due course, should that be the wish of the British government. He added that Ireland would be an ally of a closer relationship between Britain and the EU. Hilary Benn has been appointed as the new Northern Ireland secretary ( Justin Sutcliffe ) He said: It is obviously important that Britain and the European Union continue to be good neighbours and it is absolutely in Ireland's interest that we facilitate that in every way we can around any European table. Mr Reynolds said he welcomed Mr Harriss constructive attitude. Labour had campaigned during the election to respect Brexit, to not revisit those constitutional arguments, he said. But on trade, he added: If we can sell more whisky, more salmon to a market which is so significant to us, of course we should explore an opportunity like that. So we're not going to revisit those constitutional arguments, but of course where it's in the mutual interest of both the European Union and the UK to work together that good faith relationship has got to make sense. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Sir Keir Starmers biographer has revealed the moment the Labour leader found out he would become the next prime minister. Labour won a landslide in Thursdays general election, which saw former premier Liz Truss and a dozen Tory cabinet members lose their seats. Sir Keir became the new PM after meeting King Charles at Buckingham Palace, following the resignation of Rishi Sunak. Newly elected Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria enter their official London residence at No 10 Downing Street for the first time Tom Baldwin, a former Labour advisor and author of Keir Starmer: The Biography, described the moments after the exit poll released at 10pm on Thursday night. Mr Baldwin, who spent the evening with Sir Keir, said a handful of Labour aides joined the Labour leader with his wife Victoria and their two teenage children. [Keir Starmer] wrapped both his arms around his wife to share an extravagant kiss, Mr Baldwin wrote in The Observer. Then he reached out for his 13-year-old daughter. They embraced for a moment but he jolted into a tighter, protective grip as he realised it was all becoming too much. The couple moved in on Friday ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved ) While the public has got to know Sir Keir better in recent months, much less is known about Victoria, who prefers to keep a low profile. Mrs Starmer, known by friends as Lady Victoria, is a former lawyer who now works in occupational health for the NHS. They live in a 1.75m townhouse within Mr Starmers Holborn and St Pancras constituency. In a recent interview with The Independent, the Labour leader admitted his greatest fear about becoming prime minister is its impact on his children. Sir Keir and Victoria embrace at the Tate Modern victory party (Jeff Moore/PA) ( PA Wire ) Its been a cause of concern for me about the impact on the kids in particular, he said. Im not going to pretend that they are not worried about this, because they are. Our girl is 13 and a half, our boy 15, nearly 16. It is very impactful. Theyre just sort of exploring their independence, and suddenly, if we get over the line, that is going to be hard. Mr Baldwin also said that shortly after the exit poll released, the internet went down and there was no wifi, no TV and the prime minister-elect was cut off from the outside world. At 4.42am on Friday, Rishi Sunak won in his Richmond and Northallerton seat. In his speech he conceded defeat, adding: I have heard your anger, your disappointment, and I take responsibility for this loss. Shorty after, Sir Keir pledged change begins now as he addressed jubilant activists celebrating the landslide victory at the Tate Modern art gallery in London. We did it, he told supporters. You campaigned for it, you fought for it, you voted for it, and now it has arrived - change begins now. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Sir Keir Starmer has appointed the key figures in his new government following the Labour Partys landslide victory on Friday. He has appointed 22 Labour MPs and peers to cabinet positions including a record 11 women. He has also brought in outside expertise for his ministerial ranks, including senior ministers from Tony Blair and Gordon Browns New Labour governments. Outsiders have been given peerages to allow them to sit in the House of Lords and serve as ministers. But who exactly are these new ministers who are not MPs? Patrick Vallance Patrick Vallance during a coronavirus press conference at Downing Street ( Getty ) Sir Patrick Vallance, the former government chief scientific adviser who regularly appeared on TV during the Covid briefings, will serve as a minister of state (minister for science) in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. He will be a junior minister under secretary of state Peter Kyle. The man who became synonymous with Covid briefings during the lockdown held the role of the UK Governments chief scientific adviser throughout the pandemic. Sir Patrick was knighted in 2022 and will also be made a peer. He has previously backed Labours flagship manifesto pledge to set up a publicly owned energy firm. Prior to his role as chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick worked at pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline. When he stood down from his role in government he worked as the chairman of the Natural History Museum. Jacqui Smith Jacqui Smith previously served in Tony Blairs government ( PA ) Jacqui Smith has returned as higher education minister, a brief she previously held under Tony Blair 25 years ago. Ms Smith who is not an MP will receive a life peerage to re-enter government. During her time in the New Labour government, she held multiple ministerial positions before becoming the first female home secretary. She resigned in 2009 due to a series of expenses scandals, including designating a London house she shared with her sister as her main residence and claiming expenses on her home in Redditch. Following the end of her first political stint, Ms Smith competed on Strictly Come Dancing and hosted a political podcast with Iain Dale. She will lead on Labours skills reforms, including the partys manifesto pledge to replace the apprenticeship levy and set up Skills England. James Timpson Labours new prisons minister believes that a lot of people in jail shouldnt be there James Timpson, CEO of the Timpson Group, which provides key cutting and shoe repair services, has been appointed as the new prisons minister. During a news conference on Saturday, Sir Keir said Mr Timpson had invested a huge amount over many years into rehabilitating offenders and he was very pleased to have given him the post. The Timpson Group regularly employs former prisoners and Mr Timpson is the chair of the Prison Reform Trust charity, which aims to reduce imprisonment and improve conditions for inmates and families. In an interview with Channel 4 in February, 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, regularly, 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. Richard Hermer Richard Hermer leaving Downing Street after the first cabinet meeting ( PA ) Richard Hermer KC, an expert in international law, has been appointed as the governments attorney general. Mr Hermer was among a group of Jewish lawyers, including the former president of the UK supreme court Lord Neuberger, to write a letter warning that international law must guide Israels response to Hamass 7 October attack. However, Mr Hermers arrival has meant sidelining Emily Thornberry, who held the shadow attorney general position while in opposition. The attorney general oversees the government legal department, the Serious Fraud Office and the Crown Prosecution Service. He will be given a life peerage to sit in the House of Lords, and will usually attend cabinet meetings. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A Labour cabinet minister has ruled out the introduction of digital ID cards after Tony Blair called for their use to help control migration. Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds initially said the government would be looking at all sorts of things and he did not want to pre-empt that work. But in an interview nearly two hours later he said: "I can rule out ID cards for you. Thats not something which is part of our plans." The idea was one of the former prime ministers flagship policies in Downing Street, but it was killed off after he lost power. Pushing the new government to embrace the scheme, he said: "We need a plan to control immigration. If we dont have rules, we get prejudices. On Sunday, Mr Reynolds said the home secretary Yvette Cooper would look at "all sources of advice" on the issue. But sources close to Ms Cooper said ID cards were not Labour policy and that had not changed. He later told Times Radio he could rule out ID cards. Jonathan Reynolds said the new government would look at all sources of advice ( Sky News ) The Independent revealed this weekend that Keir Starmer regularly receives texts from the former prime minister with advice on what he needs to do. The Labour leader discussed the messages 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. The row over ID cards also comes as a number of ministers from the Blair and Brown eras prepare to return to government. Former home secretary Jacqui Smith will enter the Lords as an education minister, while former health secretary Alan Milburn has been tipped for a role in government helping to drive waiting lists down. Former cabinet minister Douglas Alexander will also return as a business minister. Writing in The Sunday Times, Sir Tony said: "The only game-changer is the full embrace of the potential of technology." Tony Blair called for digital ID cards to help control immigration ( PA Wire ) He added: "We need a plan to control immigration. If we dont 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." Mr Reynolds told Sky Newss Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: "The new home secretary will be looking at all sources of advice when it comes to that. "But I would just say we have backed the points-based immigration system, we made difficult decisions, particularly when we thought legal migration was too high and it has to come down." Pressed again on ID cards he said: "Well look, my colleague Yvette Cooper and the rest of the home affairs team will be looking at all sorts of things. "Im not going to pre-empt things they may or may not want to do." In 2020, Blair said it was "common sense to move in the direction of digital IDs" as part of efforts to fight Covid-19. "Youll want a record kept by the government of whos been vaccinated this will be essential... to restoring confidence," he added. He also argued that improvements in technology meant privacy issues could "be dealt with". "You dont need a large amount of information," he said, adding: "People give a lot more information to their supermarkets than they do to the government." In 2023, he joined forces with former Tory leader Lord William Hague to call for everyone in the UK to have a digital ID card as part of a "technological revolution". In a report, they said government records "are still based in a different era". The Conservative Party is the oldest and most successful political party in the world. It was in many ways the first modern political party and its history dates back at least 346 years to the foundation of the Tories, and arguably even longer to the Cavaliers who supported King Charles I in the Civil War. But the party is facing its biggest crisis yet, with its very existence now in question. The rise of Nigel Farage and Reform UK party on the right is the first time a serious alternative in that political space has been presented to British voters. While some wonder how a party with just five MPs can threaten such a long-established political institution, former home secretary Suella Braverman has warned that the Tory party does not have a right to exist. Her comments are a fair reflection of a turbulent time in politics, both here and overseas. In an interview with The Independent, Mr Farage made it clear that replacement of the Tories is his plan, rather than seeking to take them over, and Ms Braverman knows this could happen. Farage wants to replace the Conservative Party ( Joe Giddens/PA ) Look across the Channel to France The surge in support for Marine Le Pens National Rally would have been unthinkable in 2002, when Jaques Chirac took 82 per cent of the vote in the run-off against her father and predecessor, Jean-Marie Le Pen. Like Britain, France had a very strong two-party system, with the Gaullist Republicans on the centre-right and the Socialist Party on the centre left. They had dominated since the end of the Second World War but now both have been eclipsed. On the right, the National Front has become National Rally right-wing populism minus the most overt racism and on the centre-left, Emmanuel Macrons Le Marche (now rebranded as Renaissance) replaced the socialists. There is no indication that the French want their old parties back. Le Pen hopes to win power ( AP ) The Republicans got Trump-ed The other big election this year is in the US, where Donald Trump has a real chance of a second term in the White House. He may still be the Republican nominee, but this is not the party of the Bush dynasty or Ronald Reagan. His takeover of the GOP has shown that an old party can die and be replaced from within. In this case, it was Trumps Make America Great Again (Maga) movement that has been the cuckoo in the nest. Many traditional Republicans are now supporting Joe Biden instead. Trump has destroyed the old Republican party ( Getty ) An international phenomenon In fact, around the world, traditional parties of the centre-right in particular have been overshadowed by a populist or extreme alternative. Perhaps the most famous collapse came in Canada, where the governing Progressive Conservative Party was wiped out in the 1993 election and left with just two MPs. In India, the once all-powerful Congress Party has essentially been replaced by Narendra Modis Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. When corruption scandals took out Italys Christian Democrats, they were replaced by Silvio Berlusconis Forza Italia, who in turn have been supplanted by Giorgia Melonis Fratelli dItalia. In the Netherlands we see the rise of Geert Wilders Party for Freedom. The same has happened in Austria and threatens to happen in Germany next year with Alternative for Deutschland. Modis party has replaced Congress ( AFP via Getty ) Is Farage a Keir Hardie of the right? There is historical precedent in Britain for a major party to be replaced. In 1906, the Liberals achieved a landslide victory with a majority of 124, but a new insurgent party called Labour, led by Merthyr Tydfil MP Keir Hardie, went up from two seats to 29. By 1922, Labour had become the official opposition and the Liberals a rapidly dwindling third party. It may be a coincidence that Farage launched Reform UKs manifesto at this election in Hardies old seat, but there are other parallels. Both men and their parties were sneered at by established politicians. Socialism and populism appeal to similar demographics and reach out to the excluded. And in both cases, the traditional broad appeal parties thought the first-past-the-post system would lock newcomers out. Just as Labour replaced the old Liberals, Reform UK could replace the Tories. An election campaign poster for Scottish socialist Keir Hardie circa 1895 ( Getty ) Reasons for Tories to worry Already, there is talk among MPs of excluding the membership from choosing the party leader, blaming their base for recent choices such as the election of Liz Truss. And who would be the next leader? Someone associated with the last 14 years? Someone trying to outperform Farage on the right? Someone with little experience? The options are well-known, and none have much support among the public in a political era that is increasingly based around big personalities. Braverman is expected to be preparing a Tory leadership bid ( PA ) Reasons for Conservative optimism More than any other party, the Tories know what it means to reinvent themselves after a catastrophic defeat. As the Cavaliers, they survived King Charles Is final defeat at Naseby in 1645. As Jacobite Tories, they survived defeat at Culloden in 1746. They survived Lord North losing the American colonies in 1781. They reinvented themselves after the Whigs brought in the Great Reform Act in 1832, and again when the party split over the Corn Laws in 1846. After Labour swept to power in 1945 and brought in the welfare state, the Tories again adapted and became the dominant party of the post-Second World War period. They changed again after the economic crisis of the 1970s with the rise of Margaret Thatcher, and they had to regroup after the success of Tony Blairs New Labour. Can its current members prove themselves equal of their forebears? Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The home secretary has launched a new border security command after Labour scrapped Rishi Sunaks controversial Rwanda policy. Yvette Cooper has also ordered a probe into the latest routes and tactics used by people smugglers as her party comes under pressure to deliver on its pledge to smash the gangs. Early legislation is being prepared to introduce new counter-terror style powers against those who bring tens of thousands of people to the UK in small boats every year. But the new body is still currently without a boss as a recruitment drive gets underway. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper branded the Rwanda scheme a gimmick ( PA ) On Saturday Sir Keir Starmer declared that the Rwanda deportation plan was dead and buried before it started, confirming Labour had dumped the scheme less than 24 hours after he entered Downing Street. The prime minister said the policy was never a deterrent, despite Mr Sunaks claims, 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 potential migrants encouraged to cross the Channel because they knew there was a very small chance they would be deported. Mr Sunak had pledged to get the first flights to the African country in the air this month if he won the election. But he faced a series of legal challenges that could still have grounded those plans. Ms Cooper said that criminal gangs were making millions out of small boat crossings, undermining our border security and putting lives at risk. She said: We cant carry on like this. We need to tackle the root of the problem, going after these dangerous criminals and bringing them to justice. The Border Security Command which is set to include MI5, would be a major step change in tackling organised immigration crime, she said, drawing on substantial resource to work across Europe and beyond to disrupt trafficking networks and to coordinate with prosecutors in Europe to deliver justice. Tackling the small boats issue will be a challenge for the new prime minister ( PA ) On the campaign trail, the Labour leader promised repeatedly to abolish the 300m scheme, which would have only a small number of asylum seekers sent on a one-way ticket to Rwanda. In a damning assessment, 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. Recruitment for an exceptional leader used to working at senior levels of policing, intelligence or the military, will begin on Monday and ministers hope the successful candidate will start work within weeks. The new border security commander will report directly to the home secretary and will bring together expertise from the National Crime Agency, intelligence agencies, police, Immigration Enforcement and Border Force. Under the plans more investigators, experts and analysts will work, from Monday, to tackle organised immigration crime. The Home Office said that a significant number of these will be based across Europe, working with Europol and European police forces to disrupt the gang activity. Ms Cooper is due to speak to other European ministers and with the director general of Europol to discuss strengthening security cooperation next week. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} 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. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Women entering parliament for the first time following the election should be prepared for misogyny and abuse as they join the countrys biggest boys club, female MPs have warned. A record number of women were elected on 4 July, with 264 female members of parliament set to take up their seats under a Labour government. This represents 40.6 per cent of all MPs and is a significant improvement on the 34.2 per cent in 2019. But experienced female MPs say they still face sexism, patriarchal and archaic power structures. The Pestminster scandal in 2017 saw a series of claims of sexual harassment in Westminster and the dying days of the last Tory government were dogged by further allegations. Rachel Reeves has been appointed the countrys first female chancellor, among a record number of women MPs ( Reuters ) Labours Dawn Butler, who has been re-elected having been an MP in west London since 2015, said new female MPs should be prepared to endure a lot of misogyny and abuse, adding: You get critiqued on how you sound, how you look and what you wear. While entering parliament is an exciting time, new female MPs should expect to be bamboozled with a whole load of rules some of which are archaic or make no practical sense whatsoever. They should also expect to be part of the biggest boys club in the country, which brings many challenges to be heard and respected, she added. Much more needs to be done to address the Pestminster culture, she said, arguing misogyny will persist in Westminster as long as it exists in society as a whole. I'm pretty sure that with a new cohort of MPs, there will also be a new cohort of pests, Ms Butler added. Carolyn Harris says female MPs regularly receive online abuse ( PA ) Asked what advice she had for incoming female MPs, she said: Parliament and the system can strip away many aspects of you, but if you remain your authentic self throughout, then you always have that to fall back on in the tough moments. So don't try and change in order to fit into parliament, as parliament is not designed to fit into a modern working age. Research by the gender equality charity The Fawcett Society from last year found seven in 10 women MPs have witnessed sexist conduct in parliament in the past five years, as well as highlighting an exclusionary and toxic culture in Westminster. Deputy leader of Welsh Labour, Carolyn Harris, said abuse is extensive online, particularly about an MPs appearance. Recently, she was sent a death threat that has been reported to police. Kate Osborne said the new government needs to clean up parliament for good ( PA ) The MP for Swansea East said she has not experienced abuse from parliamentary colleagues but that Westminster can initially feel like a scary place for newcomers. It is like a maze and like Hogwarts, but your colleagues will be your best friends because they will help and support you, she said. Jarrow and Gateshead East MP Kate Osborne advised incoming female MPs to stick together. Lean on the women that are re-elected that can help, don't suffer in silence. You should not have to put up with sexist abuse in real life or online, she told The Independent. [Parliament] can be an overwhelming place full of sexism, patriarchal and archaic power structures that are hard to navigate. The government will need to help the women that are elected clean up parliament for good. Daisy Cooper urged women MPs to look after themselves as they enter the world of Westminster ( Will Durrant/PA ) Daisy Cooper, Lib Dem deputy leader and MP for St Albans, had words of advice for new arrivals to Westminster. There are always a hundred demands on your time at any given moment, she said. So the piece of advice I would give to other women MPs is the best piece of advice that was given to me: ring-fence time to look after your health and to spend with friends and family. You will become emotionally invested in many peoples lives and causes very quickly, but youre no good to anyone if you dont look after yourself. As the saying goes, you cant pour from an empty mug. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} 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. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A California woman is spending the rest of her life behind bars for the murders of two elderly women. And, now at the age of 66, after being incarcerated for half of her life, shes come full circle to focus on the rights of older women inmates. Dana Gray was 36 years old in 1998 when a jury found her guilty in the slayings. Her murderous spree came to an end when one woman who she strangled survived and IDed her. Now, Gray is living out the rest of her days at Central California Womens Facility (CCWF) where shes focused on fighting for the rights of female inmates. In particular, she says, woman who are LWOPs those serving life sentences without the possibility of parole are given a backseat to men when it comes to opportunity for rehabilitation and positive change. Most women are taught to just sit down, shut up, do what youre told, Gray told The Independent in a recent interview. Thats why we dont fight back. Thats why were an easy population to manipulate. But its time that changed. Grays horrific past There is a dark irony in Gray acknowledging that women are a vulnerable population. In 1994, Gray was arrested and charged after three elderly women were found murdered within weeks of each other, in the Canyon Lake area, just south of Los Angeles. A fourth woman survived an attack and was able to identify Gray as the suspect. On Valentines Day that year, Norma Davis, 86, was found dead in her home. She had been strangled and stabbed 11 times. Just a couple of weeks later on February 28, there was another murder in Canyon Lake. June Roberts, 66, was found strangled and had been bludgeoned with a decanter. In both slayings, police discovered the killer had swiped valuables and credit cards from the victims homes. A flurry of activity showed up on Roberts credit card, her daughter told police. The suspect had gone on a shopping spree buying clothes, cowboy boots, perfume, vodka, a ski mask, and massages at a fancy spa. The woman accused of using the cards was described to police as a petite, well-dressed blonde who drove a brown Cadillac and was accompanied by either a small boy or a tall, dark-haired man, police said. Dana Gray was convicted in 1998 of murdering two elderly women ( Supplied ) Then, on March 16, Dora Beebe, 87, was killed in her Sun City condo. She had just returned home when a woman knocked on her door and asked for directions. Later that day, her boyfriend found her dead. She had been strangled and beaten to death with a steam iron. Hours later, a young well-dressed woman withdrew $1,700 from her bank account. Gray was arrested the following day. This isnt the Dana show For 30 years, Gray barely spoke publicly, especially to news outlets that might turn her story into a salacious headline and describe her as a serial killer something she acknowledges she is, but believes she has been rehabilitated. I dont want to talk about my crimes, because this isnt the Dana show, she said, noting that she doesnt want anyone associated with the victims to be re-traumatized by having to hear about her awful crimes. Instead, she said she wants to use her notoriety for something good. Victims do not have to be continually traumatized and looking over their shoulders. How can we make a way for victims to be heard and how can we help them heal? Is there a path for restorative justice with high notoriety cases? The victims, and their families, can be triggered by hearing it all over again, she said. Theres no need for that. The victims should feel safe. Shes never spoken to the families of her victims, but said that if they wanted to, she would welcome them with open arms. If they want to come and cuss me out and tell me Im a horrible person for what I did and for what they think I am, I invite them to because its cathartic for them, she said. I want them to know that I have changed. People change. Most of all, she wants them to know that shes sorry. I want them to know I feel it, Gray said, her voice as she choked back tears. Thirty years later, I feel it. And Im so sorry. The survivor It was a fourth woman, who survived an attack just days earlier, that helped end Grays murderous spree. On March 10, 1994, Dorinda Hawkins, 58, was working at an antiques shop in Lake Elsinore, Riverside County, when she was approached by a young woman with blonde hair who asked for help with some of the merchandise. The woman, later identified as Gray, attempted to strangle Hawkins with a phone cord before snatching $5 from her purse and $20 from the cash register. She fled the scene and an hour later, she went on another shopping spree with Roberts card. Hawkins survived and was able to give detectives a description of Gray. She told them the last thing she remembered hearing before she blacked out was her attackers soothing voice as she told her: Relax. Just relax. It was the kind of voice a doctor or nurse might use, she told them. Years before her arrest, Gray worked as a labor and delivery nurse at Inland Valley Regional Medical Center. She had decided to become a nurse after watching the nurses take care of her mother who developed and later died of breast cancer when she was 14. After Gray was arrested, she admitted to the thefts but denied killing the women. Dana Gray is serving life in prison at the Central California Womens Facility ( ( Supplied ) I got desperate to buy things, she told detectives at the time. Shopping puts me at rest. In 1998, she changed her plea to guilty, admitting to the Beebe and Roberts killings and the attempted murder of Hawkins. The judge agreed to not charge Gray for the third murder as part of her plea deal. She was sentenced to life, without parole. Life without parole in prison While in prison, Gray, who is working on her degree in sociology and plans to get a masters degree, now leads programs for fellow inmates. Although she understands that she may never be released from her sentence, it hasnt stopped her from trying and imagining what she could do to help on the outside. Its time for a rebranding, Gray said. We have more to offer the community and want to help. We can change division, change peoples thoughts about committing crime. We could stop it from happening. Its possible, I truly believe it. I think I would do a lot of good, Gray added. And its not like I wouldnt reach back and help the ones still inside. I would. Some of her work is more controversial, with Gray fighting to ban trans women who have not had gender surgery from womens prisons although sexual assault rates for trans women kept in male prisons is nearly 60 per cent. Regardless, Gray said that being in prison for such a long period of time means that shes known by some as the mother they wished they had. They told me they told me that I filled that gap of the relationship they wouldve liked to have with their mom, Gray told The Independent in a recent interview, her voice cracking as she added: Sorry this is making me emotional. What does that say? she continued. Its been 30 years people can change. There is a human part of me, I just want people to see it. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Two people have been killed and 18 others injured in a mass shooting at a block party on Detroits east side on Sunday. A gunman opened fire at the party around 2.25am local time while revellers were gathered in the area, according to Detroit police. A 20-year-old woman was shot in the head and died on the scene. A 21-year-old man was shot in the back, and died at a local hospital. The suspect, a 22-year-old man, was shot in the leg at some point during the attack and was taken into custody. He is currently recovering in the hospital. It is not immediately clear whether it was law enforcement or another party-goer who shot the suspect. Detroit police investigate the scene of a shooting that happened early Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Detroit The identities of the victims and the suspect have not been released to the public. Police told 7 News Detroit that they would enact new guidelines for block parties in the wake of the shooting. DPD will be implementing a comprehensive new strategy regarding block parties and will provide full details tomorrow at a briefing with the chief and the mayor, a police spokesperson said. Mary Sheffield, Detroit City Council president, issued a statement on X regarding the shooting. I was saddened and utterly disgusted to learn of todays early morning mass shooting on Detroits east side, where 21 young people, average age of 19, were shot with two of them succumbing to their injuries, she wrote. This unspeakable tragedy is yet another reminder that gun violence is an epidemic in Detroit and across this Nation. We must chart a new course of action and Im calling for an all-hands-on-deck approach to ending the senseless killings and destruction of families in our community...my heart and prayers go out to the victims and their loved ones. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} For 30 years, he just thought his neighbor was creepy. Then he learned he was the Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect. It was almost exactly one year ago today when police came knocking on the door of FDNY firefighter Etienne de Villiers home. At first, officers just asked him to move his car, and wouldnt reveal any clues as to the huge police presence along the quiet street in Massapequa Park, Long Island, he told The Daily Beast. He then turned on the news and couldnt believe what he saw. I went outside and said, Rex is the Gilgo killer? de Villiers told the outlet. The guy looked at me and said, Thats why I cant talk. On July 13 2023, investigators swooped on Manhattan architect and married father-of-two Rex Heuermann and arrested him for a string of murders that had terrorized the Long Island community of Gilgo Beach for the past decade. Heuermann was initially charged with the murders of three women: Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Costello. In January, he was also charged with the murder of a fourth victim Maureen Brainard-Barnes. Rex Heuermann appears in court in June after being charged with two murder ( AP ) The four women, together known as the Gilgo Four, all worked as sex workers and disappeared between 2007 and 2010 after going to meet a client. Their bodies were found in December 2010 within one-quarter mile of each other, bound by belts or tape and some wrapped in burlap all dumped along Gilgo Beach. Then, this June, Heuermann was charged with two more murders the 2003 murder of Jessica Taylor and the 1993 murder of Sandra Costilla. Taylors partial skeletal remains were found in a wooded area of Manorville in 2003, before further remains were found along Ocean Parkway in 2011. The body of Costilla, who unlike the other victims was not working as a sex worker at the time, was found in a wooded area in North Sea in 1993. These latest charges allege that the suspected serial killer began preying on victims more than three decades ago, with Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney revealing that the case and potential charges are far from over. Its a new, shocking timeframe that now has his next-door neighbor reflecting on their interactions all those years ago. De Villiers told The Daily Beast that he and his wife Patricia had moved in next to Heuermann in 1995 two years after he allegedly murdered Costilla and one year before he married his wife Asa Ellerup. He recalled how, not long after they moved in, Patricia had told him their new neighbor was creeping her out. De Villiers said that Heuermann, who had lived in the property his whole life, would peer over the fence at her and try to make small talk while she was sunbathing. Accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann was charged in June 2024 with the brutal murders of Sandra Costilla and Jessica Taylor (left and right) ( Suffolk County DA/Remembering Jessica Taylor Facebook page ) Every time shes out there and Im at the firehouse working, Rex would hang over the fence, talking to her, de Villiers said. She finally told me that he was creeping her out. Initially, de Villiers said he asked him politely to stop, but Heuermann allegedly continued, leading the firefighter to admit he literally threatened the guy. De Villiers said he was surprised by Heuermanns calm reaction. Not only did he stop, he didnt get mad, he said. He didnt 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, okay. After that, he said their relationship was friendly. Though they didnt hang out socially, de Villiers said he was pretty much the only person in the neighborhood who would speak to Heuermann. But now, Heuermanns behavior towards his wife has taken on new meaning. During the latest search of Heuermanns home this spring, prosecutors said they uncovered a twisted planning document on a deleted hard drive in which the accused serial killer methodically plotted his kills. Prosecutors allege it includes a targets list, with the description: Small is good. Suffolk County police outside the home of Rex Heuermann during the latest search in May ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) De Villiers told The Daily Beast that he now thinks how this descriptor could match his petite wife. Its scary now, when you stop and think that the girls all look like my wife, he says. While Heuermann is now charged with the murders of six women, there are six other victims tied to the Gilgo Beach serial killer case that remain unsolved. In total, 11 victims remains were found along the shores of Long Island in 2010 and 2011 after Shannan Gilbert vanished in mysterious circumstances on leaving a clients house near Gilgo Beach, sparking a police search. During the search, police discovered a set of human remains. Within days, four victims had been found and by spring 2011, the number of victims rose to 10. Gilberts body was then found in December 2011. Until this June, Costillas murder was never considered to be the work of the Gilgo Beach serial killer. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Disturbing details laid out in the case against a North Carolina mother accused of killing two of her five children reveal that she allegedly forced one of her other children to help dismember their siblings bodies and said she would pin the murders on them if necessary. Avantae Deven, 63, of Fayetteville, was arrested on June 23 and charged in the death of her daughter, London Deven, and the disappearance of her son, Blake Deven, who is presumed dead, according to Fayetteville Police. The children had been missing for years although authorities were unaware. All five of her children were adopted. Two sets of human remains were found in a barrel in the backyard of an Autryville home in April. One set was determined to be London. The other remains are undergoing further testing, but according to court records obtained by The Fayetteville Observer, they preliminarily appear to belong to Blake. Blaming her other kids Deven allegedly forced one of the other children to buy the tools and dismember their siblings bodies, according to court records. She is accused of telling the child who allegedly helped her: If this ever gets found out, you need to take the blame because I will get the death penalty and because of your age you wont get in trouble if you take the blame. When the Department of Social Services got involved, Deven got nervous and recruited a family friend to impersonate her son during a home visit, according to the court records that cite the individuals interview with police. Blake went missing first Fayetteville Police only learned about Blakes disappearance in late 2023 when another one of her children, who was a teenager, called 911 threatening to kill himself, prompting officers to respond to the home. Avantae Devens mug shot after her arrest ( Fayetteville Police Department ) He had not seen his brother Blake in five years and that the last time he saw Blake, he had a broken arm and that he is now dead, according to the arrest report. Lead investigator Sgt. Jeff Locklear told reporters last week that investigators were able to confirm that Blake had been missing since 2017, when he was 10 years old. However, he was not reported missing by his mother until January 2024. Deven told police she last saw her son in 2022 when he was allegedly leaving for a Buddhist retreat. Investigators say evidence collected indicates that Blake was starved and abused until his body could no longer take the inhumane treatment and his health began to fail in 2017, according to court records. He became lethargic and eventually lost consciousness, but his mother refused to get help for Blake and he ultimately died. Disposing of his remains Deven allegedly hatched a plan to dispose of the boys remains and then forced one of Blakes siblings to buy the tools needed to dismember his body. Blake Deven, who went missing in 2017 when he was just 10 years old ( FBI ) It is alleged that Deven then incinerated Blakes remains in a burn barrel in the backyard of the Eichelberger Drive home and removed any evidence of the boys death from the home, according to the affidavit. Avantae developed a plan to hide Blakes remains, and she forced another person in the household to participate, he added. They dismembered him and burned his remains. Londons short life During the course of their investigation of Blakes disappearance, police discovered the death of London Deven, who was last seen alive in 2019. After the family moved to a house on Berriedale Drive, one of the children fled the state, but later returned and asked about London. According to the court records, Deven told them: I had to put her in a mental institution. But on April 10, Fayetteville police found a metal burn barrel that contained partial human skeletal remains of two children. One set was confirmed to be London Deven, according to the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. London Deven was last seen alive in 2019 ( FBI ) According to the warrant, investigators recovered surveillance video of Deven with the two remaining adopted children in her care at an area Walmart purchasing a red cooler, in which the record suggests Londons remains were found. The abuse allegations Police and the Department of Social Services (DSS) interviewed the three surviving children who all gave graphic details of the horrific treatment they allegedly endured, which included being malnourished and physically abused while being trapped in a small, dark room with only a plastic container to use as a bathroom. Deven kept them in small rooms in complete darkness at times, Locklear said. They were given little or no food, they could earn nourishment through doing paperwork. That meant they had to write hundreds of paragraphs to apologize for misbehavior. It is alleged some of the children were also beaten to the point of needing medical care but were only given natural cures like honey. When the children misbehaved, they were allegedly forced to do paperwork which consisted of writing hundreds and frequently thousands of sentences and paragraphs apologizing for some misdeed they had supposedly done. Deven is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of child abuse causing serious bodily injury, two counts of destroying human remains/concealing an unnatural death and one count of kidnapping. She remains in the Cumberland County jail where she is being held without bail. Close Hurricane Beryl on path for Yucatan Peninsula, Gulf of Mexico The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} 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. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Joe Bidens problems got even worse on Sunday as he completed a short campaign swing through battleground state Pennsylvania. Congress remains out of session until Monday, when many lawmakers will face their first real pressure to answer questions about the presidents future. But already the first hints of a landslide were visible as Democrats issued statements calling on the president to step aside or at least have a serious conversation about doing so. That list got longer on Sunday. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the head of the House Democratic caucus, convened a call with his members as the weekend drew to a close. As news of the call leaked late on Sunday afternoon, it was revealed that Biden had officially lost the support of a House Democratic leader. Though behind closed doors, Rep Jerry Nadler becomes the highest-ranking member of the House Democratic caucus to call on Biden to step aside, and several others did on Sunday after the call wrapped including Mark Takano and Adam Smith. Don Beyer, a congressman from swing-state Virginia, also undercut the presidents message so seriously that a spokesman had to issue a statement clarifying that Beyer was continuing to support the presidents campaign so long as it lasted. Hes clearly very, very fragile. Fragile physically, although his handshake is very firm. Also really has trouble putting two sentences together, said Beyer on the call with Jeffries and other Democrats, according to Punchbowl News. He added: I also believe Kamala is in a great position to win in November, probably a much better position than Joe. Judiciary ranking member Jerry Nadler is pictured on Capitol Hill. Hes one of three committee chairs-in-waiting who called on Biden to drop out on Sunday. ( EPA ) Beyers spokesman clarified that the congressman supports President Biden and said so on this call, and argued that any reporting to the contrary is a misunderstanding of what he said. The congressman in his own remarks also made clear that he was a team player and would support whatever decision the president made. In the Senate, Biden has seen the same drip-drip of dissent from his party. While no senators are publicly calling for the president to step aside yet, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia is reportedly circulating a letter to his colleagues which would urge Biden to do so. Two senators, Bernie Sanders and Alex Padilla, indicated that they would not participate in such discussions. Mondays return to Capitol Hill is likely to drive up those numbers. The s*** is going to hit the fan on Monday, when Congress returns, one House Democrat said to Axios for a piece published on Sunday. People are scared about their own races. But theyre also worried about the country, and about democracy. But the damage is already done: Biden now faces a more fractured Democratic Party heading in to November than Trump ever faced at any point in this years Republican primaries, which he (like Biden) won handily. And reports indicate that the incumbent president is turning to his family to provide a bubble of affirmation as his critics become louder and more numerous. Axios separately reported on Sunday that Bidens own connection to felony convictions, his adult son Hunter, has seemingly become a liaison between his father and the outside world a barrier deciding who does or doesnt get to speak to the president. Joe Biden, beset by Democrats calling for him to drop out, walks with family members including Hunter Biden ( AP ) It was that reporting that make Padillas revelation that he had received a call from Biden on Saturday more notable. He claimed that the president had shared the campaigns internal polling with him, and denied that those internals showed a bleeding of support. He as he is as pumped and as eager as Ive seen to make sure hes taken this campaign seriously, said the senator. The Washington Post, meanwhile, reported on Sunday that a number of those Democrats publicly vouching for Biden, at the behest of the White House and campaign, privately say theres no path to the president remaining the nominee or beating Trump in the fall. Democrats are poised to host their nominating convention in August, meaning the presidents detractors have roughly a month to convince him to step aside before it likely becomes too late for another candidate to run. Democratic Rep Adam Schiff Urges Biden To 'Make The Right Decision' When Deciding To Stay In Or Leave 2024 Race Biden has maintained publicly that he will not drop out. His campaign has turned its fire on the media, accusing reporters of misunderstanding the stakes of the election. Vice President Kamala Harris, the most likely choice to pick up the reins if Biden steps aside, made that point on Saturday at the Black culture gathering Essence Festival held in New Orleans during a nearly 30-minute interview in which she only directly mentioned Biden once. The press has not been covering it as much as they should, Harris claimed. [The Supreme Court] told this individual convicted of 34 felonies he will be immune from [criminal prosecution for] the activity he told us he is prepared to engage in if he gets back into the White House. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A Philadelphia radio station has cut ties with its host after she revealed that Joe Bidens campaign team sent a list of pre-approved questions prior to an interview with the president. Sara Lomax, the president and CEO of WURD Radio, posted a statement to the company's website on Sunday announcing that the station and radio host Andrea Lawful-Sanders had mutually agreed to part ways. On Saturday, Lawful-Sanders told CNN that four of the questions she asked Biden were provided to her by his team. The questions were sent to me for approval, I approved of them, Lawful-Sanders said. I got several questions. Eight of them. And the four that were chosen were the ones that I approved. WURD issued a statement titled Accountability, Access, and A Path Forward: Why Black Media Matters, which claims that Lawful-Sanders negotiated the interview on her own without the knowledge of the radio station. Lomax insisted that WURD Radio remains an independent voice that our audience can trust will hold elected officials accountable. As Pennsylvanias only independent Black-owned talk radio station, WURD Radio has cultivated that trust with our audience over our 20-year history, Lomax wrote. This is something we take very seriously. Agreeing to a pre-determined set of questions jeopardizes that trust and is not a practice that WURD Radio engages in or endorses as a matter of practice or official policy. Andrea Lawful-Sanders, a Philadelphia radio host, has split with her employer after she agreed to ask Joe Biden four questions that were pre-approved by his campaign team ( screengrab/CNN ) She said that the station was not a mouthpiece for the Biden or any other administration. A Biden campaign official defended the campaigns decision to send a list of pre-approved questions to Lawful-Sanders. Its not at all an uncommon practice for interviewees to share topics they would prefer, Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said in a statement to The New York Times. Hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners. Lawful-Sanders told the Times on Saturday that she never once felt pressured to ask certain questions from Biden's campaign team. I chose questions that were most important to the Black and brown communities we serve in Philadelphia, she said. Those questions proved to be exactly what Black and brown communities desired. It has also emerged that Bidens team had also given pre-approved questions to The Earl Ingram Show ahead of his appearance this week. The show is syndicated on WAUK in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Yes, I was given some questions for Biden, the show's host, Earl Ingram, told ABC News. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden disembark Air Force One at Harrisburg International Airport on Sunday ( AP ) Ingram reportedly was given five questions, and asked four of them. I didn't get a chance to ask him all the things I wanted to ask, he said, adding that he did not think there was anything wrong with asking the pre-approved questions. 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. The two radio interviews were pitted as crucial opportunities for Biden to claw back confidence among Americans following his dismal debate performance last week. The president has vowed to continue his campaign despite fierce scrutiny and growing calls, including from a rising number of Democratic lawmakers, for him to step aside in the 2024 race. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Vice President Kamala Harris barely mentioned her own running mate on Saturday as she spoke to Black voters and talked about the 2024 race at the annual Essence Festival in New Orleans. The nations first Black vice president has been seen by many Democrats as the obvious choice to pick up the mantle of the partys 2024 nomination should Joe Biden step aside in the coming days a proposition the president has firmly denied will take place. But, on Saturday, she clearly appeared ready to take on that role regardless as she hammered former president Donald Trump and sought to lay out the stakes of the election. She spoke for just under 30 minutes and only mentioned Biden directly one time, making no mention of the growing movement within her party for the preisident to bow out of the 2024 race. Instead, she reserved the majority of her words for Trump, whom allies of the incumbent president argue the press has not held to the same standard despite the seemingly endless coverage of his criminal trials, convictions, and various scandals. Sadly, the press has not been covering it as much as they should: SCOTUS told this individual convicted of 34 felonies he will be immune from the activity he told us he is prepared to engage in if he gets back into the White House, Harris told attendees at the event. Trump, she added, is openly talking about his admiration of dictators and his intention to be a dictator on day one, who is openly talked about his intention to weaponize the DOJ. The vice president also went after a familiar bogeyman: the Supreme Court ruling in 2022 overturning Roe v Wade and ending federal protections for abortion rights. Damn. VP Harris is on FIRE: Sadly, the press has not been covering it as much as they should: SCOTUS told this individual convicted of 34 felonies he will be immune from the activity he told us he is prepared to engage in if he gets back into the WH. pic.twitter.com/ZedUApzuMj Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) July 6, 2024 The court of Thurgood [Marshall], and [Ruth Bader Ginsburg], took a most fundamental right, the right to make decisions about your own body, said Harris. Harriss remarks come amid growing uncertainty among Democrats regarding whether Biden is truly the most effective candidate to lead their partys ticket against a resurgent Trump this November. While Biden has effectively wrapped up the Democratic nomination without facing a prominent challenger in this years primaries, party electeds, left-leaning pundits and most crucially voters are now coalescing around the idea that his diminished abilities prove too much of a burden for him to serve another four years in the White House to say nothing of winning another election. Biden has denied this, and stated firmly that he will remain in the race. In an interview that aired on Friday with ABC Newss George Stephanopoulos, the incumbent president quipped that only an act of god would be able to budge him from his campaign. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on Saturday at the Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans as the Biden campaign battles worsening concerns about the presidents age ( Getty Images ) In recent days, he has sought to address his tired, raspy showing at last Thursdays debate with a handful of campaign appearances and interviews, though none lasted for longer than a half hour. You know, when youre way ahead and everything is working, everybody is there. But when you take a hit and you got knocked down, you get back up, Biden told a crowd at a short appearance on Friday in Wisconsin. This is the most dangerous election in American history. And we beat [Trump] once, and Im confident we can beat him again. Despite his defiance, some of his campaigns public supporters are privately admitting to news agencies that they do not see a path forward for him in the race. Biden is also facing a full-scale rebellion on Capitol Hill. It was reported this week that Senator Mark Warner of Virginia is preparing a letter behind the scenes to be signed by him and his colleagues in the upper chamber urging the president to drop out and anoint a successor. In the House of Representatives, meanwhile, that rebellion has gone public a handful of Democrats in the lower chamber have already released statements urging Biden to step aside, with Angie Craig being the latest to come forward on Saturday. A number of the presidents prominent allies among House Democrats have similarly taken a half-step towards this position and urged the president publicly to take the concerns about his age, in the wake of the disastrous debate, seriously. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} One of Donald Trumps leading running mate contenders declared on Sunday that the former president, who was found liable by a jury for sexually abusing a woman and also paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to cover up affairs with a porn star and a Playboy model, is clearly a good husband. Republican Senator JD Vance appeared on NBCs Meet the Press for a wide-ranging interview with moderator Kristen Welker where he seemingly conducted his latest audition for the role of Trumps vice president. His comments about Trump as a positive father and a husband came in response to a question from Welker about a line from his book, Hillbilly Elegy, in which Vance describes former President Barack Obama as a good husband. I grew up in a broken family, Kristen, said Vance. And I just wanted to be a good husband and dad and certainly Barack Obama, despite my many political disagreements with him, he's clearly a good husband and a father. He added: By the way, I'd say the same thing about Donald Trump, whose children love him. I think this is one of the things the media often misses about Trump, is how genuinely devoted he is to his family, to his grandchildren, and how part of his pro-life messaging, his fundamental pro-life view, is that we ought to make it easier for more American families to have those thriving children and thriving families, the senator continued. WATCH: Ohio Sen. @JDVance1 says he has not gotten the call asking him to be former President Donald Trumps running mate. Vance: Well let the media know if I ever get that call. pic.twitter.com/Q0EVsrm2YZ Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) July 7, 2024 His comments starkly contrast with the known history of Donald Trumps multiple marriages, countless alleged affairs, and more recent history of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to women who came forward and alleged that the ex-president was disloyal to his third wife, Melania, and committed adultery after she became pregnant with his youngest son Barron. Trump has publicly denied any infidelity, but was recently found guilty on 34 felony counts over falsifying business records to hide a hush money scheme involving those women the most famous being Stormy Daniels, an adult film star who was paid $130,000 as part of an agreement during the 2016 election. Vance, a first-term senator, was elected to his position just two years ago after riding a wave of the former presidents support through the Republican Senate primary in Ohio and going on to defeat Tim Ryan, a Democratic congressman, in the general election. His win was seen as a sign of Ohios deepening-red politcs and the power of Trumps endorsement among the states Republican voters. After less than half a term in the Senate, Vance is now widely reported to be within the top three, if not the top two, contenders remaining to join Trump on the 2024 Republican ticket. Florida Senator Marco Rubio is thought to be his main rival for the job, while North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum is also reportedly still in the running. His ascension to the role of vice president in 2025, were he to be selected and Trump were to win, would define a career arc that has been shorter than almost any other politician in Washington and would serve as a clear indication of Vances own presidential ambitions. JD Vance is pictured in the Senate in June. The Ohio senator is one of three men thought to be still in the running to serve as Donald Trumps running mate. ( Getty Images ) Vance was clearly taking steps to align his positions with Trumps to the letter in his interview on Sunday an important step for a man who once described the former president as an idiot. His most notable point of alignment was on the issue of the abortion pill mifepristone. In the interview, Vance affirmed his support for the legality of the drug, a position that echoes Trumps own efforts to stake out a less extreme stance on reproductive issues than the absolutist pro-life groups who have called for a national ban and sought to restrict or prohibit other practices like in vitro fertilization (IVF) and over-the-counter contraception. Mifepristone has been near the top of the list of the pro-life movements targets. Just to be clear, you support mifepristone being acceptable? asked Welker. Yes, Kristen, I do, said Vance. On the issue of reproductive rights, the senator charged that reporters frequently frame Democrats as being reasonable and pragmatic, when in reality Republicans are the one trying to find some common ground. Vance also backed Trump when asked about his pledge to appoint a special prosecutor to go after President Joe Biden if he takes back the White House in November. Donald Trump is talking about appointing a special prosecutor to investigate Joe Biden for wrongdoing, Vance claimed. What Donald Trump is simply saying is we ought to investigate the prior administration, he said something he falsely claimed Biden had done to Trump. Downplaying Trumps threats, he insisted the presumptive Republican nominee was just calling to do the basic work of investigating wrongdoing. That is a totally reasonable thing for him to do, he said. Despite his staunch support for Trump, Vance confirmed that Trump has yet to extend the offer of serving as running mate to the former president, the first candidate in history to run for president after becoming a convicted felon. I have not gotten the call, Kristen, Vance admitted. [W]ere just trying to work to elect Donald Trump. Whoever his vice president is, hes got a lot of good people he could choose from. Its the policies that worked and the leadership style that worked for the American people. I think we have to bring that back to the White House, and Im fighting to try to do that. Gabina VOA is designed to be an infotainment youth radio show broadcasting to Ethiopia and Eritrea in the Amharic language. The show brings varied perspectives on issues concerning young people in the Horn of Africa region. Gabina in the Amharic language is a front-row taxi ride. A YouTuber has taken to social media to discuss the pastry debate that divides France. Victor Blaho, from south west France, shared a video of himself ordering a croissant from a bakery in Paris - but it was the description of another treat that caught his eye. Essentially, there is a very famous pastry which is called pain au chocolat in most places in France. Its like a croissant with chocolate inside, Victor says. In our region of France - in Toulouse, Bordeaux - we call this a chocolatine. In Paris, its a pain au chocolat. And this bakery had a ticket inscribed with chocolatine which is a very strong statement. While Victor complimented staff for writing chocolatine on their ticket, they admitted that some Parisian customers refuse to buy the treat from their store. Its a very funny debate, but its actually a very common debate among French people, he added. Protesters released balloons in southern Israel on Sunday 7 July to mark nine months since the countrys war with Hamas began. Some 1500 back and yellow balloons were released, with the black representing people who were killed since 7 October, and the yellow for hostages still held in Gaza. The protesters are continuing to call for elections and the release of hostages held in Gaza. Israel launched the war in Gaza after last Octobers Hamas attack in which militants stormed into the country, 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. Hamas has given its initial approval of a US-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 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. The UKs youngest MP was praised by BBC Breakfast hosts for batting back their questions on life experience during an interview on Sunday morning (7 July). Sam Carling, who has been elected Labour MP for North West Cambridgeshire, narrowly won the seat with Conservative candidate Shailesh Vara just 39 votes behind. He is just 22 years old. During an appearance on the BBC, Mr Carling was asked how he will offer real-world experience to the House of Commons. I always get a little bit frustrated when people mention life experience, because no one has yet to explain to me why being older makes you better at the job, he responded. After a quick back and forth with presenter Roger Johnson, Mr Carling suggested they were going round in circles and was praised for batting back. Texas residents are preparing themselves for Hurricane Beryl - the tropical storm which has decimated parts of Mexico and The Caribbean since Thursday (4 July). Residents on the coast are drilling wooden boards to the windows of their homes to protect them from the high winds, and any debris that may be caught in the hurricane. Its just a normal day in paradise, says Jimmy May, a Port Lavaca resident. Beryl brought rain and growing winds to Texas today (7 July), and is expected to make landfall as a Category 1 hurricane on Monday. Texas Lieutant Governor Dan Patrick warned residents that it will be a deadly storm for those caught in its path. The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy It wasnt just the destruction of the Tory party that filled me with joy on Thursday. It was realising that we could finally raise the bar of our hopes. Labour has spent this entire election being scared of sounding too left wing, for fear of giving the Tories ways to attack them now that theyre in power, that is no longer a concern. With such a huge majority, Keir Starmers government can do so many things that will massively improve this country and the lives of its people. He doesnt need to be shy about tackling controversial subjects for fear of upsetting potential fence sitters and yes, that includes the thorny topic of Brexit. But if he doesnt act fast, hell be handing Nigel Farage the keys to Downing Street in 2029. The fact is, it doesnt make any sense for us not to rejoin the EU single market as quickly as possible. It is universally accepted that Brexit is making us poorer every day due to the extra paperwork and charges at the border. According to the Food and Drink Federation, Brexit cost UK producers about 2bn in 2021 alone. George Freeman, one of the Tories only remaining MPs, has said that were paying the cost of Brexit in our food bills. The London School of Economics and the Bank of England confirm this. Even several Reform UK candidates have admitted Brexit is making our food more expensive and has made us poorer. Who exactly would Labour be upsetting by undoing all of that financial misery? With almost every economist agreeing Brexit is costing us tens of billions a year, it would be insane not to at least try to put things right. If Starmer negotiated with the EU to effectively join the single market ASAP, that would immediately improve the economy. The pound plummeted when the original Brexit referendum result was announced, because it meant the UK would be unplugged from Europes smooth supply routes. Announcing that those barriers will soon disappear would increase the value of the pound in peoples pockets. But it isnt just Brexit. With their unprecedented majority, Labour has a chance to address inequality across the board. That means taxing wealth and investing in neglected parts of the UK. It means tackling the UKs systemic employment discrimination, by making job applications anonymous so that employers dont see the name, gender, race, school, or town of the applicant, unless strictly necessary. And crucially, it means giving us a proportional voting system where all votes count equally. Labour has 63 per cent of the seats in parliament despite only getting 34 per cent of the votes. In 2019, the Tories got 56 per cent of the seats from 44 per cent of the votes. In almost every UK election, a party with a minority of the vote ends up getting a majority of seats. That means the majority of votes have no effect on UK government policy, because a minority party usually has a controlling majority. I dont think Starmer should be able to get through a single interview without someone asking him: Why do you believe the majority of British votes shouldnt count? Now, there is a carrot to go with that stick. Under a fair voting system, Labour would no longer have to appear centrist, like Tony Blair and Starmer, to win power. They could be a true party of the left. And given that the majority of votes always go to parties to the left of the Tories, Labour would likely be the main party in any hypothetical coalition government. This country has been through 14 years of chaos, bigotry, poverty and excess deaths. If Labour doesnt address the cost of living crisis in a way that working-class people across the UK can really feel, then by the next election the public will have lost faith in both the Conservatives and Labour. Farage will have free rein to stroll into parliament, unimpeded by either of the two former main parties. Given the evidence of racism within the Reform Party, and their candidates admitting that they plan to severely damage our food supply if elected via no-deal Brexit, a Farage victory in 2029 would send us straight back to hatred and hardship. These are the stakes Starmer is playing with. He must use the window of opportunity he has been granted to make material improvements to the UK, and prevent the catastrophe of a Farage premiership before that window closes forever. Andy Mackin, pictured outside Derryhale Hotel in Dundalk which the group bought earlier this year. It, along with another hotel Mackin acquired in North Carolina, will trade under the hospitality brand, Roy's after Mackin's late father Cork-based professional services company Mackin Group is to create a property arm after the acquisition of two hotels, one in Dundalk and one in the US. The company purchased the 22-bedroom boutique Derryhale Hotel in Dundalk earlier this year and has also acquired the Firehouse Inn in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, both of which will come under the groups new hospitality brand, Roys. The deals, for which financial details were not disclosed, were a clear pathway into the hospitality industry for Mackin, and the Derryhale Hotel was being renovated, it said. The group was founded in 2004 by Andy Mackin following his retirement at age 39 from the Irish Naval Service. In recent years, Mackin has added 120 staff and a year ago acquired UK-based recruitment firm, Greybridge Search & Selection. The firm is now to be restructured to introduce a property portfolio. Chief operations officer Fiona Donnelly is to become CEO of Mackin Professional Services, which will include the groups environment, health and safety and recruitment assets. Mackin will now lead the new property division, which includes the two hotels and MackinGo, a range of rural co-working spaces across the US. Derryhale is a project particularly close to my heart as a native of Dundalk and following my father Roys sudden passing in recent years, said Mackin. Im proud to be able to give something back to the town and to hopefully leave a legacy in my dads honour and name. Derryhale and the other properties in Mackins portfolio reflect my continued ambition and open-minded perspective to business and life. Company, which already distributes Coors Light, is to become the distributor for beers including Madri Heineken Ireland already has several strong brands in its portfolio, including Heineken, Birra Moretti News comes amid market speculation about whether Bulmers producer C&C could be the subject of a takeover bid Heineken Ireland already had the rights to one of the Canadian-American groups most well-known brands, Coors Light. Photo: Stock image/Getty Heineken Ireland has agreed to take on the Irish rights to distribute Molson Coors beer brands, further strengthening its position in the industry. The move by Heineken comes as activity around distribution rights and speculation over acquisitions heat up in the drinks market across Ireland and the UK. Recently, Engine Capital, an investor in Bulmers cider maker C&C Group, called for a sale of the business, while Carlsberg made a bid to buy MiWadi producer Britvic. San Miguel also switched its UK distributor from Carlsberg to ABInBev-owned Budweiser Brewing Group. Before the deal to take on the distribution of Molson Coors brands, Heineken Ireland already had the rights to one of the Canadian-American groups most well-known brands, Coors Light. That partnership between the two was part of a separate agreement that had already been extended. Heineken Ireland already had the rights to one of the Canadian-American groups most well-known brands, Coors Light. Photo: Stock image/Getty The Sunday Independent understands Heineken taking over distribution of the other Molson Coors brands in the Irish market will have to be cleared by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. Spokespeople for Heineken and Molson Coors confirmed the agreement. Heineken Ireland and Molson Coors Beverage Company have entered into an agreement which would see the appointment of Heineken Ireland as the licensed distributor for the Molson Coors Beverage Company for the additional brands in the Republic of Ireland." The additional brands included in the deal are Madri Excepcional, Carling, Franciscan Well, Molson Canadian, Miller Genuine Draft, Staropramen, Cobra, Blue Moon, Rekorderlig, and Aspall. Heineken Ireland is in the process of engaging with regulatory authorities and while that is ongoing, and until the process is complete, it is business as usual in both Heineken Ireland and Molson Coors in Ireland, the spokespeople added. Heineken Ireland already has several strong brands in its portfolio, including Heineken, Birra Moretti, Orchard Thieves, Lagunitas, Beamish, Murphys, and Fosters. Heineken Ireland already has several strong brands in its portfolio, including Heineken, Birra Moretti Heineken Ireland entered the Irish market in 1978 when Murphys Brewery launched the product here. The Dutch company then acquired Murphys in 1983. Heineken has since become one of the top-performing alcohol brands in the Irish market. It brews from Ladys Well Brewery in Cork. News of the Heineken and Molson distribution deal comes amid market speculation about whether Bulmers producer C&C could be the subject of a takeover bid. It follows a letter from activist investor Engine Capital, which owns 5pc of C&C, calling for a strategic review and sale of the UK-listed, Irish-headquartered drinks group. The market response to the letter was tepid. When reports of the letter emerged, C&C shares were trading at around 1.61 (1.90). At the time of writing, shares were trading at around 1.59. C&C responded to the Engine Capital letter, saying it welcomed feedback from all shareholders and had a clear focus on creating shareholder value. As set out in the recent 2024 financial year year-end results update, the underlying performance has been in line with expectations, and progress has been made in returning capital to shareholders. "Operationally, the key priority is to deliver the substantial actions currently being progressed at pace throughout the business, driving forward both brand and distribution revenue, improving margin, while returning up to 150m by the end of financial year 2027. Patrick Higgins, an analyst covering the food and beverage sectors at Goodbody Stockbrokers, said the reaction suggests any prospective buyer of the business would be more likely to wait and see if C&C can emerge from what has been a difficult period, steady itself and deliver more consistent results. Should C&C steady itself and achieve better results, and the share price fails to rise, then a bid for the business could become more likely, he said. News comes amid market speculation about whether Bulmers producer C&C could be the subject of a takeover bid Higgins added that C&Cs impressive branded and distribution businesses would be attractive to any group looking to gain a foothold in the Irish or UK markets. On paper, I think it is a really good business, he said. But the company is now in show me territory with the market because they have had these missteps over the last couple of years. So the market isnt giving them the benefit of the doubt in terms of numbers or delivery. In C&Cs recent annual report, Ralph Findlay, chair and CEO of C&C, said the business had stabilised in a challenging environment and year for the group. He added that C&C had continued to focus on enhancing its operations, maintaining the strength of its balance sheet and rebuilding its profitability. Findlay also said trading in the first quarter had been encouraging and was in line with its expectations. However, he added that C&C remained cautious about the consumer outlook for the year. Hospitality Hotel group OCallaghan Collection plans to develop a large extension to The Alex Hotel in Dublin city centre. Persian Properties, which counts members of the OCallaghan family as directors, has applied to Dublin City Council seeking planning permission to build a new hotel extension around the site of the four-star Alex Hotel. The development address includes the existing Hospitality House office building, which would be demolished as part of the proposed works. The development would consist of an eight-storey overground floor extension with conference rooms. It would also include the refurbishment of ground and lower ground levels of the existing hotel building. The proposed hotel and conferencing extension contains a spa and staff facilities. OCallaghan Collection declined to comment on the proposed expansion. The family-run company is a group of five hotels in Dublin and Gibraltar. OCallaghan Collection started in 1990 with its first hotel, The Mont Clare on the corner of Merrion Square in Dublin. Its name was recently changed to The Mont Hotel. The firm also owns So Living, a luxury apartment rental agency, The Davenport and the Stephens Green Hotel, rebranded as The Green in 2018. The Alex Hotel, located on Dublins Fenian Street, was previously known as The Alexander Hotel before being refurbished and renamed in 2017. It currently has 103 bedrooms. According to media reports in 2017, the group invested 30m into the renovation of three of its Dublin properties, including The Alex, The Green and the Davenport on Merrion Street. The Davenport opened in 1993, the Alexander in 1997 and The Green in 2000. CBREs 2024 European Hotel Investor Intentions Survey showed strong investor interest in European hotels. From tax surprises to limitations on working hours, your first job is a learning experience Getting a summer job is as much a rite of passage as going to the Gaeltacht or sitting the Leaving Cert. And with Ireland at full employment (defined as an economy with under 5pc unemployment rate), theres never been a better time to earn money as a student. But its not as simple as asking your local pub or shop if they can throw a few bob at you in return for clearing tables or stacking shelves. As with all employment, students have rights and employers have duties and responsibilities. So, what do you need to know, and if youre a parent, how can you best prepare your child for the world of work? Legal Age According to Tusla, children from 14 to 18 years old can get a part-time job in the summer, or out of school hours during term time 14 and 15-year-olds can only do light work in school holidays for a maximum of 35 hours a week. Children over 15, but under 16, can work up to eight hours a week during school terms, unless on an approved work experience/education programme, such as from Solas. Those under 16 must have at least 21 days off work during summer holidays. Sixteen and 17-year-olds can work full time (40 hours per week), with constraints on the time and type of work and pay, until they are 18. Regulation comes from the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act 1996, which sets out work hours and rest breaks and applies to anybody working for an employer who is not a close relative. Minimum Wage Under-18s must be paid 8.89 per hour, or 70pc of the national adult minimum wage; 18-year-olds move to 10.16; 19-year-olds can earn 11.43; and over 20s earn 12.70. Employers can pay more if they wish. Rest breaks Children under 16 must get a 30-minute break after four hours work, and 14 consecutive hours off between shifts with two days off a week. They cannot work before 8am or after 8pm For 16 and 17-year-olds, the rest breaks move to every 4.5 hours with 12 hours off between shifts. They cannot work before 6am or after 10pm. They can work in a pub or licenced premises but only on general duties, which dont include selling alcohol. This would also apply to a supermarket. Students and tax Theres a moment of schadenfreude when your teen receives their first pay slip. Chances are theyve been emergency taxed and it differs markedly from their simple maths of multiplying hours worked by hourly rate of pay. Enjoy the moment, then sit down to explain how real life actually works. It is a common myth that students dont pay tax. Revenue says: Being a student doesnt affect the amount of tax that you pay. Students typically work part-time or earn under 13,000 in a year. Regardless of whether you are a student or not, anyone earning under that amount does not pay tax or USC. PRSI is paid at 4pc by anyone over 16 who earns more than 352 gross per week. So, while paying tax is a very adult thing to do, unfortunately its not just adults who pay it. Avoiding Emergency Tax Revenue assumes you ought to be charged tax at the highest possible level until you prove otherwise. The Emergency tax rate therefore is 40pc plus the add-ons and employers are obliged to charge it until told otherwise. Students are highly unlikely to need to pay tax at this level, but in order to get their payslip right, it is their responsibility, not their employers, to notify Revenue. For this, they will need to know their PPS (Personal Public Service) number. It is assigned at birth, made up of seven numbers and either one or two letters. If you dont know it, apply with your birth certificate and photo ID to Revenue. When you start your first job, you must register it with Revenue. Without doing this, Revenue cannot send your employer correct instructions on how to tax you. In all cases, the employee is responsible for paying their own tax, in the correct amount. While most companies have a HR, or payroll office, it is your fault if the correct tax is not deducted. So, to avoid Emergency Tax, give your employer your PPS number at the first opportunity. Register for PAYE in myAccount (revenue.ie) and register your new job under the Jobs and Pensions option. What are tax credits? Tax credits are personal to you and are used to reduce the amount of tax you pay. They dont covert to cash, but rather, are deductions made before tax is applied. There are dozens of credits, most commonly based on lifestyle: whether you are married or single, a parent or being older. What are tax reliefs? A tax relief is like a refund of over-paid tax. So, for instance, if you pay for health insurance, you are entitled to 20pc of your premium back (up to 200). Likewise, if you pay for say, a crown or braces, you will get a refund of 20pc off that cost. Life lessons for teens John Lowe, author of Teenagers: You and Your Money says the most important money secret in the world is: Having enough money has very little to do with how much money you earn, and a great deal to do with how well you manage your money. Money beliefs are set in childhood. If youre a spendthrift as an adult, its likely because your parents valued stuff over savings. If money stresses you out and youre terrified of debt, your parents probably constantly worried about money at home. It can cause strife in a relationship when a spender marries a saver. So, examine your money beliefs and get your children to understand theirs. Dont shield teens from household expenses. If they hear you cant have new trainers without explanation, youre just being mean. If you explain income, outgoings and budgeting with real-life bills and bank statements, they get it, and might consider earning their own money rather than relying on yours. Saving for short and medium-term goals is a phenomenally powerful message. Think of money as a friend Mr Lowe says. Show it respect, give it time and look after it. Students and Taxation Chat about hidden taxes too, like Vat. At 23pc on most goods, its punitive. And if they save, explain DIRT accounts for 33pc of their interest. And starting a pension from their first job is free money for their future self. Gemma Hayes returns with her first album in 10 years and reminds us what weve missed Flynn Kleis fulfilled a lifelong dream when he stumbled upon the feather of a red-tailed black cockatoo A rare feather found in the Aussie bush has sparked excitement and jealousy. Source: Instagram A man travelling around Australia in his 4WD has fulfilled a lifelong dream of making an incredibly rare find on the ground during a bush walk. Flynn Kleis was trekking in the bush in Denmark, WA when he came across a distinct and vibrantly coloured feather that once belonged to a red-tailed black cockatoo, a vulnerable species in Western Australia. After excitedly sharing his special find, Aussies were quick to express their envy, with many telling Kleis just how lucky he was. Kleis told Yahoo that its been a lifelong dream to find the feather of a red-tailed black cockatoo after watching his mum collect feathers growing up. When I got to WA, I started to learn about the respect for the feather and the meaning of good luck that finding one holds, he explained. After waking up to the sound of black cockatoos one morning, Kleis, originally from NSW, set off in search of a feather. Flynn Kleis was delighted by his rare find. Source: Instagram But after hours, he started to lose hope. I walked so far until I realised I was lost, he said. Disappointed, he decided to head back to camp. "This is when in the distance, I spotted the red glow underneath a jarrah tree, I couldnt believe it, but as I got closer, I realised it was a beautiful female red-tailed black cockatoo feather! I was so happy to find it. Aussies react to rare feather found in bush After sharing a video of the incredible find to social media, many Aussies were quick to congratulate Kleis on his remarkable luck. You are a lucky duck, said one Aussie, with another adding that they were so jealous. You struck gold buddy, said another. Kleis told Yahoo that the feather now has a special place in his Akubra and says it brings him good luck. The feather now lives in my Akubra, which I wear every day and is bringing me good luck everywhere I go, he said. Significance of female red-tailed black cockatoo The red-tailed black cockatoos are a vulnerable species with cultural significance for Indigenous Australians with the bird signifying strength and resilience according to the Australian Conservation Foundation. The feathers are highly valued and used in traditional ceremonies. All of the West Australian species of black cockatoo are threatened by habitat loss and destruction of forests and woodlands as well as competition. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. Commissioner takes case against Gerry Hutch and defendants in Regency Hotel gun attack The case of Gerry The Monk Hutch was in front of the juryless court in April last year GARDA Commissioner Drew Harris has launched a High Court legal action against Gerry The Monk Hutch, the two Regency Hotel getaway drivers and the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Garda chief formally lodged the case against the veteran crime figure and the States prosecutors on June 26; however, it can be revealed that it is not a personal damages case and is likely to be related to a technical issue connected to the David Byrne murder trial. From Fas to CEO in Uganda: Chequered career of Walter Mitty who flew in 8.4m of cocaine Tim Gilchrist had interests in meat industry, worked with carpets and on roads Tim Gilchrist leaving Mullingar Courthouse. Photo: Mark Condren Maeve Sheehan Sun 7 Jul 2024 at 03:30 The chequered career of the Walter Mitty character who was jailed last week for running drugs from France to Ireland in a Cessna aeroplane ranged from welding in Waterford to allegedly selling meat in Africa. Sean McGovern profile: Rise of Dubliner to top of Kinahan cartel was surprise to gardai who knew him Schools complain over lack of lab space, while high rents have added to the challenges of teaching A shortage of space and materials in schools and ambitious timelines will challenge the delivery of new Leaving Cert changes, according to a new report by key education officials. The report, seen by the Sunday Independent, warned Education Minister Norma Foley that the rollout of two new subjects in 2025 could threaten the viability of other existing subjects in smaller schools, unless they are given more teachers. Shortages of laboratory space and variations in the availability of science equipment at different schools is a risk for the rollout of new subjects in the coming years, it said. The report by the Senior Cycle Redevelopment Programme Delivery Board, sent to Ms Foley in March, recommended enhancing school resources and speeding up the delivery of new guidelines for teachers ahead of the implementation of new subjects and assessments for pupils. Similar issues have been the subject of clashes involving unions and education stakeholders in recent weeks over proposed changes to science subjects. They also come as many schools are scrambling to recruit teachers or substitute cover ahead of a new school year. Principals and boards of management say the cost of living, high rents and unattractive pay relative to other countries are factors in difficulties trying to recruit staff. The Senior Cycle Redevelopment Programme Delivery Board was established last year to oversee and report to the minister on the progress made on ambitious Leaving Cert reform plans. It made a number of recommendations around giving schools more teachers and equipment to deliver reforms efficiently. The minister is keen to progress changes so students will depend less on end-of-year exams and be able to display skills through a continuous assessment model which will represent 40pc of their overall marks. A minimum or recommended schedule of science equipment for schools should be established As part of these reforms, there will be two new Leaving Cert subjects introduced on a phased basis starting in September 2025 drama, film and theatre studies and climate action and sustainability. The delivery board told Ms Foley these will require the allocation of specific additional teaching resources to schools who have the capacity to take the new subjects on next year. This will be particularly important in smaller schools, where the introduction of the subjects could threaten the viability of other existing subjects in the absence of additional teaching resources, the report said. New courses for biology, chemistry and physics are due to be introduced at the same time, but teachers, academics and other key stakeholders have argued there is insufficient lab space and a shortage of equipment to cope with the changes which will require students to carry out additional research investigations. They say children in disadvantaged schools would be most impacted by such shortages. The report given to Ms Foley suggests there is merit in such arguments. It said a minimum or recommended schedule of science equipment for schools should be established. A second tranche of subject changes are due to come into effect in September 2026, with English and geography among them. The board said achieving the delivery of these within the proposed timetable will be very challenging for the department, its agencies and schools, given the implementation of other changes will already be ongoing. It advised the minister that every effort should be made to ensure materials for these subjects would be available to teachers one year in advance of their implementation. Variations in the availability of science equipment at different schools is a risk. Photo: Getty This is the subject of an ongoing row involving the ASTI. The teachers union is unhappy that materials for the science changes being introduced in September 2025 are unlikely to be ready before the end of this summer. A spokeswoman for the Department of Education said schools taking on the new drama and sustainability subjects will be provided with a temporary additional teaching allocation to support their introduction. Relevant schools have been given notice of this allocation. The department said most sanctioned positions for the upcoming school year are filled, but some schools face challenges getting substitute teachers. Among a number of measures introduced to improve the availability of new teachers is a 2,000 incentive payment, payable next summer, for newly qualified staff who take up full-time roles for the coming year. Some schools have expressed doubts about the incentive, but the department said new upskilling programmes and the creation of additional posts of responsibility or leadership roles in schools will help the supply issue. Voters who are drifting away from Mary Lou McDonalds party want to see decisiveness The July Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks poll has Sinn Fein down to 18pc and in third place, similar to their local election vote last month. The fact they are six points higher than their vote at the local elections might puzzle some, but this is due to a difference in how people vote in local and general elections. Our polls are made to be representative, not just according to age, gender and other demographic attributes, but also political attributes including the 2024 local election result, the 2020 election and the recent referendums. But how can we assess this latest drop in our monthly series? Our poll a week before the local elections showed a 7pc decline for Sinn Fein and our polling day survey showed a continuation of this. Back then, we attributed it to the crystallisation effect of campaigns on voter preferences. The partys 18pc figure today can be viewed as potentially a consolidation of those voter preferences and the idea that voting for some parties can be habit-forming. Lots of voters who picked a Fianna Fail or Fine Gael candidate as their No 1 might now be attracted to the brand a little more. There is also the possibility of a winners bounce for Fianna Fail and Fine Gael yielding some additional momentum. But it is Sinn Feins decline that is the more interesting one here. We also asked respondents about what they blamed for the partys recent poor polling. From a shortlist, the most common response was their lack of clear message over immigration on 33pc. The partys difficulties here have been much discussed. Of those who currently favour Independents and Aontu, this explanation for Sinn Feins slide dominates (50pc and 51pc respectively). Many of these voters are, of course, former Sinn Fein supporters. While immigration is down to 29pc in our list of major priorities for the country, it remains the second-most important for the public. The second-most common reason cited for the SF malaise was the partys faltering leadership, with 26pc selecting this. That reason for the decline was more prominent among Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and older voters more generally. The idea that the leadership is faltering also corresponds with another decline in Mary Lou MacDonalds approval rating, which is down to 34pc this month, putting her level with Ivana Bacik of Labour and well behind the Social Democrats Holly Cairns. Right now, just 20pc believe Mary Lou McDonald will be the Taoiseach after the next election, a 12pc decline from last month, and 24pc lower now than Simon Harris. That sharp contrast is now indicative of a new dynamic in Irish politics. A vast majority of 87pc disagree with the notion that too many houses are being built The idea that Sinn Fein is seen as too establishment was cited by 12pc of the public. Among supporters of Solidarity-PBP, that figure was much higher, at 28pc (see table above). However, the idea that Housing delivery has improved under the coalition could be a reason for SFs woes. It was chosen by just 6pc. This is worth highlighting more generally. While Sinn Fein has declined, the housing issue has not, in the eyes of our poll respondents. There is an opinion that most people do not really want house prices to decline, which, given that incomes are relatively stable, means they do not really want the housing crisis to abate. Some attribute Sinn Feins decline to the partys more robust statements on the issue of housing, but there is little evidence of that. Almost all evidence points to the contrary. Housing remains the most prominent priority for voters today, with 58pc selecting it. More than that, when asked about the area that Jack Chambers should prioritise most in terms of budgetary increases, housing is regarded as the biggest priority (24pc), above tax cuts (21pc), infrastructure (19pc), healthcare provision (19pc), the state pension (12pc) and cutting the national debt (4pc). The relative prominence of tax cuts perhaps hints that the strong economy is the real reason for government satisfaction. In relation to housing, though, a vast majority of 87pc disagree with the notion that too many houses are being built, and by 66pc to 17pc most disagree that there is a danger of over-supply, even if the Government built 50,000 houses a year as per its stated objective. Another figure indicates that 83pc believe houses to be overvalued and just 1pc believe them to be undervalued. Quite often the public are not given credit. Having polled on the issue of housing for many years now, it does feel like there is a disconnect with the typical voter. When we do a poll, it is representative of the general public. It means high-income mortgage payers typical of those in government adviser roles are a small minority. It feels odd to have to say it, but the Irish population also includes renters, those who live with their parents, those in council housing, outright owners and even many of those with mortgages, who would not view their property as a tradable asset but rather a forever home. The commodification of housing and those same concerns about declining prices seem ill-fitting. Kevin Cunningham is managing director of Ireland Thinks Department of Agriculture staff are due to attend the Public Accounts Committee later this week The Department of Agriculture will be questioned by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) this week over its decision to approve John Joe Fitzpatrick to operate an equine abattoir at a time when he faced criminal prosecution for neglecting horses. The department licensed Mr Fitzpatrick, owner of Shannonside Foods, to run the equine slaughterhouse in Straffan, Co Kildare, in February 2016 even though he was before the courts charged with neglecting 54 equines. One of the departments own veterinary inspectors was a chief prosecution witness against him. The case against Mr Fitzpatrick, who had a prior conviction for cruelty to horses in 2012, was ultimately dismissed on its merits following a hearing at Ennis District Court in November 2016. But this was nine months after the department approved him to run the equine abattoir. Catherine Murphy, Kildare Social Democrats TD and deputy chair of the PAC, said the case raises further serious questions for the department about oversight and governance of the equine sector. Senior officials are due before the PAC again on Thursday. We have indicated to the department that the Shannonside facility in Straffan, and animal welfare, are issues we want to speak to them about and I doubt that will come as a surprise to the department, she said. It is self-evident that if you are going to have somebody running the only equine abattoir in the country that the licensing regime would look at the background of the individuals that would be running that, and there would be very strict controls around that. Past behaviour is something that has to be taken into account. The Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine has come under intense scrutiny for failing to detect the shocking animal abuses and illegal microchipping of horses that were exposed in a damning RTE Investigates documentary, Horses: Making a Killing broadcast last month. Secret footage filmed brutal treatment of distressed horses awaiting slaughter being whipped, punched and left to die. The footage also captured tampering with microchips, which has triggered an international investigation coordinated by Europol. Horses that have been medicated are stamped unfit for the food chain, rendering them worthless. The programme exposed how horses identities can be falsified so they can enter the food chain fraudulently. The abattoirs licence has been revoked. The Department of Agricultures deputy chief veterinary officer, Michael Sheahan, has been repeatedly questioned at Oireachtas committees over the failure of its officials who supervised the slaughter to detect the animal cruelty and microchip-tampering. In a follow-up letter to the PAC last week, Mr Sheahan said animal welfare officers and slaughterhouse operatives must sign declarations that they have not infringed animal welfare laws in three years before they are certified. However, this requirement does not apply to the owner of an abattoir. The department is reviewing this matter in consultation with our legal services division, Mr Sheahan said. He said the department had also revoked a certificate of competence issued to an animal welfare officer at the plant. Both Mr Fitzpatrick and his son, Arann, who also features in the footage, were animal welfare officers. Section 11 of the Abattoir Act requires the Agriculture Minister who in 2016 was Simon Coveney to ensure that the applicant is a fit and proper person to hold an abattoir licence before granting or renewing the licence. The Sunday Independent revealed last weekend that Mr Fitzpatrick was prosecuted three times in Clare and Galway for animal welfare issues. The first prosecution in 2010 was dismissed, the second resulted in his conviction in 2012 and he secured an equine abattoir approval while his third prosecution was before the courts before being dismissed in November 2016. Catherine Murphy TD said this weekend that despite the departments action, animal welfare concerns continue over the horses that were removed from the Straffan plant and brought to Mr Fitzpatricks premises in Clare. Animals were removed from that facility and that is one of the questions I have been repeatedly asked. Where did they go and where is the oversight? she said. The department has to satisfy us it is taking this seriously. The RTE Investigates documentary has shone a spotlight on the role of Horse Racing Ireland and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board in ensuring end-of-life care for thoroughbreds. The department has been criticised for the failure to detect the fraudulent activity, given a major inquiry has been under way into the fraudulent microchips since 2019, while whistleblowers circulated dossiers on microchip irregularities to numerous authorities in 2022. In a statement, a spokesperson said: "The department is preparing a response to your queries and will respond in due course." When influencer James Kavanagh and chef William Murray swapped city life for bucolic bliss, it was the realisation of a long-held dream. But are faraway hills really greener and have the couple finally found their forever home? James Kavanagh and William Murray had been talking about a move to the countryside for years before they eventually bought a house in Kilkenny in late April of this year. They wanted to leave Dublin where they had lived together for over a decade not because they were unable to afford somewhere in the capital, but because they genuinely gravitated towards country life. Although its unlikely, Murray points out, that for their budget around 400,000 they would have afforded anything like the beautiful home they are now settling into there. Does size really matter in the hotel bedroom? Our intrepid reporter takes out the measuring tape to rank little to largest Gorgeous rooms dont need to be king size, bijou can be charming Staunton's on the Green has great views Nicola Brady Sun 7 Jul 2024 at 10:10 You may think that bigger equals better but when it comes to hotel rooms thats not always the case. Sure, its always a thrill when you fling open the door and find a gargantuan room thats bigger than your home, but theres also a place for the perfectly decorated cocoon of a small room... when its done right, that is. A decent, well-read, thoughtful man who likes, respects and understands Ireland, the appointment of Hilary Benn as new Northern Ireland Secretary is a good sign. Above, arriving at 10 Downing Street on Friday. Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images Hilary Benns appointment as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in Britains new Labour government is an encouraging sign of the kind of administration Prime Minister Keir Starmer intends to lead for the next five years, and perhaps beyond. The mum's suspected gym injury turned out to be a rare and aggressive type of cancer. Mum Bec Macnamara with her three children Toby, Jasper, nine, and Pippa, seven. Source: Supplied An Australian mum has been dealt a devastating blow after discovering that the source of pain in her leg was not a suspected gym injury but a rare and aggressive type of cancer which left her making a heartbreaking decision. Mum-of-three Bec Macnamara, 36, had been an avid member of a cross-fit gym in Port Kennedy, WA, when she began to see a physio after having on and off knee pain, suspected to have come from hurting herself during a session. But as months rolled by, the pain only got worse, and in April, an MRI on her thigh discovered a lesion in the bone that turned out to be a histiocytic sarcoma. The condition is so rare that Macnamara told Yahoo even doctors werent sure how best to treat her cancer. One certain thing, however, was that she would need to have her left leg amputated to survive the cancer. Fit and healthy Bec Macnamara was a member of a cross-fit gym, where she suspected the 'injury' occurred. Source: Supplied Cancer diagnosis was 'surreal' for single mum Macnamara, who is a single mum to Toby, Jasper, nine, and Pippa, seven, said at first, hearing the news was surreal. Its all happened very quickly, its all a blur, she told Yahoo. I spent a fair deal of time trying to stay distracted with the kids and work until I had more information, she said. As time went on, I got more and more information it was harder to ignore. It was pretty scary because its extremely rare and doctors didnt have an answer for what needs to happen. But my main thought was will I be able to watch my kids grow up and will I survive this? Initially, Macnamara was given options regarding the future of her leg she could have chosen to forgo the amputation and focus on chemotherapy first, but after her first round, she rolled over in bed and heard a big crack. It was her femur snapping. It left her forced to make a difficult decision It was either live with one leg or die with two, she said. Last month, she had the amputation surgery which was a success, with surgeons telling Macnamara that the tissue at the top of her leg, where the amputation was performed, was disease-free. Mum faces a difficult battle ahead While the mum said its comforting to know that the main part of the cancer is gone, she faces a long road ahead with at least five more rounds of chemotherapy ahead of her. Chemo is not an easy thing to get through, she admits. In a remarkable act of kindness, Tony, the owner of Crossfit Gym which Macnamara is a member of, has created a GoFundMe to support the single mum with $18,000 donated at the time of publication. [The money has] come from everywhere, she said. Ive been shocked watching the donations come in, people I haven't spoken to for years or people I barely know are donating money. Im so grateful. Macnamara says that the money will help her get through her treatment and her recovery. The defiant mum says its her children getting her through the tough time. Ive got to do as much as I can to make sure Ill be there for them, she said. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. Eilis OHanlon: Dont turn on older people because one man is ailing Concern about Joe Bidens performance in the recent US election debate has sadly tipped over into open ageism Finance Minister Jack Chambers. Photo: Sam Boal Eilis O'Hanlon Sun 7 Jul 2024 at 03:30 Another one bites the dust. Another two, actually. Former Social Democrats co-leaders Catherine Murphy and Roisin Shortall have both announced their intention not to stand at the next election. What started as a trickle among long-standing TDs is becoming a flood. Former workers at the company say its fortunes could be adversely affected by restrictions Guinness pensioners were among the groups to voice opposition to Dublins new transport plan, saying the companys fortunes are in their interest but they may be adversely affected by traffic restrictions. A group representing former workers at Diageos St Jamess Gate site complained to Dublin City Council about the plans. Several city centre businesses and lobby groups voiced concerns about the Dublin City Centre Transport Plan to reduce the number of cars travelling through the capital. An early version of the plan published last year included 24-hour bus gates on the north and south quays to restrict use to public transport. Last week local councillors were told these restrictions would now only apply between 7am and 7pm daily with the gates moved so longer sections of the quays are accessible to cars. Diageo made a submission during a public consultation on the plan saying restrictions for HGVs would present a risk to the company when moving shipments between St Jamess Gate and Dublin Port. It said an alternative route through the north inner city would increase carbon emissions and cost it almost 1.1m more annually. The value of the companys exports is quite considerable and beneficial for the countrys economy In a letter to Dublin City Council chief executive Richard Shakespeare, the Guinness Pensioners Association of Ireland (GPAI) said these concerns worried its members. As members of the Guinness community, Guinness pensioners have an interest in the companys fortunes which it seems will be severely affected by the provision of the plan, GPAI honorary secretary John Graham told Mr Shakespeare. The value of the companys exports is quite considerable and beneficial for the countrys economy and business or commercial image. Ireland and Guinness are virtually synonymous, need we say? Mr Shakespeare told the GPAI that staff from the councils traffic and transport division have met and will continue to engage with Diageo about the impacts of the draft plan. Diageo discussed the proposals with the council and the National Transport Authority. It has said the company supports the overall goal of the plan to make Dublin more sustainable and hopes solutions can be agreed soon. The Guinness brewery at St James's Gate Correspondence released under Freedom of Information also shows department stores Arnotts and Brown Thomas, as well as the Dublin City Centre Traders Alliance, were worried about the impact of the plan. Business group Ibec previously called on the plan, due to be implemented in August, to be paused. Business, Employment and Retail Minister Emer Higgins last week said the plan should be delayed until 2025 to give time for further consultation. Mr Shakespeare later told councillors he will consider an economic impact plan commissioned by the Dublin City Centre Traders Alliance before deciding on when the plan will be rolled out. Transport Minister Eamon Ryan has said he believes the plan should not be delayed. Other groups, including the Irish Heart Foundation, An Taisce and the Dublin Commuter Coalition support the plan, saying it should be implemented in full. These groups have concerns that delaying the plan could hamper the roll-out of BusConnects and prevent road space being reallocated for active travel. US native Liam Canny writes of how his long search for the remains of his great-uncle from Glencar, Daniel Foley a near-forgotten casualty of the Civil War at the tender age of just 17 quickened as his research crossed paths with that of Dr Tim Horgan, hot on the very same trail This is an account of the search for Volunteer Daniel Foley, my great-uncle. The youngest of four, he died for what he believed in an independent Republic of Ireland free from any allegiances to Great Britain. In 1923, the National Army buried his body in an unmarked plot. In 1970, my grandfather, Tim Foley, took Daniels story to his grave. Our Foley clan, the Bans, hailed from Ahane, near Glencar. A stones throw from Caragh Lake, Ahane sits near Carauntoohil on the Western edge of the Macgillycuddy Reeks. Four siblings, Delia, John, Tim, and Daniel were born into a poor family in rural Ireland in the early 20th century. Sadly, their mother died while pregnant with a fifth child, so the Foley kids went to orphanages in Killarney then Tralee. Political tumult painted the backdrop of the Foley kids formative years. Members of the Fianna Eireann, the boys played some part in the struggle for Irish freedom. In 21st century parlance, the cause radicalised the dispossessed boys in the fertile soil of a nationalist heartland. In the autumn of 1922, the National Army arrested the Foley boys for anti-treaty activities then interned them in the Curragh. After the Civil War, Delia, John and Tim set sail for America. Losers in the national conflict, John and Tim were exiles and emigres in equal measure. There were few jobs in the new Free State for anti-treaty IRA. Sadly, the Foleys left their youngest brother, Daniel, behind. My grandfather, Tim, settled in Providence, Rhode Island near his sister, Delia. John went to New York. Estranged and haunted by a dark secret, John and Tim met only once in their new country. Irish memories last a long time. Tim would rarely speak of his involvement during the turbulent times of his homeland; but we knew that he had been interned sometime between 1919 and 1923. Did he fight in the Tan War or the Civil War? We knew that Tim lamented over the tragic death of his younger brother, Daniel. But how did he die? To his new home, Tim carried two scars: a bullet wound in his neck and an anguish buried deep in his soul. Over 40 years ago, a relative gave me a copy of Dorothy McArdles book, Tragedies of Kerry. Daniel Foleys name appears on a roll of honour on the books back cover. Supposedly, this was our Daniel Foley; but I questioned the claim. Foley was a common surname in County Kerry, so I had my doubts. Still, I wondered, Could my great-uncle Daniel really have died for Ireland? When my mother died in 2013, I travelled to the States. In her personal effects, I found a family tree with a note about Daniel Foley: died in the Curragh camp. Body non-retrievable. My interest piqued; I thought it time to compile the story of my great-uncle. Unbeknown to me in 2013, a medical doctor in Tralee, Dr. Tim Horgan, had also been on the trail of Daniel Foley. Writing a book, Dr. Horgan was cataloguing the lives of all the men whose names appear on republican monuments in Kerry. Tim Horgan could find little on the background of Daniel Foley. For me, I raced against time hoping that there might be someone still alive who had a knowledge of the period; while Dr. Horgan sped against a looming publication deadline. On parallel paths in different countries, we battled the clock searching for the same truth, but neither of us knew the other. When I returned to England in the autumn of 2013, I began my search in earnest. Using the on-line 1911 census, I found our Foley kids Delia, John, Tim and Daniel - in the St. Josephs orphanage in Killarney. This confirmed what I knew. In searching for another official document to solidify my evidence, I wrote to the Military Archives at Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin. An archivist found my grandfathers name on a Civil War ledger, which recorded his address as Caragh Lake. The record reveals that Tim Foley was interned in Tintown A at the Curragh Camp. He was discharged in December 1923 - in line with a release of internees at Christmas following a mass hunger strike. Daniel Foleys name also appears on the ledger. Was this our Daniel? His last known address was Nilson (sic) Street (then Nelson, now Ashe) in Tralee. He, too, was interned in the Curragh, but there was no release date given. Why? Meanwhile, Dr. Horgan toiled. He knew that Daniel Foleys name appeared on the Ballyseedy Memorial, on the republican plot in Tralees Rath Cemetery and on the plinth of the republican statue in Cahirciveen. He traversed the Iveragh Peninsula interviewing scores of people; but amongst the keepers of the republican flame in Kerry, no one knew the story of Volunteer Daniel Foley. From London, I next contacted the General Records Office (GRO) in Dublin in search of a death certificate. What was Daniels cause of death? Where did he die? The GRO e-mailed me a copy of a document that revealed a man named Daniel Foley died of tuberculosis in the Curragh Camp in 1923. The certificate listed his occupation as political prisoner. The hair on my arms stood up. This document confirmed that a Daniel Foley had died during incarceration; but was this our Daniel? The death certificate recorded that Daniel was 20 years old. In fact, he was 17. I pressed the GRO further, but the archivists could not find another Daniel Foley who perished at the Curragh. I felt confident this document identified our Daniel Foley even though the age was incorrect. For centuries, boys had lied about their ages to make themselves old enough to join a military unit. Another step in the process was to find the final resting place. Daniel died on 25 January 1923, but his death was not registered until 8 February. The delay suggests that the captors at the Curragh did not know what to do with the body. Daniels father was too poor to transport the corpse back to Kerry. What did the administrators do with the body? Where was Daniels final resting place? From London, I planned a trip to Ireland. It was April 2014. Tired of wading through documents, I wanted to speak to a real person. Not having a lead, I telephoned a random guest house in Glencar to see if anyone knew a local historian with whom I could meet. The landlady pointed me to a distant cousin of mine, Johnny The Rock Foley, who in turn connected me with his uncle, Micheal Mac Giolla Coda. A Glencar native, Micheal founded the Galtee Honey Farm in Tipperary. I gave him a call. Micheal patiently listened to my family legend. He remembered my great grandfather, Daniel Joseph Foley. During our chat, I asked Micheal a handful of times if there was anyone else with whom I could speak. Silence. Was there anyone he might recall from Glencar who could paint a picture about my granduncle? Nothing. Micheal was genial, but guarded. I was just about to hang up when Micheal said, Theres an eye doctor in Tralee writing a book. Theres an eye doctor in Tralee writing a book? I echoed his words. Thats right. He sent an e-mail some time ago. He is doing some research on the republican dead of Kerry. Give me your e-mail address. Ill forward his note. Micheal forwarded the message from Dr. Horgan the next day, 27 April 2014. In November 2013, Dr. Horgan wrote to Micheal: In the course of my research, I was surprised at the degree to which the men who died for the Republic had been forgotten, so I set about recording their stories. Many are well-known, but quite a few are almost completely forgotten. One of these is Dan Foley (Domhnaill O Foghlu) whose name appears on the Ballyseedy Monument, and on the Cahersiveen monument. However, it is not possible to find anything about him. The Cahersiveen men did not recall him at all. At this stage, I think that he was from Ahane, Glencar and was probably born in 1904. He was interned during the Civil War and died in custody in the Curragh in 1923 of pneumonia brought on by his incarceration. Dr. Horgans words jumped off the screen! Our parallel searches for the same man that history had all but forgotten had suddenly merged. Were it not for a speculative, serendipitous phone call to a man named MacGillycuddy living far from the Reeks, the story of Daniel Foley, and his sacrifice for his country, would have remained untold. As soon as I received Dr. Horgans e-mail address, I wrote to him. I shared all I knew about my granduncle then awaited a reply. It came a day later . from New York City, where he was delivering a lecture on the story of the Irish Revolution, and its transmission to succeeding generations. The publication deadline on his book was a month away. Dr Horgan wrote: For me, this is absolutely remarkable. This is the Dan Foley that I had been looking for for a year. I had so many dead-ends, but I suspected that this was the man all along. I have been into the depths of Glencar, searched cemeteries, spoke to very informed people who are in their nineties but all to no avail. You have confirmed all that I have been looking for. Daniel Foleys story was the last thumbnail biography Dr. Horgan needed for his book, Dying for the Cause. For Tim, our e-mail exchange was the end of his search. For me, it was the beginning of finding the truth about my granduncle. In October 2014, I travelled from London to Tralee to meet Dr. Horgan. A wonderful guide, he showed me three republican monuments in Kerry: the Ballyseedy Memorial, the Cahirciveen Republican Memorial and the republican plot in Tralees Rath Cemetery - all of which display Daniel Foleys name etched in perpetuity. It was a proud moment. Dr. Horgan graciously invited me to his home for tea, and this was the very moment when he produced proof positive that we had both found the missing Volunteer Daniel Foley. While conducting his research, Dr. Horgan came across an incredible piece of evidence. In 1958 or 1959, the Kerry Republicans met to immortalise their deceased comrades. They refused to let the dead volunteers of the revolutionary period fall into the amnesia of the new state. Names inscribed on stone monuments served as antidote to official neglect. Through a source, Horgan fortuitously obtained the hand-written notes from that meeting. The notes belonged to John Joe Sheehy, veteran of the Tan and Civil Wars, gifted Gaelic footballer, and the Kerry IRA Brigade commander. Here is a transcript of the hand-written note on Daniel Foley, which Horgan showed to me: Danl Foley Ahane, Glencar, Caragh Lake. Fianna Curragh 26th January 1923 Curragh Military Hospital Kildare Developed Pleurisy owing to ill treatment received at hands of F.S. forces and extreme hardship of prison conditions. He was buried in the Curragh where his body still lies. Joined Fianna in 1918 at the age of 14 years. Participated in all scouting engagements as ordered. Timmy and John Foley (Bros), Ahane, Glencar, Caragh Lake Though dumbstruck, I was elated. Historical evidence concluded that the Daniel Foley whose name appeared on McArdles book, and on monuments in Kerry, was in fact my granduncle. Seeing his name next to his two brothers and hailing from Ahane sealed it; yet there was another twist of fate. The notes from the meeting were placed on a shelf, forgotten about, then tossed in a bin from where they were rescued and passed on to Dr Horgan! But for the fact that someone salvaged those hand-written notes from a skip, the account of the life of Volunteer Daniel Foley would have been literally lost in the dustbin of history. Providence. I left Dr. Horgans house enthused by discovery, but I still had to find Daniels final resting place. On 20 October 2014, I set off on the long drive from the Kingdom to the Curragh. The Curragh Camp is the main training centre for the Irish Defense Forces, but it had belonged to the British Army for centuries. After the War of Independence, the British relinquished the Camp to the Irish National Army. During the Civil War, the Curragh contained makeshift holding areas to contain anti-treaty prisoners. Tintown A and B were named for their tin roofs. Hare Park was a cavalry barracks converted to an internment camp as the numbers of captured Republicans exceeded 12,000. The closest civilian town to the camp is Newbridge, Kildare. In its community library, I met renowned scholar, James Durney. I briefed James on the story of Daniel Foley and told him I was searching for his grave. Durney had written an essay on what he thought were all the republican prisoners who died in the Curragh from 19221924. No Daniel Foley. He fetched the book, The Last Post, which itemises all the republican dead over the Civil War period in chronological order. No Daniel Foley. Poor, young and dispossessed, Daniel Foley was a man who history had largely forgotten. With a zest for discovery, James whizzed through the pages of a microfiche machine at breakneck speed. In minutes, he found a death notice from January 1923. Daniel Foley was buried in St. Conleths Cemetery, just outside the base. I couldnt drive to the cemetery quickly enough. The gatekeeper escorted me to the spot where Daniel Foleys body had lain. The grave site was unmarked, overgrown and unkept; but it was hallowed ground to me. I said a prayer for the repose of the soul of Volunteer Daniel Foley who died for his country at the tender age of 17. A few months later, I contracted a mason to put a headstone on Daniels plot to honor his sacrifice and mark his place in history. Finding Daniel Foleys final resting place certainly brought solace to the family, but the full story of his death only crystallized a few years later when I found a file in the Military Archives in Dublin. The file is a claim for an army pension made by my great grandfather, Daniel Joseph Foley, in 1933. Destitute, Daniel Joseph, filed a claim owing to his sons service in the Fianna. Illiterate, he needed help to pen the appeal. The file includes statements from witnesses about the treatment of Daniel during his incarceration. These statements reveal the tragic death of a teenager who had fought for Irish freedom. When Daniel Foley left St Josephs Industrial School, he served as an apprentice bootmaker to Mr. Parker on Nelson Street in Tralee. He played football for a Tralee GAA club. According to a report from Michael OLeary the O/C of the Kerry Fianna, Daniel served as a scout in several military engagements in and around Tralee area from 1919 to 1922. Over the period, he served as a scout for an Active Service Unit in Tralee. Clearly, Daniel participated in the War of Independence. During the Civil War, Daniels republican activities came to the attention of the National Army. Arrested in 1922, he was brought to Ballymullen Barracks, Tralee, where he was held in a barbed wire compound in September and October of 1922. In his statement, Patrick Daly, the Battalion O/C of the Tralee Fianna reported: While a prisoner in Tralee Jail, Daniel Foleys nerves were completely shattered due to beating, also he was fired at. National Army soldiers fired at a 17-year-old boy during captivity justifying the moniker Republicans gave them, Green Tans. Transported to Limerick Prison, Daniel then spent six weeks in holding. In November 1922, the SS Slievenamon transported 398 prisoners from Limerick to Dublin. With hundreds of other detainees, Daniel was forced to make the four-day voyage in what one prisoner described as an almost open boat. The National Army transported prisoners via sea rather than overland to avoid a potential ambush by Republicans who controlled large swathes of the countryside. From Dublin, Daniel went to the Curragh where he was interned in the Hare Park Camp. The pension claim includes statements from Dr. Ruairi OConnor of Listowel, the Medical Officer of the Kerry No 1 Brigade, IRA, which included Daniels unit. A fellow prisoner, Dr. OConnor was a key witness. In a February 1933 letter to the Department of Defence, Dr. OConnor depicted how Daniel died due to hardship and neglect. I remember a chap named Daniel Foley of Hut 16, C. Line, in Harepark Camp. He developed a severe cold as a result of the hardship he endured in the trip on board the Slievenamon from Limerick to Dublin (Nov 25th to Nov 29th, 1922). As a result, his health got very low, and he developed pleurisy. I recommended his immediate release both to the camp M.O. [medical officer] and the Governor, but the recommendation was turned down. His life would even then have been saved if the prison authorities had taken a more humane view of the case. They refused to release him even when dying. In another report in April 1933, Dr. OConnor wrote: I have no doubt his illness and subsequent death were entirely due to prison hardship especially on board the Slievenamon where neither food nor bedding was provided for 398 prisoners during the four-day voyage. I have personal knowledge of the above facts as I was a prisoner myself and attended this boy in the early stages of his illness in Hare Park Camp. The Department of Defence denied my great grandfathers claim for a pension. He saw out his days in Glencar surviving on occasional work and money sent to him from America by his children, Delia, John and Tim. Although forgotten for close to 100 years, Daniel Foleys service to his country and place in history lingered in the memories of his family. Marked by a headstone, his body now lies in the ground of a country in the midst of a lasting peace and on the precipice of a reunification. Today, the lore of his proud family and the pages of Irelands history have afforded this young patriot the recognition he deserves. Let the future generations know that Daniel Ban Foley of Glencar, County Kerry, died for Ireland. Students from Taylor Walker Academy of Dance won awards at the competition in Dublin on Saturday, June 22 and Sunday, June 23. Tony Walker Photography. Students from Taylor Walker Academy of Dance who won awards at the competition in Dublin on Saturday, June 22 and Sunday, June 23. Tony Walker Photography. Students from Taylor Walker Academy of Dance won awards at the competition in Dublin on Saturday, June 22 and Sunday, June 23. Tony Walker Photography. Students from Taylor Walker Academy of Dance who won awards at the competition in Dublin on Saturday, June 22 and Sunday, June 23. Tony Walker Photography. 22 students from a dance school in Kilmuckridge, Wexford won a slew of awards at a national competition in Dublin on Saturday, June 22 and Sunday, June 23. The Taylor Walker Academy of Dance (TWAD) and its students have once again proven themselves on the big stage and taken home their biggest haul of awards and accolades yet. "Our students have worked incredibly hard, and their success at this competition is a reflection of their dedication and passion for dance. Competing at this level and achieving such fantastic results is a significant accomplishment, especially for a small studio like ours, said Principal of TWAD Taylor Walker. Competing against hundreds of talented dancers from across Ireland and the UK, the students from Kilmuckridge, performed across multiple categories, including solos, duos, trios, and group routines. As a result, they brought home a selection of awards including; six 1st place trophies, four 2nd place trophies, one 3rd place trophy, two 4th place medals, two 6th place medals and multiple other placed medals. A standout moment of the competition was when student Aidan Boland received the coveted Star of the Future Award. The academy was established in Kilmuckridge just 5 years ago and the achievements of these young dancers have surpassed all expectations. Below are the names of all of the dancers who competed; Isabella Corrigan, Anna Brooks Silva, Aidan Boland, Harry Kennedy, Ava Doran, Kate McIntyre Murphy, Aoife Bergin, Sophie Doran, Lilly Turmel, Minnie Tracey, Rose Hickey, Isabelle Pocock, Claire Toner, Lottie Grant, Grace Mooney, Muireann Lacey, Toby Tracey, Fiadh Bater, Emily Kilby, Niah Lett, Ruby Rossiter, Makayla Mitten. For more information about the Taylor Walker Academy of Dance or to book a class contact Taylor Walker at 0852524970 or taylor@taylorwalker.co.uk. Videos Tanaiste says he doesn't know who the Russian spy in Oireachtas is and wasn't briefed as Minister for Defence Roland Dumas was a French lawyer and politician whose career was borne relentlessly upwards by his great friendships with Pablo Picasso and Francois Mitterrand. Ultimately, however, he was brought down by the suspicion that he considered the civilised expression of power best left to a small number of highly cultured men such as himself. This trait was most evident during the five years from 1988 that he was foreign minister. Dumass appointment to the Quai dOrsay had in itself annoyed staff there, who felt that the job ought to have gone to a ministry insider. Once in place, Dumas proceeded further to vex his colleagues by making it clear that he was intent on working not in their interests, but in those of President Mitterrand. Photo Courtesy: Unsplash At least 13 people were injured after an elephant went on a rampage in Sri Lanka on Saturday. The rampage occurred during the Ruhunu Kataragama Mahadevala procession in Kataragama town. Hospital sources told Daily Mirror that the injured have been admitted to the Kataragama Hospital, with no critical patients among them. A video has gone viral where pilgrims are seen trying to flee the spot as the animals go on a rampage. Elephants, considered very sacred in the nation, are often seen colourfully dressed during religious ceremonies in the South Asian country. According to reports, elephant rampages during these events are also common. Deep in the heartland of Madhya Pradesh, nestled among the undulating hills and verdant landscapes, lies a small village whose name resonates with reverence and devotion: Hussain Tekri. This unassuming village, located near the town of Dewas, holds a profound significance for Muslims across India, particularly during the sacred month of Muharram. Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, begins on Sunday (July 7). Hussain Tekri derives its name from the renowned shrine dedicated to Hazrat Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad. This shrine, adorned with intricate Islamic architecture and nestled amidst serene surroundings, serves as a focal point for the annual Muharram observances. The history of Hussain Tekri is intertwined with the legacy of Hazrat Imam Hussain and the tragic events of Karbala, where he valiantly sacrificed his life for the principles of justice and righteousness. Muharram marks the beginning of the Islamic lunar calendar and holds immense religious significance for Muslims worldwide. It is during this month that the martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Hussain and his companions at the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD is commemorated. The events of Karbala are deeply ingrained in the collective memory of Muslims, serving as a poignant reminder of steadfastness in the face of tyranny and oppression. In Hussain Tekri, the observance of Muharram unfolds as a solemn yet deeply spiritual affair. The month-long period is marked by various rituals and ceremonies that symbolize mourning and remembrance. Devotees, clad in black attire, gather at the shrine and participate in processions (juloos) where they recite elegies (marsiyas) and beat their chests in grief over the martyrdom of Imam Hussain. The atmosphere reverberates with the poignant chants of "Ya Hussain" (O Hussain), echoing the heartfelt sorrow and reverence felt by all present. Beyond its religious significance, Hussain Tekri embodies the spirit of communal harmony and hospitality. During Muharram, the village opens its doors to people from all walks of life, irrespective of caste, creed, or religion. Local residents generously offer food (tabarruk) and accommodations to pilgrims, reflecting the principles of generosity and compassion that are central to Islamic teachings. This act of communal sharing fosters a sense of unity and solidarity among attendees, reinforcing the bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood that transcend cultural and social boundaries. The traditions observed at Hussain Tekri are not merely religious rituals but also cultural expressions that have been preserved and passed down through generations. The intricate recitations of marsiyas and the rhythmic beats of dhol (drums) during processions highlight the rich cultural heritage of the region. These traditions serve to connect present-day devotees with their historical roots and imbue their religious practices with a sense of continuity and authenticity. As custodians of this rich cultural and religious legacy, the residents of Hussain Tekri strive to preserve and propagate the traditions associated with Muharram. Efforts are made year-round to maintain the shrine and its surroundings, ensuring that it remains a sacred space for generations to come. The annual observances of Muharram serve not only as a time of mourning and reflection but also as a source of spiritual rejuvenation and communal solidarity for Muslims in Madhya Pradesh and beyond. Each year, Hussain Tekri faces challenges such as logistical arrangements for accommodating large numbers of pilgrims and ensuring the smooth conduct of processions amidst evolving societal and environmental factors. However, the community's resilience and commitment to upholding the sanctity of Muharram remained unwavering, demonstrating their dedication to preserving this sacred tradition. As Hussain Tekri looks to the future, the village remains steadfast in its commitment to maintaining its role as a center of spiritual devotion and cultural heritage. The annual observances of Muharram continue to serve as a time for Muslims to reaffirm their faith, commemorate historical sacrifices, and strengthen bonds of community and compassion. Hussain Tekri will undoubtedly continue to inspire and unite believers in their shared reverence for Hazrat Imam Hussain and the enduring values he symbolizes. In conclusion, Hussain Tekri stands as a testament to the enduring power of faith, tradition, and community spirit. Its annual Muharram celebrations not only commemorate a historical event but also reaffirm the values of courage, sacrifice, and compassion exemplified by Hazrat Imam Hussain. As pilgrims gather each year at this sacred site, they find solace and inspiration amidst the serene surroundings of Hussain Tekri, forging bonds of unity and reverence that transcend the boundaries of time and space. Image credit: Videograb Surat/IBNS: Seven bodies were pulled out of the rubble a day after a six-storey building collapsed in Gujarat's Surat , media reports said on Sunday. The residential building, which had 30 apartments and five were occupied, collapsed in Sachin Pali village amid incessant rains over the last few days. "The search operation continued throughout the night. Seven dead bodies have been recovered," Chief Fire Officer, Basant Pareek told news agency ANI. The seventh body was pulled out at 6 am, he added. While the search operation continues, rescuers believe no more residents are trapped under the debris. On Saturday, a woman was rescued from under the debris, while 15 others were injured when the building came crashing down at around 2.45 pm, officials said. Horrifying visuals from the scene showed the remnants of the building, constructed only eight years ago, with large concrete slabs piled in a heap of debris. Rescuers worked overnight to remove large concrete slabs that formed a mountain of debris at the site. NDRF and SDRF workers cut through the concrete to reach the trapped residents. The building, constructed in 2017, housed five families when it collapsed. According to police, several residents were at work when the collapse occurred but many others, who worked night shifts, were sleeping inside. Locals said chaos erupted after the sudden collapse on Saturday. The locals rushed to save anyone they could from under the debris. While the building was only eight years old, most flats were vacant and dilapidated, officials said. Representative image/ credit: Pixabay Guwahati/IBNS: A Class 11 student allegedly stabbed his teacher to death in the classroom at a school in Assam's Sivasagar district on Saturday, media reports said. The 16-year-old, who attacked chemistry teacher Rajesh Baruah Bejawada (55) after he was scolded for poor performance, has been detained by the police. He is now being questioned. Bejawada taught chemistry and also held managerial responsibilities in the privately owned school. According to the police investigation, the teacher scolded the student over his performance in chemistry and asked him to get his parents to school for a meeting. Later in the day, the student came to the class in casual clothes. The teacher asked him to leave. Suddenly, the student attacked Bejawada and stabbed him repeatedly with a knife. A student who witnessed the stabbing has said the accused was in casuals when he came to the class. The teacher asked him to leave and shouted at him when he did not listen. "Angered, he took out a knife and struck the teacher on the head and stabbed him. We did not know he was carrying a knife. Our teacher was on the floor and bleeding heavily," the witness was quoted as saying by NDTV. The victim was rushed to Dibrugarh, but died on the way to the hospital. The nifty hack prevents the woman's car windscreen from becoming icy overnight. The woman's winter car hack has left many Aussies thanking her for sharing it. Source: Tiktok As people in most parts of the country continue to shiver through what feels like an incredibly long winter, one clever Aussie has come up with a way to save herself time in the mornings by unearthing a hack to prevent her car windscreen from becoming icy overnight. Instead of forking out money on de-icer or attempting to scrape away the ice, the young woman used an everyday household item to prevent ice from forming on her cars windscreen overnight. In a video posted to social media, Bianca shared that she simply placed a towel over the glass the night before. The following morning, she pulls the frosty-looking towel off the windscreen to reveal a frost-free windscreen, ready for a quick escape from the driveway. Towel the night before, youre welcome, Bianca, who lives in Melbourne, Vic, said. Bianca's winter car hack has been watched nearly two million times in just three days. Source: TikTok Aussies shiver through freezing winter Just this week, millions of Aussies shivered through another chilly week as colder and drier air spread across the country, with both maximum and minimum temperatures falling well below average. On Thursday, Tasmania recorded its lowest July temperature on record and the second-lowest minimum temperature for any time of year with 13.5C at Liawenee. Big stretches of the Outback received a drenching, causing the risk of flooding to dirt roads, and road and rail closures. Aussies say hack works a treat Many Aussies came forward to thank Bianca for unearthing the life hack, with one saying it works a charm. Another night shift worker thanked her for sharing, saying its a game changer. This is the life hack I desperately needed. Im pouring water over my car windows & usually not quick enough, so it freezes before I can drive," said a third. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. Photo courtesy: IBNS File New Delhi: A Pakistan-based operative of the Lashkar-e-Toiba affiliate, The Resistance Front, is responsible for the recent surge in terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir, according to security agency sources. Saifullah Sajid Jatt, identified as a "hardcore terrorist" by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), hails from Shangamanga village in Kasur district of Pakistan's Punjab. He has a Rs 10 lakh bounty on his head, reported NDTV. Sources reveal that Jatt operates from a base camp in Islamabad, Pakistan, where he lives with his Indian-origin wife. Previously active in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, Jatt is currently involved in Lashkar's recruitment and facilitating terrorists' infiltration into India. As an operational commander of Lashkar, he also manages terror funding and is on the NIA's most wanted list. Security agencies believe he has a contact named Qasim in Jammu and Kashmir, who is being sought, according to the report. Jatt is suspected to be behind several terror attacks in the region over the past few years. The Union Territory has experienced a series of terror attacks in recent months. Last month, terrorists opened fire on a bus carrying pilgrims in Reasi district, causing it to fall into a gorge and killing nine people. Shortly after, two armed terrorists attacked a village, resulting in a gunfight where a CRPF personnel and the terrorists were killed. In the past two days, five terrorists have been killed in separate encounters in the Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir. These encounters also claimed the lives of two soldiers, including a paratrooper. These attacks coincide with the ongoing Amarnath Yatra. Photo Courtesy: PIB Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi' s scheduled upcoming visit to Vienna is a 'special honour' since it will mark the first visit by an Indian PM in over four decades. He said he is looking forward to welcoming the Indian leader to Austria. "I very much look forward to welcoming @narendramodi , the Prime Minister of India, the world's largest democracy, next week in Vienna. This visit is a special honour as it marks the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in over forty years, and a significant milestone as we celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations with India," he posted on X. I very much look forward to welcoming @narendramodi, the Prime Minister of India, the world's largest democracy, next week in Vienna. This visit is a special honour as it marks the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in over forty years, and a significant milestone as we Karl Nehammer (@karlnehammer) July 6, 2024 He said he would discuss with Modi the possible ways to further deepen the bilateral relationship. "We will have the opportunity to talk about further deepening our bilateral relationship and closer cooperation on the many geopolitical challenges," he said. Narendra Modi will leave for Russia and Austria for an official visit on July 8. "Prime Minister will be in Moscow on 08-09 July 2024 at the invitation of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin to hold the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. The leaders will review the entire range of multifaceted relations between the two countries and exchange views on contemporary regional and global issues of mutual interest. "Prime Minister will, thereafter, travel to Austria during 09-10 July 2024. This will be the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Austria in 41 years," the statement said. "He will call on President of the Republic of Austria, H.E. Mr. Alexander Van der Bellen and hold talks with Chancellor of Austria H.E. Mr. Karl Nehammer. Prime Minister and Chancellor will also address business leaders from India and Austri," the statement said further. Prime Minister will interact with members of the Indian community in Moscow as well as in Vienna. Photo courtesy: X/@MahuaMoitra New Delhi: A case has been filed against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra for outraging the modesty of a woman over a social media post about National Commission for Women chief Rekha Sharma. Based on a complaint by Rekha Sharma, the First Information Report (FIR) was registered by the special cell of the Delhi Police on Sunday. The FIR was filed under Section 79 (Word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the new criminal law, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which has replaced the Indian Penal Code. West Bengals Krishnanagar MP, who was disqualified from the Lok Sabha last year after the cash-for-query scandal but recently won again by a margin of about 56,000 votes, made the controversial remark on Thursday. The comment was in reaction to videos showing the NCW chief meeting women injured in the Hathras stampede, which resulted in 121 deaths. The videos showed someone holding an umbrella for Sharma. A video was shared on X, with a social media user questioning why Rekha Sharma could not carry her own umbrella. Mahua Moitra responded to the tweet, saying, "She (Rekha Sharma) is too busy holding up her boss's pajamas". Taking note of the crude remark, NCW on Friday sought a case against Moitra, but the Trinamool MP had remained combative. Responding to a post by the NCW on X, she tagged the Delhi Police, urging them to take immediate action and arrest her, even specifying about her exact location in West Bengal's Nadia. Posting earlier tweets by Rekha Sharma, in which the NCW chief appeared to call RJD chief Lalu Yadav and former Congress President Sonia Gandhi dumb and made a joke about Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with a "suhaag raat" reference, Moitra also asked the Delhi Police to take action against the "serial offender." The Trinamool leader was expelled from the Lok Sabha in December last year based on an Ethics Committee report on the alleged 'cash-for-query' charges against her. She was accused of accepting bribes, including Rs 2 crore in cash and "luxury gifts," from businessman Darshan Hiranandani in exchange for asking questions in Parliament that were critical of the Narendra Modi government. An investigation is ongoing in the case. Sheikh Hasina meeting Indian PM Narendra Modi during her recent visit to India. Photo Courtesy: Randhir Jaiswal X page A Bangladeshi minister has described India as a political friend while calling China his nation's development partner. Awami League (AL) General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader told The Daily Star: "China has contributed significantly to the development of many sectors in our country. Why will we not accept support from China for the sake of the country's overall progress?" "Our foreign policy is friendship with everyone, malice to none. India has been our faithful friend since 1971. We cannot forget our friends in times of trouble," Obaidul Quader said, asking "what did the post-75 governments achieve by having hostile relations with India for 21 years?" Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently visited India on a State Visit the invitation of Narendra Modi. Following her visit,Hasina said her visit to India was short but fruitful. The visit was short but very fruitful. I think this visit will play a very pivotal role in strengthening the existing excellent relations between India and Bangladesh, she was quoted as saying by Dhaka Tribune while she was addressing a press conference. Speaking on the visit, she further said: "During the visit, the main topic of discussion with the Indian leadership was to formulate a vision on how the two newly-elected governments can take the cooperative relationship further." We discussed ways and means of mutual cooperation and engagement between the two countries. We have agreed to cooperate wholeheartedly for the welfare of our two countries and people," she said. She visited New Delhi earlier in June to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Modi who returned to power in the world's largest democracy for third straight term. This was the first bilateral visit of any head of the government to India since Modi-government returned to power after winning the general polls which were held this year in robust seven phases. Hasina said she invited Modi to visit Bangladesh. Photo Courtesy: PIB Indian envoy to Russia Vinay Kumar has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visit to the country will remain 'very significant'. Speaking to ANI, Vinay Kumar stated that the visit of PM Modi is "very important" for the two leaders to exchange views on developments in bilateral ties and discuss other regional and important issues of mutual interest. He noted said the two nations have the tradition of annual exchange of summit-level meetings between the Russian President and Indian Prime Minister and added that the last one took place in 2021. Narendra Modi will leave for Russia and Austria for an official visit on July 8. "Prime Minister will be in Moscow on 08-09 July 2024 at the invitation of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin to hold the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. The leaders will review the entire range of multifaceted relations between the two countries and exchange views on contemporary regional and global issues of mutual interest. "Prime Minister will, thereafter, travel to Austria during 09-10 July 2024. This will be the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Austria in 41 years," the statement said. "He will call on President of the Republic of Austria, H.E. Mr. Alexander Van der Bellen and hold talks with Chancellor of Austria H.E. Mr. Karl Nehammer. Prime Minister and Chancellor will also address business leaders from India and Austri," the statement said further. Prime Minister will interact with members of the Indian community in Moscow as well as in Vienna. Photo Courtesy: Videograb from X Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction's leader Rajesh Shah and his driver Rajendra Singh Bijawat were detained by the police on Sunday while his son and the key suspect remains missing. Mihir Shah remains on the run, hours after his BMW hit a couple who were riding a scooter in Mumbai's Worli region leaving a woman dead. Police suspect Mihir Shah was drunk at the time of the incident and a blood test report is awaited. Rajesh Shah and the driver were detained for allegedly not cooperating with the police, among other charges. A case has been registered under the new criminal code Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita under sections relating to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, rash driving and destruction of evidence, among others. Provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act have also been invoked, reported NDTV. The vehicle is reportedly registered in Mihir Shah's name. The deceased woman, who was identified as Kaveri. Kaveri and her husband went to make a trip to Sassoon Dock to fetch fish. As they were returning home with their catch, their two-wheeler was hit from behind by a speeding BMW. The impact caused their bike to overturn, throwing both the husband and wife onto the bonnet of the car. In a desperate attempt to save himself, the husband managed to jump off the bonnet. However, his wife was not as fortunate. The accident led to chaos which enabled the driver of the four-wheeler to flee the scene, leaving the injured woman behind. The injured woman was quickly rushed to a hospital where she was declared dead. Photo Courtesy: Sonakshi Sinha Instagram page Marriage is an emotional roller coaster ride for every human being and Sonakshi Sinha recently went through the memorable moments when she tied the knot with Zaheer Iqbal. Sonakshi shared some heart-touching moments of the special day when she left her father and mother and moved to a new house to live away from them for the first time. Sonakshi said her parents Shatrughan Sinha and Poonam Sinha became emotional and cried during her wedding. Sonakshi shared some unseen images of her marriage where she could be seen hugging her teary-eyed parents. In her caption, she said she was missing her parents. "At the wedding Maa started crying when it hit her i would be moving out of the house, i told her 'Maa, dont worry juhu to bandra only 25 mins' Missing them a lil extra today, so Im telling myself the exact same thing.," the Heeramandi actor posted. She further said: "Hope theres Sunday sindhi curry made at homeSee you soon zoom zoom zoom." Much of Gaza has been destroyed in the conflict.Photo Courtesy: UNRWA At least 16 people died in an Israeli aerial strike on a school in the Gaza Strip , media reports said on Sunday. The strike left several others injured. The building was sheltering thousands of displaced people at Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry as quoted by BBC. In its X post, the Israel Defense Forces said: " Based on IDF and ISA intelligence, the IAF struck several terrorists operating in structures located in the area of @UNRWA s Al-Jaouni School in central Gaza. " Based on IDF and ISA intelligence, the IAF struck several terrorists operating in structures located in the area of @UNRWAs Al-Jaouni School in central Gaza. This location served as both a hideout and operational infrastructure from which attacks against IDF troops operating pic.twitter.com/XOaDQygm83 Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) July 6, 2024 The force further said: " This location served as both a hideout and operational infrastructure from which attacks against IDF troops operating in Gaza were directed and carried out. " Also Read: Three Hezbollah forces die during cross-border clashes with Israeli IDF said: "Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken in order to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise aerial surveillance and additional intelligence. " The IDF said Hamas group continues to systematically violate international law by exploiting civilian structures and the civilian population as human shields for its terrorist attacks against the State of Israel. An estimated 85,000 people have left Shujaiyah district in eastern Gaza City in the north of the enclave in the last week, UNRWA noted, while latest data indicates that by Tuesday, at least 66,700 more Gazans had been displaced from eastern Khan Younis and Rafah, both in the south, following new evacuation orders issued on Monday evening. The Gaza Strip is virtually split in two, with blockades not only restricting the movement of displaced people seeking shelter, but also aid workers trying to assist civilians in desperate need, a UN relief official said on Wednesday. Speaking via video link from Jerusalem, Andrea De Domenico, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT), said people have been forced to completely reset their lives over and over again. People, in the last nine months, have been moved around like pawns in a board game forced from one location to the next, to the next [and] to the next, irrespective of our ability of support them and irrespective of the availability of services wherever they land, he said. Hezbollah's Meitham Mustafa Altaar eliminated. Photo Courtesy: Open Source Intel X page The Israel Defense Forces on Saturday said Meitham Mustafa Altaar, a key operative in Hezbollah's Aerial Defense Unit, has been eliminated. "Meitham led many of the unit's activities and took part in the planning and carrying out of numerous terrorist attacks against Israelis. Meitham also flew to Iran multiple times, where he gained knowledge and assisted in building up Hezbollahs force and arsenal of Iranian weapons," IDF posted on X. Also Read: Israeli air strike on school leaves 16 people dead IDF said his elimination significantly harms the capabilities of Hezbollah's Aerial Defense Unit. Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has said it launched 200 rockets at Israeli military sites in reply to the killing of one of its senior commanders, media reports said. The Israeli Defense Force also confirmed the attack and posted on X: "Hezbollah fired massive barrages of projectiles toward northern Israel earlier today." ELIMINATED: Meitham Mustafa Altaar, key operative in Hezbollah's Aerial Defense Unit. Meitham led many of the unit's activities and took part in the planning and carrying out of numerous terrorist attacks against Israelis. Meitham also flew to Iran multiple times, where he Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) July 6, 2024 "Approx. 200 projectiles were launched toward the Golan area, some of which were intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array and the IAF," IDF said. "Over 20 suspicious aerial targets were launched toward Israeli territory, several were intercepted," it said. IDF said it struck launch posts in southern Lebanon. The IDF on Wednesday said top Hezbollah commander Muhammed Neamah Naser was 'eliminated'. "ELIMINATED: Muhammad Neamah Naser, the Commander of the Aziz Unit in the Hezbollah Terrorist Organization," IDF posted on X. " Naser entered his position in 2016 and led the rockets and anti-tank missile attacks from southwestern Lebanon toward Israeli civilians, communities and security forces. He also directed a large number of terrorist attacks toward Israel both during, and before the war, and he previously held several central roles within the Hezbollah terrorist organization," the army said. "He was the counterpart of Sami Taleb Abdullah, the commander of the Nasser Unit, who was eliminated last month. Together, they served as two of the most significant Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon,"IDF said. In response to the killing, Hezbollah on Thursday said it had launched more than 200 missiles of various types at Israeli targets, CNN reported. Muhammad Neamah Naser is the latest Hezbollah leader to be killed since the October 7 attacks. Cross-border firing incidents have been reported by Israel and Hezbollah since the war in Gaza began. Amid escalating tension, a full-blown conflict is feared to occur. Photo courtesy: Uyghur Americans Association X page Uyghur community members of the USA recently marked the 15th anniversary of the Urumqi Massacre in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC. The association also shared pictures of their protest on X. "Uyghur Americans commemorated the 15th anniversary of the Urumchi Massacre in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., today," the community shared on X. Who are Uyghur Muslims? Uyghur Muslims are a Turkic minority ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. It is now widely publicized that their human rights are crushed by China and they were sent to "re-education camps" by the communist regime in Beijing. The Uyghurs are recognized as native to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. An American representative at the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said in 2018 that the committee had received many credible reports that 1 million ethnic Uyghurs in China have been held in "re-education camps" by the Chinese authorities. One plane passengers neighbour broke one of the many unwritten rules of flying etiquette. A passenger was left horrified after her next-door neighbour rested a barefoot directly next to her. Source: Getty/Jam Press Many would agree that sitting on an airplane for multiple hours is not a comfortable experience. Its even worse when youre sat next to a fellow passenger who breaks one of the many unwritten rules of flying etiquette. One passenger Ashwini, 29, ignited disgust among fellow passengers when she snapped the person sat next to who wasnt wearing shoes OR socks with their barefoot just inches away from her leg. Despite her most subtle efforts, the person refused to move. I kept looking at her feet so she could move it herself but she was stuck to watching reels," Ashwini, said. To add to this she occupied the hand-rest almost totally. I didn't want to verbally say anything and embarrass her." "How would you feel about this? she asked fellow travellers, sharing an image of the offending sole just inches from her leg during a flight from Bagdogra to Mumbai, in India. The barefoot plane passenger left their neighbour in disbelief. Source: Jam Press Holy S***t, reacted one traveller. Another suggested Ashwini react with revenge by doing the same but with opposite leg. Foot to foot massage, they joked. If they have a nice foot, I wouldn't mind, another person quipped. And rub aggressively to show dominance, another suggested. People said how I should be happy her feet were at least clean, Ashwini joked. Passengers caught in intimate act on flight A plane passenger has expressed his shock at witnessing two of his fellow travelers getting incredibly intimate on a recent flight - most of which they spent locked in a series of embraces while lying across a row of seats barefoot. Its not the first time, and certainly wont be the last time that a passenger behaves badly on a flight. In April, a passenger was horrified to witness two amorous travellers canoodling each other for an entire airplane ride. Cant believe my view on the plane. It was like this the whole 4 hour flight, shared Flea in the caption to the photos of the sky-high spooning session, which occurred aboard an unspecified flight. One of the apparent mile-high hopefuls even has one of her feet propped against the tray table. Jam Press Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. Support Our Journalism We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news. Support objective journalism for a small contribution. Mass shooting in Florence leaves four people dead. Photo Courtesy: Unsplash A mass shooting incident in the US city of Florence on Saturday left at least four people dead and three others injured, media reports said on Sunday. According to reports, the shooting incident occurred inside a house when a birthday party was going on. Officers found seven victims suffering from gunshot wounds shortly before 3 a.m. after receiving calls of an active shooter at a home on Ridgecrest Drive in Florence, southwest of Cincinnati, Ohio, Florence Police Department Chief Jeff Mallery was quoted as saying by CNN during a Saturday afternoon news conference. The deceased were identified as Shane Miller, 20; Hayden Rybicki, 20; Delaney Eary, 19; and Melissa Parrett, 44. Parrett, the homeowner, was hosting her sons 21st birthday party when the shooting occurred, Mallery said. Police have identified the suspect as 21-year-old Chase Garvey. He was not invited to the party but was known to people who were attending the event. Garvey initially fled the scene and police told CNN he was discovered a short time later in a crashed vehicle with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Garvey was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Weve never dealt with this before. I know its going on throughout the nation, but this is the first time weve had a mass shooting in Florence. So, it is very emotional, Mallery told CNN. Puri Jagannatha Rath Yatra 2024: The Jagannatha Rath Yatra is one of the most celebrated Hindu festivals, drawing millions of devotees to the city of Puri in Odisha each year. This vibrant festival, which takes place on the second day of the bright fortnight in the Hindu month of Asadh, typically falling in June or July, is a grand procession of immense chariots carrying the deities of Lord Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra, and sister Subhadra. The streets come alive with the fervent chants of devotees, the rhythmic beats of drums, and the awe-inspiring sight of the elaborately decorated chariots. This event is not just a display of religious devotion but also a profound cultural spectacle that encapsulates the spirit and tradition of Odisha. The Grand Procession of Jagannatha Rath Yatra Jagannatha Yatra The Jagannatha Rath Yatra is a spectacular event featuring enormous chariots carrying the revered deities of Lord Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra, and his sister Subhadra. The festival is characterised by the rhythmic chanting of hymns and the enthusiastic participation of devotees pulling the chariots through the streets, creating an unforgettable atmosphere of devotion and energy. Jagannatha Rath Yatra 2024: Date and Timings In 2024, the Jagannatha Rath Yatra will commence on July 7th. The Dwitiya Tithi will begin at 4:26 am, marking the start of this grand festival and will end on July 8 at 4:59 am. Dwitiya Tithi Begins - July 07, 2024 at 04:26 AM - July 07, 2024 at 04:26 AM Dwitiya Tithi Ends - July 08, 2024 at 04:59 AM History and Significance of Jagannatha Rath Yatra The Jagannatha Rath Yatra has a rich history that dates back to between the 12th and 16th centuries. Various legends surround its origins. Some believe the festival symbolises Lord Krishnas visit to his mothers birthplace, while others attribute its beginning to King Indradyumna, who is said to have established the rituals. Historical records indicate that the festival gained prominence during the reign of Odishas Gajapati kings. Over centuries, the Jagannatha Rath Yatra has evolved, yet its core purpose remains a powerful expression of Odishas cultural heritage and the deep faith of millions of devotees. At the heart of the Jagannatha Rath Yatra is the symbolic journey of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra from the Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple, a distance of about 3 kilometers. This journey signifies the deities leaving their temple sanctum to bless the devotees. Rituals of Jagannatha Rath Yatra The Jagannatha Rath Yatra is marked by several captivating rituals: Rath Snana: A day before the procession, the deities undergo a ceremonial bath using 108 pots of aromatic water, symbolising their purification. A day before the procession, the deities undergo a ceremonial bath using 108 pots of aromatic water, symbolising their purification. Rath Pratistha: This involves the consecration of the chariots. Priests chant mantras and bless the newly constructed chariots, preparing them for the divine journey. This involves the consecration of the chariots. Priests chant mantras and bless the newly constructed chariots, preparing them for the divine journey. Rath Yatra: The main chariot procession where thousands of devotees pull the chariots of the deities towards the Gundicha Temple, chanting hymns and celebrating with great fervor. The main chariot procession where thousands of devotees pull the chariots of the deities towards the Gundicha Temple, chanting hymns and celebrating with great fervor. Stay at Gundicha Temple: The deities reside at the Gundicha Temple for nine days, allowing devotees to offer their prayers and seek blessings. The deities reside at the Gundicha Temple for nine days, allowing devotees to offer their prayers and seek blessings. Bahuda Yatra: This marks the return journey of the deities to the Jagannath Temple, again accompanied by a grand procession. This marks the return journey of the deities to the Jagannath Temple, again accompanied by a grand procession. Niladri Vijaya: The festival concludes with this ritual, where the chariots are dismantled, symbolising the end of the journey and the promise of the festival's renewal the following year. The Jagannatha Rath Yatra 2024 promises to be a deeply spiritual and culturally rich event, embodying centuries of tradition and devotion. This festival not only showcases the vibrant heritage of Odisha but also brings together millions in a shared experience of faith and celebration. FAQs: Q. What is Jagannatha Rath Yatra? Jagannatha Rath Yatra is a sacred Hindu festival celebrated annually in Puri, Odisha. It involves a grand procession of chariots carrying the deities Lord Jagannatha, Lord Balabhadra, and Goddess Subhadra. Q. When is Jagannatha Rath Yatra 2024? Jagannatha Rath Yatra 2024 will be celebrated on July 7. The Dwitiya Tithi begins on July 7, 2024, at 4:26 AM and ends on July 8, 2024, at 4:59 AM. Q. Why is Jagannatha Rath Yatra significant? Jagannatha Rath Yatra holds great religious importance in Hinduism. Devotees believe that seeing the deities during this festival brings blessings and spiritual fulfillment. Q. Where is Jagannatha Rath Yatra celebrated? The festival is primarily celebrated in Puri, Odisha, but it is also observed in other parts of India and the world. Q. What happens during Jagannatha Rath Yatra? During the festival, the deities Lord Jagannatha, Lord Balabhadra, and Goddess Subhadra are taken out of their temple in three grand chariots. Devotees pull these chariots through the streets of Puri. Q. How many chariots are used in the Rath Yatra? Three chariots are used in the Rath Yatra, each carrying one of the deities: Lord Jagannatha, Lord Balabhadra, and Goddess Subhadra. For more informative articles on historical and upcoming events from around the world, please visit Indiatimes Events. At first glance, she is just another young woman. However, upon learning that she is the widow of an Army officer, it becomes clear that she has faced unimaginable hardships. On Saturday, Smriti Singh, widow of Captain Anshuman Singh, accepted the gallantry award bestowed upon her late husband. In a moving moment, she shared their poignant story with the world. Captain Anshuman Singh awarded Kirti Chakra posthumously In a solemn ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Smriti Singh, widow of Captain Anshuman Singh, and his mother stood before President Droupadi Murmu to accept the Kirti Chakra, India's second-highest gallantry award, posthumously awarded to Captain Singh for his exceptional bravery during a fire incident in Siachen. With a smile that reaches her eyes, she recounted the story of how they first met. "We met on the first day of college, and I would not be dramatic but it was love at first sight." "After a month, he got selected into AFMC (Armed Forces Medical College). From then on, after just one month of meeting, it was a long-distance relationship for 8 long years," she says. She added, "We got married then. Unfortunately, within 2 months of marriage, he got posted in Siachen." Captain Anshuman Singh and Smriti Singh "On July 18, we had a long conversation about how our life would be in the next 50 years - we are going to build a house, we are going to have kids. On July 19 morning, I got a call that he is no more. For the next 7-8 hours we were not ready to accept that anything of such sort has happened." "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 expressed. Watch the video here: Cpt #AnshumanSingh was awarded #KirtiChakra (posthumous). It was an emotional moment for his wife & Veer Nari Smt Smriti who accepted the award from #President Smt #DroupadiMurmu. Smt Smriti shares the story of her husband's commitment & dedication towards the nation. Listen in! pic.twitter.com/SNZTwSDZ1Z A. Bharat Bhushan Babu (@SpokespersonMoD) July 6, 2024 Captain Singh was stationed with 26 Punjab as a medical officer in the Siachen Glacier region. Captain Anshuman Singh On July 19, 2023, a short circuit triggered a fire in an Indian Army ammunition dump around 3 am. Captain Singh, witnessing a fibreglass hut engulfed in flames, acted swiftly to rescue those trapped inside. He managed to save four to five individuals before the fire spread to a nearby medical investigation room. Undeterred, Captain Singh re-entered the blazing structure in an attempt to save more lives. Tragically, he became trapped and succumbed to the inferno. For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. Whether they're romantic, elaborate, or just plain cute, marriage proposals often capture hearts on social media. However, a recent proposal from China is making headlines for being uniquely unconventional, and not exactly for the right reasons! Also read: Watch: Royal guard's emotional proposal to girlfriend moments before Kate Middleton's balcony appearance In a move that has captured the attention of social media, a man from China has proposed to his girlfriend with an engagement ring made entirely out of concrete. This unusual choice of material has led to a flurry of reactions online, from criticism to admiration. Representative image Yao Guoyou, a 36-year-old innovator and Tsinghua University alumnus, is the mastermind behind this unconventional proposal. Known for his groundbreaking work in developing a nano silicon ion material that enhances the durability and waterproofing of concrete, Guoyou's invention was even used in the construction of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics venue. Guoyou's achievements in the field of construction were recognised in 2016 when he was awarded the prestigious Tsinghua Qihang Scholarship Gold Award. It was during the award ceremony that he decided to propose to his girlfriend with a unique twista concrete engagement ring treated with his patented material. A video of the proposal, which was shared on Weibo, the popular Chinese social media platform, shows Guoyou presenting the cement ring to his now-wife. Yao Guoyou/ SCMP The ring, though far from the traditional gold or diamond engagement rings, symbolises a promise built on the strength of concrete, a material Guoyou has devoted his career to improving. While many on social media have expressed their disapproval, labeling the concrete ring as "cheap" and "insincere," others have praised Guoyous creativity. One user commented, "The material he invented can support massive structures like dams and bridges, and he used it to symbolize a lifelong commitment. This scientific romance is more meaningful than traditional gold or silver rings." Another user humorously suggested, "He should have given her his patent instead of a piece of concrete. That would have been a true sign of his dedication." A third user questioned, "Is this ring a symbol of his achievements or his love? Why are diamonds considered romantic, but not this innovative material?" In addition to his proposal, Guoyou is also known for founding Guardex in 2017, a company specializing in advanced cement waterproofing solutions. His creative proposal and impressive career have certainly made headlines, showing that there's more than one way to express love and commitment. For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. Beleri, who has been elected to the European Parliament under New Democracy on June 9 in Greece, has been detained since May 2023 on charges of voter fraud, an accusation he has repeatedly denied. Greece has protested his detention repeatedly and internationally. Bandits, on Saturday, invaded Garam community in Niger State, kidnapping a pregnant woman and four other persons. Garam, which shares boundary with the Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was overwhelmed with attacks between December 2023 and February 2024 when the community was attacked more than four times by bandits who abducted many people. Just as the community appeared to be enjoying some peace, the bandits attacked again. Advertisement As revealed by a resident to journalists, the bandits arrived at the community through the bush path around 3:00 a.m, and went to the house of the victims to kidnap them. READ ALSO: Security Personnel Raid Bandits Hideouts, Nab Six Suspects In Abuja The source said the bandits did not shoot into the air to avoid alerting security men in the area. We learnt that they came 3:00 a.m. They kidnapped five people including a pregnant woman alongside her child and husband. They forced their way into the building by forcing the door open. They came silently without shooting any gun like they used to do. The pregnant woman and the husband are of Nupe tribe with their son, they also kidnapped a Hausa man that just packed into the compound and another child, the source said. The Corporate Affairs Commission has announced the approval to extend the mandatory Point of Sales agents, super agents, and sole agents registration to September 5, 2024. Recall that CAC had earlier announced that PoS agents of major fintechs in Nigeria including OPay, Palmpay, and Moniepoint, among others, have been given a deadline of July 7, 2024, to register their business. The Registrar-General of the commission, Hussaini Magaji, who announced this said that it was the agreement with the PoS operators after a meeting in Abuja. Advertisement Meanwhile, in a statement made available to the public on Saturday, CAC extended the deadline date, giving a 60-day extension. The commission disclosed that the new date is to give enough time to operators particularly those in remote areas who might have encountered network challenges during the registration. The statement reads: The Corporate Affairs Commission wishes to notify Fintech Operators also known as Point of Sales Operators that the initial deadline of 7th July 2024 given for the registration of sole Agents, Super Agents, and Agents has been extended for sixty days beginning from 7th July 2024 to the 5th September 2024. READ MORE: FG Orders PoS Operators To Register With CAC Before July 7 This is to give sufficient time to Operators particularly those in remote areas who might have encountered network challenges to so register and continue with their businesses. Operators who fail or refuse to register at the end of the extended deadline run the risk of losing such businesses and prosecution for aiding and abetting criminal activities. The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, has apprehended 243 suspected criminals from January to June. Dr Olusola Odumosu, the FCT NSCDC Commandant, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday. According to Odumosu, 123 of the 243 arrested individuals have cases that will be heard in court. Advertisement He stated that 159 people were arrested for their involvement in illicit mining activities, and that the mines and steel department has registered 39 instances thus far. He said that 34 people were also taken into custody and given court files for damaging the regions public infrastructure. Most of the vandalism suspects were arrested at Gwagwalada, Lugbe, Wuye and the Abuja Municipal Area council (AMAC) areas of the FCT. The Agro-Rangers unit on the other hand made two arrests at which both persons have cases with one pending in court. One of the arrests was from a communal clash between farmers and herders at Dafara Community in Kuje Area Council. Men of the department went to the community and successfully mediated between the parties concerned, the commandant said. READ MORE: Nollywood Actor Chinedu Ikedieze, Known As Aki, Welcomes Baby Boy With Wife Odumosu noted that the Commands Intelligence and Investigation Department apprehended 48 individuals with crimes ranging from cyber fraud to domestic assault, child abuse, and other civil matters. However, he stated that 11 criminal cases from the intelligence and investigation section had been charged and prosecuted. For some of the arrests made, investigation is still ongoing after which they will be charged to court, he said. An unidentified man, on Saturday, ended lifes journey as he into Gbodofon River in Osogbo, Osun State. An eyewitness told journalists the middle-aged lamented that he was tired of life and plunged into the river at 10:30 a.m. Advertisement I saw him coming toward me on the bridge and was like murmuring something in Yoruba language that sounded like ile aye ti su (I am tired of this life), before swiftly jumping over the railings into the river, he stated. Men of the Osun State Fire Service were however called to the scene to rescue the man before he drowned. READ ALSO: Anambra Police Warn Against 7/7 Cult Celebration In Hotels, Bars, Vows To Arrest Perpetrators Ibrahim Adekunle, spokesman for the fire service, who confirmed the incident, said the firemen were unable to reach the man due to the water level and current. Our stations at Okefia and Abere deployed personnel immediately to the scene when we were informed about the incident. However, our officers were unable to rescue the man because of the water level, which has gone up due to the downpour, Adekunle stated. A snake catcher said he's never seen a snake behaving this way and it could all be due to the weather. Snake catchers were shocked to discover the carpet coastal python eating the bird which had already been killed. Source: Facebook/Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24/7 Aussie snake catchers have been left speechless after a coastal carpet python was found chomping down a meal it hadnt caught itself. In a photo, the snake can be seen halfway through a large black bird, known as a Currawong, that had been killed hours earlier by a backyard dog. It is certainly rarer given what species it is, Brandon Gifford from Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24/7 told Yahoo News Australia. Carpet pythons are a real ambush predator and rely on heat sensory pits to pick up the infrared thermal radiation thats around. Usually, the snake catcher said, carpet pythons will lie in wait for a prey to get closer to them before launching out at it. Usually its in the middle of the night in complete darkness. For a carpet python to go after a bird that has already died in an act of scavenging over active hunting is extremely odd. Its bizarre behaviour, Gifford said. Its even more bizarre how quickly it happened. That someones pet dog killed the Currawong and then the snake came into the backyard and found it. Its definitely weird behaviour. And it hasnt happened since Ive been in the business that weve attended a job where theres something getting eaten that has already been killed. Carpet pythons usually just lie in wait for their pray to pass them before launching at it. Source: Wildlife QLD What's causing the strange behaviour in snakes? Firstly, we can blame the weather. With a constant rise and fall in temps, snakes are getting very confused. Normally, theyre taking it easy in brumation, which is a type of hibernation except the snakes will come out from time to time to lay about in the sun. But usually they wont stop for a nibble because it needs to be hot enough for long enough for their bodies to digest a meal. I do definitely think it was [caused by] that spike in temperature, the snake catcher says, referring to the incident in Kallangur in Moreton Bay. I think that last week everything just went bang. And its not the only case of really weird behaviour this winter, with a snake recently going after a stingray and another coastal carpet python taking down a pigeon. While Gifford said another reason why the snake could have gone after the dead Currawong could have just been opportunity. Or, maybe there was something wrong with the snake and it was desperate for a meal. During that May to September period, a lot of them wont feed at all a real healthy individual can go for a whole 12 months without ever feeding but the ones that do are usually compromised. Like any snakes that were sick in summer and just can't afford to go with through winter without any of their energy stores. The Currawong was already dead by the time the coastal carpet python got to it. Source: Birds of the World Dire snake warning to pet owners So with more snakes out on the prowl, Gifford said it was a timely reminder to look out for your pets. Last week, we had two pets eaten in one day, so pets are still getting grabbed throughout winter when people dont expect it, he said. And the reason both animals died last week was that latches were left open. He urged owners to always keep their pets secure, and if they can, bring them inside, especially at night and particularly in south east Queensland, which Gifford referred to as the hot spot for snakes. And get out and DIY those enclosures, he explained. If youve got mesh thats not like a chicken mesh, get out and put small, fine mesh over cages because snakes can get through. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. Peter Obi, Labour Partys 2023 presidential candidate, on Sunday, tasked Nigerian political leaders to learn a lesson from the recent Kenyan experience. The former Anambra State Governor made the call via X while reacting to the recent rally against proposed tax hikes by Kenyan citizens. He lamented that Nigerian political leaders use public funds to pay media thugs to insult and abuse those who speak truth to power. Advertisement Ojo further challenged Nigerian leaders to refrain from such habits and start making sacrifices for the greater good of the suffering masses READ ALSO: Simi Joins Kenyan Protesters, Condemns Tax Hike Bill We, the Nigerian political leaders, should take a strong lesson from the recent Kenyan experience. When the Kenyan public realized that their government was not making sufficient sacrifices and prioritizing resources effectively, they spoke out, demanded change, We resort to using public funds to pay media thugs to insult and abuse those who speak truth to power. True change and progress will require leaders who are sincere, willing to listen, act responsibly, and prioritize the welfare of the people over personal or political interests. If we make the necessary changes and make the needed sacrifices, a new Nigeria is possible, he said. Ola Olukoyede, the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes agency, has ordered the invitation of Ismaila Mustapha alias Mompha, a socialite, to substantiate his charges against the agency. Mompha is currently on trial on eight counts, including conspiracy to launder monies received through unlawful activity, retention of proceeds of criminal behaviour, and laundering of funds obtained through unlawful action, among others. On Monday, at the resumption of his trial, Idi Musa, the sixth prosecution witness, informed Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos, how N35 billion was discovered in two bank accounts belonging to the defendant. Advertisement On his Instagram page on Friday, Mompha labelled the EFCC as the most corrupt agency in the country. The Most useless and Corrupt Nigeria Government Agency @officialefcc, he said. The EFCCs spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, responded to his comment on Saturday, saying the commission has invited Mompha to submit proof against any corrupt officers. The statement partly read, The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has been drawn to the malicious and unsubstantiated statement made by the embattled Ismaila Mustapha, (a.k.a Mompha) alleging corruption by operatives of the Commission. To this end, the Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede has directed that Mompha be invited to bring clasping evidence of any issue of corruption against any staff of the Commission. Besides, the socialite should also justify his labelling of the EFCC as a useless agency with evidential proof. As a responsible law enforcement agency, the EFCC would not sit back and allow libellous effusions against its reputation to go unchallenged. Mompha, to all intents and purposes, cannot be expected to paint the EFCC in bright colours owing to the professional ways officers of the Commission are handling his matter. The EFCC would not be distracted in plying its job by the antics of traducers like Mompha. According to Oyewale, the Commission takes Momphas charges against the EFCC very seriously. READ MORE: Imade Wont Be A Child Forever, Shell See I Fought For Her Davido Responds To Sophia Momodus Counter-Affidavit He said, The Commission is alarmed that the accused will abandon the platform offered by the court to launch a media war against it through spurious claims. If he believes that raising phantom accusations against the Commission will sacre it from diligently prosecuting his case, he is mistaken as no amount of scaremongering will deter the Commission from pursuing the case to a logical conclusion While Mompha may just be a drowning man clutching at any straw owing to the overwhelming evidence of his involvement in the money laundering case, his unsubstantiated claims against the EFCC is an issue the Commission is taking seriously. Oyewale advised citizens to ignore his diatribe, stressing that Mompha should be prosecuted in a court of competent authority. SEE BELOW: Governor Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto State, has warned Local Government (LG) officials who allegedly siphoned N30,000 Sallah gifts meant for workers in the State to return the diverted funds. Failure to do so, the Governor said, will incure consequences. The Governor issued the warning on Friday while addressing a large crowd of well-wishers and supporters at the Government House, Sokoto. Advertisement This was contained in a statement issued by the Press Secretary to the Governor, Abubakar Bawa, and made available to newsmen. According to the statement, the Governor expressed dismay over the attitude of some financial officers, especially at the local government level, who denied their staff the N30,000 approved as Sallah gifts by the state government. I wonder how somebody would deny our workers the stipends we gave them in order to make them financially stable during the Sallah festive season. Those who diverted the funds must return them immediately, or else we will take punitive measures against them. READ ALSO: Sultan Has No Power To Appoint District Heads Sokoto Govt We will ensure that the culprits reap what they sowed to serve as a deterrent to others, he said. Aliyu, however, charged all heads of agencies where such corrupt tendencies were perpetrated to hasten the compilation of all the affected workers and ensure that they are refunded. He also assured the people of the state of his administrations determination to ensure accountability, transparency, and the prudent management of public funds for the good of all. This administration is all out to ensure zero tolerance for corruption and all corrupt tendencies. So, if anybody thinks he can loot public funds and get away with it, then he must be sick. This administration is a true reflection of the government of the people, for the people, and indeed by the people. So, we have a huge task ahead of us that we must carry out diligently without minding whose ox is gored, he added. He further called on the people of the State to continue to rally around the present administration in its undying quest to deliver on its campaign promises. The Federal Government says it will not take with levity, fake news that will harm the national security of the country. This is in response to a media report that suggested that some clauses of the agreement allegedly compel underdeveloped and developing nations to support the agitations by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) people for recognition. Advertisement According to the European Council, the Samoa agreement is the overarching framework for European Union (EU) relations with African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries. The agreement serves as a new legal framework for EU relations with 79 countries, including African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries. The agreement covers six priority areas, which are democracy and human rights; sustainable economic growth and development; climate change; human and social development; peace and security; and migration and mobility. The Nigerian government had on Thursday said it signed the Samoa agreement strictly for the economic development of the country, adding that there is nowhere in the agreement where LGBTQ+ or same-sex marriage was mentioned. READ ALSO: Zamfara Govt. Marries Off 105 Virgins Who Lost Parents To Banditry Attacks Speaking during a press press briefing in Abuja on Saturday, Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation, said the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration is tolerant of media criticism, but wont condone anything capable of jeopardising national security. His words: The Federal Government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has maintained an open arm relationship with the media. It is in line with the philosophy of the President as an avowed democrat who spent a lifetime fighting for the entrenchment of democracy and human rights. This administration has remained very tolerant of media criticism and guaranteed citizens rights to freedom of expression. It is however disheartening that some elements are abusing this free environment guaranteed by the Government. We are alarmed by the level of reckless reporting and statements by some media organisations and individuals that border on national security and stability. While we sometimes view and treat those occasional reporting as part of the medias normal work, we have now seen a pattern that is difficult to be wished away as normal journalism. In addition, the Federal Government will use every lawful means to seek redress in the court of law. The Federal Government once again restates its friendly policy towards ethical media and free speech. We would however not take fake news and disinformation that would injure the peace of our country and its national security lightly. The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, on Saturday, explained the true reason behind Nigeria signing the Samoa Agreement with the European Union (EU). Controversy has been the order of the day following the signing which the Federal Government noted, will boost food security, and inclusive economic development, amongst other vital areas. Theres been allegations that the agreement allows for the recognition of same-sex marriage rights by the Nigerian government. Advertisement Speaking at a press briefing on Saturday in Abuja, Bagudu clarified once again that none of the articles of the agreement between Nigeria and the EU showed that the former has recognised Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) rights. Bagudu, alongside his counterpart in the Ministry of Information, Mohammed Idris, said Nigeria wont enter into an agreement that was antithetical to the constitution as well as the religious and cultural sensibilities of the heterogeneous people of Nigeria. The Economic Planning Minister explained that about 200 areas of cooperation were contained in the agreement signed by Nigeria and that aside from the agreement, an implementation agreement would be signed in each of the areas of cooperation. He said the areas of cooperation would lead to capital and technical support. On why the Federal Government signed the Samoa Agreement, Bagudu told newsmen that the agreement was for multi-sectorial development. READ ALSO: Kaduna Police Nab Four Over Alleged Vandalisation Of TCNs Infrastructure His words: When you get a copy of the agreement, you will see that this is a broad agreement. It is about education, it is about food security, it is about water and sanitation, it is about decent work, it is about demography, it is about youths, it is about culture and sustainable development, it is about inclusive economic development, it is about private sector development, it is about human rights, democracy and the rule of law, it is about good governance, public administration, personal data, peace and security. Each article is about an area of cooperation. We signed (an) agreement with the EU to say that we believe we can cooperate in these areas. In the several areas which are about almost 200 distinct areas. Bagudu said about $600m worth of projects are coming under the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) programme of the Federal Government. There was nowhere in the body of the document where you will see $150bn but these are agreements which I believe, like with other countries, define what we want to relate with those countries in, and how to about it. The agreement provides a proviso where each country, not just Nigeria, can issue a declaration clarifying some basis in which it is signed. We will make the declaration available, its a public document presented along with (the agreement), we didnt offer it because of concerns about misrepresentation about LGBT for example. Last November, the European Union, its 27 member states and 79 member states of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) signed an agreement in Apia, the capital of the Pacific island country of Samoa. Hence, it was referred to as the Samoa Agreement. Nigeria signed the agreement on June 28, 2024, but it became public knowledge this week after a disclosure by Bagudu at a meeting with EU representatives. Samoa deal sparked a barrage of reactions online with many opposing LGBT rights, which is contrary to the anti-same-sex marriages and gay relationships law enacted in 2014 by then President Goodluck Jonathan. See Full Text Of Press Statement by Minister of Budget and National Planning, Bagudu I. Background The partnership between Nigeria and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) dates back to the Georgetown Agreement of 1975, which brought together countries in Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific for the establishment of a framework for trade and development cooperation with the European Union (EU) as one of its objectives. 2. The OACPS EU Cotonou Agreement facilitated the commitment of about 1.7bn in grant aid alone to Nigeria through the 9th, 10th and 11th European Development Fund (EDF) during the period from 2000 2020. A recent survey shows that over 5000 water, sanitation, energy, education, health and other micro-project interventions were executed in about 4,800 communities in Nigeria over the course of the Agreement. 3. The OACPS in 2018 launched the processes for negotiation of a successor Partnership Agreement ahead of the expiration of the Cotonou Agreement in 2020. At its 107th Session in Lome, Togo, the OACPS Council of Ministers adopted a Negotiating Mandate and appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Togo, Prof. Robert Dussey, as the Chair of the OACPS Central Negotiating Group (CNG). Key Objectives and Priorities in the Negotiation 4. In launching the process for formal negotiations in the sidelines of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the essence of the new partnership was to contribute to the attainment of sustainable development in all OACPS countries through strengthened and deepened political and economic partnership, with the OACPS as a more effective global player. The following thematic areas constituted the Pillars of the negotiation: i. Human rights, democracy and governance in People-Centred and Rights-Based Societies; ii. Peace and security; iii. Human and social development; iv. Environmental sustainability and climate change; v. Inclusive sustainable economic growth and development; and vi. Migration and mobility. II. Technical Negotiation of the New Partnership Agreement 5. The finalised texts for a new Partnership Agreement between the OACPS and the EU which was initialed on 15th April, 2021, comprises a common Foundational Compact and three Regional Protocols, namely: Africa EU; Caribbean-EU and Pacific-EU Regional Protocols with each regional Protocol addressing the peculiar issues of the regions. The negotiations and outcomes of the Agreement were largely based on universally accepted international laws, conventions and treaties applicable to the Parties. III. Consultations and Nigerias Inputs to the Negotiation Process 6. The Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning (FMBEP) in close collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and Federal Ministry of Justice (FMOJ) duly followed-up on the negotiation of the Samoa Agreement since September 2018 and confirms that the outcome is in line with the: Global conventions, which Nigeria subscribes to and relevant for advancement of multilateralism; and Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and measures for deepening the development cooperation with the EU and OACPS. 7. In addition to the National Development Blueprints, the views of stakeholders for National positions on issues in the Negotiation process through the following notable engagements: i. Inter-Ministerial Meeting on the Nigeria ACP/EU Partnership on Wednesday, 28th March, 2018; ii. Sensitization Workshop on Negotiation of the OACPS EU Post-Cotonou Agreement on 17th 19th September, 2018; iii. Inter-Ministerial Meeting on the Draft Evolving Text of the Post Cotonou Agreement on 30th November 1st December, 2020; and iv. Seminar on the New Framework and Instruments of the European Union Development Cooperation held at the Reiz Continental Hotel Abuja on Friday, 8th March, 2024 [Participants included, CSOs, NGOs, and religious bodies]. IV. Signing of the Post Cotonou (Samoa) Partnership Agreement 8. At the event for signing of the new Partnership Agreement in Apia, Samoa on 15, November, 2023 by 47 out of 79 OACPS countries endorsed the Agreement. Ahead of the 30th June 2024 deadline for the Parties, Nigeria signed the Agreement on Friday, 28th June, 2024 at the OACPS Secretariat in Brussels, Belgium, after the last consultative meeting with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), religious bodies and other interest groups was convened. All the OACPS. Nigerias endorsement was accompanied with a Statement of Declaration, clarifying the understanding and context of the Agreement. 9. The Samoa Agreement is a vital legal framework for cooperation between the OACPS and the European Union, with the aim of promoting sustainable development, fighting climate change and its effects, generating investment opportunities and fostering collaboration among OACPS member States at the international stage. The EU and all its 27 Member states signed the Samoa Agreement on 15th November 2023. Out of the 79 members of the OACPS, 74 signed before the deadline of 30th June, 2024. The OACPS members that are yet to sign are Equatorial Guinea (Africa) Cuba and Trinidad and Tobago (Caribbean) and Nauru and Tuvalu (Pacific). Recommendations Next Steps 10. In preparation for the operationalization of the Samoa Agreement, the next steps of action include: i. Ratification of the Agreement after due consideration/approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), National Executive Council (NEC), and National Assembly; ii. Launch of the Regional Compacts (Africa EU; Caribbean EU; and Pacific EU); iii. Effective participation at the forthcoming OACPS EU Joint Council of Ministers meetings and other governance systems of Partnership; and iv. Institution of structures for follow-up in the implementation of the Agreement in collaboration with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and other interest groups. Conclusion 11. The Samoa Agreement is a veritable instrument for Nigerias development cooperation with the EU beyond aid. The OACPS EU Partnership is one of the most diverse and multifaceted development pact in the international system. It is therefore pertinent for the Public to consult the relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for clarity on the far-reaching issues relating to multi-sectoral provisions of the Agreement Philadelphia police patrol on Somerset Avenue near Kensington Avenue in June, amid a push to deploy newly trained officers in Kensington to clear out the open-air drug market. Read more Donna McDonough used to pray that her daughter, Kelly Ann Crawford, would be arrested. Crawford had bipolar disorder and was addicted to fentanyl and Xanax. Shed tried drug treatment several times, McDonough said. But she always ended up back in Kensington, where she was unhoused and broke but somehow regularly found a way to feed the stray cats. Her mother said that nothing not her daughters deep love for her two children, not her dreams of a second career as a veterinary tech had been enough to help Crawford find her way out. Advertisement So, said McDonough, of Wilmington, I often prayed that she would wind up in jail, so that she would be clean and find a program that worked for her. On Dec. 11, 2023, Crawford, then 43, was arrested for drug possession and reportedly jailed on a bench warrant. But it wasnt the answer to her mothers prayers. The next day, McDonough got a call that her daughter had been found unresponsive in a cell. On Dec. 14, Crawford was pronounced dead one of at least 25 people who have died in the Philadelphia jails since 2018 of accidents related to drug intoxication, an Inquirer review of medical examiners data and court records has found. Some of the deaths were from overdoses; other people were going through withdrawal when they died, according to court filings. In addition to the 25, one woman took her own life while in withdrawal in the jail, according to a 2022 lawsuit. And at least three more people died in Philadelphia police holding cells, including a man who died by suicide while in withdrawal. As Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has laid out plans for cleaning up Kensingtons open-air drug markets, police leaders have made clear that arresting people who use drugs is part of that plan. Many of these individuals are going to get locked up for low-level offenses, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel told City Council at a May 6 budget hearing. Some will be eligible for Police Assisted Diversion, which allows people to avoid charges and instead access services. But people with repeated arrest histories, those who are on probation, and those who, like Crawford, have open warrants, are more likely to end up in jail. The recent history of drug-related deaths within the jails and recent internal reports obtained by The Inquirer showing that prisoners are regularly being hospitalized for overdoses raise questions about whether the direly understaffed facilities can safely house an influx of medically fragile prisoners. None of these deaths were determined to have been avoidable, said Bruce Herdman, the jail systems medical director. We did what we were supposed to do. The Philadelphia Department of Prisons, which houses people awaiting trial or serving short sentences, is known as a leader in providing medications for opioid use disorder. Its one of just a handful of county jails in Pennsylvania that not only fills existing prescriptions but also offers the opportunity to start on buprenorphine, an opioid that quells cravings. But in practice, severe short-staffing has hamstrung those policies and fueled a climate of disorder and violence in the jails, which in the last few years have seen riots, a string of escapes, and dozens of deaths. READ MORE: 29 people died in Philly jails in the pandemic. City officials said they did 'a good job.' Civil rights lawyers, representing the 4,500 people locked in the Northeast Philadelphia jail complex in a class-action lawsuit filed in 2020, have urged a federal judge to hold the city in contempt for the third time in four years for its ongoing failure to address unconstitutional conditions in the city jails. A monitor, appointed by the judge in that case, reported that although jail policy requires an assessment within four hours of admission, that happens less than 30% of the time. Herdman said most people are screened within 15 hours. Four months ago, the jails medical staff began offering prisoners buprenorphine during their intake process to ease withdrawal. (Before, treatment was limited to addressing digestive issues, aches and other secondary symptoms.) But, he said, a dearth of correctional officers has created a weeks-long backlog in the jails addiction treatment program, which is separate from the medical treatment offered at intake. Nationally, nearly 70% of people in county jails have some form of substance use disorder, studies have found. And drug- and alcohol-related deaths in jail have been on the rise quadrupling nationwide between 2000 and 2019, the most recent year tracked by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Meanwhile, illegal drugs are readily available in the jails, according to corrections officers, prisoners, and advocates alike, who report that acrid clouds of smoke from the drug K2, a type of synthetic marijuana, permeate the units. While staff are trained to administer naloxone, the overdose reversing drug, incarcerated people have described units left unstaffed for hours on end leaving medical emergencies unnoticed. One prisoner, in a recent lawsuit, said that after he was attacked in April, he lay with a broken kneecap for 12 hours before staff showed up. McDonough is skeptical that the citys plan to clean up Kensington will save other young women like her daughter. I dont see an end to it. Theyre going to find drugs whenever they can, wherever they can, and the drug dealers are going to be out there pushing it, selling it, giving it away sometimes, she said. I think my daughter was just a victim of it all and couldnt find her way out. Danger from street to cell Locking up people who are in addiction and who, given Philadelphias increasingly unpredictable drug supply, may be using an uncertain cocktail of substances can pose danger from the street all the way to the jail cell, recent incidents show. In 2020, a 28-year-old man visiting from Maine, Jonathon Dowd, overdosed and was revived with naloxone when police arrived. Dowd was disoriented and combative a common reaction for people revived with the drug, which can send a person into sudden withdrawal. Police allegedly responded by slamming his head onto the pavement and punching him in the face. Dowd died of head trauma, according to a lawsuit that was settled for $275,000. READ MORE: Dozens of new police are being deployed to Kensington, amid stricter drug enforcement According to a police spokesperson, officers or police lockup attendants complete a medical screening of each arrested person, asking about recent drug use. Anyone identified as in withdrawal is monitored at 10-minute intervals and, if necessary, transferred to a medical facility. But, in 2021, three people overdosing or in withdrawal died in police custody, according to lawsuits filed by their families. A 44-year-old man who had used methamphetamine was found dead in a cell 48 hours after his arrest and about four hours since anyone had checked on him, according to a court filing. A 68-year-old from Kensington in withdrawal from opioids was vomiting and moaning in pain while his cellmate yelled for help for hours, according to a lawsuit. His body was found the next morning. And a 50-year-old man from Glenolden, also in withdrawal from opioids and vomiting blood, was taken to a hospital and given morphine, according to a lawsuit but then returned to a police district, where, three hours later, he killed himself. Jeanmarie Perrone, an emergency physician at Penn Medicine and the founding director of the health systems Center for Addiction Medicine and Policy, said opioid withdrawal is typically not life-threatening but underlying health conditions, or multidrug use, can result in serious complications. A 2016 editorial in the medical journal Addiction noted that opioid withdrawal can lead to fatal dehydration if not properly treated a particular risk, the authors wrote, for people in jails. If youre older and fragile, you get dehydrated from nausea and vomiting, and have low blood pressure, Perrone said. That combination generally results in people seeking help. But in the jail setting, if they cant seek help, they might be someone who gets sicker. READ MORE: Addiction medication in Pennsylvanias jails is often inadequate or nonexistent, new report finds Withdrawal from alcohol or benzodiazepines, such as Xanax, is even more dangerous, she said, with the potential to cause fatal seizures. McDonough, whose daughter Kelly Ann Crawford died in jail last year, said Crawford had seizures while in withdrawal, so she believes her daughters death could have been withdrawal-related. Perrone has also witnessed patients expressing suicidal feelings during withdrawal. People feel worse than theyve ever felt. Ive seen people in the ER who say, Im going to kill myself if I cant get help. Theyre at the very end of all hope, she said. The Philadelphia jail systems drug treatment program is one of just three in the state that allow incarcerated people to begin taking buprenorphine. According to the National Institutes of Health, withdrawal from short-acting opioids such as heroin lasts four to 10 days. That window, said Perrone, is an ideal time to start a patient on such medication. But Philadelphias jail staffing crisis has interfered with access to such treatment, said Sarah Bleiberg Bellos, of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, one of the firms leading in the class-action lawsuit. Perrone said that, based on her experience treating patients released from Philadelphia jails, only a fraction of the people who need [buprenorphine] when they get to the jail are actually getting it. Herdman acknowledged that theres currently a 15-day wait for treatment, on average, because the jails lack enough correctional officers to take prisoners to medical units. The long wait can be dangerous. The greatest risk for people in addiction, Perrone said, comes when theyve lost their tolerance for opioids, putting them at high risk of a fatal overdose whether from contraband drugs obtained in jail or from illicit opioids bought upon their release. Some prisoners may not even be at the jail long enough to receive the treatment, Herdman said. Theres a delay on almost every service here, he said. In addition, he said, about 50% of patients in the buprenorphine program are ultimately kicked off the program for giving their medications to other prisoners. He hopes to start offering an injectable, long-acting medication instead later this year. Why have so many people died? More than half of the drug-related deaths took place within the first two days of a persons stay at the jail, officials said presumably of the effects of drugs consumed before their arrest. One woman, Christi Buoncristiano, who was arrested on drug charges, waited two days for medication to treat her withdrawal, but didnt receive it. She died after jumping from a second-floor tier at the Detention Center, according to a lawsuit filed by her daughter, Nicolette. In an email, Nicolette said the loss has devastated her family. One day I will have to explain to my children that they do not have a grandmother because the staff at the Philadelphia prison did not care when she was suffering a complete medical and mental breakdown. Another woman, who told prison staff she was a three-bag-a-day heroin user, was prescribed medications to ease nausea, headache and other symptoms but none was actually dispensed, according to a lawsuit. Two days into her incarceration, she was found unresponsive, and later died. Her death was not listed on the jails death register, as she was discharged while hospitalized. In other cases, people were apparently able to get access to illicit drugs while incarcerated. On Feb. 29, 2020, two men died within an hour of one another at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility. A lawsuit filed by the family of one of the men, Steven Vansciver Jr., alleged that he was among four people to overdose in jail that day. That case was settled for $85,000. The flow of contraband, including drugs and weapons, continues today, dozens of internal incident reports obtained by The Inquirer show. In May and June alone, correctional officers seized a variety of drugs, cell phones, cigarettes, and homemade weapons at least seven of which were discovered only after prisoners suffered puncture wounds to the chest, back, head or neck. In that time, at least eight people were hospitalized for adverse reactions to drugs obtained while incarcerated. That includes three people found in a dorm May 28 experiencing seizure-like symptoms; a man who was revived only after three doses of naloxone on June 19; and a man who overdosed and was found on the floor of his cell on June 17. Staff and incarcerated people complain about the haze of K2; one correctional officer, who said it was making her dizzy, passed out during her shift, according to internal records. The K2 secondhand smog is dense and unescapable all day long, Vincent Chapolini, a man jailed on the latest of a near lifelong string of burglary charges, wrote in a lawsuit. Whats next? Asked how the jails are preparing to ensure the safety of the influx of prisoners from Kensington, Prisons Commissioner Michael Resnick said no such preparations are needed. The point of the mayors program is they wont be incarcerated, he said. Theyll be going into treatment. But police leaders and Parker have made clear that even though incarceration is not the goal, enforcement plans do involve arrests of drug dealers and of those engaged in public drug use, prostitution or other quality-of-life crimes. Several who died in jail were arrested for such low-level drug charges and then, like Kelly Ann Crawford, incarcerated due to probation detainers or warrants. Instead of preparing for more prisoners, the jails are still trying to stabilize staffing levels that plummeted in the pandemic. In April 2022, to settle the federal class-action suit, the city promised to draft a plan for return to normal operations by that November. Instead, things deteriorated: Now, about half of city corrections jobs are vacant. At a hearing in June, U.S. District Judge Gerald McHugh said he believed there was a basis to find that the city was in contempt of court. Hell hear more evidence this month before ruling. Bleiberg Bellos, of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, and other advocates say that, if the city cant recruit more staff, it needs to find a way to reduce the jail population. If the population goes up and the staffing level stays the same, she said, its just going to exacerbate all these issues. Staff writer Anna Orso contributed to this article. Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility on State Road in Northeast Philadelphia is part of the city's jail complex. The system has failed to remedy a yearslong staffing crisis, resulting in what a federal monitor has found to be ongoing unconstitutional conditions. Read more Nearly two years after the city of Philadelphia settled a federal class-action lawsuit over a jail system so understaffed that prisoners were stuck in their cells 23 hours a day or more, the staffing crisis is worse than ever, according to city data. Now, civil rights groups representing the more than 4,600 people incarcerated in the Northeast Philadelphia jail complex say the city should be held in contempt for its pattern of systemic violations of the constitutional rights of prisoners. Advertisement The contempt motion, filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia Monday, seeks $5 per prisoner per day in damages until two baseline conditions are met: correctional officer vacancies are reduced to 30% of budgeted positions and all prisoners are getting at least an hour a day out of their cells. That roughly $23,700 in daily fines, proposed to be payable directly to incarcerated people upon their release, would far exceed any sanction so far imposed during the lawsuit. READ MORE: 29 people died in Philly jails in the pandemic. City officials said they did 'a good job.' But lawyers for the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, Abolitionist Law Center, and for the civil rights law firm Kairys Rudovsky Messing Feinberg & Lin LLP say a hefty fine is warranted, given the harrowing conditions they say people in the jails are enduring. David Rudovsky, one of the lawyers handling the case, said the proposed sanction aims to inspire the urgency the situation demands. Its been going on so long, with so many deprivations, that action has to be taken immediately on these issues. Four people have escaped custody within the past year including two men who were able to sneak off a unit where a guard post was unfilled, leaving the lone staffer monitoring three areas at once. The chaos contributed to elevated violence and deaths, advocates say, including three homicides in the past six months. A city spokesperson said Monday the Philadelphia Department of Prisons continues to work with our Federal Monitors regarding compliance with the [jails] litigation. We otherwise have no comment at this time. READ MORE: A man who was fatally beaten at a city jail should not have been jailed in the first place Nearly half the jobs are vacant The most recent report from the court-appointed monitor, Cathleen Beltz, noted that the city has already agreed to extend its monitoring period into 2026 after failing to meet most of the benchmarks set out in the settlement. Almost half of correctional officer jobs are now vacant, and the departments overall job vacancy rate is 44%. At the same time, the prisons population composed of people awaiting trial or serving short sentences has risen to pre-pandemic levels. Frequent staff assaults, fights, stabbings, rampant contraband and extortion, and security breaches have been made possible or exacerbated by the staffing shortage, Beltz wrote. Any recruitment or hiring gains are negated by attrition and an expanding incarcerated population. The report said the city had made noble efforts, and recognized that the context includes a nationwide correctional officer shortage. But, it concluded, the city had adopted a course of half measures steeped in bureaucratic and political rigidity with devastating consequences for both prisoners and staff. The results included unsanitary conditions, a backlog in off-site medical appointments due to insufficient transport staffing, and an inability to provide timely behavioral health care, according to the report. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker on Monday named Michael R. Resnick the new commissioner to lead the Philadelphia Department of Prisons. He replaces Blanche Carney, who gave notice of her retirement a month ago. Carneys last day was April 5. Carneys tenure had been beset by conflict with the correctional officers union, Local 159 of AFSCME District Council 33, which last year held protests and a no-confidence vote in Carney, citing unsafe working conditions. Since then, the union and the city reached a new contract designed to fill more posts, and Carney succeeded in hiring more classes of correctional officers. But staff attrition and the rising prisoner population canceled out those gains, according to the monitors report. Rudovsky said if the city cant address its staffing shortage, it needs to reduce the jail population potentially by enough to close one of its prison facilities. Court orders limiting the jail population have been instituted in response to previous civil suits. You can solve this issue two ways, he said: You can get more corrections officers, or fewer people in the prisons. Staff writer Anna Orso contributed to this article. An unidentified passenger assaulted a SEPTA bus driver in Yeadon, Delaware County on Saturday afternoon. Attacks on transit operators have increased in recent years in Philadelphia and across the country. Read more A SEPTA bus driver sustained slash wounds to his face and abdomen Saturday afternoon when he was attacked by a passenger in Delaware County. The 31-year-old driver of the Route 108 bus was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. He was in stable condition Saturday evening. Advertisement The attack occurred about 1 p.m. near the intersection of Church Lane and Connell Avenue in Yeadon Borough, outside Southwest Philadelphia. The passenger, who had boarded at 69th Street, exited the bus at the Yeadon stop, then pulled out a knife or other sharp instrument and attacked the driver, who had just started working for SEPTA earlier this year, said SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch. READ MORE: SEPTA drivers are increasingly victim to abuse and assaults. Some say the agency isnt doing enough to protect them. It was not immediately clear what preceded the attack. SEPTA is reviewing video footage from the bus. Were not sure yet what was going on with the passenger, Busch said. Thats under investigation. Busch said extra SEPTA police had been assigned to the Yeadon area to assist local police in the search for the assailant. Whenever we have an operator or other front-line employee who is assaulted and suffers an injury, its taken with the utmost urgency, he said. Assaults on bus drivers and other transit operators have increased dramatically in recent years across the United States and Canada. In Philadelphia, assaults on SEPTA operators nearly quadrupled from 2019 to 2020, at the onset of the pandemic, and have remained high The Inquirer reported last year. The system has been taken under siege by people experiencing mental illness, homelessness, or drug addiction, Brian Pollitt, president of Transport Workers Union Local 234, which represents SEPTA transit workers, said to The Inquirer at the time. The job now comes with a lot more than it did when I started here, said Pollitt, who began his career as a SEPTA bus operator 34 years ago. Passengers spat on SEPTA operators 242 times from the beginning of 2017 through April 2022, according to the transit agencys incident reports. In 2022, there were 53 physical assaults, up from 13 in 2018. The word legerdemain, derived from a French term for sleight of hand, refers to a magicians ability to get an audience to focus so much on what the entertainer wants you to see perhaps an attractive assistant that you miss the trickery occurring right in front of your eyes. Legerdemain could also describe how Americans understandable focus on other important issues, such as abortion, gun control, and the economy, distract us when political and corporate interests dont want us to notice their magic has all but destroyed the U.S. Supreme Courts 235-year-old reputation as an apolitical arbiter of justice. Advertisement Consider the courts recent decision in a case that, to the naked eye, seemed only about a complaint by herring fishermen that they shouldnt have to pay for the federal monitors assigned to their boats to make sure they dont overfish an endangered species. READ MORE: U.S. Supreme Court ethics should not be an oxymoron | Editorial Theres nothing wrong with the monitors, admitted New Jersey herring fisherman Bill Bright. Theyre actually gathering information that is valuable to us. Bright nevertheless argued that the fees hurt his bottom line, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration suspended the two-year-old monitoring program more than a year ago because it didnt have enough money to continue administering it. NOAA also refunded all past monitoring fees paid by the fishermen to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. So, why did the Supreme Court even agree to hear the case after both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the Boston-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit had ruled against the fishermen? Could it be that the court was the top hat from which magicians who didnt want the public to notice what was going on pulled out a big, fat bunny rabbit to wow their crowd? Included among those magicians were two organizations supported by conservative billionaire Charles Koch, the Cause of Action Institute and the New Civil Liberties Alliance, whose stated aims include to protect constitutional freedoms from violations from the administrative state. Those groups target was neither the NOAA nor the U.S. Department of Commerce, which oversees it, but all federal agencies, which they believe place too many limits on peoples ability to make money. Donald Trump was barely a month into his presidency when his White House counselor, Steve Bannon, called for the deconstruction of the administrative state, by which he meant all federal agencies. Trump later warned in a speech in Poland that the steady creep of government bureaucracy, which he called the deep state, drains the vitality and wealth of the people. Those words had to be heartening to the nearly three million federal workers in this country. Koch and his sycophant political groups saw the fishermens lawsuit as a convenient vehicle to get a conservative Supreme Court to say federal agencies cannot collect fees or make rules based on laws passed by Congress because the Constitution says interpreting a laws intent is the role of the courts. The court agreed Friday by dismissing a 40-year legal precedent known as the Chevron deference, which said federal agencies with specific expertise may at times be better suited than a court to interpret a law. READ MORE: The Supreme Court affirms Trumps monarchical vision of the presidency, placing the Oval Office above the law | Editorial That 1984 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Chevron USA v. Natural Resources Defense Council said Congress had given the Environmental Protection Agency clear authority to make policy decisions concerning the Clean Air Act, and that lower courts in similar instances should also respect the authority of other federal agencies. That standard has since been applied in thousands of judicial decisions. It has become part of the warp and woof of modern government, supporting regulatory efforts of all kinds to name a few, keeping air and water clean, food and drugs safe, and financial markets honest, said Justice Elena Kagan, who with Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson were the only dissenters in the fishermens case. U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar urged the court to clarify the limits of Chevron, if necessary, instead of upending decades of settled precedent. But to no avail. Damien M. Schiff, an attorney with the Koch-supported Pacific Legal Foundation, said lawsuits like the herring fishermens are becoming the preferred way to fight federal regulations. Its much more efficient, he said. To successfully wage such a campaign, you need three things. Money, legal personnel, and a judiciary thats receptive to strategically selected and timed legal arguments. Moneys never going to be a problem. One can easily litigate to the Supreme Court on the cheap. With this Supreme Court, you have to wonder just who is being paid. Keep reading by creating a free account or signing in. Photo: Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto (Getty Images) A Southwest Airlines flight took off from Portland, Maine on June 25 for a seemingly routine trip to Baltimore, Maryland. There was only one problem;air traffic control never cleared the plane to take off because the runway and the tower were still closed that morning. The scheduled opening was only two minutes away. The FAA and the NTSB are now investigating the incident with cooperation from the carrier. Controllers warned the low-cost airlines flight crew multiple times that there was a vehicle on the runway, but the crew never responded. In an audio recording obtained by WMTW, a controller is heard stating, Southwest just turning onto 29, just so you know theres a vehicle in the runway still and it is closed. Fortunately, the vehicle cleared the strip as Southwest Flight 4805 began its takeoff roll. Air traffic controller later pondered minutes later, Did you ever get ahold of that Southwest plane that went airborne? Its still kind of MIA in that regard. The flight safely reached its destination, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. However, it doesnt take a pilots license to realize how disastrous the situation could have been. Southwest told Simple Flying: ADVERTISEMENT Southwest Airlines is engaged with the NTSB and FAA to understand the circumstances of an early morning Southwest departure on Tuesday, June 25, of Flight 4805 from Portland International Jetport. After departure, the aircraft continued safely to its destination. A difference of two minutes might sound inconsequential, but a potential collision involving an airliner should be avoided at all costs. We are talking about a massive aircraft carrying over 100 passengers and filled with over 2,000 gallons of fuel. Near-misses are happening more frequently than ever, over 40 per month by some counts. While federal regulators are attempting to improve safety, only distance separates a miss-near from a tragedy. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG A long-awaited constitutional amendment that would give survivors of childhood sexual abuse a chance to sue their abusers will not be on the November ballot unless lawmakers advance it in the next month. Advertisement Members of the divided legislature remain deadlocked. They broadly agree that voters should be given an opportunity to consider the proposal, but are divided on how to advance it. Democrats who control the state House want to send to voters a single question about opening the lawsuit window, while Republican leaders say the abuse amendment should be advanced alongside other GOP priorities, including an expanded voter ID requirement. The issue has been before the body for nearly two decades and came tantalizingly close to reaching voters several years ago, only to be derailed by a Wolf administration error. Survivors say the lack of movement leaves them without closure. Our elected leaders are snubbing us, and it feels horrible, Shaun Dougherty, a Western Pennsylvania activist for survivors, told Spotlight PA. The proposed amendment would give adults who were sexually abused as children a limited period to seek monetary damages in court from those who abused them or protected the perpetrator. A 2019 law increased the maximum age at which people abused as children can bring a civil claim against their abusers from 30 to 55. However, people abused longer ago have little recourse. Many survivors say that when they could have legally sued, they werent yet ready to publicly confront their abuse. The commonwealths process for approving constitutional amendments is cumbersome. First, the General Assembly must pass identical language during two consecutive two-year sessions. The Pennsylvania Department of State is required to run ads in newspapers about the amendment after each legislative passage. Once those requirements are met, the amendment is sent to voters for consideration. In an email, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of State said the agency must have ads in papers by Aug. 5 to meet the requirement. Writing a plain-language description of the amendment and placing the ads requires additional lead time. That would require a quick turnaround by lawmakers, who are in the thick of budget negotiations and preparing for the November election, to give the amendment the second round of approval it needs. Should they fail to act in the next month, lawmakers will have one last shot to pass the amendment before having to start the process over. If passed by the end of this legislative session in November, the proposal would appear on the 2025 primary ballot. If not, the amendment process will need to start over again, meaning the soonest the question could appear on a ballot is 2027. Good-government advocates and Democrats generally oppose putting proposed constitutional amendments on odd-year primary ballots because of low turnout. State Rep. Mark Rozzi (D., Berks), an abuse survivor and champion of the issue, said he prefers not to go that route, and worries that a well-heeled campaign by the measures opponents would be more influential in a low-turnout election. He added that the general election would have more sane voters interested in the underlying policy instead of politics. Lawmakers could also create a lawsuit window through a traditional statute, an idea opposed by some Republican leaders, who argue that such a law would be unconstitutional. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, who would need to sign such a measure, says he supports either path. The state House recently moved on that front, amending an unrelated state Senate bill in the last week week to include a retroactive window. Members sent it back to the upper chamber for consideration in a bipartisan vote Wednesday, with all Democrats and more than 40 Republicans voting in favor. The change was sponsored by State Rep. Jim Gregory (R., Blair), a survivor of childhood abuse who has championed the issue since being elected to the legislature in 2018. We have an opportunity to write a new ending to this story, Gregory said on the state House floor. Tied up with unrelated issues Previous sessions have seen fiery debates on the statute of limitations amendment and strong lobbying by the states Catholic conference and insurers, who feared the price tag of the suits and argued it would be unconstitutional. Things started to shift after then-Attorney General Shapiro released a 2018 grand jury report documenting how the Catholic Church covered up child abuse by priests. That report led to wide bipartisan support in the state House for a civil window. Republican leadership in the state Senate, echoing outside groups arguments, said that implementing a retroactive window through statute would run afoul of the states constitution and bankrupt nonprofits, but relented to a deal that would have it pass as an amendment rather than legislation. Heading into this legislative session, it appeared the biggest conflicts over the amendment were resolved. It received wide bipartisan support in prior floor votes and was kept off the ballot in 2021 only because of a crucial advertising error by the Pennsylvania Department of State. But the session brought new complications due to largely unrelated politics. The state Senate, controlled by Republicans, has said it will advance the lawsuit window only if the proposal also authorizes referendums on expanding voter ID requirements and making it easier for the legislature to reject executive regulations. In 2022, when both chambers were controlled by Republicans, the legislature advanced the voter ID and regulatory amendments. Should the state House agree to advance them, they would be presented to voters as separate ballot questions. However, state House Democrats have rejected rolling the measures together, arguing that all three should be considered on their own merits. Both sides are dug in. State Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana) told reporters in June that he would not allow a vote on the measure unless our friends in the House see things our way. Rozzi countered to Spotlight PA that its really up to Joe Pittman, whether or not he wants to release the hostages. The end of this legislative session will also bring with it a sea change for advocates of the lawsuit window the state Houses two biggest champions of the amendment, Gregory and Rozzi, will not be lawmakers in 2025. Gregory lost his primary to a more conservative challenger, and Rozzi decided not to run for reelection. Gregory and Rozzi have championed the issue in recent years, although they fell out over a short-lived deal, engineered by Gregory, that saw Rozzi ascend to the speakership with GOP support. Rozzi stepped down a short time later, handing control to another Democrat. Gregory publicly split with Rozzi over the deal. But both lawmakers told Spotlight PA theyve since talked; Gregory added that Rozzi apologized to him earlier this year. He didnt have to do that, but I always knew he would, Gregory said. However, the issue wont be without legislative advocates. Two lawmakers, State Reps. Maureen Madden (D., Monroe) and LaTasha Mayes (D., Allegheny), told their own stories of surviving abuse last year. Rozzi added that Democrat Nathan Davidson, who is running for a state House seat the party is likely to win, has also expressed interest in backing the proposal. Davidson said he hopes the statute of limitations window isnt a bill that I have to sponsor next session, but hes already talked with Mayes about working together on it. It should have been completed [last] session, Davidson told Spotlight PA. But here we are, its still not finished. Every year, we lose more survivors. And every year, theres more victims. BEFORE YOU GO If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results. Camac Street in Washington Square, which serves as the main street of Philadelphia's LGBQT community, as well as home to traditional clubs, like the Franklin Inn Club and the Sketch Club, has also been able to accommodate new residential towers. Read more After years of showing out-of-town visitors around Philadelphia, Ive developed what I consider the perfect introductory tour of the city. It starts in Old City, usually near the foot of Market Street, meanders west along the gentle blocks of Society Hill, Washington Square West and Rittenhouse Square, and concludes (assuming my guests have the stamina) across the Schuylkill River in the dazzling Victorian streetcar suburb of Spruce Hill. Advertisement What makes the four-mile trek such a hit is that its literally a walk through time, tracing more than 300 years of Philadelphia history and architecture. There is probably no other American city where you could give such a comprehensive, chronological tour. Although plenty has changed here, many streets still look largely the same as they did when they were built, despite decades of neglect and hostile urban renewal policies. These remarkable architectural ensembles survive for one simple reason: Most of my route is located within city-protected historic districts. Most, but not all. Both Washington Square and Spruce Hill have been repeatedly denied formal designation over the last 30 years for a variety of political and procedural reasons. But it looks as if the Historical Commission could finally give the two neighborhoods the protection they deserve. Painstakingly vetted by historians, the districts have received strong support from the local civic groups and the Preservation Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy group. Yet, despite that consensus-building, there is a lurking concern that the commission will once again get cold feet when it meets July 12. The effect on housing prices The commission hasnt approved a major historic district along my tour route since Old City was certified in 2003. All the others were all created in the 1990s, when Philadelphias economic viability was often in doubt. The city, which was teetering on bankruptcy, was still hemorrhaging population, and almost no new buildings were being constructed. But residents and businesses believed that historic districts could be a stabilizing force and urged the commission to approve the nominations. Philadelphia has made a remarkable recovery since then, partly thanks to that preservation effort. Yet, strangely, the reception to the proposed districts is much cooler today. Instead of welcoming new districts, pro-development advocates mainly the Building Industry Association and 5th Square are trying to convince the Historical Commission to reject the Washington Square and Spruce Hill designations. They claim that historic districts drive up housing prices by limiting teardowns and new construction. At a time when both low-income workers and college-educated professionals often struggle to find housing they can afford, they argue that approving the districts now would be a grave mistake. The BIA and 5th Square are right to be concerned about Philadelphias affordability. While buying a house in Philadelphia is still considerably cheaper than in other East Coast cities, prices here have been rising, especially for renters. But there is no credible evidence showing that historic preservation is the reason Philadelphia has become more expensive. If you look at housing prices over time, youll see theyve increased across the city, in rich neighborhoods and poor ones, in designated historic districts such as Rittenhouse-Fitler and former working-class rowhouse areas such as Fishtown and East Passyunk. Its certainly true that homes are often more expensive in Rittenhouse Square than in other neighborhoods. But house prices are determined by a slew of variables, including location, zoning, land prices, proximity to transit, house size and public schools not to mention status. Its not as if the Rittenhouse-Fitler neighborhood has been frozen in amber. Since it was declared a historic district in 1995, developers have erected several new residential towers near the square. Theyve replaced parking garages and small undistinguished buildings with townhouses and added extra floors to historic structures. As a result, the neighborhoods main zip code 19103 saw its population increase by 20% between 2000 and 2022. The story is much the same in Old City. According to figures provided by the Old City District a business group the population has quadrupled to 8,000 since the historic district was created in 2003. By contrast, the population in the adjacent Northern Liberties neighborhood, which is not historically protected, has merely doubled in the same period. Pro-development advocates or Yimbys as in, Yes, in my backyard often insist that historic preservation leads to gentrification. But, again, studies from other cities show no correlation. NYUs Furman Center, which tracks real estate trends, found that Brooklyns Williamsburg/Greenpoint neighborhood had the steepest rent increases in the borough, despite having a relatively small stock of landmark buildings. Meanwhile, a Boston broker for Coldwell Banker makes a point of warning clients that homes in historic districts can sell for less than comparable ones in other neighborhoods. Even when Philadelphia has tried to use historic preservation to juice new development, it hasnt necessarily worked out, the director of the Preservation Alliance, Paul Steinke, points out. Its been almost 40 years since North Philadelphias West Diamond Street became the citys first historic district, and yet that elegant corridor is still, sadly, studded with vacant lots. An extra layer of regulation So why has historic preservation become such a boogeyman, then? Theres no doubt that historic districts impose an extra layer of regulation that can slow down the permitting process for new development. Under Philadelphias preservation law, property owners need to obtain Historical Commission approval before they can make major changes to the exteriors of their buildings. For really big projects, that may require a public hearing. The BIA strongly objects to this additional oversight. In a written statement provided by president Mo Rushdy, the group argued that the process is undemocratic and unfair. Anyone, anywhere in the world can nominate a building for the citys historic register, the statement continued, and during the review period, it noted, the property owner is prohibited from making changes to the exterior. Of course, they are. What would be the point of reviewing a nomination if an owner was free to demolish the building while the outcome was being decided? Its not just developers who bristle at the system. Homeowners also complain about the extra costs that come with being in a historic district. The commission requires them to follow strict historic guidelines when they renovate. Although the rules apply only to the exterior, property owners may have to purchase costly materials or use more expensive construction methods. Ive been there. When I was renovating my rowhouse, I needed the commissions approval to make a modest tweak to my front windows. The change was barely noticeable and easily reversible, yet I still had to appear before the commission to argue my case. Ultimately, my request was approved. Was the extra hurdle annoying? Sure. But I am still grateful to live in a neighborhood where design changes are governed by a thoughtful process. Its a complex world, and I accept that regulation is a necessary part of the social contract, especially when you share a party wall with your neighbor. Most people dont realize that not all historic district buildings are subjected to the same level of oversight. Each structure is sorted according to its importance into one of three tiers: significant, contributing, and non-contributing. Those labeled non-contributing can usually be replaced. Parking lots are also fair game for new construction. The commission allows exemptions for property owners who are unable to afford the required repairs, while developers have often been allowed to demolish designated buildings after showing that the cost of repair would be excessive. We know, of course, that some neighborhoods do use historic preservation as a weapon to stop new development, and thats wrong. Cities evolve, and their needs change. Yet these old neighborhoods are part of our shared heritage that define our identity as Philadelphians. What historic districts can do is maintain the balance between old and new. Still, I agree with the Yimbys that we need to build new housing to keep prices in check. Since the goal is maintaining a balance, perhaps there are policy changes the city could make to offset the cost of added regulation that comes with historic districts. Pressed by the BIA, the commission has agreed to waive a rule requiring developers to conduct expensive archaeological surveys before building on vacant lots in Washington Square. But they could go further. Why not eliminate parking requirements for all new construction in historic districts, since building garages is so expensive? After all, most historic neighborhoods came into being before the automobile. The problem is zoning What really stymies new construction in Philadelphia isnt historic preservation; its zoning, especially the process of applying for a variance. What if the city reviewed all the potential building sites the vacant lots and non-contributing buildings in historic districts to correct zoning irregularities and eliminate the need for variances? Yes, there will be squawking. Parking is the third rail of Philly politics. But allowing these changes would be a sign of good faith, proof that preservation isnt about exclusion. Preservation isnt just about pretty buildings, either. When I guide my guests through Washington Square, I remind them that were walking in the steps of such people as Octavius Catto, the civil rights leader who grew up in the storied Seventh Ward (and was murdered on South Street). I take them down Camac Street, the main street for Philadelphias LGBQT community. I like to point out that elites such as J. Gardner Cassatt Marys brother and Henry Minton, a wealthy Black businessman, both kept elegant townhouses in the neighborhood. So did Philadelphias great 20th-century architect Louis Kahn. Plenty of books have chronicled their history. But seeing where they lived and worked makes it real. We shouldnt have to choose between our cultural heritage and affordable housing. A well-managed historic district can ensure we have both. State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, Canada Postal Code Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) was founded in Santa Clara, California in 1993 and was originally a silicon chip company that specialized in graphics processing units (GPUs). Nvidia has grown dramatically on a global scale as it positioned itself as a leader in visual computing, gaming, visualization, data centers, cryptocurrency mining, and artificial intelligence. The top individual shareholders of Nvidia are Jen-Hsun ("Jensen") Huang, Mark A. Stevens, and Tench Coxe. The top institutional shareholders are Vanguard Group Inc., BlackRock Inc. (BLK), and FMR LLC. Nvidia posted a 12-month trailing net income of $42.6 billion as of July 2024 and a 12-month trailing revenue of $79.8 billion for the same period. This represents a net profit margin of 53%. The company had a market capitalization of $2.6 trillion as of July 30, 2024 and has become one of the world's most valuable companies. Key Takeaways Nvidia is a leading manufacturer of graphics processing units (GPUs). The biggest Nvidia shareholders are institutional investors including BlackRock and Vanguard. Founder Jen-Hsun ("Jensen") Huang is the largest individual shareholder with approximately 4% of outstanding shares. Nvidia has become one of the most valuable tech companies in the world with the growth of generative AI. Top 3 Individual Insider Shareholders This list reflects direct ownership. It doesn't include indirect ownership of shares or shares accessible through stock options. The term "insider" refers to people in senior management positions and members of the board of directors, as well as people or entities that own more than 10% of the company's stock. It has nothing to do with insider trading in this context. Jen-Hsun ("Jensen") Huang Jen-Hsun Huang, who goes by Jensen Huang, owned 93,463,791 shares of Nvidia as of March 2024, representing 3.79% of all outstanding shares. Huang founded the company in 1993 and serves as president and CEO. He's also a director of Nvidia. Huang worked for chip manufacturer LSI Logic Corp. and semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) before establishing Nvidia. Huang is listed as #14 on the Forbes billionaires list with a net worth of about $92.4 billion at the end of July 2024. Mark A. Stevens Mark A. Stevens owned 4,102,881 shares of Nvidia as of March 2024, representing less than 0.01% of all outstanding shares. Stevens served on Nvidia's board from 1993 to 2006 and has again served since 2008. Stevens has been managing partner of S-Cubed Capital, a private family office investment firm, since 2012. He was managing partner of venture capital firm Sequoia Capital From 1993 to 2011 and has also held positions at Intel Corp. (INTC) and Hughes Aircraft Co. He has a net worth of $7.6 billion as of July 30, 2024, placing him at #365 on the Forbes billionaires list. Tench Coxe Tench Coxe owned 3,785,524 shares of Nvidia as of March 2024, representing less than 0.01% of all outstanding shares. Coxe has been a Nvidia board member since 1993 and has accumulated enough shares to become a billionaire. He came to Nvidia from the world of venture capital. He served as a managing director for Sutter Hill Ventures from 1989 to 2020 and on the boards of Mattersight Corp. and Artisan Partners Asset Management. His net worth is $4.7 billion as of July 2024, putting him at #677 on the Forbes billionaires list. Top 3 Institutional Shareholders More than 5,500 institutions filing 13Fs hold Nvidia stock as of Q1 2024. Of these, 124 hold 10% or more of their portfolio in Nvidia. Roughly 67.5% of all outstanding Nvidia shares are held by institutional shareholders. Vanguard Group Inc. Vanguard Group owned 2.13 billion shares of Nvidia as of July 30, 2024, representing 8.67% of total shares outstanding. The company is primarily a mutual fund and ETF management company with about $8.6 trillion in global assets under management (AUM) as of year-end 2023. The Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) has nearly $80.0 billion in AUM. Nvidia is the third-largest holding in the fund's portfolio at about 14% of fund assets. BlackRock Inc. BlackRock owned 1.82 billion shares of Nvidia as of July 30, 2024, representing 7.41% of total shares outstanding. BlackRock is primarily a mutual fund and ETF management company with approximately $10.5 trillion in AUM. The iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) has about $15.6 billion in AUM. Nvidia is the second-largest holding in the fund's portfolio at about 8.4% of fund assets. FMR, LLC FMR, LLC is the official name of Fidelity Management & Research, now known as Fidelity Investments. The company owned 1.15 billion shares of Nvidia as of July 30, 2024, representing 4.68% of total shares outstanding. Fidelity is one of the nation's largest financial services companies. It offers investment management, retirement options, brokerage, financial planning, and wealth management services. Fidelity has a total discretionary AUM of approximately $5.3 trillion. The firm manages a range of ETFs and mutual funds. The Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund (FBGRX) has about $67.2 billion in AUM. Nvidia was the largest holding in the fund's portfolio as of 2024 at about 13.8% of fund assets. Who Are the Owners of Nvidia? Asset managers such as BlackRock and Vanguard are the largest owners of Nvidia stock. These companies hold Nvidia stock in mutual funds and ETFs on behalf of their clients. The largest shareholders among individual investors are company insiders and board members like founder Jensen Huang. Is Nvidia an American Company? Yes. Nvidia was founded in 1993 by American computer scientists Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem. It's still headquartered in Santa Clara, California and it covers about 80% of the world's GPU market. Who Are Nvidia's Main Competitors? Nvidia's main competitors have historically been other chipmakers such as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Intel (INTC). Other tech companies like Google and Amazon are also investing in chip architecture, however, with the explosive growth of generative AI. Many startups are also securing funding. The Bottom Line Chipmaker Nvidia has become one of the most valuable companies in the world with the growth of generative AI. Institutions like Vanguard and BlackRock are the largest shareholders but company insiders and directors also have significant stakes. As the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (EU AI Act), is due to come into force shortly, Irish businesses are being urged by government agencies to review their existing policies and create an inventory of any AI systems they are using or deploying in preparation for the incoming EU AI Act. Irelands Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment earlier in the year launched a public consultation, which aims to inform the countrys approach to applying the new EU AI Act. The new EU AI Act will come into force around 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU, which is expected to be this month. However, businesses will be happy that most of its provisions will not take effect for another two years after that date. While the regime will be enforced on a phased basis, Irish businesses are being urged to start reviewing existing policies and systems to identify what AI they are already using, such as spam filters, credit scoring systems, recruitment profile systems etc., and seek advice in relation to the risk categories these systems fall under as well as corresponding obligations they need to comply with. Non-compliance will come at a hefty cost The consequences for non-compliance with AI legislation could lead to a hefty fine of up to 35m or 7% of a business worldwide annual turnover. There is also a further worrying scenario for business who provide incorrect or misleading information could also incur fines of up to 7.5m or 1% of annual turnover. Apples recent decision not to launch its own AI features in the EU, reflects its concerns with facing another major charge on its accounts under the new AI legislation. About a month ago, Apple announced it will not launch its homegrown AI features in the EU, saying that interoperability required by the EUs Digital Markets Act (DMA) could hurt user privacy and security. A few days later, the Commission accused Apples App Store of DMA breaches. Carbon footprint is a further concern There is another concern of the multinational tech giants, who operate from Ireland, the rush to expand AI across industry requires more and more data centre capacity, which is impacting on their carbon footprint, another of the EU legislative targets. Google stated that its carbon footprint soared in 2023 by nearly 50% compared to 2019 figures, according to its 2024 Environmental Report. The cause behind this surge in emissions was the massive amounts of energy Google needed to run its data centres and supply chain operations to ramp up and power its AI initiatives. Its not just Google thats dealing with unsustainable energy demands to keep its AI systems up and running. Big Tech seeks eco solutions for data centres Several influential tech firms, including Amazon Web Services, are ratcheting up their search for eco solutions to their expanding need for data centres. Bord na Mona is set to create a pathway for AWS to develop data centres in the Midlands powered by wind and solar energy, in line with the Governments principles for sustainable data centre development. For SMEs, ignorance of the law is no defence, and businesses which purchase AI solutions from any of the tech giants and deploy them in their own AI systems, will be obliged to review their terms and conditions, to ensure they comply with the AI Act. Hardnosed negotiations will be essential including clearly allocating liability to the supplier when buying in AI systems. Growing number of intellectual property cases With the growing use of AI in the media and creative industries, there have been a growing number of intellectual property (IP) infringement cases, where IP rights holders claim that the use of data by AI systems has infringed their IP rights. Courts have been grappling with this issue. The Getty Images v Stability AI case in the UK and, in the US, The New York Times vs OpenAI and Microsoft are two high-profile examples. Although both actions are currently going through the courts, the outcome will likely affect Irish and European businesses as courts come to grips with the new technology. But the issues are complex and outcomes not certain, as is clear in the case of the comic book author seeking copyright protection in the written text and arrangement of images in the comic book Zarya of the Dawn. The US courts ruled in his favour for the text but denied such protection to the images themselves as these had been generated by an AI system. John Whelan is a leading expert on Irish trade It's definitely not treasure in the making-your-fortune sense but in terms of longevity and adventure, little bits of Lego washed up on beaches for the past two decades are a real bounty. And just like the pirates' caskets bursting with jewels in movies and books this treasure has also sparked quests and tales. When Tracey Williams was a child in the 1960s her parents would keep her occupied on family holidays with lists of things to hunt for on the shore. She'd "fossick for shells and sea glass among the sand and shingle". Then in February 1997, when Williams' own children were young, a cargo ship sailed from Rotterdam and met a storm off Cornwall. Heaving seas and ferocious winds sent 62 shipping containers over the edge of the Tokio Express and into the ocean. One of these held nearly five million pieces of Lego. This cargo was on its way from the toy factory's base in Denmark to North America. It is still not known if this massive container burst open on impact, scattering its contents into the ocean, or whether it carried on floating for a while and leaked its cargo slowly as it drifted to the seabed. Whichever it was, people started seeing a 'slick of Lego' floating in the sea and Lego began washing up on Cornwall's shores. CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB Williams says: "When my children were young, searching for Lego on the shores beneath our family home on the south coast of Devon became the highlight of any trip to the beach." Beachcombed Lego. Picture: Tracey Williams. Adrift: The Curious Tale of the Lego Lost at Sea By a quirk of fate, much of the lost Lego was sea-themed... flippers, scuba tanks, ship rigging, life jackets. Locals enjoyed the thrill of trying to find as many different shapes as they could. Then years later, when Williams' children were older, and she was living inland, hundreds of miles from the sea so she pretty much forgot about the Lego until she moved back to Cornwall in 2010 and spotted a bright yellow Lego life jacket from the spill on her first trip to the beach: "Thirteen years on and it was still turning up. I was amazed." And then the realisation that it wasn't just Lego on the shoreline struck: "There was so much plastic. Shoes, buoys, rope, bottles. "Some from shipping, some from fishing, some left behind by beachgoers. And less-expected items such as toothbrushes, the bookies pens, the paintbrushes and monopoly houses." The amount of plastic now littering the beach horrified Williams and she was motivated to join the 'army' of dogwalkers, surfers and beachgoers picking up debris from Cornwalls shores. Williams was curious to discover who else was finding the Lego and how far it had drifted in the intervening years, so she set up a Facebook page in October 2013 called Lego Lost At Sea. Her quest connected her with oceanographers studying the movements of the ocean, as well as scientists investigating plastic in the sea. Lego dragons. Picture: Tracey Williams, Adrift: The Curious Tale of the Lego Lost at Sea The Lego was reported as turning up in North Devon, Wales and Cumbria and here in Ireland. A Lego octopus was found by Rosemary Hill at the foot of a cliff at Waterville, in County Kerry. And in early 2021, a Lego dragon was spotted by Liam MacNamara at Spanish Point in County Clare. There were also Lego finds reported in Guernsey, Jersey, Belgium and Netherlands. While the Lego pieces are brightly coloured and can be fun to find they are still plastic waste and contribute to ocean pollution and microplastic problems. In 2019, University of Plymouth scientists analysed Lego bricks to find out how long they could survive at sea. They found that Lego bricks were so tough they could survive in the ocean for anywhere between 100 and 1,300 years. Williams is well aware that Lego is only a very small part of the pollution problem she has picked up hundreds of lighters and plastic bottles. And there are "older artefacts" too readers of a certain age will remember plastic toy soldiers, cereal packet toys from the 1960s, and Smarties lids (some nearly 60 years old). Lego provided an inventory of the Lego bits lost back in 1997 the 4,756,940 pieces of plastic included 4,200 octopuses; 33,427 black dragons and 514 green ones; 79,680 spear guns; 88,316 sets of flowers; and 352,000 pairs of flippers. Williams has become a self-trained archaeologist of plastic litter not alone does she identify odd bits of plastic but she researches which era they came from. These include Sindy shoes and accessories from the 1960s; plastic lolly sticks from the 1970s; rooster-shaped bicycle reflectors given away in Kellogg's cereal boxes in the 1980s; and the little black bull often attached to bottles of Spanish wine. Adrift: The Curious Tale of The Lego Lost At Sea by Tracey Williams Her work brings her to talk to Tim Brooks, Lego's vice president for environmental responsibility. They discuss Legos focus on environmental sustainability and the responsible use of plastic, to encourage children and families to keep their bricks in play so they dont enter landfills or get lost in the environment. He points out that: "Although the 1997 Lego spill is a historic case, it does highlight the importance of this issue. One of the things were most proud of is that Lego is compatible and long lasting. Theres no logical reason why you would ever throw a Lego brick out. Theyre safe, durable and can be handed down from generation to generation. Plastic is a great material but its great in context. It definitely belongs in the home or in schools, not in the ocean." Lego is working hard to build its bricks from more sustainable raw materials its first sustainable elements, including green leaves, bushes and trees, were introduced in 2018. They are made from sugarcane-based polyethylene instead of oil-based plastic. Its phasing out single-use disposable plastic from its packaging to make it sustainable by 2025, and Lego has made a prototype brick from recycled plastic. Williams is definitely not targeting Lego as the source of all the plastic pollution problems but she is adamant that "we need to turn off the 'plastic tap' and get on top of our single-use plastic problem". She notes that she's not opposed to plastic in the right place and used correctly, and even points out how grateful she was for all the plastic parts and equipment used when her son was in hospital. She describes her mission as more of "a voyage into the changing nature of beachcombing, dragon hunting, plastic in the sea and sand, and the lasting legacy of a cargo spill". And she wants people visiting beaches here in Ireland to get involved too: "If anyone finds Lego from the spill wed love to hear from them as were mapping where it turns up for a scientific paper. Document your Lego finds here: facebook.com/legolostatsea twitter.com/legolostatsea instagram.com/legolostatsea Tracey Williams will be speaking at 10am on July 17 at the West Cork Literary Festival which takes place from July 12-19 Theres a strong environmental theme in this years festival with naturalist, wildlife documentary presenter and Bantry native Eoin Warner giving a talk about his work and the wildlife and landscapes of Irelands islands; nature writer Kerri Ni Dochartaigh discussing climate activism; and Tristan Rosenstock talking about his book Inis Mara, which focusses on climate change. The question of a referendum on Irish unity is not a priority and does not arise currently, Simon Harris has said. The Taoiseach said it was more important for the new UK government to work with Ireland in supporting the powersharing institutions at Stormont. Following the General Election, Sinn Fein emerged for the first time with the largest representation among Northern Ireland parties at Westminster. The republican partys president Mary Lou McDonald took the opportunity to urge new prime minister Keir Starmer to embrace the right of Irish self-determination and constitutional change toward Irish reunification. However, Mr Starmer has previously stated that the issue of a united Ireland is not on his horizon. Taoiseach Simon Harris said it was no surprise there were different views in Ireland and the UK on Irish unity (Gareth Chaney/PA) Taoiseach Mr Harris told Sky News Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips show that it was no surprise that there were differing views on the constitutional question. He said: The fact that we have different views on the constitutional future of Northern Ireland is not earth shattering news. And actually its because we have differences in relation to the constitutional question that we must find practical ways of working together. The Good Friday Agreement allows us both have those legitimate, differing aspirations, and theres a structure in place to address that. For me, though, the focus and priority isnt on a referendum, the focus on priority has to be on delivery. Mr Harris added: People in Northern Ireland, people in Ireland, people in Britain, I believe, want to see real delivery when it comes to things like public services, their economy, prosperity, the economy in terms of how it impacts on their family and their businesses. And we have an opportunity now that the (Stormont) institutions are back up and running and I think we have people now in key leadership positions in Northern Ireland, in Dublin and in London who are fully committed to that. Mr Harris was asked if the prospect of a unity referendum had moved further away following Labours election win. What arises right now is a moment to reset Anglo-Irish relations after what was a very turbulent period of time He said: I just dont think it arises currently. I think the most important thing here is as we have ministers back at their desks in Northern Ireland, and that they get on with the work, and that the British and Irish governments, as co-guarantors of the peace process, play our role in supporting that too. Its absolutely appropriate to have legitimate constitutional aspiration, my party is called Fine Gael, the united Ireland Party. Thats my legitimate constitutional aspiration for the future of this island. It doesnt arise today, though. What arises right now is a moment to reset Anglo-Irish relations after what was a very turbulent period of time, and Im very excited about the opportunities that that presents. Taoiseach Simon Harris has said the next generation will never forgive us if the opportunity to reset Anglo-Irish relations is not seized following Labours landslide victory in the UK general election. Mr Harris acknowledged that there had been clear policy differences and difficulties and challenges between the UK and Ireland in the years since Brexit, but said he was eager to work with new prime minister Keir Starmer. In one of his first acts in power Mr Starmer had a telephone conversation with the Taoiseach and invited him to Downing Street on July 17. Mr Harris told the Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme on Sky News that the British-Irish relationship is really strong. We have so many issues of mutual concern. We are two islands side by side He said: At the end of the day, were neighbours, were friends, in many cases were family as well, and theres an opportunity now, a real opportunity that we must seize and that the next generation will never forgive us for if we dont, to press reset, to say yes its been a difficult few years, but you know what? We have so much more in common than divides us. We have so many issues of mutual concern. We are two islands side by side. Lets work together and lets fulfil the promise of the Good Friday Agreement and a Good Friday Agreement that I know is very much in the DNA of the British Labour Party. And thats something that I really, really want to talk to, to Keir Starmer about. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has invited Simon Harris to Downing Street (Claudia Greco/PA) The Taoiseach said one of the priorities of his meeting with the Labour leader later this month would be discussing ways of improving the structures for engagement between the two leaders following Brexit. It used to be that whoever the Irish Taoiseach and British prime minister was would meet regularly through their membership of the European Union. Theyd meet on the fringes of European meetings. Those structures obviously arent there now. I respect that fact. But we do need to look for new ways of making sure that regular engagement happens. He said: I think when the relationship has gotten particularly challenging on occasion between Britain and Ireland, it has sometimes been through a lack of those structures. So thats the first thing I wanted to talk with him about, because I believe if we get that right, so much good can flow from that. Obviously, Brexit did make life challenging and challenging in relation to the relationship between the two islands Mr Harris said people didnt need a history lesson over why the relationship has been difficult in recent years. He said: Obviously, Brexit did make life challenging and challenging in relation to the relationship between the two islands and also, I suppose, changed that in many ways because no longer will be two countries within the European Union. Weve also had a situation where up until recently, there was a vacuum in Northern Ireland in terms of the institutions not functioning. Thankfully, thats now been been settled, and I think the fact that we now have a new British prime minister and indeed a new Irish Taoiseach does present a real opportunity for both of us, both myself and the British prime minister, to dig deep in terms of resetting Anglo-Irish relations and both of us to show some leadership in that regard, because the relationship between our two countries, the relationship as close neighbours, our closest neighbours, it matters and it matters to people on both of our islands. He added: But there were clear policy differences and difficulties and challenges over, over the last number of years. It is obviously important that Britain and the European Union continue to be good neighbours Mr Harris insisted he had a very good professional relationship with Rishi Sunak. He also said Ireland would be an ally in any discussions the UK had in improving its relationship with the European Union. Referring to Brexit, he said: That decision has been made and my understanding is theres no British government that intends to revisit that in any manner or means. However, it is obviously important that Britain and the European Union continue to be good neighbours and it is absolutely in Irelands interest that we facilitate that in every way we can around any European table. More than 80 years after he was executed by the Irish State for a murder he did not commit, Henry (Harry) Gleesons remains were removed from an unmarked grave in Mountjoy prison and reinterred today with family in his home county. A polished wooden coffin bearing Mr Gleesons remains stood before mourners at Holycross Abbey, Thurles, at the feet of a statue of Jesus. Mr Gleesons great grand nephew, also called Harry, brought Mr Gleesons violin to be placed on his coffin. The violin lay next to a black and white photo of the innocent man who was 38 at the time of his execution. We must never forget Harrys last words, his relative, Anne Gleeson told the congregation. The last thing I want to say is that I will pray tomorrow that whoever did it will be discovered and that the whole thing will be like an open book. I rely on you then to clear my name. And after decades of campaigning by his family, Mr Gleesons name was cleared and he was given a presidential pardon in 2015. Mr Gleeson had been wrongly convicted for the murder of Moll McCarthy. The mother of seven had been shot in the face and the neck and her body was found by Mr Gleeson who alerted authorities in November 1940. Less than six months later, following a flimsy, flawed investigation, he was hung for murder in 1941. Mr Gleesons family requested that Ms McCarthy and her family also be remembered at todays funeral Mass. This is a unique occasion, Fr Celsus Tierney told the congregation. I can confidently suggest that there has never been a funeral Mass where we bring back one of our parishioners many years after their death. We pray that he will eventually rest in peace amongst family and friends. People joined the ceremony from Australia, the US, Spain, France, the UK, and Ireland, Fr Tierney said. Mr Gleesons body had been held at his family home in nearby Galbertstown since Friday. Mr Gleesons death in 1941 was part of a darker and bleaker history of the State, the priest said. A time when Church and State failed to stand up for the innocent, as in the case of Harry Gleeson. He said: Today we also pray for and include Moll McCarthy and her children who are part of the tragic story. She was also part of the history we cannot forget, he said. But Fr Tierney warned that while it was easy to condemn peoples actions in the past, it was worth considering how future generations may judge us today for the way homeless people, migrants and others in need of our protection are treated. Mr Gleeson received the first posthumous pardon in the history of the State, he said. He thanked all those who had worked so hard to bring Mr Gleeson back home. He was laid to rest at St. Marys Cemetery, Holycross, Co Tipperary. Whoever shot Ms McCarthy dead was never brought to justice. In the hours before his death, he told his Junior Counsel, Sean McBride, who went on to become a government minister and would help found Amnesty International, that he would pray whoever did it will be discovered". Fresh calls to use vacant buildings in Dublin city to house the homeless have been made after two men were found dead in the Grand Canal on Saturday morning. The men, who were in their 40s, were homeless at the time of their deaths, it is understood. They are believed to be Irish nationals. Tents line the canal where the men died. And some may be being pushed closer to the water by barricades erected in a bid to stop people from camping there, some homeless campaigners now say. Read More Bodies of two men pulled from Dublin canal Asylum seekers who pitched tents along the canal, near Charlemont Bridge where the bodies were found on Saturday, were removed by the State and barriers were erected there earlier this year. But Keira Gill, founder of A Helping Hand, a voluntary organisation which provides outreach services to homeless people in Dublin, said that people climb over the barriers and camp there anyway because its one of the few places they feel safe. Gardai carrying out searches at Grand Parade in Dublin after the bodies of two men were recovered from the Grand Canal on Saturday. Picture: Niall Carson/PA This can effectively push them to camp closer to the water, she said. On Thursday, Waterways Ireland, which is responsible for the canal, told the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that 125,000 has been spent on the barriers so far. Ms Gill said that barriers "are not the solution." Houses are. And mental health and addiction services. Garda investigations into both deaths are ongoing. Gardai have identified both individuals, but the formal identification process is still ongoing. The results of post-mortem examinations and local enquiries will determine the course of Garda investigations. Local Labour Party Councillor Dermot Lacey said that the mens deaths were a tragedy. He also said that control of the canals should be brought back to the local authority from Waterways Ireland, which has headquarters in Enniskillen in the North. The HSE should make the nearby empty Baggot Street Hospital available as accommodation, he said. He said that he has campaigned for years for this but it has been allowed to fall into further disrepair while remaining vacant. The Department of Housing said that in early 2022 in response to a humanitarian crisis, the former Baggot Street Hospital was included on a list of HSE sites/properties identified as vacant which the Department of Health subsequently submitted for consideration to Department of Housing, Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY), Department of the Taoiseach and in turn to Local Authorities and the Land Development Agency. But "following high-level studies by the interested parties, it was deemed not feasible to bring the building to standards required for accommodation or housing purposes due to the challenges of working with a protected structure, scale of investment and timeframe involved." The HSE said that a portion of the site off Haddington Road, adjacent to the Old Baggot Street Hospital building, has been identified as a suitable location for the future development of a Primary Care Centre to serve the South Dublin Inner City area. An application for planning permission for the new Primary Care Centre on the Haddington Road area of the site has recently been lodged, it said. The HSE said: The Baggot Street Hospital building requires extensive investment to modernise it to be fit for use and even with extensive investment, it will not be suitable for clinical purposes. The HSE has engaged the services of a conservation architect to complete a report on the building and any maintenance recommendations contained within the conservation report will be included in an ongoing maintenance programme for the site, the HSE said. Ms Gill said that she has safely occupied empty buildings over the years, providing shelter for homeless people over cold winter months and Christmas, but was repeatedly dragged out by the authorities. One building she occupied more than six years ago remained boarded up since they were forced out, despite State promises to make it available to the community, she said. A record 14,159 people were living in emergency accommodation in May, with 9,843 adults and 4,316 children, according to the latest figures from the Department of Housing. Additionally, 2,300 asylum seekers are currently without accommodation, according to the DCEDIYs latest figures, released on Friday. One of Irelands youngest embalmers has revealed how watching a horror film triggered her unconventional career choice. Trainee embalmer Emma Fitzgerald, 21, from Shanagolden in Co Limerick said she often tells people she is training to be a national school teacher when asked about her occupation on nights out. Such is their fascination with the funeral industry, Ms Fitzgerald says that her occupation is often all people want to talk about. Its not surprising given the story behind her unorthodox introduction to the job. A horror film titled The Autopsy of Jane Doe led Emma to seek advice from her career guidance counsellor at school. The movie tells the terrifying experience of father and son coroners identifying the cause of death of a young woman harbouring dark secrets. While the gruesome flick tested even the steeliest of nerves, Emma found herself unable to look away. She was intrigued by the complexity of the human anatomy shown on screen. Rather than being taken aback by Emma's interest in the dead, her career guidance counsellor suggested a career in the funeral industry. It was the first time Emma had ever heard of embalming. And she immediately knew it was what she wanted to do. Before that I had wanted to be an interior designer so it was a giant leap to take, Emma told the Irish Examiner. I know it doesnt sound great but watching the autopsy in the film and seeing the organs was really fascinating to me. I started to look into it more and decided this was what I wanted to do. I was really glad I spoke to my career guidance counsellor about it because Ive had my mind set on it ever since. She made so many calls to colleges and people on my behalf. She probably did a lot more for me than for most other students." But what was the reaction from Emma's family and friends? "My parents really wanted me to do it too. When it came to friends, a lot of people my age didnt know what it was all about. It wasnt until it was explained to me that I realised what it was myself. "The teachers were very interested in me exploring embalming and still are. My younger sister is still in the school and the teachers are always asking about me. As far as I know I am the only student who has ever gone on to do embalming. Emma is enjoying working as a trainee embalmer in Griffins Funeral Home in Pennywell Limerick. As their youngest employee, Emma jokes that she is doted on by staff and provided with endless opportunities. People in the locality have also taken her to their hearts. When Im going to the shop and wearing my scrubs with the name of the funeral home on them I always get stopped and asked questions. The older people are often more open minded. When Im on a night out and people ask me what Im doing I tell them Im in Mary I, studying teaching. The conversation takes a different turn otherwise. People my age are often shocked because they dont really understand what it is. Emma says the young and old have different attitudes to death .. and her job. "Its strange to think that its the older people who arent as afraid of death, since they are closer to the end. Emma said she generally avoids discussing work with her boyfriend. He never really asks questions. I might want to tell him about my day and then I remember that he has a weak stomach. Neither of us really tend to talk about work. The 21-year-old has settled well in Griffins Funeral Home. I was doing embalming in college but then I had my own bereavement which put things on hold for a while. Going to college seemed like the best option for me at the start because I didnt have any family working in the funeral industry like a lot of other people do. Im learning a lot in Griffins now. "The training is split into two parts, namely the theory and practical side. With the theory you'd be learning about the anatomy and the different diseases and there is chemistry to cover the fluids used as well. The practical side involves learning how to use the equipment, different techniques and how to carefully handle restorative work. "A lot of families dont realise what happens after a loved one dies. It might be the case that they just dont want to think about it but thats understandable. She describes how embalming can help families deal with a loved one's death. When the family want to go and see their loved ones for the last time they dont have to worry about how they will look. We obviously take care of that. I know from my own bereavement that when I saw the person afterwards it was almost a relief that they looked how they were supposed to. Tough mental resilience is extremely important for any embalmer, according to Emma. Luckily, I've only had a few cases of people that died who were younger than me. When it does happen you cant really dwell on the situation. When you are finishing up after a days work you have to leave it all at the door. There havent been any difficult moments so far because the other embalmers normally prepare me for what I am walking into. I know what to expect so there is nothing that has ever made me want to leave the room. Ive wanted to do this for so long that I try not to let anything bother me. I don't show emotion or anything really so I think this job is perfectly suited to me. My mum would say the exact same thing. No two days are ever the same at Griffins Funeral Home. On some days we might have five or six bodies. It just depends. They will always try to show me around on days when there are none so I get to learn about the paperwork and everything. My favourite part would probably be the hair and makeup. Its rewarding to see the reaction from families and how delighted they are with how the person looks. Many of them werent expecting them to look so well. Emma Fitzgerald (centre), trainee embalmer with Clare Haran, lead embalmer (left) and Oziel De la Cruz, embalming supervisior, at Griffin's funerals in Limerick. Picture: Eddie O'Hare "The make-up used doesnt have to be specifically for embalming. We use your run of the mill products like Rimmel and other brands. You have to be vigilant because if something goes wrong, you cant exactly start over. We use a lot of special creams. There is a lots of preparation needed that I never realised would have been required before. Youre learning what kind of fluids to use in various situations. If someone comes in with jaundice you are learning what chemicals and the amount to use. For anyone interested in following a similar career path, Emma's advice is to contact the Irish Association of Funeral Directors. Unfortunately, not a lot of young people know about embalming. I would advise anyone young person who would like to pursue a career in the funeral industry to contact the Irish Association of Funeral Directors so they can direct them to a funeral home in their locality that might be able to help them. "It's not just embalming. There are so many other opportunities from working in the admin side of things to driving the hearse. Academy St in Cork may seem an unusual location to lead mindfulness sessions for Ukrainian troops on the frontline, but that is exactly what happens behind the doors of Skyfound Mindful Academy. War veteran Oleksandr Sarymsakov founded and runs the business with his wife Maria. In addition to online meditation sessions for troops battling Russian forces in Ukraine, it also offers in-person meditation. These sessions are popular among locals of Cork City, including Ukraine natives who fled war in search of a better life in Ireland, according to Oleksandr. The centre offers sessions incorporating sound therapy meditation, oil massage, and tea ceremonies, among other activities. His passion for mindfulness dates back to when Oleksandr provided a rather unorthodox service to soldiers in his native Ukraine before the current hostilities. In peaceful times I was engaged in spiritual practices and massage, he told the Irish Examiner. I carried a massage table with me in the car and gave soldiers massages while they were in their positions. "This contributed to relief after wearing heavy body armour for a long time. When the Russian annexation of Crimea happened, Olexsandr fought as part of 80th Battalion of the Ukrainian army. However, in 2018 he suffered a devastating brain hemorrhage. It is believed the trauma was triggered by a concussion which came about after a shelling near Mariupol two years before that. The bombing happened several times but I got a brain contusion twice. "A lot of people in the military have contusions but when you have several ones they can take their toll. Oleksandr Sarymsakov with hospital staff during recovery for a devastating brain hemorrhage in 2018. It is believed the trauma was triggered by a concussion which came about after a shelling near Mariupol two years before that. "I had taken meditation balls to the military zone when the bombing happened. "We hid them underground and we used them to make sound baths and meditation for the guys during the war. "This was particularly helpful for those suffering with PTSD. "After the brain haemorrhage the doctor said there was no possibility of me ever walking or talking again. "The left side of my body had become paralysed." The father-of-three spent two years in a wheelchair before relearning to walk. Despite being left disabled by his injuries, Kiev native Oleksandr said he was determined to continue his work in the areas of meditation and spirituality to help those fighting the war, and those who have escaped the conflict. "I think the Indian meditation practices really helped me to recover. I never regret anything. "If it happens it happens and we have to make what we can of it. He stressed that war is impacting people in so many others ways, apart from death and injury on the battlefield. A lot of Ukrainian people have lost their homes and families and now have depression as a result which is why the mindfulness is so important, he said. The former commander of the sapper unit travels to a specialist military hospital in Ukraine twice a year for rehabilitation. From 7am in the morning I have the news on. I dread the phone during the day. There is a special app for military that lets people know who is still alive. "Members of the group make a plus sign every day. If a member of the group doesnt make a plus then you know they are no longer alive." When he calls his military friends, he says he usually just tells them "to hold their lives and stay alive. The father-of-three said that his military background makes him relatable to the soldiers he works with. They are relaxing around me because I have that experience of war which makes things less difficult. "The mindfulness had really positive effects for me personally because it helped me to become stronger inside. The US Supreme Court has concluded its 2023-24 term in the past two weeks with a number of profoundly consequential decisions that have major implications for the years to come. This is the court of last resort in the US and no other court may overrule its decisions. It possesses tremendous authority, having the power to strike down as unconstitutional or illegal a vast range of actions or policies undertaken within the US political system. Just before it adjourned for the summer, the court handed down a raft of hugely consequential decisions in just 10 days. The winners included current and future presidents who will enjoy immunity from prosecution for official acts, while losers included the agencies over which the president presides. The court has succeeded in amassing significant amounts of power, giving federal judges more authority over regulatory decisions that previously had been the province of federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA creates and enforces regulations over air and water quality. The potential ramifications of these shifts cannot be underestimated. In this short period, the court issued decisions on abortion, gun control, climate and environmental rules, the opioid crisis, presidential power, and the power to regulate the economy. It also ruled on whether the January 6 rioters who broke into the Capitol building could be prosecuted. The court ruled that prosecutors had overreached, and this decision casts doubt over hundreds of January 6 convictions. And perhaps most memorably, in Trump v USA, the court ruled that the president is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts committed in the course of presidential duty, but not for unofficial or personal acts. Republicans have traditionally favoured a strong presidency, particularly since 9/11 and the immunity decision furthers that objective. But the ruling also raises pointed questions about what presidents will be able to get away with in the future. More immediately, it is likely to further delay the election interference trial against Donald Trump and it also delays sentencing in the Manhattan hush money trial in which Trump has already been convicted. This is a court that is in a hurry to drastically reshape the law. Its in a hurry to throw out precedents and upset settled law and make profound and fundamental changes in our law, was the opinion of Cliff Sloan, a law professor at Georgetown University. A major goal of the Trump administration was to work with organisations, such as the right-wing Federalist Society, to recruit judges who advance conservative causes, such as reducing the power of the federal bureaucracy to write new rules and regulations. In Trump v USA, the court ruled that the president is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts committed in the course of presidential duty, but not for unofficial or personal acts. Picture: Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo During his presidency, Trump and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell worked together to add scores of conservative judges to the federal bench. However, it was the three Supreme Court court vacancies during Trumps presidency that gave Republicans a chance to dramatically reshape that courts decision making. The six-to-three Republican majority has been the backdrop to recent court decisions that have shifted policy dramatically to the right. Because a seat on the court is also a lifetime appointment, nominating and confirming a new justice to the court is a contested, high-stakes process. While many observers may think that the role of judges should be somehow neutral or apolitical, numerous scholars have demonstrated that justices nominated by Republican presidents are more likely to issue conservative decisions, while justices nominated by Democratic presidents are more likely to issue liberal decisions. Thus, as the two main political parties have become increasingly polarised, the fight to shape the direction of the federal judiciary has become increasingly contentious. One of the key goals of conservatives for decades was the overturning of Roe v Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that granted a constitutional right to an abortion. In the 2022 decision of Dobbs v Jackson Womens Health Organisation, the court reversed the longstanding precedent of a constitutional right to abortion. Some states, such as Idaho, have introduced near total bans on abortion, which have come into conflict with the 1986 Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (Emtala). Emtala requires hospitals that receive Medicare (state) funding to provide necessary stabilising treatment to patients with an emergency medical condition. The court issued decisions on abortion, gun control, climate and environmental rules, the opioid crisis, presidential power, and the power to regulate the economy. File picture: Manuel Balce Ceneta, File/AP Photo With Idahos law in effect, women have routinely been airlifted out of Idaho to receive abortions in other states. The court ruled that emergency abortions could proceed in Idaho, but its failure to resolve other conflicts between state and federal law on this issue shows that its work on abortion is far from over. The courts decision to weaken federal agency power will mean that it is more difficult to craft new rules on climate change, public health or worker safety, among other issues. The decision has its origins in the courts 1984 case Chevron v Natural Resources Defence Council. This established that federal judges must defer to the interpretations of federal agencies when the meaning of a federal statute is not clear. This reliance on agency expertise as the last word became known as Chevron Deference. Conservatives over time came to see Chevron as a means of adding burdensome regulations which impose costs on the economy. In two cases in this term, the court gave federal judges the final say on how to interpret federal rules. In her dissent, Justice Kentaji Brown Jackson anticipated a tsunami of lawsuits against agencies It will now be considerably easier for businesses and political allies to challenge federal regulations, knowing that so much of the federal judiciary leans to the right. In 2024 presidential power has increased, but federal agency power has decreased markedly. This means that addressing a number of challenging policy issues, such as climate change, economic inequality and others just became more difficult. While conservatives have much to cheer about in this Supreme Court term, these decisions will surely further polarise public opinion about the court. Colin Provost is associate professor of public policy at University College London. This article appeared on The Conversation, a news and analysis website written by academics. One man has been gored and another five rushed to hospital with trauma injuries at the start of the famous Running of the Bulls festival in Spain. A 37-year-old man from Beriain near Pamplona, where the annual festival takes place every July, is believed to have suffered a gore injury to his palate. The other five casualties included a 54-year-old man from New York. All six runners who needed hospital treatment were men. Among the serious injuries suffered by revellers at the San Fermin Festival in recent years occurred when this man was tossed by a calf in the bullring in Pamplona. Picture: Alvaro Barrientos/AP The famous festival kicked off at midday on Saturday with the traditional San Fermin opening ceremony called the Chupinazo, with hundreds of revellers dressed in white outfits with a red bandana around their necks ending up soaked in wine and sangria. Sunday mornings 8am bull run was the first of eight so-called 'encierros' which form the highlight of the festival. Two of the six fighting bulls, led by six steers, became detached from the rest of the group during the half-mile run through the streets of Pamplonas old town. A 37-year-old man from Beriain near Pamplona is believed to have suffered a gore injury to his palate during the running of the bulls on Sunday. The other five casualties included a 54-year-old man from New York. Picture: Alvaro Barrientos/AP They remained in the bullring at the end of the course for more than a minute before ranchers guided them away from runners massing around them into pens. Some revellers goaded the animals, leaving commentators saying it had been a miracle no-one had been attacked and badly hurt or even killed. Some 16 people have been killed at the annual festival, which finishes on July 14 and was made famous by 1926 Ernest Hemingway novel, The Sun Also Rises, since records began in 1910. The most recent death was in 2009 when 27-year-old Daniel Jimeno, from Madrid, was gored in the neck by a bull called Capuchino. Between 200 and 300 are usually injured each year at the festival during the bull runs. A village in a border region of western Russia was evacuated following a series of explosions after debris from a downed Ukrainian drone set fire to a nearby warehouse, local officials said. Social media footage appeared to show rising clouds of black smoke in the Voronezh region while loud explosions could be heard in succession. Governor Aleksandr Gusev said that falling wreckage triggered the detonation of explosive objects. No casualties were reported, but residents of a nearby village in the Podgorensky district were evacuated, he said. Roads were also closed with emergency services, military and government officials working at the scene. A Ukrainian security official said that a strike had been carried out on a warehouse storing ammunition in the village of Serhiivka in the Voronezh region. The enemy stored surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, shells for tanks and artillery, and boxes of cartridges for firearms, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. It is from this warehouse that the occupiers supply ammunition to their troops in Ukraine. A Russian self-propelled mortar 2S23 Nona-SVK fires toward Ukrainian positions in an undisclosed location in Ukraine.(Russian Defence Ministry Press Service/AP) Russias ministry of defence did not address the strike in their morning briefing, but said that air defence systems had destroyed a Ukrainian drone over the Belgorod region. Authorities in Russias Krasnodar province on Saturday said a fire at an oil depot had also been caused by falling drone debris. Russias emergency services said the blaze was extinguished on Sunday morning. The strikes come after a Ukrainian military spokesperson said Kyivs troops had retreated from a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Chasiv Yar, a strategically important town in Ukraines Donetsk region that has been reduced to rubble under a month-long Russian assault. Russian forces have for months tried to grind out gains in Ukraines industrial east, in an apparent attempt to lock its defenders into a war of attrition. In a joint investigation published Friday, independent Russian news outlets Meduza and Mediazona reported that Moscows forces were losing between 200 and 250 soldiers in Ukraine each day. Military analysts say Chasiv Yars fall could also compromise critical Ukrainian supply routes and put nearby cities in jeopardy, bringing Russia closer to its stated aim of seizing the entire Donetsk region. Russian strikes have also heavily targeted Ukraines energy infrastructure. Officials in Kyiv said Saturday that the city had restored two-thirds of its power generation capacity after recent Russian missile attacks destroyed key power plants. Colossal work has been carried out, said deputy head of the Kyiv city administration Petro Panteleev. The citys energy facilities, which were built mainly in the Soviet period, are being modernized and become much more efficient. Russia sent overnight into Sunday two ballistic missiles and 13 Shahed drones, Ukrainian air force officials said. All were shot down but the officials did not elaborate on the impact of the missiles. Eight people were killed in Russian attacks across Ukraine in the past day, according to local regional authorities. Four people were killed in the Kherson region, said governor Oleksandr Prokudin, while in Donetsk, governor Vadym Filashkin said another two people had been killed in the towns of Niu-York and Ukrainsk. In Dnipropetrovsk, a 65-year-old woman was killed in a Russian attack in the Nikopol district, while a 47-year old man was killed in the Kharkiv region, Governors Serhii Lysak and Oleh Syniehubov said in their respective statements. Elsewhere in Ukraine, 14 people died after a bus collided with a cargo vehicle, leaving a single survivor, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said. The victims included a six-year-old child. Frances prime minister Gabriel Attal has said he plans to resign after a leftist coalition surged to the lead in the countrys legislative elections. A coalition on the left that came together unexpectedly ahead of Frances snap elections won the most parliamentary seats in the vote, according to polling projections on Sunday. The surprise projections put President Emmanuel Macrons centrist alliance in second place and the far right in third. The lack of majority for any single alliance plunged France into political and economic turmoil. Final results are not expected until late on Sunday or early Monday in the highly volatile snap election, which was called just four weeks ago in a huge gamble for Mr Macron. The polling projections are based on the actual vote count in select constituencies. Mr Macrons office said the president would wait for the new National Assembly to organise itself before making any decisions. The deeply unpopular president lost control of parliament, according to the projections. Marine Le Pens far right drastically increased the number of seats it holds in parliament but fell far short of expectations. Far-right National Rally party president Jordan Bardella with far-right leader Marine Le Pen earlier in the week (Christophe Ena/AP) The snap legislative elections in this nuclear-armed nation and major economy will influence the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy and Europes economic stability. France now faces the prospect of weeks of political machinations to determine who will be prime minister and lead the National Assembly. And Mr Macron faces the prospect of leading the country alongside a prime minister opposed to most of his domestic policies. French leftist leader Jean-Luc Melenchon called the projections an immense relief for a majority of people in our country and he demanded the resignation of the prime minister. Mr Melenchon is the most prominent of the leftist leaders who unexpectedly came together ahead of the two-round elections. The projections, if confirmed by official counts expected later on Sunday or early on Monday, plunge a pillar of the European Union and its second-largest economy into intense uncertainty, with no clarity about who might partner with Mr Macron as prime minister in governing France. The timing of Frances leap into the political unknown could hardly be worse: With the Paris Olympics opening in less than three weeks, the country will be grappling with domestic instability when the eyes of the world are upon it. For 46-year-old Mr Macrons centrists, the legislative elections have turned into a fiasco. He stunned France, and many in his own government, by dissolving parliaments lower house, the National Assembly, after the far right surged in French voting for the European elections. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal leaving a polling booth earlier on Sunday (Alain Jocard, pool via AP) Mr Macron argued that sending voters back to the ballot boxes would provide France with clarification. The president was gambling that with Frances fate in their hands, voters might shift from the far right and left and return to mainstream parties closer to the center where Mr Macron found much of the support that won him the presidency in 2017 and again in 2022. That, he hoped, would fortify his presidency for his remaining three years in office. But rather than rally behind him, millions of voters on both the left and right of Frances increasingly polarised political landscape seized on his surprise decision as an opportunity to vent their anger and possibly sideline Mr Macron, by saddling him with a parliament that could now largely be filled with politicians hostile both to him and, in particular, his pro-business policies. Already in last weekends first round of balloting, voters massively backed candidates from the far-right National Rally, in even greater numbers than in voting for the European Parliament. A coalition on of parties on the left took second and his centrist alliance was a distant third. A hung parliament with no single bloc coming close to getting the 289 seats needed for an absolute majority in the National Assembly, the more powerful of Frances two legislative chambers, would be unknown territory for modern France and usher in political turmoil. Unlike other countries in Europe that are more accustomed to coalition governments, France does not have a tradition of politicians from rival political camps coming together to form a working majority. The sharp polarisation of French politics is sure to complicate any coalition-building effort. Racism and antisemitism marred the electoral campaign, along with Russian disinformation campaigns, and more than 50 candidates reported being physically attacked highly unusual for France. The government said it deployed 30,000 police for Sundays runoff vote an indication of both the high stakes and concerns that a far-right victory, or even no clear win for any bloc, could trigger protests. Any cobbled-together majority risks being fragile, vulnerable to no-confidence votes that could cause it to fall. Prolonged instability could increase suggestions from his opponents that Mr Macron should cut short his second and last term. The French Constitution prevents him from dissolving parliament again in the next 12 months, barring that as a route to possibly give France greater clarity. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More By Inaam Adib Barkouk Israel has used all means to target Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, in addition to internationally prohibited weapons that wiped out people, trees and stones, Israeli forces have randomly arrested thousands of civilians including women and children, doctors, journalists from different areas of the Strip during the ground military operations since the beginning of the war. And the violations did not stop there, as they turned into enforced disappearances, with families left with no information about the fate of their loved ones. What is enforced disappearance? Enforced disappearance means making a person disappear beyond his or her will, and the International Convention for the Protection of all person from Enforced Disappearance defines it as the arrest, detention, kidnapping or any form of deprivation of liberty carried out by state officials, or by persons or groups of individuals acting with or without permission support or approval by the state followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of a persons liberty or concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person this depriving him of the protection of the law. Al Jazeera English Video: Prisoners held by Israel are going through tragic conditions: al-Shifa Hospital director It is a strategic method that dates back centuries and was a feature of dictatorships in Latin America and is used in wars to spread terror in society as a whole, but Israel claims it is arresting fighters or people connected to Hamas to investigate them. This is false. Israels first and primary goal is to violate the civil rights of Palestinian civilians and deliberately humiliate them, and undermine their freedom in a manner that violates humanitarian and legal standards. This is what was revealed in the testimonies of released Palestinian detainees from Gaza Strip, who spoke of the horrors of their detention and of systematic torture based on preventing them from food and drink, and subjecting them to insults and other abuses which constitute a violation of international laws. Field executions were also carried out and bodies were found in mass graves, handcuffed and blindfolded in different areas of Gaza Strip. Israels second goal is to psychologically torture the families of the detainees, who are left with no details of the fate of their children after their arrest. Enforced disappearance causes anxiety and despair to the families of those detained and increases their suffering. Enforced disappearance and international criminal law The occupation is practicing a systematic policy of enforced disappearance coupled with an organised plan to arrest unarmed civilians in Gaza, while refusing to acknowledge the deprivation of the freedom and the protection guaranteed to them by law. According to the head of the High Commission for Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, the Israeli occupation army rejected a UN request to provide information about their fate or place of detention. After more than 270 days of the war on Gaza, we have not seen serious action from ICC; this international silence has emboldened the occupation state to continue its policy of enforced disappearance and increase Palestinian suffering. 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. A vehicle rolled through Mountview Cemetery on Saturday, destroying more than a dozen veterans headstones. Within the cemeterys northern section, debris from a vehicle and pieces of cracked stone were seen scattered on the ground. Saturdays crash was at least the third time a vehicle had struck grave markers on the cemetery's grounds. A total of 14 headstones were destroyed, Cemetery Supervisor Brandon Schmidt told the Gazette in an email, while at least two others were damaged. The driver came into the cemetery from Central Avenue, Schmidt said. As of Saturday afternoon, the Billings Police Department had yet to confirm whether any arrests had been made in connection to the crash. The City of Billings owns and maintains Mountview Cemetery, which consists of 65 acres. The cemetery has two sections designated to veterans. The iconic marble and granite headstones that epitomize burial sites for veterans of the United States military are supplied through the Department of Veterans Affairs and the departments National Cemetery Administration. Each upright headstone stands 42 inches tall and weighs about 230 pounds. In September 2020, a man at the wheel of an SUV smashed through 30 veterans headstones at Mountview Cemetery. The damage spurred calls from Montanas federal delegation to have the VA replace the headstones. The VA shipped new headstones within about eight weeks. In 2009, a 17-year-old in a pickup truck crashed into four cemetery stones that were set in the 19th century, causing an estimated $60,000 to $70,000 in damage. Schmidt estimated that it will take two to three months to replace the headstones destroyed and damaged on Saturday. These 7 OG J-dramas - "Itazura na Kiss," "Hana Yori Dango" and more - will surely make you binge while curled up in your bed. 1. 'Itazura na Kiss' Despite having multiple remakes, "Itazura na Kiss" has always been a fan-favorite. "Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo," which is the 5th remake," made its mark as a national fave for its comedic appeal. Kotoko Aihara may not be good academically, but she has a heart of gold. She has a crush on the campus heartthrob and top student, Naoki Irie, her exact opposite. Due to an unexpected incident, they start living on the same roof. Despite their differences, sparks fly between them, which is the beginning of their romantic story. 2. 'One Litre of Tears' Based on a true story and a book that sold more than a million copies nationwide, "One Litre of Tears" follows the story of Aya Kito, a cheerful girl who fought to remain alive. She was diagnosed with spinocerebellar degeneration. The series slowly reveals how she loses control of herself, and how her strength and optimism, inspires Asou Kun, the son of a doctor, to become a neurologist. 3. 'Long Vacation' This romance drama released in 1996 tells the story of a young pianist who hasn't yet learned to mix emotion with art, and an aging model facing the reality of her industry. When Yamaguchi moves into Kimura's place, taking the room left by her fiance who stood her up on her wedding day, their opposite personalities collide. 4. 'Good Morning Call' Another romance series features the story of Yoshikawa Nao, who stays behind to live by herself when her parents leave to inherit her grandpa's farm. On the day she moves into her new apartment, she discovers that it was also rented to Uehara Hisashi, a popular guy from her school. 5. 'Great Teacher Onizuka' Feeling the nostalgic vibe with this drama, "Great Teacher Onizuka" depicts the story of Onizuka, a former delinquent, who finds himself pursuing a career as a high school teacher, facing students who behave just as he used to. Using unusual methods, he manages to reach through his students and help them face their problems. 6. 'Tokyo Love Story' Nagao Kanji, a young adult navigating his professional career, is assigned to work in Tokyo. His colleague Akana Rika takes care of his work. One day, a friend invites to drink and Rika ends up joining them. Something happens between them, which changes the trajectory of their lives. 7. 'Hana Yori Dango' This legendary drama has been made in different remakes from various countries. Despite the multiple adaptations, "Hana Yori Dango" remains classic. Starring 4 young and rich campus heartthrobs, the drama follows them as they assert their status and dominance in school bullying. Makino Tsukushi is their latest victim, who is new to their school. Sparks fly when she stands up to the leader of the group, Dom Youji, which kickstarts a series of courtships that she does not expect. What other J-Dramas will you recommend for fans to binge-watch next? Share it in the comments! For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars. KDramaStars owns this article. Shai San Miguel wrote this. Choi Jin Hyuk captivates viewers with his versatility as an actor, portraying challenging and unexpected characters, may they be in romance, fantasy, thrillers, and more. With this, viewers are really drawn to his presence, especially whenever he stars in a K-drama or movie. Interestingly, Choi Jin Hyuk, whose real name is Kim Tae Ho, transitioned from playing supporting roles to main characters, showcasing his natural lead-star material. After making his debut in 1996 through the comedy drama "Just Run!", he has starred in different notable projects. Here are some of Choi Jin Hyuk's dramas through the years. 'Pasta' Headlined by two amazing top stars, Gong Hyo Jin and the late Lee Sun Kyun, "Pasta" is one of the most iconic series that gained huge fame both locally and internationally. In the rom-com drama, Sun Woo Deok (Choi Jin Hyuk) works at the fictional Italian restaurant La Sfera, alongside Seo Yoo Kyung (Gong Hyo Jin). In an interview in 2014, Choi Jin Hyuk opened up about his regrets while filming "Pasta." According to him, right after finishing the airing of the series, he decided to use a stage name instead of his actual name. "'Pasta' was a great hit, and I regretted that I did not prepare myself better." Despite this, the rom-com series was popular in various countries. 'Fated to Love You' Another rom-com for Choi Jin Hyuk is "Fated to Love You," where he played one of the lead stars together with Jang Hyuk and Jang Nara. In the 2014 K-drama, he took on the character of popular Korean-American designer Daniel Pitt. He is in a love triangle with Mi Young (Jang Nara) and Lee Gun (Jang Hyuk). The story focuses on Kim Mi Young's journey to motherhood after she gets knocked up by a stranger during a one-night stand. 'Zombie Detective' In the thriller-mystery comedy K-drama, Choi Jin Hyuk transforms into a zombie named Kim Moo Young, who has no recollection of his past. However, he decides to become a detective to help uncover his past, and joining him is the investigative journalist Gong Sun Ji (Park Ju Hyun). While teaming up, Gong Sun Ji realized that Kim Moo Young was related to one of her previous cases. 'Miss Night and Day' Returning to the small screen with an interesting K-drama, Choi Jin Hyuk plays as the uptight and perfectionist prosecutor, Gye Ji Ung, who gets involved with Lee Mi Jin (Jung Eun Ji). In this story, Lee Mi Jin transforms into a 50-year-old woman by day and turns into her real self by night. Viewers get to see how Choi Jin Hyuk portray such complicated yet entertaining characters. For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars. KDramaStars owns this article Written by Geca Flores "So annoying!" This luxury brand is receiving backlash from fans for allegedly "mistreating" Kim Ji Won. Headlining the 2024 smashing hit K-drama "Queen of Tears" opened a lot of doors for brilliant actress Kim Ji Won. Following the successful finale of the series, the actress started touring Asia to meet her fans, and scoring deals and collaborations with various brands. Among the new partnerships she signed is with Dior. On July 6, on the official social media account, Dior published a photo of "Queen of Tears" lead star Kim Ji Won, naming her as the House Ambassador. Through the post, the public considered it as an announcement for Kim Ji Won as the official ambassador of the famous fashion brand, Dior. Topics celebrating the actress' new title and partnership with the brand also began to appear. However, after half an hour, Dior edited the post and removed the "House Ambassador" part, leading Kim Ji Won's fans to raise questions against the fashion brand. Faced with confusion, Dior deleted the original post and replaced it with a new one, which called Kim Ji Won's snap as "the picture of elegance," and totally removed the title of ambassador. Adding to the fans' anger is that the designer house blocked comments from the post, mainly to avoid receiving negative comments. Some claimed that this likely means that Dior made a mistake, and Kim Ji Won is not the new ambassador of the brand. As a result, many fans expressed their anger online and some even called out the brand for their mistake. The picture of elegance, "Queen of Tears" actress Jiwon Kim attends the grand opening of the House's new Diamond Towers boutique in Taipei, wearing a Dior black asymmetrical dress by Maria Grazia Chiuri. pic.twitter.com/KmqWssUpyE Dior (@Dior) July 6, 2024 "So annoying!" "Luxury Brands is doing business so badly, it affects the artists." "Luckily she's not an idol, if she were an idol she would be immediately teased by antis." "Probably the brand hasn't chosen an official date yet, Dior always has to edit the caption 2-3 times every time they post." Last June 25, before her scheduled fan meeting, Kim Ji Won attended an event at Dior Taiwan. Meanwhile, Kim Ji Won is currently going back and forth to Korea to meet her Asian fans for her "Be My One" fan meeting. What can you say about the news? Share your thoughts/replies in the comments! For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars. KDramaStars owns this article. Shai San Miguel wrote this. Sunday, July 7, 2024 - A Kenyatta University student who went missing after anti-government protests has been found brutally murdered. Braxton Mugesi is believed to have been abducted by rogue state security officials in connection with the anti-government protests. He was among the Kenyatta University students who organized the demos and travelled to the Nairobi Central Business District to occupy parliament. He was tortured by his abductors and slaughtered like a chicken. Photo of Mugesis body has surfaced on social media and left Kenyans in shock. He died a painful death at the hands of his abductors. If you want to see the photo, click this link. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Sunday, July 7, 2024 - Award-winning human rights activist, Boniface Mwangi, has called on Kenyans to attend the burials of protesters shot during the anti-Finance Bill 2024. Mwangi, who is also an award-winning photographer said the protesters should be buried in caskets draped in the Kenyan flag because they died fighting for justice. He attended Saturday's burial of one of the protesters, Andrew Mwawasi, at Lang'ata cemetery, Nairobi. Another protester, Chris Muriithi Gitonga from Nanyuki, was also buried on Saturday although his casket was not draped in the Kenyan flag. "Andrew Kelvin Mwawasi has been laid to rest. For those who can, please make an effort to attend the funerals of those the state murdered. Bury them with the Kenyan flag, they died for us," Mwangi said. Mwangi was a key organizer of the Occupy Parliament protests on the twin Tuesdays of June 18 and 25. Kenyans took to the streets across the country to peacefully protest against the Finance Bill 2024. President William Ruto declined to sign the Finance Bill 2024 to law and returned it to Parliament. However, Kenyans kept on with the protests seemingly dissatisfied with the governance in the country. The protests turned violent after they were allegedly infiltrated by goons leading to loss of lives and destruction of property. Shops, supermarkets, restaurants, and business stalls bore the brunt of the criminal acts perpetrated by marauding gangs of individuals disguised as demonstrators. The Kenya Human Rights Commission said on Thursday it had confirmed the deaths of 41 people and over 350 injuries mostly attributed to police action. The Kenyan DAILY POST Sunday, July 7, 2024 - Government spokesman Isaac Mwaura is reportedly in trouble over his loose tongue and is headed for the sack, following reckless statements that he has been issuing in public. Word has it that his fate is already sealed and it is just a matter of time before President Ruto fires him. Ruto is mad at Mwaura after he made some reckless statements about Gen Z protesters that almost caused diplomatic tensions after he accused Russia of funding the youthful protesters to destabilize the government. Mwaura has gone mute after learning that he could be dismissed. A few days ago, he begged for an interview on Citizen TV in the weekly show dubbed The Explainer hosted by Yvonne Okwara and cancelled it at the last minute. This is how Daily Nation reported the developing story. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Sunday, July 7, 2024 President William Ruto is not off the hook yet. Even before he deals with the Gen Zs who have threatened to occupy State House and remove him from power over endemic failures by his government, other protests have been scheduled to begin on Monday. The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) unveiled plans to hold protests at the Ministry of Health Offices in Upper Hill. KMPDU Secretary General Davji Atella revealed that doctors allied to the union will hold the protests on Monday. In the four days before next week, however, the doctors gave Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha five demands, including posting all medical interns and paying them as per the collective bargaining agreement. Other demands include the setting up the Health Service Commission and the return of the Linda Mama programme. Doctors further expressed their disapproval of the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) whose registration process kicked off on July 1. The protest comes barely two months after the doctors and the government reached an agreement following prolonged paralysis in hospitals after the health workers downed their tools. The union signed a return-to-work formula with the state on May 8 ending a 56-day strike after reaching an agreement on more than 16 issues KMPDU raised. The issue of interns' placement and pay proved to be thorny since the doctors wanted them posted immediately while the government wanted the doctors to wait for a court's decision. The two parties however agreed to hold back the posting of interns for 60 days as talks continued. The Kenyan DAILY POST Sunday, July 7, 2024 - Law Society of Kenya(LSK) President Madam Faith Odhiambo has rejected a job offer from President William Ruto. On Friday, Ruto appointed Faith to the Presidential Task Force auditing the national debt, according to a gazette notice. However, in a statement on Saturday LSK, through its chief executive Florence Muturi, said the task force is unconstitutional since the government's statutory audits are preserved for the Auditor General. The LSK cited a case in which the High Court specified the Office of the Auditor General as the rightful entity to audit the accounts of Trans Nzoia County. "We take note of the recent High Court decision underscoring the Auditor-General's role in public audit matters in Ondago v Natembeya & 15 others [2023] KEHC 22268 (19 September 2023) (Judgment) where the High Court while nullifying a taskforce created to audit county government debts, asserted that the governor could request the Auditor- General to conduct a forensic audit," partly read the LSK's communique. With the foregoing, the attorneys resolved that their president would not be taking up her appointment. "The Council of the Law Society of Kenya has thus resolved that neither our president nor any of our members shall take up appointments or participate in the said task force," the LSK said. The Kenyan DAILY POST Saturday, July 6, 2024 - Controversial city politician Karen Nyamu has surfaced with a cryptic message after President Ruto addressed her conduct in public during an engagement with young Kenyans on X Space. The scandalous Senator was singled out by one user who wondered why she is still holding public office despite her conduct which has brought disrepute to the office she currently holds. Ruto said he summoned Nyamu and told her that she needs to change. Even Nyamu, I have had an occasion to sit her down and tell her that she needs to change what she is doing. She is a girl I have had to sit down and tell her, look, you need to do things differently. I know what is going on and I have promised that I will be making changes. the President stated. In an apparent response to being called out by the President, the lawmaker took to Instagram on July 5, 2024, sharing a photo with the caption that read: Welcome to Kenya my country where baddies also snitch. Nyamu has been at the center of controversies and was at one point summoned by UDA party after getting involved in an altercation in a club in Dubai. The Kenyan DAILY POST Sunday, July 7, 2024 - Shock and grief has engulfed Kenyatta University students after the body of Denzel Omondi, a Quantity Survey student, was found dumped in a quarry. Omondi went missing on Wednesday, 26th June, a day after the anti-finance bill protests. He was among the protesters who turned up for the protests and occupied Parliament. According to Omondis brother, he was abducted by unknown people. His body was retrieved from the Mashinani quarry in Kabete constituency. It is believed that his death is linked to the Gen Z protests. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Sunday, July 7, 2024 Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Faith Odhiambo has refused to be used by President William Ruto. This is after she declined his job offer. In a statement, Faith, through the LSK, turned down her appointment to the public debt audit task force. LSK termed the task force unconstitutional and therefore illegal on grounds that it invalidated the role of the Auditor General whose mandate was to audit the countrys public debts. According to the Society, it had thus resolved that neither its president nor any of its members would take up appointments or participate in the said task force. Taking cognizance of the provisions of Article 229 of the constitution and the interpretation of the said provisions by the court, it is our considered view that the establishment of the task force is unconstitutional, LSK noted in a statement. The mandate to audit public debt rests with the office of the Auditor-General. LSK further called on the Head of State to refrain from seizing the role of the Auditor-General to undertake her constitutional mandate. According to LSK, it is unnecessary to squander scarce public resources by appointing a Presidential task force to perform the duties of existing public offices. "The Office on Public Debt Management, headed by a Director-General at the Treasury and funded by public money, should provide details of public debt to the Auditor-General for forensic audit," LSK stated. Ruto announced the appointment of a Presidential Taskforce on Forensic Audit of Public Debt. Among those named in the committee included Nancy Onyango who was appointed as the chairperson, Luis Franceschi as the vice chairperson, and LSK President Faith Odhiambo. The Kenyan DAILY POST Saturday, July 6, 2024 - President Ruto addressed concerns of misconduct and opulence displayed by some UDA leaders, which has infuriated Kenyans. Ruto, who spoke during an X Space Engagement Forum on Friday, was responding to a question by a user who called out nominated Senator Karen Nyamu for always making media headlines for all the wrong reasons. The user wondered why Karen was still holding a public office despite her lack of modesty and display of a lavish lifestyle. Ruto acknowledged concerns about Nyamu, saying that in some instances, he has been forced to engage her personally, and even asked her to reform. I agree that some of our officials are arrogant, some of them speak out of fun, and some display obnoxious opulence if I may say which does not just anger the public, sometimes I call some of those people and give them a piece of my mind, said Ruto. Even Nyamu, I have had an occasion to sit her down and tell her that she needs to change what she is doing, he added. Ruto said he engaged the outspoken Senator regarding her public image and even advised her to consider taking a different approach in the way she carries herself. She attributed Nyamus behaviour to 'excitement', which he said often results from young people assuming high positions of power. When you are in my position you are also a father figure and some of these young people get excited about many things and sometimes do the wrong things and I know someone mentioned Karen Nyamu, Ruto noted. She is a girl I have had to sit down and tell her, look, you need to do things differently. I know what is going on and I have promised that I will be making changes, he added. The Kenyan DAILY POST Sunday, July 7, 2024 - Azimio Leader Raila Odinga has called for a constructive dialogue after nationwide anti-government protests rocked most parts of the country in the past few weeks. As part of the austerity measures, the Azimio Chief called on the national government, state officers, and leaders to have an all-inclusive robust engagement and discussion to listen to the plight of Kenyans who are experiencing tough economic times. Kenyans who were angered by the current economic crisis stormed the streets to protest against the finance bill, and heavy taxation that would be imposed on various commodities. In a rallying call to support the efforts taken by Gen Z who took to the streets to protest against what they termed government punitive taxes and controversial finance bill, Raila pushed for a need to address all concerns raised by Kenyans during demonstrations. "What this country now requires is a serious and comprehensive dialogue. If we do this, then we will be able to fix all issues that have gone wrong," Raila said. While attending the burial of the former Member of Parliament, Maina Wanjigi - father to businessman Jimi Wanjigi, Raila echoed the protesters' push for new reforms while explaining why he distanced himself from the protests. "Gen Z told me to step back because I have done enough, and they will proceed. I have taken a step back, but I am behind you, Raila stated. The Kenyan DAILY POST Sunday, July 7, 2024 - Narc Kenya Party leader Martha Karua has weighed in on the move by President William Rutos Cabinet to commend police officers' conduct during the anti-government protests. Taking to her X platform, Karua said the move by the top decision marking organ was an insult to families who lost their kin during the demos and those who were injured. An insult to the families who lost loved ones and to the hundred injured, said the Azimio co-principal. Ruto and his Cabinet on Thursday said that the security officers acted professionally in very difficult circumstances and protected the country from anarchists. The members commended security officers, pointing out that they on the whole acted professionally in very difficult circumstances. "The Cabinet also noted that security agencies did a good job of protecting the country from anarchists, a dispatch from State House read in part. This is even as the police have been condemned for killing innocent Gen Zs during anti-government demos, and for Ruto to commend them for doing a good job, is commending them for killing innocent and unarmed youths. The Kenyan DAILY POST Sunday, July 7, 2024 - Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary, Kipchumba Murkomen, has called on a lifestyle audit on all public officers to minimise corruption in public service. Murkomen, who is accused of stealing billions and hiding it in Dubai and the Cayman Islands, urged Parliament to urgently introduce a Lifestyle Audit Bill to scrutinize the living standards of public officers. I propose that Parliament urgently introduces and passes Lifestyle Audit Bill to provide the parameters of auditing the state and public officers and to investigate their living standards to ascertain consistency with their lawful income, he said on Saturday. The Cabinet Secretary highlighted growing concerns that some state and public officers are living beyond their means, which necessitates a formal process to verify the sources of their wealth. Kuliko tuongee kwa mdomo tu, watu wanasema..., huyu alikuwa waziri jana, amenunua kiatu, amenunua shati, amejenga nyumba Why dont we pass a law in Kenya for lifestyle audit, so that after every one year we can do a lifestyle audit of everyone holding public office, Murkomen said. The Kenyan DAILY POST Sunday, July 7, 2024 - Kapsaret Member of Parliament, Oscar Sudi, has revealed that unknown people have been working with Gen Z to overthrow President William Ruto. Speaking on Saturday, Sudi, who is a close ally of the Head of State, said the mass protests by Gen Z were not solely to oppose the moribund Finance Bill 2024 but to overturn President William Ruto's administration. Sudi claimed civil societies and other unnamed figures were behind the protests. "What happened recently in Kenya was planned. "They wanted to overthrow the government. It was a coup plot. "They just used our children as the shield, with the civil societies and other plotters working hard to help the real detractors succeed. "But I thank God things calmed and normalcy has returned among Kenyans," Sudi claimed. The lawmaker further agreed with the National Intelligence Service (NIS) report that has linked two central Kenya politicians, two Nairobi politicians, and one Rift Valley politician with the Gen Z revolution. The Kenyan DAILY POST Sunday, July 7, 2024 - There is an uproar on social media after it emerged that two sons of politicians hold senior positions in Government despite graduating at the bottom of the class in the UoN Civil Engineering class of 2015. Alvin Wetangula, the son of National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula, was the last in the class but he now holds a senior position at the Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC), thanks to his fathers connection. Debora Kerubo, one of the best students in the Engineering Class, was still tarmacking as of 2022 and doing online jobs to survive, despite her remarkable performance. Most senior government jobs are assigned to incompetent sons and daughters of politicians, who performed poorly in school. Check this out. Saturday, July 6, 2024 - Standard Media Group has reportedly terminated the contracts of numerous interns under what insiders describe as coercive tactics employed by senior management and the Human Resources department. According to multiple sources within the organization, this abrupt decision occurred on Friday morning and left interns without pay for several months. Their termination came just a day after radio employees from Standard Media Group went on strike over unpaid salaries. There is talk of a transformation committee which has been meeting daily throughout the month. This committee, tasked with overseeing various aspects of organizational change, has been receiving full salaries and additional allowances, despite the financial struggles faced by the general workforce they supervise. This has sparked even more outrage among employees who view the committees actions as hypocritical and unjust. A particularly troubling aspect of this unfolding scenario is the involvement of Kiplagat Kwambai, colloquially known as "Ngombe Hamsini". Kwambai, a high-ranking official and member of the transformation committee, is accused of employing intimidating tactics against striking workers His dual role as both a committee member and a figure of authority allegedly contributing to the hostile work environment has been a focal point of employee grievances. On Thursday, July 4, Standard Media Group staff from Radio Maisha, Spice FM, Berur FM and Vybez Radio journalists walked out of their workstations and gathered at the staff cafeteria. This followed subsequent prior admonitions to management that unless the outstanding salary arrears were expeditiously settled, they would be compelled to terminate broadcasting. Cyprian Nyakundi As a pain management physician, I often receive requests to authorize or renew patients accessible parking permits. These usually are routine, but not always. One morning, a patient, whom Ill refer to as Steve, came into my clinic. Steve was mainly a healthy man in his 40s. He had had chronic pain since an accident on a construction job site several years ago. He had successfully filed for disability, with a ruling that the pain from his workplace injury would not allow him to work in any profession that required prolonged standing, sitting, or lifting. Steve had always been a model patientconsistently polite, pleasant, and compliant with my suggestions for treatment and lifestyle changes to improve his condition. However, today, something was different. Steve visited me that morning because he decided to renew his accessible parking permit. This request puzzled me because it was not intuitive to my previous recommendations. I knew that Steve had pain, but this had been the case for years. And I also knew that the first law of physical medicine is use it or lose it. The less Steve walked daily, the faster he would lose mobility as he aged. This is why I have a policy of only considering handicapped permits for patients over 65 whenever possible. I was in a complex situation, torn between the need to keep Steve mobile and the ethical considerations of issuing a handicapped parking permit. I believed that Steves medical condition didnt warrant a handicapped parking permit, regardless of what previous doctors had determined. When I explained this to Steve, a change came over him, and he became suddenly irate. His face grew red, then purple. He raised his voice, asking me what kind of doctor I was if I thought he wasnt disabled. Finally, he stood up. Ill sue you for this! he threatened. He looked ready to do quite a bit more than that. I confess I began to sweat facing this unprecedented transformation. Steve, a former construction worker, was not a tiny man. Although his injury gave him pain that became unbearable with prolonged standing, it would only take him a few seconds to do damage to me if he wanted to. In addition, I had committed a cardinal sin learned in my psych rotation. Namely, I had let my patient get between me and the door. He could block my exit and trap me in the room. I quickly excused myself, trying not to show how flustered I was as I walked to my nurses station. I assigned Steve to a different doctorwho, I learned through the grapevine, authorized his accessible parking permit to control the potentially volatile situation. I want to rest on one concern, however. In most states, it is challenging for patients to successfully sue a physician for denying a handicapped parking permit. While disability criteria vary by state, in Florida, only patients with severe lung problems, who are blind, who require permanent use of a wheelchair, and who cannot walk more than 200 feet without stopping to rest must receive a permit. And therein lies the problem. How do we ensure accessible parking spaces are reserved for those who need them most? In the end, I am a pain management physician. Virtually all my patients experience chronic pain to some degree. Many have conditions that require them to use wheelchairs, canes, or walkers. Yet, in the parking lot outside my office, there are only two handicapped parking spaces. The ratio of accessible parking spaces to ordinary spaces required by state law is relatively low, and it is almost unheard of for businesses to exceed the required ratio. So, who should get one of the two accessible spaces outside the pain management clinic? For instance, I was leaving work once when I saw something that stopped me. Parked in one of the handicapped spaces was what I would describe as a monster truck. This massive vehicle was so big that I would have required a ladder to climb into one of the seats. I saw no sliding doors or other obvious equipment, suggesting an occupant in a wheelchair. Yet, upon examination, this truck did have the proper sticker to park in an accessible parking spot. In my mind, I contrasted this to another patient I had. Penny could not move her legs at all following polio. On one occasion, I asked her to show me how she got in and out of her car to drive. It was a fantastic process that involved using her arms to hoist herself into her cars back seat, folding up the wheelchair, hoisting the wheelchair up to place it on the back seat beside her, and then using her arms to hoist herself into the drivers seat, where a unique set of controls allowed her to operate the gas and brakes with her hands. Penny performed this procedure with remarkable speed and a casual attitude. Surprisingly, she never asked me to authorize an accessible parking permit. The ethical ramifications of our actions as doctors can be murky. Having a doctor sign off on an accessible parking sticker can make it more likely for states to recognize a patients claim of disabilityand the accompanying health insurance, housing assistance, and other assistance that can be lifesaving for patients who are too sick or injured to work. Shrewd disability attorneys know this fact. Yet if we authorize handicapped permits for everyone who has pain, what will become of patients who genuinely cannot move more than 200 feet under their own power? This is one case where I would not advocate for implementing universal standards. If Steve had not already been approved for disability and had needed a permit to help him receive lifesaving assistance, I may have considered his case differently. If Penny had asked for a permit, I would have been required to give it to her. This underscores the importance of individualized assessment in the disability claims process, where each patients unique circumstances must be considered. Still, my goal as a physiatrist is to keep people mobile. If I help my patients avoid physical activity, I may be meaningfully worsening their long-term mobility. So, how do we, as doctors, decide when this life-changing question comes up? This is a time to practice the human art of medicine, considering all the factors influencing the patients physical, economic, and emotional well-being. Its crucial to strike a balance, ensuring that we dont hinder our patients mobility while upholding the integrity of the disability assessment process. Francisco M. Torres is an interventional physiatrist specializing in diagnosing and treating patients with spine-related pain syndromes. He is certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the American Board of Pain Medicine and can be reached at Florida Spine Institute and Wellness. The evidence is clear: Proximity to fossil fuel infrastructure poses a significant cancer risk to millions of Americans. Studies consistently link exposure to pollutants like benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and particulate matter from fossil fuel facilities to elevated rates of lung cancer, leukemia, and other malignancies. Alarmingly, 17.6 million Americans live in close proximity to active oil and gas wells, transportation pipelines, and processing facilities, subjecting them to harmful air pollution. Children, pregnant women, older adults, communities of color, Indigenous populations, low-income groups, and immigrants are particularly vulnerable to the health impacts of these carcinogenic emissions. A preventable public health crisis The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified benzene, certain PAHs, and heavy metals like arsenic and cadmium as Group 1 carcinogens, solidifying the link between fossil fuel pollutants and cancer. These pollutants cause cancer through mechanisms such as direct DNA damage, oxidative stress, and chronic inflammation. Exposure to particulate matter from fossil fuel emissions contributed to 18% of total global fatalities in 2018. Despite this overwhelming evidence, regulatory action to protect public health has been inadequate. While agencies like the EPA, CDC, and NASA monitor pollution levels and conduct research, stronger measures are urgently needed to mitigate the cancer risk posed by fossil fuel infrastructure. A call for action Physicians can help protect patients from these dangerous exposures by: 1. Educating patients and communities. Leverage their trusted position to raise awareness about the health hazards of fossil fuel pollution, especially among vulnerable populations. Provide educational materials, host community forums, and engage with local media to disseminate accurate information. 2. Advocating for stronger regulations. Use their professional expertise to advocate for stricter regulations and emission standards for fossil fuel facilities. Collaborate with medical associations, public health organizations, and environmental groups to lobby policymakers and regulatory agencies for more protective measures. 3. Supporting environmental justice initiatives. Partner with environmental justice organizations and community groups to address the disproportionate impact of fossil fuel pollution on marginalized communities. Advocate for equitable policies, community monitoring programs, and targeted interventions in high-risk areas. 4. Conducting research and surveillance. Participate in research studies, epidemiological investigations, and cancer surveillance efforts to enhance our understanding of the link between fossil fuel exposure and cancer risk. Collaborate with academic institutions, government agencies, and research organizations to generate robust data and evidence-based solutions. 5. Promoting preventive care and screening. Emphasize the importance of regular cancer screenings, early detection, and preventive measures for patients living in proximity to fossil fuel infrastructure. Develop tailored screening guidelines and educational campaigns to mitigate cancer risk in these communities. 6. Supporting clean energy transition. Endorse and advocate for policies that accelerate the transition to renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, and geothermal power. Collaborate with energy companies, policymakers, and stakeholders to promote sustainable energy solutions that reduce fossil fuel dependence and associated health risks. A moral imperative The evidence is overwhelming: Fossil fuel infrastructure poses a significant and preventable cancer risk to millions of Americans, disproportionately impacting vulnerable communities. Ignoring this crisis is a moral failure. Health professionals have a responsibility to protect public health and prioritize the well-being of our patients. Elissa Klein is a medical student. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 My Detention in 1970s (2024-07-07 12:32:28) Once I was personally detained in China 54 years ago, when I was only 18 years old. During that time, all the middle school students in towns and cities were sent to the countryside for farming. I was sent to No. 93 Farm in Nenjiang County , northern-west Heilongjiang Province on Oct. 20, 1968. Due to my childish joking in private about great leader Chairman Mao\'s wife Jiang Qing, I was reported and suspected as an anti-revolutionary, and was soon secretly detained by the local CCP security branch in mid April, 1970. In the farm\'s security branch, two staff members interrogated me. I was questioned for several hours until late at night. They asked me something nonsense as why I wrote a sentence birds cannot fly high in my diary. While I not knowing how to answer, one of the staff members said: that means you wanted to escape from us but failed. Later I was sent to sleep in a closed farmhouse. There were several criminals being detained there, among whom some were thieves and an old man committed raping. One interest crime was committed by a man surnamed Shi, who said one day that so bright as it is, why the red sun cannot shine upon my small black room? Soon later Shi was reported as attacking socialism and detained. Being watched by some guard, we had to do all the dirty and bloody work everyday, such as cleaning toilets and butching pigs. One day we were ordered to kill a pitiful ill horse. In the meantime, I heard that the two security branch members went to my hometown to investigate my family, my relatives, my friends and other backgrounds. One of my friends told me later that he was asked why we so enjoyed the French impressionist painting rather than learning Chairman Mao\'s works. The staff\'s tour of my hometown found nothing, because I had done nothing in terms of anti-revolutionary. Therefore after 58 days\' detention, I was released. A man dressed as one of the Village People, who went into a house he mistakenly thought he was staying in when drunk, has pleaded guilty to trespass. The defendant admitted trespass and being intoxicated in a public place at Rosehill, Kilkenny on October 31. Garda John OSullivan said that on the date in question gardai received a call to say that a man had appeared in a house and was asleep in a bedroom. When gardai arrived they spoke to the man and asked him if he knew where he was. He was incoherent and when he was asked to leave he did. I dont think there was any criminal intent, he was highly intoxicated, he was out of it, said the garda. Solicitor, Chris Hogan said that his client has no previous convictions and was out socialising on Halloween night and was meant to be staying in a friends house. He was drinking champagne and shots, he had never drank champagne. He locked his phone by putting in the wrong code, said Mr Hogan adding that his client was dressed up as one of the Village People at the time of the incident. He is embarrassed by his behaviour and he had moderated his drinking since, said Mr Hogan. Judge Geraldine Carthy convicted the defendant and imposed a fine of 300. The judge also said that she was noting the guilty pleas and directed that 500 in compensation be paid. Judge Carthy remarked that she was taking the fact that the defendant has no previous convictions into consideration and that the garda had stated that it is his belief that there was no criminal intent. For more court news click here County moves forward with 144 billion won project to turn every major island into vibrant tourist attraction By Park Han-sol Sinan County in South Jeolla Province, a distinctive southwestern district made up of 1,025 islets, is welcoming Korea's first street art-filled island. The initiative is part of the county's ambitious 144 billion won ($104.1 million) art project to construct a cultural museum or landmark on every major island, thus transforming the district with its shrinking population of 38,000 into a vibrant tourist attraction. The establishment of Graffiti Town on Aphae Island has kicked off with the participation of three prominent artists: Paris-based JonOne, Dulk from Spain and Vhils from Portugal. The project is jointly organized by Sinan County and Urban Break, the organizer of Asia's largest contemporary urban and street art fair of the same name. Dulk, who has been capturing the beauty of animals and nature through his graffiti since childhood, was the first artist to add a creative twist to the island's seascape. His expansive work graces the facade of the Aphae's Town Hall office, inspired by the animals native to the county's famous tidal flats ghost crabs, black-faced spoonbills and little terns as well as the endangered tigers of Korea. The next creative in the lineup is JonOne, a recipient of France's premier award The Legion of Honor in 2015. This month, he is set to draw his tag using red, blue and white hues associated with Korea's traditional color scheme, "obangsaek" across the walls of Palace Park, an apartment complex that is rented for a mere 10,000 won per month to newlyweds. Taking up the baton in September is Vhils, known for his unique practice of carving and drilling concrete walls to create relief-like art. He will produce portraits of the county's locals on the facade of a bank building. The Graffiti Island initiative will continue until 2026, with additional artists, including domestic ones, being invited to join the initial three. Meanwhile, other islands peppered across Sinan County are set for their own artistic transformations in the coming years, led by world-renowned sculptors, architects and installation artists. These include "master of light" James Turrell on Nodae Island; Olafur Eliasson, who is behind immersive spatial installations featuring striking elemental materials on Docho Island; Antony Gormley, creator of life-sized human body sculptures on Bigeum Island and Japanese postwar artist Yukinori Yanagi on Anjwa Island. By Park Jin-hai Mesmerizing artworks by Carlos Cruz-Diez, a Venezuelan-born pioneer of optical and kinetic art in the late 20th and 21st centuries, are captivating art fans in Seoul with his contributions to color theory and practice. The Korean tour of the global project "Cruz-Diez RGB, The Colors of the Century," marking the 100th anniversary of the late artist's birth, is currently on display until Sept. 18. According to the exhibition's organizer, the Seoul Arts Center, it will focus more on the RGB color model and the principle of light, which permeates the artist's research, in addition to the works exhibited in the existing project. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1923, Cruz-Diez combined artistic creativity and scientific curiosity to create his own artistic world. The artist's innovative work on color experiments and light manipulation made him a household name. He is also well-known to Korean art fans due to his 1988 installation "Physichromie Double Face" at the Olympic Park in Seoul and "Spirale Virtuelle," a 2001 installation at the Korean Folk Village in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Since 2023, the Centre Pompidou and the Cruz-Diez Foundation have been actively organizing various events and exhibitions to shed new light on the life and artistic achievements of Cruz-Diez, in order to honor the artist's centenary. This project at the Centre Pompidou originated from an exhibition conceived by the artist himself in 2014. The project features installation works filled with the special lighting of the three primary colors. They include "The Chromosaturation" (1965), an artificial environment composed of three colored chambers, one blue, one red and one green that immerse the visitor in a completely monochrome situation, the two-dimensional works of "Couleur Additive" (Additive Color), "Couleur a lespace" (Color in Space) and "Induction Chromatique" (Chromatic Induction) as well as an interactive software program and "Interactive Chromatic Random Experience," which enables visitors to directly touch and manipulate the artwork. For the Korean tour of the exhibition, the artist's signature series "Induction du Jaune Korea" (Induction of Yellow Korea) and "Environnement Chromointerferent" (Chromointerference Environment), which projects a pattern of moving lines onto the entire space using a projector to enrich the audience's experience, have been added to the existing exhibition. I have always wanted to throw color beyond its support and project it into the universe ... Color is autonomous, fleeting, perpetually moving. Color is like life: a permanent present, the legendary contemporary artist once said. Cruz-Diez's work is based on color theory and the theory of light, but his art is more than just a scientific experiment, providing the audience with a true artistic experience. The exhibition "Cruz-Diez RGB, The Colors of the Century" explores the artist's scientific analysis and research on the process of perceiving light and color. This exhibition is open at the Hangaram Art Museum in Seoul Arts Center in Seoul. Korea's car exports are estimated to have reached a record $37 billion for the first half of the year, according to industry data Sunday. Automobile exports are estimated to have increased 3.8 percent on-year during the January-June period to reach $37.01 billion, marking the highest tally for the first half of any year, according to tentative data from the industry ministry and the Korea International Trade Association. The previous record was at $35.65 billion last year, boosted by 46.5 percent on-year growth from 2022. Since 2021, car exports have seen positive year-on-year growth for four consecutive years in the first half. By region, car exports to the United States, the world's largest market, jumped 29.8 percent to $18.45 billion. In contrast, exports to the European Union decreased by 30 percent, while those to the Middle East and Latin America slipped 18.7 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively. Shipments of hybrid vehicles and internal combustion engine models grew 19.5 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively, but exports of electric vehicles fell by 17.5 percent during the period, according to data. (Yonhap) North Korea's state media on Sunday called for loyalty to its leader Kim Jong-un ahead of the death anniversary of the founder of the country, Kim Il-sung, later this week, amid tensions over the North's weapons testing and defense pact with Russia. The North's main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, made the call as the nation is set to mark the 30th anniversary of the death of Kim Il-sung, who ruled the country from 1948 to 1994 and is the grandfather of the current ruler, Kim Jong-un, on Monday. "The path of wholeheartedly following the will of (Kim Jong-un), it is on this path there lies the eternal life of the great leader, and the path to most perfectly and excellently realizing the great leader's lifelong wish," an article on its front page read. State media refer to Kim Il-sung by the title "great leader." The article listed a series of projects undertaken by the current leader, such as building a new training school of the ruling party, calling them wishes of the late founder. The North's official Korean Central News Agency also introduced the Rodong Sinmun article in an English-language dispatch. "The immortality of the leader is a sacred world that comes true only through the great succession. The succession to the great idea and intention is, indeed, the immortality of the President preserved by the respected General Secretary Kim Jong-un," it said, referring to Kim Il-sung by the title of president. "Let us always remain faithful to the respected General Secretary and achieve a fresh victory of the revolution without fail under his guidance. This is our sacred pledge before the President," it said. Kim Jong-un's hair and fashion style early in his rule was similar to that of Kim Il-sung, with observers saying the look was intended to secure loyalty from the public and consolidate power. North Korea usually holds big commemorative ceremonies on every fifth or 10th anniversary of a major national event. The country held large-scale commemorations for the 20th and 25th death anniversaries of the late founder in 2014 and 2019, respectively. (Yonhap) The government is expected to announce measures as early as Monday to deal with trainee doctors who refuse to return to hospitals in protest of medical reform, according to officials on Sunday. Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong is scheduled to hold a press conference on Monday, during which he will announce the measures, the officials said. The government has been weighing measures on how to respond to the junior doctors who have left their worksites since late February, with most of them remaining unresponsive to the government's appeasement measures to help them return to hospitals. Cho had earlier pledged to introduce such measures in early July, as hospitals need to prepare for the recruitment of new junior doctors who will begin training in September. As of Thursday, 1,104 junior doctors, or 8 percent of 13,756 trainee doctors, were on duty at the country's 211 training hospitals, according to government data. Trainee doctors have been on strike for nearly five months in protest against a hike in medical student admissions, the first such increase in 27 years, which was finalized in May. The government initially instructed hospitals not to accept trainee doctors' resignations to prevent them from seeking other jobs but reversed this order in late June to normalize operations. As the protracted walkout by trainee doctors has shown little signs of ending, medical professors, who also serve as senior doctors at general hospitals, began staging walkouts and other forms of protest. (Yonhap) Xing Haiming concludes 4.5 years of anticlimactic tenure in Seoul By Lee Hyo-jin Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming, one of the most talked-about ambassadors in Seoul, is set to end his mission after approximately four and a half years of service. He is expected to return to China on Wednesday. Xing's tenure in Seoul, initially filled with high expectations for strengthened ties between the two Asian neighbors, ultimately was somewhat underwhelming. Given that Xing served in both Pyongyang and Seoul before his ambassadorial role, he gained a reputation for possessing deep knowledge and experience in Korea-related affairs. This raised high hopes that he would foster friendly ties between the two nations. However, just weeks after he took office in January 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic, originating from Wuhan, China, broke out in February 2020, souring the Korean public's view of China. Further complicating his mission, Xing's outspoken profile created unease under the Yoon Suk Yeol government, which was inaugurated in May 2022. As China expressed displeasure with the Yoon administration's foreign policy of aligning with the United States and Japan, the Chinese envoy was quick to convey his government's stance. During an interview with The Korea Times in August 2023, which took place just a day before the Camp David summit that saw the leaders of Korea, the U.S. and Japan gather, Xing stated, "China firmly opposes any acts targeting Beijing as a consequence of plans drawn up at the summit." The interview came two months after the envoy made headlines due to his confrontational remarks during a meeting with opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung in June. In the meeting, the envoy stated that Korea was to blame for the many difficulties in bilateral relations, and said Seoul was making a "wrong bet" by leaning toward the U.S. amid the intensifying rivalry between Washington and Beijing. His confrontational remarks prompted some ruling party lawmakers to call for the Korean government to declare Xing as "persona non grata" and expel him. Korea's presidential office demanded that the Chinese government in Beijing take "appropriate measures" regarding Xing. Following the diplomatic gaffe, it is believed that senior Korean diplomats have shunned meeting with Xing, forcing the ambassador to be less visible thereafter. Xing paid a farewell visit to Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul last Thursday, which was the outgoing envoy's first and last encounter with Korea's top diplomat, who took office in January this year. Following the meeting with Cho, Xing told the local press that he "made many friends here and will never forget the bond with Korea." But he remained tight-lipped when asked if he had any regrets about his tenure. The envoy's replacement comes amid a thaw in bilateral relations following a rare trilateral Korea-China-Japan summit in May, with Seoul and Beijing resuming high-level exchanges and the "two-plus-two" diplomatic and security dialogues. While the next ambassador has not been appointed yet, some rumored candidates include the current ambassador to Myanmar, Chen Hai; the current ambassador to Vietnam, Xiong Bo and Chen Shaochun, deputy director-general of the department of Asian affairs. Lee Sang-man, a China expert at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University, anticipated a high chance that Chen will assume the envoy role, describing him as a "seasoned diplomat in Korean affairs." "There are some expectations among Korean officials that Xing's departure would signal China's willingness to recalibrate relationships. But that's wishful thinking. If Chen is appointed, bilateral relations could become difficult again as he is known for being a more assertive 'wolf warrior' diplomat than Xing," Lee said. President Yoon Suk Yeol is expected to warn against deepening defense cooperation between North Korea and Russia as he is set to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit this week, according to presidential officials on Sunday. Yoon will visit Washington from Wednesday to Thursday to take part in the summit, becoming the first South Korean president to participate in the gathering for the third year in a row. On Wednesday, Yoon will hold back-to-back talks with the heads of more than five NATO members, including the Czech Republic, Sweden, Finland and Norway, as well as with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The talks are expected to discuss bilateral issues and the regional and global security situation, with a focus on energy and security cooperation. Later that evening, Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee will attend a dinner hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, at the White House. On Thursday, Yoon will participate in a summit between NATO's Indo-Pacific partners, which also include Japan, Australia and New Zealand, before attending the main NATO summit. The gathering of the Indo-Pacific countries may produce a message critical of military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo said Friday Seoul seeks to send a "strong message" over the military cooperation between Russia and North Korea through the NATO summit. "While sending a strong message against military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, (we) will discuss ways for cooperation with NATO to respond to this," he said in a briefing. Last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new "comprehensive strategic partnership" treaty pledging mutual military assistance in case either of them comes under attack, raising concerns over their deepening ties. Meanwhile, possible bilateral summits with the United States and Japan as well as a trilateral one on the sidelines of the NATO summit have yet to be confirmed. Yoon is also scheduled to make a speech at the NATO Public Forum, co-organized by NATO and five think tanks in the United States and Europe, on Thursday. It will mark the first time a South Korean president will make a speech at the forum. Ahead of the NATO summit, Yoon will travel to Hawaii from Monday to Tuesday to visit the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, in a series of events intended to enhance the bilateral alliance. (Yonhap) Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Sunday instructed officials to take emergency containment measures as authorities confirmed more cases of African swine fever (ASF) at a pig farm in a southeastern county. The instruction came after this year's sixth case of the virus, which is deadly to pigs but not harmful to humans, was confirmed at the farm raising some 900 pigs in Yecheon County, 161 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Han ordered authorities to take relevant measures, including culling, a standstill order and an epidemiological analysis, the prime minister's office said in a statement. A standstill order has been issued in Yecheon and six other counties and cities nearby, including Andong and Yeongju, through 6 a.m. Monday. Authorities plan to conduct an epidemiological investigation, cull pigs at the farm, and disinfect the site and nearby roads. The agriculture ministry said the culling is not expected to impact the supply of pork in the local market, noting that the farm in question raised just 0.008 percent of the total number of pigs in the country. (Yonhap) Concerns mount over hateful discourse concerning older drivers By Jung Da-hyun Public opinion is reigniting over the need for stricter measures for older drivers after a 68-year-old man involved in a deadly car crash near Seoul City Hall, which claimed nine lives, was identified. However, there are growing concerns that this debate could deteriorate into indiscriminate criticism or personal attacks on older drivers. Even before last week's tragedy, how to deal with older drivers specifically, encouraging older drivers to return their licenses has been a hot-button issue as the number of drivers aged 65 or older is increasing steadily amid the nation's aging population. Just two days after the fatal car crash, a taxi driven by a man in his 70s crashed into the National Medical Center building, Wednesday, where an altar had been set up for one of the victims of the City Hall car crash, injuring three people, one seriously. On Saturday, another incident occurred near Seoul Station, where a car driven by a man in his 80s struck pedestrians while attempting a U-turn, injuring two people. The vehicle continued for about 20 meters after hitting the first pedestrian before striking another and stopped after crashing into a wall. According to data from the Korea Road Traffic Authority, 39,614 traffic accidents involving drivers aged 65 or older occurred last year, the highest number recorded since statistics began being collected in 1992. These incidents accounted for 20 percent of all traffic accidents, up from 17.6 percent the previous year. The Korea Insurance Development Institute also reported, Sunday, that the accident rate for drivers aged 65 or older was 4.57 percent. Compared to 4.04 percent for drivers under 65, it indicates that older drivers are responsible for 13 percent more accidents. Furthermore, accidents involving older drivers tend to result in a higher number of victims and a greater proportion of serious injuries. The average number of victims in accidents caused by drivers under 65 was 1.96, while for divers aged 65 or more, the figure was 2.63. Following a series of similar accidents, discussions are reigniting over the need to further tighten measures for older drivers, such as strengthening aptitude tests, mandating the return of drivers licenses for those over the age of 70, and encouraging older drivers to have their cars fitted with an automated emergency braking system (AEBS). Currently, the government requires drivers aged 75 and older to renew their driver's licenses every three years, including mandatory cognitive ability tests and traffic safety education. Additionally, the government recommends traffic safety education for drivers aged 65 and older. However, some point out that the renewed discussion on what qualifies one as being an older driver could lead to derogatory language and even hate toward older adults. Online comments regarding the car crash near city hall have displayed similar sentiments, such as "Please deprive old folks of their licenses." Some comments have gone as far as to compare the value of the lives of older drivers with young drivers, with one stating, "An elderly man nearing the end of his life killed nine people in their prime. Even if he were reincarnated 10 times, it wouldn't be enough to compensate." Jung Jae-hoon, a professor of social welfare at Seoul Women's University, criticized the public for recklessly blaming older adults. "Blaming the recent accidents on all older drivers is just scapegoating," he said. He also shared a personal experience to better explain that age is not the fundamental problem. "When standing at a crosswalk, I often see young drivers behaving recklessly. The fundamental problem is not age but inadequate traffic safety education," Jung said. "The fundamental problem lies in the nation's lax driver's license issuance process and inadequate post-traffic safety education. It is not fair to arbitrarily restrict driving qualifications for older individuals." Prosecutors have notified former leader of the main opposition Democratic Party Lee Jae-myung and his wife, Kim Hye-kyung, to appear for questioning over allegations of corporate credit card misuse when Lee served as the governor of Gyeonggi Province, sources said Sunday. Prosecutors at the Suwon District Prosecutors Office notified Lee of the questioning last Thursday over charges of breach of duty, according to the sources. The two sides are said to have agreed to arrange a finalized date for the session. The prosecutors office later issued a statement saying the summons is a "normal investigation procedure" in line with the criminal procedure code and aims to give the accused an opportunity to explain their positions. Lee and his wife are accused of allegedly misusing the corporate card from 2018 to 2019 for personal use by making a former Gyeonggi Province official, surnamed Bae, use the card to buy food items when Lee served as governor. The allegations were first made public by another former employee of the provincial government, leading to Bae's indictment on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act and his subsequent sentencing to a 10-month prison term, suspended for two years. Should Lee respond to the summons, it will be the seventh time he will appear for questioning by prosecutors. Among other things, he has previously been questioned over corruption allegations related to development projects in the Daejang-dong and Wirye districts in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, dating back to when he was mayor of the city, and separate allegations he offered administrative favors to four companies in exchange for corporate donations to football club Seongnam FC. Last month, prosecutors indicted Lee on charges of involvement in an unauthorized transfer of US$8 million to North Korea. Lee has criticized the indictment, saying the allegations "defy common sense." (Yonhap) Four candidates mired in mudslinging ahead of national convention By Kwak Yeon-soo First lady Kim Keon Hee's Telegram message to former ruling People Power Party (PPP) interim leader Han Dong-hoon has been emerging as a hot-button issue in the party leadership race, reigniting a political blame game among the four main candidates. Kim reportedly sent a message to Han in January, when the latter was serving as the interim leader of the PPP leading the April general election campaign, saying she had the intention of making a public apology if allegations that she illegally accepted a luxury handbag as a gift in 2022 continue to weigh on the conservative party. However, Han ignored her message without responding. The PPP secured only 108 seats in the 300-member National Assembly. Han subsequently resigned, taking responsibility for the electoral defeat. Han explained that he thought it would be inappropriate to engage in private conversations with Kim when he was in public discourse with the presidential office asking Kim to apologize to the public. He also elaborated on the message he received from Kim, saying, "I recall that Kim said she is in a 'difficult position' to apologize." "Intentionally bringing up this matter at this point is a dangerous attempt to harm my political standing. Many people would consider it strange or even suspect state intervention in party affairs," Han wrote on Facebook, Sunday. "I heard that some politicians, including those in the election management committee, are moving to demand my resignation because I asked for an apology publicly rather than through a private channel. There is also a discussion of disqualifying me as a candidate by taking this matter to the Ethics Committee," Han added. Former Land Minister Won Hee-ryong criticized Han for neglecting the first lady's message, saying that Han's unilateral strategy led to the party's crushing defeat in the general elections. Won also requested Han to disclose relevant text messages as it is the only way to resolve the misunderstanding. "The act of dragging the presidential office into the national convention to hide one's own mistakes is an act that splits the party and shakes up the presidential office. If such a person becomes a party leader, it's clear that the party-government relationship will be irreparable, and the party will be divided. We will struggle to keep control of the Democratic Party of Korea's impeachment calls," Won wrote on Facebook, also on Sunday. Other PPP leadership hopefuls accused both Han and Won of political mudslinging. Rep. Na Kyung-won, a five-term lawmaker, called Han an "irresponsible amateur" who squandered the opportunity to get an apology out of Kim while referring to Won as an "avatar" of President Yoon Suk Yeol. Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun, another five-term lawmaker in the running for party leadership, slammed Han for raising suspicions about the presidential office's involvement in the national convention. "One should not worsen the party-government relationship by claiming that the presidential office is interfering with the national convention. If (Han) clashes again with the presidential office ahead of the national convention, following his conflict during the general elections, not only him but also the party and the president will be doomed together," Rep. Yoon wrote on Facebook. Meanwhile, the presidential office denied any attempts to intervene in the national convention. "Especially during the national convention, we must be careful to ensure that each candidate does not draw the presidential office into the election. We will faithfully abide by the wishes of party members and the people following the national convention," a senior official at the presidential office said on condition of anonymity. The PPP chairmanship will be decided at a national convention on July 23. Bipartisan efforts needed to keep KCC working unhindered A million-dollar question has been raised after President Yoon Suk Yeol named former war correspondent Lee Jin-sook as the new chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC): How long will she stay in the position? Her predecessor, Kim Hong-il, stepped down six months after he took the helm. Kims predecessor, Lee Dong-kwan, had his tenure cut short, too. He called it quits only three months after he assumed the KCCs leadership post. They both stepped down as the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) was about to impeach them. The DPK accused them both of being Yoons henchmen who assumed their positions, albeit in different times, to help their boss control the media. If they had hung in there until the impeachment proceedings began, their powers would have been suspended. In this case, the KCC would have suffered the consequences. To avoid this worst-case scenario and keep the KCC doing its job, they quit. The road ahead for Yoons newest pick is murky. The DPK, again, threatened to impeach Lee, arguing she is unfit for the position. Her confirmation hearing will be an event through which the public will be able to fully understand who she is. We, as the DPK members, will do our best to put the brakes on the KCC chairpersons awkward relay sprints, DPK Rep. Noh Jong-myun said in a statement on Thursday. The DPKs warning, however, is unlikely to affect Yoons decision. Considering his previous course of actions, Yoon is expected to appoint his pick no matter what, once the parliamentary confirmation hearing is completed. Once the former MBC journalist assumes the KCC leadership post, the nation will be thrown into a political theater and the public will observe another KCC leader's tenure being cut short. The repetition of KCC leaders doomed fate does a disservice to the nation. First and foremost, criticism about the waste of taxpayer money is unavoidable. The KCC nominee is set to answer questions from lawmakers at the confirmation hearing. Preparing and holding confirmation hearings requires considerable time and resources as dozens of National Assembly staff and several more dozens, or maybe hundreds, of government employees are involved in the process. Frequent replacement of KCC leaders will force lawmakers to review a trove of documents and related materials to screen the candidates to find out whether they are fit for the job or not. This, in turn, will reduce their time and energy which otherwise would have been spent working on draft bills to improve the publics livelihoods. The Korean public will suffer from the consequences of partisan politics. Frequent replacement of KCC leaders could also thrust the KCC into limbo as a leadership vacuum becomes the new normal. Political leaders are tempted to tame the media in their favor. Whenever new leaders are sworn in, whether they are liberals or conservatives, they conduct reshuffles to replace top executives of the broadcasting companies. They know very well how significant a role the broadcasting media can play in shaping citizens way of thinking. Hence, they prefer cronyism in the media. Those who are critical of Yoon claim that he is trying to silence the media critical of his government. The Yoon government has been at odds with MBC. The two sides are caught in a legal battle about Yoons gaffe in September 2022 in New York. In January, the district court ruled in favor of the government, ordering MBC to run corrections about the caption through which it misinterpreted Yoons unofficial remark while reporting about the case. Lambasting the courts decision as a form of suppression of the media, MBC appealed. Those who are critical of MBC, however, say that the broadcasting company is criticizing the Yoon government for the sake of criticizing. In her acceptance speech on Thursday, Lee sharpened her tongue against the DPK and revealed her distrust toward some unnamed broadcasting companies and their militant labor unions. The nominee used a "murder weapon" analogy to pinpoint their alleged toxic role. She said some broadcasting companies have played a murder weapon-like role, adding that plenty of the journalists working in those companies are radical unionists. Politicians usually attempt to play games to use the media in their favor. This tactic wont work out as well as planned as long as there is true journalism in place. One thing clear is that in a game launched to manipulate the media, nobody wins. There are only losers. Politicians need to sit down to reach a bipartisan agreement to keep the KCC doing its job, rather than hindering it. By Robert Neff The great heat of summer will soon be upon you, declared Chesney Duncan in late spring 1884, "and many [of the expat community in China] will be casting about for some place that will afford both change of climate and of scenery to spend the hot months in! For those who were tired of dull and expensive Chefoo (modern Yantai) in China, and were willing to rough it a little in a cooler climate, he suggested they come to Fusan (modern Busan), Korea. I think it is kind of amusing to point out that a little over a decade later, Chefoo was a popular escape for the American missionaries in Korea. In his letter, Duncan went on to provide two new and agreeable routes that had recently been established to Korea from China and Japan. The first he described was the Nanzing, a small British-owned steamship which was commanded by Captain Charles Richard Balbernie (sometimes spelled as Balbirnie or Balberney) and assisted by four or five European officers and a small Chinese crew. According to Duncan, this ship was the most suitable for traveling families and was able to accommodate in comfort some ten passengers in her cabins and saloon. The ship departed Shanghai about once every three weeks and sailed first to Nagasaki where, while the ship was boarding cargo, passengers could do a little exploring. Dont go on shore, urged Duncan, but instead take your lunch, and get into a boat, and spend the day at Pappenberg (Takaboko Island), where you can have plenty of bathing, and wander round the sacred rocks, getting back in time for dinner. Generally the Nanzing departed Nagasaki just after dinner and, as Duncan poetically waxed, with a fine [moonlit] night and calm sea, you will inhale health and strength at every breath, and be positively charmed with the scenery and arrive in Fusan between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. the following morning. Not everyone had calm seas, but they did have praise for the beauty of the Korean coast. Reverend Wolfe, a passenger aboard the Nanzing, wrote: With daylight came peace and tranquillity, as our noble steamer ploughed her way into calm waters, amid the straits of the numerous islands, large and small; which are plentifully scattered along the south-western coast of Corea. Many of these islands rise hundreds of feet up out of the blue sea. Some of them are covered with verdure while others present only a weird and barren appearance to passengers as they look upon them from the deck of the steamers. Altogether they offer to the eye a pleasing tableau as the great waves which dash against them rise and sparkle their snowy spray in the bright rays of the morning sun. About 10 a.m. we steered through a very narrow pass, with gigantic rocks rising up high on both sides, and it seemed as if some mighty convulsion of nature had taken and riven a large island in two, leaving a deep chasm between. After this we passed close by many smaller and apparently uninhabited islets, and about noon entered the harbour and soon anchored in front of the foreign settlement Usually the ship stayed in Fusan for only a day or two, before proceeding around the Korean Peninsula to Jemulpo (modern Incheon). Once again, Duncan urged the adventurous traveler to get out and explore while the ship was involved in transferring cargo usually for two or three days. Comparatively speaking, Jemulpo had a much more wild nightlife than Fusan complete with bar brawls, houses of ill repute and even murder. But there were other less-dangerous pursuits such as rambling about the hills, swimming in the harbor and, for the strong and healthy, an adventurous journey to Seoul, the capital of the Hermit Kingdom. Duncan concluded: "The return trip will be equally agreeable, and you [will] find yourself again in Shanghai, after your run in fresh fields and new pastures, a new man. A very enjoyable three weeks, which in comparison with the trip to Chefoo, has cost you about no, it would not be fair to tell. The Nanzing is a splendid teamer, a most agreeable commander, a fine saloon, large cabins, and liberal table and attentive servants. Again abundance of ice, a fresh sea water bath from the hose every morning and evening, with sound sleep secured to you by Captain [Balbernie], every night at sea. Can anything in the way of change be more free from discomfort, or more suitable for a party of friends of the right sort going together? Of course, Duncan neglected to mention that not everyone aboard the ship were willing passengers, or even alive. Read More The Nanzing - a cargo of criminals and corpses The second route was a little more difficult for travelers coming from Shanghai. They had to first sail for Nagasaki by one of the many steamships that served the two ports and then catch the Japanese steamship Tsuruga Maru, commanded by Captain Peter Hussey. This route took you from Nagasaki to Fusan, to Wonsan and then Vladivostok each day taking you into a cooler climate. As mentioned earlier, the voyage from Nagasaki to Fusan took about 16 hours and the Japanese steamship spent only about a day transferring goods before resuming its voyage to Wonsan (about 36 hours away in calm seas). Duncan described the port as being quite different in appearance from Fusan and it had much higher mountains [and] more energetic natives. Wonsan was much smaller than Fusan and its accommodations were not as plentiful nor as comfortable. As in Fusan, transferring cargo usually took about a day and then the steamer sailed another 36 hours to Vladivostok where she stayed for three days before making the return voyage with the same stoppages as the upward trip. Duncans details of the Tsuruga Maru are sparse perhaps owing to his allegiance to the Nanzing but he described the ship as being very comfortable, nice cabins, and saloon, a popular commander, good table, and plenty of ice. What he didnt mention is the ship was recently introduced to this route. There was another ship, the Tamaura Maru that also served this route, and its reviews were less-than-flattering. Read More The Nanzing - competition among steamers According to one passenger in the summer of 1883, the ship was an incommodious steamer crowded with passengers for Wonsan and Vladivostok. The Tamuara-Maru being only suited for the accommodation of some half-dozen rough and ready fellows of the genus that frequent the fishing stations north of Japan, our plight can well be imagined; here we were fifteen of us (including four ladies) huddled up any how in an unsuitable little steamer, in very warm weather, scarcely any of the most important necessaries provided by the ill-trained steward (Chinese), and not enough beds by one-half to afford a padding to place between the hard deck and our weary bodies. It is interesting to note that Hussey was the captain on this particular voyage and he was praised for trying to arrange matters satisfactorily for the passengers and it was only through his courtesy were the male passengers spared considerable inconvenience. However, a trip to Korea was not for everyone, declared Duncan. The fastidious and hypercritical had better go to Chefoo [where] its hotel, sandy beach, and little scandals, will send them home happy and contented Only the truly adventurous, willing to suffer some minor discomforts, should journey to the Land of the Morning Calm. Regardless of which itinerary these hardy explorers chose, they would return to Shanghai pleased and delighted. My sincere appreciation to Diane Nars for her invaluable assistance. Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters. By Mark Peterson Recently, one of my colleagues discovered a recording of my graduate school advisor, Edward W. Wagner, on a 1985 KBS program. He was interviewed about his work and the development of the Korean program at Harvard. I was so, so delighted to watch the video and see a younger, vibrant professor and friend. My last memory of him was when I visited him at the senior care center when he was deep in the throes of Alzheimer's. Now, to see him as a young sixty-year-old, a man just a little older than the man who taught me Korean history in graduate seminars, brought back a flood of happy memories. Professor Wagner was always cheerful. In the interview, he would chuckle as he made typical self-effacing comments, as he drew irony out of the question given to him, as he found an interesting twist to the discussion at hand. Wagner was intelligent, first and foremost. And he was diligent. These traits all showed up in the TV interview. I was again impressed with his Korean language ability. He would speak slowly and clearly and above all, precisely reminding me of the classes where we would burrow down deeply into the sentences at hand, parsing out the meaning and the nuance of each word in context. We studied historical texts and literary texts. It was a joy beyond measure to really study and learn the language in its depth. He was asked about "the" project that had consumed much of his late career research the "munkwa" project a thorough evaluation of the 15,000 men who passed the munkwa exam, the high civil service exam over the 500 years of the Joseon dynasty. He spoke of the time of his research as a time when computers were first making their appearance. He had the foresight to see that using a computer could capture all this data and make sense of it to see patterns and connections that would be hard to find without a computer. In addition to the 15,000 who passed the exam, the examination rosters also listed additional information that helped to frame and describe the elite structure of the last dynasty, such as the principal's father, brothers, residence, "bogan," age and a few other data. These he would input into the computer and thereby create a huge database that described the elite structure of the society. He had questions to ask the data, and from the mass of data, new questions arose. For example, the residence data told us which areas saw more success than other areas and which areas were under-represented. The age data told us that the youngest to pass the exam was only 17 years old, and the oldest was 77. The rosters listed in any given year all those who passed, the standard was 33, but some special exams had smaller numbers, as few as seven. Regular exams were given every three years, but the court found a special reason to host an exam once a year and sometimes, seldom, twice a year. Linking the exam passers together were marriage relationship which led Wagner into the "jokbo" the genealogy books that marked the upper class of Korea. Wagner was known in the popular society for this secondary area, more than for his work on those who passed the exams. And he did know Korean genealogy. In the TV interview, he talked about how Korean jokbo have changed over time. He spoke of the evolution of the Korean jokbo over the Joseon dynasty. The first published jokbo was the Andong Kwon jokbo of 1476. There were genealogical records in fragmented pieces found in his historical records and personal records, but the first attempt to publish the records of an extended family group was that by the Kwon family. Jokbo is a synopsis of society at any given point a jokbo is a kind of "photograph" of what families looked like at any given time. Wagner pointed out that in this first jokbo there were no "adoptions" that became so typical in later jokbo, and rather than patching in a member of the extended family for every man who did not have a son, this early jokbo would simply indicate "no heir." In later generations, one would seldom see such a notation. Wagner pointed out that the Munhwa Yu jokbo, published in 1535, had 120 adoptions. The Kwon record consisted of three volumes with about 10,000 names, but the Yu jokbo was in ten volumes with 46,000 names. Only 120 adoptions show the ideal of providing an heir for the sake of performing Confucian ceremonies for one's ancestors was an ideal that was just starting to grow. In later generations, nineteenth century. Fully 15 percent of any jokbo included those who had an adopted heir. The jokbo is a measure of the growth of Confucian devotion in Korea. These are just a few of the points professor Wagner discussed in the 1985 KBS interview. It was a joy for me to watch and subsequently, I have featured portions of the video in my own YouTube channel all tributes to a great scholar. Mark Peterson (markpeterson@byu.edu) is a professor emeritus of Korean, Asian and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University in Utah. By Kim Sung-woo Africa is the youngest continent in the world with the greatest potential. The continent has a population of 1.4 billion, 60 percent of whom are under the age of 25. The African population is the fastest-growing among all continents, but its GDP already reached $3.4 trillion. Having 30 percent of the worlds mineral resources, including key raw materials for electric vehicles such as chrome, manganese and cobalt, Africa is one of the most coveted markets at the dawn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution era and transition to carbon neutrality. It is now serving as a casting vote in various roundtables for decision-making processes across the international community as well. Against this backdrop, on June 5, the Korea-Africa Business Summit was held in Seoul. More than 20 heads of state from African countries together with President Yoon Suk Yeol and top-level corporate leaders attended the event. The main items on the agenda included how to promote industrialization and investment, increase trade volumes, create jobs, strengthen food and core mineral security and respond to climate change including decarbornization. After African country representatives presented on each, myself and other Korean experts had an opportunity to exchange our views with them. Throughout the summit, there were a few keywords that continued to come up: equitable partnership, fair compensation, justice in development and inclusive growth. I could sense that the African country representatives were strongly hoping for mutual growth with countries like Korea, which have also turned from countries in need of support to countries that can provide support to other developing nations. President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana also said, To make Ghana richer, we hope to learn about the success story of countries like Korea, and we hope to join hands and move forward together. President Mokgweetsi Masisi of Botswana added, Africa should do more than exporting raw materials. This alone would not bring us the level of prosperity that our people are hoping to enjoy. We hope to maintain a strong partnership with developed countries like Korea and to get access to advanced technologies as well as investments. The presidents of Cote dIvoire and Kenya went ahead and introduced chairmen of the leading companies in their nation, DL and CGECI, who were sitting right next to me, to the audience. All of the representatives from African countries pointed to mineral resources as Africas greatest competitive edge. During the panel discussion, I pointed to another almighty advantage that I think Africa has over other continents: renewable energy resources. Africa, with its magnificent sources of solar and wind power, has a huge capacity as a supplier of renewable energy. Rather than a mere renewable energy supplier for retail end users, African countries have a strong potential to become a leading supplier of renewable energy to various industry sectors. Now that an increasing number of countries and companies have demand for products made by renewable energy, such as cars, mobile phones and building materials, products born out of renewable energy sell much better than products made through fossil fuel-based energy. For many multinational companies, a rising question has been where to build their factories to get stable access to low-priced renewable energy. I wholeheartedly support the idea that its time for Africa to tap into this transition to a new era and gain a competitive edge among countries around the world. In fact, Africa has wind resources that can supply 250 times the power demand in the continent, and solar resources that are more than twice as abundant as in Korea, which is why Africa can generate electricity cheaper with renewable energy than any other regions. Last May, Microsoft announced an investment of $1 billion in geothermal-based data centers in Kenya, adding the latest case in which the availability of renewable energy was considered in investment decisions. Further, low-cost renewable energy can lead to lower costs in generating clean hydrogen as well. With clean hydrogen being one of the most essential means of achieving carbon reduction, countries like Korea and Japan are planning to import a substantial amount of clean hydrogen to reach carbon neutrality targets. Countries who seek to purchase clean hydrogen will be naturally attracted to sellers offering lower prices, which is why clean hydrogen producers are motivated to bring their costs down, to be able to provide their products at more affordable prices. Africa is rich in resources and has high development potential. Yet, the continent seems to face challenges in securing sustainable development that their leaders want to bring to their respective countries. That is why the South Korean model as an example of substantial economic growth spurred by groundwork put into developing technologies and strategic investments is garnering their attention. Korea, too, has so much to learn and gain from its partnership with Africa. To regain its glorious past, often called The Miracle on the Han River, Korea needs to step up its competitive edge by securing stable sources of minerals and affordable renewable energy. President William Ruto of Kenya, who presented in the session that I attended, made a proposal publicly: Samsung Electronics makes mobile phones using core minerals and renewable energy in Kenya and sell the devices in the market for young Africans. The president added that Kenya has about 93 percent of its energy comprising renewable energy such as hydro, geothermal, wind and solar energies. Now its time to think about how both countries can achieve sustainable and equitable growth through well-thought-out partnerships. Kim Sung-woo is the head of the Environment & Energy Research Institute at Kim & Chang and a member of the Presidential Commission on Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth. By Lee Min-hyung Hyundai Motor completed renovation for Korea Park in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, in memory of veterans of the 1950-53 Korean War, the carmaker said Sunday. The project was initiated last September upon suggestion from Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun. The Korea Park opened in 1973 to pay tribute to soldiers who lost their lives during the war. The renovation will help local visitors relax more comfortably, an official from Hyundai Motor said. The project is expected to provide momentum to commemorate the sacrifices of fallen soldiers during the Korean War." Hyundai Motor launched the project in September last year to express gratitude to the soldiers, marking the 50th anniversary of the park's establishment. The company held talks with the countrys relevant government authorities for smooth progress of the project, which took 10 months to complete. The Korea Park was created on 10,000 square meters of land in Ankara. A monument to Turkish soldiers in the Korean War, built in the park, symbolizes the fallen soldiers dedication. A maintenance office and some benches were located near the monument, but they had been worn out and damaged over the past five decades, according to the carmaker. After the renovation, it was reopened on June 25, remembering the outbreak of the Korean War. A group of military personnel and government officials from both countries attended the reopening event of the park. Hyundai Motor is strengthening ties with the country each year by engaging in diverse corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities for citizens there. The carmaker provides scholarships to 400 college and high school students there each year. Last year, the company installed a technical education center and donated tools and materials to a high school in Istanbul. The company runs various CSR campaigns for the country ever since tapping into its market in 1997. The Korean carmaker has been most agile in CSR activities for the country. Early last year when an earthquake hit the country, the company donated relief goods and $2 million for its recovery. Unionized workers of Samsung Electronics are set to stage a three-day general strike this week as their negotiations with the management over wages and working conditions fell through. The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), the biggest labor union with 28,000 members, announced plans for the strike last week, saying the aim is to disrupt production. The number accounts for approximately 22 percent of Samsung Electronics' total workforce of about 125,000. The actual number of union workers participating in the strike remains uncertain, and the likelihood of major production disruptions could be low. During the three days, the unionized workers plan to hold rallies outside the entrance to the company's facility in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, among other strike activities. Since January, the two sides have held several rounds of talks, but have been unable to narrow their differences over the wage increase rate, vacation system and bonuses. The union has demanded a one-day vacation for all employees and a significant salary raise for the 855 members who did not sign the 2024 salary negotiation agreement. Also, the union demanded the company offer more paid leave and compensate for economic losses incurred during unpaid strikes. In June, unionized workers at Samsung Electronics went on a one-day strike, marking the first labor walkout at the company. The NSEU said the company refused to accept any of its demands in the two-week adjustment period that began June 13, and that unless progress is made in negotiations during this week's strike, it will stage another strike for five days starting July 15. (Yonhap) 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 Oct. 7 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. Israels military said it struck several terrorists operating in the area of the school and had tried to lessen the risk to civilians. The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, said Washingtons 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. A senior Hamas official, also speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss negotiations, later told The Associated Press that female soldiers would be among those released in the first phase. 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 first two 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 two officials said. The first Hamas official told the AP the groups approval came after it received verbal commitments and guarantees from the mediators that the war wont be resumed and that negotiations will continue until a permanent cease-fire is reached. Now we want these guarantees on paper, that official said. 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. Netanyahus 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. Dont you dare break our hearts again. Anti-government protesters gathered again Saturday night. Israel launched the war in Gaza after Hamas October 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 territorys 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. Were sorry for the donkeys because we ate their wheat and barley. Also Saturday, the Hamas-run Interior Ministry said four police officers were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah. The ministry, which oversees civilian police, said the officers were killed during foot patrols. It said eight other officers were wounded. Israel's military did not immediately respond to questions. The low-level conflict between Israeli forces and Hezbollah continued. An Israeli airstrike on a car in the area of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon killed an engineer in Hezbollahs air defense unit, the Israeli military said in a statement, describing Meitham Mustafa al-Attar as a key operative. Hezbollah confirmed al-Attars death in a statement but did not give information on his position. In recent weeks, fears have risen that the conflict with its near-daily clashes could escalate to a full-scale war. (AP) British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday that he is scrapping his predecessor's controversial policy to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda as he vowed to deliver on voters' mandate for change, though he warned it will not happen quickly. The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started, Starmer said in his first news conference since the Labour Party swept Conservatives from power after 14 years. Its never acted as a deterrent. Almost the opposite. Starmer told reporters in a wood-paneled room at 10 Downing St. that he was restless for change, but would not commit to how soon Britons would feel improvements in their standards of living or public services. The 30-minute question-and-answer session followed his first Cabinet meeting 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. We have a huge amount of work to do, so now we get on with our work, Starmer told them. Starmers Cabinet features a record number of women 11 of 25 ministers. Nearly all members went to public schools, another record that is a sharp break from Conservative ministers who have historically come with private school pedigrees. Im proud of the fact that we have people around the Cabinet table who didnt have the easiest of starts in life, Starmer said. Among a raft of problems they must tackle are boosting a sluggish economy, fixing an ailing 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, politics professor at Queen Mary University of London. Starmer in his first remarks as prime minister Friday singled out several of the big items, such as fixing the revered but hobbled National Health Service and securing the U.K.'s borders, a reference to a larger global problem of absorbing an influx of migrants fleeing war, poverty as well as drought, heat waves and floods attributed to climate change. Conservatives struggled to stem the flow of migrants arriving across the English Channel, failing to live up to ex-Prime Ministers Rishi Sunaks pledge to stop the boats. The controversial Rwanda plan was billed as a solution that would deter migrants from risking their lives on a journey that could end up with them being deported to East Africa. So far, it has cost the government hundreds of millions of dollars and never taken flight. Starmer denounced it as a gimmick," though it's unclear what he will do differently as a record number of people have come ashore in the first six months of the year. 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 will have a busy schedule following the six-week campaign. He heads out Sunday to visit each of the four nations of the U.K. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. He plans to meet with metropolitan mayors, regardless of party, saying he's not a tribal politician. He will then travel to Washington for a NATO meeting Tuesday 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 has had phone calls with several world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Union leader Ursula von der Leyen and Ukraines Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He sent Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Saturday to Germany, Poland and Sweden. Meanwhile, 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. In starker language than he's used before, Starmer echoed Streeting's description of the NHS as broken. Everybody who uses it and works in it knows that it is broken, he said. Were not going to operate under the pretense or language that doesnt express the problem as it is because otherwise we wont be able to fix the problem as quickly as we need to. (AP) Growing skepticism about President Joe Biden's reelection chances has European leaders heading to the NATO summit in Washington confronting the prospect that the military alliance's most prominent critic, Donald Trump, may return to power over its mightiest military. NATO made up of 32 European and North American allies committed to defending each other from armed attack will stress strength through solidarity as it celebrates its 75th anniversary during the summit starting Tuesday. Event host Biden, who pulled allies into a global network to help Ukraine fight off Russia's invasion, has called the alliance the most unified it has ever been. But behind the scenes, a dominant topic will be preparing for possible division, as the power of far-right forces unfriendly to NATO grows in the U.S. and other countries including France, raising concerns about how strong support will stay for the alliance and the military aid that its members send to Ukraine. At the presidential debate, Biden asked Trump: Youre going to stay in NATO or youre going to pull out of NATO? Trump tilted his head in a shrug. Biden's poor debate performance set off a frenzy about whether the 81-year-old president is fit for office or should step aside as the Democratic presidential candidate. Even before the debate, European governments were deep in consultations on what they could do to ensure that NATO, Western support for Ukraine and the security of individual NATO countries will endure should Trump win back the presidency in November and temper U.S. contributions. Some Americans and Europeans call it Trump-proofing NATO or future-proofing it when the political advances of other far-right political blocs in Europe are factored in. This week's summit, held in the city where the mutual-defense alliance was founded in 1949, was once expected to be a celebration of NATO's endurance. Now, a European official said, it looks gloomy." There are two reasons for the gloom: Russian advances on the battlefield in the months that Trump-allied congressional Republicans delayed U.S. arms and funding to Ukraine. And the possibility of far-right governments unfriendly to NATO coming to power. The official spoke to reporters last week on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations among governments. Rachel Rizzo, a senior fellow on NATO with nonpartisan think tank the Atlantic Council, says she has a blunt message for Europeans: Freaking out about a second Trump term helps no one. For allies at the summit, she said, the key will be resisting the temptation to dwell on the details of unprecedented events in U.S. politics and put their heads down on readying Western military aid for Ukraine and preparing for any lessening of U.S. support. Trump, who before and after his presidency has spoken admiringly of Russian President Vladimir Putin and harshly of NATO, often focuses his complaints on the U.S. share of the alliance's costs. Biden himself warned nearly 30 years ago about already-steady criticism of Europeans not carrying their weight in NATO. The 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union lulled the West into thinking the Russian threat had been neutralized, leading to military spending cuts. Now, NATO allies are bolstering their forces against any wider aggression by Putin, and a record 23 nations in NATO are meeting defense-spending goals. Trump's former national security adviser, John Bolton, says Trump in a second term would work to get the U.S. out of NATO. Congress passed legislation last year making that harder, but a president could simply stop collaborating in some or all of NATO's missions. Trumps campaign did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Elections in France, likewise, appear set to bring a NATO-adverse far-right party under Marine Le Pen into greater power. Far-right forces also are gaining in Germany. Some European officials and analysts say that's simply the rise and fall of voter allegiance in democracies, which NATO has dealt with before. They point to Poland, where a right-wing party lost power last year and whose people have been among NATO's most ardent supporters. They also note Italy, where right-wing populist Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has won praise as an ally. In part in response to the United States' political upheaval, Europeans say they want to institutionalize support for Ukraine within NATO, lessening the dependence on the U.S. European allies also failed to get enough weapons to Ukraine during the delay in a U.S. foreign aid package, outgoing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged in a visit to Washington last month. That's one of the reasons why I believe that we should have a stronger NATO role is that role in providing the support, Stoltenberg told reporters. An initiative likely to be endorsed at the summit is NATO taking more responsibility for coordinating training and military and financial assistance for Ukraine's forces, instead of the U.S. Europeans also are talking of giving Ukrainians a greater presence within NATO bodies, though there's no consensus yet on Ukraine joining the alliance. Europeans say NATO countries are coordinating statements on Ukraine for the summit to make clear, for example, that additional Russian escalation would face substantial new sanctions and other penalties from the West. That's even if the U.S., under Trump, doesn't act. As for NATO security overall, besides European allies upping defense spending, they're huddling on defense strategies that don't rely as much on the U.S. There's also growing emphasis on ensuring each country is capable of fielding armies and fighting wars, the European official said. The possibility of a less dependable U.S. partner under Trump is generating discussions about Europeans playing a bigger role in NATO's nuclear deterrence, according to the Poland-based Centre for Eastern Studies security think tank. The U.S. now plays the determinative role in the nuclear weapons stationed in Europe. But European countries and Canada, with their smaller military budgets and economies, are years from being able to fill any U.S.-sized hole in NATO. If an American president comes into office and says, Were done with that, there is definitely will in Europe to backfill the American role, said John Deni, a senior fellow on security at the Atlantic Council. The Brits would jump on it. But even they will acknowledge they do not have the capacity or the capability, and they cant do it at the speed and the scale that we can," Deni said. "This notion that we are somehow Trump-proofing or future-proofing the American commitment either to Ukraine or to NATO I think that mostly is fantasy. (AP) Its summertime, and that means one of TVs must-see annual programming events is here as Discovery Channel makes way for Shark Week 2024. There will be hours of new programming all about thrilling encounters with apex predators, epic deep-sea expeditions, and more extraordinary stories for the event. Below, were breaking down all the need-to-know details about the upcoming slate. Who is hosting Shark Week 2024? John Cena, best known for his wrestling and headlining Maxs hit original anti-hero series, Peacemaker, will host this years big Shark Week event. Last year, Shark Week celebrated its 35th anniversary and was hosted by Aquaman star Jason Momoa, who is now passing the reins to Cena. I usually do Shark Week from my couch with lots of snacks, but this year Im beyond excited to host the week dedicated to the endlessly fascinating, action heroes of the Ocean, said Cena in a statement. Its a wild week of shocking new footage, new discoveries, and lots and lots of teeth. When is Shark Week 2024 airing? Shark Week 2024 kicks off on Sunday, July 7, at 8/7c and begins a week-long lineup of original specials, episodes, and more on Discovery Channel. The celebration starts a little earlier than last years week of programming which kicked off weeks later on July 23, 2023. Where Can You Watch Shark Week 2024? In addition to Discovery Channel, Warner Bros. Discoverys linear and streaming portfolioincluding Food Network, HGTV, ID, TBS, TNT, TCM, TLC, CNN and Maxwill air Shark Week-inspired content or cross-promote the event. Shark Week will also be available to stream on Max. What is the Shark Week 2024 programming lineup? The week-long celebration of sharks includes the next chapter of the hit show Belly of the Beast, offering a terrifying and fascinating real look at a Great White shark feeding frenzy; Monster Hammerheads: Species X, following a potential new hammerhead species; and Great White Serial Killer: Sea of Blood, investigating a massive shark who decapitates its victim and terrorizes a local village. Check out the full slate, with programming information, below. Sunday, July 7 Belly of the Beast: Bigger and Bloodier Premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery One of last years most popular Shark Week shows returns. Marine biologist Dr. Austin Gallagher, marine scientist Liv Dixon, and legendary cameraman Kina Scollay travel to a new location and head back into the belly of a 29-foot whale decoy with new shark attractant features to create the biggest feeding frenzy ever with 18-foot Breeder sharks in New Zealand. Jaws vs Leviathan Premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery Orcas and other toothed whales are attacking Great Whites in record numbers, marking the latest chapter in a 60-million-year battle between Sharks and Whales. This rivalry began with The Leviathan, a prehistoric whale that once went tooth to tooth with the greatest predator to ever swim the oceansThe Meg. Now, Dr. Tristan Guttridge, Dr. Sona Kim, and Kina Scollay recreate these epic battles and study orca tactics to discover the ultimate predator. Makozilla Premieres at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery A wave of savage assaults against the sea lion population off Californias coast has sparked fears of a monstrous predator dubbed Mako-Zilla. Recent discoveries, including a 600-pound mauled sea lion with massive gashes, hint that a 16-foot-long predator could be responsible. A team of shark experts, including bite specialist Jeff Harris and Dr. Craig OConnell, embark on a mission to unveil the identity of the colossal predator haunting the coast. Sydney Harbor Shark Invasion Premieres at 11PM ET/PT on Discovery Returning to the site of his own 2009 shark attack for the first time, Paul de Gelder joins Madison Stewart to investigate a recent Great White Shark attack that occurred near Sydney Harbor, Australia the first fatal incident in the region in almost 60 years. The dramatic encounter, which was captured on camera, was the sixth attack to occur in as many weeks. Within this aquatic arena, Great Whites contend with Bull Sharks, Tiger Sharks, and even humans in a colossal battle for supremacy. The unfolding saga raises the compelling question of who will emerge victorious in this intense struggle for dominance. Monday, July 8 Big Shark Energy Premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery Shark experts Dr. Riley Elliott and Kori Burkhardt put on a one-of-a-kind shark competition to determine which male Great White Shark is the alpha in a pack of massive adults. In the waters off New Zealand, they compare the sharks speed, hunting ability, and fearlessness to determine who has the swagger to swim away with a female shark. Shark Frenzy: Mating Games Premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery Dr. Craig OConnell explores the love lives of Oceanic White Tips & Tiger Sharks, suggesting that feeding frenzies spark romance vital for species survival. Armed with advanced gear, he orchestrates feeding events to uncover the mating link, which is crucial for species protection. Great White Serial Killer: Sea of Blood Premieres at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery After two fatal Great White shark attacks occurred off a small Mexican fishing village including one in which a victim was decapitated shark attack survivor Paul De Gelder joins shark investigator Brandon McMillan and local biologist Gador Mutaner to launch a plan to ID the killers and keep the villagers in the Sea of Cortez safe. Tuesday, July 9 Deadliest Bite Premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery Using cutting edge technology, Dr. Tristan Guttridge, Annie Guttridge, Paul De Gelder and Skye Minnis unveil the secrets of Bull, Tiger, Hammerhead, Great White, and rare shark species jaw mechanics and delve deep into how these sharks jaws and teeth deliver lethal attacks. 6000lb. Shark Premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery Marine Biologists Tom The Blowfish Hird and Leigh de Necker go searching for the fattest Great White Sharks off the coast of New Zealand and attempt to obtain their poop to study what they are eating. Using cutting-edge science, they aim to weigh a great white accurately for the first time, revealing if they can reach a staggering 6,000 pounds. Monster Hammerheads: Species X Premieres at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery Dr. Austin Gallagher and his team of researchers including Liv Dixon, Zandi Ndhlovu, and Dr. Tristan Guttridge, investigate an aggressive population of Hammerhead Sharks in Turks and Caicos, which they believe could be an entirely new species. Wednesday, July 10 Great White North Premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery Theres a growing population of aggressive White Sharks in an unlikely location, Canada. Shark expert Andy Casagrande heads out on an expedition along Nova Scotias coast to investigate a surge of Great White Shark encounters and figure out if this new population could be the largest in the world. Expedition Unknown: Shark Wrecks of WWII Premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery Global adventurer Josh Gates and shark biologist Tristan Guttridge team up with natures deadliest predator to search for a lost wreck sunk by a Nazi U-Boat during World War II. Alien Sharks: Ghosts of Japan Premieres at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery Japans waters are home to the largest diversity of shark species on the planet, most of which take otherworldly forms. Wildlife biologist Forrest Galante, along with deep-sea marine scientist Christina de Silva and deep-water surveyors, track down and study these alien sharks in their mission to uncover whether the critically endangered Angel Shark remains in Japans waters. Along the way, Forrest will uncover 17 different and unique species and witness the births of little-known Velvet Dogfish sharks. Thursday, July 11 Monster of Oz Premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery In southwestern Australia, an unknown predator with a taste for Great White and Mako Sharks ignites fears of sea monsters in the abyss. Filmmakers Dave and Jennene Riggs join Dr. Tristan Guttridge and Rosie Moore in attempt to track down the killer. Caught! When Sharks Attack Premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery Researchers are witnessing an unusual amount of shark aggression and attacks. A team of experts will analyze the most intense shark encounters Caught! on camera, unveiling mysterious new behaviors within these dangerous interactions. Great White Danger Zone Premieres at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery Alison Towner and her team investigate a new Great White hotspot off the coast of South Africa. Equipped with cutting-edge fin cameras, tracking tags, and underwater surveillance, researchers unveil unusual behavior in these massive apex predators. Friday, July 12 The Real Sharkano Premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery Shark advocate and attack survivor Paul De Gelder visits an ultra-remote island of shark-worshiping natives to see if their secret ways of swimming with deadly sharks holds the secret to humans and sharks living together in peace. Sharks of the Dead Zone Premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery Significant marine pollution and algal bloom outbreaks are creating eerie dead zones in North Americas most biodiverse estuary. Dr. Tiara Moore, along with Dr. Craig OConnell, explores whether Bull Sharks can persist in the Indian River Lagoon, a vital nursery, despite the oxygen-depleted waters. Her mission could unlock the secrets to shark survival in changing oceans. Shark Attack Island Premieres at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery A South Pacific paradise has become a shark attack hot spot with Bull, Tiger, and Great White sharks moving closer and closer to the resort beaches, fatally attacking seven people in the last five years. Dr. Riley Elliot, Paul De Gelder, and Kori Burkhardt conduct experiments to identify the species responsible and find out why they are attacking. Saturday, July 13 Sharktopia Premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery In Indonesias Raja Ampat Islands, a team of researchers hunt for one of the regions last living leopard sharks. But as they venture deeper into the unknown, the journey brings them face to face with some of the weirdest and wildest sharks on earth. Mothersharker: Hammer Time Premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery Using the latest underwater ultrasound and birthing tag technology, researchers Dr. James Sulikowski and Beckah Campbell aim to solve the mystery of where the elusive pregnant scalloped hammerheads give birth and it may be closer than anyone realizes. More Headlines: The West African bloc ECOWAS on Sunday warned the region faced "disintegration" after the military rulers of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso cemented a breakaway union. The three countries formed a "Confederation of Sahel States" at a meeting on the eve of the Economic Community of West African States leaders' summit, marking another test for the bloc they declared they were splitting from earlier this year. ECOWAS is already wrestling with sweeping jihadist violence, financial trouble and challenges mustering a regional force. It was not clear what action the bloc would take after its summit in Abuja, though Nigeria's President Bola Ahmed Tinubu called on Senegal's new leader to serve as a "special envoy" with Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, without providing details. The head of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, said the Sahel countries' withdrawal risked "political isolation", losing millions of dollars in funding and hampering freedom of movement. The break would also worsen insecurity and disrupt the work of the long-proposed regional force, Touray said. "Our region is facing the risk of disintegration," he warned. - Backs turned - The juntas in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso came to power in a series of coups over recent years and announced their intention to leave ECOWAS in January. They have shifted away from former colonial ruler France and expelled French troops, with Niger's General Abdourahamane Tiani calling for the establishment of a "community far removed from the stranglehold of foreign powers". "Our people have irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS," Tiani said at the Sahel group meeting in Niamey on Saturday, rebuffing the bloc's pleas to come back into the fold. The three countries' decision to leave was fuelled in part by their accusation that Paris was manipulating ECOWAS and not providing enough support for anti-jihadist efforts. Several West African leaders have called for the resumption of dialogue, and Sunday's summit was the first for new Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who said in May that reconciliation was possible. "We must do everything we can to avoid the withdrawal of these three brotherly countries from ECOWAS," he said Sunday, adding that reforms were needed to "adapt ECOWAS to the realities of our times". Niger's ties with ECOWAS deteriorated following the July 2023 coup that brought Tiani to power, which saw the bloc impose sanctions and threaten to intervene militarily to restore ousted president Mohamed Bazoum. The sanctions were lifted in February but relations remain bitter. - Military force - ECOWAS has also been discussing how it can fund a "regional force to combat terrorism and restore constitutional order". It has suggested establishing an initial 1,500-member unit, and one proposal was to then muster a brigade of 5,000 soldiers at a cost of around $2.6 billion a year. ECOWAS has launched military interventions in the past, but its threat of doing so after the coup in Niger fizzled out. As the bloc grapples with regional challenges, Touray warned it was facing a "dire financial situation". ECOWAS also said President Tinubu would stay on as chair, despite reports of a rift over his reappointment. lcm/imm The Korean music industry is famous for training generations of talented and beautiful women, applauded for their flawless appearance and grace. Not all are born into wealth and power, yet four female K-pop idols stand out for their undeniable charisma and an aura that exudes elegance, effortlessly captivating those around them. 1. TWICE Sana Recently, Sana has stunned fans with her transformation from the girl-next-door into a sensual young lady embodying the popular cute-sexy persona. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: TWICE Sana Turns Heads At Milan Fashion Week With Her Stunning Visuals: 'Main Event, Princess Minatozaki...' Through weight loss and a change in make-up style, Sana's beauty has upgraded. Her visuals now perfectly suit the high-end fashion industry, which isi likely why she is adored by Prada and jewelry giant Graff. 2. BLACKPINK Lisa Lisa arguably commands the largest fan base among current female idols, earning the title "Thailand's national treasure." Her striking features, such as large, expressive eyes, healthy tan tan, and Western-standard physique, allow the idol to digest looks from elegant Celine to sultry Louis Vuitton. YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN: BLACKPINK Rose Gets Asked About Lisa's 'ROCKSTAR' - Here's What She Said Lisa's magnetic allure ensures she's the center of attention at every event. Now that she is active as a soloist, fans are excited to see more of Lisa's classy looks. 3. BLACKPINK Jennie Jennie oozes sophistication with a magnetic aura few can match. Her distinctive features of cat-like eyes, rosy cheeks, and a chubby cheeks redefine beauty standards while effortlessly pulling off any outfit, hairstyle, or makeup look. CHECK THIS OUT: Did Puma 'Copy' BLACKPINK Jennie's Look For An Ad? Here's What Actually Happened With a penchant for Chanel, Jennie effortlessly sells out the fashion giant's creations with her princess-like allure. 4. TWICE Mina Known as the "diamond tear beauty," Mina reigns as a prominent figure despite her soft-spoken demeanor. Known for her elegant and classy presence, Mina is the best example of a classy lady. Collaborating with Fendi, Mina's ability to elevate any attire has earned her praise for her impeccable style. FOR YOU: TWICE Mina Breaks the Internet by Rocking the 'Visible Underwear' Trend with Confidence Fans were intrigued to discover Mina's distinguished family background. Her grandfather is the Vice President of Japan's largest paint company, NIPPON. Her poised mannerisms and aristocratic air highlight her status as a true "golden spoon" idol, embodying innate elegance and grace. Who is your favorite female K-pop idol? Tell us in the comments below! KpopStarz Owns This Written by Alexa Lopez Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Bedbugs wont leave Denise Thomas alone. The 72-year-old lives on the third floor of the Bushkill House, a public housing high-rise in Easton. The bugs show up in her carpets, her bed, her clothes, her Bible, her couch. They started coming in November and wont stop. She found a cluster of them in the folds of her leather recliner. They were having a convention in there, she said, adding, I feel like this apartment has the plagues of Egypt. She documented the problem with 38 photos taken on 16 different days from April 29 to May 31. Denise Thomas shared these images of bedbugs in her apartment in May 2024 on the following dates, from left: May 31, May 2, May 4, May 5, May 9, May 21 and May 21.Courtesy of Denise Thomas Thomas started holding back her rent in April. She has rent for April, May, June and July in an escrow account, she said. The Easton Housing Authority has sent an exterminator to spray Thomas apartment nine times since December, according to Housing Authority Senior Property Manager Brenda Colon. Thomas got a heat treatment June 5. We are diligently working at all times to mitigate pest issues to the fullest realistic extent. It is an endless uphill battle, said Easton Housing Authority Executive Director Tyler Martin. The heat treatment worked for a few weeks but the bedbugs came back again, Thomas said. Another heat treatment was scheduled for July 5. Zero pests ... almost impossible Orkin Vice President Andy Tay said bedbugs are among the toughest pests to eradicate. Orkin has the pest control contract with the Easton Housing Authority. Anyone coming to or going from Bushkill House could bring them in. Then they can spread quickly from apartment to apartment, Tay said. Most of the bugs hide until nightfall. By the time a tenant is aware of them, theyve multiplied and taken root. Orkin encourages tenants to remain vigilant and report bedbugs immediately so they can be treated. Tay said the Easton Housing Authority takes pest control seriously. Together we have made great strides in reducing the occurrences of pests over the past years using various methods of treatment and inspections, Tay said. However ... we realize a goal of zero pests is almost impossible to achieve. Colon says the authority sent bedbug-sniffing dogs through its three high rises in February and December 2023. Whenever a resident reports suspicions of bedbugs, we prioritize inspections promptly, she said. She suggested Thomas infestation may have originated from a secondhand scooter Thomas purchased from a neighbor or a couch she helped a neighbor move. Thomas is convinced theyre coming from a neighboring apartment into hers. She got the scooter well before her infestation. She briefly touched the couch when it was in the hall and had left her neighbors apartment. After she touched the couch, she immediately stripped and showered. She wants her neighbors apartment treated for bedbugs, although they havent complained so nobody has inspected the apartment to see whether bedbugs are in there, Thomas said. Thomas would like a building-wide treatment similar to treatments for roaches in late December 2022 and early in 2023. Roaches were a constant problem until those treatments. Thomas doesnt understand why similar treatments cant be done for bedbugs. They dont want to take responsibility for this, she said. Senior Director of Administration Craig Updegrove said at a housing authority meeting in November that Orkin was employing the clover method to treat bedbugs, that apartments to the right and left of the infested apartment would get treated, as would the ones on floors immediately above and below the apartment. The four apartments make the shape of a four-leaf clover. He also discussed using bedbug-controlling volcano devices, although he mentioned that the devices may be cost prohibitive. Ongoing tensions and mistrust The extent of Bushkill Houses bedbug problem is unclear. Fifth floor tenant Alice Levens said she had bedbugs in April. Colon mentioned an apartment down the hall from Thomas was sprayed for bedbugs three times earlier this eyar. Lehighvalleylive.com couldnt track down any other tenants to comment on the issue. Thomas said she would invite her neighbors to weigh in, but none of them reached out to lehighvalleylive.com. Thomas said her neighbors are either resigned to living with bedbugs or afraid that complaining could put their housing in jeopardy. Martin, the housing authority executive director, has encouraged residents to speak up if they have problems, to attend monthly meetings with management and to attend the housing authority meetings. Thats the only way management will know how to meet their needs. Tenants are afraid to be branded complainers, Thomas said. But she isnt. She believes her outspokenness has led to hostility from the property managers, and claims she was accused of bringing bedbugs to the housing authority office on purpose. Thomas said she made an appointment and went to the office to pick up some papers. When workers realized Thomas was grappling with a bedbug issue, she was ordered to leave the lobby. Thomas is no longer allowed to talk to a property manager one on one. Due to ongoing tensions and mistrust, we prefer to communicate with Ms. Thomas in writing and with a witness present, especially given recent events, Colon said. Thomas left a message with a low-cost attorney who she hopes can help her keep her rent money in escrow without her being evicted. She says her demand is simple. She wants a clean, safe place to live. Her quality of life has deteriorated because shes constantly dealing with bedbugs, she said. If they hadnt put me in this situation they wouldnt have heard a word from me, Thomas said. They expect me to just live with it and I dont think I should be living with it. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to Lehighvalleylive.com. Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. A bill that would update Pennsylvanias background check process so that the commonwealth could finally implement interstate licensing for nurses is heading to Gov. Josh Shapiros desk. The state Senate on Wednesday approved a House bill that would implement FBI background check standards into the licensing process for healthcare professionals, something that has been holding up the years-long process to get Pennsylvania healthcare workers licenses accepted in other states, and vice versa. This represents months of negotiation between the state and federal government, Rep. Frank Burns, D-Cambria County, the bills prime sponsor, said in a news release after the Senate vote. As a result, it will make Pennsylvanias interstate compacts operational, which help health systems to have more flexibility in hiring and for health practitioners from out-of-state to find jobs in Pennsylvania, Burns continued. The bill would require the Pennsylvania Department of State to submit applicants fingerprints for an FBI check, use those results in determining a license applicants eligibility, and develop procedures to comply with federal information handling standards. This process is required by a number of inter-state license reciprocity systems, which Pennsylvania is in various stages of joining. In September, for instance, nurses from other states in the 41-state Nurse Licensure Compact could begin practicing in Pennsylvania without getting a separate Pennsylvania nursing license but not the other way around. Asked about the issue during a budget hearing earlier this year, state department officials said FBI background check compliance was the primary holdup in getting Pennsylvania medical licenses recognized in other states. Fully joining license compacts, lawmakers say, could help address Pennsylvanias shortages of skilled healthcare professionals and the brain drain of students who get licensed out-of-state in order to be more mobile. Nursing capacity is of particular concern. A study by The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania found that vacancy rates for direct-care registered nurses rose from 20.5% to 30.7% between 2019 and 2022. A labor market study from economic consultant Mercer in 2021 projected that Pennsylvania will face the largest nursing gap out of the 50 states by 2026, with 20,345 fewer registered nurses than needed. Nineteen months after a rockslide shut down a section of Route 611, one Slate Belt borough is still feeling the weight of those fallen rocks. Portland Borough Council passed a resolution July 1 urging the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to prioritize needed work on Route 611. In December 2022, a rockslide along Route 611 in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area forced the road to be closed between Slateford Road to the south in Upper Mount Bethel Township, just above Portland, and Cherry Valley Road/Oak Street to the north in Delaware Water Gap Borough. The National Park Service must issue a special use permit to PennDOT before it can begin rock scaling required to stabilize the cliffs along Route 611. PennDOTs website states, once it gets the NPS approval, construction could take up to six months before it could open one lane of traffic through the area. However, a June 14 letter from the Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance a regional development agency to Smithfield Township in Monroe County indicates the work could take only six to eight weeks. A second phase of work would follow to reopen both lanes of travel. Currently there is no estimated timeline for Phase 2 work, PennDOTs website states. State Sen. Rosemary Brown, a Republican representing Monroe County communities, said in a statement Wednesday the parties involved in the Route 611 project are scheduled to meet this coming week. She believes the agencies are close to a creative solution to alleviate this closure, despite goals that can be at odds with one another. The devastation this extended closure has had on our community cannot be overstated, she stated. To put it simply, this project has a multitude of government agencies involved with competing interests, which has severely stagnated a path forward. It has not been easy to find middle ground. PennDOT has serious public safety concerns on this roadway and the National Park Service has a mission to maintain the parks resources. These interests often conflict, especially when there are limited options. Route 611 connects Delaware Water Gap through Upper Mount Bethel Township to Portland. Drivers who normally travelled through Portland have had to bypass the small borough, including its restaurants and businesses, and go into New Jersey to Interstate 80 or find alternate routes. The Portland-Columbia bridge that leads to I-80 is a toll bridge. So, commuters and other drivers who previously had travelled on Route 611 for free, have had to pay tolls every day for over a year and a half to cross the bridge. The Borough hereby reiterates its continuing request that PennDOT and related agencies take all necessary steps, without further delay, to reopen PA-611 to public travel in the area of DWG, the Portland Borough Council resolution states. The resolution also asks that PennDOT and the Leigh Valley Transportation Study raise the priority of other Route 611 projects. Upper Mount Bethel Township supervisors passed a similar resolution in June. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. John Best is a freelance contributor to lehighvalleylive.com. The Laois & Offaly Education and Training Board (LOETB) have announced the launch of Ireland's first Traveller specific pre-apprenticeship programme in partnership with Offaly Traveller Movement (OTM). It's claimed the initiative is designed to equip members of the Traveller community with the education and skills to advance into further education or craft apprenticeships. Speaking at the launch Sandra McDonagh, managing director of OTM said: The significance of this programme cannot be overstated. Over half of Irish Travellers leave school by age 15, and less than 1% advance to higher education. This stark educational inequality has far-reaching consequences, contributing to an unemployment rate of 80.2% within the Traveller community. The launch of this first of its kind programme marks a significant step towards addressing educational inequality and promoting social inclusion for the Traveller community. There are a range of stakeholders involved in supporting this initiative which means we can create meaningful opportunities for Travellers, fostering a more inclusive and prosperous society for all. Ms McDonagh continued: This programme provides a foundation of education and practical skills tailored for Travellers, preparing participants for further education and craft apprenticeships. The programme also promotes inclusion and diversity within the apprenticeship sector, encouraging employers to support and engage with Traveller apprentices. In the long term, the initiative seeks to increase the number of Travellers progressing to higher education and skilled employment and improving the socio-economic status of the Traveller community. Speaking at the launch of the initiative Andrew Brownlee, CEO of SOLAS said: We congratulate OTM and LOETB on the launch of this fantastic initiative which will support members of the Traveller community to access Further Education and Training (FET), and apprenticeships. A key part of our current FET strategy is focussed on fostering inclusion, this means as a sector we must provide tailored pathways to encourage the participation of learner cohorts who are less likely to take part in education, providing them with opportunities to achieve their goals, whether thats to access quality employment or to improve their self-confidence and mental well-being. We have experienced huge growth in FET and apprenticeships with one in ten adults in Ireland engaged in FET activity last year. However, it is important that we continue to work with Education and Training Boards (ETBs), and other partners across the sector to widen participation in FET, ensuring that we create a more equal society where no one is left behind. Key features of the programme include the development of a bespoke curriculum that addresses both academic and practical skills, incorporating cultural awareness and specific supports for Traveller. This curriculum will be complemented by active partnerships with local businesses and industries to provide apprenticeship opportunities. The LOETB will play a crucial role in delivering high-quality training and mentorship, ensuring that participants receive the support they need to succeed. Also speaking at the launch event Emma Gilchreest, FET Strategic Lead; Tertiary and Apprenticeships with LOETB said: Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board (LOETB) is delighted to support the launch of the Traveller Specific Pre-Apprenticeship Local Training Initiative. We recognise the strong interest and suitability of the Traveller community for the apprenticeship model. However, we also acknowledge the significant barriers travellers face in accessing apprenticeships due to racism and discrimination. There is a need for government bodies and employers to collaborate to ensure Travellers can access apprenticeships and benefit from tailored initiatives and support. LOETB is proud to contribute to inclusive education and training through this initiative. This programme is envisioned as a pilot model with the potential for nationwide rollout through other Traveller organisations and local Education and Training Boards (ETBs). The framework developed in this pilot can be adapted and implemented across Ireland to ensure widespread access to education and apprenticeship opportunities for Travellers, thereby addressing systemic barriers and promoting social mobility. A resident of County Galway was fined 7,000 for theft offences he committed in the Kildare Village Retail Outlet. Alexandru Varga, with an address listed as 56 Caireal Mor, Headford Road, County Galway, admitted to the offences when he appeared before Judge Desmond Zaidan on Thursday, July 4 at Naas District Court. The court was told that on April 24, 2022, the 39-year-old went into a number of shops in Kildare Village and stole around 2,059.33 worth of items from seven different stores. Mr Vargu was stopped and detained by security working in Kildare Village, and it was heard that all items were recovered. Garda Sergeant David Hanrahan told the court that while had had no previous convictions for theft at the time of the offence, he had garnered two post convictions for theft offences committed in Galway in 2022 and 2023 respectively. Sgt Hanrahan also pointed out that Mr Varga was co-operative with gardai. Defending solicitor David Powderly highlighted his client's guilty pleas to Judge Zaidan. He said that his client was a married man and a father of three children. Mr Powderly also said that his client committed the two thefts in Galway out of desperation, and that the items he stole were food. David Powderly was the solicitor who defended Mr Vargu. File photo. He further said that his client has since found employment and suggested to the judge to deal with the matter by way of a fine. In addition, Mr Powderly pointed to the fact that the stolen items were recovered. Judge Zaidan responded that shoplifting costs shops money, and noted a number of past shoplifting incidents which have occurred at Kildare Village. "He doesn't seem to have learned his lesson," he said, and added that Mr Vargu's two post convictions were 'aggravating features' in his case. "There has to be a sting in the tail," the judge further said. He ultimately decided not to impose a custodial sentence on Mr Vargu, and instead imposed a 7,000 fine on Mr Vargu for the thefts, as the thefts occurred in seven different shops. Judge Zaidan gave Mr Vargu six months to pay the fine. Mr Vargu thanked the judge for his decision. The question of a referendum on Irish unity is not a priority and does not arise currently, Simon Harris has said. Irelands premier said it was more important for the new UK Government to work with Ireland in supporting the powersharing institutions at Stormont. Following the General Election, Sinn Fein emerged for the first time with the largest representation among Northern Ireland parties at Westminster. The republican partys president Mary Lou McDonald took the opportunity to urge new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to embrace the right of Irish self-determination and constitutional change toward Irish reunification. However, Sir Keir has previously stated that the issue of a united Ireland is not on his horizon. Speaking on Sunday, new Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said he believed the prospect of a vote on Irish unity is off into the distance. Taoiseach Mr Harris told Sky News Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips show that it was no surprise that there were differing views on the constitutional question. He said: The fact that we have different views on the constitutional future of Northern Ireland is not earth shattering news. And actually its because we have differences in relation to the constitutional question that we must find practical ways of working together. The Good Friday Agreement allows us both have those legitimate, differing aspirations, and theres a structure in place to address that. For me, though, the focus and priority isnt on a referendum, the focus on priority has to be on delivery. Mr Harris added: People in Northern Ireland, people in Ireland, people in Britain, I believe, want to see real delivery when it comes to things like public services, their economy, prosperity, the economy in terms of how it impacts on their family and their businesses. And we have an opportunity now that the (Stormont) institutions are back up and running and I think we have people now in key leadership positions in Northern Ireland, in Dublin and in London who are fully committed to that. Mr Harris was asked if the prospect of a unity referendum had moved further away following Labours election win. He said: I just dont think it arises currently. I think the most important thing here is as we have ministers back at their desks in Northern Ireland, and that they get on with the work, and that the British and Irish governments, as co-guarantors of the peace process, play our role in supporting that too. Its absolutely appropriate to have legitimate constitutional aspiration, my party is called Fine Gael, the united Ireland Party. Thats my legitimate constitutional aspiration for the future of this island. It doesnt arise today, though. What arises right now is a moment to reset Anglo-Irish relations after what was a very turbulent period of time, and Im very excited about the opportunities that that presents. Speaking to the media in Belfast, Mr Benn said the criteria for a unity referendum in the Good Friday Agreement was very clear. He said: It is when the Secretary of State, whoever he or she is at that time, comes to the view that in the event that if a border poll was held, the people of Northern Ireland would vote for a united Ireland. Now, there is no evidence that that condition has been met. I said previously I am not going to set out further criteria because there is the one criteria. It speaks for itself. I think it is off into the distance myself, because of what I have seen about opinion here in Northern Ireland at the moment. During a translation demonstration organized by Google in San Francisco, California, on October 4, 2017. ELIJAH NOUVELAGE / AFP "Sran ng' bo al'n i j'n, diman al s'n wie." This Baoule proverb is now translatable with Google Translate: "He who declares war does not participate in it." Since its new update on June 27, the software from the American giant has been able to translate 110 new languages, including Breton and Occitan, as well as 31 African languages, among them Tamazight (Berber), Afar, Wolof, Dyula and Baoule. According to Google, these languages represent 200 million speakers on the continent. Read more Subscribers only After a slow start, AI is trying to get to grips with African languages "Today, you can photograph a label in Mandarin and see it translated by Google Lens into Dyula," said Abdoulaye Diack, program manager at Google's artificial intelligence (AI) lab in Accra, Ghana, who said he wants to "bring communities together" with this new service. Establishing these translation models was a major challenge, given the lack of available resources. Half of the content written on the internet is in English. French accounts for just 3%, and the many African languages for less than 1%. "There are blogs and news sites in Swahili, Hausa and Wolof, but many African languages have predominantly oral uses," Diack explained. "So the first task was to identify the written sources available." In addition to these sites, some major texts have been translated into almost every language on the planet, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Bible and the Quran. 'An incentive effect' Google's teams then worked with linguists from several faculties, such as the University of Ghana, and NGOs to accumulate data on all the targeted languages. These components were then used to train Google's AI, a learning model called PaLM2, which has already been tested with almost 400 languages. "Artificial intelligence is like a child," Diack summarized. "The more data the model receives, the more it learns, and the better the result." Google's partners in the target communities including organizations defending endangered languages and researchers were asked to evaluate and improve the first AI translations until they reached a sufficient quality and quantity to launch the update. "This process takes several years. The results are not perfect, but they are satisfactory enough to be usable," explained Diack. "There are bound to be mistakes, but it will be useful for a lot of people." This view is shared by Ivorian linguist Jeremie N'Guessan Kouadio, co-author of a French-Baoule dictionary, whom Le Monde asked to test the new Google Translate update. "The Baoule language is inseparable from its orality," he said. "To improve the result, we'd need, for example, to be able to render tones, those phonemes that can change the meaning of a word, which we note with diacritical marks below the syllable. Take 'sa': If I pronounce it with a high tone, it means 'the hand.' But with a low tone, it means 'thus.' All the languages of Cote d'Ivoire work like that, including Dyula." Despite his reservations, N'Guessan Kouadio acknowledged that the software "has its uses." "For years, people have been trying to convince Africans and Ivorians that they can speak French or English, but also speak and write in their mother tongue," said the researcher. "I think software like this will have an incentive effect, particularly on young people in the diaspora who have drifted away from their language of origin." Read more Subscribers only AI's dizzying capability to dub one voice into a foreign language Speech recognition and synthesis Professional uses are also conceivable. The African languages previously added (five in 2020 and 10 in 2022, including Bambara, Lingala and Twi) are available as open source through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), which enable a Google program or service to be connected. The software could also facilitate the work of human interpreters, predicted Yao Kanga Tanoh, from Cote d'Ivoire, whose translation orders mainly concern administrative documents: "Of course, I'll have to rework the result, but a machine translation will save me a lot of time." The Silicon Valley giant has no intention of stopping there. It has set itself the medium-term goal of integrating a thousand languages, prioritized according to several criteria: the number of speakers, the feasibility of the project in terms of the abundance of written resources, but also the desire of the relevant community. "People had been asking us for Wolof for years," said Diack. His team also intends to develop a speech recognition and synthesis system for the recently added languages, as already exists for the previous ones. With this technology, a telephone will be able to instantly repeat a French sentence in Baoule, a particularly useful option for illiterate speakers. Google also claims to want to immortalize endangered languages, largely not used by younger generations. One of these is the N'Ko language, invented in 1949 by Guinean writer Solomana Kante, with its unique alphabet designed to empower Mandingo communities by providing them with their own writing system. European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell delivers a statement to the media prior to a Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) meeting at the EU headquarters in Brussels on May 27, 2024. FRANCOIS WALSCHAERTS / AFP Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban drew a fresh rebuke from EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Saturday, July 6, after the nationalist leader attended a meeting of the Organization of Turkic States in Azerbaijan. Brussels, EU allies, the United States and Kyiv had already slammed Orban, whose country took over the European Union's rotating presidency this month, for holding talks on the Ukraine war with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday. Read more Hungary's Orban holds Ukraine talks with Putin on trip slammed by EU EU officials blasted the surprise trip, saying it threatened to undermine the 27-member bloc's stance on the conflict and stressed that he was not representing Brussels. Orban's participation at an informal OTS summit in Azerbaijan on Saturday was the latest event where he represented Hungary alone and not the European Union, Borrell said. "Hungary has not received any mandate from the EU Council to advance the relations with the Organisation of Turkic States," Borrell said in a statement. Controversial travels Orban has already sparred with Brussels over his controversial travels. "Are we allowed to have dinner, or do we need a #EUCO mandate for that too?" his political director wrote on X, formerly Twitter, after the Moscow trip. The EU also rejected OTS attempts to legitimize the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus by admitting it as an observer, said Borrell. The island of Cyprus has been divided for decades between the internationally recognized, Greek-speaking Republic of Cyprus, an EU member, and the Turkish-speaking TRNC, only recognized by Ankara. The OTS is an international organization bringing together countries with Turkic languages, founded in 2009 by Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Hungary became an observer of the group in 2018. LETTER FROM MALMO One of the government-controlled Systembolaget liquor stores in downtown Stockholm, December 19, 2013. JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / AFP When winegrowers get together, it's customary to give each other a bottle. For the French, Italians or Germans, it's a simple matter of picking one up at the winery. Murat Soufrakis, a winegrower in Klagshamn, near Malmo in southern Sweden, has no such luxury. As soon as his wine is bottled, it's off to Systembolaget, the state-owned company with a monopoly on alcohol sales throughout the country. If Soufrakis wants to give one away, he has to buy it in one of the monopoly stores. The same applies if he wants to drink one at dinner. Soufrakis was recently approached by tourists from Belgium and Germany who were visiting the region and wanted to have a wine tasting at his place at the end of June for the Midsommar festival. "I had to explain to them that I couldn't sell them any wine, not even a bottle, and that they couldn't buy any at Systembolaget either, since on that weekend the stores close from Thursday evening and don't reopen until Monday." The tourists were not too happy. "Many struggle to understand that it's not personal but that these are the rules in Sweden, however bizarre they may be," the winegrower explained. However, these rules could soon change. On June 5, the center-right government, backed by the far right, announced that it wanted to authorize alcohol sales at the producer's premises. "Sweden is about to become a little more like Europe," said the conservative prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, referring to a "long-awaited reform in favor of freedom." However, Brussels still needs to give its approval, since Sweden was permitted to maintain its monopoly after joining the European Union (EU) in 1994, under very specific conditions. "Systembolaget must not give Swedish spirits preferential treatment over foreign products," said Malin Sandquist, head of operations at the state-owned company. Nor is the monopoly about making a profit. "The salespeople are trained to give advice, not to encourage consumption," said Sandquist. Systembolaget therefore does not advertise or have special offers, and maintains strict opening hours, as well as careful age control: Sales to those under 20 are forbidden. Currently, Swedes can buy wine, beer or aquavit in 450 "Systemet" stores, in addition to bars and restaurants. With the government's planned reform, around 600 new outlets will be created. In Brussels, the wine lobby has already made it known that it will do everything in its power to oppose the reform. It argues that allowing private sales by Swedish producers while forcing foreign winemakers to go through Systembolaget violates competition rules and is sufficient grounds to annul the exemption granted to Stockholm in 1994. You have 53.84% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only. Zoar Valley has been on my mind. It often is, in the way that Western New Yorks truly mysterious places sporadically nudge for attention. Zoar is natures version of the H.H. Richardson towers, but while Richardsons spooky hospital has been at least partially tamed, Zoar is still renowned as one of the regions wildest places though it is only about a half hours drive from Buffalos City Hall. Zoar is on the border of Erie and Cattaraugus Counties near Gowanda, near another spooky and long abandoned hospital, J.N. Adam near Perrysburg. Is anyone sure of the reason it is called Zoar? There are no municipalities by that name nearby, but credible sources reference a city on the plain called Zoar, from the book of Genesis (13:10). It is a cool-sounding word maybe some devout 19th century settler thought the same. Whatever the origin, the word Zoar means one thing to local outdoors enthusiasts: a beautiful, largely unspoiled place to walk, hike, raft and canoe. Some hunt and fish there. Many access the creek for swimming in summer, though that is not an officially listed activity. Zoar might be easier to define and use if it were a state park. Its not. The state Department of Environmental Conservation calls it a Multiple Use Area 3,000 acres of state-protected land that is available for recreation, as parks are, but not patrolled or managed in the same way parks are. There is also adjacent private property, plenty of it. A large swath is now owned by the Nature Conservancy and many individual landowners have property along Cattaraugus Creek, the waterway that created the canyon and its 400-foot-high cliffs. Danger management Zoar is notorious for accidental deaths caused by falls or drowning. The steep cliffs, many with crumbling shale surfaces, offer great hazards to hikers who arent hyper-vigilant. Cattaraugus Creek, which gently ripples on a dry summer day, turns into a raging current in spring, with rapids that approach Class II or IV on the whitewater scale. While volunteer firefighters and safety patrols have long borne the brunt of responding to emergencies and generally policing the area, the state and other entities have been stepping in more frequently to make Zoar safer for visitors and further protect its trees and wildlife. These efforts have been somewhat controversial. Circa 2007, the Nature Conservancy purchased properties along the South Branch of Cattaraugus Creek to close off access to a waterfall Big Falls/Deer Lick Falls that had been the site of accidents. Creek walkers can just about view the waterfall, but then they have to turn around. In 2017, Nature Conservancy volunteer William Cain told the Olean Times Herald that the number of emergency rescues and injuries have plummeted since access to the falls was restricted, though enforcement often comes from volunteers, who can only warn. DEC opens new trail at Zoar Valley The Memorial Trail replaces the former Overlook Trail in Valentine Flats and is another in a series of actions designed to improve safety at Zoar Valley. In 2021, The DEC added 450 safety and informational signs and kiosks to inform hikers of dangers and help make sure they stay on marked trails. Last week, the agency opened Memorial Trail, the first trail at Zoar to meet federal accessibility standards. The quarter-mile loop replaces the original trail at the Valentine Flats overlook. It is 6 feet wide and set back at least 15 feet from the cliffs edge. Those wanting clear vistas of the gorge below can access four viewing areas. Reactions are mixed. Marla Walker, whose 16-year-old daughter Brooke died from a fall while hiking Zoar in 2020, told WKBW Channel 7s Michael Wooten, that the new trail was amazing, inspiring, hopeful, and that Brooke would have loved it. It was admirable and poignant that both Walker and Bridget Mazierski, who, in 1989, lost her brother Brian, were willing to visit the site and speak with hope about its future. But members of a Facebook group, Zoar Valley Life, were not impressed, with the majority of comments deriding the trails sightline restrictions and calling the experience ruined. Cain, the Nature Conservancy volunteer, wrote a letter to the Times Herald in May, urging that construction of this trail be immediately abandoned. His reasons: Hikers would still stray closer to the cliff and the trail would immediately be subject to vandals a permanent cost and liability to multi-levels of government and a deadly danger. Any Western New Yorker whos been paying attention knows that there will be controversy and disagreement when the subject of how to manage Zoar Valley comes up. Writers and the wilderness Logging slated for Zoar Valley splits environmentalists The densely forested Zoar Valley area along Wickham Road in Cattaraugus County appears to be marked for near total devastation, said some members of Friends of Zoar Valley. But those wanting to cut down the trees are environmentalists, too. There is additional contention now, due to a new DEC plan that could involve some logging. That is probably why I couldnt get the Zoar experts I contacted to go on the record for this column. I turned instead to the writer who was my first encounter with Zoar: the late Bruce Kershner, Western New York naturalist. Kershners Secret Places is out of print, but has been updated as Secret Places of Western New York: 25 Scenic Hikes, with the help of co-authors Jennifer Hillman and William McKeever. Both books are highly recommended and between them provide comprehensive guided tours of Zoar and a host of other beauty sites in New York and Ontario. Kershner was keenly aware of Zoars dangers and made frequent use of boldface for sentences such as Many people have drowned here and descriptions that include Caution, It is dangerous to, and Dont dare try it. But he and the other authors are also eager to help readers enjoy Zoar safely, walking a fine line between enthusiastic encouragement and practical advisories. Kershner not only shared Zoars beauty with his writing, he was instrumental in securing state protection for a large portion of its forest, which gave it forever wild status. Kershner led those who verified the existence of old-growth forest in Zoar, which was news to the DEC at the time. But when Kershner said, Weve found the first virgin forest in New York State outside of the Adirondack and Catskill preserves, he was right. It was a sea change that has led to respect for old-growth tree stands throughout Western New York. The DECs protection plan was finalized in 2007, just before Kershner died. More than anyone, Kershner understood that fine line combining respect for nature, the desire to experience it and the need to do so warily. His legacy is at the heart of why Zoar remains not just forever wild, but forever fascinating. Never visited Zoar? This DEC site (dec.ny.goc/places) provides the details; just input Zoar. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. A HISTORIC meeting of dairy farmers was held in Adare last Thursday, June 27, as close to 200 farmers attended the first public meeting of the newly established producer organisation of dairy farmers - Munster Dairy Producer Organisation (MDPO). This was the first public meeting of a producer organisation in Ireland. Coincidentally, some 135 years ago, a corresponding historic event was held 40km south off Adare in Dromcollogher in 1889 with the establishment of the first co-operative creamery in Ireland. There was a positive reaction from the floor in the Woodlands to speakers and a willingness of farmers to join the producer organisation so as to collectively negotiate new milk supply contracts. The producer organisation concept is governed by EU law and was born out of the need to bring in robust arrangements, backed up with EU law, to strengthen the position of farmers to negotiate with milk and other farm products purchasers and food retailers. In his address to fellow farmers, James Doyle, MDPO chairperson said that the establishment of the producer organisation was born out of frustration, desperation and lack of representation in dealing with milk purchasers down through the years. We were given supply contracts on a take it or leave it basis with no negotiation. Current suppliers to Kerry Agribusiness are under formal notice that their current contracts will end at the end of March 2026. In the absence of a producer organisation, we farmers are left without any body to negotiate new contracts lawfully and collectively on our behalf to take effect in just 22 months from now. The principal advantage of an approved producer organisation is that its members are given a licence to negotiate legally binding supply contracts, including in particular price, with a purchaser of farm output, which at present in Ireland is mainly milk and cattle for slaughter, said Mr Doyle. READ MORE: Row over ownership of 1m Limerick farmland sold by receiver comes before High Court MDPO is now fully established and has commenced signing-up dairy farmers, mainly those who are currently supplying milk to Kerry Agribusiness. The establishment and running of a producer organisation is governed by EU and Irish legislation and certain formalities have to be followed to get a PO approved by the Department of Agriculture. These formalities and rules have now been met in full by MDPO. It was formally approved by the Minister for Agriculture last April. This work was undertaken by Ciaran Dolan, a practising barrister and agribusiness consultant. The producer organisation enjoys what is known as block exemption from competition law. The EU rules on competition are strict to the extent that they prevent even a small number of farmers coming together to negotiate price with a milk processor. The core purpose of MDPO is to collectively negotiate the best milk price and supply terms for farmers and MDPO is open for discussions and contract negotiations with any milk purchaser, they say. The formal recognition of the MDPO represents a watershed in the Irish dairy industry. No longer are dairy farmers on their own where milk purchasers can offer milk supply contracts to individual farmers without any real negotiations and on a take it or leave it basis, say the MDPO. Dairy farmers, who are not supplying a co-op, can now collectively negotiate with any milk purchaser of their choice and agree lawfully enforceable milk supply contracts with the full backing of EU law. MDPO by getting formal approval will now provide an important negotiating platform for dairy farmers in the Munster region, said Mr Doyle. We will collectively endeavour to put that into practice to secure the best possible milk price and supply terms for dairy farmers, said Mr Doyle. Current milk suppliers to Kerry Agribusiness and other dairy farmers were invited to attend a series of three public meetings in Limerick, Kerry and Clare, arranged to provide farmers with full information on the role and plans of MDPO, and to provide an opportunity for farmers to sign up as members. A RIVERSIDE office block in the heart of Limerick is set to be used to accommodate refugees. Permission has been given to allow a change of use to River House at Charlottes Quay in the city centre to provide housing for those fleeing conflict. The number of refugees who will be housed in the five-storey building is not known, with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth not returning queries from the Limerick Leader as we went to press. In normal circumstances, developers would need to gain planning permission to change the use of office space into residential accommodation. READ MORE: Multi-storey building planned for heart of Limerick However, there are certain exemptions to this when it comes to emergency accommodation, such as what is required for people escaping war zones. The owner of River House gave a seven day notice to Limerick City and County Council last month indicating it intended to start work at River House. A prominent five-storey office building built in the 1980s, River House was home to staff of the Revenue Commissioners up to 2022. They relocated to another riverside building, Sarsfield House, leaving their old building vacant. Elsewhere, another building in the city looks set to be converted to provide for refugee accommodation. A warehouse unit at Ballysimon Road which was home to building contractor Roadbridge is being converted to allow six ground floor residential units to house refugees. This development is taking place under the same auspices as the project at River House. The unit at Ballysimon Road has lain idle since Roadbridge collapsed in early 2022. A number of refugees fleeing Ukraine moved into the former Salesian secondary school building on the citys northside earlier this year. FOUR Limerick groups have been selected by Limerick City and County Council to represent the Treaty in this year IPB Pride of Place competition. Dromcollogher Care Centres and Housing for Older Persons, Johnsgate Residents Association, Rockhill/Bruree Community Council and The Butterfly Club in West Limerick will all go to represent Limerick. This is the 22nd year of the competition, which acknowledges and celebrates the work that communities do all over Ireland. It aims to recognise the vital contributions that communities make to society along with creating awareness, respect and inclusion for every part of society. Dromcollogher will represent Limerick in the age friendly category, while Johnsgate will be holding the flag for urban neighbourhoods under 3,000, Rockhill/Bruree will represent populations under 300 and the Butterfly Club will represent inclusive communities. Each group will hold a special festival day to showcase their work and judging will take place on August 21 and 22. READ MORE: Something fishy going on in Limerick City Library.... Mayor of Limerick, John Moran said: These groups exemplify the spirit of community, collaboration and inclusion that this initiative celebrates. Their dedication and hard work significantly enhance the quality of life for people in our communities. Local community development committee chief officer for Limerick City and County Council, Seamus OConnor said: I wish to acknowledge the great efforts the four groups chosen have made. There is no doubt they will do Limerick proud and I wish them the very best of luck. Limerick has previously won this competition in 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 and 2018. The winners for 2024 will be announced at an awards ceremony on Saturday, November 2, hosted by Monaghan Council. Irish premier Simon Harris has said the next generation will never forgive us if the opportunity to reset Anglo-Irish relations is not seized following Labours landslide victory in the UK General Election. Mr Harris acknowledged that there had been clear policy differences and difficulties and challenges between the UK and Ireland in the years since Brexit, but said he was eager to work with new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. In one of his first acts in power Sir Keir had a telephone conversation with the Taoiseach and invited him to Downing Street on July 17. Mr Harris told the Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme on Sky News that the British-Irish relationship is really strong. He said: At the end of the day, were neighbours, were friends, in many cases were family as well, and theres an opportunity now, a real opportunity that we must seize and that the next generation will never forgive us for if we dont, to press reset, to say yes its been a difficult few years, but you know what? We have so much more in common than divides us. We have so many issues of mutual concern. We are two islands side by side. Lets work together and lets fulfil the promise of the Good Friday Agreement and a Good Friday Agreement that I know is very much in the DNA of the British Labour Party. And thats something that I really, really want to talk to, to Keir Starmer about. The Taoiseach said one of the priorities of his meeting with the Labour leader later this month would be discussing ways of improving the structures for engagement between the two leaders following Brexit. It used to be that whoever the Irish taoiseach and British prime minister was would meet regularly through their membership of the European Union. Theyd meet on the fringes of European meetings. Those structures obviously arent there now. I respect that fact. But we do need to look for new ways of making sure that regular engagement happens. He said: I think when the relationship has gotten particularly challenging on occasion between Britain and Ireland, it has sometimes been through a lack of those structures. So thats the first thing I wanted to talk with him about, because I believe if we get that right, so much good can flow from that. Mr Harris said people didnt need a history lesson over why the relationship has been difficult in recent years. He said: Obviously, Brexit did make life challenging and challenging in relation to the relationship between the two islands and also, I suppose, changed that in many ways because no longer will be two countries within the European Union. Weve also had a situation where up until recently, there was a vacuum in Northern Ireland in terms of the institutions not functioning. Thankfully, thats now been been settled, and I think the fact that we now have a new British prime minister and indeed a new Irish taoiseach does present a real opportunity for both of us, both myself and the British prime minister, to dig deep in terms of resetting Anglo-Irish relations and both of us to show some leadership in that regard, because the relationship between our two countries, the relationship as close neighbours, our closest neighbours, it matters and it matters to people on both of our islands. He added: But there were clear policy differences and difficulties and challenges over, over the last number of years. Mr Harris insisted he had a very good professional relationship with Rishi Sunak. He also said Ireland would be an ally in any discussions the UK had in improving its relationship with the European Union. Referring to Brexit, he said: That decision has been made and my understanding is theres no British government that intends to revisit that in any manner or means. However, it is obviously important that Britain and the European Union continue to be good neighbours and it is absolutely in Irelands interest that we facilitate that in every way we can around any European table. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and top finance ministry officials met more than 120 invitees from 10 stakeholder groups as part of the pre-budget consultations for the Union Budget 2024-25, a statement said on Sunday. The budget 2024 is set to be tabled in parliament later this month. The pre-budget consultations started on 19 June and concluded on 5 July 2024. Pankaj Chaudhary, minister of state for finance; V. Anantha Nageswaran, chief economic adviser; T.V. Somanathan, finance secretary; and other secretaries of finance ministry departments, including Ajay Seth, Tuhin Pandey, Vivek Joshi, Sanjay Malhotra were among those present at the pre-budget consultations. Also Read: Budget 2024: DPIIT recommends removal of Angel Tax Sitharaman will carefully examine and consider suggestions while preparing the Union Budget 2024-25, the finance ministry statement said. Farmers associations and agricultural economists have urged the government to cut taxes on farm equipment and increase allocations for agricultural research and development. They have also sought higher allocations to strengthen the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), a government export-trade promotion body. Leaders of trade and services businesses have urged the finance minister to improve the ease of doing business for the service sector, make the transfer pricing regime more competitive, tighten tariffs placed on Chinese goods, and develop an Indian shipping line of global repute. Also Read: Budget 2024: Fintechs seek regulatory clarity, improved licensing, tax reforms Health and education experts have urged the Centre to increase the number of hospital beds and create awareness around the National Education Policy. They have also suggested ways to improve the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme so that the poor can access quality healthcare at lower prices, in addition to issues focussing on social-sector welfare, women and children. Nvidia Corp. co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang has always talked about his journey from very humble roots to building a business like the biggest chipmaking company in the world. The 13th richest individual in the world has done a range of things in his life from cleaning toilets to clearing tables and cleaning the dishes for a job. To me, no task is beneath me because, remember, I used to be a dishwasher (and) I used to clean toilets, reported Moneycontrol quoting Huang talking to the students at Stanford Graduate School of Business early this year. I mean, I cleaned a lot of toilets, Ive cleaned more toilets than all of you combined and, some of them you just cant unsee, he said. As the chief of the biggest AI and chipmaking company in the world, Huang still tries to approach his job with a humble attitude and is not afraid to get his hands dirty. He also sheds light on his beliefs for taking on anything if he feels that it can help his employees in improving the company. Also Read | The underground network sneaking Nvidia chips into China If you send me something and you want my input on it and I can be of service to you, and in my review of it, share with you how I reasoned through it. Ive made a contribution to you, reported CNBC quoting Huang. Nvidia employees have described him as a boss who is not easy to work with, to which he had a very positive response saying that the route to do extraordinary things is not supposed to be easy. Employees have previously described him as Demanding, perfectionist, not easy to work for, in an interview on 60 Minutes. Huang accepted that those described traits fit him perfectly. It should be like that, reported Business Insider quoting Huang. If you want to do extraordinary things, it shouldn't be easy, he said. The newly elected UK government indicated on Sunday that it was focused on preventing job losses at Tata Steel. The Keir Starmer-led administration is reportedly in talks with the company. Up to 2,800 people can lose their jobs in the coming months as Britain's biggest steel producer begins closing two of its carbon-intensive blast furnaces. According to a Reuters report, the government is also extending its support for the company's transition to lower-carbon technologies. We see this as a major priority. I'm going to make sure that job guarantees are part of the negotiation that we're having, the BBC quoted business minister Jonathan Reynolds as saying. Update on the Tata Steel workers' strike: The government focus comes after workers at the country's biggest steel maker suspended a strike they had planned following a warning from the company. Tata Steel had indicated that both of its furnaces would close in advance if the strike happened. Close to 1,500 workers at the plant sites who had begun an overtime ban on June 17th, were also about to start a strike from July 8th, according to the report. Also Read | Tata Motors vs Tata Steel: Which Tata Group stock should you prefer in long term The union paused their actions after the company confirmed that it was entering into talks about the future investment for its operations and not just redundancies. Focus on the future investments and aspirations for the business, and not on a renegotiation of our existing plan for the heavy-end closure or the enhanced employment support terms, the report quoted a spokesperson for Tata as saying. Also Read | UK Elections 2024: Here is a list of British Indians who won The newly elected Labour Party government is set to sign a 500 million pound ($635 million) support package which the prior Conservative government agreed to provide Tata Steel to build less carbon-intensive electric-arc furnaces. Tata Steel began its plan to close one of its carbon-intensive blast furnaces on Thursday, with plans for another in September to prevent a mass walkout of workers. This could potentially lead to 2,800 job cuts in the South Wales Port Talbot Steel Plant. Also Read | UK Elections 2024: Markets rally as Labour Party secures parliamentary majority (Bloomberg) -- 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, a handful have broken ranks. Representative Angie Craig of Minnesota said on X on Saturday that the president should step aside. On Friday, Representative Mike Quigley of Illinois told MSNBC that he shouldnt run. Separately, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner of Virginia and other Democrats worried about Bidens political viability have discussed seeking a meeting with him, according to a person familiar with the conversations among senators. Warners view is that Biden has a lot of work to do to show he can defeat Donald Trump and should remain the nominee, the person said. Jeffries hasnt provided the lawmakers, top committee Democrats, with a specific topic for the Sunday afternoon virtual session, which was confirmed by a House Democratic official whos familiar with the plan. Yet the meeting will occur just a day before the House reconvenes in Washington for the first time since Bidens disastrous debate performance with Trump on June 27, which sent tremors across the party ecosystem. House Democrats will hold a broader, caucus-wide closed-door meeting on July 9. 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 Sunday meeting was reported earlier by NBC News. Earlier, Biden told reporters that Warner was the only senator considering calling on him to exit the race, after the Washington Post reported that Warner was leading an effort to do just that. Biden added that members of Congress have been telling him to stay in the contest, and vowed to do so in a speech in Wisconsin and in an interview with ABC on Friday night. Earlier: Bidens Political Future Seen in Doubt by Some Senate Democrats But a Democratic senator told Bloomberg earlier this week that a number of his colleagues have privately indicated they dont see a way for Biden to survive politically. 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 of Biden. 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 he has been fielding calls from rank-and-file members. (Updates with Craig statement in second paragraph.) More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com After refinancing debt by selling US assets in FY24, French multinational rolling stock manufacturer Alstom is focusing on capacity building in India with new battery technology, investments in human capital, and the export of railway components from the worlds fastest-growing economy. In an interview with Mint, Alstom chief executive Henri Poupart-Lafarge detailed the company's plans to scale up domestic operations and promote the 'Make in India' initiative globally. This will soon include exporting electric locomotives made at its joint venture facility in Madhepura, Bihar. The goal is to boost both domestic and export revenues in India to over 1 billion euros. Edited excerpts from the interview: Q. FY24 was difficult for Alstom with cash-flow issues. How is the situation now? It was an intense but positive year. We continued the integration of Bombardier, benefited from a strong global market and good commercial momentum, and improved our cost stability. While we faced cash-flow issues in the first half of FY24 (April 2023-September 2023), these were corrected in the second half (October 2023 - March 2024) with a new financing package. Overall, it has been a year of progress and evolution, and we are now back on our feet. Q. So this year looks much better than the last? A. Yes, there was volatility in our cash and a smaller commercial momentum in the first half of last year due to delivery issues, which were resolved in the second half. Globally, we are seeing continued improvement, though there were some necessary balance sheet repairs recently implemented. Q. Did the problems also lead to asset divestments? Yes, we divested a specific signalling technology asset in the US, focusing on the country's mining sector. Q. How has your performance been in India during this period? Our performance in India has been strong. We've stabilized projects at our Savli and Maneja manufacturing facilities and improved management across different sites. We localized operations, creating a unified footprint for sales in India and globally. We continue to expand our capacity and programmes, making 2024 a very successful year. Q. Alstom received many orders in India in 2022. What is the current situation? We continue to receive orders and have a large order book for urban markets, including metro projects in Bhopal and Chennai. We also have orders for the commuter segments with the National Capital Region Transport Corp (NCRTC) and the Regional Rapid Transport System (RRTS) corridor. These orders are being manufactured at Savli, Gujarat, and our portfolio remains strong. Q. Last year, you mentioned plans to increase engineering capacity in India. How is that progressing? A. Currently, about 25% of our Group engineering is done in India, with plans to increase this to over 30% in the coming years. We have moved from project and application engineering to product engineering, development, and R&D, significantly enhancing our value chain in India. We are also announcing new programmes in signalling and software. Q. Has the Bombardier integration been completed in India? A. Yes, it has been fully completed. We are now focusing on incorporating best practices and working on traction projects across all our facilities from Coimbatore to Maneja in Gujarat. Q. What will we see next from Alstom in India? Beyond our 320 million euro capex investment, we are emphasizing investment in human capital to foster more innovation from India for both domestic and global markets. We plan to introduce advanced signalling technology for NCRTC, including automatic train operation (ATO) and the European Train Control System (ETCS), which optimize energy use and reduce journey times. Q. How is India positioned in terms of exports? We can discuss exports from India in three key areas: About a third of Alstom's global engineering is done in India, making every Alstom project partially made in India. This includes significant contributions in signalling and software technology development. We've significantly expanded our component making capacities at the Coimbatore factory to produce better motors and electrical cabinets. Additionally, we've localized the production of circuit breakers at our Maneja plant. Coimbatore has become a major export hub, manufacturing essential components such as traction converters, auxiliary converters, looms, cubicles, and a new portfolio of traction motors. Our production facility in Savli is a vital contributor to Alstom's exports. We manufacture bogie frames and flat-tops for trams, fulfilling orders for international markets. Through these efforts, we are actively promoting the 'Make in India' initiative globally, reinforcing our commitment to this cause. Q. How much of your India manufacturing is exported? Nearly a third of all components produced at our Coimbatore facility are exported. With experience in engineering and manufacturing electric locomotives in Madhepura, we now have the capability to export locomotives from India. Projects in REM, Montreal, and Sydney Metro have been engineered and manufactured here. Q. Do you foresee an expansion of the market in India? India is a large market, and we are working to translate the need for railway systems into projects and development. Many big cities are developing new lines, and Mumbai, in particular, is working on several urban and other railway projects. Q. What about the competition to Alstom in the Indian transportation sector? While we face competition, Alstom enjoys a strong presence in India due to the 'Make in India' initiative and our high level of localization, which has reached 70% for Metro and 90% for Locos. Q. Alstom has invested heavily in India over the last decade. Do you anticipate continued growth in the next decade? Absolutely. Despite our current setup, we are still far from meeting market needs. Given India's size, several new lines should open each year. We are collaborating with the Indian government to accelerate project implementation. Q. Are you working with Indian Railways to improve train operation safety? Yes, we are working with Indian Railways in enhancing railway network safety in the country, which is crucial for everyone. The ETCS system, suitable for dense networks, is one solution we are implementing. Q. The railway minister mentioned that Alstom is an approved vendor for the Kavach system. Is that true? Yes, we are involved in parts of the Kavach system, which is set for a nationwide rollout. Q. What about the aluminium train tender? Aluminium technology will definitely come to India. It is different from stainless steel and increasingly used in Europe. We expect similar adoption in India soon. Q. Are you involved with the Vande Bharat trains? Yes, we manufacture major electrical components for the Vande Bharat trains, including propulsion systems, HVAC, and batteries. Q. What are your views on the production-linked incentives (PLI) scheme for railway components? Greater localization in India is beneficial. It helps bring global suppliers to India and upgrades local manufacturers' capabilities to produce our components. Q. Many of your markets are undergoing elections. What is your perspective on this? Rail infrastructure enjoys broad political support. In the US, the Jobs and Infrastructure Act, which aims to improve infrastructure, received bipartisan backing. Similarly, in the UK, both major parties support rail network expansion. Globally, there is a push for more urban rail networks to alleviate congestion, address climate change concerns, and enhance living standards. Therefore, elections do not pose a concern for us. Q. What is your take on the ease of doing business in India? I believe India is moving in the right direction. Speed is crucial because infrastructure projects are inherently complex worldwide. It is essential to find the right government setup that balances the need for strong, cost-effective products with the agility and flexibility of local operations to enable quick decision-making. Achieving this balance allows cities to effectively promote their own urban systems, and India is heading in that direction. Q. How is your loco joint venture in Madhepura performing? A. The locomotives are performing well, and we are now focusing on their maintenance. Q. What about new maintenance contracts? We have a maintenance arrangement with the NCRTC, setting a positive precedent for the industry. Maintenance contracts offer significant benefits to operators. Our trains are designed for maintainability, ensuring a smooth transition from manufacturing to warranty and maintenance. Inside the trains, many components and software systems require continuous upgrades and new cybersecurity measures. The market trend is not just to deliver a product or solution but to ensure ongoing support throughout its lifecycle. Q. With this trend, do you need to scale up operations here? We already operate numerous maintenance sites and plan to establish more to meet growing needs. Globally, we have 270 maintenance sites, with at least 25 located in India. Each site is staffed by a team of 10-20 people dedicated to assisting operators. Additionally, there is an increasing demand for more digital technology in the sector. Q. What is Alstom doing about sustainability and greener technology? We are focusing on energy-saving products. For electrified locomotives, we are working on eco-design to increase the recyclability of our different products. India is also working on massive electrification of its rail network, which will reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and we are helping do that. Q. You also have hydrogen trains. We have hydrogen trains in our network. But we are bringing battery technology in India. We are also exploring the potential for hydrogen trains in India, drawing insights from trends in other countries. However, the technology needs to mature before we can implement it widely. Developing fuel cell technology is essential for the daily use of hydrogen trains, and we are actively working in this area. Q. Can you elaborate on the battery technology? We are currently implementing batteries for traction components and working on adapting these batteries for rail use. While there has been significant investment in batteries for cars and trucks, we are focusing on developing batteries suitable for trains. Efforts are underway to adapt large batteries for rail applications, and we plan to introduce this technology in India, starting with our Maneja plant next year. These batteries will supply auxiliary power in railways, optimizing train capacity in terms of weight and volume and increasing auxiliary power autonomy by 50%. Initially, the cells will be imported from France, but we will eventually move to indigenous cells from India. This technology will be developed for both the Indian market and other markets. Q. Is this battery technology available in other markets? Battery technology is still evolving, with various technologies in the market. Although we have battery trains in some markets, their adoption is still limited due to the newness of the technology. Q. What other innovations do you plan to introduce in India? We will introduce a significant amount of new digital technology in India. Alstom will be the first in the world to bring Automatic Train Operation (ATO) and the European Train Control System (ETCS) to India. We will also implement new passenger information systems and detection systems to streamline operations. Additionally, we are exploring technology to improve maintenance and enhance train efficiency. Q. India has become the second-largest market for Alstom outside France. Is that correct? Yes, in terms of our footprint. In terms of value, India ranks fourth or fifth. Q. How was India's performance as part of the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region? India contributes about a third of our APAC revenues. Of the total revenues in India, 25-30% typically come from exports. Over the past two years, we have secured orders worth over 3 billion euros from the Asia-Pacific region, representing 17% of our total orders, with India's share being about 1 billion euros. The APAC region accounts for 14% of Alstom's total sales, amounting to 2.4 billion euros in FY24. Alstom's backlog of orders in India is 3.6 billion euros, which is just under 4% of the company's total backlog. New Delhi: After being dragged to court by Elon Musk's electric vehicle giant over the use of the 'Tesla' trademark, Gurugram-based company Tesla Power India Pvt. Ltd is confident about settling the trademark infringement dispute with the American giant through mediation. Kavinder Khurana, managing director of Tesla Power, in an interaction with Mint, stated that his company is confident it can mediate with Tesla Inc. If mediation fails, they are prepared to fight the legal battle with the American EV giant and are confident they will not lose the Tesla trademark. We are confident that we will be able to mediate and settle the matter through mediation. Our intention is to resolve the matter, which is why we voluntarily surrendered in court on the first day and gave an undertaking that we will not engage in the EV business with the Tesla trademark," he said. Also read | Delhi High Court sends Tesla vs. Tesla Power trademark case to mediation Regarding the possibility of failed mediation and concerns about losing the trademark, Khurana stated that they trust the court not to take away the Tesla trademark from them. He emphasized they are not afraid to fight this battle against Tesla. We believe that the courts in India are fair in their decisions. If, somehow, an honorable court decides that we cannot use it, we will respect that decision. We have a business in India, and we will explore remedies to address that situation. But right now, we are confident that the honourable court will not instruct us to stop using this brand name or trademark because it is our identity," he said. I have obtained all the necessary approvals and paid over 60 crore in taxes to the Indian government, including goods and services tax (GST). We have fulfilled all our tax obligations. Why should I be scared? Khurana said. According to Khurana, the legal suit has not impacted the business of the company, and they remain profitable. Mediation with Tesla Inc. However, Khurana insists that Tesla should directly participate in the mediation process without relying on third parties like law firms. He expresses concern that if third parties involved in the mediation lack the intent to mediate and settle, it could complicate reaching a resolution. Therefore, Tesla Power plans to request Tesla Inc. to send its own representative to the mediation proceedings. Khurana notes that Tesla Inc. has not directly contacted them so far. Khurana further expressed skepticism that only their company is targeted by Tesla when there are numerous companies registered in India with the Tesla trademark. He pointed out that Tesla Inc. was aware of other companies using 'Tesla' without objection when they applied for their trademark in India. "When Tesla Inc. applied for their trademark in India, they were aware that other companies, including ours, were already using 'Tesla' without objection. It seems they've chosen this moment, just as we're on the verge of becoming profitable. Until now, we've been incurring losses to grow our business legally under the Tesla name. It's puzzling why they've singled us out now," he added. When asked about why he chose to name his company Tesla, Khurana explained that the word "TESLA" originates from the surname of the renowned scientist Nikola Tesla, not invented by Tesla Inc. or Elon Musk. He mentioned that Musk chose this name as a tribute to Nikola Tesla. Khurana pointed out that there are numerous companies worldwide using the name, including 300 in the US, 700 globally, and 14 in India. We obtained approval for Tesla Power USA LLC from the government of Delaware, USA, and similarly established Tesla Power USA MENA LLC in Dubai, UAE. In India, we received approval for Tesla Power India Pvt. Ltd from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Additionally, we obtained a No Objection Certificate from the Trademark Registry in India and secured worldwide copyright for our logo design. Leveraging these approvals, we have extensively advertised our brand name and copyrighted logo across multiple countries. Also read | Tesla vs Tesla Power: Gurgaon company removes logo from e-scooters He also notes that their logo is distinct and bears no similarity to any trademark owned by Tesla Inc., and Tesla Power has invested significantly, spending crores of rupees on advertising campaigns to promote their brand and trademark, ensuring widespread recognition among the public. Tesla Inc., co-founded by Elon Musk, filed a lawsuit against Tesla Power on 2 May, alleging trademark infringement and consumer confusion. Tesla Inc. accused the Gurugram-based company of misleading consumers by implying an association with its electric vehicles (EVs), which could potentially damage its reputation as it prepared to enter India. Tesla Power EV ads In response, the High Court restrained Tesla Power from publishing promotional advertisements featuring EV products under the Tesla trademark, following Tesla Inc.'s plea. Tesla Inc. alleged in their plea to the Delhi court that Tesla Power not only used a similar trademark but also advertised itself as an EV company in newspapers. Despite undertaking on 2 May to refrain from selling anything related to EVs, Tesla Power continued to sell e-scooters bearing the Tesla logo, which Tesla Inc. claimed violated the court's order. The American company reiterated in subsequent hearings that Tesla Power's e-scooters were still available for purchase on IndiaMart, contrary to the court's directives. Tesla Power argued in response that its primary business was supplying lead-acid batteries for applications such as automobiles, inverters, and UPS systems, and that it was not involved in manufacturing EVs. The company said advertisements featuring the Tesla name were part of a marketing alliance with another EV manufacturer, E-Ashwa, and that it had no intention of producing or marketing EVs under its own brand. Regarding the sale of e-scooters, Tesla Power acknowledged that its partners and dealers had sold 700 units, totaling around 5 crore, bearing the Tesla trademark. The sales were primarily conducted by their partner company, E-Ashwa. Khurana informed Mint that they had completely terminated their alliance with E-Ashwa due to the court's directive prohibiting any involvement in the EV business. "As of May 2nd, we ceased all EV-related operations and terminated all engagements with E-Ashwa. Termination notices have been issued, and we are currently settling accounts and inventory. We have instructed dealers to remove Tesla Power USA stickers from remaining inventory; most stickers have already been removed, though a few may still remain. While we cannot guarantee 100% completion immediately, we are actively working to comply with the court's orders. Additionally, we have already emailed IndiaMart to remove the product," he said. The Supreme Court is set to hear a batch of pleas related to the controversy-ridden medical entrance exam NEET-UG 2024 on Monday, July 8, according to the cause list for July 8 uploaded on the court's website. The court will decree judgment on petitions seeking a direction to conduct the May 5 screening test afresh and those alleging irregularities and malpractices. A bench consisting of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, along with Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, is set to hear 38 petitions concerning the NEET-UG examination, reported PTI. This development comes in the wake of recent affidavits submitted in the apex court by the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts NEET-UG. Recently, the Centre filed an affidavit contesting that scrapping the NEET-UG 2024 exam would be "counterproductive" and "seriously jeopardise" lakhs of honest candidates. The Union Ministry of Education, in its affidavit, said, 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, reported HT. The Centre and the NTA opposed the pleas seeking scrapping of the exam, a re-test and a court-monitored probe into the entire gamut of issues involved in the backdrop of large-scale malpractices ranging from question paper leaks to impersonation. Also Read | NEET UG counselling 2024 schedule to be released today? All you need to know The Union Health Ministry, in a notice dated July 6, stated that the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) has not notified the counselling schedule of NEET UG and PG courses. Hence, the counselling process for NEET UG has been postponed indefinitely. This development comes after the Supreme Court rejected a plea to delay the NEET UG counselling as scheduled on July 6. The NTA annually administers the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG). This exam serves as a screening test for admissions to various medical courses in government and private institutions across the country, such as MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and others. National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPERs) should focus on multidisciplinary research to bridge the gap between academic education and the needs of the country's $50 billion pharmaceutical industry, according to a study. The study highlighted the outdated syllabus, limited industrial exposure, absence of entrepreneurial culture and absence of industry-driven research in NIPER institutions as reasons for the gap. The departments of pharmaceuticals (DoP) study found that more than 82% of students didn't collaborate with the industry for research and innovation. Around 271 NIEPR students, 69 alumni and 32 faculty members participated in the study conducted by Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India for the DoP. Also Read: Government to audit pharma companies in July to review compliance with GMP norms NIPER institutions should focus on what businesses need in this sector. Focus on collaborative research projects and research funds paid for by industry and technology development programmes By working on these suggestions, they can improve the quality of education, study and innovation, which will help India reach its goal of being self-sufficient, the study said. India has approximately 3,000 pharmaceutical businesses, over 10,500 manufacturing facilities and a highly skilled labour force. However, academic institutions have struggled to meet the industry demands. While India produces 600,000 pharma students every year, on average, it has approximately 3 million people working in the sector. However, experts say India still needs people trained in the new methods of production and drug discovery. Also Read: Pharma companies prioritizing technology for growth: ZS CEO The world over industry-academia interaction is fundamental to take the knowledge-driven industry forward. Theres a need for course upgradation and student-teacher interaction with the industry," said Sudarshan Jain, president, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA). He said the IPA is working with the Pharmacy Council of India and pharmacy colleges to update the curricula and training programmes. The 2023 education policy also emphasizes incorporating courses related to AI and other digital technologies in the syllabus and faculty training. Queries sent to the DoP spokesperson remained unanswered until press time. Also Read: Indias pharma sector should go from volume to value leadership The Indian government established the first NIPER in SAS Nagar, Mohali as a registered society in accordance with the Society Registered Act of 1860. Later, six more NIPERs were established in Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Rae Bareli, Kolkata, Hajipur and Hyderabad. These institutions were founded with guidance of NIPER Mohali. NIPERs are inching closer to realising the goal of establishing a pharmaceutical ecosystem in the country and creating opportunities for collaborations and new pharmaceutical and medical device innovations. Bengaluru second airport: Karnataka's Infrastructure Development Minister MB Patil on Sunday, July 7, announced that the state government will soon hold a meeting to decide the location for the upcoming second airport for Bengaluru, according to several media reports. Patil highlighted two aspects before making the final decision, the passenger load factor and the connectivity to the current Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) which should be considered by the government. Also Read | Aviation ministry trying to boost air cargo volumes, talking to industry The minister said that if the priority is to solve the passenger load issue, then areas such as Sarjapura and Kanakapura Road are "strong contenders". If connectivity to the current airport becomes a priority then places like Tumakurur and Dobbaspet will be in the lead, he said. These considerations will be discussed in the next departmental meeting and further reviewed with the CM, said Patil. The matter will also be brought up in the cabinet meeting, he said. Also Read | HC issues contempt notice to Spicejet for non-return of assets to TWC Aviation There is an exclusivity clause with Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BAIL) which restricts the building of another airport infrastructure within a 150 km radius, ending in 2032, said the minister. This is expected to allow the development of a new airport by 2033. "Considering the time required for land acquisition and compensation for landowners, the government has initiated the planning process," said the minister. "In Mumbai, the distance between the two airports is 36 Km," said Patil. Major cities like New York and London have multiple airports nearby, he said. MK Stalin-led government's decision in Tamil Nadu to build an airport in Hosur needs to be examined, whether the exclusivity clause of BAIL applies to this situation or not, said the minister. Also Read | Air India A320 Neo aircraft arrives with new livery in Delhi SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, famous for his heavy-handed crackdown on street gangs, threatened to use similar tactics against price gougers. Since 2022, Bukele has rounded up tens of thousands of suspected street gang members often on little evidence and filmed them being frog-marched in their underwear though vast new prisons. In a speech late Friday, he threatened to use the same tactics on wholesalers and distributors who he blamed for a recent steep rise in the prices for food items and other basic goods. I am going to issue a call, like we did to the gangs at the start of 2019," Bukele said, referring to the year he was first elected. We told them either stop killing people, or don't complain about what happens afterward. "Well, I'm going to issue a message to the importers, distributors and food wholesalers: stop abusing the people of El Salvador, or dont complain about what happens afterward. He said we are not playing around and his threats were not a smokescreen. I expect the prices to come down by tomorrow or there are going to be problems, he said. Recently reelected with 85% of the vote, Bukele controls Congress and has been granted special emergency powers to fight gangs for more than two years. While his emergency powers probably wouldn't allow Bukele to lock people up for charging too much, he claimed there was evidence that wholesalers or importers had allegedly engaged in tax evasion, bribery and contraband importation, criminal charges that could warrant jail time. The Salvadoran government has said inspectors have found some products had tripled in price, and while fines are a possibility, that probably isn't enough. The government has also announced plans to set up 20 sales points to distribute food at fair prices. It's all very much in character for Bukele, who once described himself as the worlds coolest dictator. Bukele is also riding a wave of popularity for his frontal attack on powerful gangs that once basically ruled many neighborhoods, extorting protection money from businesses and residents. The crackdown has converted what was once the worlds murder capital into one of Latin Americas safest countries. The state of emergency originally declared in 2022 and still in effect has been used to round up 78,175 suspected gang members in sweeps that rights groups say are often arbitrary, based on a persons appearance or where they live. The government has had to release about 7,000 people because of a lack of evidence. Hedge funds are piling into power, drawn by volatile electricity and natural-gas prices that could remain turbulent. They are offering incentives like big sign-on bonuses, large profit-share deals and company cars with drivers to lure traders from utilities, banks and rival investment shops. There is a spotlight that is now shining on us today, more than any time before," said Juan Penelas, co-founder of e360 Power, a Texas-based hedge-fund firm with a focus on electricity trading. Assets under management have roughly doubled since the start of 2022, to about $470 million. Electricity is the busiest desk at HC Group, a London-based headhunting firm that focuses on commodities. Over the past year, the firm has helped financial firms with more hires in power than in oil, an executive at the company said. Behind the boom are two trends: the rise of energy-intensive artificial intelligence and of electrification due to the energy transition. The International Energy Agency projects that AIs energy usage will rise 10-fold over the next two years. Global trading volumes for electricity futures jumped by 35% between 2019 and 2023, data from a McKinsey study showed. Some regions have seen much bigger increases, with Nordic volumes surging 14-fold and those in the U.K. tripling. Some huge hedge funds have taken note, according to people familiar with the matter, including some of the worlds largest so-called multimanager firms, which use specialized teams to spread bets across a range of markets. Citadel, which manages $63 billion, was an early mover and recently increased the size of its team. Millennium Management and Balyasny Asset Management have also built up their desks, snapping up traders and analysts from a range of players in the market, including utilities. Bobby Jain, formerly co-chief investment officer at Millennium, launched a hedge-fund firm this month after securing $5.3 billion in commitments. Jain Global has hired more than 10 portfolio managers for commodities, which will be a key asset class. Within commodities, power and gas will be the biggest initial focus, people familiar with the matter say. Power is one of the most volatile commodities. To get a sense of just how much it fluctuates, consider Brent, the global benchmark for crude oil. It has traded between roughly $73 and $95 a barrel over the past 12 months. If it traded like power, though, the price could have swung between negative levels and $850 a barrel, according to McKinsey. The volatility and complexity of power markets present trading opportunities and risks. Over the years, companies as varied as JPMorgan and Electricite de France, or EDF, have run into difficulty trading power, while Enron blew up in part because of it. Wrong-way bets can quickly rack up huge losses, and regulators are eager to avert spikes in energy bills for households and businesses. Over the years, the balance of power in the market has shifted, reducing the role of investment banks. More than a decade ago, numerous big banks such as Barclays and Deutsche Bank ran trading desks that bought and sold energy. But tighter regulatory scrutiny and higher capital requirements led many to reduce their market presence. Many banks cant afford to be in this business anymore. The hurdles are lower for hedge funds," said Anthony Gordon, a former head of energy at Och-Ziff Capital Management. He is now a partner at Avaio Capital, a private-equity firm that invests in energy infrastructure. Compared with the more highly regulated banking and utilities industries, hedge funds offer traders the appeal of looser guardrails, in some cases, and bigger paydays. Top power traders typically take home between 12% and 30% of the profit they make for their funds, headhunters and traders say, roughly in line with the kinds of profit shares that some large hedge-fund firms pay more broadly to portfolio managers. The firms are also drawing on talent from industry players. Alex Watson, a natural-gas trader at French utility EDF, made huge returns when gas prices skyrocketed due to disruptions to Russian supply. His bet on differences between European and U.K. prices netted the utility millions, according to people familiar with the trade. Watson was hired by BlueCrest Capital Management, a private investment firm founded by billionaire Mike Platt, last year. Portfolio managers can make tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in profit in a good year, according to the executive at HC Group. Freepoint Commodities, a Connecticut-based hedge-fund manager with a focus on energy, is offering some new portfolio managers 50% of the profit they generate in their first year, according to a person familiar with these terms. Its power team is bigger than for any other commodity, this person added. Top traders are also being offered million-dollar signing bonuses and sweeteners like company cars with drivers to join these funds, headhunters and traders say. Once they arrive, they are presented with a challenge: Make the same kind of money as they did before. This might not be possible, according to rival traders and commodities executives. Power and gas markets went crazy in 22 and 23 because of the Ukraine invasion. If you were on the right side of trades, you made crazy returns pretty much by accident. Some people made a hundred times what they usually make," an executive at the commodity-trading firm Vitol said. This year, markets are calmer, so far at least. Its next to impossible to make the same kind of money without some kind of freak event." While Russias invasion of Ukraine created exceptional dislocations, many in the market believe a cocktail of surging energy demand, decades-old grid infrastructure and the continued build-out of clean energy could mean more freak events, or at least more extreme volatility. More than 1,200 coal-fired units have shut down in the U.S. and Europe since 2000, according to Global Energy Monitor. This has made electricity systems more vulnerable to extreme weather, as coal is a stable source of energy, albeit highly polluting. The Group of Seven countries have pledged to close all their coal plants by 2035. One popular strategy is to buy power cheaply early in the morning when demand is low and sell it during periods of peak demand, like in the later afternoon. Changes in weather can cause dramatic price swings in areas with a lot of renewables. An unexpected storm in the middle of the day can reduce the energy generated by solar farms, driving up prices. Write to Anna Hirtenstein at anna.hirtenstein@wsj.com and Caitlin McCabe at caitlin.mccabe@wsj.com In the restaurant drama The Bear, the protagonists assistantand the kitchens anchoris the sous chef Sydney Syd Adamu. She helps plan menus, runs a tight ship and shines with her unwavering determination to create better dishes. Chef Shraddha Tayade reminds one of Syd. Tayade is the senior sous chef at Mumbais OPedro. She likes to study her guests, oversees orders and creates menus with her boss, Hussain Shahzad, the executive chef at Hunger Inc., the parent company of the restaurant. Also read: The Bear is not trending here Even as a child, I was enthusiastic about cooking, says the 33-year-old. Her interest was fuelled by her fathers love for making and enjoying food. As we were speaking, a coconut stuffed with a flattened rice-like preparation was placed on the table. It was her twist on the traditional Goan Portuguese shrimp-based side dish, kismur. She had reimagined it as a vegetarian dish with tender coconut, streaked with sweet and sour tamarind glaze and speckled with crispy curry leaves. Her eyes light up as she talks of it. One of the motivating factors to make a seafood-free version was that her parents are vegetarian. The ingredient that sparked her imagination was tender coconut. She attempted kismur by pairing it with soft onions, chillies and Goan garam masala. Hussain added some batter-fried tender coconut bits for an addictive crunch and served it in a coconut shell. After two months of trial and error, it became a hot-seller. This is my first dish on the menu of a restaurant. It boosted my confidence to create more, says the chef. Tender coconut kismur at O'Pedro. Tayade loves Indian food, but her career began in a French kitchen in 2011, when the French creperie Suzette opened in Nariman Point. It was the first of its kind and she was hired as commis 3, an entry-level position in professional kitchens. The commis 3 assists chefs and their job involves swiftly and efficiently doing basics, like peeling onions, slicing mushrooms and cleaning meat. At Suzette, I began to harbour the dream of leading a kitchen by observing my head chef Karishma Dalal, she says. Now, Dalal is the chef and owner of the popular salad bar The Bombay Salad Co. and the cafe Bokka in Mumbai. She noticed Tayades potential. In 2015, when Hunger Inc. was hiring for The Bombay Canteen, Dalal recommended her. For the first time, I was exposed to the diversity of Indian regional food, she says. She was like a sponge, training under head chef Thomas Zacharias, sous chef Shahzad and the iconic Floyd Cardoz, and was in charge of the blancher. At that time, we had meen pollichathu (Kerala style fish steamed in banana leaf), and it was my favourite. I couldnt get enough of cooking it, she says. The fish had to be blanched, and she worked for weeks to perfect it, burning a few handis in the process. In 2017, when OPedro opened and chef Shahzad led the kitchen, he asked her to move there. The shift to OPedro was pivotal. She climbed the ranks to be a senior sous chef who oversees each dish, from colour to plating and freshness of the garnish before it reaches diners. The high point of her career is she leads the kitchen team too, fulfilling the dream that was seeded more than a decade ago. Bengaluru-based Preeta Dutta, a 50-year-old interior design stylist, is hoping she is finally in menopause, defined by doctors as starting one year after a persons last period. Having struggled through a tough perimenopause, a transitional period during which stark hormonal changes, including withdrawal of oesterogen, occur, Dutta feels angry about the way several doctors dismissed and diminished her symptoms. I started perimenopause around 45, and had hot flushes, panic attacks and fluctuating blood pressure. I was started on blood pressure medication. After some time, I started having heart palpitations, for which I did the round of cardiologists, neurologists and other specialists, till my GP said I was essentially having anxiety and panic attacks, and all my individual symptoms could be related to menopause," says Dutta. It felt like all the pieces of a puzzle finally falling into place. Why didnt all these specialists I saw connect the dots?" asks Dutta, who is now better and off BP medication after controlling inflammation through diet changes, supplementation and exercise. Though she feels it is too late for her to start Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) or Menopausal Hormone Therapy (MHT) as it is now referred to by the medical community, she is willing to try a functional medicine-led hormone reset. If 10 years earlier someone had told me about HRT, I would have taken it," she says. An MHT prescriptionmedication to replace oestrogen and progesterone, which drop as one approaches menopauseis less than common, even in Indian metros, for women suffering through years ofdebilitating perimenopausal symptoms. Meanwhile, some drugs like Veozah (fezolinetant), an oral medication to specifically treat vasomotor symptoms (hot flushes) caused by menopause, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2023, are not available in India. This seeming reluctance to treat menopause medically can be traced to an old, lingering bias. Doctors were giving HRT left, right and centre. Then this study came and halted everyone in their tracks Dr Nandita Palshetkar, a Mumbai-based obstetrician and gynaecologist, recalls a time when menopausal symptoms were treated widely with HRT in India and globally. Doctors were giving it left, right and centre," says Dr Palshetkar, who is a former president of the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI). Then this study came and halted everyone in their tracks," she says, referring to a report by the Womens Health Initiative (WHI), a project funded by the US National Institutes of Health focused on menopause and its treatment. Also read: Understanding metabolic syndrome, which affects 1 in 3 Indians In 2002, WHI released preliminary findings from a study undertaken to determine whether HRT protected women from heart disease and whether it increased the risk of breast cancer. The findings indicated that combined oestrogen and progestogen therapy showed elevated risks of breast cancer, heart disease, stroke and blood clots among the participating women, and the study was halted. Later, meta-studies and clarifications repudiated many of the WHI findings, but a culture of over-cautiousness had set inand continues to be an influential factor in the clinical treatment of menopause. Those women who need MHT should be given it," says Dr Paleshetkar. Women who suffer from frequent hot flushes, night sweats, anxiety, body aches and insomnia, for whom other methods of treatment such as lifestyle management and supplementation have not helped, they should definitely consider HRT. Its not fair that women spend so many years leading a sub-optimal life," she adds. Doubts about the study arose within a few years of its publication. The average age of participants was 63, and only 3.5% of the women were 50-54 years old, the age when women usually make a decision regarding initiation of MHT," notes a 2010 statement by the Endocrine Society of the US. It also had other flaws, such as the type of hormones prescribed to women during the study. In response to the findings of the WHI trial, MHT usage declined by approximately 80%, notes the society. The pendulum is now swinging back as a result of more careful assessment of the use of MHT shortly after menopause." Dr Palshetkar feels its not that doctors dont want to prescribe it, its often patients who are reluctant. Better awareness is needed," she says. However, anecdotal evidence suggests even women who actively seek it may find it tough to get a doctor to prescribe it or give convincing reasons as to why its not suitable for them. At least six women spoken to for this story who saw a doctor for menopause relief said one of three things: their doctors never recommended it;it was suggested by a doctor but they were reluctant to try it; or they asked about it and were discouraged. Monika Manchanda, a Bengaluru-based co-founder of a health-tech startup, is aware of the controversies regarding MHT and changing attitudes towards it in many countries. A couple of years ago, the 47-year-old started experiencing peri-menopausal symptoms such as unpredictable periods, heavy bleeding, night sweats, insomnia, mood swings and brain fog. I would be in the middle of a presentation and lose my strand of thought. I had not felt like this ever before," she says. She started looking into symptoms and causes, and her research threw up the work of doctors like US-based Mary Claire Haver. These are menopause specialists who have taken to social media to talk about the widespread ignorance regarding menopause even within the medical community. They evangelise the benefits of hormone therapy. Indians gynaecologists are not as open to HRT as those in the UK and the US. If you go to Indian doctors, there are two standard responses: this happens in menopause, you have to put up with it, and lose weight. How can you be told, casually, to just suck it up?" asks Manchanda. Having access to medical professionals at her workplace, she became convinced that she would benefit from hormone therapy, but has not yet found a doctor who will prescribe it. A friend, who lives in Malaysia, is undergoing MHT, and Manchanda has started looking at the option of travelling there to seek treatment. I have done video calls with her doctor, and am seriously considering visiting her to start HRT," she says. In her book The New Menopause, published in April, Dr Haver writes: You deserve modern menopause care. The categorical denial, dismissal and refusal to discuss therapeutic options, including hormone replacement therapy, has no place in 2024." The new way of thinking about menopause, backed by studies, is that it affects every organ system of the body, she writes. View Full Image 'The categorical denial, dismissal and refusal to discuss therapeutic options, including hormone replacement therapy, has no place in 2024,' says Dr Haver (Instagram) Bengaluru-based menopause care specialist Dr Aruna Muralidhar agrees with Dr Havers views. Approaching menopause with the seriousness it deserves is especially relevant in India, where the average age for menopause is 46-48," she says. This is lower than the global average age at which women achieve menopause48.8and considerably lower than the 50-52 average for Caucasian women. Dr Muralidhar, who practised in the UK before moving to India a decade ago, says that in her opinion, Indians gynaecologists are not as open to HRT as those in the UK and the US." She does caution that HRT is not a one-prescription-fits-all solution. Doctors have to consider the patients medical history and lifestyle. Treatment of menopausal symptoms starts with basic awareness, lifestyle changes, nutrition and supplements, exercise and meditation. But lack of awareness or experience in prescribing HRT may make some doctors step back from prescribing hormones," says Dr Muralidhar. Attitudes are changing, but slowly. Since 2021, the Indian Menopause Society (IMS) has been conducting an exam to certify doctors as menopause practitioners, called Credentialed IMS Menopause Practitioners (CIMP). It also publishes an annual list of doctors who have cleared the exam, along with their location, on its website (indianmenopausesociety.org/CIMP-applications.html), and the number has been growing. Dr Archana Dwivedi, who heads the Vadodara chapter of IMS and is on its website committee, agrees that the WHI study created a scare" among doctors and patients for many years. But the guidelines have changed and with the advent of better quality, bio-mimicking oestrogen and progesterone, people have started accepting that MHT is a good thing to offer to their patients because quality of life is important," says Dr Dwivedi over WhatsApp voice notes in response to questions shared over email. Longevity has increased, women are now living up to 90 years, and we cannot live a compromised life. MHT is a gold standard therapy, and I would appeal to doctors to not let their patients suffer if they are eligible to receive it," she says, only prescribing caution for those over 55 with comorbidities. The earlier you start the better," she says, adding that it is a myth that oestrogen therapy causes cardiac disease and obesity. In fact studies have shown that it plays a role in managing Type-2 diabetes and obesity if given at the proper time, as well as bone health, mental healthall these things improve." With the availability of transdermal patches and sprays, MHT is here to stay," she says. Also read: Use free therapy platforms, but with caution. Heres why To be honest, I wasnt sure I really wanted to come to Buffalo. In 1999, I knew I was ready for a new challenge after working at the newspaper in Binghamton for 12 years. I had applied to become the editorial page editor in Portland, Maine, but that went nowhere. So when I saw in a trade industry magazine that The Buffalo News was looking for an editorial writer, I applied. The job seemed good and I had friends and family in Toronto. But there was a problem: I had to deal with a wave of Oh-No-Not-Buffalo fever. You know what I mean, because it was everywhere then, from late-night comics to my own acquaintances. Why would you want to go to Buffalo? Rust Belt. Urban blight. And all that snow. It was actually fortune smiling on me. As I write this, I am wrapping up a newspaper career of 47-plus years, more than half of it spent working in Buffalo, a city I quickly learned to love. Heres what I found in my first few months here: The knocks were accurate. Blight is obvious. Its called the Rust Belt for a reason. And we all know about the winter weather. It was all true. It just wasnt the whole truth. I didnt know about the beauty of Delaware Park or that Frederick Law Olmsted was its creator. I was ignorant of this citys former wealth, still visible along streets like Delaware Avenue and the three gorgeous parkways that lead to the park. Most of all, I didnt know how sturdy, kind and generous the people are in all parts of this city and region. I quickly learned. This is a special place. I also didnt know what a great newspaper I was about to join, staffed by professionals who knew their stuff and were focused on doing a good job for the readers who depended on them for information. My previous two jobs were with newspaper groups and, although The News was then part of Warren Buffets sprawling business empire, it was, for all intents and purposes, a stand-alone operation. That was something different and, for about three weeks, more than a little puzzling. I kept wondering what it was about this place. There were reporters and editors and photographers and clerks, just like the others, but it wasnt the same. Then it hit me: This is like working for a newspaper. Colleagues at my previous two newspapers were just as committed and just as diligent and those newsrooms were good places to work, but the vibe here was different. It was liberating. Ive never forgotten that. Now Im retiring after almost 25 years here, the last six as editor of the editorial page. I didnt come here intending to finish my career at The News, but Im grateful that I did. Its been one of the privileges of my life to work in this office with these colleagues and in this city. I owe thanks to too many people, so Ill resist naming Jerry Goldberg and Mike Connelly and Margaret Sullivan and Warren Colville and about 100 other people. A final thought. In these divisive times, there are people who would deny the existence of facts or standards. At least some of them hope to clear the way for whatever kind of misconduct they endorse. Among the primary targets of that misguided effort is the fact-based media or what critics like to call the mainstream media. Fine. I wear that designation with pride. Yes, we make mistakes, but were the ones who are committed to correcting them. And, while no one can be perfectly objective, its our professional obligation to do the best we can. All the journalists I have known take that demand seriously. Newspapers build internal systems to backstop it. Thats not what you see in the non-fact-based media, and we all know who they are. Editorial writing is a special part of newspapering. If there was a professional calling in my life, that was it. Ive loved working here and Ive tried to make a difference for the community that adopted me. I hope Ive been able to do that. Happy trails. NEW DELHI : Citizens always eagerly wait for the budget in the hope of getting more tax benefits. While the clamour for tax deductions grows, one aspect that is worrisome is the retail participation in high-risk investments like derivatives, intraday trading and high-fixed-return schemes. Driven by the stupendous performance and high taxation on regulated schemes, investors across age groups are investing in instruments that could carry much higher risk than they understand or can accept. Data from the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE) shows that 40% of the NSEs 95 million registered investors are Gen Zs as of May 2024, compared to 22% in 2018-19. Further, premium turnover on index options has grown 426% in the last three years, compared to 30% growth in the cash turnover market. High-fixed-return schemes like peer-to-peer (P2P) lending and low-rated bonds have traction among those looking for a regular return. Even unregulated schemes like managed farmlands, renewable asset leasing, gold savings schemes, invoice discounting, fractional property etc. are finding favour with ordinary investors as they promise high returns. Investors are simply unaware of these schemes' structures or how they work. They still pour in money as they do not know how to weigh the risks with returns. While regulators are making huge efforts to caution investors against dealing with unregulated entities, a few tax nudges can go a long way in getting investors to move in the right direction. This is even more essential now, as investor memory is short and most of the new investors have only seen rising markets. They do not really understand the downside of the high-risk strategies. Indian citizens are allowed to invest in government bonds through the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) retail direct scheme. This provides a good option for citizens to lock in rates for 1-30 year periods. However, the uptake is low as the returns are fully taxable, and the platform is difficult to comprehend. In the past, bonds like deep-discount and tax-free infrastructure bonds have been popular with citizens. To encourage retail participation in long-term bonds and provide citizens with a viable option to invest for 1-40 years, the returns on certain sovereign bonds up to a limit can be made tax-free. Further, the government needs to make it easy to buy these bonds, like the sovereign gold bond scheme, to improve the adoption of government securities at a retail level. Planning for retirement is the top financial concern for all Indians, and the National Pension Scheme (NPS) is a great instrument that can be used to build the retirement corpus and post-retirement pension. However, discrepancies exist in tax benefits for the salaried and the self-employed. While the salaried get the benefit of a tax deduction on corporate contributions under Section 80 CCD(2) in the old and new tax regimes, the self-employed get deductions only under the old tax regime under Section 80CCD(1B). This is unfair to them. To balance this disparity, the contributions by individuals to the NPS under Section 80CCD(1B) should be allowed as a deduction in the new tax regime as well. If planning for retirement corpus is burdensome, planning for post-retirement regular income is a bigger challenge. Retirees often fall prey to schemes from unregulated entities or invest in low-rated bonds, mainly driven by the need for a reasonable post-retirement income. The Senior Citizens Savings Scheme (SCSS) and the Post Office Monthly Income Scheme (POMIS) are two schemes widely used by retirees for regular income. The returns from these schemes can be made tax-free for senior citizens so that they can lead a better life and not have to take undue risks. Also Read: Budget may hike tax on F&O trading. Here's what it could mean All these measures will help citizens have better personal finances over tax deductions (which, in most cases, get spent). The availability of government schemes like the NPS, SCSS, POMIS and government securities with additional tax benefits will nudge citizens to consider these regulated schemes over riskier/unregulated investments. This will also ensure household savings are not going into non-productive economic activity but nation-building. Mrin Agarwal is founder-director of Finsafe India. Russia's Voronezh region declared a state of emergency on Sunday, July 7, following Ukrainian drone attack that set the munitions depot ablaze, Reuters reported, citing a statement from the region's governor. The governor of Voronezh, Alexander Gusev, took to Telegram messaging app to make the announcement. He said, "There were no casualties," reported Reuters. He further noted that some residents in the Podgorensky district of the region were being evacuated. The post adds, Detonation of explosive objects continues. Local Russian authorities reported that the munitions depot was set ablaze following an overnight Ukrainian drone attack in Voronezh, the western region bordering Ukraine, reported AFP. In an earlier post, Alexander Gusev stated noted that several drones were detected flying above the Voronezh region by air defence systems and were destroyed overnight. The Voronezh governor said that falling debris alighted the fire in the depot. Rescue teams arrived at the site and evacuation operation is underway, reported AFP. This development came after the Russian Defence Ministry announced that the Russian Iskander ballistic missiles demolished two Patriot surface-to-air missile system launchers in the Odesa region of Ukraine. The ministry, in a post on Telegram, decreed that the attack took place in the area of the port of Yuzhne. Additionally, a radar station was also destroyed. However, it is still unclear when the attack on the Patriot launchers happened. The Russian Defence Ministry released a video footage that shows daylight explosions on uninhabited land near a coastline. Also Read | PM Modi to meet Putin in first trip to Russia since Ukraine war As per reports, Russia launched 13 drones targeting Ukraine. Early on Sunday, Ukraine's air force asserted that the country's air defence system demolished all of them. Ukraine's air force, in a statement on Telegram, also mentioned that Russia shelled Ukraine with two Iskander ballistic missiles. Drones, including those carrying large explosive devices capable of reaching distances spanning hundreds of kilometres, have been extensively used by Russia and Ukraine since the onset of Russia's military operations in February 2022. Notably, Ukraine intensified its attacks on Russia this year and has been mainly targeting towns and villages across the border and energy sites which purportedly support the Russian army. Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit. The state of emergency in Russia's Voronezh comes just a day before PM Modi's two-day visit to Moscow. Since the Russia-Ukraine war began, this marks PM Modi's first visit to the country. Mint could not independently confirm the development. Ten people died in Bihar due to lightning in the last 24 hours, and four children drowned in rainwater pond in Uttar Pradesh's Agra on Sunday. The deaths in Bihar occurred in various districts of the state amid rain and thunderstorms over the past few weeks. Two deaths due to lightning were reported from Nalanda district, while Vaishali, Bhagalpur, Saharsa, Rohtas, Saran, Jamui, Bhojpur and Gopalganj account for one fatality each, reported PTI quoting a statement from the Chief Ministers Office. Also Read | Assam flood situation still critical, Bihar rivers close to danger mark 4 lakh ex-gratia Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has announced ex gratia of 4 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased. 'Take precautions' The Chief Minister also urged the people to take precautions during inclement weather as about 40 people have been killed due to lightning in the last couple of weeks. 4 kids drown in Agra pond Meanwhile, in another incident in Uttar Pradesh's Agra, four children drowned in a pond created by rainwater accumulation on land near the Yamuna Expressway. The children drowned while taking a bath. Five others who attempted to save them had to be rescued by police and locals. "This morning, the family went to the rainwater pond and drowned. We received information that a family of nine had drowned, and four children were confirmed dead. Five people were successfully rescued alive by the rescue team," ANI reported quoting Agra ACP Sukanya Sharma. A local told a news agency that all nine family members started drowning while playing. "We were able to safely rescue four children and one woman," Nitin Upadhyay." It was just 5 minutes in which the murder of Tamil Nadu Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief K Armstrong unfolded. At 7 pm on a Friday, Armstrong, who was close to his under-construction house in a congested neighbourhood in Perambur's Venugopal Swamy Koil Street was called upon as 'Anna' by three assailants dressed in regular pants and shirts. Meanwhile, three assailants, stationed at the spot, were dressed as food delivery agents with bagpacks pretended to check directions on their phone. Just as Armstrong turned to engage with the strangers, the assailants dressed as delivery agents pulled out machetes from their bags and began raining blows on the Dalit leader. The trio joined in. According to eyewitnesses, the first hack came from behind and landed on his left cheek. Before the BSP TN chief could turn, the second one fell on his left ankle, in an attempt of immobilising him and preventing him from running away. The assailants then shifted their focus on driving away the supporters of Armstrong his brother Veeramani, driver Abdul Gani and a friend Balaji by attacking them on their head, shoulders and hands. The men with Armstrong were pushed into a 10-ft pit dug up at the construction site, following which the attackers continued attacking the Dalit leader. They left only when he fell motionless, said one of Armstrong's supporters, who was among those who first rushed in to assist upon hearing the commotion. The assailants, reportedly about half a dozen to nine of them, then escaped on three bikes which were already kept on. According to Times of India report citing police, the ease with which the assailants were able to navigate the congested streets of the residential area indicated that they had conducted a reconnaissance there. In a shocking incident reported from Bengaluru, a man was allegedly electrocuted while he was trying to charge his smartphone. The deceased has been identified as 24-year old Srinivas, a native of Bidar. He was staying at a paying guest facility in Manjunath Nagar at the time of incident. The incident occurred on Friday morning when Srinivas was trying to connect the charger of his mobile phone. His two roommates were present and witnessed the tragic event. They immediately rushed him to a nearby hospital, but doctors pronounced him dead upon arrival. According to the police, Srinivas received a fatal electric shock while plugging in his smartphone. Also Read | Apple faces off with Europe regulators over phone chargers The Basaveshwara Nagar police have registered a case and are investigating the matter. The police have seized the mobile phone charger for technical analysis. According to a report by Indianexpress.com, a police officer said, We suspect his hands were wet at the time. We are looking into whether a broken socket or a faulty charger led to the incident. We are awaiting the postmortem report. A team is also looking into the charger. As part of the probe, there are plans to conduct an electrical inspection at the paying guest facility to ascertain if there was any negligence on the part of the PG owners. Srinivas, a graduate, had recently moved to Bengaluru to pursue a course in computer science. Also Read | Common smartphone chargers from next year; laptops to be covered from 2026 In May, in a similar incident, a man was killed while his wife was injured when the victims were trying to charge a mobile phone in Karimganj district of Assam. The man was killed on the spot, while his wife who tried to save him was critically wounded. According to locals, the man was unable to break free from the electrical current running through the phone while being charged, tragically leading to his death. The Madras High Court on Sunday rejected a writ petition seeking burial of Tamil Nadu Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president K Armstrong in party's office premises. K Armstrong was murdered by a gang of six-member near his house in Chennai. A petition was filed by K Porkodi, the wife of slain BSP leader seeking court approval to bury his body at the party's office in Chennai. Justice Subbarayan had asked the petitioner if they had an alternative location to bury the BSP leader's body, given that the party office is in a residential area. The cremation will now be held in a private land in Pothur Village, Thiruvallur District. Key developments in the case Eight suspects have been arrested so far. Tamil Nadu police said that K Armstrong's murder by a group of assailants was not political in nature and that all angles were being probed. 10 special teams had been formed under Additional Commissioner of Police (North), Asra Garg to probe the murder. Most of the arrested persons have some pending cases against them. BSP supremo pays tribute BSP Supremo Mayawati on Sunday paid floral tribute to K Armstrong at at Corporation School Ground in Chennai Mayawati also demanded that the case be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). "I urge the state government, especially the CM, to ensure law and order in the state. The weaker sections, in particular, should feel safe. Had the government been serious, the accused would have been arrested. Since that is not the case, we urge the state government to refer the case to the CBI," ANI quoted her as saying. Also Read | Who was K Armstrong? BSP Tamil Nadu Chief hacked to death at Perambur in Chennai Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma told Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday that his government would not be able to push back or deport Zo refugees from neighbouring Bangladesh. Nearly 2,000 people from the community have taken refuge in the northeastern state over the past two years following a military offensive by the Bangladeshi Army. According to an official statement, Lalduhoma apprised Modi about the situation during a meeting on Saturday. The CM also said that many people from the Bawm tribe (an ethnic Mizo group) in Bangladesh have taken shelter in Mizoram while others continued to make efforts to enter the state. Earlier in May this year, the Lawngtlai district administration said that at least 127 refugees from the Chittagong Hill Tracts had entered the area in south Mizoram. The group took shelter in six villages bringing the total number of Bangladeshi refugees taking shelter in the border district to 1368. An official from the state home department said on Saturday that nearly 2,000 Zo ethnic people from Bangladesh have taken refuge in Mizoram since 2022. Reports however indicate that the cumulative number of refugees sheltering in Mizoram is well over the 30,000 mark. According to a PTI report from February 2023, there are more than 31,500 refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh sheltering in various parts of Mizoram. The two neighbouring countries share ethnic ties with the Mizo community. More than 31,500 refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh have taken shelter in various parts of Mizoram. The number of Myanmar nationals taking refuge in the northeastern State was 31,050 as on January 27, and those from Bangladesh were 541. The Bangladeshi nationals are lodged in 160 makeshift camps set up in eight villages in Lawngtlai district, the official had told the publication more than a year ago. HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) Crews were searching Lake Michigan for two suburban Chicago men Saturday, more than a day after they went missing as a large group of people were boating along northwestern Indiana's coastline, authorities said. Strong winds and high waves were creating very poor conditions" on the lake Saturday and were hampering the search efforts, Indiana conservation officer Alex Neel said. He said 12 people were on the boat Friday afternoon off of Hammond, Indiana, when one man jumped into the lake to go swimming but began struggling, prompting a second man to jump in to help him, only to also find himself struggling in the waters. A third man then put on a life jacket and entered the lake to try to help his two companions, but he also began struggling before strong winds pushed him and the two other men away from the boat, Neel said. The nine other people on the boat did not know how to operate the vessel, he said. They called 911 and also shot off flares. All nine were later rescued by conservation officers, who found the boat nearly 2 1/2 miles (4 kilometers) off of the Whiting, Indiana, shoreline and towed it back to shore, Neel said. Indiana conservation officers began searching for the three missing men about 2:40 p.m. Friday. Two hours later, the U.S. Coast Guard located the man wearing a life jacket in the lake. He was treated at a hospital and released. Mumbai hit-and-run: In the third such incident of drunk driving in Maharashtra in a span of two months, a 45-year-old woman died in Mumbai's Worli area after a speeding BMW rammed into a bike on Sunday morning. The incident comes amid ongoing investigations in the Pune Porsche case in which two software engineers were killed after a juvenile under the influence of alcohol hit a bike in the city's Kalyani Nagar area. Also Read | Mumbai news: Train services suspended between Kasara and Titwala stations Here are key things to know The deceased woman has been identified as Kaveri Nakhwa (45), a resident of Worli Koliwada. The incident took place near Atria Mall in the Koliwada area of Worli around 5.30 am, when Kaveri and her husband were returning from Sassoon Dock. Kaveri, the deceased, was dragged for around 100 meters on the car's bonnet before being flung onto the road. Kaveri's husband managed to jump off the vehicle's bonnet. However, the woman succumbed to injuries. After the incident, the driver fled from the spot with his car. Reports say that the BMW car was being driven by Mihir, the 24-year-old son of Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena leader Rajesh Shah. Rajesh Shah is a deputy leader of the Shiv Sena in Palghar district. Mihir Shah is currently absconding. However, his father Rajesh Shah has been detained by the police. The Sena leader's son drank at a bar in Juhu. While he was on his way home, when the car came to Worli, the accused told the driver that he wanted to drive the car. Soon after he took the wheel, the speeding BMW hit a scooter, reported NDTV quoting sources. Everyone equal before law: CM Shinde Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde said that everyone is equal before the law and those guilty won't be spared. "The hit-and-run case in Mumbai is very unfortunate. Whoever is guilty, action will be taken against them, said Eknath Shinde. Aaditya Thackeray reacts Reacting to the incident, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Worli MLA Aaditya Thackeray said that they have been continuously talking about the driving style and discipline of motorists in Mumbai. Driving cars in the opposite direction, not following signals, going triple seats... everything has increased in Mumbai, which was not there before! Now things like hit-and-run have started happening. Even if the person who caused the accident is arrested immediately, it is necessary that such incidents don't take place. For that, we have to go beyond politics and improve this situation! Mumbai's traffic discipline and safety will have to be brought back. We have to ensure that traffic rules are followed, drivers are disciplined and offenders are severely punished! Also Read | Mumbai traffic restrictions due to Ambani wedding leaves netizens furious Third incident in two months Pune: On May 13, a Porsche car driven by the 17-year-old son of a noted builder hit a bike in which two IT-professionals lost their lives. The bail and 300-word essay punishment given to a juvenile accused who was allegedly drunk led to massive uproar in the state. Following that, his bail was cancelled, and he was sent to observation home. A few days ago, the juvenile accused was released by the High Court. He also submitted a 300-word essay on road safety as part of the bail conditions. An earthquake struck the Chamoli region of Uttarakhand on Sunday night with its epicentre near the town of Joshimath. The quake had a magnitude of 3.5 on the Richter scale and came amid heavy rainfall and landslides in the region. No casualties have been reported. Earthquake of magnitude 3.5 on July 7 at 9:31 pm, confirmed the National Center for Seismology. The epicentre of the quake was some 11 kilometres away from the town of Joshimath at latitude 30.60 north and longitude 79.45 east, at a depth of five kilometres. Data shared by the NCS also indicates that quakes struck Afghanistan (4.4 magnitude) and Pakistan (4.7 magnitude) earlier on Sunday. The development also comes two days after a 4.4 magnitude earthquake struck Leh town in Ladakh. The quake comes at a time when Uttarakhand is reeling from the aftermath of heavy rainfall. The Meteorological Centre in Uttarakhand has predicted heavy rain over several parts of the state until July 10. The Chardham yatra was temporarily suspended on Sunday in view of the forecast. Two pilgrims from Hyderabad were killed on Saturday after being hit by boulders falling from the hillside following a landslide in Karnaprayag of Chamoli district. The rivers were also in spate with the Alaknanda flowing near the danger mark at Vishnu Prayag near Joshimath. Meanwhile the State Disaster Response Force issued an alert for travellers as the water level of the Ganga River in Rishikesh witnessed a surge on Sunday. "The rise in the water level was earlier predicted. We are in constant contact with the administration and concerned departments. The police are also taking preventive actions. People living near the River bank have been displaced. Efforts are being made to stop people from visiting the river banks", the Superintendent of Police (Rural) in Dehradun told ANI. Press Release July 7, 2024 Poe honors National Artist Eddie Romero on 100th birth anniversary Senator Grace Poe is persuading young Filipinos to include classic films by the late National Artist Eddie Romero in their movie to-watch list to better understand Philippine cinema and society. Poe made the call as she paid tribute to the National Artist for Film and Broadcast on his 100th birth anniversary on July 7. Poe said Romero's unparalleled artistry left behind a lasting legacy that continues to be celebrated by audiences across generations. "It is but proper to give honor to Director Eddie Romero's remarkable life and to remember his notable contributions to Philippine cinema and the arts," she noted in her Senate Resolution No. 1040. She also cited a provision in the 1987 Constitution that states that "arts and letters shall enjoy the patronage of the State" and that the State shall "conserve, promote and popularize the nation's historical and cultural heritage and resources, as well as artistic creations." Born to Ambassador Jose E. Romero and Pilar Sinco Romero on July 7, 1924 in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, Romero received the conferment as National Artist in 2003. He died on May 28, 2013. Poe highlighted Romero's devotion to the art and commerce of cinema spanning more than 60 years. The celebrated and award-winning screenwriter, film director, and producer of Philippine movies has left behind a body of work delving into the history and politics of the country, according to Poe. Among his most distinguished and critically acclaimed professional film credits include "Aguila" (1980), "Ganito Kami Noon...Paano Kayo Ngayon?" (1976), "Ang Princesa at Ang Pulubi' (1951), "Manila, Open City" (1968), "Banta ng Kahapon" (1977), "Kamakalawa" (1981), and his 13-part television mini-series "Noli Me Tangere" (1992). Poe said her father, the late National Artist Fernando Poe Jr., was honored to have worked with Romero when he starred in Aguila. The senator said Romero's contributions went beyond his film as he also served in different capacities to various cultural and professional offices and organizations. These included the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, Film Development Council of the Philippines, Presidential Commission on Culture and the Arts, Film Academy of the Philippines, and the Movie Workers Welfare Fund and Film Institute, among others. "Philippine cinema has been graced by the eminence of Direk Eddie Romero, and it is but fitting to pay homage to his contributions that have been nothing short of extraordinary," Poe said. News / National by Staff reporter LOCAL tourism operators in Zimbabwe are setting their sights on attracting more travellers from Russia. According to recent data, there has been a recent surge in group travels from Russia, China and Japan, signifying a positive trend for the government, which aims to stimulate growth and development in travel and tourism in the country.The tourism sector in Zimbabwe has heavily relied on tourists from America, Europe, Australia, and select African countries, such as South Africa. However, the industry has yet to fully recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.In an effort to revive the industry, President Mnangagwa launched the Tourism Growth and Recovery Strategy in 2020, with the ambitious target of building a US$5 billion industry by the following year.Since then, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) has hosted delegations from different countries to foster collaborations and forge meaningful promotions within the tourism sector.Very recently, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority hosted a delegation from Russia led by Ms. Daria Falovskaya, a market expert for Integrity Promotion Group.At the meeting, Ms. Falovskaya highlighted the untapped potential of the Russian market in the tourism industry, noting that while the number of outbound trips from Russia is on the rise, only a small percentage of Russians have travelled abroad."Only 20 per cent of Russians have ever travelled abroad, so this is a huge untapped market for travel," she said.Ms. Falovskaya added that Russian tourists are drawn to adventurous experiences and are particularly interested in destinations that offer a blend of nature, local culture, culinary experiences, and activities such as fishing elements that Victoria Falls, the country's tourism capital, is well-positioned to provide. Four terrorists have been neutralised, and two Indian Army soldiers were killed in action in separate encounters with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district, defence officials said on Sunday. As reported by ANI citing officials, two separate encounters broke out in Kulgam district on Saturday and were ongoing. Confrontations ensued between terrorists and security forces in Modergam village during the initial encounter. Meanwhile, hours later, another fierce confrontation erupted in the Frisal Chinnigam area of Kulgam district. Four terrorists have been killed in the ongoing operations in Kulgam. Two Indian Army soldiers also lost their lives in the encounter. The operations are still on, defence officials said. More details are awaited. Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed a spike in the number of terrorist attacks in the past few months. In June, three terrorists were neutralized in an encounter with security forces in the Gandoh, Bhaderwah sector of district Doda in Jammu and Kashmir, ADGP Anand Jain had said. A disciplinary action has been initiated against Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and Deputy Commissioner (DCP) Central Indira Mukherjee by the Union Home Ministry for allegedly maligning the office of the West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose by promoting and spreading canards. Governor Bose had submitted a report to Home Ministry in late June alleging that the Kolkata CP and DCP were functioning in a manner which is completely unbecoming of a public servant. Bose highlighted issues such as Kolkata Police officers preventing victims of post-poll violence from meeting the Governor despite his permission. "The Union Home Ministry has initiated disciplinary action against the IPS officers based on a detailed report by Bose," the official told news agency PTI. Copies of the letter were sent to the state government on July 4. The Governor also accused other police officers, posted at the Raj Bhavan, of promoting and encouraging concocted allegations by a woman employee during April-May 2024, the official added. "These IPS officers through their acts have not only tarnished the office of the Governor but also functioned in a manner which is completely unbecoming of a public servant. They have conveniently chosen to ignore the Conduct Rules," he added. In his report, Bose mentioned Kolkata Police's alleged new practice of issuing identity cards to Raj Bhavan staff and frisking them upon entry and exit, despite objections from the Governor's office. "Preventing a delegation of victims of violence from various parts of West Bengal, accompanied by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, from meeting Bose and subsequently detaining them is an affront to the Constitutional authority of the Governor," the official said. Also Read | 2 TMC MLAs fail to take oath as West Bengal Governor leaves for Delhi The official noted that it was troubling that the victims had to move court to meet the Governor. Referring to the Kolkata Police's "total silence" on Bose's June 13 directive to remove the police contingent from Raj Bhavan, the official said, "it was seen as defying orders". "Since mid-June, Kolkata Police posted at Raj Bhavan unilaterally set up a 'security mechanism' without the Governor's knowledge and consent, effectively placing the entire establishment under 'arrest' and 'watch'," he said. The report also alleged that Goyal and Mukherjee were instrumental in promoting another 'complaint' from January 2023. "It was reported that Kolkata Police registered a 'zero FIR' at a local police station and transferred the case to New Delhi. On June 17, 2024, the alleged complainant publicly said she had nothing against the Governor and wanted to withdraw it. However, Kolkata Police did not allow her to do so," the official said. Mumbai hit-and-run case: The Mumbai police have detained three people, including the father of the accused, after a BMW car hit a woman on a two-wheeler in Mumbai's Worli area on Sunday morning. The woman identified as Kaveri Nakhwa (45) died in the accident. She was travelling with her husband Pradip. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that those guilty would not be spared, while Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray visited Worli police station, and also assured the deceased husband of all help to ensure the accused are brought to justice. Here are 10 key things to know Who is Mihir Shah? The accused has been identified as Mihir Shah, the son of a Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) camp leader from Palghar in Maharashtra. TV9 Marathi reported that Mihir is a 10th pass, and his family owns a construction business. Mihir's mother, two sisters are absconding after locking the house. What exactly happened? On Sunday, around 5.30 am, Kaveri and Pradip Nakhwa, who are fisherfolk, were returning to their home in Worli Koliwada from Sassoon Dock in Colaba. While they were on the arterial Annie Besant Road, a BMW, driven by Mihir Shah, who was allegedly under the influence of alcohol, hit their bike. The driver was taking Mihir back home. However, upon reaching Worli, he wanted to drive the car. Therefore, he took over the wheels and soon an accident took place. Woman's death Kaveri Nakhwa (45) died in the incident. She was allegedly dragged on the car's bonnet for 100 meters before getting flung. She was rushed to Nair hospital. However, she was declared dead on arrival. Her husband was also injured in the incident. Aditya Thackeray visited Worli police station and met the husband of Kaveri Nakhwa who was killed in hit-and-run. Accused father held Mumbai police have arrested accused father Rajesh Shah another person Rajrishi Rajendrasingh Bidawat, who was present in the car at the time of the incident. The driver of the vehicle has also been detained.. The vehicle is registered in the accused father's name. Where is Mihir Shah? Mihir Shah has been absconding since the accident took place. The police are looking for him. Reports said that hours before the accident, Mihir Shah had consumed alcohol. He entered the bar in Juhu around 11pm on Saturday and left around 1.30 am on Sunday. The accused and his friend reportedly spent 18,000 at bar. Girlfriend being questioned According to NDTV report, police are also questioning the girlfriend of Mihir, and they suspect that she may have helped in hiding him after the accident. What the police say Krishnakant Upadhyay, DCP Zone III, said that after reaching the spot, police took the woman to hospital. "A case has been registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the investigation is underway. Forensic team inspects car The Forensic team visited Worli Police Station to inspect the BMW car which was confiscated from the Bandra area. Guilty won't be spared: CM Shinde Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has assured that police will not shield anyone and the guilty won't be spared. Further terming the incident unfortunate, Shinde added that the law is equal for all, and he had asked police to take strict action. Mumbai Police on Sunday evening arrested Rajesh Shah, the father of Mihir Shah, who is absconding after a BMW car hit a two-wheeler in which a 45-year-old woman died. Rajesh Shah is a Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) leader from Palghar district of Maharashtra. The arrest comes hours after Eknath Shinde said the law is equal for everyone and those guilty won't be spared. Worli Police also arrested Rajendra Singh Bidawat who was present inside the car at the time of the incident. Mihir Shah is absconding and six teams have been formed to find him, said police. Rajesh Shah and Rajendra Singh Bijawat were arrested for not cooperating with the police, among other charges, and will be produced in court tomorrow, reported NDTV. Kaveri Nakhwa (45) died after the two-wheeler on which she was travelling with her husband Pradip was hit by a BMW car in the early hours of Sunday on the arterial Annie Besant road in Worli. Law is equal for everyone: CM Shinde The Mumbai accident is unfortunate. I have spoken to the police department to take strict action. The law is equal for all and the government sees every case in the same way. There will be no separate rule for this accident. Everything will be done as per the law. The police will not shield anyone. What Mumbai Police said Krishnakant Upadhyay, DCP Zone III said, Two persons were travelling towards Worli-Koliwada on their scooty. A BMW car hit their scooty from behind. Worli Police were informed and reached immediately on the location. After the police reached the spot, they took the woman to the hospital where she was declared dead on arrival. A case was registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the investigation is underway. (Bloomberg) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia on Monday for the first time in five years at a time when Moscow is deepening its embrace of New Delhis rival, China. Modi is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the visit, which will stretch into Tuesday. Indias Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra told reporters in New Delhi that given the lack of recent summits, several issues on the bilateral agenda have piled up, which need to be addressed. Senior Indian diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that while major announcements are unlikely, Modis visit is intended to send a signal that the two sides remain close. Russias ties to India stretch back to the Cold War, and the country is Indias biggest supplier of weapons and oil. That relationship has remained resilient, Kwatra said. However, India is watching carefully as Russia draws closer to China, which has served as an economic and diplomatic lifeline amid sanctions over the Kremlins grueling war on Ukraine. During a security summit in Kazakhstan last week, Putin described relations with China as the best in history. Relations between India and China have been stuck at a low point since a border dispute erupted into violence in 2020, though the two sides have agreed to talks to resolve the disagreement. India, situated between Russia, China, and the West, seeks more predictability from Russia and is willing to play a bigger role in promoting peace in Ukraine, said Petr Topychkanov, associate senior researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Nevertheless, behind closed doors, Putin may face questions from Modi about the increasingly close ties between Russia and China, he said. Moscow will be Modis first bilateral visit since he won a third term in office last month. His decision to travel to Russia instead of neighboring countries like Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka marks a break in convention for Indian leaders. For Moscow, the trip helps rebuff Western efforts to cast Putin as a pariah over his February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, while also shoring up relations with an important trading partner and key buyer of its oil. Measures to reduce a trade imbalance between the two countries are likely to figure prominently in the talks, Kwatra said. India currently imports about $60 billion a year in goods from Russia, which is buying less than $5 billion from India. Chinas actions in the Indo-Pacific could also come up, Indias top diplomat said. While in previous years the Indian and Russian leaders met annually, Modi began skipping those summits after Putin threatened to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine in 2022. The two last met that year on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Uzbekistan. Future arms deals could also be on the agenda, according to Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, a Moscow-based defense think tank. He said Russia could supply India with new air defense systems and Su-30MKI fighter jets, as well as the licensed production of Ka-226T multipurpose helicopters. India is facing a severe crunch of fighter jets and is considering buying a dozen more from Russia to replace those lost in accidents. Modis trip comes just weeks after a team of senior US officials traveled to India to discuss cooperation in technology, security and investment. Modi has sought a deeper partnership with the US and is pushing Washington to boost technology transfers and foreign investment. The US for its part sees India as a partner in its rivalry with China, but the relationship has at times frustrated Washington. Modi has declined to condemn Russias invasion of Ukraine even as it has pushed for diplomacy. US prosecutors also are investigating an alleged murder-for-hire plot on American soil that they say involved senior Indian officials. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell in late June said US officials have raised concerns about India-Russia ties with New Delhi, but that Washington retained confidence in India and wants to expand relations. In addition to talks with Putin, Modi is expected to meet with members of the Indian community in Russia. About 14,000 Indians, including 4,500 students, reside there, according to the Indian embassy. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com Leader of the Opposition and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to visit violence-hit Manipur on Monday (July 8, 2024). This will be his third visit to the strife-torn state and first as the Leader of the Opposition to meet the violence-affected people of several districts of Manipur. Reacting to the former Congress chiefs scheduled visit to the state on Monday, Imagi Meira group convenor Th Sujata Devi on Sunday said they just want to live like before and want peace in Manipur. If the former Congress president is coming to find a solution, then it is good. If he is coming to do politics, then that is wrong. It is important to note that days before the visit, the Leader of the Opposition prominently raised the issue of strife-torn Manipur during his speech in the Lok Sabha while participating in the debate on the motion of thanks on the Presidents address. K Meghachandra, president Manipur Congress, said the Leader of Opposition would visit Jiribam district after arriving to Silchar via flight from Delhi. According to Indian Express, during his day-long visit, the former Congress president is scheduled to meet violence-hit people in three relief camps at Jiribam, Churachandpur (districts), and Moirang (Bishnupur district), as well as meet Governor Anusuiya Uikey to discuss the issue. The Manipur Congress president said that after landing in Imphal, Gandhi will head to Churachandpur district, where he will interact with people living in relief camps. From Churachandpur, Gandhi will get to Moirang in Bishnupur district by road and visit some relief camps. "Gandhi will visit some relief camps in the district. He will then return to the Silchar airport, and from there, take a flight to Imphal," Meghachandra told news agency PTI. Senior Congress leaders have maintained that Gandhis first trip to Manipur as the LoP would send out a message that it is high time Prime Minister Narendra Modi should also visit the strife-torn state, which has been roiled by ethnic conflict between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zomi communities since May last year. Gandhi to meet Assam flood victims Gandhi is also scheduled to meet flood victims of Assam on Monday, party leaders said. The Congress leader will arrive at the Kumbhigram airport in Silchar in Assam's Cachar district in the morning on the way to Manipur. "From the airport, he will be going to a flood relief camp in Lakhipur and interact with the people who have taken shelter there," PTI quoted a state Congress spokesperson as saying. A 23-year-old private firm worker in Hyderabad fell victim to a 12 lakh parcel scam, prompting the Hyderabad Cyber Crimes police to initiate an investigation. As reported by The Hindu, the scam involved the victim being falsely informed about the misuse of his Aadhaar number for a courier from Mumbai to Saudi Arabia, purportedly containing illegal substances and diabetes tablets. Fraudsters then coerced the victim into transferring funds under the guise of verifying his innocence, using threats during a Skype video call, the report said. Authorities urge victims of such cyber financial fraud to promptly report incidents via the Cyber Crime helpline number 1930 or cybercrime.gov.in. Assistance is also available via WhatsApp at 8712665171. Earlier in May, the Reserve Bank of India's annual report highlighted a sharp rise in fraud cases within the banking sector, with incidents surging by nearly 300% to 36,075 cases during the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). Despite the significant increase in the number of cases, the total amount involved in fraud decreased from 45,358 crore in FY22 to 13,930 crore in FY24. According to the report, online fraud cases increased by 708% in the last two years to 29,082. The rising number of fraud cases coincides with increased fraud amounts via Internet banking/cards. In two years, the amount of money duped by fraudsters online increased by 145% to 1,457 crore. According to the central bank's report, 67% of fraud cases reported in FY24 were from private sector banks, while 75% of the total fraud amount was reported by public sector banks. The percentage of fraud amount reported by private lenders was 22.8% in FY24. In FY24, while a substantial number of fraud cases were reported in the internet/cards category, the highest monetary losses stemmed from loan portfolios. Public Sector Banks notably surpassed private lenders in this regard. Out of the total reported fraud amount of 13,930 crore, a significant 84% originated from advances, specifically within the loan portfolio category. NIAMEY, Niger (AP) Military junta leaders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso on Saturday ruled out returning their nations to the West Africa regional bloc whose division could further jeopardize efforts to undo coups and curb violence spreading across the region. The leaders of the three countries announced that position during their first summit in Niamey, the capital of Niger, after their withdrawal from the West Africa bloc known as ECOWAS in January. They also accused the bloc of failing its mandate and pledged to consolidate their own union the Alliance of Sahel States created last year amid fractured relations with neighbors. The nearly 50-year-old ECOWAS has become a threat to our states, said Nigers military leader, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani. "We are going to create an AES of the peoples, instead of an ECOWAS whose directives and instructions are dictated to it by powers that are foreign to Africa, he said. The meeting of the three countries that border one another came a day before an ECOWAS summit being held in Nigeria by other heads of state in the region. Analysts said the two meetings show the deep division in ECOWAS, which had emerged as the top political authority for its 15 member states before the unprecedented decision of the three countries to withdraw their membership. Despite efforts by ECOWAS to keep its house united, the alliance between the three military junta-led countries will most likely remain outside the regional bloc as tensions continue to grow, said Karim Manuel, an analyst for the Middle East and Africa with the Economist Intelligence Unit. Attempts at mediation will likely continue nonetheless, notably led by Senegals new administration, but it will not be fruitful anytime soon, said Manuel. Formed last September, the Alliance of Sahel States has been touted by the three junta-led countries as a tool to seek new partnerships with countries like Russia and cement their independence from former colonial ruler France , which they accuse of interfering with ECOWAS. At the meeting in Niamey, Burkina Faso's leader, Capt. Ibrahim Traore, reaffirmed those concerns and accused foreign countries of exploiting Africa. Westerners consider that we belong to them and our wealth also belongs to them. They think that they are the ones who must continue to tell us what is good for our states. This era is gone forever; our resources will remain for us and our populations, Traore said. The attack on one of us will be an attack on all the other members, said Malis leader, Col. Assimi Goita. With Goita elected as the new alliance's leader, the three leaders signed a pact in committing their countries to creating a regional parliament and a bank similar to those operated by ECOWAS. They also committed to pooling their military resources to fight insecurity in their countries. At a meeting of regional ministers on Thursday, Omar Alieu Touray, the president of the ECOWAS Commission, said it had not received "the right signals about any possible return of the three states despite ECOWAS lifting coup-related sanctions that the three nations blamed for their decision to quit the bloc. It is not only the three countries that are angry at ECOWAS, observers say. The bloc has lost goodwill and support from West African citizens so much that some celebrated the recent spate of coups in the region where citizens have complained of not benefitting from rich natural resources in their countries. For the most part, ECOWAS is seen as representing only the interests of its members' leaders and not that of the masses, said Oge Onubogu, director of the Africa Program at the Washington-based Wilson Center think tank. ___ Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, July 7, termed his upcoming visit to Austria in the coming week an "honour" on the occasion of 75 years of diplomatic relations between India and Austria. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to express his anticipation for PM Modi's upcoming visit to Vienna and termed it a "special honour" to host the Prime Minister. The meeting aims to strengthen the bond between the two nations and explore new avenues of cooperation. Also Read | Ready to conclude FTA with India: New UK PM Keir Starmer tells Modi His post reads, I very much look forward to welcoming Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, the world's largest democracy, next week in Vienna." The Chancellor noted that this visit would be "significant milestone" and the first in over forty years by an Indian Prime Minister. His post further added, We will have the opportunity to talk about further deepening our bilateral relationship and closer cooperation on the many geopolitical challenges. In response to Karl Nehammer's post, PM Modi commented, It is indeed an honour to visit Austria to mark this historic occasion. I look forward to our discussions on strengthening the bonds between our nations and exploring new avenues of cooperation. The PM further asserted that the bedrock upon which the two countries will build closer partnership are shared values of democracy, freedom and rule of law. Also Read | PM Narendra Modi speaks to new UK PM Keir Starmer, invites him to visit India PM Modi is slated to hold talks with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and meet Austria's President, Alexander Van der Bellen, during his visit. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) PM Modi will pay a visit to Austria from July 9 to 10. This marks the first visit of an Indian Prime Minister to Austria in 41 years, as diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on November 10, 1949. While addressing a press conference on July 5, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra on July 5 suggested that this visit would help broaden the scope of the India-Austria partnership. He reiterated that issues of regional and global importance of mutual interest will be addressed. PM Modi will hold delegation-level talks with officials and meet Austria's President, Alexander Van der Bellen, Vinay Mohan Kwatra said. The annual Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra, one of the most significant and eagerly awaited festivals in India, commenced in Odisha's Puri district on Sunday. President Droupadi Murmu and others witnessed the Rath Yatra in Puri, along with millions of devotees from across India. The festival offers a vibrant and spiritual experience for the lakhs of devotees who gather to witness this auspicious occasion. This year, the event will be held for two days due to specific celestial arrangements. Here are visuals from Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra in Odisha: President Droupadi Murmu arrived in Puri to take darshan of the Lord Jagannath as the two-day Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra in Puri commenced. Chief Minsiter Mohan Charan Majhi, former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and other dignitaries were also present. Priests and devotees take part in Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra Amid 'Jai Jagannath' chants, sounds of gongs, conches and cymbals reverberated through the air at Lion's Gate of the Puri temple as Lord Sudarshan was first escorted to Darpadalan, the chariot of Devi Subhadra. Odisha Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Spokesperson Sambit Patra and others take part in Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra Following Lord Sudharshan, Lord Balabhadra was being taken to his Taladhwaja chariot. Goddess Subhadra, the sister of Lord Jagannath and Lord Balabhadra, was being brought to her Darpadalan chariot in the special procession by servitors. Finally, Lord Jagannath will be moved towards the Nandighosa chariot in a ceremonial procession amid the sounds of gongs. Puri, July 7 (ANI): Devotees in large number take part in the two-day Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra, in Puri on Sunday. (ANI Photo) Visuals show the chariots of Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra decorated and lined along the wide avenue in front of the temple, near its eastern entrance, also known as the Sinhadwara or the Lion's Gate. The chariots are newly constructed each year from wood of specified trees, crafted by a specialist team of hereditary carpenters. Glimpses of the procession of Lord Sri Jagannath Descending from the 'Ratna Sinhasana', the bejewelled throne, the three deities were taken out of the temple down the 22 steps known as 'Baisi Pahacha' through the Lion's Gate in an elaborate royal ritual called 'Pahandi'. A number of customary rituals like 'Mangla Arati' and 'Mailam' were held before the presiding deities set out from the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. Jagannath Temple decked up for the Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath News / National by Staff reporter In preparation for the upcoming SADC summit in August, Harare City Council has temporarily ceded control of key services, including waste management, public transport management, and road rehabilitation, to the Government. This decision was made after assessments revealed that the council lacked the capacity to independently ensure a clean and safe environment for the regional event.As part of the preparations, 120 new refuse trucks are being procured for Harare and other local authorities, and significant roadworks have begun in several suburbs to reduce traffic congestion. Property owners along key routes, such as Airport Road and roads leading to Mt Hampden, the summit's main venue, have been instructed to improve their properties' appearances by July 31.The Government also plans to involve the private sector in solid waste management to address the council's incapacity. These initiatives are part of a broader, long-term urban renewal program aimed at improving living conditions and service delivery in Harare beyond the summit.Mr. Shingirayi Mushamba, Chief Director of Spatial Planning and Development in the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, stated that the program's goal is to maintain and further improve the standards achieved for the summit. The Government has taken a more direct role in service delivery to residents, ensuring a noticeable improvement in the city's overall outlook.Efforts include the successful operation of the Pomona waste-to-energy plant and the procurement of refuse compactors for local authorities. The Government is also focused on modernizing Harare's public transport system by attracting private investment to rebuild the bus fleet and transitioning to a modern electric bus system. This includes ongoing road rehabilitation on major routes to reduce congestion and improve travel times, as well as plans to upgrade bus termini across the city.Zimbabwe will host the SADC summit from August 8 to 18. Bollywood screenwriter Javed Akhtar, who never shies away from giving his opinion on current issues related to politics, international affairs, etc, recently gave a befitting reply to a troll who called the senior lyricist son of a Gaddar (traitor). Also Read | Javed Akhtar as next US president? Veteran Bollywood lyricist comments on Biden A section of social media users attacked Javed Akhtar after he shared a sarcastic comment on Joe Biden ahead of the US Presidential Elections 2024. However, the Padma Shri awardee decided to teach trolls a lesson and reminded them about his family's contribution to India's freedom struggle. 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, wrote Javed Akhtar on X. A social media user, Vivek Sharma, replied to Akhtar's post, Your father was instrumental 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 who divided our nation on d lines of religion. Now u say any thing but this is the truth. The comment is a stark reminder of how Bollywood celebrities often become victims of social media trolling for expressing their opinions or raising their voices on a burning issue. However, Javed Akhtar chose to reply furiously to the user. In his response, Akhtar mentioned his family's involvement in freedom movement and how many of his family members even went to jails for the same. Prince Harry will return to the UK Royal Family on a permanent basis, but he will come alone, claims a historian. Royal biographer Hugo Vickers was asked where Harry and Meghan Markle would be in 10 years. Vickers said that returning home would be very nice for the Duke of Sussex. "I think hell come home. If he comes home, it will be very nice for him, because he wont particularly want to. Hes quite angry, I think," he said. He was then asked if he thought Harry would return to the UK alone. He said, "Yes, I do (think he'll come alone). "The King, as I have mentioned before, has left the door wide open for him to do that. And he was doing such a good job beforehe looked so happy. Usually, youre happy when youre doing your duty, and youre doing it for other people, and youre putting things into life," he added. Also Read | If Prince Harry and Meghan Markle return, UK taxpayers will have to pay for it Vickers reflected on what might have happened if Harry and Meghan had not left their Royal duties. Vickers remarked that Megxit was unfortunate since the late Queen had given Harry and Meghan the entire Commonwealth to explore William and Catherine were asked to handle local duties. The Royal commentator noted that Meghan's prior work in the Commonwealth had made the Queen's offer seem ideal, but it wasn't sufficient for them, which he found very sad. He lamented that what could have been wonderful did not turn out as hoped. Megxit In January 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan announced on Instagram their plan to step back as senior members of the Royal Family. They decided to split their time between the UK and North America, become financially independent and only represent the monarchy on a limited basis. She worries Republican donors, has name recognition, and Democratic Party heavyweights are beginning to line up behind her. Vice President Kamala Harris would be President Joe Biden's natural successor if he bowed to growing pressure and stepped aside as the Democratic candidate in the 2024 election, top Democrats say. Now party donors, activists and officials are asking: Does she have a better chance than Biden of beating Donald Trump? Biden has said repeatedly he is staying in the race. Harris, 59, a former U.S. senator and California attorney general, would be the first woman to be president of the United States if she becomes the party's nominee and prevails in the Nov. 5 election. She is the first African American and Asian person to serve as vice president. Her 3-1/2 year White House tenure has been characterized by a lackluster start, staff turnover, and early policy portfolios including migration from Central America that did not produce major successes. As recently as last year, many inside the White House and the Biden campaign team privately worried Harris was a liability for the campaign. The situation has changed significantly since then, Democratic officials have said, as she stepped forward on abortion rights and courted young voters. She "is proud to be his running mate and looks forward to serving at his side for four more years," the Biden Harris campaign told Reuters. Some polls favor Harris Recent polls suggest Harris could do better than Biden against Trump, the Republican candidate, although she would face a tight contest. A CNN poll released on July 2 found voters favor Trump over Biden by six percentage points, or 49% to 43%. Harris also trailed Trump, 47% to 45%, within the margin of error. It also found independents back Harris 43%-40% over Trump, and moderate voters of both parties prefer her 51-39%. A Reuters/Ipsos poll after last week's televised debate between Trump and a faltering Biden found Harris and Trump were nearly tied, with 42% supporting her and 43% backing him. Only former first lady Michelle Obama, who has never expressed any interest in joining the race, polled higher among possible alternatives to Biden. Internal polling shared by the Biden campaign after the debate shows Harris with the same odds as Biden of beating Trump, with 45% of voters saying they would vote for her versus 48% for Trump. Influential Democrats including U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn, who was key to Biden's 2020 win; Rep. Gregory Meeks, a New York congressman and senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus; and Summer Lee, a House Democrat from Pennsylvania have signaled Harris would be the best option to lead the ticket if Biden chooses to step aside. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has also privately signaled the same to lawmakers, a Congressional aide said. Harris is taken so seriously, two Republican donors told Reuters they would prefer for Trump to face Biden than her. "I would prefer Biden to stay in place", rather than be replaced by Harris, said Pauline Lee, a fundraiser for Trump in Nevada after the June 27 debate, who said she thought Biden had proved himself to be "incompetent." And some on Wall Street, an important Democratic fundraising center, are starting to indicate a preference. "Biden is already behind Trump, and is unlikely to be able to overcome that gap given where his campaign is currently. Having VP Harris likely improves Democrats' odds of taking the White House," said Sonu Varghese, global macro strategist at Carson Group, a financial services company, after the debate. "There's potentially more upside for her chances than Biden's at this point." Also Read | Indian-origin Kamala Harris top choice to replace Joe Biden in Presidential race A majority of Americans see Harris in a negative light, as they do both men running for president. Polling outlet Five Thirty Eight said 37.1% of voters approve of Harris and 49.6% disapprove. Those numbers compare to 36.9% and 57.1% for Biden, and 38.6% and 53.6% for Trump. Women, Black Voters, Gaza Since the Supreme Court repealed women's constitutional right to abortion in 2022, Harris has become the Biden administration's foremost voice on reproductive rights, an issue Democrats are betting on to help them win the 2024 election. Some Democrats believe Harris could energize Democratic-leaning groups whose enthusiasm for Biden has faded, including Black voters, young voters and those who do not approve of Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas war. "She would energize the Black, brown, and Asian Pacific members of our coalition ... she would immediately pull the dispirited youth of our country back into the fold," said Tim Ryan, a former Democratic Congressman from Ohio, in a recent op-ed. Democratic and Republican suburban women may also be more comfortable with her then Trump or Biden, he said. Also Read | Democrats reject calls to replace Joe Biden post disastrous debate with Trump As vice president, Harris's public Israel strategy is identical to Biden's, although she was the first senior leader of the U.S. government to call for a ceasefire in March. "Simply swapping out the candidate does not address the central concern" of the movement, said Abbas Alawieh, a member of the national "Uncommitted" movement that withheld votes for Biden in the primary based on his support of Israel. If Biden were to step aside, there could be a competition between other Democrats to become the nominee. If the party were then to choose another candidate over Harris, some Democrats say it could lose the support of many Black voters who were critical to Biden's election win in 2020. "There is no alternative besides Kamala Harris," said Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of Black voter outreach group BlackPAC. "If the Democratic Party thinks that they have problems now with their base being confused ... Jump over the Black woman, the vice president, and I don't think the Democratic Party actually recovers." Left-leaning, Targeted Attacks However, Harris may struggle to reel in moderate Democrats and the independent voters who like Biden's centrist policies, some Democratic donors said. Both parties seek independents to help pull them over the finishing line in presidential elections. "Her greatest weakness is that her public brand has been associated with the far-left wing of the Democratic Party ... and the left wing of the Democratic party cannot win a national election," said Dmitri Mehlhorn, a fundraiser and adviser to LinkedIn co-founder and Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman. That is the challenge that she will have to overcome if she is the nominee. Harris would take over money raised by the Biden campaign and inherit campaign infrastructure, a critical advantage with just four months before election day on Nov. 5. But any Democratic campaign still needs to raise hundreds of millions of dollars more before November to be successful, strategists say. And there, Harris could be a liability. "I can tell you we have a really tough time raising money for her" said a source at the Democratic National Committee. As a presidential candidate ahead of the 2020 election, Harris lagged Biden in raising money. She dropped out of the race in December 2019, the same month her campaign reported $39.3 million in total contributions. Biden's campaign reported $60.9 million in the same period. However, Biden's campaign raised a record $48 million in the 24 hours after he named Harris as his running mate in 2020. Harris's prosecutorial background could shine in a head-to-head debate against Trump, some Democrats said. "She is incredibly focused and forceful and smart, and if she prosecutes the case against the criminality of Donald Trump, she will rip him apart," said Mehlhorn. Republican attacks on Harris are ramping up as she has been floated as a possible Biden replacement. Conservative talking heads are re-circulating criticism leveled at her during the 2020 race, including from some Democrats, that Harris laughs too much, that she is untested, and unqualified. On July 6 the New York Post, owned by the conservative News Corp, ran a column headlined "America may soon be subjected to the countrys first DEI president: Kamala Harris," that said her political rise was because of her party's diversity, equity and inclusion "stranglehold." Kelly Dittmar, a political science professor at Rutgers University, said the attacks are part of a long history of objectifying and denigrating women of color in politics. Former Barack Obama senior adviser David Axelrod has made a striking call for President Joe Biden to step aside from the 2024 US Presidential race. In a recent op-ed for CNN, Axelrod expressed concerns over Biden's age and performance, suggesting that withdrawing from the race would be a duty to the country. He highlighted that failing to do so could potentially overshadow Biden's legacy. Axelrod's stance reflects increasing pressures within the White House, especially following Biden's perceived underwhelming performance in a recent CNN presidential debate. Axelrod's commentary further compounds existing doubts surrounding Biden's campaign, which were not alleviated 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 over President Biden's viability as a candidate are escalating in the aftermath of what many have described as a "bad performance" in Atlanta. Meanwhile, Biden has attempted to redirect focus by highlighting policy contrasts between his administration and that of his predecessor, former President Donald Trump. Biden's campaign has targeted former President Donald Trump's alleged association with "Project 2025," a controversial platform reportedly designed to overhaul the federal government with conservative principles. Describing Project 2025 as a perilous agenda, Biden has criticized it for posing a threat to core democratic principles, including reproductive rights and the checks and balances of government. In response to Biden's accusations, Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025, stating that he is unaware of its specifics and emphasizing that it does not reflect his official policy platform. According to CNN, Trump's campaign has been proactive in clarifying that Project 2025 is neither endorsed nor aligned with their official stance. 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 enhance his public image. Senator Coons has reported positive feedback from allies regarding Biden's recent public appearances, indicating a strategic shift towards more spontaneous interactions aimed at reassuring voters. Indias rapidly growing youth population is a double-edged sword for its economic aspirations. While the demographic dividend presents a tremendous opportunity for growth, capitalizing on it calls for equipping the workforce with skills in line with the changing demands of the global economy. World Bank data shows a concerning trend: Indias labour mobilization rates have fallen from over 70% in 1990 to 56% in recent years. This represents an alarming weakness in Indias economy and threatens to undermine its demographic advantage. As India strives to position itself as a global economic powerhouse, its ability to transform this demographic bulge into a true dividend through targeted skill development and labour market reforms will be critical. A skilled and educated workforce is critical for increasing productivity, fostering innovation and attracting investment, all of which in turn contribute to enhancing national competitiveness. An analysis of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data provides more insights. The data shows that workforce growth rates vary across skill levels, offering an insight into the changing composition of Indias skilled workforce and its implications for overall competitiveness. It also showed a disturbing trend: a declining growth rate of highly skilled individuals (skill levels 3 and 4). Between 2017 and 2022, the growth rate for these skill levels fell by more than 5 percentage points in at least 22 of Indias 36 states and Union territories. States such as Sikkim, Karnataka, Nagaland, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Goa have had an over 10-point fall in the growth rate of their highly trained workforce. On the positive side, the semi-skilled workforce (skill level 2) has grown significantly, with a national compounded annual growth rate of 59.5% between 2017-18 and 2022-23. More than 45% of the workforce across states falls into this category, showing a growing demand for individuals with intermediate-level abilities. The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) has made a substantial contribution to this positive trend by offering skill training and certification. During the same period, skill level 1, which comprises low-skilled workers, increased by 24.8%. This tendency indicates a continuous reliance on skilled labour across industries, potentially driven by construction, manufacturing or services. Despite progress, PLFS data also shows that a sizeable proportion of the workforce aged 15 to 59 still lacks formal vocational or technical training. While the proportion has dropped from 91.9% in 2017-18 to 72.6% in 202223, it still indicates a major gap in formal skill development for a sizeable segment of the Indian workforce. The PLFS statistics suggest that semi-skilled and low-skilled workers are likely to dominate the workforce, while the growth of high-skilled workers lags. This may have implications for Indias competitiveness. We are also able to spot skill intensity as a fundamental distinction between rural and urban areas. On average, rural regions have much lower skill intensity than their metropolitan counterparts. However, this disparity is mostly attributable to cluster composition. In India, metropolitan districts host skill-intensive trade clusters. Cities such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderabad have evolved as centres for IT services, financial services and other knowledge-intensive businesses. These industries often require a higher number of skilled individuals such as software engineers, data analysts and financial professionals. As a result, these urban zones naturally attract a more skilled workforce. In contrast, rural districts specialize in agriculture, small-scale manufacturing and traditional crafts, which typically demand a smaller number of highly qualified people. The presence of these businesses in rural areas helps explain the observed lower skill intensity. Addressing this disparity necessitates not only skill development, but also the establishment of skill-intensive clusters in rural areas, which may result in more balanced growth across India. The government has aimed to address this through its Skill India Mission, which resulted in expansion of the skill level 2 workforce. But more coordinated efforts are required by state governments. The Chandrababu Naidu-led government in Andhra Pradesh proposed a skill census, which can assess current skill levels across regions and sectors. Other states emulating it could promote competitive federalism by leveraging the detailed data thus collected. By mapping the current skill landscape, policymakers can pinpoint specific areas with shortages of skills and devise targeted actions. State governments can create specialized skill-building programmes to address the demands of their unique workforces and industries. This data-driven strategy can result in improvements in skill-development projects. By addressing the talent gap through targeted measures, India can realize the full potential of its demographic dividend. The road ahead for Indias skill development efforts is difficult, but the rewards are significant. By investing in human capital and utilizing data-driven initiatives, India can turn its demographic advantage into a meaningful economic dividend. A skilled and productive workforce will not only drive innovation and increase productivity, it will also significantly contribute to the overall competitiveness of the nation, accelerating Indias journey towards becoming a developed economy by 2047. The issue of Tibet is back onto the international centre-stage with the visit of a seven-member US Congressional delegation to Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, this month to meet the Dalai Lama and members of the Tibetan government-in-exile. During the visit, former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lashed out at Chinese President Xi Jinping saying that the Dalai Lamas contribution will live on in perpetuity while Xi Jinping will fade into obscurity. \ Pelosi had earlier made a trip to Taiwan, which China claims is a breakaway province, following which Beijing launched military drills around the island. The American activism on Tibet comes close on the heels of the US clearing new legislation that pushes Beijing to re-engage with the Dalai Lama and elected representatives to resolve the standoff over Tibets future. The new law directs the US government to coordinate multilateral initiatives to bring about a negotiated settlement on Tibet. Importantly, it also stipulates funding by the US for the purpose of countering disinformation spread by the Communist Party of China on Tibetan history and traditional institutions like the Dalai Lama. India has also begun to recalibrate its policy on Tibet, albeit slowly, over the past decade. For his swearing-in ceremony in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited the political head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, Lobsang Sangay, along with heads of state from neighbouring countries in South Asia. The June 2020 clashes in Galwan were an important inflection point in relations between India and China, following which a tense standoff continues between the two armies along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to this date. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sent a senior representative to attend the funeral of a soldier from the Special Frontier Force (a clandestine unit comprising mostly Tibetans) who was martyred during military operations against the Peoples Liberation Army along Pangong Tso in August 2020. This was followed by Modi tweeting birthday greetings to the Dalai Lama in 2021. In the current instance, the fact that the US delegation met Prime Minister Modi and foreign minister S. Jaishankar after the interaction with the Tibetan spiritual leader demonstrates that this was not a personal outreach by US lawmakers. The Indian foreign ministry also stated that the Dalai Lama was a religious figure and was at liberty to conduct his spiritual activities, while countering Chinas outburst over the Dharamshala interaction. This foray shows that there is close coordination between New Delhi and Washington on the issue of Tibet, thanks largely to convergent interests. The 1951 Chinese annexation of Tibet led to the Dalai Lama seeking refuge in India. Over the years, China consolidated its hold over Tibet, resulting in the suppression of religious freedom there, and several Tibetans came to India as refugees, drawn by cultural affinity. The Indian governments Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy (2014) document puts the number of Tibetan refugees living in 45 settlements across the country at over 100,000 (as on 2009). Moreover, the government acknowledges that many Tibetans live outside these official settlements too. The Dalai Lama is revered by Tibetans and has acquired international stature. Given that the Dalai Lama is an octogenarian, the issue of succession looms large in the strategic calculus. As a large Tibetan population resides in India, there are apprehensions over how the community would be influenced in the future. Chinese propaganda has tried to smear the institution of the Dalai Lama, dubbing the current spiritual head a separatist. China will seek to assert itself on the question of succession. There is significant global awareness of Chinas designs. The US Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020, cleared by the Donald Trump administration, stipulates that only those adhering to the Tibetan Buddhist faith must decide on the Dalai Lamas successor. Media reports suggest that the Indian government discussed the succession issue at the highest levels in 2021. To conclude, Xis rise and consolidation within China has led to the nation stoking territorial disputes with neighbours like India, Japan and Taiwan. However, China may not be left unscathed by its project to redraw borders. India okaying the US delegations meeting with the Dalai Lama also bursts the notion that a reduced majority in the Lok Sabha may lead to greater caution in Modis foreign-policy dealings. On the contrary, by replying to the greetings of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te with respect to Modi 3.0, and reaffirming support to the Tibetan cause, India is pushing the envelope on Chinas red lines. Modis decision not to attend the SCO summit this year in Astana was also aimed at avoiding a direct meeting with the Chinese leader. Also read: US House passes bipartisan resolution on Tibet The message from New Delhi seems to be categorical: If China does not respect Indias sensitivities with respect to its core interests, India too should not be expected to be mindful of Beijings red lines. And unless Beijing addresses Indias core concerns on border clarity and national security, New Delhi is in no hurry to mend fences. Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar have demanded around 50,000 crore ($6 billion) for their states from the budget which will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23, according to a Reuters report. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured 240 seats, falling short of a majority of 272 seats. The NDA government was formed with the help of its major allies, Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar. Naidus Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Nitish Kumars Janata Dal (United) won 28 seats in the Lok Sabha election for which the results were announced on June 4. Also Read | The new NDA government is flexing centralizing muscles The two states have demanded around 48,000 crore as additional funds for FY 25, according to the report. Additionally, the states asked to almost double the 1 lakh crore interest free long-term loans for capital expenditure offered by the centre, the report said. The centre had set aside 1.3 lakh crore for special assistance to states for capital investment, in the interim budget presented in for 2024-25 similar to the previous fiscal year. The states want relaxation to borrow from the market too.The Union government has limited the borrowing limit to 3% of the States income or Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), the report said. Bihar specifically sought funding for nine new airports, two power projects, two river water programmes and to set up seven medical colleges with no specific timeline to disburse the funds. Andhra Pradesh has demanded funds for developing Amaravati, the capital of the state and an irrigation project, the report said. The government has targeted a fiscal deficit of 5.1% of GDP in the interim budget presented in February. The government will most likely reduce its fiscal deficit target at 4.9-5.0% for FY25, according to an ICRA report. The centre will however, not compromise on its capital expenditure target, the report said. . US President Joe Biden forged ahead with his re-election bid this week as several key donors threatened to withhold funding. The developments came even as top Democrats held an emergency meeting to discuss their Presidential candidate and European nations sought to safeguard the NATO alliance. The octogenarian lawmaker returned to the campaign trail under an increasingly unforgiving spotlight on Sunday. 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. If Biden does not step down the Democrats will lose. Of that I am absolutely certain. The consequences for the loss will be genuinely dire, Abigail Disney told CNBC. Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings echoed the sentiment, telling The New York Times that Biden needed to step aside and allow a "vigorous Democratic leader" to beat Donald Trump. The business leader and his wife have donated more than $20 million to the party in recent years. I deeply respect Joe Biden's lifetime of service to our country. But in this critical time, in this vital election, stepping aside is the right and honorable thing for President Biden to do, added Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso. The former LA mayoral candidate a Democratic donor who co-hosted a multimillion-dollar fundraiser for Biden in December said in an interview on Saturday that he would pause efforts until he could get more clarity on the situation. Also Read | Biden vs Kamala Harris: Republicans mull who has a better chance against Trump Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh has distanced himself from a statement made by his mother, Balwinder Kaur, regarding his stance on Khalistan, an ideology advocating for a separate Sikh nation. The statement disowning his mother's remarks was issued by the jailed Sikh leader through his team on Saturday night, coinciding with his oath-taking ceremony. Earlier on Friday, Kaur said that her son is not a Khalistani supporter and demanded that he be released immediately so that he can work on the issues on which he fought the elections. We demand that he be released immediately so that he can thank supporters and work on the issues on the basis of which elections were won, said Kaur at her residence. She said her son's supporters kept asking when he would come out of the jail. We urge the government that he should be released immediately, she said. As reported by PTI, to another question, Kaur asserted He is not a Khalistani supporter. By speaking about Punjab's rights and saving Punjab's youth (from drugs), can anyone become a supporter of Khalistan. He fought elections within the ambit of the Constitution and took oath. One should not say such a thing. He will raise Punjab's issues and will save youth (from drugs), she said. The video of this statement went viral on social media, drawing criticism from Sikh hardliners who expressed objections. On Saturday, his mother issued an appeal to the Sikh community, urging them not to misinterpret her statement. As reported by Hindustan Times, Amritpal released a statement saying, When I discovered today the statement made by Mata ji yesterday, I felt deeply hurt. Even though I believe Mata Ji spoke unknowingly, such a statement should never come from my family or anyone who supports me. Singh further stated that dreaming of Khalsa Raj is not just a right but a matter of immense pride. Countless Sikhs have laid down their lives for this dream, and we cannot even fathom stepping back from this sacred path. I have often declared from stages that if ever faced with choosing between the Panth and my family, I will always choose the Panth without hesitation, he added. Furthermore, he added, The historical example of Baba Banda Singh Bahadars young companion stands as a testament to this principle. When the mother tried to save her son by denying his Sikh identity, the boy bravely proclaimed that if she claims I am not a Sikh, then she is not my mother. Though this example may seem harsh for this situation, it profoundly captures the essence of unwavering commitment, he said. I unequivocally warn my family that not even thinking about compromising on the concept is Sikh State could be entertained. Such lapses must never occur in future while engaging with the Sangat, he added. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Singh contested as an independent candidate and emerged victorious from the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha seat, defeating Congress candidate Kulbir Singh Zira by a substantial margin of 1,97,120 votes. Singh, who leads the Waris Punjab De group and adopted the persona associated with slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, has been incarcerated along with nine of his associates under the National Security Act (NSA). His arrest followed an incident on February 23 in Moga's Rode village, where Singh and his supporters forcibly entered the Ajnala police station, wielding swords and guns, and clashed with police officers in an attempt to liberate one of his associates from custody. News / National by Staff reporter The Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) confirmed that there were no examination paper leakages during the mid-year public exams held from May 27 to June 21, 2024. Over 32,000 candidates participated, including 144 for Advanced Level and 32,049 for Ordinary Level exams. This marks a significant improvement from previous years when paper leakages were common.Zimsec public relations manager, Mrs. Nicky Dhlamini-Moyo, attributed the success to tight security measures and stiff penalties for malpractices. Papers were securely distributed and stored, and national law enforcement agencies monitored the exams. The introduction of a nine-year prison sentence for leaking exam papers has also served as a strong deterrent.The exams' integrity is a top priority for Zimsec, with question papers delivered daily to cluster centers under heavy security. The cooperation of various stakeholders, including the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, school administrations, and the public, was crucial in maintaining the security of the examinations. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday hit-back at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray for accusing him of stealing party's symbol (bow and arrow), and said that they will realise the mistake they have done by abandoning ideas of late Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray. Addressing Shiv Sankalp Melava at Aurangabad in Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray launched an attack on Shinde camp saying, with the teachings of Balasaheb, he was proud to have won the fight using Mashal (UBT party symbol), even though bow and arrow (Shiv Sena symbol) was stolen from him. Thackeray also criticised schemes announced by the Mahayuti government, comprising BJP, Shiv Sena (Shinde) and NCP (Ajit Pawar) in the budget as ploy to lure voters ahead of the state elections which are likely to be held in October. Reacting to Thackeray's remark, Eknath Shinde said, How many times will you cry like a small kid. In Gram Panchayat elections, his party stood sixth, while we emerged second. In the Lok Sabha election, we received more votes than them. How many times will you say we have stolen (party symbol). Shinde further claimed that people were voting in favour of them as the Thackeray camp has abandoned the thoughts of Balasaheb Thackeray. We contested 13 seats (in Lok Sabha) and won 7. We got 2 lakh more votes. Their strike rate was 42 per cent, ours was 47 per cent. People have confirmed whom Shiv Sena belongs to. The core voter of Shiv Sena is with us, and they will get to know it in assembly polls. Shinde also claimed that they will fall (assembly seats) and will have to face the consequences for abandoning ideas of later Shiv Sena supremo. Taking a jibe at Thackeray, the Chief Minister said he was happy that those who did not go out of the gate of his home was now meeting farmers. Shinde added that in the assembly election, voters will compare the work done by them (MVA) and us (Mahayuti). In the recently held Lok Sabha elections, Shiv Sena (UBT) won nine out of 21 seats it contested. What Uddhav Thackeray said in Aurangabad Lok Sabha fight was for the country, constitution and democracy. The assembly polls are going to be for Maharashtra's Asmita. Many schemes are being announced (by the state govt) in view of the election. Of the schemes announced in the last 10 years, how many have been implemented? Speaking on the murder of Tamil Nadu BSP President K Armstrong in Chennai, BSP Chief Mayawati on Sunday urged the state government to refer the case to the CBI and stressed that weaker sections in particular should feel safe. K Armstrong was hacked to death by a group of men near his residence in Perambur on 5 July. As reported by ANI, Mayawati said, I urge the state government and especially the CM that he should ensure law and order in the state, weaker sections in particular should feel safe. Had the government been serious, the accused would have been arrested, but now since that's not the case, we urge the state government to refer the case to the CBI. Mayawati further noted that BSP has taken this incident very seriously and we will not sit quietly. Our state unit will not sit quiet and will exert pressure on the state government to refer this case to the CBI... I will pray to god to give his family and supporters strength to bear the loss... To ensure action against the accused, the party cadre should come forward but at the same time, stay within the limits of law and show that the weaker section does not take law into their hands, she added. Meanwhile, the Chennai police suspect the involvement of associates of gangster Arcot Suresh, who was murdered in August last year. K Armstrong, Tamil Nadu BSP Chief, was hacked to death on Friday evening by a group of unidentified men near his residence in Perambur, Chennai. Asra Garg, Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), North Chennai, told ANI, After sustained interrogation, due analysis, and diligence regarding the facts and circumstances of each suspect, we have arrested eight people. We have seized seven blood-stained weapons, one Zomato t-shirt, a Zomato bag, and three bikes that were used in the commission of the offence. The Chennai police have mobilized special teams to conduct a thorough investigation into the case. There is no political angle to this, Rathore said while speaking to reporters. Greater Chennai Police Commissioner Sandeep Rai Rathore had stated on Saturday that there are no political motives involved in the murder of the BSP leader. Meanwhile, the mortal remains of the deceased BSP leader have been placed at Corporation School Ground in Chennai, where members of the public are paying their respects and offering floral tributes in remembrance. LONDON : Nigel Farage, a leading figure behind Brexit and a longtime supporter of Donald Trump, set out last month with what many political analysts thought was a long-shot aim: Win millions of votes, get a seat in Parliament and destroy the ruling Conservative Party. On Friday, Farage was in London celebrating. His upstart party Reform UK had won more than 14% of the total vote in Britains election last Thursday on an anti-immigration platform. The 60-year-old, who built a career protesting against the establishment, will now sit in Parliament alongside four other Reform UK lawmakershis first victory for Parliament in eight attempts. His six-week campaign helped ensure that the Conservative Party lost scores of additional seats, suffering its worst defeat in its nearly 200-year history, and giving an even bigger majority to the center-left Labour Party, which was widely expected to win. Former U.S. President Trump quickly sent a message of congratulations to Farage: Nigel is a man who truly loves his Country!" For Farage, a cigarette-smoking populist, the vote establishes a bridgehead in Britains Parliament from which he can launch the next stage of his strategyprofessionalize his protest campaign to try a takeover of the right-wing of British politics and become prime minister when elections are next held by 2029. His campaign saw millions of mostly working-class voters switch from Tory to Reform UK. Let the Conservative Party tear themselves apart as they are going to do in opposition," he said Friday. Farages strong showing in the election comes at a time when far-right parties across much of Europe are making big gains, especially in France, where Marine Le Pens National Rally won the first round of parliamentary elections last weekend, taking about a third of the vote, and hopes for a similar result in the second round on Sunday. Germanys AfD recently came in second place in European elections, beating the governing center-left party. Reform UKs immediate effect will be to fuel what will likely prove a bruising battle within the Conservative Party and more broadly on the right-wing of British politics over how best to challenge the left. The Tories are embarking on a leadership contest to replace outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who has said he will stay on as party leader for a few months until a successor can be picked. The Tories face a difficult choice: whether to embrace Farage, try to compete against him and woo his supporters by promising a harder line on immigration, or reject him outright and try to appeal to centrist voters. Its really a nightmare scenario for the Conservatives," said Matthew Goodwin, a politics professor at the University of Kent. Its not at all clear how they get out of this or whether they can survive as a viable political party." Others think Reform will have a more difficult time shaking things up. In places such as France, Germany and Italy, parliaments have proportional representation that gives a bigger voice to smaller parties, making it easier for populist insurgencies to gain momentum, said Tony Travers, a political professor at the London School of Economics. The U.K.s system gives seats only to the outright winners in each district, called first past the post." That means Reform may have won 14% of the vote but got just five seats out of 650. There is another, crucial difference, Travers said: Both the National Rally in France and AfD have been decades in the making. Farage, however, has had a tendency to explode onto the British political scene and then retreat. Farage is like a comet that occasionally appears in the sky. It doesnt stay in the sky all the time, whereas National Rally is there permanently as a feature of French politics," said Travers. Even as the U.K. campaign started in late May, Farage took a few days to decide whether he would take part or focus on Trumps campaign instead. Farage didnt immediately reply to a request for comment. The British election, on its surface, was an endorsement for the center left. The Labour Party, under Keir Starmer, romped home with one of the biggest parliamentary majorities in its history on a pledge to run the country better. But dig deeper and a more fractured picture emerges. Surveys show roughly half of Britons say they hardly ever trust parties to put the countrys interests above their owna far higher rate than just a few years ago. Thursdays vote had the second-lowest turnout since 1885, with voters staying away from the polls, unexcited by the political options on offer. It also saw a much more splintered vote. Labour won only a third of ballots cast, while the Tories won only 24% of the vote. The rest were spread across a range of smaller parties offering more radical solutions. Four lawmakers were elected on a pro-Gaza platform capitalizing on Labours support for Israel. The pro-environmentalist Green Party also got four seats. Reform UK scooped up older, working-class voters, many of whom voted for Brexit and are skeptical about immigration. In 2019, then Conservative leader Boris Johnson won these voters over with a pledge to Get Brexit Done." But by 2024, many of these voters felt disillusioned. Brexit hadnt stopped immigration, which under the Tories rose to record highs in 2022 and 2023. Nor did it insulate them from the global economic shocks of the pandemic or the war in Ukraine. I want this Sunak out. And Starmer, I dont think hell be any better," said Anthony Hughes, 77 years old, who voted Reform in the latest election. Analysis of the results shows how Reform UK won over a big chunk of right-leaning working-class voters. Compared to a previous iteration of the party called the Brexit Party, Reform UK votes rose by 16 percentage points in seats that the Conservatives were defendingtwice the swing achieved in seats that Labour was defending, according to pollster John Curtice. The Tory vote fell by 12 points in less strongly pro-Brexit seats but fell nearly 30 points in the most staunchly pro-Brexit areas, said Goodwin, the professor. A former commodities trader, Farage helped co-found the UK Independence Party and won a seat to the European Parliament in 1999, helped by proportional representation. He used his seat as a springboard for becoming an outspoken and colorful critic of all things European Union, once saying a top EU official had the charisma of a wet rag" and the appearance of a low-grade bank clerk." His notoriety helped draw attention to his euroskeptic cause. Back in 2010, former Tory leader David Cameron called Farage supporters fruitcakes and loonies." But as growing numbers of Tory voters went to UKIP and some of his own party defected, Cameron then promised a referendum on membership in the EU. Cameron fought against Brexit and lost. In 2019, the Tories promised a total divorce with the EU, and Farage agreed not to run in that election. The Tories got a huge majority. One of the reasons Sunak called a surprise vote for this summer was in the hope that it would catch Farage off guard and he wouldnt be able to get a campaign together. Now, Sunak finds himself out of 10 Downing Street. The right-wing of his party, led by Suella Braverman, a former home secretary, has hinted that the party needs to embrace Farage and even welcome him into their party. Others arent convinced and say that the only way to win again is to tack back to the center ground and try to convince middle-class voters to back Conservatism. Reform UKs campaign was blighted by undercover reporting showing Farage campaigners making racist comments. Farage has said now that he is in Parliament, he can better vet his candidates and professionalize his operation. Farage also said the West provoked the war in Ukraine, causing even the conservative media to question him. Farage has stood by his remarks, but said that he is not an apologist or supporter of Putin." Write to Max Colchester at Max.Colchester@wsj.com and David Luhnow at david.luhnow@wsj.com Prime minister Narendra Modi will be in Moscow from July 8 to 9 for the India-Russia Bilateral Summit. Russia said this visit would be very important and full fledged,with Russia-India relations at its centre. This year's India-Russia talks marks the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit. Modi would be visiting Moscow for the first time ever since the Russia Ukraine war started in February 2022. Prime Minister Modis schedule in Moscow is expected to be an extensive one, said Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov to VGTRKa Russian state run television channel. The two leaders from Russia and India would be able to have informal talks, said Peskov. PM Narendra Modi's Russia visit: Top updates PM Narendra Modi and Vladimir Putin would review the multifaceted relations of India Russia, followed by discussions on global and regional affairs of mutual interest, said the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday Peskov hoped for an extensive, but not overbusy program for Modi. "Obviously, the agenda will be extensive, if not to say overbusy. It will be an official visit, and we hope that the heads will be able to talk in an informal way as well, said the Kremlin spokesperson. One to one talks, involving delegations, would form the key highlights of Modis visit to Russia, said Peskov.We are expecting a very important and full-fledged visit, which is so crucial for Russian-Indian relations, he was quoted as saying by the Russian government owned Tass news agency. Modis last visit to Russia was in 2019. He went to attend an economic conference in the Far East city of Vladivostok. Rishi Sunak apologized to the public and gave his last speech at 10 Downing Street after the Conservative Party had a crushing defeat against Keir Starmers Labour Party on July 5. Who would be the next Tory leader? Concerns remain as none of the partys surviving 121 members have confirmed their plan of contesting to replace Britains outgoing prime minister. Whats next for Sunak and Conservatives? Rishi Sunaks defeat at the UK Elections 2024 signalled an end to 14 years of Tory rule. He immediately plans to return to his family home. While Sunak could also continue as a MP for a full five year term, there have been reports that he might go back to his job in California. Akshata Murty's husband, Sunak, was an "impressive finance minister", but never fully appeared in control of a divided Conservative party. Speaking to LiveMint, former BBC journalist Andrew Whitehead said the nation wanted a change. Sunak did manage to restore integrity to the post of prime minister after the scandals of the Boris Johnson era. But after 14 years of Conservative governments the nation wanted a change and there probably was nothing Sunak could have done to stave off Labours return to power, Andrew told LiveMint. Time has passed, Whos next after Sunak? Finding a new leader might be difficult as eight cabinet ministers have lost their seats. Former two-time leader Jeremy Hunt, has backed out saying the time has passed, reported the BBC. Heres a look at who might be next after Sunak. Kemi Badenoch is an ex business secretary, and is well known among the Conservatives for her stance on trans rights. The 44 year old MP from North West Essex had earlier run for party leadership when Boris Johnson resigned. Also Read | With Rishi Sunak on his way out, international students may have a reason to cheer Suella Braverman had rebelled against Rishi Sunaks plan of the Rwanda migration policy, which now lies as a failed plan. It was a program she had once described as a dream to deliver, reported the BBC James Cleverly succeeded Suella Braverman as the home secretary during Rishi Sunaks cabinet reshuffle in November 2023. "What might happen in the future Ill leave that for the near future," he was seen telling Sky News. Priti Patel has been the home secretary under Boris Johnsons government. Patel launched the points-based immigration system for recruitment of skilled workers. She also locked a returns deal with Albania and Serbia and led the controversial Rwanda deal to send asylum seekers to the country. Tom Tugendhat is a former army officer, who has repeatedly refused to rule himself out of bidding to become party leader during the election campaign. He pitched himself as offering a "fresh start" and "bridge the Brexit divide," reported the BBC. Victoria Atkins spent around six months in cabinet as health secretary. She was the MP for Louth and and Horncastle in Lincolnshire in 2015. Earth's composition is more complicated than we think and is changing continuously every day. The inner part of the planet can be divided into three different layers: crust, mantle, and core. Several theories suggest that Earth's core is rotating independently of our spinning planet. Latest research by scientists has revealed that the rotation speed of Earth's core is slowing down dramatically and has even reversed. Earth's core Earth's core is the hottest part of the planet, equivalent to that of the Sun's surface. The core is buried around 5,180 kilometres deep inside the Earth and consists mainly of iron and nickel. The inner core is surrounded by a liquid metal outer core, which acts as a barrier with the rest of the Earth. This barrier allows Earth's core, akin to a hot solid ball of metal, to spin independently and not necessarily align with the rest of the planet. Is the rotation speed of Earth's core slowing down? Danish seismologist Inge Lehmann discovered the planet's inner core in 1936. Since then, scientists have continued to debate its rotation speed and direction. One reason scientists have limited evidence to prove their point is that it is impossible to observe or collect direct samples of Earth's deep interior. Most of the research and studies are based on variations between waves of similar strengths passed through the core at different times. Data from seismograms from repeated earthquakes and explosions on Earth indicate that the rotation speed of the solid inner core has been constantly degrading compared to the Earth's surface over the past few years, according to a new finding published in the journal Nature in June this year. According to CNN, the research not only validates the Earth's slowdown but also supports scientists' claim, made in 2023, that the core's deceleration is part of a decades-long pattern of slowing down and speeding up. Samsung has confirmed that its latest smartphone in the budget focused M series, Galaxy M35 5G will launch in India on July 17. Ahead of the official launch of the device, the Korean smartphone maker has also notified a number of key features of the Galaxy M35 5G including display, battery, design and more. In terms of design, the Galaxy M35 5G will come with a punch-hole style notch in the middle. The smartphone seems to be packing a plastic back and frame with a vertical triple camera layout. The M35 5G will feature a sAMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate and 1,000 nits of peak brightness. The display on M35 5G will come with Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection. It will be powered by the Exynos 1380 chipset based on 5nm process ,along with support for a vapour cooling chamber for heat dissipation. It will also come with support for Samsung Wallet and tap to pay functionality. Apart from that, Samsung has also confirmed support for Knox security and Knox Vault on the M35 5G. On the optics front, the smartphone will come with a triple camera setup, including a 50MP primary sensor with OIS, 8MP ultra-wide angle lens and a 5MP macro lens. Moreover, it will also feature a 13MP front-facing shooter for taking selfies and video calls. The smartphone will come with four years of Android OS updates and security patches. On the battery front, the smartphone will feature a 6,000mAh battery pack and 25W of fast charging. It will come in three colourways: Light Blue, Dark Blue, and Grey. The smartphone will first be available on Amazon during the upcoming Prime Day sale on July 20 to July 21. Meanwhile, Samsung hasn't provided any details about the pricing of the smartphone and we will have to wait for the offficial launch of the device on July 16 to get more details. Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. 3.6 Crore Indians visited in a single day choosing us as India's undisputed platform for General Election Results. Explore the latest updates here! Weekly Tech Recap: In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it can be easy to miss some important updates. But fear not, we have got you covered with the Weekly Tech Recap, where we take a look at the top news stories that have made waves in the world of technology. In this week's Tech Recap, Ola decided to ditch Google Maps in favour of a proprietary solution, Amazon announced its Prime Day sale, Apple listed some of its devices as 'vintage', OnePlus announced its summer launch event and WhatsApp reportedly started testing a new video notes feature. Top 5 tech stories of the week: 1) Bhavish Aggarwal's Ola ditches Google Maps, launches Ola Maps: Cab aggregator Ola announced this week that it is 'fully' dropping Google Maps and will instead use its own mapping service called Ola Maps. Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal made the announcement via a post on X (formerly Twitter), where he said that Ola was spending 100 crore per year on Google Maps, but has reduced that expenditure to 0 this month by shifting to its proprietary solution. Aggarwal wrote, "After Azure exit last month, weve now fully exited Google Maps. We used to spend 100 crore a year, but weve made that 0 this month by moving completely to our in-house Ola Maps! Check your Ola app and update if needed ," 2) Amazon Prime Day Sale announced: Amazon has announced that its Prime Day 2024 sale will go live in India from July 20 onwards. While Amazon hasn't revealed the specific deals during the Prime Day sale, the company did say that there will be thousands of deals across TVs, laptops, smartphones, fashion, grocery and everyday essentials during the offer period. The Amazon Prime Day Sale 2024 will begin on 12:00am on July 20 and end on 11:59 on July 21. Amazon also stated that there will be over 450 new launches from Indian and global brands like OnePlus, Samsung, Honor, iQOO, Bajaj, Motorola, Asus and more. 3) OnePlus Summer Launch Event announced: OnePlus announced earlier this week that it will launch the much-awaited Nord 4 along with Nord Buds 3 Pro, Watch 2R and OnePlus Pad 2 in Milan, Italy, on July 16. While the company has remained tight lipped about the features of these devices, it does state that the OnePlus Nord 4 will come with a metal unibody design, a first for OnePlus devices since the OnePlus 5T. Earlier rumours suggest that the OnePlus Nord 4 will be powered by the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 chipset. It is likely to feature a 6.74-inch 1.5K curved AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. On the optics front, the phone could feature a 50MP SonyIMX 882 primary sensor and a secondary 8MP ultra-wide-angle shooter. The battery is also expected to get a massive boost, going from 5,000mAh on its predecessor to 5,500mAh on the Nord 4. 4) Apple's AirPods, iPhone X and HomePod are now vintage: Apple has officially classified three of its iconic products as "vintage." The latest update to Apple's vintage and obsolete products list now includes the iPhone X, the first-generation AirPods, and the original HomePod According to Apple, a product is deemed vintage when it has been out of the sales market for more than five years but less than seven years. Once a product has been off the market for more than seven years, it is categorized as obsolete. Vintage products are still eligible for repairs, although this is contingent on the availability of parts. Obsolete products, on the other hand, are no longer supported for hardware services. 5) WhatsApp could soon allow users to share video notes: Meta-owned WhatsApp continues to innovate with new features aimed at enhancing user convenience. According to a recent report from WABetaInfo, the messaging app plans to introduce the ability to forward outgoing video notes, removing the hassle of having to record the same message multiple times for different conversations. Initially available to beta testers, this feature will be gradually rolled out to all users. The new forwarding capability will allow users to easily share video notes across various chats, reflecting WhatsApp's commitment to user-friendly updates. This development comes as part of WhatsApp's ongoing efforts to enrich the user experience by providing more versatile ways to utilize video notes. Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. 3.6 Crore Indians visited in a single day choosing us as India's undisputed platform for General Election Results. Explore the latest updates here! Smoking Cessation Support Group, 6-7 p.m. Thursdays, Syringa General Hospital Conference Room, Grangeville. Sexaholics Anonymous, 12-step group, call for meeting information in Lewiston and the surrounding area, (208) 503-6446. Alzheimers Association support group, 1:30-3 p.m. second Wednesday of the month, Community Action Partnership, Area Agency on Aging, 124 New Sixth St., Lewiston, (208) 666-2996. Alzheimers Association Washington state chapter serving northern Idaho, 1 p.m. second Monday of the month, Trinity Baptist Church, Fireside Room, 711 Fairview Drive, Moscow. For more information, call (208) 874-3462. Idaho Support and Care Association, providing care and support for the mentally handicapped and their families, 6:30 p.m. second Tuesday of the month, Sonic restaurant back room, 1306 21st St., Lewiston. Recovery International, a peer-led mental health training program, is picking up its meeting again. It will meet from 5-6:30 p.m. Mondays at the Lewiston City Library, second-floor conference room. For more information, contact David at (509) 780-7323. Palouse Advocates on Mental Illness, 1 p.m. second Sunday. To join support meetings via Zoom, call (208) 835-3071 or (509) 758-0284 to receive information or meeting notifications. National Alliance on Mental Illness, 7 p.m. second Wednesday, the Roxy, 714 Main St., Lewiston. Grieving childrens support groups, 7 p.m. first and third Tuesday, old Lewiston High School, 1114 Ninth Ave., Lewiston. Participants are asked to call the Willow Center at (208) 791-7192. Caregiver Support Group, 2-4 p.m. second and fourth Monday, Regency Senior Living, 1285 SW Center St., Pullman. More information is available by contacting Melissa at (509) 332-0365. Caregivers Support Group, 3:30-5 p.m. second Wednesday; 6-7:30 p.m. the third Tuesday, Adult Day Health, 225 E. Palouse River Drive, Moscow, (208) 883-6483. Caregivers Support Group, 3-3:50 p.m., third Tuesday, second floor of Lewiston City Library, sponsored by St. Joseph Family Hospice. (208) 799-5275. Caregivers Support Group, 3-3:50 p.m., third Tuesday, second floor of Lewiston City Library, sponsored by St. Joseph Family Hospice. (208) 799-5275. Grief Support Group, 4-4:50 p.m., third Tuesday, second floor of Lewiston City Library, sponsored by St. Joseph Family Hospice. (208) 799-5275. Healing Rooms of Lewiston, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturdays, Riverside Room, Echo Hills Church, 3215 Echo Hills Drive, Lewiston. All are welcome to come pray for healing; physical, emotional and spiritual. Monthly meetings also available the first Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. Colfax Caregiver Support Group, sponsored by the Council on Aging and Human Services, 3-4:30 p.m. fourth Thursday of the month, The Courtyard on Main Street in Colfax. Womens Support Group, for women in or recovering from an abusive relationship, 6:30 p.m. Thursdays, YWCA, 300 Main St., Lewiston. Valley Breast Cancer Support Group, 6:30-8:30 p.m. first Wednesday, St. Joseph Regional Medical Center, parish hall, Lewiston. American Cancer Society Resource Center, more information is available by calling (208) 750-7396. Parkinsons Support Group, 1:30 p.m. second Monday of the month, St. Stans Parish Center, 633 Fifth Ave. For directions, call (208) 799-5219. Grangeville Diabetic Support Group, 1:30 p.m. third Monday, Syringa General Hospital. Ostomy Support Group, 12:30-1:30 p.m. second Monday of each month, Canyons Church, 717 15th St., Clarkston. Resources, personal experience and problem solving will be offered. For more information, call Adrian at (509) 254-3404 or Cheryl at (208) 743-4088. Palouse Ostomy Support Group, 5 p.m. first Wednesday of the month, by Zoom; call Karen (509) 332-6053 for information and link. For people with ostomies, family members, members of the health care community or people contemplating getting surgery. Widows and widowers support group, Lenore Community Center, those interested can call Rebecca Ziegler at (425) 760-2654. Mr. Gene Ring went to be with the Lord, Tuesday, June 11, 2024, at his sons home in Cortez, Colo. Gene died of pancreatic cancer. Gene was born Aug. 31, 1944, to Blanche Myrtle Reed in Topeka, Kan. Maude Norris, Genes foster mother had Gene in her home from 16-18 years old. He had eight foster siblings and the two daughters of Maudes to help look after him. Gene quit school in his junior year. Maude and Gene found each other again in 1970 and visited each other frequently. Gene was then adopted when he was 18 years old by Jewel and Thomas Ring, both have passed. Mr. Gene got a diploma from Grossmont Adult Trade School in welding. He had his own water pump business and was noted for twitching water, he was noted for accuracy with number of gallons and location of water. He worked many years for Excell Trucking as a semi driver, until retirement. He then started camp hosting at Fish Creek above Grangeville, he loved this job. He married Loretta Ring, which ended in divorce. They had four children: Gene Ring Jr., of Cortez, Sharon Ring, of Price Utah; Ray Ring, of Wellington, Utah and George Ring, of Salt Lake City. He married the love of his life, Jean Herring, Sept. 9, 1989, at the Orchards Church of Nazarene, in Lewiston. They both loved the Lord and worked in the church where needed. They always gave to others in need. Their love of the Lord always reflected in the way they lived. They loved to travel, to camp, fish and visit family. The ultimate trip was an Alaskan Cruise which they loved. They were married for 23 years until Jeans passing on March 3, 2013. Gene met Betty Gano a special friend and companion. They enjoyed traveling and going to church together. Betty helped with caregiving when needed and he for her as well. News / National by Staff reporter The Zimbabwe School of Mines (ZSM) in Bulawayo is expanding its Gemstone and Lapidary Workshop to include jewellery-making, aiming to diversify and boost the city's economy through the lucrative gemstone industry. This strategic move is expected to enhance Bulawayo's GDP and establish it as a major player in the global gemstone and jewellery markets.Recently, the Mineral Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) donated equipment worth US$1.1 million for cutting and polishing gemstones, supporting skill development for value addition and beneficiation. The expansion into jewellery-making is already underway, with course design completed. The initiative aims to equip students and local artisans with skills to design and produce high-quality jewellery items like rings, necklaces, and bracelets.During a visit to the workshop, Bulawayo's Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Judith Ncube, commended the initiative for empowering youth and promoting local beneficiation of minerals. She emphasized the economic benefits of processing gemstones locally instead of selling raw materials, which often leads to revenue loss through smuggling.The expansion aligns with Zimbabwe's National Development Strategy 1 and Vision 2030, focusing on value addition and economic empowerment through skill development in the gemstone sector. It is expected to elevate gemstone mining in Zimbabwe to a new level, fostering economic growth and contributing to the country's development goals. Patti Calene peacefully passed away Tuesday, June 25, 2024, at the Kootenai Health in Coeur dAlene. Born to Ted W. Carlson and Thelma B. Carlson, Patti spent her formative years on the family farm in Paradise outside of Moscow. She married her beloved husband, Michael Calene, and together they raised four children: Melvin Calene (Cindy), Tracy Kanikkeberg (Mark), Michael Calene (Sandra) and Timothy Calene (deceased). Despite the demands of motherhood, Patti pursued her education, earning her GED and becoming a licensed practical nurse an achievement her family deeply admired. She credited Chuck Nelson of Troy for guiding her through challenging math courses and spent many late nights studying after putting her children to bed. Patti cherished the connections made with the families of her patients who thanked her for her exceptional care. Patti had an immense love for people and animals, never turning away from a stray in need. She will be remembered fondly by her family, friends and her cherished pets, including her faithful dog Benny and cat Skittles, who provided comfort during challenging times. Pattis passion for horses led her on many adventures as a child, one even ending with a broken arm up on Tomars Butte. Later in life this passion carried her on many pack trips and camping trips with her husband and kids in the wilds of North Idaho. Patti loved accompanying her children on their fathers logging jobs, frequently returning home covered in dirt, yet always with a smile on her face. Patti was more at home outdoors than in the kitchen. Not that long ago, the political airwaves were filled with talk about late-term abortions. It was a rhetorical device that accused women of waiting until late in their pregnancies before deciding to seek an abortion for the sake of convenience. Who does that? Year after year, physicians would try to set the record straight with Idaho lawmakers. But it made for a catchy phrase at a time when Idaho GOP politicians could pander to their political base within the anti-abortion rights movement without consequence because Roe v. Wade was the law of the land. In the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe and Idaho implemented an abortion ban, its become clear that women seeking abortions later in their pregnancies face awful choices: A woman discovers one of her two fetuses is nonviable, threatening the survival of the second fetus as well as her own health. A terminal fetus is causing its mother to suffer mirror syndrome, which means she was enduring the same ailments as her dying child. The severe genetic condition afflicting a fetus puts its survival at risk while elevating the mothers blood pressure so severely that she is confronted with the risk of permanent injury, such as a stroke or kidney failure. A cancer patient must choose between continuing her treatment or carrying a fetus to term. Given Idahos laws, physicians face a five-year prison term if they provide the medical care their patients so desperately need. As a result, Idaho health care providers have had their patients transferred to pro-abortion rights states, such as Washington and Oregon, or even Utah, where abortion is restricted but an exemption permits the protection of a womans health. About a fifth of the states obstetricians and more than half of its maternal-fetal medicine specialists have left the state. Hospitals have closed maternity centers, and much of rural Idaho now exists in a maternal health care desert. Even the last vestige of a legal shield protecting the ability of Idaho doctors to act in an emergency had been removed thanks in large part to Attorney General Raul Labrador. In conflict were two laws the states abortion ban with no real exceptions except to save the life of a woman and the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which requires emergency room physicians to stabilize patients. Under normal circumstances, the federal statute takes precedence until the courts sort things out. Idaho Fish and Game will stock nearly 8,000 rainbow trout in local waterways this month. The effort will be the largest infusion of fish to the regions lakes and ponds for a while. The agency tapers off trout stocking in the later summer months before picking back up in the fall. Fisheries workers already have begun introducing 10-to-12-inch trout to popular fishing holes across the Clearwater region. The agency announced in a recent news release that Elk Creek Reservoir near Elk River was replenished with 3,000 fish and Karolyns Pond near the Old Red River Ranger Station south of Elk City secured 400. Crooked Creek and Five Mile Pond each got 250. Five Mile Pond sits alongside the Crooked River southwest of Elk City and Crooked Creek flows into the Salmon River, also south of Elk City. Between July 8-12, Campbells Pond near Pierce will be stocked with 1,000 trout, Fenn Pond near Lowell with 500 and White Sands Pond near Powell with 400. Karolyns Pond will be stocked with another 400 trout between July 15-19. Campbells Pond will get 1,000 and White Sands Pond 400 from July 22-26. Waters near the cities of Moscow and Lewiston wont be stocked for some time. Clearwater region Communications Manager Jen Bruns said this is for a good reason trout are sensitive to elevated water temperatures. Bruns said the department accounts for this during its stocking cycle. The agency will heavily fill most bodies of water in the spring and fall when water temperatures are cooler. Once the summer comes, she said officials will back off in areas with warmer temperatures. She added stocking strategies are also based on wild fish species in the region. Establishing hatchery rainbow trout in certain areas could pose competition with native fish, especially for protected ones like bull trout and species of concern like westslope cutthroat trout. 21-year-old Maury Ange Martinez was reported missing by her family in August of last year, and now they hope someone can tell them what happened to her. News / National by Staff reporter Bulawayo regional magistrate Ms Sibonginkosi Mnkandla has acquitted Elias Mudenda, one of the two suspects accused of stealing US$271,500 and R2 million from a Nedbank branch in the city last year. The acquittal was due to lack of compelling evidence linking Mudenda to the crime, despite being found with US$4,000 and R12,000 in cash.The magistrate ruled that neither Nedbank witnesses nor police detectives could identify the recovered money as belonging to the bank, nor was there any other evidence connecting Mudenda to the theft.The trial of Mudenda and co-accused Lovemore Gambiza began in April, with both pleading not guilty to charges of unlawful entry and theft. The prosecution alleged that the two, along with others, had broken into the bank's premises, cut through security measures, and stolen significant amounts of cash and other valuables. Although some money and items were recovered, including from Gambiza buried underground and at various locations, Mudenda's legal team argued he was not involved and was coerced into signing a confession.Gambiza's defense maintained that he was elsewhere during the robbery, presenting alibi evidence related to his gold mining activities. The trial continues for Gambiza, who faces similar charges and disputes the ownership of recovered money sealed in Nedbank packaging, claiming it was from his legitimate business activities. A group of teenagers were reportedly rescued after a frightening encounter with what they described as a 'glowing-eyed and growling Bigfoot' in a Louisiana forest. Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Deputies received a distress call from the recent high school graduates from Houma, who were deep within Kisatchie National Forest late last week. The teens, aged 17 to 18, reported an encounter with a creature resembling 'Bigfoot' with glowing eyes, according to the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Office (NPSO). Video captured by Colorado couple fuels speculation about 'Bigfoot' Roberto Ortega The group had ventured about 1.5 miles down Back Bone Trail in southern Natchitoches Parish for a camping trip following their graduation festivities. Their adventure took a frightening turn when one of the teens heard a growling noise and saw a mysterious figure standing approximately five feet tall with glowing eyes, prompting them to call emergency services for help. Rescued by police Around 21:20, Deputies from the NPSO Patrol Operations Bureau responded to the call from the NATCOM 911 Center. Deputy B. Remo and Cpl. D. Halliburton carefully approached the campsite, staying alert for any potential threats. Following the sound of a whistle from the group, the deputies located the teenagers, who were unharmed but clearly shaken. The deputies then escorted them safely out of the forest. Despite conducting a thorough investigation, authorities were unable to find evidence supporting the teens' description of the creature. The NPSO released a statement congratulating the graduates, expressing gratitude for their visit to Natchitoches Parish and Kisatchie National Forest, and wishing them well in their future endeavors. Dear Annie: My friend and I are part of a very small percentage of upcoming high schoolers who are without Snapchat. Socially, this can be very difficult, as it is hard to communicate with friends and even girls because everything is run through Snapchat nowadays. In this post-Covid world, and after the tech boom, everything is run through social media; however, the big social platform is Snapchat. For example, when we were at a school dance, my friend and I were left alone as everyone was communicating on Snapchat. Most people in our grade already know almost all of the girls in our grade. Now, I know we could just receive phone numbers to text, or even Gmail, but the majority of people have chosen to use Snapchat, as it provides funny filters and, most of all, the ability to delete texts. Another feature that enhances its value is the ability to tell when someone screen records or to find friends using maps. This type of communication has brought many more people to Snapchat and helps explain its growth. Now, how should we communicate with others our age, and how should we be able to stay socially friendly with everyone even though no one communicates with us via text or phone calls? Stuck on Snapchat Dear Stuck on Snapchat: Thank you for your letter. It brings up a very important point. While it might feel like you and your friend are alone in not having Snapchat, you are not! There is a huge and very important movement going on to educate parents, teachers and, frankly, everyone on the dangers of social media, especially on the brain development of preteens and teenagers. Within the last few weeks, the U.S. Surgeon General has called on Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms for their effects on young peoples lives, similar to those now mandatory on cigarette boxes. In the 1950s, smoking was everywhere until we found out that it caused lung cancer. Today, very few young people smoke because of the known health dangers. When we know better, we do better, and now we are all learning about the harm of social media on young brains in particular. Bestselling author Jonathan Haidt wrote the book The Anxious Generation, which addresses this issue. He hits the nail on the head. It is a wonderful book filled with data and, most importantly, solutions! By not participating in Snapchat, youre participating in the collective action that Haidt is asking of your generation. Your real friends will like you the same with or without Snapchat. While it may appear that Snapchat has taken over communication, and I know that is hard for you, deeper connections are created through shared experiences and conversation and you will have more time for them. By not participating in Snapchat, you create more opportunities to interact with the real world around you, opening up moments for creativity and learning. Trust me, youll thank your parents later for keeping you off Snapchat now. Dear Readers: I would love to hear from other middle school, high school or even college-age students who dont have social media and can provide tips on how they navigate the social impact. I would also love to hear from students who love their social media accounts and all the positive ways that they have benefited their lives! How Can I Forgive My Cheating Partner? is out now! Annie Lanes second anthology featuring favorite columns on marriage, infidelity, communication and reconciliation is available as a paperback and e-book. Visit http://www.creatorspublishing.com for more information. Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM Deportation officers have arrested an Ecuadorian man wanted on a child rape charge in his home country who was hiding out in Northampton, according to U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE officers arrested the man near his home in Northampton on June 12, according to a press release from ICE. U.S. Border Patrol agents originally arrested the man on June 4, 2021, after he unlawfully entered the U.S. in Arizona, ICE said. Officials then issued the man a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge and released him from custody. On May 16, 2023, Ecuadorian authorities issued an arrest warrant for the man as a fugitive from justice after he was charged with rape of a minor and invasion of privacy, ICE said. This Ecuadorian fugitive is facing some very serious charges, but instead of facing the justice system, he fled and attempted to take refuge in Massachusetts, Boston Field Office Director Todd Lyons said in the release. He posed a significant threat to the children of our communities, and we cannot allow that to continue. News / National by Staff reporter Emmanuel Sitima, the president of the Zimbabwe National Students' Union (ZINASU), has called for a comprehensive overhaul of Zimbabwe's governance system, condemning it as riddled with corruption, mismanagement, and incompetence. Speaking during a national clean-up campaign in Harare's Copa Cabana area, Sitima asserted that cleansing the streets must be paralleled by purging the government of malfeasance.Sitima criticized President Emmerson Mnangagwa's administration for alleged financial misappropriation, highlighting the controversial US$87 million goat scheme awarded to individuals associated with Zanu-PF. He questioned the whereabouts of the goats and asserted that such funds could have been directed towards students' welfare instead.The ZINASU leader emphasized the need to eradicate corruption and incompetence from government ranks, asserting that these practices hinder national progress. He specifically criticized Higher and Tertiary Education Minister Amon Murwira for failing to establish functional innovation hubs for students, despite accolades as the second-best performing minister.Sitima pointed out that over 13,000 students at Madziwa and Nyadire teachers' colleges were supposed to benefit from misappropriated funds, which could have improved infrastructure and resources essential for learning. He highlighted the financial hardships faced by tertiary students, leading some to resort to prostitution due to insufficient government grants and support.The union lamented the lack of financial resources claimed by the government to revive student grant programs, contrasting this with alleged widespread corruption in procurement deals, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sitima concluded by urging a systemic change to prioritize education and combat corruption for the benefit of Zimbabwean students and society at large. Springfield Police Capt. Brian Keenan, head of the citys Firearms Investigation Unit, says his team makes plenty of arrests. Thats not the problem. We seize a lot of guns. However, no one is in jail, he said. You would cut our homicide rate in half if people who were supposed to be held were held. Police and prosecutors, joined by Springfields mayor, believe firmly that the court system too readily returns people arrested for gun crimes to the streets, where they break laws again and imperil public safety. Atlantic Technological University (ATU) is currently accepting applications for Project WAVE, a new initiative supported through the Higher Education Authority Path 4 funding. This transformative two-year project is designed to provide individuals with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to experience college life and education at ATU. Project WAVE offers a comprehensive programme that addresses students social, academic, and vocational needs. Participants will attend classes with other students, engage in various clubs and societies, and fully immerse themselves in the vibrant campus community. The project allows students to choose from three ATU campuses for their studies: Sligo, Donegal, and Mayo. While the core curriculum remains consistent across all locations, elective subjects will vary based on the campus, ensuring a tailored educational experience. The programme offers two distinct options for students: Certificate in Personal and Vocational Development: This NFQ Level 6 Special Purpose Award comprises 60 credits over two years. Certificate in Life Skills and Vocational Development: This NFQ Level 6 Special Purpose Award comprises 40 credits over two years. Additionally, exit awards and digital badges are available, providing multiple options for programme participation. Central to the curriculum are mandatory modules designed to equip students with essential skills and knowledge, including Information Communications Technology, Employability Skills, and Learning Skills and Personal Development. Participants will also complete a work placement in the final semester. Dr Michele Glacken, VP Students, Teaching & Learning & Registrar at ATU, said Project Wave is a further step towards inclusivity for those with intellectual disabilities: This transformative step towards inclusive higher education aligns with ATU's core values of diversity and accessibility. We are excited to be part of this initiative and look forward to welcoming students with intellectual disabilities into our vibrant academic community. We have developed a new programme and plan to deliver the programme at our campuses in Letterkenny, Mayo, and Sligo from September 2024. We are putting in place a number of supports to enable the students to integrate fully into the university student body and have an enjoyable student experience. Students participating in Project WAVE will be on campus 3-4 days per week, attending modules and participating in additional sessions with the WAVE staff, who provide necessary support for programme success. The programme will commence on September 3rd, 2024, with a two-week induction prior to the start of the semester. The application period will remain open until 12 July. For further details on the programme and application process, please visit www.atu.ie/project-wave. Trusted Source Dengue and severe dengue Go to source Trusted Source The #monsoon season can exacerbate #dengue outbreaks due to increased #mosquito breeding in stagnant water from heavy #rainfall. #westbengal Dengue Cases Surge in West Bengal Dengue and severe dengue - (https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dengue-and-severe-dengue) Early indications suggest a potential increase in dengue ) cases during the monsoon season in West Bengal, with over 2,000 affected individuals reported by 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.Source-IANS Title: How to Add Live Links To Gmail on a Sumung Tablet (How To Add Live Link To Gmail On A Sumsung Tablet) Introduction: Gmail has always been an essential tool for communication and productivity. It is easy to add live links to your Gmail account, even if you do not have a computer or an internet connection. In this blog post, we will explore how to add live links to Gmail on a Sumung tablet. Step 1: Check the Gmail App First, make sure you have downloaded and installed the Google Cloud SDK for Android devices (version 49.3). If you havent done so, visit the Google Play Store to download it. Step 2: Create a New Account Create a new Google Cloud account on your Sumung tablet if you dont already have one. Then, open the Google Cloud Console and navigate to Apps & Services > Gmail. Step 3: Sign Up for a User ID and Password After creating a new account, sign up for a user ID and password for your account. You can find these values by searching for them on the website of your Google Cloud account or by using the Account Details section on the devices home screen. Step 4: Add a New Session Once youve signed up for a user ID and password, click on Sign In from the Google Cloud Console and follow the prompts to create a new session. Step 5: Edit Your Gmail Profile Next, go to your Gmail profile page and click on the + button to add a new row to your account. Fill out the fields required for your email address, username, and password. Step 6: Add Live Links to Gmail Now that youve added a new session, you can start adding live links to Gmail. Go back to the Google Cloud Console and click on Follow me, then select Following the Account. From there, select Modify links under the Followers tab. Click on Add a link and enter the URL of the email you want to share. Make sure the URL starts with .com and ends with .NET to ensure it points to the correct email. Step 7: Test the Adding Function After adding a link to Gmail, test the function by sending an email with the link in your inbox. Verify that the link opens successfully without errors. Conclusion: (How To Add Live Link To Gmail On A Sumsung Tablet) In conclusion, adding live links to Gmail on a Sumung tablet is simple and straightforward. By following these steps, you should be able to easily add live links to your Gmail account from anywhere on your device. Keep in mind that some links may require you to enable encrypted connections, but with the right setup, you should be able to access and share emails securely on your device. Title: How to Get Back off Summet S9 (How To Get Back Off Sumsung S9) The Samsung S9 is a high-end smartphone that has revolutionized the smartphone industry. With its advanced features and user-friendly interface, it offers the best possible experience for users. However, its not always easy to get rid of those old scores from your phone. In this blog, well guide you on how to get back off the S9 and improve your overall performance. 1. Uninstalling old apps One of the first steps in getting back off your Samsung S9 is to uninstal all the outdated apps. Most smartphones have an option to uninstall them automatically after certain time, but sometimes they slip through the cracks or disappear altogether. Try going to the App Store or Google Play store and search for Uninstall. After finding the app, carefully download and remove it from your phone. 2. Disable unnecessary features Another way to recover old scores from your Samsung S9 is by disabling some unnecessary features. Many apps use these features to gather data and enhance their performance. Disabling these features will prevent unnecessary usage of hardware resources, which can help reduce storage usage and battery life. You can do this by opening Settings > Storage > System & Apps > Maintenance and Check Security. Once youve enabled these features, try starting your device again to see if the score shows up properly. 3. Clear cache and database files Many apps collect data when you open them. This data can include personal information, location, and other important details. clearing the cache and database files will delete this data, allowing you to regain access to your data without losing it. Go to Settings > Storage > Account & Preferences > Clear Cache & Data > Confirm. When prompted, choose Yes, then hit Enter. 4. Update the operating system and hardware If youre still having trouble getting back off your Samsung S9, updating your operating system and hardware might be worth a try. Samsung offers several updates and upgrades for their phones, including Android version 10, Android Nougale, and Pro. These updates usually include security patches, bug fixes, and other improvements to enhance your phones performance. If you havent updated your operating system and hardware yet, check the official Samsung website for updates available now. 5. Use USB-C charging ports When you want to restore your data from your Samsung S9, consider using USB-C charging ports instead of Lightning ports. USB-C charging ports provide fast and stable charging speed, making it easier to retrieve your data even when your phone is plugged into a wall outlet. Install USB-C charging adapters and connect them to your phone. Follow the instructions provided on the manufacturers website or install on the original charging port. (How To Get Back Off Sumsung S9) In conclusion, getting back off your Samsung S9 requires careful planning and attention to detail. By uninstalling old apps, disabling unnecessary features, clearing cache and database files, updating your operating system, and using USB-C charging ports, you can gradually regain control of your device and make it more user-friendly. Remember to regularly update your device to ensure optimal performance and protection against potential security threats. News / National by Staff reporter Ahead of the Sadc summit in Harare from 16-17 August, the diplomatic tensions between Zimbabwe and Zambia are poised to dominate discussions. These tensions escalated due to Zambia's rejection of Zimbabwe's 2023 election results and President Mnangagwa's recent remarks to Russian President Putin, highlighting Western influence in Zambia. This has drawn in global powers like the US and Russia, both engaged in intense geopolitical competition across Southern Africa. Their rivalry revolves around securing strategic resources, economic interests, and geopolitical influence in the region, where Zimbabwe and Zambia play pivotal roles due to their mineral wealth and geographic position.President Mnangagwa's remarks underscored Zimbabwe's frustration over Zambia's alignment with Western powers, contrasting with historical ties and shared struggles against colonialism and apartheid. Despite historical affinities, recent geopolitical dynamics have seen Zambia maintaining robust ties with the US, which supports its development and mining sectors. In contrast, Russia has deepened its economic engagements with Zimbabwe, particularly in mining, reflecting longstanding ties dating back to the liberation era.The geopolitical contestation extends beyond bilateral relations to influence regional dynamics through organizations like Sadc and the AU. Zambia's appeal to these bodies amid accusations regarding US military presence illustrates the broader proxy influence and strategic alignments at play. Meanwhile, the US continues to bolster its military cooperation with Botswana, demonstrating efforts to enhance regional security and influence.Overall, the outcome of this diplomatic cold war and geopolitical competition between the US and Russia will significantly impact regional power dynamics and the influence of global powers across Southern Africa. As these dynamics evolve, Zimbabwe and Zambia navigate between competing interests to safeguard their sovereignty while maximizing economic benefits and diplomatic leverage amidst global power struggles. Apple is an American multinational technology company headquartered in San Francisco that is known for its innovative products, user-friendly design, and premium brand image. The company was founded by Steve Jobs in 1976 and has since become one of the most successful and influential companies in modern business. (What Is Apple (What Is The Overall Image,What Personality Do They Portray)?) Apples overall image can be described as sleek, efficient, and forward-thinking. The company is known for its simplicity and ease of use, with products designed to simplify everyday tasks and provide an intuitive user experience. Additionally, Apple is known for its commitment to sustainability and ethical practices, including its use of sustainable materials and efforts to reduce waste. The personality of Apple can be seen as friendly, approachable, and passionate about innovation. Apple is often depicted as a creative and entrepreneurial leader who is constantly pushing boundaries and experimenting with new technologies. The company is also known for its philanthropic initiatives, including its many mobile apps and hardware products, which have been used to benefit underprivileged communities around the world. One of Apples key values is customer-centricity, which means designing products and services that meet the needs of individual users. This value is reflected in the products that Apple creates, from smartphones and tablets to smart home devices and electric vehicles. The companys focus on user engagement and customization allows it to stand out from competitors and provide a truly personalized experience. (What Is Apple (What Is The Overall Image,What Personality Do They Portray)?) Overall, Apple is an iconic brand that is known for its innovative products, user-friendly design, and high-quality image. Its personality is friendly, approachable, and passionate about innovation, and its values of customer-centricity are reflected in its products and values. While there may be other companies in the tech industry that offer similar products and services, Apples brand image is unique and stands out from others. Apples origin can be traced back to 1976 when Steve Jobs began working on an experimental computer for the first time. However, it wasnt until later that Apple would become a major player in the tech industry. (When Did Apple Start) Before his retirement from Apple, Jobs had already made significant contributions to the technology industry. He was known for his innovative ideas and his ability to turn products into successful products. He was also a mentor to many other developers who came after him, including Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Ronald Wayne. In 1984, Jobs formed Apple Inc. as a way to combine his skills and interests. The company was founded by Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Larry Page. They set out to create a personal computer that would change the way people communicate and work. Despite numerous setbacks, Apple eventually became one of the most successful companies in history. Their products were used by millions of people worldwide, from computers to smartphones to tablets. They revolutionized the way we think about technology and helped to shape the way we live our lives today. Today, Apple is still one of the largest technology companies in the world, with a located in California. They continue to innovate and improve their products, using their extensive expertise in hardware and software development. They are also actively involved in various charitable causes and have been recognized for their philanthropic efforts. Despite all their success, Apple remains humble and dedicated to continuing to make a positive impact on society. They believe in giving back to their community and making the world a better place through their products and practices. (When Did Apple Start) In conclusion, Apples origin is filled with history and innovation. It has shaped the technology industry and has had a profound impact on the world. Whether youre looking for new gadgets or simply want to learn more about the history of a company, Apple is definitely worth exploring. The Padres have placed right-hander Yu Darvish on the restricted list, as manager Mike Shildt told reporters (including Annie Heilbrunn of the San Diego Union Tribune) this evening. Shildt noted that Darvish is stepping away from the team while he deals with a personal matter involving his family. The issue does not have to do with anything physical, and Shildt did not comment on the veterans timeline for return to the club. Players on the restricted list do not count against their clubs 40-man roster and collect neither their salary nor MLB service time, meaning that Darvish will forfeit a pro-rated amount of his $16MM salary for the 2024 season for the length of his absence from the team. The right-hander last appeared in a game for the Padres on May 29 and was placed on the injured list due to a left groin strain shortly thereafter. Reporting in late June indicated that the veteran was nearing a return from the injured list but had been slowed by a bout of inflammation in his right elbow. According to MLB.coms Injury Tracker, Darvish had subsequently resumed playing catch as he worked his way back toward the big league mound but will now seemingly step away from the team for an indefinite period. Darvish, 38 in August, is a five-time All Star and veteran of 12 MLB seasons. The righty joined the Padres during the 2020-21 offseason after the club acquired him from the Cubs alongside catcher Victor Caratini in exchange for right-hander Zach Davies and a package of four prospects. At the time, Darvish was coming off a dominant 2020 campaign that earned him a second-place finish in NL Cy Young award voting that year. While the rightys work in San Diego hasnt quite measured up to the incredible 2.01 ERA (224 ERA+) and 2.23 FIP he posted in 76 innings during the 60-game season, hes nonetheless been a reliable presence at the front of the Padres rotation. In 95 starts for the club, Darvish has posted a solid 3.80 ERA with an even stronger 3.69 FIP and an impressive 26.2% strikeout rate. That work impressed Padres brass enough that they opted to extend Darvish with a five-year, $90MM contract that began this season and will run through the 2028 campaign. The surprising commitment was looking good through 11 starts this year, as Darvish had dominated to the tune of a 3.20 ERA (126 ERA+) and a 3.51 FIP in 56 1/3 innings before he was placed on the IL at the start of June. The news is a blow to the Padres rotation depth, as the club has relied in recent weeks on the likes of Randy Vasquez, Matt Waldron, and Adam Mazur to round out the clubs rotation behind Dylan Cease and Michael King amid injuries to Darvish and fellow veteran righty Joe Musgrove. With Musgrove expected to remain out until at least August due to a bone spur in his elbow thats caused inflammation and now Darvish out indefinitely, the news serves to highlight San Diegos rotation needs ahead of the trade deadline later this month. The clubs 49-43 record puts them comfortably in the second of three NL Wild Card spots, and their offense ranks fourth in the majors with a wRC+ of 114. Unfortunately, theyve been held back by a relatively lackluster rotation that ranks just 19th in the majors with a 4.09 ERA this year. Given the uncertainty surrounding when Musgrove and Darvish will be back in the rotation for the club, it makes plenty of sense for them to explore a rotation market that figures to feature players such as Garrett Crochet, Jack Flaherty, and Cal Quantrill. The Rockies announced this morning that theyve designated right-hander Dakota Hudson for assignment. The move clears a space on the active roster for right-hander Tanner Gordon, whose contract selection was previously reported ahead of his start against the Royals this afternoon. Colorados 40-man roster stands at 39. Hudson, 30 in September, was non-tendered by the Cardinals back in November but signed with the Rockies on a one-year deal in early January. A first-round pick by St. Louis back in 2016, he made his big league debut with the club in 2018 and looked to be an impressive young arm and enjoyed notable success early in his career with a 3.17 ERA that was 31% better than league average in 241 innings of work during his first three years in the majors. Despite that success, there were some red flags evident in Hudsons profile has he struck out just 18.1% of batters faced and walked 11.6%, leaving him with a lackluster 4.74 FIP. Hudsons ability to generate grounders was his most valuable tool, and his 57.3% groundball rate during that period led all qualified major league hurlers. Tommy John surgery wiped out almost all of Hudsons 2021 campaign, and upon his return Hudson was unable to garner the same impressive results he had posted earlier in his career. In 221 innings of work with the Cardinals during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Hudson struggled to a below-average 4.64 ERA with a nearly matching 4.60 FIP. He walked 10% of batters while striking out a meager 12.9% of his opponents, and with the results now matching the peripherals St. Louis opted to part ways with the righty rather than tender him a contract this year. That led him to Colorado, and Hudson ultimately made 17 starts for the Rockies this year, pitching 86 1/3 innings. The results of those outings were nothing short of brutal. The right-handers ERA ballooned to 5.84 this year as he walked (11.8%) nearly as many batters has he struck out (12.3%) in 86 1/3 innings of work. While Hudsons 52.4% grounder rate this year was still elite, that figure is a far cry from the aforementioned 57.3% rate that he posted prior to his surgery. Given the ghastly results and his overall diminished profile, its not necessarily a surprise that the Rockies have decided to pull the plug on Hudsons tenure with the club. Theyll now have one week to either attempt to work out a trade for Hudsons services or pass him through waivers, although the righty has enough service time that he would have the opportunity to reject an outright assignment should he clear waivers. LANSING, MI A trio of court cases set to be heard by Michigans highest court may change the rules on young defendants facing or serving sentences of life without the possibility of parole. The state Supreme Court is to consider together the cases of Andrew Michael Czarnecki, Adonte Marquis Bouie and John Antonio Poole as each involves men sentenced at ages 18, 19 or 20 to life without the chance of parole for murder, court records show. OAKLAND COUNTY, MI A 42-year-old Waterford Township man died in a collision when his motorcycle sideswiped one vehicle and he was then hit by another vehicle, Oakland County sheriffs deputies reported. Police said the mans name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. The crash was reported around 11 p.m. Saturday, July 6, on Sashabaw Road, near Fowler Drive, in Independence Township. Police said the Waterford Township man was riding a Honda CBR900 motorcycle south on Sashabaw Road when he failed to negotiate a curve and crossed the centerline. The motorcyclist then sideswiped a northbound Jeep Compass. After striking the jeep, the man and his motorcycle went to the ground and were hit by a northbound Ford Bronco. The motorcyclist, who was wearing a helmet, was pronounced dead at the scene. The drivers of the other vehicles were wearing seatbelts and not injured in the crash. Police said speed is believed to be a factor and the crash remains under investigation. GRAND RAPIDS, MI Two Grand Rapids-based credit unions, West Michigan Credit Union and Bloom Credit Union, are planning to merge. The board of directors of both credit unions have voted in favor of the merger, according to a news release. However, member of Bloom Credit Union must still vote on the merger, and regulatory approval is pending. Together, the combined credit union would have more than $450 million in assets, 125 employees, and would provide services to about 34,000 members. We are truly excited to join forces with West Michigan Credit Union, said Joe Heintskill, CEO of Bloom Credit Union. Its a partnership that we believe will benefit our members, employees, and the communities we serve. Both credit unions will continue to serve members as they are now, keeping their individual names, according to a release. Bloom Credit Union would have a very slight name change, with its formal name becoming: Bloom Credit Union, a division of West Michigan Credit Union. In a highly competitive financial services industry, combining our strengths would allow us to continue to enhance our products, service, and digital banking offerings, said William Keim, the current CEO of West Michigan Credit Union. If the merger is finalized, Keim would be president of the combined organization. Once combined, the new credit union would have 11 branches in West Michigan. Bloom Credit Union has branches in Wyoming, Georgetown Township and Coopersville, as well as two branches in Grand Rapids. West Michigan Credit Union has branches in Grand Rapids, Big Rapids, Reed City, Cadillac and Manistee. More on MLive: First Lady Jill Biden talks free meals for kids, military service in West Michigan visit Leader of Hispanic Center of Western Michigan stepping down Grand Rapids Taco & Tequila Fest returning with over 100 spirits Whats happening on East Beltline? Popular pizzerias new location will have bocce ball LUDINGTON, MI The S.S. Badger has canceled operations scheduled for Sunday due to ongoing mechanical repairs. The ferry was expected to arrive in Ludington on Saturday night. However, after departing Manitowoc, Wisconsin, a mechanical issue arose, the ferry service said in a Facebook post. The issue was identified and addressed allowing the ship to safely continue its cross-lake operation. Due to the late arrival, the evening departure to Manitowoc was canceled. The ongoing issues carried into Sunday morning, forcing officials to cancel the 8:45 p.m. crossing Sunday night from Ludington to Manitowoc was also canceled. Lake Michigan Carferry apologizes for the unexpected delays and inconvenience to its passengers, the Facebook post reads. Those affected or have questions are asked to call reservationists at 800-841-4243 to make alternate travel arrangements. Want more Muskegon-area news? Bookmark the local Muskegon news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Muskegon daily newsletter. News / National by Staff reporter Britain's new Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Saturday he would scrap a controversial plan to fly thousands of asylum seekers from Britain to Rwanda in his first major policy announcement since winning a landslide election victory.The previous Conservative government first announced the plan in 2022 to send migrants who arrived in Britain without permission to the East African nation, saying it would put an end to asylum seekers arriving on small boats.But no one was sent to Rwanda under the plan because of years of legal challenges.At his first press conference since becoming prime minister, Starmer said that the Rwanda policy would be scrapped because only about 1% of asylum seekers would have been removed and it would have failed to act as a deterrent."The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started. It's never been a deterrent," Starmer said. "I'm not prepared to continue with gimmicks that don't act as a deterrent."Starmer won one of the largest parliamentary majorities in modern British history on Friday, making him the most powerful British leader since former Prime Minister Tony Blair, but he faces a number of challenges, including improving struggling public services and reviving a weak economy.At the press conference in Downing Street, Starmer answered about a dozen questions and was repeatedly asked about how and when he would start delivering on his promises to fix the nation's problems, but he gave few specifics about what he planned.Asked if he was willing to take tough decisions and raise taxes if necessary, Starmer said his government would identify problems and act in areas such as tackling an overstretched prisons system and reducing the long waiting times to use the state-run health service."We're going to have to take the tough decisions and take them early, and we will. 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."Starmer said he would set up and chair different "mission delivery boards" to focus on so-called missions or priority areas such as the health service and economic growth.The question of how to stop the asylum seekers crossing from France was a major theme of the six-week election campaign.While supporters say it would smash the model of people traffickers, critics have argued the Rwanda policy was immoral and would never work.Last November, the UK Supreme Court declared the policy unlawful, saying Rwanda could not be considered a safe third country, prompting ministers to sign a new treaty with the East African country and to pass new legislation to override this.The legality of that move was being challenged by charities and unions in the courts.The British government has already given the Rwandan government hundreds of millions of pounds to set up accommodation and hire extra officials to process the asylum seekers, money it cannot recover.Starmer has said his government would create a Border Security Command that would bring together staff from the police, the domestic intelligence agency and prosecutors to work with international agencies to stop people smuggling.Sonya Sceats, CEO of Freedom from Torture, one of the many organisations and charities which have campaigned to stop the Rwanda plan, welcomed Starmer's announcement on Saturday."We applaud Keir Starmer for moving immediately to close the door on this shameful scheme that played politics with the lives of people fleeting torture and persecution," she said. News / National by Staff reporter Back in 2020 a Bulawayo-based lawyer Mr Nqobani Sithole is suing the Registrar-General over errors and misspellings of IsiNdebele words on the Zimbabwe passport but we have not heard about the ruling of the case.Mr Sithole, filed the application at the Bulawayo High Court in his personal capacity, said a number of spelling errors on the passport, caught his attention and he attributed the mistakes to the RG's Office.In papers before the court, the Registrar-General was cited as a respondent.Mr Sithole wanted an order declaring the incorrect use of IsiNdebele language inconsistent with an equitable treatment of IsiNdebele language in terms of section 6 (3) of the Constitution.He wanted an order directing the Registrar-General to correct some of the words and phrases used in translating English into IsiNdebele language in the travel documents.Some of the phrases that he was challenging include: "Ukuthathelwa labo ababe belayo", which he wanted substituted with "ukuthathelwa lowo ozabe elayo."Mr Sithole said the words "okunga fanelanga" must be replaced with a single word "okungafanelanga" with "we pasipoti" being substituted with "wephasipoti." He argued that the word "ivhiza" was not proper and should be replaced with "iviza" and "ukuphatwa" with "ukuphathwa."Other words that Mr Sithole wanted corrected are "emphahleni" which he said should read "empahleni", "kwaloko" should be substituted with "kwalokho."He said "isidhindo" should be substituted with "isidindo" and "epejini" with "ephejini."Mr Sithole said in the event that the Registrar-General challenges the application, he should pay the legal costs.In his founding affidavit, Mr Sithole said the basis of the application was to invoke the High Court's jurisdiction as set out in section 17 (1) (c) of the Constitution."I am a Zimbabwean citizen and entitled to a number of rights and freedoms including the freedom of movement and residence as set out in section 66 (1) (c) of the Constitution, which encompasses the right to have a passport," he said."The same Constitution in section 6 (3) (a) guarantees every person's right to the use of a language of one's choice."I am a native speaker of IsiNdebele language, which does not only define my culture, but millions of others in Zimbabwe."Mr Sithole expressed concern over the incorrect spellings of IsiNdebele words and phrases by State institutions and agencies, saying it reflects lack of respect for the language."I am very worried that a trend has developed in Zimbabwe about a seemingly determined effort to decimate, mutilate and generally treat with disdain my language IsiNdebele by the Registrar-General. Recently, police did the same when social media was awash with pictures of a sign post at Magwegwe Police Station showing Magwegwe written as Magwegewe," he said.Police later issued an apology to members of the public after messages started circulating on social media showing Magwegwe written as Magwegewe.Mr Sithole said the glaring errors on his passport undermine his right to have his language protected in terms of section 6 (3) (a) of the Constitution."The single word 'kayikhululi' has been wrongly split to appear as if there are two separate words kayi khululi. On pages 46, 47 and 48, in paragraph two after the header of page, the IsiNdebele word 'akuvunyelwa' has been wrongly written 'akuvhunyelwa," he said."On pages 46, 47 and 48, in paragraph two in line two (after the header to the page, the IsiNdebele word 'kwalokho' has been wrongly written as 'kwaloko." News / National by Staff reporter The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) has been reported to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for obstructing justice by allegedly protecting convicts Francesco Marconati and his son Allesandro. The Marconatis were convicted earlier this year for threatening their former business partner, Li Song, and were sentenced to 105 hours of community service each. However, Allesandro did not perform any of his community service, and Francesco did not complete his assigned hours.Li Song accused Willem Adamu, a ZACC investigation officer, of accepting bribes to allow the Marconatis to disregard their sentences. In a letter to the Chief Director of the CID, Song claimed she overheard their lawyer assuring the Marconatis that ZACC would prevent their arrest. She also highlighted that the magistrates who issued the arrest warrants were being threatened, indicating a blatant disregard for the law.Song's letter emphasized that Francesco had not fulfilled his community service obligations and that ZACC's actions constituted a severe breach of justice. Adamu allegedly intimidated and harassed judicial officers, including magistrates and court clerks, regarding the warrants and ongoing judicial proceedings. This interference included recording statements from judicial officers and threatening them with arrest if they did not comply with his demands.Furthermore, Adamu is accused of interrogating the public prosecutor and police investigation officers involved in the case, summoning them to ZACC's Harare office at his convenience. His actions have created an atmosphere of fear among the judicial management team, with reports of continuous harassment of officers handling cases involving Francesco Marconati. This has raised concerns about the misuse of ZACC's arresting powers to challenge and undermine judicial decisions.Song emphasized that ZACC should not abuse its authority to interfere with judicial proceedings and that any party aggrieved by a court decision should seek redress through proper legal channels, such as appeals. She called for an end to the intimidation and harassment of judicial officers and for ZACC to uphold the principles of justice and the rule of law. News / National by Staff Reporte An area under Chief Chikwaka in Murehwa is in turmoil as Headman Edmore Mungoni continues to terrorize villagers by seizing ancestral lands in Ward 10.The residents of Udebwe and Dzvete villages have been living in constant fear due to Mungoni's heavy-handed tactics and authoritarian rule.Villagers claim that despite the presence of appointed village heads, Mungoni seeks to consolidate his power, wanting to be both village head and headman, overriding everyone else.He sees himself as the ultimate authority in the villages under his jurisdiction, disregarding the traditional leadership structure.A visit to the area by this publication revealed a community that is living in fear as most villagers interviewed did not want to be interviewed on grounds that they may be victimized."Anyone who dares to speak against him is seen as an enemy. He uses his influence to report us to the police, leading to false charges and arrests. This has created an atmosphere of fear and oppression," said one resident who wished to remain anonymous.Last year, Mungoni's actions led to the arrest of numerous villagers, including elderly men and women, on trumped-up charges.Many spent nights in police custody, and while some were eventually released, others were fined by the court for allegedly undermining his authority.The most recent controversy centers around land in Udebwe village, where Mungoni has constructed a so-called 'culture centre' on land that belongs to a local family.This move has sparked outrage among the villagers, who are now appealing to the government for intervention."We can't let this continue. This land has been in our family for generations. Mungoni's actions are not only illegal but also disrespectful to our heritage and traditions," said a local villager.The villagers have called on Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe to take action against Mungoni."We need the government to step in and address this situation. Mungoni's actions are tearing our community apart," said another resident.As villagers in Chikwaka continue to fight for their ancestral lands and their rights, they hope that the authorities will heed their calls and put an end to Headman Mungoni's reign of terror.Effort to have the matter brought before Chief Chikwaka who is also identified as Bungu have hit a brick wall as villagers fear for their lives. 'Democracy is not in good health,' says Pope Francis 'Democracy is not in good health,' says Pope Francis Pope Francis said global democracy was not in good health as he encouraged Catholics to work for peace in Ukraine, Palestine and other conflict zones. His comments came during a visit to the northern Italian city of Trieste on Sunday, which marked the 50th Social Week of Italian Catholics. This year, he addressed the theme of democracy in crisis. As part of the trip, he went to the Generali Convention Centre, where the leader of the Catholic Church addressed the state of global democracy and its functionality. Lets be honest, in todays world democracy is not in good health, Francis said. I am concerned about the small number of people who voted, he continued, stressing the importance of creating conditions that allow everyone to express themselves and participate in the democratic process. Indifference is a cancer to democracy, a non-participation. The pope addressed 8,500 people gathered in the Piazza dellUnita dItalia, urging them to renew their commitment to pray and work for peace in Ukraine, Palestine, Sudan, Myanmar and wherever there is war. Samir Jain is a Jaipur-based astrologer who has over 28 years of experience in the field of Astrology, Numerology, Palmistry and Vastu Shastra. He is also an expert in Jain Temple Vastu and Jain Jyotish. For more details, visit planetsastro.com, call/WhatsApp +91 8696930617 or email jainksamir@gmail.com. Follow us on: Papers of 17 out of 19 recruitment exams leaked in Rajasthan during Cong rule, claims CM Sharma Mukesh Khanna slams people who troll Sonakshi Sinha-Zaheer Iqbal over interfaith marraige, says, "Many did so in our time and are happy" Follow us on: Sonakshi Sinha shares an emotional post about missing parents, says "missing them a lil extra today" You are already a Moneycontrol Pro user. OK OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All Analyst Call Tracker: Caution continues for IT stocks despite recent upgrades OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All NexGen Energia plans to invest Rs 15,000 cr over 10 yrs to open 5,000 green diesel, CBG pumps OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All PC Jeweller receives PNB's approval for One Time Settlement of outstanding dues Follow us on: Modi-Putin summit likely to focus on new payment mechanisms amid rising trade: Report Invite your friends and family to sign up for MC Tech 3, our daily newsletter that breaks down the biggest tech and startup stories of the day OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All Armstrong murder: Mayawati says real culprits not arrested, demands CBI probe into matter OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All Hathras stampede: Kin of victim from Ghaziabad get Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia Follow us on: Rahul Gandhi congratulates Starmer, says his victory testament to power of politics that puts people first OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All UP stampede: Judicial probe panel meets with local people, witnesses in Hathras Swati Das is an independent journalist covering Tamil Nadu politics, and is based in Chennai. 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He graduated from Saipan Southern High School, holds a degree from Northern Marianas College, and a BA in English from the University of Guam. He once worked for KUAM, UNO Magazine, and the Guam Daily Post. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Conor here: The group behind the effort to push Biden out, Pass the Torch, Joe, is only described on its website as a network of Democratic activists, organizers, and voters who came together around the belief that nothing matters as much as making sure Democrats have a ticket that can beat Donald Trump. I wonder how the Democrats will try to preserve this way of doing business for future elections. By Jake Johnson, a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams. U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday delivered a defiant response to those within the Democratic Party urging him to drop out of the 2024 race, characterizing his abysmal debate performance against Donald Trump as a bad episode rather than validation of longstanding concerns about his age and cognitive health. At a rally in Wisconsin and in a later sit-down interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, Biden acknowledged his poor debate showing but said emphatically that hes staying in the race, a message that came as Democratic activists and organizers launched a campaign imploring the president to step aside in the interest of ensuring Trumps defeat in November. I dont think anybodys more qualified to be president or win this race than me, Biden declared Friday, downplaying recent polling data showing him faring worse against Trump than potential Democratic alternatives, including Vice President Kamala Harris. Asked how he would feel if he stayed in the race and Trumpa would-be authoritarian whos plotting a devastating attack on basic freedoms and the planetwon another four years in the White House, Biden suggested he would be at peace as long as I gave it my all. Thats what this is all about, the president said. Hours before the ABC News interview, a network of Democratic organizers, activists, and voters teamed up to launch the Pass the Torch campaign in a coordinated attempt to push Biden to make good on his 2020 pledge to be a transition president. President Joe Biden has achieved great things. His administration led us out of the pandemic and has been rebuilding our economy, standing up to corporate greed, taking urgent climate action, and so much moredomestically, he is arguably the most accomplished progressive Democratic president in generations, the campaigns website states. All of thatand much, much morewill be lost if Donald Trump takes back the presidency, the website continues. Democrats need the strongest possible ticket to maximize our chances of winning in November. It has become very clear, based on both long-term polling and the recent debate, that Democrats current ticket is not the strongest one we can put forward. The campaign includes a petition urging Democratic members of Congress and delegates to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) to join calls for the president to step aside. Today Democrats across the country are launching a grassroots campaign to call on Biden to #PassTheTorch, step aside as the nominee and support the candidate best able to beat Trump. Follow the campaign at @PassTheTorch24 and sign our petition at https://t.co/2dftntqMR3 Aaron Regunberg (@AaronRegunberg) July 5, 2024 Thus far, five sitting Democratic lawmakersReps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), and Angie Craig (D-Minn.)have urged Biden to drop out of the race, but more are expected to do so in the coming days as the partys August convention approaches. The Washington Postreported Friday that Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is attempting to assemble a group of Democratic senators to ask President Biden to exit the presidential race. Earlier in the week, Reutersreported that there are 25 Democratic members of the House of Representatives preparing to call for Biden to step aside if he seems shaky in coming days. Major Democratic donors, meanwhile, have undertaken a number of initiatives to pressure Biden to drop out of the race, according toThe New York Times. A group of them is working to raise as much as $100 million for a sort of escrow fund, called the Next Generation PAC, that would be used to support a replacement candidate, the Times reported. If Mr. Biden does not step aside, the money could be used to help down-ballot candidates, according to people close to the effort. But Biden still has the support of top congressional Democrats, with both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) backing the president in the wake of the debate. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the upper chambers leading progressive, has also declined to join calls for Biden to end his reelection bid. Hes not a great debater, hes not necessarily a great speaker, Sanders told Semafor. People are just gonna have to say: Okay, you know what? Yeah, hes old. Yeah, hes not as articulate as he should be. But youre voting for somebody whose policies will impact your life. Biden is the candidate, the senator added. I suspect he will be the candidate. Ill do my best to get him elected. House progressives, too, have thus far not backed the push for Biden to drop out and pave the way for an alternative candidate. There has been not a peep from the Squad or the other members of Congress known for barnstorming progressive activism, Slates Alexander Sammon noted Saturday. The reason is that the question of whether Biden should run again is an internecine fight within the centrist wing of the party. Joe Biden has, for his lengthy, decadeslong career, always been the man in the middle, if not slightly to the right, of the Democratic continuum. Now many of the same centrists who previously pushed for Biden are freaking out about his ability to win the election, Sammon wrote. Theres no real upside for Squad members to put themselves in the line of fire during an already bitter public deliberation. The Timesreported late Friday that Bidens interview with Stephanopoulos appears to have done little to change the minds of people on either side of the question. A handful of current and former Democratic officials who had called on Mr. Biden to end his reelection campaign said the interview had done little, or even nothing, to address their concerns, the Times observed. Reliable supporters of the presidents reelection campaign similarly fanned out to television networks, declaring once more that they were sticking with Mr. Biden. Other Democrats who had raised concerns about the presidents performance, but had not gone as far as to call for Mr. Biden to drop out, said the interview did not significantly change their views of his candidacy, the newspaper continued. Doggett, who was the first congressional Democrat to urge Biden to step aside, toldCNN following Bidens Friday interview that the need for him to step aside is more urgent tonight than when I first called for it on Tuesday. The Texas Democrat warned that every day he delays dropping out makes it more difficult for a new person to come on board who can defeat Donald Trump. Biden, Doggett added, does not want his legacy to be that hes the one who turned our country over to a tyrant. Butterflies Can Make Epic Atlantic Ocean Voyages, Shocking Scientists Science Alert Scientists re-emerge after a year in Mars simulation project Deutsche Welle Climate/Environment Pandemics 6) These findings suggest that widely available antihistamine drugs could be a promising treatment option for COVID-19, as they can block a key entry point for the virus. Thanks for reading pic.twitter.com/4ZPOn7pVKi Emmanuel (@ejustin46) July 6, 2024 New data from the official Spanish health survey. The share of the population that has a chronic illness now stands 9.8 standard deviations above its prepandemic average. Hospitalizations, 5.9 standard deviations above its average. All age groups doing badly. pic.twitter.com/nGsWe9q6lh SamuelHurtadoBE (@SamuelHurtadoBE) July 5, 2024 Africa China? Chinese government and overcapacity: historical patterns, current context, and response strategies The East is Read My dads friend is a senior executive at a large pharmaceutical company in China. During dinner yesterday, he said most of Chinas economic issues can be solved by more strict implementation of labor laws, AND raising employee benefits to blue collar workers. Heres why: 1/9 pic.twitter.com/4ZozX6IVHZ Zhao DaShuai (@zhao_dashuai) July 6, 2024 Syraqistan Absolutely damning US Defense Intelligence Agency report spells out in forensic detail the Empires crushing defeat by AnsarAllah. Global trade massively disrupted, dozens of major Western corporations harmed, at least 65 countries impacted. Beautiful.https://t.co/nJoGuyRBCy pic.twitter.com/A1jO3wZWXU Kit Klarenberg (@KitKlarenberg) July 6, 2024 EU naval mission says it destroyed two drones in Gulf of Aden Al Arabiya European Disunion New Not-So-Cold War The Armed Forces of Ukraine are killing Russian soldiers who have been captured or have surrendered The New York Times on Ukraines violation of the Geneva Convention. Caspar Grosse, a German medic in a Ukrainian unit, said he saw a Russian soldier asking for medical pic.twitter.com/M3OBlmHcGc DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) July 6, 2024 The Caucasus Old Blighty South of the Border Colombia warns about danger for migrants after Panama closes Darien routes Anadolu Agency A senator from Javier Mileis party proposes legalising the sale of children by families whose resources are overstretched https://t.co/M0SusiLlR7 David Broder (@broderly) July 6, 2024 Biden Trump Trump separates himself from Project 2025 blueprint crafted by the Heritage Foundation Washington Times RFK Jr. Democrats en deshabille Democrats fear years of work in rural America erased by debate Politico. Theyre really going to try to blame all their failures on the guy they supported until a week ago. The Hole at the Heart of the Democratic Party How Things Work If Biden withdraws, how about a ticket of Kamala Harris and Liz Cheney to show this election is about our democracy? Country over party. Andrew Weissmann (weissmann11 on Threads) (@AWeissmann_) July 5, 2024 Imperial Collapse Watch How Its Airports Underscore Americas Decline Hungarian Conservative Antitrust AI The Bezzle Healthcare? Bad Moods Parapraxis. The half-life of the serotonin hypothesis. Supply Chain Spot rate surge to continue past Golden Week, with surcharges causing more pain The Loadstar Class Warfare Antidote du jour (via): See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here. I was recently looking for a bad book to read preferably in the disconnected-from-reality US foreign policy section while waiting for Anne Applebaums forthcoming Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World. During my perusing I came across the fact that Andrea Kendall-Taylor, a former CIA analyst, anti-Putin fanatic and supporting actor in the first impeachment of President Trump, co-authors collegiate textbooks, including the 2020 Democracies and Authoritarian Regimes. The text is described as a broad, accessible overview of the key institutions and political dynamics in democracies and dictatorships, enabling students to assess the benefits and risks associated with democracy, and the growing challenges to it. Sold. Kendall-Taylors writing team often consists of Erica Frantz, an associate professor of political science at Michigan State University, and Joseph Wright, professor of political science at Penn State. Their disclosure statements on a recent article reveal that Frantz receives funding from USAID, the Pierre Omidyar-funded Luminate Foundation, and the Charles Koch Foundation. Wright receives funding from the Luminate Foundation, Charles Koch Foundation, and the Department of Defenses Minerva Research Initiative. Doubly sold. Kendall-Taylor also co-authored the 2015 textbook Development and the State in the 21st Century: Tackling the Challenges facing the Developing World and the forthcoming book, The Origins of Elected Strongmen: How Personalist Parties Destroy Democracy from Within. Spooks already move into roles (that we know about) as news pundits, politicians, and think tank staff. Maybe some readers from academia can comment on how common it is that they become professors and write textbooks in addition to their memoirs: A Democracy Expert Who Despises Democracy Andrea Kendall-Taylor is currently a senior fellow and director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a bipartisan (think Hillary Clinton and John Bolton) neocon-liberal think tank from which Vice President Kamala Harris drew heavily from to fill the ranks of her foreign policy advisors. Heres more of Kendall-Taylors bio: Prior to joining CNAS, Kendall-Taylor served for eight years as a senior intelligence officer. From 2015 to 2018, she was deputy national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council (NIC) in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). In this role, Kendall-Taylor led the U.S. intelligence communitys (IC) strategic analysis on Russia, represented the IC in interagency policy meetings, provided analysis to the National Security Council, and briefed the DNI and other senior staff for White House and international meetings. Prior to joining the NIC, Kendall-Taylor was a senior analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency where she worked on Russia and Eurasia, the political dynamics of autocracies, and democratic decline. Outside CNAS, Kendall-Taylor has been a CNN national security analyst. She is also a Distinguished Practitioner in Grand Strategy at Yale Universitys Jackson School of Global Affairs and an adjunct professor at Georgetown Universitys School of Foreign Service. Kendall-Taylor is one of many mainstream Russian experts in the US who describe Putin as a corrupt dictator presiding over a failed country. Shes a prototypical Blob creature working to organize the world the way they see fit, which typically ends up killing a lot of people but benefits American capital. Kendall-Taylor also embodies the existential crisis facing many Blob creatures after the election of Trump, which has only been compounded by their inability to inflict defeat on Putin and Russia. In response, she has taken refuge in the citadel of quack scholarship on democracy and personalist parties. Unsurprisingly, fear of the people pervades much of the work that Kendall-Taylor co-writes. A recent piece on why Trump is a danger to democracy includes all the usual history-started-in-2016 complaints that lack any self-reflection on the part of people like Kendall-Taylor. When you completely ignore all the elite decisions in recent decades that have been a disaster for a majority of the population, its easier to make her argument that those very same elite should continue to have a monopoly on decisions, and that is the primary complaint that Trump has disrupted that to a small degree: Traditional parties, including the pre-Trump Republican Party, offer voters a bundle of policy positions hashed out among multiple elite factions of the party. The implication is obviously that voters should be happy with whatever crumbs are thrown their way after elites get done hashing things out. It is unsurprising that individuals like Kendall-Taylor would feel this way about the people; after all if the people were given more say and real choices, they might decide that individuals like Kendall-Taylor should be stripped of all their titles and influence. Its no surprise then that she was colleague and mentor to the CIA whistleblower that helped lead to the first impeachment of Trump, and shes engaged in efforts to define dangers to democracy with statements like this: We have found that what matters for democracy is not so much the ambitions of power-hungry leaders, but rather whether those in their support group will tame themLong-standing and wealthy democracies, like the U.S., are remarkably resilient to the challenges that confront them. But ruling party personalism helps elected leaders undercut these protective guardrails. Because the Republican Party has taken a personalist turn under Trumps spell, democracy in the U.S. would suffer should Trump win a second term. Taken with the above statement, it is clear that democracy experts like Kendall-Taylor and her co-authors believe that voters are the real danger, and that in a proper democracy decision-making power is reserved for the elite factions and leaders support group. Kendall-Taylor also compares Trump to various heads of state, such as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Again, this is unsurprising, as members of the US privileged class increasingly direct their dangerous foreign policy practices inwards in order to make sure their will is not challenged. Meanwhile, they are doubling down abroad. Their failure to bring about the economic collapse of Russia or the downfall of Putin has only added to their sense of vulnerability. Kendall-Taylor is rabidly anti-Putin. Here she is in The National Interest arguing that the US should send confiscated Iranian weapons to Ukraine, and here she is making the case for endless support for Kiev: While the scholarly link Kendall-Taylor pushes between systems of governance under Trump, Putin, Chavez, Erdogan, etc, is questionable at best, the threats they pose for Kendall-Taylor and her benefactors are more clear. Anyone who poses a hint of a threat to a clique of US oligarchs and their courtesans their rule and profits is therefore an enemy of democracy or their definition of it. Kendall-Taylors real niche is personalist parties and how they supposedly destroy democracies from within. Thats how she links Trump to Putin with statements like this: The U.S. election [of Trump] has led political observers to question whether the United States is also ripe for personalization of its political system. And so business, tech firms, civil society institutions, the media, politicians, and government must work in concert to protect against the personalization threat to their democracy at home or abroad. Kendall-Taylor is but one cog in this machine, but by presenting this worldview as impartial scholarly work in textbook form has the ability to have outsized influence. So Hows the Book? Fortunately, I could only access the first 35 pages (of 356) of Democracies and Authoritarian Regimes in Google Reader, and I think that was probably enough to see that it was going to be a rehash of the greatest hits from all the anti-populist, Russophobic content that has been pumped out of US think tanks year in recent years. Right off the bat, the book goes after Putin and Xi as the main enemies of democracy. Notably, the text already needs an update as Poland and the Philippines are lumped into the anti-democratic group, but they have since become democratic again after switching to rulers friendly to the US elite even if the practices under the new government remain largely the same. Kendall-Taylor and her co-authors warn of the dangers posed by their definition of populism: Kendall-Taylor and company (or better yet, students) really should read Thomas Franks The People, No. If they did, they would learn that their definition of populism is ahistorical; populists did not exclude minority groups. It was a movement and party based on class solidarity and viewed divisions based on race as traps. The one group the populists did want to take power away from was the plutocrats, which is of course what Kendall-Taylor and her ilk seek to prevent from happening by redefining such an inspiring movement as racist, backwards, and antithetical to democracy. Heres the book on the threat from within (notice the assumption that all those cherished values were safe pre-Brexit and pre-Trump and the lack of agency for the factors leading to the belief that the political establishment no longer works): And of course, on the importance of norms: I was unable to track down how widely the book is used in collegiate courses, and maybe its pretty standard material these days. I suppose it should not come as much of a surprise that individuals like Kendall-Taylor are helping to write textbooks now. Spooks and war criminals already serve as professors, frequent American news programs where they are presented as impartial experts on a range of topics, and help steer our politics. So why wouldnt they further help mold young minds in the classroom by authoring textbooks as well? Are CIA-authored textbooks the logical conclusion to the neoliberal and national security transformation of campuses, as described here by Forrest Hylton, an ethnohistorian of Latin America and the Caribbean who has taught at Harvard and Northwestern: In the mid-1970s, Republicans identified public universities as a crucial source of anti-authoritarian sentiment and demanded a complete institutional overhaul. The subsequent process of privatization, which has made tuition prohibitive for most prospective in-state students, has been catastrophic for democratic principles and practices. With massive, untaxed endowments running into the tens of billions, universities have slowly morphed into public-private police-carceral states, catering to customers and answering to benefactors and politicians, not students or faculty. It was the aftermath of 9/11, however, that brought the neoliberal university deeper into the embrace of the national security state. In the run-up to the second invasion of Iraq, campuses saw a new wave of political organizing spanning students and faculty, including the formation of groups like Historians Against the War (which remains activetoday). The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign was founded in 2005 and took wing at the end of Bushs second term, attracting the ire of university administrations. At the same time, radical academics faced greater scrutiny and often direct surveillance. Alan Dershowitz, having been exposed as a plagiarist by Norman Finkelstein, used his connections to get Finkelsteins tenure at DePaul denied. Finkelstein never found academic work again. Aijaz Ahmed, a leading critic of US empire, was fired from York University in Toronto for his writings on Palestine. Perhaps the most emblematic case was that of Sami Al-Arian, a professor of computer science at the University of South Florida who worked in the Clinton White House, and who came under federal surveillance because of his advocacy. In 2003 he was falsely accused of providing material support to Islamic Jihad terrorists, fired from his job, held in solitary confinement for three years and hounded through the courts. Federal prosecutors failed to convict him on a single count. The only evidence they presented was Al-Arians public statements and writings on Palestinian liberation. In 2014 the government dropped all charges, and he was deported to Turkey the following year. After the 2008 financial crash, austerity became the order of the day for everyone except bankers, big tech and investors, and public universities were starved of funding. Anti-imperial scholarship and activism generally receded, even as Obama ramped up drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan while opening new fronts in Libya, Syria, Yemen and Somalia. His presidency was crucial in consolidating the relationship between the higher education sector and the Democratic establishment. In 2012, his leading campaign donors were faculty, staff, students, alumni and administrators at UC Berkeley, with Harvard and Stanford not far behind. The Twitter files helped bring that point home with universities playing a major role in the anti-disinformation sphere. As Matt Taibbi writes: The Twitter Files gave us names like Renee DiResta of Stanford, Kate Starbird of the University of Washington, Darren Linvill of Clemson, Joan Donovan* at Harvard, Caroline Orr of the University of Maryland, and perhaps two dozen other key figures, many of whom move freely from academia to officialdom to the private sector and back. Someone who was senior official at a federal agency like CISA ten minutes ago might now be Director of Information Integrity at Microsoft or a Senior Fellow at the Aspen Institute. Reading these emails, the lines between enforcement agencies, publicly funded university research outlets, and the internal trust and safety departments of private platforms seem blurred beyond recognition. Its a blob. A blob coming to a textbook near you, apparently. It seems like a lot of effort to go through to disseminate such propaganda when the state department is just going to label as they wish any government opposing US interests. I suppose this is a more subtle, lasting con that can produce true believers. Its a sobering reminder that even once the Blinkens and Nulands of the world recede from the scene, there will be plenty more clueless psychopaths to take their place. COVID-19 would have eventually declined on its own but opportunistic governments and vaccine makers convinced the public otherwise During the pandemic, the world was convinced it needed masks, vaccines, lockdowns and other measures to protect humanity, but like most viruses, COVID-19 was always destined to decline on its own as it ran out of vulnerable people to infect. Its a simple but powerful concept that was explained in detail by Dr. John Snow in the 1850s. The British surgeon is considered a founder of epidemiology, and his investigations into a London outbreak of cholera are considered a significant turning point in the medical fields understanding of how contagious diseases work. He found that when a virus runs out of susceptible hosts, its circulation will decline sharply in a question of weeks or even days. In fact, there are a couple of reasons the COVID-19 situation was going to improve on its own. While there will always be residual areas of susceptibility, the normal trend is for a virus's spread to decline sharply after an initially strong presence. Although there are exceptions, viruses typically become less harmful as they adapt to a new host. Many viruses find it much easier to continue to replicate in their host than to find new hosts. From their perspective, it doesnt really matter if they cause you to actually be infected with the disease; they just want you to carry it and transmit the virus, and to do that, you need to be alive. This is one reason viruses tend to weaken over time. It is especially true of COVID-19, which relies on people interacting to be passed from person to person as it is transmitted through respiratory droplets. Then theres the fact that as more people overcome the virus, they build immunity to it, and it runs out of people to infect. 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. In other words, outbreaks can and do naturally run their course a fact that governments around the world conveniently ignored in their quest to control people with restrictive measures in the name of flattening the curve. In fact, a lot of biological facts were ignored by those who sought to profit and control people during the pandemic. Pandemic decisions were driven by politics and profits, not medicine Many of the decisions made during the height of the pandemic were driven by politics, not medicine, and recently exposed documents from the German equivalent of the CDC show how health authorities there intentionally lied to the public so the government would not cut off their funding. The German health authority RKI reluctantly released documents in response to a court order that show what happened there. Among the shocking revelations in the 2,515-page tranche of documents was that the experts knew about the deadly thrombosis side effect of the AstraZeneca jab as early as January 2021 but failed to inform the public. They similarly forgot to tell people they found no evidence the shots reduced the transmission of the disease, instead deciding to play on peoples emotions and insist that getting the shot would protect elderly loved ones and help the population achieve herd immunity even though its impossible to do so when vaccines dont reduce transmission. The German government also closed schools despite experts recommending against it and implemented mask mandates despite knowing they were ineffective outside hospitals. Sound familiar? Americans were subject to similar restrictions, and were only scratching the surface on how much authorities knew about the inefficacy of these measures and when they knew it. Were also learning so much more about how poorly researched the COVID-19 jabs were that they essentially forced on much of the population, cutting corners and giving drug makers immunity from lawsuits related to side effects as they raked in billions of dollars in profits. None of this control would have been possible if they had been honest with people about how viruses work, and Big Pharma would have never made record-breaking profits if the companies and governments had been transparent with people about how mRNA vaccines do not stop the spread of the virus and cause serious side effects. Sources for this article include: Expose-News.com KirschSubStack.com Netflix co-founder, Disney family heiress, other Democratic megadonors pausing donations until Biden steps aside More and more Democratic megadonors are threatening to withhold donations to the party until President Joe Biden steps away from the presidential election to allow the Democrats to find someone who they believe could defeat former President Donald Trump. One of those notable megadonors is Reed Hastings, the billionaire co-founder of streaming giant Netflix. In a recent interview, Hastings said Biden needs to "step aside" for the Democrats to choose a more "vigorous" candidate who can "beat Trump" and supposedly keep the United States "safe and prosperous." (Related: More and more voters believe Biden should not be running for a second term after his catastrophic debate performance.) Hastings is one of the biggest donors to the Democratic Party in recent years. Along with his wife, Patty Quillin, he has provided more than $20 million to the party over the last few years, including over $1.5 million to support Biden's presidential run in 2020 and over $100,000 last summer to support his reelection bid. Most of the remaining donations went through super PACs to support Democrats in the Senate and the House of Representatives as well as to support California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The call from Hastings for Biden to step aside comes following the president's lackluster debate performance against Trump, which caused Democratic officials, donors, supporters and mainstream media outlets to go into a frenzy of panic, questioning whether the 81-year-old is still fit to serve another term. Hastings' call for Biden to drop out also comes as Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are reportedly in discussion with several notable elected Democrats, including Newsom, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is also reportedly part of the discussions, but what was spoken about in this secretive meeting is still unclear. 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. The call also comes as more and more Democrats are coming out of the woodwork to suggest publicly that Biden should withdraw, including Texas Reps. Lloyd Doggett and Raul Grijalva. Democratic megadonors threatening to withhold financial support until Biden drops out Hastings is not the only Democratic megadonor to express dissatisfaction with Biden's declining abilities and his disastrous debate performance. Abigail Disney, film producer, granddaughter to The Walt Disney Company co-founder Roy O. Disney and heiress to the massive Disney family fortune, has recently stated that she would stop contributing to the party until Biden withdraws from the race. "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," said Disney in a statement to CNBC. "If Biden does not step down, the Democrats will lose. Of that, I am absolutely certain. The consequences for the loss will be genuinely dire." Disney has been a longtime supporter of Democratic candidates. In April she provided $50,000 to the Jane Fonda Climate PAC, which funnels money to Democrats running for congressional seats. Disney also gave $150,000 to the Planned Parenthood Votes PAC, which has so far spent over $400,000 in this election cycle supporting Democrats, including a $26,000 contribution to Biden's campaign. Gideon Stein, president of the multimillion-dollar private foundation the Moriah Fund, has also decided to pause planned donations of over $3.5 million to nonprofits, super PACs and other political organizations aligned with Biden's presidential race. "Joe Biden has been a very effective president, but unless he steps aside my family and I are pausing on more than $3 million in planned donations with the exception of some down-ballot work," said Stein. "Virtually every major donor I've talked to believes that we need a new candidate in order to defeat Trump." Psychiatrist and Democratic megadonor Dr. Karla Jurvetson similarly hinted in a private donor call that she agrees with the sentiment of other party megadonors who have paused donations until Biden steps down. While not making a final decision on the matter, Jurvetson said she could end up making such a move. Jurvetson is one of the top 50 donors in the current race, having donated over $5 million to Democrats, including over $200,000 to the Biden Victory Fund. In 2020, Jurvetson provided over $30 million to Democrats. Watch this clip from The First TV discussing how time is running out for President Joe Biden to drop out and be replaced with a better candidate. This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Democrats in full freak-out while the rest of the world marvels at the U.S. presidential freak show. Maine Democratic Rep. Jared Golden questions Biden's winnability, says he's "OK" with Trump victory. Biden's campaign claims his TERRIBLE performance during debate with Trump was a result of "overpreparation." DNC considering early nomination for Biden after clown show debate performance. Biden will not withdraw from presidential race despite calls for a replacement candidate from the Democratic Party. Sources include: RT.com Breitbart.com CNBC.com Brighteon.com Christian educator in Ireland spent more than 400 days in prison over refusal to use transgender pronouns A Christian teacher in Ireland has been released after spending more than 400 days in prison for his noncompliance with a school order to use a female name and pronouns for a male student who was transitioning In May 2022, Enoch Burke, a history and German language teacher at the Church of Ireland-operated Wilson's Hospital School in Multyfarnham, County Westmeath, faced controversy for his noncompliance with the school principals order to use a preferred feminine name and pronouns for a student who was transitioning to female. This refusal set off a chain of events leading to his imprisonment. (Related: AP abandons facts, demands all media outlets play along with transgender pronoun insanity.) First, Burke was placed on paid administrative leave in August 2022 while the school board conducted a disciplinary process. However, he continued to come to the school despite being ordered to stay away, which led to his arrest for contempt of court on Sept. 5, 2022. As a result, Burke was sentenced to jail until he either pleaded his contempt of court or the court decided otherwise. After 108 days, the High Court in Dublin ordered Burke's release, with the judge arguing that Burke was using his imprisonment for his ends. In January 2023, the school dismissed Burke, but he continued to present himself at the school, incurring a daily fine of 700 euros ($756), which led to his re-imprisonment in September 2023 in Mountjoy Prison in Dublin. After spending more than 400 days in Mountjoy Prison, Justice Mark Sanfey of the High Court ordered Burke's release on June 28 due to the summer recess of Irish schools. Sanfey warned that Burke could return to jail if he violated the conditions of his release, which include a ban on returning to Wilson's Hospital School. 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. Burke and his fellow Christians defend their religious beliefs against transgender movement The case has become a contentious issue in Ireland as transgender ideology gains more prominence in society, especially with the ongoing tension between the country's highly religious society and the demands of government institutions to comply with transgenderism. Some argue that Burke's jail term results from his persistent refusal to accept his dismissal by the school and that he could be released if he agreed not to return to the school. However, others view Burke as a public champion opposing the increasing acceptance of transgender ideology in Ireland. "Enoch Burke has defeated the Irish woke Establishment. He has been released from Mountjoy Prison without having to purge his so-called 'contempt.' Enoch Burke has been unjustly imprisoned for over 400 days for refusing to call a boy a 'girl.' Enoch Burke is a Christian hero," Nick Donnelly, a vocations and formation director for the permanent diaconate, posted on X. "All Irishmen, but especially Irish Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, should have joined in opposition to his persecution. He kept the faith," one X user replied to Donnelly. A long list of Christian Irish continued to reply to Donnelly's post as a sign of their support for Burke. Follow Gender.news for more stories about transgenderism. Watch the video below about the new studies showing the serious risks of gender transition. This video is from the The HighWire with Del Bigtree channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Reaction to viral Australian ad demonstrates global pushback against transgender movement. Big Pharma makes huge profits from the transgender movement and their vaccines could be causing it. Texas Childrens Hospital forced to temporarily SHUT DOWN transgender program following whistleblower revelations. Transgender medical procedures for minors to be reviewed by Supreme Court. Nickelodeon features drag queen in latest LGBT Pride grooming video for kids. Sources include: LifeSiteNews.com X.com Israel calls for Gaza TRUCE after coming up short on munitions, motivation and troops Despite claiming strength and success publicly, Israel's army leaders are in a state of fear and trembling over their failed operation in the Gaza Strip coupled with what is now coming down the pike from Lebanon. According to reports, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are privately pushing for a comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza as the "best way" to recover the more than 100 hostages that still remain. A Gaza ceasefire will also help Israel to "reach a deal with Hezbollah" to prevent any further expansion of the war. Six current and former security officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to The New York Times revealed that Israel's top brass is scared of getting stuck in a "forever war" that can never be won because Israel's "army is short of spare parts, munitions, motivation, and even troops." "Under-equipped for further fighting after Israel's longest war in decades, the generals also think their forces need time to recuperate in case a land war breaks out against Hezbollah," reported the Times. "Fewer reservists are reporting for duty ... [and] officers are increasingly distrustful of their commanders," the report reads, further explaining that some of Israel's tanks in Gaza "are not loaded with the full capacity of the shells that they usually carry." (Related: Washington just flushed $230 million of your tax dollars down the drain on its "failed" Gaza humanitarian aid pier scheme.) Netanyahu can't keep his house in order Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly made it clear that his goal is to only leave Gaza once Hamas is destroyed. Netanyahu's top security officials, however, have a different plan in mind as some of them are now coming out publicly to call for an immediate end to the genocidal war. 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. "This business of destroying Hamas, making Hamas disappear it's simply throwing sand in the eyes of the public," said army spokesman Daniel Hagari on June 19. "Hamas is an idea; Hamas is a party. It's rooted in the hearts of the people anyone who thinks we can eliminate Hamas is wrong." Israeli National Security Council head Tzachi Hanegbi echoed this in stating that Hamas "as an idea" cannot be eradicated no matter how much Western taxpayer cash and weapons are thrown at it. "We need an alternative idea," Hanegbi further said. Former Israeli national security adviser Eyal Hulata further told the Times that the Israeli military "is in full support of a hostage deal and a ceasefire." "They understand that a pause in Gaza makes de-escalation more likely in Lebanon," Hulata further said. "And they have less munitions, less spare parts, less energy than they did before so they also think a pause in Gaza gives us more time to prepare in case a bigger war does break out with Hezbollah." The "least worst [sic] option for Israel," according to the same Times report, involves "keeping Hamas in power for now in exchange for getting the hostages back." Tel Aviv seems to be on board with the plan as well as it recently announced a "wind down" to the fighting in Gaza so Israeli military forces can be redeployed to the north to fight Hezbollah in Lebanon. Regardless of which direction it all takes, there will continue to be a noteworthy presence of Israeli troops in Gaza to maintain control over both the Netzarim and Philadelphi corridors. "The U.S. always supplies both sides of any war and has since at least the Civil War," one of our readers wrote on a story about the "failed" Gaza humanitarian aid pier project and how major wars have typically unfolded throughout history. What will happen next in the Middle East? Find out more at Prophecy.news. Sources for this article include: TheCradle.co NaturalNews.com Macron forms alliance with far-left parties to block conservative, anti-illegal migrant National Rally party from obtaining parliamentary majority French President Emmanuel Macron has allied with the French far-left in the country's ongoing snap legislative election to prevent Marine Le Pen's conservative National Rally from securing a majority in parliament. National Rally, which ran on a conservative anti-illegal immigration platform, secured 33.2 percent of the vote during the first round of voting. The party garnered more votes than Macron's centrist and liberal Ensemble coalition and the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition, which garnered 21.28 percent and 28.21 percent of first round votes, respectively. National Rally and its allies won 38 of 577 seats in the first round, and advanced to the second round in 485 of the remaining 501 seats under contention. In more than half of the districts, three candidates advanced to the run-off, with the possibility of the third-placed candidate withdrawing to help a mainstream party defeat the National Rally. The National Rally's success put it within reach of winning the 289 seats needed to form a majority in the National Assembly, which would position party president Jordan Bardella to become the Prime Minister and enable the party to pass legislation without opposition. (Related: Why the French chose the radical far right over Macrons establishment.) "I believe the National Rally can win the election Sunday [July 7] with an absolute majority," Bardella told news channel BFM TV. "I plan on putting together a government of national unity, based on this absolute majority, to carry out the recovery project that I presented to the country." 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. To counter this, Macron and Ensemble have set aside their differences with the far-left NFP and called for a broad electoral alliance to block Le Pen from winning a majority in the National Assembly. Jean-Luc Melenchon of the La France Insoumise party, the largest party within the NFP, urged NFP candidates who qualified for the second round of voting but placed third to withdraw from the race to improve the chances of other candidates of defeating National Rally candidates. Meanwhile, Macron has urged candidates in Ensemble to similarly pull out candidates who placed third to support those who "uphold republican values" which, while not a direct endorsement of the NFP, has been interpreted as a signal for Ensemble supporters to vote against National Rally candidates. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal of Macron's liberal centrist Renaissance party justified the decision to withdraw third place candidates as a "moral duty" to prevent the National Rally from gaining power. "The lesson of today is that the far right is at the gates of power," Attal said in the aftermath of the first round of voting. "Our objective is clear: To prevent the Rassemblement National [National Rally] from having an absolute majority in the second round, from dominating the Assemblee Nationale [National Assembly] and therefore from governing the country with the disastrous project it has in mind." French ministers criticize Macron for collaborating with the far-left This decision comes despite Macron's previous strong stance against collaborating with the "extremist" and "dangerous" far-left. Furthermore, the decision to appease the far-left rather than strategizing to garner more popular support has faced criticism from high level members of his cabinet. "He is so drunk on himself that he is in a bubble. In every moment, he sincerely believes, even today, that he does the best thing that can possibly be done and says the best thing that can possibly be said," one minister said. "It was a completely surreal scene. It was as if he hasn't understood that he's lost, hasn't understood that because of him his political movement is dead, hasn't understood that now he inspires only rage in those who once supported him, hasn't understood that his words now ring hollow, hasnt understood that he has lost all his political capital," another minister stated. But despite the electoral setbacks, Macron refused to acknowledge that the election results were a blow to his movement. Watch this segment from "Bannon's War Room" about the chaotic situation in France, with more than 900 arrested in connection with the riots. This video is from the GalacticStorm channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Macron dissolves French parliament after Le Pen THRASHES his party at National Rally for European elections. Conservative National Rally slaughters Macron in first round of French election. Wildly unpopular Macron threatens civil war in France if he loses upcoming snap legislative election. Macrons suggestion of NATO deploying troops to Ukraine receives little support. Macron leads the way to Western civilizations suicide. Sources include: Modernity.news Bloomberg.com Brighteon.com Mainstream media claims Biden is still sharp at 81, just forgetful The New York City-based media agency Associated Press (AP) is in the middle of controversy following an article it published titled " Biden at 81: Often sharp and focused but sometimes confused and forgetful ." Social media users were quick to air their sentiments on X, the platform previously known as Twitter, targeting the news outlet for its obvious cover-up of President Joe Biden's gaffes and blunders, signaling the president's slowly deteriorating cognitive state due to old age and alleged medications and drug use. The article was posted on the evening of Wednesday, July 3, and was updated the next day. It tackled the most recent debate face-off between Biden and presumptive GOP nominee and former President Donald Trump, where the former's performance was widely panned as confused and mumbling. "The June 27 face-off alarmed Democrats and his financial backers, in part, because Biden seemed so much worse than during the almost routine moments when he's less sharp. And that has raised questions about whether he's up for a campaign that's only going to get nastier and whether he can effectively govern for another four years if he wins," AP reported. "We understand the concerns. We get it," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said this week. As some Democratic leaders called on him to drop out of the presidential race, Jean-Pierre insisted Biden had no intention of stepping away from the campaign. "The president is clear-eyed and he is staying in the race." She also claimed that "jet lag" was the cause of his poor debate performance. (Related: Biden will not withdraw from presidential race despite calls for a replacement candidate from the Democratic Party.) 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. "He is often sharp and focused," the AP article indicated of Biden. "But he also has moments, particularly later in the evening, when his thoughts seem jumbled and he trails off mid-sentence or seems confused. Sometimes he doesn't grasp the finer points of policy details. He occasionally forgets people's names, stares blankly and moves slowly around the room." On X, the Libs of TikTok account commented: "Nobody is falling for this BS anymore." Another user posted: "When news orgs try and push this 'sharp' nonsense, it no longer feels like just normal partisan bias, but insulting arrogance." "AP in 2024: accurate and fair but sometimes partisan and shoddy," another commenter posted. Public concern about Biden's fitness for another four years of presidency never subsided. According to an August 2023 poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 77 percent of adults in the United States believe that Biden was too old to be effective for four more years. Not only did 89 percent of Republicans say that, but so did 69 percent of Democrats. White House press corps denies covering up Biden's mental state After Biden's lackluster performance during the CNN debate, concerns were raised about whether the White House press corps dropped the ball on fully covering the POTUS' limitations. The debate laid bare many of the concerns on the president's mental state such as his having good days and bad days but sometimes seeming to slip up. A New York Times report raised similar concerns by those who have recently been in the room with Biden. The news outlet reported Biden has more frequent "lapses," although at other times he appears sharp. Nearly every media outlet has reported on growing concerns about Biden's age well before the debate. The White House has always complained that the coverage is disproportionate and that the media is spending more time covering Biden's age than his accomplishments as president. But there are also claims that the media has not covered Biden's mental fitness more aggressively because it wants to prop up the campaign in some way, an accusation the White House reporters denied. Several White House reporters told CNN that the coverage of Biden's age and his mental stamina should have pushed harder. They cited several difficulties in doing so before the debate, from the obvious political motivations of sources who either wanted to protect Biden's image or project a certain image, to the blowback from pursuing such reports, especially from the White House and Democrats. The administration has also insisted that concerns over Biden's age was just a "right-wing talking point." "The right-wing media was calling him senile from day one and that wasn't true," the reporter said. "Then whenever you report on the age you were in some ways solidifying, giving credence to some people that were actually of bad faith." All the White House reporters who were sources for this story spoke on the condition of staying anonymous so they could speak more freely about their relationship with the White House. Visit JoeBiden.news for stories related to the president's recent controversial blunders. Watch the video below where Biden admits to mistakes committed during the first presidential debate. This video is from the TrendingNews channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Bidens debate performance raises alarm among Democrats. Heres why. More and more voters believe Biden should not be running for a second term after his catastrophic debate performance Bidens DISMAL performance in debate against Trump threatens to undermine his candidacy, causes panic among Dems. WSJ admits Biden showing signs of COGNITIVE DECLINE during closed-door meetings. Trump calls out MSMs DOUBLE STANDARD when it comes to reporting about his cognitive health vs. Bidens Sources include: APNews.com JustTheNews.com CNN.com Brighteon.com Strongly support It will improve public transit and pedestrian safety Somewhat support It will benefit public transit, but I'm concerned about traffic or business impacts Neutral I see both pros and cons, but dont have strong feelings either way Somewhat oppose I think it will cause traffic problems and harm local businesses Strongly oppose It is a bad idea and will hurt both motorists and businesses Vote View Results Media reverts to full gaslighting about Bidens cognitive decline After Joe Biden failed the 2024 CNN Presidential debate on the most basic cognitive level, his closest allies and donors finally began to show disappointment in their champion of democracy. That disappointment has spread among Democrat voters, with a third of the voting bloc now suggesting that Biden be replaced with a younger, more competent nominee But the dumbfounded Biden has already been pre-selected by the Democratic Party elites, who forfeited the primary voting process to crown the idiot as the nominee. The delegates for the Democratic Party are now required to cast their vote for Biden at the Democratic National Convention unless Biden himself bows out of the race. But Biden is not doing what's best for the country and is solely focused on beating Donald Trump. Instead of reporting the truth, the Associated Press (AP) is gaslighting the public, covering up Biden's ailing mental and physical state, while putting the country at risk. Democratic Party imploding, haunted by years of lies and media coverups Despite four years of poor decisions at home and abroad, and with mounting pressure to step down, Joe Biden believes that he is still the candidate that can beat Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans. He has so far refused to get out of the race, despite some of his biggest donors showing discontent. Because Biden wont get out, the corporate media is now gaslighting the public about Bidens capabilities, reassuring us all that we are in good hands. The latest headline from the AP claims - Biden at 81: Sharp and focused but sometimes confused and forgetful. The Associated Press (AP) is now doing damage control for Joe Biden and the Democrats, using doublespeak to make Bidens mental decline appear normal. 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. This gaslighting campaign comes after the White House Press Secretary claimed that Biden had a bad night at the CNN debate. It also comes after the White House claimed that Biden was struggling with a cold and had recently exhausted himself by traveling out of country (12 days prior). The excuses dont bode well for a U.S. President whose visual display of weakness has devolved into excuses and complaining weaknesses that the voters cannot simply forget. Not even the smoothest talking Democratic governors can convince the public that Biden is capable and all there. Corporate media has lied on virtually every issue to prop up the Democrats Years of delusion about Bidens failing mental state have culminated into utter panic among Democratic circles, as they look for ways to make Biden seem intelligent so they can keep control over the narratives. But with Biden refusing to concede the nomination, the corporate media has no choice but to gaslight the American public that Biden is in great health even though he may appear confused at times. This media gaslighting has been relentless on virtually every issue that benefits Democrats. For example, the headline Sharp and focused but sometimes confused and forgetful is reminiscent of the fiery but mostly peaceful headline that was blasted by CNN in 2020, as Black Lives Matter protestors violently tore through cities, attacked police and pillaged businesses. The gaslighting is also reminiscent of the stay home, stay safe propaganda, the masks save lives nonsense and the 2021 pandemic of the unvaccinated headlines that sought to coerce more people to take the very things that were making people sicker and sending more people to the hospital. The gaslighting is also reminiscent of the 2020 election was safe and secure propaganda that was legally refuted by state legislatures and whistleblowers across the U.S. The American people have been lied to on every level to prop up a phony president, but the dams about to break. Theres no stopping reality from taking hold. Biden's dementia can no longer be hidden, and the failure of Democrat policies is hurting everyone. Sources include: TheHill.com Zerohedge.com Foxnews.com X.com TOXIC workplace: WSJ accuses Klaus Schwab, WEF of sexual harassment and discrimination against blacks The Wall Street Journal has recently published an article exposing the World Economic Forum and its octogenarian founder Klaus Schwab of sexual harassment and discrimination against blacks in the workplace. Under Schwab's administration, WEF has reportedly allowed an atmosphere hostile to women and Black people in its workplace, according to internal complaints, email exchanges and interviews with dozens of current and former Forum employees and other people familiar with the organization's practices. Half a dozen women have complained of sexual harassment at the hands of senior managers, who are still working at the Forum. Two said they were sexually harassed years ago by VIPs at Forum gatherings, including at Davos, where female staff were expected to be at the delegates' beck and call. Since WEF's earliest years, staffers reported that women received warnings about Schwab. They said that if you find yourself alone with him, he may make uncomfortable comments about your appearance. They describe his behavior as more awkward than menacing, but inappropriate for a leader. Schwab has been married to his wife Hilde, who was his former assistant, since 1971. Barbara Erskine, a former Forum communications executive, said that Schwab told a board member to tell her that she needed to lose weight. Schwab told other executives that she had no charm. A receptionist who worked for Schwab said he asked her to private dinners and excursions. She said she had to be clear with him more than once "what kind of relationship I wanted: professional and nothing sexual." One staffer who worked in Geneva in the 2000s claimed that Schwab once propped his leg up on her desk with his crotch facing her and told her he wished she was Hawaiian because he'd like to see her in a Hawaiian costume. 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. WEF claimed that its leader has never made sexual advances toward an employee and the women's allegations were vague and false. "Mr. Schwab does not and has never engaged in the vulgar behaviors you describe," a Forum spokesman said. Meanwhile, in two more recent incidents, employees registered internal complaints after white Forum managers used the N-word around Black employees. Black employees also raised formal complaints to Forum leaders about being passed over for promotions or left out of Davos. WEF declined to make Schwab available for an interview. Forum spokesman Yann Zopf said in a statement that WSJ's writeup "mischaracterizes our organization, culture and colleagues, including our founder." (Related: Whistleblower calls for WEF founder Klaus Schwab to be ARRESTED over "crimes against humanity.") WEF fires pregnant women, "old" employees WSJ also covered stories of how employees over 50 years old were laid off because the human resources chief decided to lower the average age of the workforce. The HR chief, a seasoned former World Bank executive named Paolo Gallo, declined, pointing out that there has to be a reasonable explanation for firing somebody, such as poor performance. But Schwab fired Gallo. In 2017, Schwab tapped a young woman to lead an initiative for startups but as soon as she got pregnant, the globalist said she wouldn't be able to continue working at the same pace. She was pushed out after what the Forum said was a brief trial period. At least six female staffers were also fired or otherwise saw their careers suffer when they were pregnant or returning from maternity leave. In a written responses to WSJ, the Forum said it holds itself and its employees to a high set of values, with confidential reporting channels and a thorough investigation process. The organization claimed that its leader never created an age limit for employees and that he collaborated with the HR chief to make it possible for people to work beyond the normal retirement age. Another WEF spokesman also said women don't face a higher rate of turnover after parental leave and that at least 150 employees returned from leave to the same or a better job during eight years. Schwab sent a letter to the WSJ's publisher and editor-in-chief to share concerns about the reporting for this article. Then a memo to the WEF staff came out on May 21, where it was announced that Schwab planned to step aside as executive chairman, which he indicated was part of a long-planned transition. He said he would stay on as non-executive chairman of the board of trustees. WSJ interviewed more than 80 current and former employees ranging in tenure from as far back as the 1980s through the present day. Some of them have bonded over what they describe as shared trauma in a WhatsApp group called "WEFugees" that has hundreds of former employees. "It was distressing to witness colleagues visibly withdraw from themselves with the onslaught of harassment at the hands of high-level staff, going from social and cheerful to self-isolating, avoiding eye contact, sharing nightmares for years after," said Farid Ben Amor, a former U.S. media executive who worked at the Forum for more than a year before resigning in 2019. "It is particularly distressing when contrasted with the eagerness and earnestness with which many of us joined the Forum." Globalism.news contains stories about the ongoing globalization of our world, WEF and Klaus Schwab. Sources for this article include: WSJ.com TheDailyBeast.com The second week of July is expected to bring unusual heat to parts of the western U.S. this week, according to a weather report. Communities should keep alert for potential wildfires and unusual heat. Portions of the U.S. have been experiencing threats of storm developments and severe thunderstorms. However, a high-temperature outlook is still possible, causing heat-related health concerns. Scorching heat can threaten vulnerable populations, particularly the following individuals: Older adults People with medical conditions Children Pregnant women Outdoor workers Considering the threats of a hotter weather outlook, commuters, and outdoor enthusiasts should keep updated with the latest weather advisories and information to avoid potential heat-related health risks. Weather in Western US: Where Will Unusual Heat Unload This Week? Parts of the western U.S. can experience hotter weather temperatures this week. This can ignite potential wildfires, especially in areas with warm weather, dry conditions, and low relative humidity. As many people will travel after the long weekend holiday, avoiding prolonged exposure to unusual heat is best. Additionally, homeowners should watch out for signs of heat-related health concerns, especially for people in the following areas: job sites vehicles outdoors In Sacramento, there is a chance of another hot summer day. The forecast advises residents to avoid prolonged exposure to unusual heat and avoid outdoor activities. According to a weather report on June 7, a weather report warns of a dangerous heat outlook from Washington to Arizona. Residents can expect record-breaking temperatures, particularly in the following areas: Cascades Desert Southwest Because summer has begun, it is likely that parts of the U.S. could anticipate scorching heat. Based on the weather outlook, record highs and an increased fire danger are likely in the following areas: Portland Bend Boise Reno Fresno Las Vegas Phoenix Cedar City Elko Boise In San Diego, the advisory warns of a potential risk in the region this week. Additionally, high temperatures can lead to health concerns related to heat. The heat concern is not expected to abate this week. The scorching heat pattern is forecast to continue from Wednesday to Friday in the following areas: Phoenix San Diego Las Vegas Cedar City Fresno Albuquerque Denver Boise Rapid City Billings Missoula Also Read: Iowa, Minnesota Weather Forecasts: Round of Heavy Rains Likely to Bring Flooding, Flash Flood This Week Hotter Weather Outlook: How Can People Keep Safe From Unusual Heat? The latest forecasts raised concerns about prolonged hot weather in parts of the country this week, causing possible heat-related health risks. Homeowners should stay alert for heat advisories this week in portions of the west. When the weather becomes unusual, staying at home or looking for cooler areas is advisable. Furthermore, staying hydrated can minimize or prevent the risk of heat-related health concerns in the region. Related Article: Southwestern U.S. Weather Forecast: Severe Thunderstorms, Unusual Heat Likely to Unload This Upcoming Independence Day For more similar stories, don't forget to follow Nature World News Katherine Gold is CEO and president of GoldBug, a 55-year-old woman-owned enterprise located in Denver. As a mom and working professional, Katherine has led the company to be a market leader in the infant and childrens accessory space, and has demonstrated a consistent commitment to philanthropy. She serves as the treasurer of the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) and also serves on the boards of the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver and Delivering Good. She held previous positions as the board chair of both the Rose Community Foundation and the Colorado Childrens Campaign. GoldBug has made a commitment to engage in initiatives to improve maternal health outcomes both locally and nationally. We will rebuild Britain, says Keir Starmer as he delivers his first speech as UK PM A fter 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 will 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. "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. And yet this depends upon politicians, particularly those who stand for stability and moderation, as I do," he added. 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." "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. "With wealth created in every community. Our National Health Service (NHS) is back on its feet, facing the future. Secure borders, safer streets, and everyone treated with dignity and respect at work. The opportunity of clean British power, cutting your energy bills for good. And brick by brick, we will rebuild the infrastructure of opportunity," he added. 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. "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," said the UK Prime Minister. Following this, Starmer expressed gratitude to the outgoing Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, for his achievements as the first British-Asian Prime Minister. "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," said Starmer. "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. 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, that we need to move forward together. Now, this wound, this lack of trust, can only be healed by actions, not words," he added. We will rebuild Britain, says Keir Starmer as he delivers his first speech as UK PM Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Biden's performance concerns loom over NATO summit amid global political shifts T he upcoming NATO 75th anniversary summit in Washington, DC, is poised to be a pivotal event not just for celebrating the alliance's legacy but also for assessing the leadership of US President Joe Biden in the wake of recent concerns over his debate performance, CNN reported. As world leaders prepare to convene, all eyes are on Biden, who faces mounting pressure to demonstrate his capacity to lead amidst growing uncertainties about his political future and the looming shadow of former President Donald Trump. Following Biden's lacklustre showing at the recent CNN presidential debate, diplomats worldwide reacted with shock and apprehension. Many expressed worries that Biden's perceived weakness could undermine his credibility as a viable competitor against Trump, who has been vocal in his criticisms of NATO and has even suggested leniency towards Russia regarding defence spending targets. The timing of Biden's performance concerns is critical as the summit approaches, coinciding with significant political transitions across key NATO member states, as reported by CNN. In the United Kingdom, the Labour Party's recent ascent to power after more than a decade has ushered in Keir Starmer as the new prime minister, adding a layer of unpredictability days before the summit's commencement. Meanwhile, France braces for potential outcomes in its parliamentary elections, with implications that could reshape President Emmanuel Macron's coalition. Despite Biden's administration acknowledging the debate's adverse impact on public perception, officials have downplayed its repercussions on international relations. Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended Biden's broader leadership record, emphasising continuity in addressing global challenges across democratic nations. Nevertheless, the spotlight on Biden at the NATO summit remains intense, with scrutiny extending beyond his diplomatic acumen to his physical demeanour and mental agility, as observed by a seasoned former US diplomat familiar with NATO summits. "How does he look? And how does he sound? And how does he move? Does he look fit? And I suppose he and his team (will) be trying to focus on making him look spry and more with it," the diplomat remarked. The three-day summit, meticulously planned and coordinated over months, represents a critical opportunity for Biden to reassure allies of US commitment to NATO's principles amidst Trump's lingering influence. Scheduled engagements include the North Atlantic Council meeting, bilateral discussions, and a leader's dinner, where Biden will be accompanied by top officials such as Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, according to CNN. While diplomats acknowledge the unlikelihood of a major misstep by Biden during the summit, concerns persist that his debate performance could overshadow substantive discussions, fuelling doubts about his ability to lead effectively. "If there is another clear failure, this will feed into the 'crisis mood,'" warned one European diplomat, reflecting broader anxieties within the alliance. Despite expectations that allies may privately discuss Biden's debate performance, direct confrontation on the issue is unlikely during formal proceedings. However, the debate's impact is anticipated to permeate discussions leading up to the US presidential election, influencing perceptions of Biden's leadership both domestically and abroad. In response to inquiries about the potential overshadowing of the summit by concerns over Biden's debate performance, the White House and US officials have sought to redirect focus towards the summit's substantive agenda. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre emphasized the historic significance of the summit, highlighting NATO's role in global security and unity under Biden's leadership. "Next week, in Washington, DC, the historic summit is to mark the 75th anniversary of NATO's founding," Jean-Pierre said, adding, "For 75 years, NATO has kept us and the world safer. And under the president's leadership, our Alliance is stronger, it's larger, it's more united than ever," CNN reported. Biden's performance concerns loom over NATO summit amid global political shifts Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Telangana, Andhra CMs agree on panel to resolve post-bifurcation issues T elangana 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 cant 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. Telangana, Andhra CMs agree on panel to resolve post-bifurcation issues Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! South Korea clocks record $37 bn in car exports in first half of 2024 S outh Korea's car exports are estimated to have reached a record $37 billion for the first half of the year, according to industry data on Sunday. Automobile exports are estimated to have increased 3.8 percent on-year during the January-June period to reach $37.01 billion, marking the highest tally for the first half of any year, according to tentative data from the industry ministry and the Korea International Trade Association. The previous record was at $35.65 billion last year, boosted by 46.5 percent on-year growth from 2022. Since 2021, car exports have seen positive year-on-year growth for four consecutive years in the first half, reports Yonhap news agency. By region, car exports to the US, the world's largest market, jumped 29.8 percent to $18.45 billion. In contrast, exports to the European Union decreased by 30 per cent, while those to the Middle East and Latin America slipped 18.7 per cent and 8.3 per cent, respectively. Shipments of hybrid vehicles and internal combustion engine models grew 19.5 per cent and 7.2 per cent, respectively, but exports of electric vehicles fell by 17.5 per cent during the period, according to data. South Korea clocks record $37 bn in car exports in first half of 2024 Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Schwarzenegger wishes buddy Sylvester Stallone on his birthday, says 'you inspire me' H ollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was once considered a rival to Sylvester Stallone, has sent some birthday love to the latter. Arnold, who is the former governor of California, recently shared a thoughtful Instagram post in honour of his friend's 78th birthday, featuring a few images of the pair throughout the years, reports People. He wrote in the caption, Happy birthday, my friend @officialslystallone. You are a champion and a legend. You inspire me and billions of people around the world. According to People, the Terminator star included snaps of himself and Stallone carving pumpkins together, smiling at a Planet Hollywood event, and posing in some very '80s outfits. "The greatest standing side by side with the greatest, TV host Marcos Mion commented under the photos. In April, Stallone and Schwarzenegger discussed their past rivalry on TMZ Presents: Arnold & Sly: Rivals, Friends, Icons. Schwarzenegger admitted that Stallone "was very helpful in my career because I had something that I could chase, while Stallone said that when Schwarzenegger "came along, I was like, 'Finally, something to motivate me. As soon as I saw him, it was like bang, two alphas hitting. He added: "If we walked into a party, wed be staring at each other for a few seconds, and then, I gotta get that guy. He didnt do anything wrong, but he will'. Schwarzenegger wishes buddy Sylvester Stallone on his birthday, says 'you inspire me' Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Wimbledon: Bopanna-Ebden suffer second round exit after loss to German pair R ohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden bowed out of the Wimbledon men's doubles event after losing their second round match on Saturday. The duo lost to unseeded German pair of Hendrick Jebens and Constantin Frantzen in straight sets 6-3, 7-6 (4) in just over an hour of play. Bopanna and Ebden, who had won the Australian Open earlier this year, were behind early in the match after giving up a break in the first set. The breakpoint proved crucial for the Germans as they went on to take the opening set. In the second set, Jebens and Frantzen came out triumphant in the tie-breaker despite resilience from Bopanna and Ebden as the score was tied at five games apiece when rain interrupted play. Germans came out all guns blazing to seal the tie-breaker after the resumption and took a hefty 4-1 lead. They carried the momentum till the last and ended Bopanna and Ebden's campaign in the tournament. With the loss of Bopanna in the second round, India's campaign at Wimbledon 2024 came to an end. Earlier, Yuki Bhambri, N Balaji and Sumit Nagal lost their respective men's doubles matches with their respective partners while Nagal also made a first-round exit in the men's singles. Wimbledon: Bopanna-Ebden suffer second round exit after loss to German pair Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Anya Taylor-Joys husband 'accidentally' proposed to her on Forrest Gump bench A ctress Anya Taylor-Joy revealed that her musician-husband Malcolm McRae 'accidentally' proposed to her on the 'Forrest Gump' bench. In a clip posted by Letterboxd on Instagram, Taylor-Joy shared this story during an interview with her co-star Chris Hemsworth on July 6, which marks the 30th anniversary of the release of the iconic film featuring Tom Hanks, reports People.com. In the clip, Hemsworth asked Taylor-Joy if something "special" in her life happened on the iconic bench from the movie. Yes, my husband accidentally proposed to me on the Forrest Gump bench in Savannah," she replied, adding that it was a "complete accident." The bench in 'Forrest Gump', which was released in 1994, played a pivotal role in the film directed by Robert Zemeckis. The film also stars Sally Field as Forrest's mother and Robin Wright as his love interest. Most of the story is told in flashbacks, with Forrest recounting his life story to strangers he meets on the bench while waiting for a bus. "And he's a boy from Alabama, and I'm blonde, so... it just happened. I hear that music, and I cry like a baby," the 'Dune: Part Two' star said. The video was captioned: "Thinking about Anya Taylor-Joys wedding proposal today." The British-American actress secretly married musician Malcolm McRae in New Orleans in April 2022, before the couple celebrated a second wedding in Venice, Italy, in October 2023. However, it is unlikely that McRae proposed to Taylor-Joy on the very same bench that Hanks sat on during filming, as it is now placed at the Savannah History Museum in Georgia. The two might have gotten engaged on a similar bench at the Chippewa Square Bus Stop in Savannah, where the scenes were shot. Anya Taylor-Joys husband 'accidentally' proposed to her on Forrest Gump bench Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! UP govt to boost silk industry in 4 districts T he Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has launched an initiative to establish multi-end reeling units in districts such as Maharajganj, Basti, Saharanpur and Auraiya to provide a boost to the silk industry in the state. The Sericulture Development Department has started the procurement process for 10 basin units within these reeling units. The Sericulture Development Department, appointed by a contractor agency, will complete the procurement process. The contractor agency will be required to deliver and install all these units in the designated districts within 90 days of the allocation of work. Additionally, the applications invited by the Sericulture Department primarily prioritise companies registered with the Directorate of Industries and Enterprise Promotion and the National Small Industries Corporation to fulfil this task. In a multi-end reeling unit, various machinery components are included under the base units. At present, the Sericulture Department is in the process of procuring a total of 10 basin units. These basin units will be equipped with a 50 kg capacity hot air dryer, a cocoon sorting table, two pan tables for the brushing process, circular pressurised cocoon cooking, and vacuum pre-emission pre-treatment equipment. Additionally, each basin multi-end reeling machine (10 ends per basin), the window closed time re-reeling machine (five ends per window), the small reel permeation centre, and an electronic balance with a 600-gm capacity and 0.01-gm sensitivity will also be included. It will also be equipped with a 7.5 KVA capacity generator, a 100 kg steam output per hour capacity IBR quality boiler, and a 100 kg resin capacity water softener. Through all these components, essential cocoon extraction, processing, and reeling processes for silk production can be completed. The procurement, installation, and operation process for multi-end reeling units in Maharajganj, Basti, Saharanpur, and Auraiya has been allocated a validity period of 180 days. The contractor agency must deliver and install all these units within a working period of 90 days after the assignment. Priority is being given to companies registered with the Directorate of Industries and Enterprise Promotion, and the National Small Industries Corporation to complete this process as contractors. They are also being granted concessions in the earnest money deposit. UP govt to boost silk industry in 4 districts Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Download Now The News-Gazette mobile app brings you the latest local breaking news, updates, and more. Read the News-Gazette on your mobile device just as it appears in print. How old is too old to serve as president and should there be an expiration date? Its a national conversation at the moment. Both Donald Trump, 78, and Joe Biden, 81, are well beyond the age most people retire. Either one of them would be the oldest person ever inaugurated to serve as president if they win in November. Trump has had his share of seemingly senior moments but following a disastrous debate performance last week, its Biden and his mental acuity that is on everybodys minds and lips. The Tribune talked about the intersection of age and political leadership, and the rematch between Biden and Trump with several people, all now in their 70s or older, who have served elective office. While they occupied a variety of offices, from local to statewide, and include both Republicans and Democrats, they agreed on one thing when it comes to the opening question in this piece it depends. Some people at 75 are very, very old and some are very, very vigorous, said Sen. Larry Craig who is retired and now lives at Boise. It really does vary with the individual. Craig, who is 78 and was pruning grape vines when the Tribune called, represented Idaho in the Senate from 1990 to 2009 and was previously elected to the U.S. House of Representatives five times. In the Senate he served with Biden and knew colleagues that stayed well past the time they were effective legislators. I remember Strom Thurmond in the last few years and it was embarrassingly sad and I know other people who should have retired well before they did, he said. For me it was a sadness because they were in some way damaging their legacy. Craig thinks Biden is at that point but said he threatens to damage more than just his image. He speaks for and is the leader of the most dynamic, richest and most powerful country in the world. Our country deserves a more dynamic, livelier person and, in my opinion, a younger person. During the debate, Craig said Trump, while also old, did not appear to have lost a step. Ironically, just across the stage was a man full of thought, energy and ideas and he looked good and had a tremendous presentation, he said. Agree or disagree with his policy and style, he was active and alive in every respect. Trump lied frequently throughout the debate and his track record of lying about the results of the 2020 election and his attempts to overturn it frighten many voters. For them, Bidens age and mental capacity are contrasted with fears of what Trump may do if he again occupies the Oval Office. Trumps potential for misdeeds and implementation of policies they oppose is a critical factor in their thinking about Biden. Ron Beitelspacher, of Grangville, thinks, given Bidens age and debate performance, he is unable to win and should step aside. John Rusche, of Lewiston, thinks the threat of Trump is so severe that in a Biden-vs-Trump race, Biden is the only choice. Beitelspacher referenced Trumps recent suggestion that former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., should face a televised military tribunal, presumably for her role as co-chairperson of the House Select Committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capital and Trumps role in it. With what the Supreme Court has done just (last) week and the grant of immunity to the president, we have in effect cut loose the president in future years to do whatever the hell he wants, Beitelspacher said. Joe Biden has done a hell of a job but if he loses this election, I think we are in danger of losing democracy. Beitelspacher, a Democrat who served 12 years in the Idaho Senate, is now 79 and was saddling horses and readying for a ride on Mount Idaho while chatting with the Tribune. He would like Biden to reflect on his oath of office. The Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) has released the academic calendar for 2024-25 for both classes 10 and 12. Students who will be appearing for the board exams 2025 can check and download the academic calendar by visiting the official website, gseb.org. The 2024-25 academic session will have a total of 80 holidays and 243 working days. As per the official notice, the board exams for both classes 10 and 12 will commence on February 27 and conclude on March 13. The supplementary examination of classes 10 and 12 will be held from July 24 to August 6. The first exam for classes 9 to 12 across all streams will be held from October 14 to 23. The prelim or second exam will take place from January 20 to 28. While the school annual examination for class 9 and class 11 will be conducted from April 7 to 19. Gujarat Board Academic Calendar 2024-25 Muharram: July 17 Independence Day: August 15 Raksha Bandhan: August 18 Janmashtami: August 25 Ganesh Chaturthi: September 7 Eid: September 15 Gandhi Jayanti: October 2 Dussehra: October 12 Christmas: December 25 Maha Shivratri: February 25 Ramadan Eid: March 31 Mahavir Jayanti: April 10 Ambedkar Jayanti: April 14 Good Friday: April 18 Parashuram Jayanti: April 28 Furthermore, the Diwali vacation for Gujarat board students will be held for 20 days from October 20 to November 17. The summer vacation will take place for 35 days starting from May 5 to June 8. The results of the Gujarat Board Secondary School Certificate (SSC) 2024 showed a pass percentage of 82.56 per cent this year which is a 17.94 per cent improvement compared to last year. As many as 699,598 out of the 706,370 students who registered for the GSEB 10th exam 2024 took the test. Among those who appeared for the exam, 577,556 candidates passed. The pass percentage of the Gujarat Board class 12 science stream was 82.45 per cent, and for the general stream, it was 91.93 per cent. In 2023, of a total of 4,77,392 students who appeared in the arts and commerce exam, 3,49,792 successfully passed taking the overall pass percentage to 65.58 per cent. Stay ahead with all the exam results updates on News18 Website. The accused in the Worli hit-and-run case, Mihir Shah and his friend allegedly went to a bar at Mumbais Juhu, hours before the BMW that he was driving hit a couple leading to the death of a woman. CNN News18 accessed the bill from the night and found that the duo had gone to Juhus Global Tapas Bar and had paid a total bill of Rs 18,730. Meanwhile, following the accident, Mihir Shahs father, Rajesh Shah has been arrested. Along with the Shiv Sena leader, his driver Rajrishi Rajendrasingh Bidawat has also been arrested. Bidawat was allegedly present inside the car at the time of accident. #BreakingNews | #Worli hit and run case: Forensic team arrives at Worli police station for examination, accused Mihir Shah still abscondingPolitical war of words erupts after Shinde Sena leaders link@kotakyesha shares more details#MumbaiHitAndRun #BMW | @kritsween pic.twitter.com/GDZvhdBYP5 News18 (@CNNnews18) July 7, 2024 Rajesh Shah allegedly helped accused Mihir Shah escape and several attempts were made to destroy evidence. Speaking to India Today, Karan Shah, the bar owner said that Mihir Shah arrived at the bar with four friends and there was no woman with them. They left in the Mercedes car after paying the bill at 1:40 am, he added. All of them, except Mihir, had one beer each, and at that time, all four were normal. Mihir had a Red Bull. They arrived in a Mercedes and left in a Mercedes, but the incident happened with a BMW. The police have seized the CCTV DVR. We have provided all the information that the police required. Mihir Shahs bill was Rs 18,730, which his friend paid. Mihirs ID card was checked before entry, the bar owner further said. Few hours after leaving the bar, at around 5:25 am on Sunday morning, Mihir allegedly rammed his BMW into a scooter, killing a 45-year-old woman named Kaveri and injuring her husband Pradip Nakhwa, aged 50. A case was registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections relating to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, rash driving and destruction of evidence, among others. As per media reports, the BMW was later found in an abandoned state in Kala Nagar in the Bandra East area. According to police, Mihir left his car in Bandra before running away in an auto-rickshaw. His companion, Rajrishi Bidawat also took an auto-rickshaw and came to Borivali after the crash. Days after 121 people were killed due to a stampede at a religious gathering in Hathras, the lawyer representing Bhole Baba, the preacher claimed that the mishap occurred as a group of around 15-16 people sprayed poison during the event. He further claimed that these people soon fled the venue after triggering the cause for the stampede. The people who were killed in the stampede were mostly women and also included children. President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences over the tragedy and both the state and central government announced ex-gratia for the families of the victims as well as for the injured. While claiming that the stampede was planned, the lawyer said according to PTI, A heart-wrenching incident happened. 15-16 people were involved in the conspiracy. The permission was taken. The map was attached to the permission. Some unidentified vehicles were there at the spot of the stampede. 10-12 people sprayed poison. Witnesses had said the women were falling and many died due to breathlessness. They fled from the spot. The SIT and SP Hathras are investigating. The CCTV footage should be seized, so that those vehicles can be identified. Addressing a press conference in Delhi, the lawyer AP Singh also alleged a conspiracy, which he attributed to Bhole Babas rising popularity, behind the stampede. There were vehicles parked at the site to help the men escape. We have proof and we will submit it. This is the first time I am speaking about it, he added. Singh claimed the witnesses who reached out to him requested anonymity. We will demand security for them, he said. As per initial investigation reports, the organisers had reportedly got a permission for the event with a maximum turnout of 80,000. The number of people attending, however turned out to be over 2.5 lakh. So far, nine people, including key accused Devprakash Madhukar, have been arrested in connection with the stampede. What Exactly Happened? A stampede during Bhole Babas satsang in Hathras on Tuesday, July 2, resulted in a devastating loss of life, with about 121 people tragically killed and several others injured. The incident occurred during the culmination of the religious gathering at Phulrai village of Sikanda Rau police station area in Uttar Pradesh. The stampede reportedly occurred when devotees rushed to seek blessings from Bhole Baba after his sermon concluded on Tuesday afternoon, leading to chaos and tragic consequences. What Bhole Baba Said After The Deadly Stampede? The 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, had 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. Who is Bhole Baba? Bhole Baba, also known as Narayan Sakar Hari, whose real name is Suraj Pal, is a former government employee turned spiritual leader with a significant following across UP and neighboring states. During his sermons, he claimed that he had previously worked in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and also served in the Uttar Pradesh Police, asserting that he retired from service and then became a spiritual leader. He hails from Bahadur Nagari village in Patiyali tehsil of Etah. He quit his government job 26 years ago and began delivering religious sermons in various villages and towns across Uttar Pradesh. He had initiated his sermons during his tenure and later resigned and established an ashram in Patiyali. Bhole Baba has millions of followers across the country, including Western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Delhi. A woman was killed after a speeding BMW allegedly rammed into a bike-borne couple in Mumbais Worli in early hours of Sunday morning. The couple was on the way home after buying fish from Sassoon Dock on Sunday morning when they were hit in the Koliwada area. The woman, identified as Kaveri Nakhwa (45), was travelling with her husband Pradip on the arterial Annie Besant Road when the luxury car driver lost control at around 5:30am, the Worli police station official said. She was rushed to Nair Hospital where she succumbed to her injuries The luxury car was allegedly driven by Mihir Shah, son of Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) leader Rajesh Shah. Mihir Shah remains absconding so far while his father Rajesh has been arrested. Rajesh Shahs driver, Rajrishi Rajendrasingh Bidawat, has also been arrested. Bidawat was present allegedly inside the car at the time of accident. #UPDATE | Mumbai | Worli hit and run case: Worli Police have arrested Rajendra Singh Bidawat who was present inside the car and the father of the person, Rajesh Shah. Mihir Shah is absconding, 6 Police teams have been formed to find him: Worli PoliceVisuals of the accused being https://t.co/8G1VVeKzEk pic.twitter.com/NtDxSDYvV7 ANI (@ANI) July 7, 2024 Meanwhile, police officials are scanning through CCTV footage to identify who was behind the wheel at the time of the accident. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde Assures Strict Action Maharashtra Chief Minister has assured strict action in the case. He said, It does not matter which party he belongs to. The accused wont be spared. Speaking to reporters Shinde said, It is an unfortunate incident. I spoke with the police commissioner in the morning. It doesnt matter, which party he (accused) belongs to. Action will be taken. Nobody will be spared. Everyone is equal before the law. Aditya Thackeray Reaches Worli Police Station Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and MLA Aditya Thackeray reached Worli police station and met the victim Pradeep Nakhava. Thackeray said he did not want to give the incident a political colour. I dont want to make this political, Whoever the driver is, should be arrested, said Thackeray. Whether the accused belongs to gaddar gang, we dont want to make it political, he added. Emphasising the revelation of information by CCTV footage, Thackeray demanded quick action in the case. The case comes less than two months after the May 19 Porsche accident case in Punes Kalyani Nagar area. Two IT professionals hailing from Madhya Pradesh were killed after the Porsche, allegedly driven by an inebriated minor driver, rammed into their motorcycle. The case hit national headlines after the boy was given bail by the Juvenile Justice Board on lenient terms and the Pune police uncovered an effort allegedly involving the accuseds parents and doctors of Sassoon Hospital to switch blood samples to nullify alcohol tests and also force the family driver take blame for the crash. A mans search for his eight-year-old son in drains of hilly Jyotinagar area of Guwahati for 72 hours yielded no result till Saturday evening. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who visited the site urged the parents of the missing boy to return home for the night for the sake of their younger son. Hiralal Sarkar has been looking for his son Abhinash in the open stormwater drain of the area ever since the boy slipped from his fathers scooter and fell into it on Thursday evening, not even returning home at night. Rescue efforts for a child who has gone missing in Guwahati due to the floods is our topmost priority. I am constantly monitoring the situation. I have met the family and assured our best support.#AssamFloods pic.twitter.com/ADFoJCwBri Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) July 6, 2024 The state machinery has also launched a search operation since the incident, with various machines and sniffer dogs. Hiralal, sleeping under a mosquito net on the veranda of a shop, insisted that he couldnt go home leaving his son there. Sarma, who visited the search site at Bamunimaidam area downstream of the drain, consoled the missing boys parents. You can come back tomorrow morning again. The search teams will continue their work through the night. Please, both of you go home tonight, for the sake of your younger child. You cannot lose your strength. Go home tonight, and pray to God. Some things have to be left on the Almighty, he told them. The chief minister also requested the grandparents of the boy to convince and take home Hiralal and his wife. Hiralal, who had changed his saffron colour T-shirt and black half pants into a fresh set of clothes for the first time since the night of the incident, narrated before the CM how he had initially grabbed the hand of his son before Abhinash was swept away. I dont want to go from here, the father pleaded, leading Sarma to urge him again to spend the night at home. Talking to reporters at the site, Sarma said, The police and other agencies will continue the search operation. But if the parents continue staying like this, they will collapse. We should all ensure that they return home and prepare them to face the harsh truth. If something were to happen to the parents now, we would not be able to forgive ourselves. Sarma said that if Abhinash had been stuck in the drain, some trace of him would have been detected by now by the authorities, adding that the boys sandals were retrieved by the father. The body could have been swept away further downstream. And even if we are to assume he is alive, it is difficult to estimate how his condition will be, Sarma said. He said the search operations will continue till the NDRF and SDRF deem it necessary, pointing out that the drain has been searched seven times by the agencies and twice by Hiralal himself. I have asked them that upstream areas also be searched. And there be another search till Bharalu river sluice gate, into which the drain flows, he added. Sarma said he will visit Abhinashs residence on Monday and while no monetary compensation can bring back the boy, he will try to ensure the younger son of the couple is well taken care of. On allegations of government negligence leading to the incident and late response from rescue agencies, the CM maintained that there are bound to be some problems in a big city like Guwahati, but the administration was ready to rectify them wherever pointed out. He also maintained that the rescue agencies have been carrying out thorough work. Public awareness on safety measures like not riding during heavy rain has to be greater to ensure that such incidents do not recur, the CM added. On water logging in the city since Thursday evening, Sarma said only some low-lying areas continued to remain inundated till Saturday. We are working to make Guwahati flood free. When flooding problem of one area is solved, new areas get flooded due to various reasons. We are working on it, he said. Earlier on Thursday, as Hiralal found the second pair of the sandals his son was wearing, the desperate father urged the authorities to gear up their operations. I have been searching with an iron rod and have managed to find my sons sandals. I possibly cannot find him with the rod. The government has the machinery, they must find my boy, he said. He handed the sandals over to the police for verification. Search operations continued till late on Friday night and resumed in the morning. We have used sniffer dogs, excavators and super suckers at different locations, an official said. The official added that the various points towards which the drain water could have possibly flown have been mapped and a search is on. The parts of the drain which are covered with concrete slabs in the downstream areas are being lifted and a search was conducted for the missing boy, he said. The Madras High Court (MSC) ruled on Sunday that the body of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Tamil Nadu unit president, who was killed near his Chennai home this week, cannot be buried at the partys office in the state capital. The MHC permitted the burial of the in private in Villivakkam during a special sitting to hear a writ petition seeking permission to bury K. Armstrongs body within the party office premises at Perambur. Armstrong, 52, was hacked to death by a six-member bike-borne gang near his house in Perambur earlier this week. Hearing the writ petition filed by the deceased leaders wife, Justice V Bhavani Subbaroyan initially suggested that the body could be buried for the present in any of the three alternative places recommended by the city civic body. The judge said it may not be possible to allow the burial of the body within the party office premises since it was located in a residential area. CBI Probe On Sunday, BSP chief Mayawati demanded a CBI probe into the death of the Tamil Nadu unit chief. Mayawati, who arrived in Chennai today, earlier described Armstrong as a dedicated and hardworking BSP leader. She expressed that his death has caused widespread sorrow and outrage in society. Mayawati, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, paid homage to Armstrong here and placed a wreath before the body of the 52-year-old leader at a private school in Perambur in the city. Calling for a CBI investigation, Mayawati urged the state government to prioritise addressing the law and order situation. She also stressed the state governments role in providing comprehensive support to Armstrongs family. #WATCH | we urge the state government to refer the case to the CBI, says BSP Chief Mayawati on the murder of Tamil Nadu BSP President K Armstrong in Chennai.She says, I urge the state government and especially the CM that he should ensure law and order in the state, https://t.co/pgFqpzLFcR pic.twitter.com/wUjHL2de0l ANI (@ANI) July 7, 2024 Widespread sorrow The brutal murder of K Armstrong, a dedicated and hardworking BSP leader and president of the partys Tamil Nadu unit, outside his Chennai residence last evening, has caused widespread sorrow and outrage in the entire society. The government must take immediate and necessary action to prevent such incidents in the future, the BSP chief said in the post on X. The mortal remains of the K Armstrong are kept at Corporation School ground in Perambur for public homage. Considering the seriousness of this tragic incident, tomorrow morning I will be going to Chennai to pay homage to Armstrong and meet his grieving family to offer condolences. I appeal to all to maintain peace and order, she said in the post. #WATCH | Tamil Nadu: Mortal remains of state BSP President K Armstrong kept in Corporation School ground in Perambur for public homage.K Armstrong was hacked to death by a group of men near his residence in Perambur on 5 July. pic.twitter.com/kSElMsoF4m ANI (@ANI) July 7, 2024 Stalin Assures Strict Action Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said he was shocked and anguished over Armstrongs murder. The police have arrested those involved in his murder in an overnight operation, Stalin said in a post on X. He said that he has ordered the police to conduct the investigation expeditiously and ensure that the culprits are punished according to law. At least eight suspects have been secured in connection with the murder of the BSP state president, a senior police official said. (With agency inputs) Duty-free shops in arrivals areas of international airports in Thailand will be closed to encourage more spending by visitors in domestic stores, the Thai cabinet has said. The move is expected to generate up to THB3.5 billion (US$96 million) of new local retail spending a year. Rudklao Intawong Suwankiri, a deputy spokesperson of the Thai Government, said that ministers this week acknowledged guidelines for promoting Thailand as a tourism and spending hub, as proposed by the Ministry of Finance, reported Bangkok Post. She noted that all the three operators of inbound duty-free businesses have agreed to suspend the operations at eight international airports, namely Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Hat Yai, U-tapao, Samui, and Krabi. This aligns with the Governments policy to promote spending in domestic stores. Information on the timing of the move has yet to be revealed. Statistics from the Customs Department show that sales from inbound duty-free shops totaled THB3.02 billion in 2023. Rudklao said the ability of travelers to purchase goods from inbound duty-free shops reduces the opportunity for spending on domestic goods. The countrys Finance Ministry estimates that the closure of inbound duty-free shops will raise foreign tourists spending by THB570 per person each trip. After the fatal BMW crash in Mumbais Worli, claimed the life of 45-year-old Kaveri Nakhava on Sunday, her husband Pradeep Nakhava broke down while speaking to the media and claimed that the those involved in the accident were big people and that nobody will do anything to them. The couple were residents of Worlis Koliwada area and sold fish for a living. On Sunday morning, as they reached Sassoon Dock on their scooter to buy fish that they could sell later. a speeding BMW crashed into them from behind, throwing the two into the air. While the husband fell on the ground, Kaveri was dragged by the car. She was soon rushed to the hospital but upon reaching she was declared dead. Pradeep suffered minor injuries and as been at the police station since the morning. While speaking to Hindustan Times, he said, The accident happened at 5.30 am, the car came from behind and rammed into the scooter. I fell on the left side, but my wife was dragged through the road, he said. I have two children, what will I do? These are big people, nobody will do anything, we will suffer. Worli Police has detained the car owner Rajesh Shah, who is a local leader of Shiv Sena (Shinde) in Palghar. The police have nabbed the absconding driver and Shahs son, 24-year-old Mihir Shah, who are suspected to be in the car at the time of the accident. The accused was allegedly drunk, however his blood test reports are still awaited. A case has been registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections relating to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, rash driving and destruction of evidence, among others. As per police sources, quoted by Hindustan Times, the accused drank at a bar in Juhu last night. On his way home, he asked the driver to take him to a long drive and when the car came to Worli he insisted that he would drive. Soon after he started driving, the speeding BMW hit the scooter on which the Pradeep and Kaveri were returning home. A 26-year-old woman was allegedly killed by a 30-year-old man, believed to be her lover before he committed suicide on a railway track in Raipur, police said on Sunday, citing preliminary investigation. The body of Vani Goyal was found inside a hotel room, while Vishal Garg (30) was lying dead on the railway track near Urkura railway station earlier in the day. Family members of Goyal, a resident of Saraswati police station area, had lodged a missing complaint on Saturday, following which police launched a search, an official said. Goyals mobile location was tracked in Nagpur in neighbouring Maharashtra, following which a police team rushed there. Police personnel found her mobile phone but could not locate her, he said. Meanwhile, Gargs body was found on a railway track near Urkura railway station under Khamtarai police station limits, he said. Garg was a resident of Ambikapur city in Surguja district. Subsequently, police received inputs that Goyal was lying dead on the floor of a room at Hotel Babylon Inn in the Jail Road area of Raipur, the official said. The preliminary investigation suggests that the woman was thrashed and strangled to death, he said, adding that the exact cause of death will be identified in the postmortem report. Documents and CCTV footage show that the duo checked in inside the hotel at around 1:30 pm on Saturday. Preliminary investigation suggests that Garg allegedly murdered the woman before committing suicide. However, investigation into the case is underway, he added. The Cyber Bureau in Telangana filed an FIR against Youtuber, Praneeth Hanumanthu, for allegedly making incestuous comments in a video. The clip, in which a group of men can be heard making comments that sexualise a father-daughter bond, led to major online backlash. The youtuber is the son of a senior IAS officer and played a brief role in a movie recently. Even though he hails from Andhra Pradesh, the FIR was registered by Telangana police after the CM of the state, A Revanth Reddy, promised to take strict action. The youtuber had apologised after the social media uproar, but it did not cut ice with netizens as they argued that the video promoted paedophilia and put children in danger. Edited out the problematic part from the video. Unconditionally and unambiguously apologetic about the lapse in judgment. As a creator, my attempt is always to put a smile. Unfortunately this time I have crossed the line between what is dark and what is distasteful, he said. Edited out the problematic part from the video. Unconditionally and unambiguously apologetic about the lapse in judgment. As a creator, my attempt is always to put a smile. Unfortunately this time I have crossed the line between what is dark and what is distasteful. Praneeth Hanumantwo (@phanumantwo) July 6, 2024 The issue was amplified after Tollywood actor Sai Dharam Tej exhorted the deputy Chief Minister and Chief Minister of the state to take action. This is beyond gruesome, disgusting and scary. Monsters like these go unnoticed on the very much utilised social platform doing child abuse in the disguise of so-called Fun & Dank. Child Safety is the need of the hour I sincerely request Honble Chief Minister of Telangana @revanth_anumala & Deputy CM @Bhatti_Mallu Garu, Honble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh @ncbn Garu & Deputy CM @PawanKalyan Garu & @naralokesh Garu to take necessary action to curb horrific acts like this in the future. This is beyond gruesome, disgusting and scary.Monsters like these go unnoticed on the very much utilised social platform doing child abuse in the disguise of so-called Fun & Dank.Child Safety is the need of the hour I sincerely request Hon'ble Chief Minister of Telangana https://t.co/05GdKW1F0s Sai Dharam Tej (@IamSaiDharamTej) July 7, 2024 Both the CM and deputy CM replied to his plea. Thank you for bringing to our notice this issue @IamSaiDharamTej garu. Child safety is utmost priority for our Govt. Will look into this incident and take appropriate action, the Chief Minister said. Thank you for bringing to our notice this issue @IamSaiDharamTej garu. Child safety is utmost priority for our Govt. Will look into this incident and take appropriate action. https://t.co/5fTG4ZiQYi Revanth Reddy (@revanth_anumula) July 7, 2024 Following the tweet from the CM, DGP of Telangana Police, Ravi Gupta, tweeted that an FIR had been lodged against Praneeth. Addressing the inappropriate comments on a child, an FIR has been filed with @TGCyberBureau, and strict actions will follow. We are committed to protecting all citizens, especially children. Offenders misusing social media for humor will face justice, and our team @TelanganaCOPs is diligently identifying them. Telangana Govt @TelanganaCMO and Police will intensify efforts to raise awareness about #ChildSafety and responsible social media use. The quick action was appreciated by citizens who were calling for strict action against the offenders. Mihir Shah, the 24-year-old son of Shinde Sena leader in Palghar Rajesh Shah, was driving the speeding BMW that rammed into a bike-borne couple in Mumbais Worli on Sunday, according to police. The couple Pradeep and Kaveri Nakhava was on the way home after buying fish from Sassoon Dock when they were hit on Dr Annie Besant Road in the Koliwada area around 5.30 am. The car reportedly dragged Kaveri, 45, for two km. While Shah fled the spot, Kaveri succumbed to her injuries at Nair Hospital. With Shah absconding, the police arrested the Shinde Sena leader on Sunday. ALSO READ | BMW Hit-And-Run Case: Accused Mihir Shahs Girlfriend In Hot Seat As Cops Probe If She Helped Him Hide The BMW was later found in an abandoned state in Kala Nagar in Bandra East. The Mumbai Police has issued a lookout circular for Shah. Police officials are also questioning his girlfriend to check if she helped him hide. #BreakingNews | #Worli hit and run case: CCTV footage of Shinde Sena leaders son Mihir Shah accessed, he is seen getting into the car outside Juhu bar@kotakyesha shares more details#MumbaiHitAndRun #BMW | @kritsween pic.twitter.com/NbZYuUcxbP News18 (@CNNnews18) July 7, 2024 Heres all you need to know about Mihir Shah: The Islamic New Year is the first day of the new lunar Hijri calendar year. It is also the date on which the year count is increased. Most Muslims mark the first day of the Islamic calendar year on the first day of Muharram. The Islamic eras epoch (reference date) was designated as the year of Muhammad and his companions flight from Mecca to Medina, known as the Hijrah, which corresponds to 622 CE in the Gregorian calendar. The Islamic New Year begins at sunset yearly; hence the date varies. The Islamic lunar calendar is 11 days shorter than the Gregorian calendar, with 354 days (occasionally 355). However, the Islamic New Year likewise lasts 12 months. This year, the Islamic New Year will start on Sunday, July 7. WHEN IS MUHARRAM 2024? SAUDI ARABIA The crescent moon for Muharram was not sighted on July 5, 2024 (29th of Dhul Hijjah). Muharram 1446 began on July 6, 2024 after evening prayers. This marks the Islamic New Year according to the Saudi Arabian calendar. INDIA The crescent moon for Muharram was not sighted anywhere in Jammu and Kashmir on July 6, 2024. Muharram 1446 will start on Monday, July 15. Ashura (10th of Muharram) will be observed on Tuesday, July 17, 2024. Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar, and it is considered the second holiest month after Ramzan. Following the month of Muharram comes Dhul al-Hijjah, during which Muslims perform Hajj. Meanwhile, the Islamic calendar calculates all religious commitments, such as prayer, fasting during Ramadan, and pilgrimage, as well as the dates of key events, such as holy nights and festivals. Happy Islamic New Year 2024: Wishes & Quotes To Share I wish you and your family happiness and good health. I wish you all a wonderful year ahead. Happy Hijri New Year 2024. May Allah Almighty bestow blessings on the Muslim Ummah and all Islamic countries. All praise and thanks be to Allah, to whom everything in the heavens and on Earth belongs. Happy Hijri New Year. Im sending you prayers for the health of you and your family. Best wishes for the Hijri New Year. Let us all pray to Allah for a New Year filled with happiness, peace, and the removal of all evil from the globe. Wishes on the Islamic New Year 2024. May this year usher in great developments for all life on Earth. Have a happy Islamic New Year 2024! Islamic New Year 2024: All You Need To Know About The Hijri New Year The Islamic New Year started in 622 AD when Prophet Muhammad and his companions were forced to relocate from Mecca to Medina. They were persecuted for promoting the Islamic message in Mecca. He returned to Mecca after the conquest in 629 AD. There are normally no big celebrations on the first day of the Islamic New Year, but certain nations, such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, have proclaimed it a national holiday. The first month of Muharram is extremely important to Shia Muslims because it marks the death anniversary of Muhammads grandson Husayn Ibn Ali al-Hussein. On the 10th of this month, 680 AD, he was martyred in the Battle of Karbala. This occasion is known as Ashura. Shias throughout the world mourn on this day. They participate in Matam, a commemoration parade. In addition, the start of a new year inspires all Muslims to start something new and be optimistic about their future, even in the most difficult moments of their lives. The annual festival of Rath Yatra in Puri, Odisha, draws lakhs of devotees from across the world every year. One of the largest religious congregations for Hindus in the world, the nine-day festival marks the annual sojourn of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra to their birth place. ALSO READ: Puri Rath Yatra 2024: Date, History, and a Rare Occurrence After 53 Years! In honour of this auspicious occasion, here are some heartfelt wishes, messages, greetings and images to share with your friends and family: Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra Wishes 1. Best wishes of Rath Yatra filled with devotion, love, and togetherness. 2. The centuries-old festival of chariots celebrates a day of universal brotherhood, love, compassion, and togetherness to honour the Lord Jagannath, the Lord of the universe. Happy Rath Yatra! 3. May the benevolent trio, Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra, shower you with resilience and abundance. Embrace the spirit of the Rath Yatra with joy and blessings. 4. May Lord Jagannath bring the best colours of success, prosperity, and happiness to your life. Wishing you and your family a blessed Rath Yatra! 5. May this auspicious festival bring love, happiness and prosperity to your life. Let us all come together to celebrate the divine journey of Lord Jagannath, and seek his blessings for a fulfilling year ahead. May each step of the Rath Yatra fill you with bliss and strength to overcome any hurdle in life. 6. May the blessings of Lord Jagannath illuminate your life with happiness and contentment. Happy Rath Yatra wishes! 7. May the divine journey of Rath Yatra awaken the spiritual consciousness within you and lead you to enlightenment. Happy Rath Yatra! 8. As Lord Jagannath blesses the world with his divine presence, may he shower you with his choicest blessings and fulfil all your wishes. 9. Happy Jagannath Rath Yatra! May the felicity and harmonious relations surround you with his endless love and physical intensity. 10. Here is wishing you all the best for this Rath Yatra 2024. May you and your family stay happy and gather enough strength to fight all the evils of this world! 11. Heres bowing before the ruler of the universe on the auspicious occasion of Rath Yatra. Jai Jagannath! Anoushka Shankar, a nine-time Grammy-nominated sitarist, producer, film composer, and passionate activist, was recently honored with an Honorary Degree from the University of Oxford on June 19. This prestigious recognition was bestowed upon her in recognition of her outstanding achievements within the music industry, highlighting her significant impact on the global music scene and her dedication to uniting cultures through her artistic endeavors. Notably, Anoushka becomes the first musician of Indian descent to receive this esteemed accolade, marking a significant milestone in her illustrious career. Anoushka Shankars latest album, Chapter II: How Dark it Is Before Dawn, has garnered praise from audiences worldwide. This mini-album was crafted during recording sessions with British producer and composer Peter Raeburn at his renowned Soundtree Studios. The recording process took place in two phases, first in May 2023 in LA, following Anoushkas performance of her father Ravis Sitar Concerto No. 3 with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and then in London in September 2023 before embarking on her North American tour. In Chapter II, Anoushka ventures into new artistic and sonic territories, delving into a mesmerizing and almost ambient soundscape that builds upon the essence of the final track from Chapter I, Sleeping Flowers (Awaken Every Spring). The journey within the album starts with the dreamy Pacifica and progresses through four more expansive pieces, culminating in the captivating New Dawn, inspired by the hypnotic style of Phillip Glass, marking the awakening from slumber. Among the standout tracks, Offering and Below The Surface stand out with their ethereal melodies and evocative tones, while What Dreams Are Made Of incorporates field recordings, blending Eastern influences with contemporary ambient Americana. Additionally, In The End features poignant piano contributions from Danny Keane, enhancing the emotional depth of the composition and making it one of Anoushkas most powerful recordings to date. In an exclusive conversation with News18 Showsha, Anoushka opened up about receiving the Honorary degree, her latest album, her minimalistic approach towards Sitar and her recent albums and more. Here are the excerpts: Congratulations on being awarded an Honorary Degree from the University of Oxford! Can you share what this recognition means to you both personally and professionally? I mean, its a huge honor. As you mentioned, I felt quite elated when I received the news. It was a huge surprise, and I wasnt expecting it at all. Since its my first honorary degree, its an experience Ive never had before. I was really honored and pleased. It was a wonderful moment. You mentioned feeling grateful for the education in music you received from your father, Pt Ravi Shankar Ji, and the support from your mother. How did their guidance shape your career and musical journey? As parents, they provided a supportive atmosphere that encouraged the arts, which is crucial for anyone starting a career early in the arts. On top of that, my father was also my guru, which added another layer of influence. Learning from a guru is a very intense and deep experience. Its different from a formal education system because its more personal and involves a day-by-day transmission of knowledge. This kind of teaching is part of our musical legacy. Though I later moved on from the classical world and started making my own kinds of music, Im always mindful that everything started with the seed planted by my father. Your recent mini-album trilogy, with Chapter I: Forever, For Now and Chapter II: How Dark It Is Before Dawn, has been well-received. What inspired this project, and what can listeners expect from the final installment? Absolutely. In chapter one of my current project, I was working with Arooj Aftab, and we recorded in Germany and Europe. Chapter two dives deeper into a theme of healing and was recorded in California, influenced by the feeling of the Pacific Ocean, which I grew up next to. Chapter three is heavily influenced by India and Goa. My love of Goa from my younger days is something Im trying to capture in the music, bringing that energy into my work. Chapter II encompasses a mix of ambient and almost mesmeric soundscapes while addressing the spiritual cliches sometimes associated with sitar music. How do you balance these elements while maintaining your unique musical identity? For me, the only way to make art is to make it personal. If its authentic and real, then we can address big issues or tackle large themes effectively. On a mini-album of six songs, for instance, we explore the technicalities of my instrument and present it in a new sound world. We work on demystifying spirituality, removing the exotic tropes, and making peaceful and healing music. When art is personal and honest, people can relate to and identify with that emotional honesty because they connect with it themselves. Thats where it really reaches and resonates with the audience. The track Pacifica begins a night-time journey through your album. Can you share more about the themes and inspirations explored in this piece? Chapter Two starts with Pacifica, which has a very tender beginning. I was trying to evoke the Pacific Ocean and a sense of gentleness before diving into a deeper journey. The second song, Offering and What Dreams Are Made Of, explores a dreamscape, reflecting on feelings of time, regeneration, and healing. It examines what happens when we dreamhow the body and mind regenerate. Over the last year, Ive been contemplating the state of the world, the overwhelming events, wars, and the collective trauma we all feel. This song symbolizes the need to stop, take a pause, heal, and emerge on the other side. Finally, New Dawn marks the end of this journey, just as the dawn hits the horizon, signaling the beginning of a new space. Youve drawn inspiration from various sources, including Philip Glass for the track New Dawn. How did his work influence this piece, and what other musical influences are present in this mini-album? Over the past few years, Ive been deeply influenced by western neoclassical music, particularly from electronic piano composers like Nils Frahm, a dear friend who worked on Chapter One. There is an interesting full-circle journey here, which is often overlooked. My father and other Indian classical musicians influenced mid-20th-century Western composers like Philip Glass and Terry Riley, who then created minimalism in Western classical music. Today, composers like Nils Frahm, Olafur Arnalds, and Johann Johannsson make minimal, melody-based music. I believe the seeds of this style originate from Indian classical music. This influence has shaped my work significantly. I aim to create music with my sitar that reflects this minimal approach. In India, we often talk about fusion and crossover, but Im interested in exploring neoclassical musicthe next generation of our classical music and what the sitar can achieve today with modern technology. The piece What Dreams Are Made Of incorporates field recordings and has a chimeric quality. Can you discuss the process and thought behind integrating these elements into this track? A lot of it involves thinking cinematically and emotionally. Playing minimally can be challenging because were trained to be soloists on stage, creating detailed, intricate stories with our lead instrument. Here, the approach is broader, focusing on the atmosphere youre creating. Its about letting the sitar drop in with a simple line and then drop out, contributing to the overall sphere of the music. In What Dreams Were Made Of, for example, I held myself back, playing less and allowing the music to be almost childlike. In songs like Offering and Below the Surface, which are created entirely with the sitar, I used technological effects to enhance its sound, like creating huge reverbs. Playing these songs live feels like immersing the audience in a bath of sitar echoes, which is very new and exciting to explore. Megan Wyler, Raeburns partner, added vocals to Pacifica and New Dawn. Can you talk about the role her contributions played in shaping the feel and texture of these tracks? She is an incredibly skilled vocalist, known for her work on film soundtracks where she layers her voice in beautiful ways, almost like an instrument. Using vocals can be tricky because they naturally take the attention and tend to sit center stage. However, she was brilliant at helping me use her voice to create texture and background, blending it seamlessly with the sitar. Her ability to work in this way allowed us to create an intricate soundscape where the sitar could comfortably exist. Your approach to recording with a blank slate and trusting the process is intriguing. Can you elaborate on how this method influenced the creative outcome of the mini-album? My goal was to free myself from overthinking and agonizing, which often happens when making albums. I wanted to enjoy the pleasure and privilege of being in the studio, working intuitively and freely with others. Instead of meticulously planning a big album journey, I set a goal to embrace the journey as it unfolded. Working with different collaborators like Peter Raeburn, a film composer, on Chapter Two allowed for a more cinematic and atmospheric approach. Each chapter has provided a unique exploration of different aspects of my music. Your shift to earthy ambience and deep textures with the 2005 album Rise marked a significant turn in your career. What inspired this change in musical direction, and how did it shape your future works? When I made Rise at 24, which came out at 25, I had already produced three classical albums. However, those earlier works didnt fully represent who I was or how I felt as an artist. They reflected the music I had learned but not my complete identity. So, I took a pause to give myself the opportunity to make music without boundaries or limitations. This led to Rise, an album that incorporated electronic elements, flamenco piano, and instruments from around the world, reflecting the variety of music I grew up with. This blend of cultures, styles, and time periods felt like a more complete picture of who I am as an artist. In your later works, you have integrated various genres and influences, from flamenco in Traveller to addressing contemporary issues in Land Of Gold. How do you navigate and balance these diverse musical influences in your compositions? It depends on the context. For my own albums, there might be a parameter Ive set, or it might be very free. If Im working on a classical project, the framework is very clear. Its about creating a context for each projectdeciding if the music needs to be open and expansive to tell a story or if it needs to adhere to certain parameters. Its like choosing what language to speak based on who youre talking to or where you are. This flexibility allows me to adapt and communicate effectively through my music. Being recognized as an Asian Hero by TIME magazine and receiving the British House of Commons Shield are significant achievements. How do you view your role as a cultural ambassador and a trailblazer for Indian classical music? I feel very fortunate to make music that comes from my heart. Many artists, even those who release music through a label, often face limitations. Im lucky to have found a path where I can create the music I genuinely want to make and have an audience that resonates with it. What more can an artist hope for? My aim is to continue being as honest as possible in my music, responding to the world around me, and being a voice for positive change where I can. Thats my aspiration. Youre celebrating your 30th year of performing live as a sitarist and have toured extensively across the globe. What have been some of the most memorable performances or venues during this tour? The first shows are always the most scary and locked in, but also incredibly exciting. Weve played at some incredible venues. In India, theres been a beautiful tour, but Lollapalooza really stands out as something special. Being in Australia, performing at the Sydney Opera House, and in London at the Barbican with more than 100 friends in the audiencethese shows are particularly memorable. These experiences are marked by the uniqueness of the venue, whether its a festival or an unusual location, or simply a home show filled with friends. Those are the ones that truly feel special. How do you prepare for such an extensive global tour, and how do you keep your performances fresh and engaging for diverse audiences? When touring, especially around a specific release, the context is often set by that theme. However, I try to leave enough room in each show for change and improvisation to keep things fresh. If you play the same repertoire repeatedly, it can start to feel mechanical. Allowing space for spontaneity helps maintain excitement for both the performers and the audience. I dont change the music based on geographic culture; audiences are more complex than that. However, I may adjust how we present the music based on the setting. For example, at a large festival, we might start with something louder to grab attention, whereas, in a concert hall, we might take the risk of starting slow since the audience is already seated and attentive. Youve broadened your repertoire to include composing for visual media, such as the 1927 Indian silent film Shiraz and Mira Nairs series A Suitable Boy. What drew you to composing for film and television, and how does this process differ from creating standalone music projects? I love trying new things, especially within music and composition. While composing my own work is wonderful, theres also the challenge and reward of composing for other projects. Collaborating within other mediums to achieve the desired outcome for a piece is something Ive been really interested in. As a single parent, its sometimes challenging to manage touring. Composing for other projects allows me to be creative and busy while being able to spend more time at home. Its a nice balance to develop into. What are the unique aspects of translating historical and cultural themes into your film scores, especially for pieces like Shiraz that have significant cultural weight? Working on a film project was really interesting and a good fit because of my background in classical music, paired with the knowledge of how to modernize it. The challenge was to maintain the films age or prestige while presenting it to modern audiences. I relished the opportunity to bring out the best of classical elements in a contemporary context, and it was a wonderful experience. Id love to do more of it. You have been a vocal advocate for various social causes, including being an ambassador for The Walk and the inaugural president of the F-List. How do you balance your activism work with your musical career, and why is this work important to you? Its important to me to have a positive impact on the world, not just as a musician, but as a human being. Our choices in how we live and what we support can have a positive or negative impact. One way I can create a positive impact is by using my platform and voice effectively. Balancing this with my music comes down to authenticity. If I confuse my audience by speaking on too many issues or something disconnected from me, Id lose their attention and the opportunity to make a difference. People who follow me know that I care about refugee rights, womens causes, and children. Connecting these causes to my work, or doing separate initiatives aligned with these issues, aligns with who I am. I care about many other issues, but I choose not to focus on all of them publicly to avoid spreading myself too thin and losing effectiveness. What aspirations do you have for your musical journey in the next decade, and how do you see your role evolving within the global music landscape? Its hard to predict the future, but my hope is to keep deepening my craft. I want to get better and go deeper into my music. With that growth, I aim to take on bigger, more beautiful, and interesting projects that I havent done before. I hope these endeavors will reach more people and resonate with them. However, the music industry and the world are changing so fast that its difficult to imagine what things will be like a decade from now. So, we just have to keep moving forward, doing our best, and see what happens. Youve had the unique opportunity to work with a diverse range of artists like Sting, M.I.A., Herbie Hancock, and Arooj Aftab. What have these collaborations taught you, and how have they impacted your music? Collaborations are a significant area for learning because when you work with people who have different skill sets or experiences, they bring new perspectives to the table. Together, we can create something bigger and better than we could individually, and I also have the opportunity to learn from them. Its also a lot of fun. If you have good chemistry with another artist, its like hanging out with a friendyou get to inspire each other and share ideas. Its an incredible place of connection and creativity. Looking ahead, what new projects or collaborations are you most excited about? There are a few projects Im really excited about, although I cant share all the details yet. One involves work for Chapter Three, and another is a side project with some iconic and amazing artists. I recently spent a week with these artists, and it was incredibly inspiring, but were still figuring out what were going to do with it. Another area Im excited about is curation. Im going to be a guest director for the Brighton Festival in the UK next year. Its a one-month-long, cross-media arts festival, and Ill have the opportunity to invite many artists across different mediums who inspire me. Right now, Im in the process of putting it all together, designing it, and planning interesting collaborations and surprises for the audience. Its a hugely inspiring endeavor. What advice would you give to young musicians who wish to pursue a career blending classical traditions with modern influences? Its crucial to approach any musical style or culture with respect and understanding. Even if you dont know the other style well, you cant treat it casually or take it for granted. Educate yourself and seek help to ensure youre not doing anything disrespectful. For example, someone working with me might not know they shouldnt step over my instrument, and its important to learn those nuances if were going to collaborate. Similarly, I cant be arrogant about another culture or style; I need to learn and approach it with curiosity and respect. Additionally, dont engage in something just because it seems cool or might do well. Theres nothing wrong with that, but if you can connect your work with your genuine artistic voice, itll have the authenticity that people can hear and resonate with. Sai Dharam Tej recently reacted to a YouTubers joke about children. The Telugu actor used his (X) account to urge Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan to take strong measures to ensure child safety. Sai highlighted inappropriate sexual references in a YouTube video featuring a father and daughter. Sai quote tweeted the video and wrote, This is beyond gruesome, disgusting and scary. Monsters like these go unnoticed on the very much utilised social platform doing child abuse in the disguise of so-called Fun & Dank. Child Safety is the need of the hour. (folded hands emoji) I sincerely request Honble Chief Minister of Telangana @revanth_anumala & Deputy CM @Bhatti_Mallu Garu, Honble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh @ncbn Garu & Deputy CM @PawanKalyan Garu & @naralokesh Garu to take necessary action to curb horrific acts like this in the future. This is beyond gruesome, disgusting and scary.Monsters like these go unnoticed on the very much utilised social platform doing child abuse in the disguise of so-called Fun & Dank.Child Safety is the need of the hour I sincerely request Hon'ble Chief Minister of Telangana https://t.co/05GdKW1F0s Sai Dharam Tej (@IamSaiDharamTej) July 7, 2024 In another message, the Tollywood actor urged parents to be careful about sharing videos or pictures of their kids online. He warned that social media can be risky and advised everyone to stay cautious. He added, To those people who have stooped to such a low standard, I hope that you never get to experience the turmoil of a parent due to your hurtful comments. The YouTuber said sorry and removed the problematic part from the video. He wrote, Edited out the problematic part from the video. Unconditionally and unambiguously apologetic about the lapse in judgement. As a creator, my attempt is always to put a smile. Unfortunately, this time I have crossed the line between what is dark and what is distasteful. Sonakshi Sinha recently married her long-time boyfriend, Zaheer Iqbal, and has moved into a new luxury apartment in Bandra, Mumbai. Two weeks after the wedding, she posted new photos from the intimate celebrations, showing her hugging her mother, Poonam Sinha, and father, veteran actor Shatrughan Sinha. In the caption, she wrote that she is missing her parents a lot today and recalled how emotional her mother became upon realising that her daughter would be moving out after marriage. Sonakshi also reminded herself that it is just a 25-minute drive from her new home in Bandra to her familys house in Juhu. She captioned the photos, At the wedding Maa started crying when it hit her i would be moving out of the house, i told her Maa, dont worry juhu to bandra only 25 mins Missing them a lil extra today, so Im telling myself the exact same thing Hope theres Sunday sindhi curry made at homeSee you soon zoom zoom zoom. Sonakshi also mentioned her favorite dishes and joked that they better be ready because she is on her way to her parents house. Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal tied the knot on June 23. The couple hosted an intimate ceremony at the formers Bandra residence. After their wedding, Sonakshi shared beautiful photos on social media and penned a long note. Whattttt a day!!!! The love, the laughter, the togetherness, the excitement, the warmth, the support from every one of our friends, families and teams it was like the universe came together for two people in love to give them exactly what theyve always hoped, wished and prayed for If this is not divine intervention we dont know what is We are both truly blessed to have each other and so much love protecting us, she wrote. Sonakshi Sinha took to her social handle and shared an unseen photo with Zaheer Iqbal from the wedding day. The actress got married to her longtime boyfriend on June 23. The couple later hosted star-studded reception function. Well, recently she was in the news for pregnancy rumours. Taking to her Instagram stories, Sonakshi shared photo in which she and Zaheer are wearing their wedding attire and posing. The angels are watching over us, read the caption. In a recent interview, the actress took a subtle jibe at the rumours and shared that she cant even go to a hospital now because people think she is pregnant. The only change is ab hum hospital nahi ja sakte kyunki jaise hi aap niklo logon ko lagta hai aap pregnant ho. Thats the only difference (The only change is that now we cannot go to the hospital because as soon as you step out people think you are pregnant), Sonakshi told Times Now. Take a look here: Sharing the wedding pictures online, the newlyweds wrote, On this very day, seven years back (23.06.2017) in each others eyes, we saw love in its purest form and decided to hold on to it. Today that love has guided us through all the challenges and triumphs leading up to this moment where with the blessings of both our families and both our gods we are now man and wife. Heres to love, hope and all things beautiful with each other, from now until forever. Sonakshi Zaheer 23.06.2024. There were rumours that Sonakshis brother Kussh Sinha was upset and did not attend her wedding. However, in an exclusive interview with News18 Showsha, Kussh revealed that he was very much a part of the gala night, thus slamming rumours of the Sinhas being unhappy with Sonakshi and Zaheers union. I have already seen people publishing inaccurate information. It started with an article in a leading portal that had a quote by an unnamed source. I am not sure whos doing all this right now and where its coming from. But a few houses have my images [from the night], he told us. Sonakshi Sinha is currently in Kakuda with Riteish Deshmukh and Saqib Saleem. The trailer begins by introducing a village of Ratodi which is cursed. Each house in the village has two doors: one big and one small. The smaller door is for a ghost named Kakuda. Saqib and Sonakshi love each other and got married. However, their love story takes a surprising turn when they encounter a curse from Kakuda. On their wedding night, at 7:15 pm, Sunny forgot to open the small door for Kakuda. The ghost is known for placing a curse on the head of the household as a punishment. With Sunnys life in danger, Sonakshi seeks help from Victor, an intriguing ghost hunter played by Riteish. Photo: Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 7. The Ashaghi Govhar Agha Mosque, which suffered extensive vandalism during nearly 30 years of Armenian occupation, has been restored to its historical glory, Trend reports. The Ashaghi Govhar Agha Mosque, designed in the 19th century by architect Karbalai Safikhan Garabaghi, is recognized as the first mosque built in Shusha by the daughter of Ibrahim Khan Govhar Agha. The Ashaghi Govhar Agha Mosque is one of the historical and architectural symbols of the city. Shusha historically consisted of 17 upper and lower quarters. The Ashaghi Govhar Agha Mosque was named so because it was located in the lower part of the city. To make the mosque look taller and more attractive, the architect placed minarets on the rear facade. During the occupation of Shusha, the building and minarets of the mosque were seriously damaged, coming under fire from Armenian armored vehicles, the mosque became a victim of vandalism. Frank Furedi, the Hungarian-Canadian media commentator and academic and emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Kent, in his latest article, The Fear of Populism Expresses The Elites Disdain For Democracy, writes an unforgettable line: Populism is democracy in action. Furedi goes on to explain that democracy helps people find their voice. Throughout most of history, the political classes had little sympathy for people attempting to find their voice. Democracy as an ideal barely survived the ravages of centuries of political hostility. Even in those circumstances where societies acclaimed its virtues, democracy served as an ideal that was very rarely allowed to flourish. Though there were genuine attempts to construct a system of representation through which popular consent could be brought into a close alignment with the direction of travel of executive power, the realisation of the ideal of democracy has always faced formidable obstacles. A lot of the news from Kashmir needs to be read in the context of Furedis analysis. The political class of Kashmir was always disconnected from the ordinary common people throughout the seven decades of post-Independence. All that the communal, yet professing secularism, National Conference party did was use Islam as a weapon to keep grabbing power and rallying the people against the Indian state. A lot of misinformation, and disinformation campaigns were unleashed and the people grew a sentimental attachment to the hollowed-out Article 370. If the Srinagar-elect Aga Rouhullahs performance last week in Parliament is anything to go by, the NC is up to its tricks yet again. But this time it was amusing to see the political class get exposed live and demonstrate to mainland Indians how theyve kept an entire population confused about their nationalist identity using the special status, tied up to the Islamist Muslim supremacy theme since the time there was no Internet or social media. For a change the political class, with Engineer Rashid given the go-ahead by the NIA for oath-taking on June 5, will be forced to deal with the Indians they hate through dialogue and debate rather than using the crutch of the AK-47s of terror groups. But the government will have to step up. The Indian Railways official tweet couldnt distinguish between the Jammu division and the Kashmir division, attributing the Chenab railway bridge to Kashmir Valley instead of Jammu in its promotional tweet. Therefore, it is still frustrating that the mainstream media runs after bytes from the political class without trying to listen to what the silent majority terrorised by the AK-47 for decades and now the political class favourite Islam khatre mein hai has to say. The Kashmiris have lots of sentiments attached to the hollow Article because of the dynasty politicians ambiguous stance and soft separatism. That the leaders of most political parties in Kashmir have welcomed PM Modis announcement for assembly elections in J&K and restoration of statehood is an ominous sign for us that the intifada factory is getting emboldened once more. The recent election results in the Union Territory proved that the people were tired of dynast politicians and wanted fresh faces. It also showed that the people in former districts which had no-go areas where the Indian Army wouldnt dare to tread in the 1990s are still radicalised, electing an anti-India and anti-Hindu activist-lawyer. But India is also a liberal, secular democracy (the secular meaning all religions treated as equal rather than the Western separation of the church from the state kind) and is morally obliged to hold free and fair elections in all its states and union territories. The 2024 Lok Sabha elections were not a mean feat considering the 543 constituencies and how they were handled with no major allegations of booth capturing, poll rigging or EVM tampering; as we Kashmiris are habitual of hearing of the 1987 rigged elections that unleashed so much for us. But in a war zone that has just finished a thirty-year proxy war with Pakistan and still shows no signs of abating, is it a wise decision to treat it as a normal zone just five years after the abrogation of Article 370? Remember Engineer Rashid has been elected from the Langate, Kupwara constituency, one of the deadliest districts in the Islamic jihad, orchestrated and sponsored by Pakistan exploiting its proximity to the LoC. Engineer Rashid is also the controversial activist who butchered a cow in his area just to make a point in the beef politics going on in the nation a few years back by hosting a beef party. In addition to this, he is also in jail on terror connection charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which garnered a sympathy vote due to his two sons campaigning for months for their fathers release before voting day. The abrogation itself has not gone down well with the radical elements in Kashmiri society as well as the moderate ones who exploit the jihadi elements for their agenda of Muslim supremacy and Islamism (radical political Islam). It has also put a dent in the agenda of Kashmiri politicians who are there for looting and nepotism from the state, keeping the conflict industry alive and blackmailing New Delhi with agitations and unrest on the streets and towns of Kashmir if the economic doleouts are not given from time to time. The Dulat Doctrine catered to this tactic, never listening to the dissenters of aazadi and time and again practising statecraft that was detrimental to Indian nationalists in the Valley. They are still doing the same thing. If the reality check of the Lok Sabha elections is something the current government is ready to reflect upon, then they should not announce assembly elections in the Valley or restoration of statehood because it will mean that the snakes in the political arena of Kashmir get their power back and the conflict entrepreneurs will get a boost. The infiltration hasnt stopped yet and Pakistan is still pursuing its bleed India with a thousand cuts policy, the attacks in the Jammu region last month are proof of this. Coupled with the soft separatism of the dynast politicians, even the ones who aligned themselves with the BJP, the Kashmir region cannot be treated as something that has come out of an Islamic jihad. It takes decades if not centuries to change attitudes and the Islamism virus is such that does not go easily. Examples are Mustafa Kemal Ataturks Turkey threatened by Sultan Erdogans Caliphate approach, and Gamal Nassers Egypt today, a cesspool of Islamist leftovers of the Muslim Brotherhood of Syed Qutb. Kashmir still needs to adjust to a parliamentary democracy, the reality that there is going to be no merger with Pakistan, that the Kashmiri Pandits have to be rehabilitated back at any cost, that the Article is gone and the ambiguity about and Indic identity that it brought within itself and was exploited by the grandchildren of the ones who insisted it be kept in the Constitution will take at least a generation to sink in. New Delhi seems to be getting ready to experiment with a Dulat Doctrine 2.0 without realising its cost on the silent majority that is happy with the way things are. The LG administration and its focus on infrastructure development and work ethics have given the people a breathing space, caught as they were between the Islamist jihadis and the moderate dynastic politicians soft separatism. They would like it to continue so for a couple of years more. The silent majority knows the rising signs of Islamism and can see the insidious rise of the Intifada factory again after Engineer Rashids win. If GoI does not want another tehreek in the next 70 years, it needs to learn to listen to the silence of the silent majority above the ruckus of the political class and their paid supporters promised the special status. The author is a writer and an educationist from Srinagar. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. A day after Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar lashed out at him over his part-timers remark on the new criminal laws, Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday said drafting of such crucial bills should have been entrusted to the Law Commission and not to a committee whose members served part time. Chidambaram said in a post on X that the Union home ministry constituted a committee in May 2020 for reforms of criminal laws that had a chairman, convenor and members. Its composition was changed from time to time but, in the end, the committee had a convenor and five members, the former Union home minister said. All but one member were serving professors of various universities and served as part-time members of the committee, Chidambaram said. It is this committee that submitted drafts of the three new criminal laws, he said. Eventually, Parliament passed the laws, he added. I maintain that the drafting of such crucial bills should have been entrusted to the Law Commission and not to a committee whose members served part time and had other responsibilities, the Congress leader said. His remark came a day after Dhankhar lashed out at him over his comment that the three new criminal laws were drafted by part-timers. The vice-president termed the comment inexcusable and urged the Congress leader to withdraw his derogatory, defamatory and insulting observation. Dhankhar said he was shocked beyond words when he read Chidambarams interview to a leading national daily in which he had said that the new laws were drafted by part-timers. Addressing an event in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday, Dhankhar referred to Chidambarams comment and said, Are we part-timers in Parliament? It is an inexcusable insult to the wisdom of the Parliament I do not have words strong enough to condemn such a narrative being set afloat and an MP being labelled as a part-timer. I appeal to him (Chidambaram) from this platform, please withdraw this derogatory, defamatory and highly insulting observation about the Members of Parliament (MPs). I hope he does it, the vice-president had said. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has hit back at Rahul Gandhi after the Congress leader claimed that the INDIA bloc defeated the Ram temple movement following the alliances recent win in the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat, dealing a setback to the ruling party in Ayodhya. On Saturday, Rahul targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the BJPs defeat in Uttar Pradeshs Faizabad, where Ayodhya is located. In a post on X, BJP IT chief Amit Malviya described the Congress leader as childish and asked, Why does Rahul Gandhi hate Hindus so much? Childish Rahul Gandhi is claiming that the Indian alliance has defeated the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, which was centered in Ayodhya. Why does Rahul Gandhi hate Hindus so much? There have been people who claimed to erase the existence of Lord Shri Ram before, but all of them vanished. But there are still crores of devotees who have faith in Lord Ram, Malviya said while posting a video of Rahul Gandhi. , , ? , pic.twitter.com/wNYqWXUjTZ Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) July 6, 2024 On Saturday, Rahul Gandhi said 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. 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 here 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 (Gandhis) 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. Gujarat Election Rahul Gandhi said that Congress will win Gujarat, and from this state, it will make a new start. Congress will defeat BJP in Gujarat because the balloon of Modis 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. 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. (With agency inputs) US President Joe Biden managed to gain ground on his predecessor Donald Trump in key battleground states and is currently trailing by only 2%, a new tracking poll conducted by Bloomberg News/Morning Consult showed. The gaining of the ground comes despite Bidens poor outing at the first presidential debate last week. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, leads Democrat Biden 47% to 45% in some of the key states that both of them need to win in order to win the November election, the poll showed. A separate report by New York Post said that it is the smallest gap since the poll began in October. Biden is losing in Pennsylvania, the state he grew up in, but leads Donald Trump in Michigan and Wisconsin. He is also trailing in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina but is within the polls statistical margin of error. Some registered voters and Democrats who participated in the polls said Biden should withdraw from the White House race. The poll results showed that nearly three in 10 Democrats believe Biden should drop out of the race. 9% of Republicans also said that Trump should do the same. The findings of the Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll contrast with some national polls that showed a decline for Biden after the June 27 debate, where he gave incoherent answers and seemed to stumble over his words. According to the poll, swing-state voters thought Biden performed poorly, with fewer than one in five considering the 81-year-old as the more coherent, mentally fit, or dominant participant. The poll, conducted four days after the Trump-Biden showdown, allowed voters more time to evaluate Bidens shaky performance, unlike some earlier national polls. US President Joe Biden is heading back out on the campaign trail Sunday, desperate to salvage his re-election bid as senior Democrats meet to discuss growing calls that he quit the White House race. The 81-year-old Democrat kicks off a gruelling week with two campaign rallies in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, where he trails in polls, before hosting the NATO leaders summit in Washington. He will do so under an increasingly unforgiving spotlight, as pressure mounts for him to drop out after his disastrous debate against Donald Trump last month ignited panic over his age and fitness to serve another four years. Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday congratulated new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on his election, state media reported, the first senior leader in Beijing to do so publicly. China is willing to work with the new UK government to consolidate mutual political trust and expand mutually beneficial cooperation, Li told Starmer, according to state news agency Xinhua. Their call came after days of silence from top officials in Beijing, with the Chinese foreign ministry saying only that it noted the results of the UK election. By comparison, Chinese leader Xi Jinping congratulated Irans incoming president Masoud Pezeshkian just hours after his election on Saturday. China was Britains fifth-largest trading partner as of 2023, according to the UK Department for Business and Trade. But diplomatic relations between the two countries have been icy in recent years, with Beijing and London sparring over tightening communist control in former British colony Hong Kong. The two sides have also traded accusations of espionage, with Beijing saying last month that MI6 had recruited Chinese state employees to spy for the UK. Xinhua on Sunday said Li told Starmer that the strengthening of bilateral coordination and cooperation was in the interests of both sides. Russia is expecting a full-fledged visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Moscow, which is crucial for the bilateral relations, Kremlin said on Saturday. PM Modi will be in Moscow from July 8 to 9 at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit. The two leaders will review the entire range of multifaceted relations between the two countries and exchange views on contemporary regional and global issues of mutual interest. In an interview with Russias state-run channel, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the agenda of PM Modis Moscow trip will be extensive. Very Important Visit Obviously, the agenda will be extensive, if not to say overbusy. It will be an official visit, and we hope that the heads will be able to talk in an informal way as well, he said. Peskov said that Russian-Indian relations are at the level of strategic partnership. He said that there would be both one-on-one talks in the Kremlin and those involving delegations. We are expecting a very important and full-fledged visit, which is so crucial for Russian-Indian relations, he was quoted as saying by the official Tass news agency. It will be Modis first visit to Russia in nearly five years. His last visit to Russia was in 2019 when he attended an economic conclave in the Far East city of Vladivostok. The annual summit between the prime minister of India and the president of Russia is the highest institutional dialogue mechanism in the strategic partnership between the two countries. As many as 21 annual summits have taken place alternately in India and Russia. The last annual summit was held on December 6, 2021 in New Delhi. President Putin had visited India to attend the summit. Russia has had strong ties with India since the Cold War, and New Delhis importance as a key trading partner for Moscow has grown since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Keeping its national interest in mind, India has become one of the key buyers of Russian oil following sanctions imposed by the US and its allies that shut most Western markets for Russian exports. (With agency inputs) Hamas has accepted a US proposal to begin talks on releasing Israeli hostages, including soldiers and men, several news agencies reported on Saturday. The Palestinian outfit 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. Reports suggest that 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. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns will travel to Qatar next week for negotiations, according to Reuters. The talks would focus on resolving a Hamas demand that the United States, Israel, Qatar and Egypt guarantee in writing a temporary ceasefire, aid deliveries and an Israeli troop withdrawal if indirect talks on implementing the second phase of the plan continued. There was now a real chance of achieving agreement, according to an Israeli source cited by Reuters. That was in sharp contrast to past instances, when Israel said conditions attached by Hamas were unacceptable. 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, Theres 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 Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages. The new proposal ensures mediators would guarantee a temporary ceasefire, aid delivery and the withdrawal of Israeli troops as long as indirect talks continue. Efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza have intensified with active shuttle diplomacy among Washington, Israel and Qatar. Washington is trying hard to secure a deal before the US presidential election in November. (With agency inputs) A mass shooting at a block party on Detroits east side early Sunday morning left two dead and 19 injured. The 22-year-old alleged shooter who is now in police custody is also injured with a gunshot wound. The suspect, whose identity has not been disclosed, reportedly opened fire around 2:25 a.m. near Reno Street and Rossini Drive. According to Click On Detroit, the shooter was injured in the left leg during the incident. The police have not yet identified the victims but they told the outlet that a 20-year-old woman died at the scene after being shot in the head. They said that the other victim was a 21-year-old man who was pronounced dead at the hospital after being shot in the back. One of the victims, a 17-year-old girl, is in critical condition, according to reports. Thirteen others are in serious condition, while three are stable. According to police, all of Sundays victims were between 17 and 28 years old. The shooting comes amid a violent holiday weekend nationwide. Violence and mass shootings often surge in the summer months, especially around the Fourth of July. Researchers say the reason is a combination of factors, including more social events and more alcohol consumption. The problem is the normalcy of these shootings. Come Jan. 1, the police will say crime is down, and then well start all over again. Funeral homes, hospitals and florists are the only people who profit from Detroit crime, Detroit Police Commissioner Ricardo Moore was quoted as saying by Detroit News. Sri Lanka has decided to lift from next year a ban on the visit of foreign research ships imposed after strong security concerns raised by India and the US following frequent docking requests from hi-tech Chinese surveillance vessels, the Japanese media reported. The change in position was conveyed by visiting Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry to the NHK World Japan. With the increased movement of Chinese research vessels in the Indian Ocean, New Delhi had expressed concern that those might be spy ships and urged Colombo not to allow such vessels to dock at its ports. After India raised concern, Sri Lanka banned the entry of foreign research vessels from docking at its port in January. Earlier this year, it had made an exception for a Chinese vessel but said the ban would continue otherwise. Sabry said his government cannot have different rules for different countries and only block China. He added that his country will not take sides in a dispute between others, the NHK World Japan said in a report on Friday. The moratorium is till January next year. Sri Lanka will then no longer ban foreign research ships from its ports next year, Sabry said. Two Chinese spy ships were allowed to dock in Sri Lanka ports within 14 months through November 2023, with one called for replenishment and the other for research. Chinese research ship Shi Yan 6 arrived in Sri Lanka in October 2023 and docked at Colombo port, for what Beijing cited as geophysical scientific research in collaboration with the island nations National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA). The US had expressed concern to Sri Lanka before the arrival of Shi Yan 6. In August 2022, Chinese navy vessel Yuan Wang 5 docked at Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka for replenishment. Cash-strapped Sri Lanka considers both India and China equally important partners in its task to restructure its external debt. The island nation was hit by an unprecedented financial crisis in 2022, the worst since its independence from Britain in 1948, due to a severe paucity of foreign exchange reserves. Meanwhile, Sabry also expressed gratitude for Japans plan to provide a ship equipped with sonar, which, he said, will give Sri Lanka an opportunity to do its own survey and collect its own data, and commercially exploit it. Sabry emphasised that Sri Lanka has untapped maritime resources, and research is essential, but it has to be done in a transparent manner, the NHK report added. Located at a strategic point in the Indian Ocean, the island nation is an important stop for marine traffic between South East Asia and West Asia, which is part of the global trade route. Even as US President Joe Biden heads back out on the campaign trail on Sunday, calls continue for him to step aside and allow someone else the chance to run, more than a week after his lackluster debate performance in Atlanta. The 81-year-old Democrat has not convinced all Democrats, including lawmakers and donors, that he is fit to take on Donald Trump and serve another four years. Netflixs co-founder Reed Hastings called on Biden to step aside. Biden is unfortunately in denial about his mental state, he said in a statement to ABC News. He needs to step aside to let a vigorous Democratic leader beat Trump. Cold, Hard Reality Former Paypal CEO Bill Harris told the outlet that Biden seemed old in the interview and he thinks it may turn off voters who are skeptical of Bidens abilities. He donated $620,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020 but believes the idea of Biden stepping aside in this race is inevitable. Another major investor Whitney Tilson told ABC News that even the wealthiest people have limitations to money and he wants to hold his donation to support the candidates that throw their hat in the ring. In a post on X, Tilson said, The cold, hard reality is that if we stick with Biden, its ~80% likely he loses, probably badly, and takes down-ballot Democrats with him, handing the House and Senate to Republicans as well. A friend emailed me to argue in favor of Biden remaining the nominee. I replied:Respectfully, you are kidding yourself. What you, me, Tom Friedman, Charles Blow, even Biden himself think doesnt matter. The ONLY thing that matters is what the AMERICAN PEOPLE think. Re. this, Whitney Tilson (@WhitneyTilson) July 7, 2024 Calls for Biden to step down came as he heads back out on the campaign trail Sunday, in a bid to salvage his re-election bid as senior Democrats meet to discuss growing calls that he quit the White House race. He kicks off a grueling week with two campaign rallies in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, before hosting the NATO leaders summit in Washington. He will do so under an increasingly unforgiving spotlight, as pressure mounts for him to drop out after his disastrous debate against Donald Trump last month ignited panic over his age and fitness to serve another four years. Biden has remained defiant, unequivocally declaring at a rally, to reporters and on social media that he is fit to serve, the only one who can defeat Trump, and staying in the race. I beat Trump in 2020 I beat Trump in 2020. Im going to beat him again in 2024, his campaign social media account posted Saturday. But a televised interview with ABC News on Friday has failed to quell concerns. His next major test in the public eye will be a press conference scheduled for Thursday, during the NATO summit. As many as five Democratic lawmakers have called on Biden to drop out, with the drumbeat of dissent slowly rising. The House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, has scheduled a virtual meeting of senior Democrat representatives for Sunday to discuss the best way forward, and Democrat Senator Mark Warner is reportedly working to convene a similar forum in the upper chamber. Democrat heavyweights are largely keeping a lid on any simmering discontent with their leader. Meanwhile, for Biden and his campaign team, the strategy seems to be to ride it out. First Lady Jill Biden, who according to some reports is urging her husband to stay in the race, is scheduled to campaign in Georgia, Florida and North Carolina on Monday. The campaign has unveiled an intense battle plan for July, including an avalanche of TV spots and trips to all the key states. That includes a visit to the southwest of the country during the Republican convention from July 15-18, at which Trump is set to be anointed the partys official presidential nominee. In an interview with ABC News on Friday, Biden dismissed the falling poll numbers and concerns over his mental and physical fitness triggered by his dismal June 27 performance against Trump. He blamed a severe cold for the debate debacle and insisted it was just a bad night rather than evidence of increasing frailty and cognitive decline. Some of his answers were tentative, meandering and difficult to follow, even as he sought to deflect questions about his mental acuity and dismissed the notion that his party would consider replacing him. If the Lord Almighty came down and said, Joe, get out of the race, Id get out of the race, he said. But the Lord Almighty is not coming down. (With agency inputs) ALMATY, Kazakhstan, July 7. Kazakhstan possesses a number of advantages that can contribute to transforming it into a transportation regional hub, Almas Abaideldinov, General Director of Eastcomtrans LLP, told Trend on the sidelines of the Annual meeting & Business Forum of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) in Almaty, Kazakhstan. "Kazakhstan has several advantages that can help it become a regional transportation hub. The first is its geographical location. Kazakhstan is situated between Europe and Asia, making it a crucial transit corridor for trade between these regions. The second advantage is infrastructure development," Abaideldinov said. He noted that in recent years, Kazakhstan has been actively investing in transport infrastructure, including railroads, highways, airports, and seaports. "For instance, the project to build a bypass railway line around the Almaty station will redirect cargo traffic to the new Zhetygen-Kazybek railroad. Additionally, the construction of a new railway line from Bakhty to Ayagoz and the opening of the third border crossing with China at Bakhty-Chuguchak, along with the modernization of Caspian Sea ports, are all aimed at enhancing transport corridors," he said. Abaideldinov emphasized that the government is also providing substantial support. "The government of Kazakhstan develops and implements strategies and programs to enhance the country's transport and logistics potential. Notably, the Nurly Zhol program and other initiatives aim to develop the transport network. Additionally, Kazakhstan is a member of various international agreements and organizations, such as the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and China's One Belt, One Road initiative, which create additional opportunities for international trade and transit," he said. The official cited competition and other factors as challenges facing the country's transportation sector. "Other countries in the region are also actively developing their transportation corridors and infrastructure, which creates competition. Significant investments are needed to implement large infrastructure projects. Kazakhstan must continue to attract external investment and effectively utilize domestic resources. Additionally, long-term projects require stability and predictability in the political and economic spheres," he said. He noted that the timeline for achieving the goal will depend on many factors, including those mentioned above. "If current strategies and projects are successfully implemented, significant improvements can be expected within the next 510 years. The full establishment of Kazakhstan as a regional transportation hub may take longer, perhaps 15-20 years, given the scale and complexity of the tasks," he added. The Eurasian Development Bank 2024 Annual Meeting and Business Forum features a series of sessions on the topics of Islamic finance, transport, ecology, energy, and digital technologies. The Eurasian Development Bank is a multilateral development bank carrying out investment activities in the Eurasian region. The EDB's authorized capital is $7 billion. The main share in the EDB portfolio is occupied by projects with an integration effect in the areas of transport infrastructure, digital systems, green energy, agriculture, industry and mechanical engineering. When Francesca Mari decided to take a European trip with her aging dad, it wasn't just fun that she was hoping for. Writing for the New York Times , Mari expands on her father's Alzheimer's and how, as dementia started to steal his memories, she hit upon an idea: Why not take him to Switzerland and Italy to re-create a 1966 boyhood trip he'd taken there that he always spoke fondly of? It would be an attempt at "reminiscence therapy," a palliative treatment for people with cognitive disorders that focuses on dredging up the patient's most powerful memoriestypically formed between the ages of 10 and 30, "during the so-called memory bump, when personal identity and generational identity take shape." Mari starts with the ordeal of making sure her dadwho raised her after her mother died, when Mari was just 10made his initial flight from California to her in Rhode Island so they could travel to Europe together. She recalls her father's initial diagnosis, which came after his own mother also suffered from dementia, then dives into their whirlwind trip, which included a stop in the Swiss neighborhood where his own father had been born and raised. There, and throughout their adventure, her dad's memories began to flow, about his boyhood, his daughter's childhood, and her momand Mari noticed that "by the time we arrived in Naples, my father seemed to be a younger man," able to walk much longer distances than usual and chatting up a storm. "Was it possible that, by expecting a lot of him with no real stakes ... I had helped him roll back his disease by engaging in the present?" Read her piece in full here. (More dementia stories.) Democrats including Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned for their ticket on Saturday, and President Biden has appearances scheduled Sunday in the must-win state of Pennsylvania. It became clear over the weekend that Biden's ABC interview on Friday did not end the debate in his party about whether he should step down as the nominee. Developments include: Newsom campaigns : California Gov. Gavin Newsom praised the Biden administration's achievements at a rally in Pennsylvania. "If Donald Trump succeeds, God help us," told the crowd in Doylestown, a Bucks County suburb. "We will roll back the last half-century. It's America in reverse." Newsom's remarks were greeted enthusiastically, per the New York Times. Many attendees said they're weary of the debate over Biden's cognitive ability. Much of the crowd wants Newsom to run for president, though not necessarily this time. "Democrats have to back Biden the way Republicans back Trump," said one supporter. "They have got to support him unequivocally and with unbridled fervor." : California Gov. Gavin Newsom praised the Biden administration's achievements at a rally in Pennsylvania. "If Donald Trump succeeds, God help us," told the crowd in Doylestown, a Bucks County suburb. "We will roll back the last half-century. It's America in reverse." Newsom's remarks were greeted enthusiastically, per the New York Times. Many attendees said they're weary of the debate over Biden's cognitive ability. Much of the crowd wants Newsom to run for president, though not necessarily this time. "Democrats have to back Biden the way Republicans back Trump," said one supporter. "They have got to support him unequivocally and with unbridled fervor." Interview fail: David Axelrod, who was a strategist for Barack Obama, said Biden's interview did not put the debate debacle to rest. If Biden believes this election to be as important as it is, Axelrod writes for CNN, "he will eventually do what duty and love of country requires, and step aside." BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 7. The discussions between the Ministry of Energy of Kyrgyzstan and Masdar on further renewables exploration are ongoing, Maryam Al Mazrouei, Head of Development and Investment (CIS) at Masdar, told Trend. "In Kyrgyzstan, we are very active in hydropower and are also working on solar projects. We have a program with them for 1 GW, starting with the first phase of a solar PV project. Discussions with the Kyrgyz Ministry of Energy are ongoing," she said. Maryam Al Mazrouei reminded that, last year, Masdar signed an agreement with the Kyrgyz government alongside EDF for the development of hydropower in Kyrgyzstan. "Discussions with the government are ongoing. As you might know, developing hydropower takes longer than solar and wind projects. However, we are conducting the necessary studies, and hopefully, it will come to fruition. The timeline will depend on the progress of our discussions with the Kyrgyz government". The company rep pointed out that, in general, Masdar is very active in Central Asia. "Particularly in Uzbekistan, where we have Masdar's largest portfolio in the region. Azerbaijan comes second, with projects amounting to 1.2 GW, including a 230 MW project. We are also active in Kazakhstan, where we have signed agreements for 1 GW and have started with 500 MW onshore. Additionally, we are developing a 100 MW solar project in Georgia". Meanwhile, in December 2023, the Ministry of Energy of Kyrgyzstan, Masdar, and EDF signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding. This agreement includes plans to construct a solar power plant in the Issyk-Kul region. President Sadyr Zhaparov emphasized that Kyrgyzstan will provide all necessary support to ensure the successful implementation of the memorandum's terms. Roughly 130 million people were under threat over the weekend and will be into this week from a long-running heat wave that broke or tied records with dangerously high temperatures and is expected to shatter more from East Coast to West Coast, forecasters said. Ukiah, north of San Francisco, hit 117 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday, breaking the city's record for the date and tying its all-time high. Livermore, east of San Francisco, hit 111, breaking the daily maximum temperature record of 109 F set in 1905. Las Vegas tied the record of 115, last reached in 2007, and Phoenix topped out at 114, just shy of the record of 116 dating to 1942. The National Weather Service said it was extending the excessive heat warning for much of the Southwest through 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. In Las Vegas, 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 it's about all the same to me," said Boscovich, who was visiting from Sparks, Nevada, to see a Dead & Company concert. Rare heat advisories were extended even into higher elevations including around Lake Tahoe. Firefighters dispatched aircraft and helicopters to drop water or retardant on a series of wildfires in California. In Santa Barbara County, northwest of Los Angeles, the Lake Fire has scorched more than 19 square miles 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. 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 110, forecasters said. (More heat stories.) Support Local Journalism Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by subscribing or making a contribution. The Daily News-Miner is locally owned by the Helen E. Snedden Foundation, a 501(c)(3) Subscribe or donate Fairbanks, AK (99701) Today Snow will taper off and end this evening but skies will remain cloudy late. Low 26F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 90%.. Tonight Snow will taper off and end this evening but skies will remain cloudy late. Low 26F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 90%. We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, July 7. The Halkbank Joint-Stock Commercial Bank of Turkmenistan launches a new 'Digital Credit' system designed for individuals, Trend reports. This was announced by Deputy Chairman of the Government of Turkmenistan Hojamyrat Geldimyradov at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers. According to him, the 'Digital Credit' system will allow citizens of Turkmenistan to receive loans remotely via the Internet, which will greatly simplify the loan processing process and make banking services more accessible. He noted that the innovation is being implemented within the framework of the "Program of the President of Turkmenistan on socio-economic development of the country for 2019-2025" and is aimed at improving the quality of banking services using innovative technologies. Meanwhile, Turkmenistan's commitment to enhancing its financial sector, particularly in digital finance, is evident through its substantial investments. The integration of cutting-edge technologies fosters enhanced service availability and transaction effectiveness and presents substantial opportunities for economic advancement. Michael Dunne, Dunne Insights, delivers world class intelligence and advisory services to investors, automakers, suppliers and technology companies on the global electric car and battery businesses. Michael Dunne gives insights on China, electric cars, autonomous driving and the world. He says that Chinas EV supply chain gives China companies about a 30% cost advantage versus other car makers for EVs. Dunne said Tesla is ahead in technology but China companies are adopt Tesla innovations as fast as possible. Dunne has direct contact with Chinese and global car makers and speaks with Chinese government officials. Dunne analysis provides support to my video about the first trillion in robotaxi revenue will be made in China. IF Tesla FSD and robotaxi technology is superior then Dunne analysis is that China will rapidly approve and adopt it. China has given Tesla FSD authorization to prove is capabilities in China. If Tesla FSD and Tesla robotaxi works then China wants to test it now and approve it quickly. Dunne said is urgent for US and European countries to match China EV and battery supply chains. This will take time. It can be done. ASTANA, Kazakhstan, July 7. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) plans to double the volume of investments in the economy of Kazakhstan, Huseyin Ozhan, the Acting Managing Director of EBRD for Central Asia, said, Trend reports. He made the remark during a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan, Nurlan Baibazarov. "This year, the bank plans to at least double the volume of investments in the economy of Kazakhstan. The EBRD is working on a major project with Kazakhstan Electricity Grid Operating Company (KEGOC), which will help improve the reliability of electricity supply in the west of the country. Previously, the largest territorial project was signed - the construction of new treatment facilities in Aktobe; funds were allocated for the construction of new production facilities of the leading producer of table salt, Araltuz JSC, as well as to support women and youth entrepreneurship," he said. As he noted, in June 2024, a new passenger terminal at Almaty Airport opened ahead of schedule, the construction of which was also financed by the EBRD. The bank also took part in the IPO of the national airline Air Astana. In turn, Baibazarov noted that Kazakhstan intends to expand cooperation with the EBRD, both at the country and regional levels, and also supports the banks desire to invest in the private sector. "Our country is ready for mutually beneficial work with the EBRD to attract investments for the implementation of projects in energy, transport, and logistics, the development of renewable energy sources, and private business," he noted. Furthermore, the EBRD's current project portfolio in Kazakhstan reaches 2.8 billion euros as of February 29, 2024, based on the implementation of 119 active portfolio projects. In addition, the bank has invested about 10 billion euros in 317 projects in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is the EBRD's largest and longest-running Central Asian banking business. BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 7. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said that on July 8 he would submit his resignation to President Emmanuel Macron, Trend reports. In accordance with democratic tradition, I will submit my resignation to the President of the Republic on the morning of July 8, Attal said after the publication of the preliminary results of the early parliamentary election. At the same time, he stated that he is ready to serve as head of government for as long as necessary. A fire Saturday at a Newark elementary school has been contained, city officials said. Around 3:39 p.m. firefighters responded to a report of a fire at East Ward Elementary School, at 184 E. Kinney St., said Newark Public Safety Director Fritz Frage. The fire was considered under control at 4:11 p.m., officials said. No injuries have been reported. No other information was provided. The cause of the fire is under investigation and officials are assessing the damage, said district spokeswoman Nancy Deering. The District will work diligently to ensure the building is safe and ready to receive staff at the end of August, and students on September 3rd, she said. We will keep parents, students, and staff updated accordingly, said Deering. We are thankful to our security and facilities staff, and grateful of the heroic efforts of the Newark Fire Department and all first responders. East Ward Elementary School was established in the Ironbound section of Newark in 2019, according to the schools website. It serves roughly 700 students in pre-K through fifth grade. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com. In 1984, the Supreme Court decided that whenever a law was ambiguous, federal judges should defer to experts in federal agencies to craft regulations, because thats what these experts were hired to do. It was accepted that analysts and scientists in agencies such as the FDA, EPA, and SEC all accountable to a sitting president, who can be replaced by voters understood policy better than judges could, so the high court decided that it could rely on agencies to provide a reasonable interpretation whenever the law or regulation was vague. That ended last week, when the Roberts Court dismantled the 40-year-old doctrine known as the Chevron deference, stripping federal agencies of their authority to settle problems that affect all American lives, and leaving complicated policy decisions to judges -- despite growing evidence that many are comfortable with turning political ideology into the law of the land. The destruction of the administrative state a longtime goal of conservative political movement has begun in earnest. Chief Justice John Roberts made it clear that the experts no longer need to weigh in, and that laws related to the environment, the economy, healthcare, consumer products, workplace safety and countless other matters can be settled by an unelected lawyer wearing a robe: Agencies have no special competence in resolving statutory ambiguities, Roberts wrote with breathtaking hubris. Courts do. The power grab is potentially chilling, given that some judges disregarded science for personal ideology. Consider the Trump-appointed district judge in Texas, Matthew Kacsmaryk, who ignored decades of clinical evidence to side with an anti-abortion group that claimed the FDA had improperly approved the abortion drug Mifepristone: His decision to take it off the market was filled with erroneous studies and outrage about unborn humans, but after the 5th Circuit upheld his ruling, the Supreme Court allowed the abortion pill to stay on the market while the case proceeds. The Chevron deference has been the basis for some 18,000 lower court decisions. Without it, Sam Alito and his like will be the ultimate arbiters when it comes to determining the safety of a drug, how smokestack emissions are capped, where nuclear waste is dumped, how fast your internet service should run, who can see your health records, and countless other issues that otherwise would have been settled under Chevron -- a rule championed by conservative icon Antonin Scalia because it reflects the reality of government. Next task for Trump's court: Demolishing the regulatory state | Editorial. "Brace yourself for another attack on expertise and competency from the likes of Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas..." https://t.co/CS1Q9cA8sP Julie O'Connor (@julieoconnorNJ) January 22, 2024 As Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) put it, Eliminating Chevron deference would degrade accountability, and the separation of powers, by shifting the power to make expert policy decisions from an elected Congress and the tightly monitored executive agencies to the judiciary -- where neither technical expertise nor political accountability are to be found. 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 Indeed, the consequences could be devastating, given the affinity its conservative members have shown for wealthy individuals and powerful corporations over the last fortnight. To recap: It mangled the EPAs Good Neighbor rule, which had reduced air pollution from power plants and other industrial facilities in 23 states. The EPA says the rule has helped New Jersey and other states decrease pollutants by 18% from upwind sources such as Ohio, Indiana, and West Virginia, which challenged the rule. It destroyed anti-corruption laws by permitting local officials to accept payoffs from wealthy contractors and other benefactors, because it decided that gratuities should be permissible. It gave the firearms industry another financial bonanza by legalizing bump stocks, which convert semi-automatic weapons into machine guns. It handcuffed the SEC by limiting its enforcement authority, including its ability to penalize securities fraud. It even criminalized homelessness, ruling that cities can not only jail but fine people for sleeping outside. The decision even allows governments to bulldoze encampments, because its the fault of the homeless that they cannot rely on Harlan Crow for a loan. Now the six conservatives have chosen to undermine expertise in government by wiping out 40 years of established policy, yet another reminder of the barefaced lies they made under oath. Think back: All three Trump appointees Justices Barrett, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh flatly stated during their confirmation hearings that they would respect Chevron as precedent. Instead, as Justice Elena Kagan pointed out in her dissent, the conservative jurists made a laughingstock of stare decisis. It also repudiates public opinion on virtually every issue the court has addressed during this session. Roberts likes to say he is there to call balls and strikes, but the strike zone is clearly as wide as he can make it. The assault on the American democracy continues, and our ability to recover is no longer a given. A Trump reelection just got twice as scary | Editorial https://t.co/blwN7bv8tA richard p. mchugh The Great Democrat (@gorevidal) July 5, 2024 Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. Its been a tough week to divert ones eyes from the spectacle of President Bidens epic meltdown, physically and politically. But the week brought a second disaster that demands attention. The Supreme Court just ruled that American presidents have the right to break the law as they perform their duties. And we cant change that ruling in November. Whoever wins, our wounded democracy will never quite be the same. This is calamitous, says Ross Baker, professor emeritus at Rutgers University. If this decision had been handed down with Ronald Reagan as president, people wouldnt have to have such apprehension. But it coincides with Bidens decline, and the greater possibility that Donald Trump will be electedHe will use these powers to the maximum. Hell see it as a warrant to move against his enemies, real or fancied. Chris Christie might consider shopping for a new home in Toronto. Because Chief Justice John Roberts, in his majority opinion, singled out a presidents right to control his own Department of Justice, to use it in any way he sees fit, criminal or not. Trump could order the FBI to conduct an illegal search of Christies home, say, and order prosecutors to manufacture bogus evidence -- and Trump could never be prosecuted for those crimes. Its hard to see how conferring absolute and presumptive immunity accomplishes anything but freeing the executive branch to devour everything and everyone else, especially opponents or critics of the administration, says John Farmer Jr., the attorney general under Gov. Christie Whitman, and former dean of Rutgers Law School. Scholars are poring over the 119-page decision, and they differ on the magnitude of this change. Roberts pushed back on the charge that this puts the president above the law since private acts can still be prosecuted as crimes. A president still cant cheat on his taxes or beat his wife. The decision, though, grants absolute immunity for crimes presidents may commit while exercising their core constitutional powers, like issuing a pardon, vetoing legislation, acting as commander in chief, or managing the Department of Justice. It grants presumptive immunity over all official acts, which are more vaguely defined. The lines wont be clear until these rules are tested in court cases. But the three liberal justices who dissented make a compelling case that the majority has created a monster that could devour our democracy. Even the presumptive immunity amounts to absolute immunity in practice, they wrote, because Roberts sets conditions that make it impossible to overcome that presumption. When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majoritys reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote. Orders the Navys Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune. Immune. Immune. Sotomayors fury is hard to miss. She signed off with I dissent, dispensing with the customary, I respectfully dissent. Roberts dismissed her warnings as fearmongering. But he doesnt dispute that this decision gives presidents broad new freedom to break the law without fear of consequence. Thats the whole point. He worries that presidents cant do their jobs with the vigor envisioned by the Founders if they fear criminal prosecution after leaving office. Only immunity can enable the President to carry out his constitutional duties without undue caution. Pause here for a reality check. Have American presidents been unduly cautious for the last few centuries, when they lacked this immunity? Did the threat of criminal prosecution stop George W. Bush from invading Iraq? Did it stop Barack Obama from ordering the assassination of Osama bin Laden? Did it tie Ronald Reagans hands when he confronted the Soviet Union? Did it stop Richard Nixon from bombing Cambodia? Where does Roberts get this notion that American presidents are so enfeebled that we must now free them to break the law? What about the obvious dangers that presents? This immunity now lies about like a loaded weapon for any president that wishes to place his own interests, his own political survival, or his own financial gain, above the interests of the nation, Sotomayor wrote. Sound like anyone you know? Dont miss the best in editorials, opinion columns and commentary from NJ.com writers. Add your email here: The decision was a big win for Trump, who sought this immunity to escape charges over his attempts to remain in power after losing the 2020 election. That case is now hopelessly delayed until after the election, and is fatally weakened in any case. The ruling demolishes two centuries of American law and practice, dating back to Alexander Hamiltons time. He said that presidents are subject to criminal prosecution and wrote that it was a key distinction between presidents and kings. Richard Nixon thought so too, when he accepted a pardon over his Watergate crimes, and so did Gerald Ford when he gave it. (John Dean said last week that this ruling would have given Nixon a free pass for those crimes in the first place.) Even Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, agreed. When he punked out of voting to convict Trump for trying to block the peaceful transfer of power, McConnell said that Trump would still be subject to criminal law. Every schoolkid is taught that in America, no one is above the law. Until now. Just as Trump knocks on the door, this Supreme Court has handed him a get-out-of-jail free card. He can now use his official powers in a criminal fashion, with the Courts blessing. May God save America. And may voters beware, come November. More: Tom Moran columns Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com or (973) 986-6951. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. By Pat Kelleher In the 1950s, the post-war economy was in full swing, spurring the development of some of New Jerseys most relied-upon transportation infrastructure with much of this work performed by union labor. However, no structure can last forever, and many of them are reaching the end of their life and must be replaced. And now, labor is ready to do our part again to replace our aging infrastructure to keep it safe for New Jersey families and workers. The NJ Turnpike Authority is undertaking a historic modernization program to rebuild the Newark Bay-Hudson County Extension thats 8.1 miles of transportation infrastructure from Interchange 14 in Newark to Jersey Avenue in Jersey City. The extension consists of 29 bridges that are nearly 70 years old, which along with roadways and ramps, will be replaced with safe, resilient, and sustainable structures. The first stage is the reconstruction between Interchanges 14 and 14A, in Bayonne and Jersey City. That project includes the Newark Bay Bridge, which you can tell needs to be rebuilt by the many backups due to lane closures for repairs. The significance of this program for its surrounding communities and the state at large is obvious: The first project alone will create 25,000 jobs with benefits and generate $2 billion in wages for union members and workers from under-resourced communities. Youve heard from opponents of the program, but the truth is that many New Jerseyans recognize the need for this modernization and safety program. The labor community, for one, strongly supports it. Our members live in Bayonne, Jersey City, and Newark, and our voices should matter too. And here are the core points that need to be underlined, and to address some misperceptions: The entire extension cannot be rehabilitated and must be fully replaced. Were not talking about someones driveway; these bridges are deteriorating and require constant, expensive maintenance to keep them safe. The stakes for rebuilding this critical infrastructure are high; our state must never tolerate what happened in Pittsburgh in 2022, when the Fern Hollow Bridge collapsed after years of neglect. The safety of New Jersey families and workers who use the extension cannot be put at risk. New lanes are not being added in the approach to the Holland Tunnel. New lanes are being added from Interchange 14 in Newark to Interchange 14C in Jersey City, but none between Interchange 14C to Jersey Ave. The need is obvious to every driver, who endure congestion and are often re-routed to local streets because the ports and the communities. There is more housing development with parking, more delivery service vehicles bringing us packages, and more freight flowing through the ports each year. The additional lanes from Interchange 14 to Interchange 14C will help address existing and future congestion issues and aid first responders currently struggling to push through rush hour traffic during emergencies. This program does not take money away from public transit. In fact, the Turnpike Authority is already a huge supporter of public transit to the tune of $500 million per year, even though it is not a public transit agency. Improving public transit is essential to meeting our transportation and sustainability needs, and the Turnpike Authority already plays an outsized role in supporting it. But that does not preclude the need to invest in our roads and bridges, and much of the projected traffic growth on the extension will come from trucking freight, which is not served by public transportation. No residents, schools, parks, or places of worship near the area will be displaced. Finally, this will all be at no expense to the taxpayer, since all costs for this program will be funded by toll revenue. Our region is experiencing a long-needed modernizing of our infrastructure. With similar projects underway like the Gateway Program, opportunities for well-paying, family-supporting jobs are on the rise. Each job represents not just a paycheck but a pathway to economic stability and prosperity. If you want to learn more about this historic project, join us at a Turnpike Authority open house in Jersey City on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Mary McLeod Bethune Life Center. Investing in infrastructure is an investment in our people, communities, economy, and future. Share this message with your friends and neighbors, and take action today for better and safer infrastructure tomorrow. Pat Kelleher is President of Hudson County Building Trades Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 7. A protest against the NATO summit, which will be held from July 9 to 11, took place in Washington, Trend reports. According to the information, the protest was carried out jointly by more than a dozen human rights organizations. Activists gathered at a church near Capitol Hill. Leaders of numerous activist groups spoke at the event. 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. So much so that Donald Trump tried to distance himself from it, saying he knew nothing about it. But it didnt take long for a video to surface 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 and that an ongoing second American revolution that will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be. And now its senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller who is telling people he has nothing to do with the project that would implement conservative and Christian nationalists policies regarding climate change, LGBTQ+ communities, abortion, foreign aid, education, health care, taxes and more. But again, theres video that shows otherwise. You cant make this crap up. Hes never been involved at all with Project 25, but hes literally in the Project 25 video, Ed Krassenstein posted to X along with video of Miller and others in what Joe Bidens campaign called a recruitment ad for the project. Miller shot back and called it a hoax. I know youre upset because your candidate has soft pudding for brains, but thats not a recruitment ad. A while back I made a video for students on how to build skills. I have never been involved with Project 2025, not one word. But keep hoaxing, losers. Hoaxes are all you have. Miller posted to X. You cant make this crap up. Hes never been involved at all with Project 25, but hes literally in the Project 25 video. https://t.co/e4brPqNo9w pic.twitter.com/OauJoDkO4Z Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) July 7, 2024 Miller was the mastermind behind Trumps Muslim travel ban and other hardline immigration policies. Hes long been the combative ideologue who urged Trump to take ever-more-drastic action to stanch the border flow. Mille sees illegal and legal immigration as existential threats to national security and the American worker, and views Trump as a generational voice willing to make dramatic changes. The Heritage Foundation is spearheading Project 2025, a sweeping road map for a new GOP administration that includes plans for dismantling aspects of the federal government and ousting thousands of civil servants in favor of Trump loyalists who will carry out a hard-right agenda without complaint. The goal is to avoid the pitfalls of Trumps first years in office, when the Republican presidents team was ill-prepared, his Cabinet nominees had trouble winning Senate confirmation and policies were met with resistance by lawmakers, government workers and even Trumps own appointees who refused to bend or break protocol, or in some cases violate laws, to achieve his goals. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco. Six-day (Tuesday through Sunday) print subscribers of the Watertown Daily Times are eligible for full access to NNY360, the NNY360 mobile app, and the Watertown Daily Times e-edition, all at no additional cost. If you have an existing six-day print subscription to the Watertown Daily Times, please make sure your email address on file matches your NNY360 account email. You can sign up or manage your print subscription using the options below. American actor Eddie Murphy, best known for his roles in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, has shares how he sees his futur funeral. He doesn't want people to be sad that day, so he has already warned his family how to behave. Now it is time for the fans to find out. ADVERTISIMENT In the US, it is quite common to play the deceased's favorite song at a funeral ceremony, so Eddie Murphy wants to keep this tradition alive. While lyrical music is mostly used for funerals, the actor wants the legendary hit Axel F by Harold Faltermeyer to be played at his ceremony. He told about this in an interview with Kevin McCartney. The celebrity chose this track for a reason. The recent chapter of Beverly Hills Cop is about Axel Foley, played by Eddie Murphy. And the song Axel F is known to everyone who has ever seen the video with the gray animated frog Crazy Frog, who rides around the city on an imaginary motorcycle. ADVERTISIMENT "And I think it's cool to have music that you can turn on and know that I'm going to leave to it. And I'll be in restaurants and hear this music in the background, and I think, 'Wow, this is cool, I have James Bond theme music, Indiana Jones, this is cool!' It's cool. Someone asked me, 'Have you ever thought about playing a black James Bond over the years?' I said I don't need to, I have Axel Foley, I already have a character, I don't need to be some black James Bond. I have Axel Foley, he has the soundtrack and everything else. You can literally play it. You know, one day when I die, in 50 years, I can play it at my funeral and people will be smiling," Eddie Murphy said. ADVERTISIMENT The star added that he would not want people to be sad and shed tears at his funeral. And in general, he doesn't think he will be buried in the traditional way. But even if that happens, the actor wants everyone to smile. "People would smile at the funeral. I mean, I'm going to die like everybody else, but they know there's no funeral, and they'll just, you know, just let me go in peace," the actor said. The song Axel F was the original soundtrack of the first part of Beverly Hills Cop in 1984 and was already at the top of the charts. The track got its name in honor of the movie's protagonist Axel F. ADVERTISIMENT Eddie Murphy decided to talk about this hit against the backdrop of the premiere of the fourth part of the legendary film, which was released on July 3. It is being streamed on Netflix. In the story, Axel Foley returns to Beverly Hills after learning that his daughter and old partner Billy Rosewood are in danger. Together, they try to uncover corruption in the Beverly Hills Police Department and solve a murder linked to it. Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Bideford based R T Marke & Co. Chartered Accountants have continued their expansion with the acquisition of a long-standing and highly respected Exeter practice, Kirk Hills Chartered Accountants. The acquisition, which took place on June 1, 2024, marks a significant milestone in the history of R T Marke & Co., which was founded in 1985, further expanding the firm's reach, and adding to its strong presence in Devon and Cornwall. The acquisition also boosts the service offerings for small to medium-sized enterprises in the South West. Kirk Hills partners, David Kirk, Adrian Hills, Sarah Chamberlain and the Exeter team have joined R T Marke & Co. and will continue to provide their current high standard of service, to their existing clients. The 45-strong team will benefit from increased opportunities for career development, across both Bideford and Exeter offices. David Kirk, R T Marke & Co. Client Director (previously Kirk Hills) said: The decision to join forces with R T Marke & Co. brings significant benefits to our clients and team. It will enable us to continue our proactive and forward-thinking approach to business advisory services. Our clients will continue to receive the highest standard of personal service, whilst also having opportunities to benefit from additional services and the skills of a larger local firm. Neil Marke, R T Marke & Co. Managing Director added: We see an increasing demand for SME support in our region, so this acquisition ensures we bring together the highest degree of specialist services to our growing portfolio. Kirk Hills are a long-established accountancy practice in Exeter, with an exceptional reputation. Their commitment to nurturing their team and supporting clients dovetailed with ours. The shared desire to help SMEs grow their businesses and their complementary client mix means that were in a strong position to guide and advise the community of entrepreneurs in the South West. R T Marke & Co. are part of the Sumer Group which has plans to become the UKs leading SME national practice. With their backing, the firm has plans to expand into other towns across Devon and Cornwall, supporting businesses to grow and reach their goals. The Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is holding an Our Future Hospital Open Day, taking place 1-4pm on Friday, July 12, at North Devon District Hospital. A spokesperson for the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Trust said: Were very much hoping that you can join us on the day, and are pleased to be able to now share more details about the event with you. By way of reminder, the open day is the formal launch of Our Future Hospital, which is the programme established by the Trust to modernise North Devon District Hospital following its inclusion as one of the original 40 hospitals in the Governments New Hospital Programme. Please note, visitors should arrive at the main entrance for 1pm. Guests will also be able to visit stands from local organisations in the restaurant area, and will have the opportunity to share their own experiences, stories, and memories of North Devon District Hospital as we look to the future. The event is open to all members of the public. Agents of the ATESH military movement of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars continue to work in Russian rear. Recently, they scouted a factory where bombers for the Russian army are being assembled. ADVERTISIMENT This is the Tyumen Engine Builders plant, which is involved in the development and production of military aircraft and helicopters. Details were disclosed on the movement's Telegram channel. "Our agent has collected data on the Tyumen Engine Builders plant, a key enterprise in the Russian military aviation industry. The plant is involved in the development and production of military helicopters and aircraft, including fighters, bombers and transport vehicles," the message reads. ATESH provided the coordinates of the plant: 57.15012, 65.46873. They also described some of the problems faced by Russian aircraft manufacturers as a result of the full-scale aggression against Ukraine and related sanctions. ADVERTISIMENT "The company is facing critical problems in its attempts to establish production of gas turbine engines as a replacement for Western counterparts, as promised by the ," ATESH said. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber . Do not fall for fakes! MILLER BEACH The grit and resolve of a city like Gary is embodied by the repurposed storefront at the corner of Lake Street and Miller Avenue, which has lasted over 100 years. In contrast, the grits on my plate lasted about three minutes. There was also blackened shrimp and chipotle consomme sauce, and it was delicious. The meal is courtesy of Chef Joseph Loughrey, whos running the kitchen at The Brass Idol, which after a slight delay, has become the latest destination dining spot in the Miller Beach neighborhood. The menu features an appealing slate of upscale diner and breakfast food, including the grits, southern fried steak, eggs benedict, and creative burgers and sandwiches, as well as an extensive cocktail (and mocktail) menu. Although the co-owners, Sam Geraci and Steve Stepanek, described themselves as accidental restaurateurs, the ability to open a high-concept diner in Miller Beach is no accident. The neighborhood, still a part of Gary and set between the steel mills and the dunes, is going through another boom period. Theres been a real flocking of creativity and art to this region, Geraci said. All along the South Shore. In NWI, and Gary in particular, there are opportunities to do cool things, for smaller investors. That doesnt exist in big cities (like Chicago) anymore. The restaurants name itself, bandied about by the initial creative team last year, is meant to evoke the idea of ancient statues, that may be worn down but nevertheless stand the test of time. Geraci suggested that could symbolize the location, which started as a gas station and has been home to several restaurants over its century-long lifespan, or even Gary itself. The Brass Idols team has tried to honor the region in several ways, from hiring local artists for murals inside and out, as well as menu inspirations such as a riff on the steelworker sandwich, an NWI specialty made famous by restaurants like Armans, just down the street, and Lincoln Carry Outs in Hobart. Chicago has the (Italian) beef, Philly has the cheesesteak, weve got the steelworker, Geraci said. The Brass Idols version, chefd up by Loughreys culinary style, trades roast beef for marinated barbacoa, and is served with pickles, mayo and caramelized onions on sourdough bread. Its an incredibly satisfying combination that I had the pleasure to watch Loughrey make, even as he told me prepping the beef is a hearty challenge that utilizes all his tools. Bringing The Brass Idol to life, a project which began in earnest last spring, has had its share of difficulties, not the least of which includes renovating such an old building. Stepanek described the retrofit as akin to peeling back an onion, though its past life as a restaurant did help. Geraci acknowledged the general perils of the restaurant business, and said hed learned some hard lessons from his father, whod briefly opened (and closed) an Italian restaurant on Chicagos South Side, near Marquette Park, decades earlier. Restaurants have a lot of pressure to succeed, Geraci said. Sometimes in two weeks, in three months. But we have a great concept and a great team. Loughrey, who took over after the original chef attached left the project, expressed a mix of passion and realism in his appraisal of the work ahead, noting it was key for him to develop strong ties within the kitchen, without sugarcoating the intense nature of the work. (Although I assume there was some sugarcoating on the cheesecake and vegan tart I later tried.) The job feels like youre never done, Loughrey said, noting they were down to literally their last egg Friday morning, after a busy July 4, before the next shipment came in. But its also a tremendous accomplishment (for the kitchen). The sandwich and the grits were exceptional, I thought. The shrimp was spicy and hot, and the sandwichs barbacoa meat was tender and lean, a cut or six above what you might find in your typical Chipotle taco. I also had the chance to try a few of their mocktails, of which Id recommend the sweet, beach-bum Coco Shack, topped with toasted coconuts, or the bluer, berry-laden version, Azul Marina. Geraci said the community and city had shown tremendous support for them thus far, and expressed enthusiasm for both the old and new restaurants popping up along Lake Street, including Caribbean Roots and Tinys Coffee Bar. Were the Wicker Park of Gary, Geraci said of the neighborhood. There are cool things happening throughout Gary. The whole city needs support to be successful. The Brass Idol is now open 8:00 am until 10:00 pm, Wednesday through Sunday. Close Bartender and mixologist Natalia Rosado prepares specialty cocktails at The Brass Idol. Bartender and mixologist Natalia Rosado prepares specialty cocktails at The Brass Idol. Chef Joe Loughrey shows off fresh orders at the Brass Idol. Shrimp and grits from The Brass Idol. Brass Idol Chef Joe Loughrey prepares an order of shrimp and grits. The Brass Idol staff, front and back of house, poses in front of one of the restaurant's wall murals. A vegan dessert bar adorned with blueberry syrup at The Brass Idol. Bartender and mixologist Natalia Rosado prepares specialty cocktails at The Brass Idol. Bartender and mixologist Natalia Rosado prepares specialty cocktails at The Brass Idol. Bartender and mixologist Natalia Rosado prepares specialty cocktails at The Brass Idol. Bartender and mixologist Natalia Rosado prepares specialty cocktails at The Brass Idol. A trio of specialty cocktails at The Brass Idol. The barbacoa beef in all its splendor before the final "Steelworker" sandwich is complete at The Brass Idol. Chef Joe Loughrey prepares his version of the "Steelworker" sandwich at The Brass Idol. Chef Joe Loughrey shows off his version of the "Steelworker" sandwich at The Brass Idol. Chef Joe Loughrey shows off his version of the "Steelworker" sandwich at The Brass Idol. Chef Joe Loughrey shows off his version of the "Steelworker" sandwich at The Brass Idol. Chef Joe Loughrey shows off his version of the "Steelworker" sandwich at The Brass Idol. Chef Joe Loughrey prepares a berry reduction in the kitchen at The Brass Idol. Co-owner Sam Geraci discusses the opening week of The Brass Idol. The facade of The Brass Idol in Gary's Miller Beach neighborhood. The Brass Idol Opening July 2024 Bartender and mixologist Natalia Rosado prepares specialty cocktails at The Brass Idol. Bartender and mixologist Natalia Rosado prepares specialty cocktails at The Brass Idol. Chef Joe Loughrey shows off fresh orders at the Brass Idol. Shrimp and grits from The Brass Idol. Brass Idol Chef Joe Loughrey prepares an order of shrimp and grits. The Brass Idol staff, front and back of house, poses in front of one of the restaurant's wall murals. A vegan dessert bar adorned with blueberry syrup at The Brass Idol. Bartender and mixologist Natalia Rosado prepares specialty cocktails at The Brass Idol. Bartender and mixologist Natalia Rosado prepares specialty cocktails at The Brass Idol. Bartender and mixologist Natalia Rosado prepares specialty cocktails at The Brass Idol. Bartender and mixologist Natalia Rosado prepares specialty cocktails at The Brass Idol. A trio of specialty cocktails at The Brass Idol. The barbacoa beef in all its splendor before the final "Steelworker" sandwich is complete at The Brass Idol. Chef Joe Loughrey prepares his version of the "Steelworker" sandwich at The Brass Idol. Chef Joe Loughrey shows off his version of the "Steelworker" sandwich at The Brass Idol. Chef Joe Loughrey shows off his version of the "Steelworker" sandwich at The Brass Idol. Chef Joe Loughrey shows off his version of the "Steelworker" sandwich at The Brass Idol. Chef Joe Loughrey shows off his version of the "Steelworker" sandwich at The Brass Idol. Chef Joe Loughrey prepares a berry reduction in the kitchen at The Brass Idol. Co-owner Sam Geraci discusses the opening week of The Brass Idol. The facade of The Brass Idol in Gary's Miller Beach neighborhood. EAST CHICAGO A 35-year-old Gary man died on the 4th of July after being shot in the stomach near the Lake Superior Court building in East Chicago, police said. According to East Chicago police, Jerome Scott was standing next to a vehicle speaking to someone seated inside the vehicle around 10:30 p.m. Thursday when a single gunshot was fired and the vehicle drove away. Officers found Scott near the entrance to the superior court building in the 3700 block of Main Street suffering a gunshot wound to the stomach and immediately called for paramedics, police said. Cook County Medical Examiner records show Scott was transported to the University of Chicago hospital for treatment where he died at 11:58 p.m. Thursday. Scott's death is being investigated by the Lake County Homicide Task Force, police said. Anyone with information on the shooting is encouraged to call the East Chicago Police Criminal Investigation Division at 219-391-8318, or leave an anonymous tip by calling the police department tip line at 219-391-8500. Gallery: Get to know these new Indiana laws that took effect July 1 Beekeeping Biomarker testing Bobcat hunting Boundary marker Contraceptives Digital currency Dog sales Drink server Driver safety Drones Food and beverage tax Foreigner land acquisition Gary gun lawsuit Green alert Guardian ad litem Happy hour Intellectual diversity Lake Michigan Mixed beverages Penal facilities Phones in schools Psilocybin Public access counselor Reading Regional planning Religious instruction Sanctuary cities State superintendent Thirteenth check Virtual revenge porn Website age verification Wetlands Xylazine Like a moth drawn to light, I am lured by water in the Calumet Region, whether its the Lake Michigan shoreline or its tributaries such as the Little Calumet River. So, when the Wetlands Initiative, a major partner in what is known as the Little Calumet River Conservation Collaborative, recently invited me to tour a portion of the rivers West Branch I had never seen before, I jumped at the chance. I was so glad I joined the group as we proceeded to an area the partners call the Chase Street Complex, roughly lying between that street and Clark Road in Gary, directly south of Interstate 80/94. We were there to introduce Dana Berkes and Reggie Fields from the NiSource Charitable Foundation, and Steve Barker, a long-time friend from NIPSCO, to a new project that will have long-term quality-of-life benefits for the regions environment, biodiversity and wildlife. Soon, I found myself in a place that seemed far-removed from Northwest Indiana an impression also shared that day by Paul Botts, president and executive director of the Wetlands Initiative, Chicago. Our expedition took us around both deep and shallow wetlands, all impounded by the levees and reminiscent of how the area would have looked prior to white settlement in what was then Calumet Township. Extensive wetland marshes slowed European settlement If we had been there 175 years ago, we may have been in the middle of a wetland instead of on one of the flood-control levees. This part of Lake County was so wet then it prevented the area from being settled as quickly as the rest of Indiana. Especially during the spring, historians and geographers before the 20th century described the floodplain as having the appearance of the sea marshes of Louisiana. John Tipton, who helped survey Indiana boundaries in 1821, once portrayed the low, flat land south of the dunes and Lake Michigan as ponds and marshes that can never admit settlement nor will be of much service to our state ... He may have also been the surveyor who called it an impassible morass, but I am not certain. Today, we know their importance cannot be stressed enough. They steadfastly protect communities from flood waters, process and clean millions of gallons of water, shelter wildlife, flora and fauna and offer a place for peace and serenity, said Dana Berkes when I asked her to reflect on the wetlands we saw. Protections afforded the wetlands associated with the river is also paying off for marsh birds that live in and migrate through our area. While driving along the levee, I knew a rare tri-colored heron was lurking nearby, and that a black-necked stilt was also inhabiting the marsh. I wished we could have joined the birders we saw looking for them, but we didnt have time we were on a mission. Finally, after briefly visiting an artesian well on Chase Street near 35th Street in Gary and traversing through some major mud puddles, we stopped and gathered on the riverbank. As we looked across it, I could not help but notice an extension of the river heading northeast. Botts explained to us that what we were seeing was actually a river meander before the waterway was straightened and channelized starting west of Chase Street in Gary until before Harrison Street, south of I-80/94. I have not been able to definitively find out when or why it was done, most likely sometime after 1960. Engineering and design project underway Designing and engineering a reinstated meander to establish a more natural hydrology is a major feature of an impressive two-year project the Wetlands Initiative is undertaking with support from Collaborative members, which, other than TNC, also includes Lake County Parks, the City of Gary and Audubon Great Lakes. According to scientists, wiggly rivers actually offer more water storage capacity in their bends and associated floodplains, as opposed to straightened channels. The project, which will also include extensive opportunities for community input, is being funded by the National Coastal Resilience Fund of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through 2026. NIPSCO, with assistance from the NiSource Foundation, is also a vital partner by providing $50,000 match funding for the grant, as well as on-the-ground collaboration to connect greenways and improve biodiversity throughout its service area. The project will also be closely coordinated with the Little Calumet River Basin Development Commission, the major landowner charged with managing the West Branch flood-control corridor. If future funding can be acquired, the group next envisions commencing with final design considerations, marsh habitat restoration and the re-meandering itself. If so, the environmental justice community of Gary, and the entire region, will benefit through an enhanced sense-of-place, cleaner water, increased climate resilience and improved access to natural areas. Botts surmises that, if the implementation is undertaken, at more than 800 acres it could well be one of the largest-ever wetland restoration projects located within an urban area. That is amazing! I hope people will embrace the value of this promising project and that it will successfully come to fruition. When Cindy Crawford walked into a lounge in the Santa Monica Proper Hotel on a morning in early June, her vibe was immediate: comfortable, professional, direct. No artifice. No entourage. Just her longtime publicist Annett Wolf, who made a brief introduction and disappeared, leaving Ms. Crawford at the head of a table set with a display of the products from her Meaningful Beauty line of skin and hair care, a $400 million brand she introduced 20 years ago. Where do you want to start? Ms. Crawford asked. What feels the most organic? Its tempting to describe Ms. Crawford, 58, as casual, but thats not quite it. Dressed in a Celine corduroy jean jacket, a camisole, Nili Lotan bootleg jeans and a Foundrae charm necklace symbolizing resilience, her beauty is radiant without being the least bit overwhelming. A resident of Malibu, where she lives with her husband of 27 years, the nightlife and tequila maestro Rande Gerber, she exuded California unfussiness. She is a familiar face, literally, having been photographed and filmed thousands of times over the course of her 35-plus-year career as one of the worlds most successful models. What felt most organic was to start with the business of Cindy. More than the mole above her lip, more than her brown eyes and va-va-voom hair and her healthy physique, Ms. Crawfords interest in transcending modeling to become a brand decades before personal branding was a career path is what has distinguished her from her peers. I always say, I modeled, Ms. Crawford said. Its not, I am a model. Its a verb to me. Its not an identity. When voters in Tokyo cast their ballot for governor of the worlds largest city on Sunday, they were spoiled for choice. Fifty-six candidates contended for the office, a record. One who styled himself the Joker proposed legalizing marijuana and said polygamy could address the nations declining birthrate. Another was a pro wrestler who hid his face on camera and vowed to use artificial intelligence to complete governmental tasks. There was a 96-year-old inventor who said he would deploy gas-fueled cars that do not emit carbon, and a 31-year-old entrepreneur who took off her shirt during a campaign video and promised fun things. It might look like democracy run amok. But in fact, the race was profoundly status quo, and the incumbent, Yuriko Koike, as expected, won a third term. Ms. Koikes victory provided a much-needed shot in the arm for the governing Liberal Democratic Party, which had backed her in the race. Approval ratings have been falling for the party, and the Tokyo governors election was viewed in part as a referendum on the national governments popularity. Follow live updates on Frances election here. Voters in France went to the polls in droves on Sunday in the final round of snap legislative elections. The results could force President Emmanuel Macron to govern alongside far-right opponents or usher in chronic political instability weeks before the Paris Summer Olympics. Turnout at 5 p.m. local time was the highest in over two decades, at about 60 percent, the Interior Ministry said. That was much higher than during the previous legislative elections in 2022, when the participation rate at the same time was less than 38 percent, reflecting persistent interest in a vote that will determine the future of Mr. Macrons second term. Mr. Macron called the elections for the 577-seat National Assembly, Frances lower and more prominent house of Parliament, last month in a risky gamble that appeared to have largely backfired after the first round of voting last week. Most polls close at 6 p.m. local time on Sunday, or as late as 8 p.m. in larger cities. Nationwide seat projections by polling institutes, based on preliminary results, are expected just after 8 p.m. Official results will come in throughout the night. For Caroline Li and Colin Wang, moving in together after dating for eight months was a matter of serendipity and urgency. Last fall, Mr. Wang, 28, was completing his final year of medical school at the University of California, Los Angeles, when he learned that the two-bedroom apartment he shared with one roommate had a mold infestation. He had to move out immediately, but had trouble finding new housing. It was very difficult to find something that was pretty close to campus that was reasonable in price, and it was also in the middle of the school year, said Mr. Wang, who had reached U.C.L.A.s three-year limit on student housing, which allowed him to pay $1,425 per month in rent instead of the market rate of $2,000 or more. At the same time, Ms. Li, 24, a registered nurse, learned that one of her two roommates was moving out of their $5,000-a-month, three-bedroom apartment near Santa Monica, Calif., in the middle of their lease. Ms. Li and Mr. Wang realized that they could resolve both of their issues by having Mr. Wang move in with Ms. Li and her roommate. Follow live updates of closing arguments in the Menendez trial. Last September, a prominent white-collar defense lawyer met with federal prosecutors in Manhattan in a last-ditch effort to stave off an indictment against his client. The client was Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, one of Congresss most powerful members and the subject of a corruption investigation by the U.S. attorneys office for the Southern District of New York. In the meeting, the lawyer, Abbe D. Lowell, used a PowerPoint presentation to convey explanations for certain financial payments that were under scrutiny by the government. It was a moment of great risk and potential peril for Mr. Menendez and the effort failed. Less than two weeks later, prosecutors announced an indictment charging the senator and his wife, Nadine Menendez, with conspiring to accept thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for political favors. The government later added counts of obstructing justice, saying the senator, among other things, caused his lawyer to meet with prosecutors and to make false and misleading statements in an effort to cover up the scheme. The government has made it clear that Mr. Lowell, who represented Mr. Menendez only during the investigation and not afterward, engaged in no wrongdoing. But the episode, an untold chapter in the story of the Menendez investigation that was recently disclosed in documents and testimony filed in the senators case, illuminates the normally confidential presentations lawyers make as they seek to persuade prosecutors not to charge a client, particularly one as high-profile as the senator. What would Ike say now? Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, NATOs first supreme allied commander Europe, felt strongly that his mission was to get Europeans back on their military feet not for American troops to become the permanent bodyguard for Brussels and Berlin. If in 10 years, all American troops stationed in Europe for national defense purposes have not been returned to the United States, he wrote of NATO in 1951, then this whole project will have failed. But as leaders of NATO allies gather in Washington on Tuesday for the alliances 75th anniversary, some 90,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Germany, Italy, Britain and elsewhere, making up a significant portion of the 500,000 NATO troops on high readiness. Americas outsize presence comes not just in the form of troops. Of the $206 billion in military and nonmilitary aid allocated to Ukraine by countries around the world, $79 billion has come from the United States, according to the Ukraine Support Tracker database. Since about 1960, the United States share of allied G.D.P. has averaged roughly 36 percent, while its share of allied military spending has been more than 61 percent, according to a Cato Institute report. The supreme allied commander Europe has never been a European. Russian Voronezh region complained about a drone attack on the night of July 7. According to the official version, all the detected UAVs were allegedly shot down. ADVERTISIMENT At the same time, the governor of the region stated that the remains of the "downed drones" provoked a fire in "one of the warehouses", after which "detonation of explosive objects" began. This was reported by local media. According to a statement by the governor of Voronezh region, Alexander Gusev, the consequences of the "repulsed" attack were especially felt by the residents of the Podgorensky district. "Last night, air defense forces on duty detected and destroyed several UAVs over the territory of Voronezh region. When their wreckage fell, a fire broke out in one of the warehouses. Detonation of explosive objects began in the Podgorensky district," Gusev wrote. ADVERTISIMENT He did not specify what exactly was detonating at "one of the warehouses" but assured that "no one was injured." He also announced a possible evacuation of local residents. "Operational services, military and authorities are working at the site to eliminate the emergency. If necessary, buses have been prepared to evacuate residents of nearby settlements. People are being briefed to ensure their safety. I am keeping the situation in the region under control," the official said. ADVERTISIMENT The UAV threat in Voronezh region was announced the day before. It started at 22:27, July 6 and lasted until 7:04, July 7. In addition to the Podgorensky district, residents of Ostrogozhsk on the other side of the region also reported "loud pops". ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber . Do not fall for fakes! When I read the majority opinion on Monday in Trump v. United States, which held that presidents enjoy absolute immunity for official acts within their conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority and presumptive immunity for all other official acts, I was genuinely and sincerely confused. The Supreme Courts opinion is difficult to decipher, and in many important ways it is not originalist. For the second time this term after Trump v. Anderson, which blocked efforts to remove Donald Trump from the ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment the court has reached a decision thats truly difficult to square with the constitutional text. What is going on? I reject the simplest explanation the explanation you can see plastered all over social media that the courts conservative majority is biased in favor of Trump. In this era of institutional collapse, Im certainly more open to allegations of corruption or venality than I was in years past, but its hard to square this explanation with the judicial evidence. After all, if the conservative majority was truly in thrall to Trump, the election challenges in 2020 would have had a very different outcome. Instead, conservative judges at every level of the judiciary including at the Supreme Court rejected Trumps specious arguments. Even more, as Ive explained in detail in long analyses in 2023 and 2024, in many other areas the court has specifically rejected MAGA legal arguments, including by dismissing a dangerous legal theory called the independent state legislature doctrine that was one of the cornerstones of Trumps effort to overturn the 2020 election and would be the cornerstone of any future effort to disrupt election results. Given this history, however, one would have expected a narrower immunity ruling in Trump v. United States and a narrower ruling in Trump v. Anderson. Instead, the conservative majority created a barrier to prosecuting presidents for even the most blatantly corrupt official acts and blocked any enforcement of Section 3 against candidates for federal office in the absence of congressional action. ARTS & LEISURE An article on Page 12 this weekend about an English artist who won the Turner Prize misstates the timing of Jesse Darlings show at Chapter NY in Lower Manhattan. It has been postponed and will most likely take place in 2025; it will not open on July 11. MAGAZINE An article on Page 7 this weekend about The Boys Word, a Russian TV series, misstates reporting about funding for the show. The reporting said the series was produced and partly funded by the Institute for Internet Development, or I.R.I. It did not say the show was partly funded by Iran. Errors are corrected during the press run whenever possible, so some errors noted here may not have appeared in all editions. To contact the newsroom regarding correction requests, please email nytnews@nytimes.com. To share feedback, please visit nytimes.com/readerfeedback. Comments on opinion articles may be emailed to letters@nytimes.com. For newspaper delivery questions: 1-800-NYTIMES (1-800-698-4637) or email customercare@nytimes.com. Residents in Mexicos northern state of Tamaulipas, across the Texas border, sighed in relief this weekend as they learned that Beryl would only bring moderate to heavy rains in a few locations. The storm was originally expected to make landfall in Mexico twice. Still, authorities were taking no chances. Although the trajectory now may indicate that it is more focused on the Texas side, we ask not to be careless and not to let our guard down, Hector Joel Villegas Gonzalez, the states government secretary, said in a news conference on Saturday. Natural phenomena have no word of honor. Earlier in the week, officials in Tamaulipas set up temporary shelters, monitored dams, identified areas vulnerable to landslides and took steps to prevent potential flooding and road blockades such as clearing the drainage and pruning trees. Some people were heeding the authorities advice. Rene Aguirre Garza, who coordinates a residential neighborhood in Matamoros that has previously been affected by flooding, said some of his neighbors were placing sand bags around their houses and cleaning their streets. Before Beryl threatened the Texas coast on Sunday, the storm caused destruction across several other countries as it made its way through the Caribbean and toward the Gulf of Mexico. After forming in the Atlantic Ocean in late June, Beryl ripped through the Caribbean as a Category 4 hurricane before making its way toward Texas. While it has since weakened to a tropical storm, it is expected to regain strength and make landfall in Texas as a Category 1 hurricane on Monday. The storm has left a trail of destruction starting on July 1. Heres where Beryl has wreaked havoc so far. President Biden, facing a political crisis in which some of his Democratic allies are asking him to be more unscripted in order to demonstrate his ability to win over voters, instead stuck to his script on Sunday, reading from notes for an address to a church congregation that lasted roughly seven minutes. At a worship service at one of Philadelphias biggest Black churches, Mr. Biden speaking without a teleprompter, which he uses in most of his public remarks sought to reassure a group of voters who helped him win the White House in 2020 that he is still capable of beating former President Donald J. Trump. The joy cometh in the morning, Mr. Biden told several hundred people at Mount Airy Church of God in Christ, where a visit has become something of a rite for Democrats. Youve never given up. In my life, and as your president, Ive tried to walk my faith. Mr. Biden is at a tension point in his campaign, with his advisers seeking to keep his appearances tight and other Democratic allies wanting him to be more freewheeling to show he can respond in real time to events. During the awkward interlude after he was ousted from the speakership but before he resigned from Congress, Kevin McCarthy found himself standing on the House floor one afternoon next to Representative Bob Good of Virginia, one of the eight Republicans who had voted to remove him from power. I just traveled to your district, Mr. McCarthy, still raw over his political downfall, said in what was interpreted as a vaguely threatening tone. Its a really nice district. Why dont you come down and spend money there? Mr. Good, the chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, taunted Mr. McCarthy in response. Oh, Im going to, Mr. McCarthy shot back. I might spend $5 million there, too. In this instance, Mr. McCarthy was as good as his word. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, a contender to be former President Donald J. Trumps running mate, indicated on Sunday that he supported the Supreme Court ruling granting Mr. Trump and future presidents substantial immunity from prosecution. I think what the Supreme Court did is, it clarified what the law is, he said on CNN, arguing that this had become necessary because it is clear that we have reached an era where there are people in American politics who believe that our courts are now a weapon that can be used against their political opponents. You look at what their efforts, on what theyve done in the courts to persecute and prosecute Donald Trump. The interviewer, Dana Bash, noted that the same Justice Department that is prosecuting Mr. Trump is also prosecuting a Democratic senator, Robert Menendez of New Jersey. Mr. Rubio replied, They only go after Democrats that dont do everything the Democrats want them to do. Mr. Rubio denied that Mr. Trump had called for weaponizing the Justice Department against his political opponents something Mr. Trump has done on many occasions. Among other instances, Mr. Trump has said that, if elected again, he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate President Biden; reposted calls on social media for specific officials to be jailed and for former Representative Liz Cheney to be subjected to televised military tribunals; and indicated that he would intervene in Justice Department prosecution decisions. Texans in areas plagued by drought conditions may be hoping Beryl will bring some relief. But they are likely to be disappointed: The storm is set to dump rain mostly on regions that do not really need it. About a quarter of the state is currently in drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, affecting areas mostly in West and Central Texas along the Rio Grande, as well as those just west of Austin and San Antonio. About 3.5 million Texans live in areas currently in moderate, severe or extreme levels of drought, the drought monitor shows. But with Beryl forecast to head north and then east after making landfall along the central part of the Texas coast, that means rainfall is likely for only areas that are not in need of it, the drought monitor shows. Whenever we kind of miss out with one of these systems, where it doesnt go into the area we wish it would go into, it just prolongs the agony of drought in the areas that really need water right now, said Paul Yura, a meteorologist at the Austin-San Antonio office of the National Weather Service. Landslides and floods set off by torrential rains have killed at least 15 people in Nepal in the last 24 hours, officials in the small Himalayan nation said on Sunday, expressing fear that with further heavy rains expected, that number could rise. Eighteen people were also injured in the flooding over the past 24 hours, and two are missing, said Dan Bahadur Karki, a police spokesman. Dozens of people were evacuated to safety, including some pulled from the rubble of their damaged homes. Officials said the landslides had hampered vehicle traffic in most parts of a country where the terrain already makes travel difficult. Highways were damaged, as were the serpentine roads that connect cities with mountain villages. Military and police forces were deployed to help clear the roads. Koshi, Gandaki and Bagmati Provinces, in the east and center of the country, were among the hardest hit. Weather experts predict that heavy rainfall could affect the remaining provinces as the rain heads west. Ukraine, which depends on American military aid for its survival, has long tried to maintain bipartisan support in the United States. That has never been easy, but it is getting harder, especially with the increased possibility that Donald J. Trump, no great friend of Ukraine, will return to the White House. Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is asked in nearly every interview what a second Trump administration would mean for Ukraine. While Mr. Zelensky chooses his words carefully, sometimes the emotional weight of the assumption behind the question that Mr. Trump could end American military assistance, allowing Russia to succeed in destroying the Ukrainian state spills into view. Mr. Trumps claim last week during his debate with Mr. Biden that he alone knew the path to peace is a little scary, the Ukrainian president said in an interview with Britains Channel 4 News. Ive seen a lot, a lot of victims, Mr. Zelensky said. But thats really making me a bit stressed. A sex scandal has erupted in the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. Georgy Suzuki, an assistant to Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), whom Russian media called a likely successor to Patriarch Kirill, accused his mentor of harassment. ADVERTISIMENT This was reported by the Russian media outlet Meduza. It is noted that the 18-year-old native of a Russian-Japanese family has been an assistant (cellar boy) since 2022 when he came to Budapest at the invitation of Hilarion. According to the article, the young man claims that a few weeks later the Metropolitan invited him to move into a room in his apartment to help with the household chores. Soon after, Hilarion took Suzuki to his French summer cottage, where the assistant fell ill. At some point, Hilarion allegedly stripped him down to his underwear and got into bed with him to warm him up. Then, according to media reports, after returning from France to Hungary, Hilarion began to visit Suzuki in the evenings, and then regularly sleep with him. "According to the young man, there was no sexual acts. In September 2023, Suzuki tried to 'express dissatisfaction', but the Metropolitan began to threaten him with 'problems'," the media outlet reports. ADVERTISIMENT Soon, the man began to record conversations with Hilarion. In one of them, the Metropolitan said that he "will feel bad" if he decides to leave. In another recording, Hilarion can be heard forbidding Suzuki to put on pajamas before bed in order to "feel his skin" and "put him down to sleep like a father." In 2024, the man decided to run away from his mentor back to Japan. Before he left, he took money and valuables totaling 30 thousand euros from the metropolitan's house, which led to the opening of criminal proceedings against him in Budapest. Hilarion himself stated that the accusations of harassment were groundless and promised to sue for defamation. It is interesting that in February 2018, Metropolitan Hilarion, referring to his pastoral experience, claimed that the church helps to "cure" gay people. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! At first, Nigel Farage kept his cool. When protesters disrupted an election victory speech by Mr. Farage, Britains veteran political disrupter, anti-immigration activist and ally of former president Donald J. Trump, he ignored them. But as the chaos persisted at the media conference on Friday, Mr. Farage began heckling back, drowning out critics by shouting boring! into the microphone no fewer than nine times. With Mr. Farage around, things are rarely boring, however, as Britains center-right Conservative Party has just discovered to its cost. Driven from power after 14 years by a Labour Party landslide, the Conservatives collapsed to their worst defeat in modern history, a stunning loss that has left the partys remnants in disarray. By contrast, Mr. Farages small insurgent party, Reform U.K., is on a roll and has elevated him to a central determinant of the future of Britains political right and perhaps the overall direction of the country. The French election campaign was swift and tense. It was also marred by racist episodes and acts of violence. The far-right National Rally has railed against immigration, which its leader, Marine Le Pen, has said has diluted what it means to be French. The left-wing coalition, which appeared to have captured the most parliamentary seats, according to projections released Sunday, includes the firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, who has been accused of fanning antisemitism. Gerald Darmanin, Frances interior minister, said on Friday that more than 50 people including candidates, their substitutes or supporters had been physically assaulted during the campaign. One of them was Prisca Thevenot, the government spokeswoman, who was putting up campaign posters in her constituency just outside Paris. Stories of racist attacks have circulated widely online and in the media. One television news program filmed a couple who supported the National Rally hurling insults at a Black neighbor, telling her to go to the doghouse. As the trend towards the international dispersion of certain value chain activities produces challenges, discover policies to meet these Bishop Fintan Monahan recently announced his diocesan changes for the coming Pastoral year and included was the appointment of Fr. Arnold Rosney to the Brendan Pastoral area. For Rosney will reside at the Presbytery, John's Place, Birr and work in the four parishes of the Brendan Cluster. A native of Birr, Fr Rosney was ordained 27 years ago. He told a newspaper a couple of years ago that entering the priesthood is a major and possibly daunting commitment, but when he started his studies in Maynooth in the early '90s, he realised that he had made the right choice. Im not sure it (becoming a priest) was something I always wanted to do," he explained, "but I always thought it was something worthwhile doing. I saw it as a good way to spend my life." After being ordained to the Deaconate, Bishop Willie Walsh asked him to go to Rome to continue his education, and after coming back to the Diocese in 1999 he spent a couple of years in Ennis, before arriving in Shannon. In September 2001 the Bishop asked would I come to Shannon to replace Father Mickey Mac as teacher chaplain in St Patricks Comprehensive," Fr Arnold told the media. "I came to Shannon then." After many years he left Shannon in January 2024 and returned to Birr, the town he grew up in. One of the things I remember Bishop Willie saying the day of our ordination," he commented, "was that you have the privilege of being with parents at happy times, baptisms, first communions, confirmations, wedding days, sharing in anniversaries, but also the privilege of being with parents and families at sad times, funerals, loss, challenges, Ive had that experience. Bishop Monahan's announcement in June that Fr Arnold had been appointed to the St Brendan's cluster of parishes has been warmly welcomed by many. Fr Arnold replaces Fr Antony Sajeesh. Fr Antony was a popular priest during his five years in Birr, whose affable, hard-working nature endeared him to many. He flew back to his home province of Kerala, India in December. 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. Yesterday, Ukrainian reconnaissance men attacked a logistics center of Russian troops together with equipment and combat vehicles. The defenders also burned down Russian's rare R-330Zh Zhitel jamming system. ADVERTISIMENT The occupiers suffered such losses in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region. The consequences of the attack on July 7 were reported by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine. "Reconnaissance men at the front burned down Russian Zhitel jamming station and logistics center," reads the description to the images with the consequences of the damage. An aerial reconnaissance unit of the 45th Separate Artillery Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine helped the DIU to carry out the operation. The warriors scouted the aggressor's military facilities in the occupied territory and inflicted fire on July 6. ADVERTISIMENT In particular, in Debaltseve, they hit the logistics center, where the Russian occupiers stored tank equipment and ammunition. The defenders also destroyed Russian R-330Zh Zhitel jamming communication station in Novoluhanske. Experts say that this is a highly expensive (the exact price is unknown) station as it is really effective and valuable for the enemy. Not many units of this equipment were manufactured in the aggressor country, and the Defense Forces have already destroyed more than one such stations during the full-scale war. ADVERTISIMENT "The hunt continues! Glory to Ukraine!" the DIU emphasized. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban continues to position himself as a potential mediator in ending the war in Ukraine. He seeks to shift the West's attention to possible peace talks as part of his comprehensive efforts to undermine European support for the Ukrainian state. ADVERTISIMENT At the same time, even Russian dictator Putin has refused such "help" from his "friend." This is stated in the report of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). On July 5, the Hungarian politician published an article in Newsweek in which he accused NATO of "preferring conflict to peace" and said that the Alliance was created to maintain peace. Orban's article came after his visits to Kyiv on July 2 and Moscow on July 5 to persuade Russia and Ukraine to start negotiations. Experts believe that these actions are part of his efforts to shift Europe's attention to discussions about peace talks and military support for Ukraine. Orban has consistently opposed and undermined the European Union's efforts to assist Kyiv, and shifting Europe's focus away from this topic supports this broader goal now that Hungary has taken over the EU Council presidency. In particular, Bulgarian Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev recently suggested that his country could "mediate peaceful" talks between Ukraine and Russia, and emphasized that the dialogue must comply with the UN Charter and international law. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also called on Ukraine to expand and accelerate the peace process to prevent "deepening polarization" and "give priority to diplomacy." ADVERTISIMENT "Orban's and others' calls for negotiations, as well as the peace formula for Ukraine, are separate efforts with different goals. Russian President Putin has demonstrated that he is not interested in any negotiations except for Ukraine's surrender. He rejected Russia's participation in possible ceasefire negotiations, instead demanding Ukraine's surrender through "demilitarization" and the surrender of significant territory that is not currently occupied," ISW noted. They added that the Kremlin leader has always tried to portray Russia as one that is ready for negotiations but has falsely portrayed Ukrainian officials as unwilling or unable to engage in dialogue. Ukraine has recently concluded the first of many summits with its partners to set the stage for possible future negotiations that will lead to a lasting peace on terms acceptable to Kyiv and its supporters, as well as dozens of partner states and international organizations. This includes Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria, which also signed a Joint Peace Communique on June 16, reaffirming their support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. ADVERTISIMENT "Ukraine's ability to continue its own peace process depends on its ability to liberate operationally important territory. Ukraine cannot launch successful counteroffensive efforts to achieve this goal without military support from the West in the short and medium term," the analysts stated. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Slotegrator's guide compares four leading iGaming licensing jurisdictions, offering valuable insights for operators navigating online gambling regulations. The world of iGaming regulations is intricate and constantly evolving, making it difficult for operators to stay updated and choose the most suitable license for their needs. To address this challenge, Slotegrator released a detailed comparison guide on four popular licensing jurisdictions: Anjouan, Curacao, the Isle of Man, and Kahnawake. Detailed Comparison of Licensing Jurisdictions Slotegrator's guide thoroughly describes the types of licenses each jurisdiction offers, covering crucial aspects such as fees, taxes, application processes, processing and validity periods, operational details, and additional benefits. This comprehensive comparison is an invaluable resource for new operators and those looking to expand or diversify their gambling business. Anjouan: Affordable and Accessible The Anjouan license is highlighted as the most affordable and most accessible to acquire, making it an excellent choice for new operators and businesses eager to launch quickly. The straightforward application process and low cost make it a popular option for those entering the iGaming market. Curacao: Popular and Compliant Curacao's gambling license has long been a favorite among operators due to its simplicity and cost-effectiveness. Recent revisions to the licensing system have made it more compliant with global regulatory norms, further solidifying its position as a leading choice in the industry. Isle of Man: Prestigious and Recognized The Isle of Man license is noted for its prestige and recognition. Allowed by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission and the OECD and a member of the World Trade Organization, the Isle of Man offers a highly respected licensing option that can enhance an operator's credibility. Kahnawake: Reputable and Established The Kahnawake Gaming Commission has issued licenses for many years and earned a solid reputation among players and operators. Its long-standing history and established regulatory framework make it a trusted choice for many in the industry. Comparison of Leading iGaming Licensing Jurisdictions Aspect Anjouan Curacao Isle of Man Kahnawake License Type Single License Single License Full License Full License Fees Low Moderate High Moderate Taxes Low Moderate High Low Application Process Simple Simple Complex Moderate Processing Time Quick Moderate Lengthy Moderate Validity Period 1 Year 5 Years 5 Years 5 Years Reputation Emerging Established Prestigious Reputable Additional Benefits Most Affordable Compliant with Global Norms Whitelisted by UKGC and OECD Long-standing History Expert Insights Yana Khaidukova, managing director at Slotegrator, emphasized the importance of providing operators with valuable guides: It's very important to provide the audience with such useful guides, especially in an area such as licensing. Our clients do not have a lot of time to spend doing their own analysis so we do it for them, meticulously analyzing all changes and rules, helping new, compliant brands get up and running fast. Additional Benefits and Considerations Glenn Debattista, chief operations officer at Revpanda, Slotegrator's media partner, highlighted the significance of obtaining an iGaming license: An iGaming license grants permission to an operator to legally offer online gambling services within a specific jurisdiction. Some popular jurisdictions for obtaining iGaming licenses include Malta (MGA), the United Kingdom (UKGC), Curacao and Gibraltar (GRA). The operator must first apply for one and then the regulatory authority conducts thorough background checks on the operator themselves. It is therefore important that the operator must demonstrate compliance with the strict regulatory requirements before the license is issued. However, compliance does not stop there, and the operator must continue adhering to the conditions of the license at all times, even once they have their license issued. iGaming Regulation Slotegrator's new guide is a valuable resource for operators navigating the complex landscape of iGaming regulations. By comparing key aspects of the Anjouan, Curacao, Isle of Man, and Kahnawake licensing jurisdictions, the guide helps operators make informed decisions and choose the best licensing option for their business. With expert insights and detailed comparisons, Slotegrator continues to support the iGaming industry by providing essential information and resources. First 2024 Biden-Trump Debate: Biden trails off while speaking during the CNN presidential debate Donald Trump and Joe Biden debated on June 27, 2024, during the first presidential debate of 2024. (Image by YouTube, Channel: WFAA) Details DMCA Donald Trump juxtaposed with President Joe Biden during debate on June 27, 2024 Think about what has occurred politically in America since the presidential debate on Thursday, June 24th. In it Biden looked frail, stumbled when he spoke, was raspy, hard to understand, seemed weak, confused and hesitant when speaking. He could not have fared worse in his debate with Trump. Let's face it. It's people's perception of the candidates on how they are performing is what counts; not the quality, or lack thereof, what they are saying. Calls for Biden to step down particularly by big dollar donors to the Dems coffers has accelerated since the debate. Even some Dems in Congress want him to step down as well as two thirds of Democratic voters. Biden meanwhile has been adamant in interviews with George Stephanopoulos and others about staying in the race. That according to him he is the only one that can beat Trump. Then to top it all off the Supreme Court just granted Trump complete immunity from all the prosecutions he is currently facing. So it seems clear sailing going forward for the "Trumpster". As for the Dems if Biden remains Trump's opponent in November they may go down in flames. Possibly losing both the House and the Senate to the Repubs where they may never recover. Unless in the Dems national convention next month they're able to declare an open convention and get another candidate to replace Biden on the ticket. When I read Michelle Obama could be a possibility I thought she could be the one who could defeat Trump. However I've been told she's adamant about not running so that appears to be a non-starter. Who else they might consider is anyone's guess at this point. Maybe one of the state's governors? However, with Trump the likely victor at this point and SCOTUS ruling granting him full immunity from prosecution instead of a presidential inauguration next January we should call it a coronation because it'll be like giving him the authority of a king. Even George Washington rejected the idea of some at the time who wanted him to be a king. He essentially said that's what we fought a revolution for. Getting out from under the rule of a king. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Russian attack on the airfield in Myrhorod, Poltava region, destroyed one Ukrainian aircraft. Several inoperable ones were barely damaged by debris. ADVERTISIMENT At the same time, Kremlin propaganda says that the occupiers allegedly destroyed 7 aircraft. Former spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force Yuriy Ihnat wrote about this on Facebook. According to him, Russian propaganda constantly publishes footage of strikes on Ukrainian equipment to boost the morale of its occupation army and demoralize Ukrainian society. However, the enemy propaganda greatly exaggerates the successes of the invaders and lies about the real consequences of their shelling. Ihnat noted that they tried to save the plane at the airfield in Myrhorod and took certain measures to do so. At the same time, the colonel emphasized that the enemy did adjust the strikes with the help of an Orlan-10 drone. He also explained that the occupiers have recently introduced a new tactic of using operational and tactical level UAVs. Ihnat suggested that the Russians turn off the navigation and direct the drone to the object inertially, and then turn on the GPS over the object and give out the target's coordinates. He emphasized that the Ukrainian military is taking measures to counter such intelligence. ADVERTISIMENT "Over the past three months, the enemy has increased the use of Iskander-M ballistic missile systems, which, unfortunately, have become more accurate, and this was felt first of all at our operational airfields. Therefore, many measures to counter the enemy are carried out by passive defense, including misleading the enemy, using dummies, etc.", Ihnat said. According to him, for two years, the flight crew and ground staff of operational airfields have been making titanic efforts to protect aircraft from destruction. He also added that attacks on our airfields have become more frequent as Ukrainian aviation poses a serious threat to the occupiers. As a reminder, the commander of the Air Force, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, said that the Russians destroyed dummies of aircraft and air defense systems with Iskanders. They targeted Dolhintsevo airfield (Kryvyi Rih) and the area of Yuzhne (Odesa region). ADVERTISIMENT Earlier, it was reported that a powerful explosion occurred in Myrhorod, Poltava region, on July 5 during an air raid alert. Russian terrorists hit the city with ballistic missiles once again. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! This is being billed as the blueprint for a "second American revolution". What it actually is, is a design plan for a second Civil War against the federal government's authorized checks and balances. Its proponents deserve the very same fate received by the planners of the first Civil War. A recent story produced for the BBC reports the following: "The Project 2025 document outlines four main aims: restore the family as the centrepiece of American life; dismantle the administrative state; defend the nation's sovereignty and borders; and secure God-given individual rights to live freely. "The document proposes slashing federal money for research and investment in renewable energy, and calls for the next president to 'stop the war on oil and natural gas'. "It proposes to eliminate a long list of terms from all laws and federal regulations, including 'sexual orientation', 'diversity, equity, and inclusion', 'gender equality', 'abortion' and 'reproductive rights'." What these proposal points mean is chilling. Restoring the family as the centerpiece of American life, is short-hand for de-legitimizing non-traditional family arrangements, such as people in the LGBT community. Dismantling the administrative state means things like eliminating the Federal Reserve, gutting the FBI, and placing the Department of Justice under direct presidential control. In other words, giving the president the authority and the unfettered means to "go after" his political rivals. Defending the nation's sovereignty and borders means building Trump's wall. And securing God-given individual rights means cutting the separation of church and state, and linking constitutionally protected rights and freedoms with religious authority instead. The plan also specifically states that Christianity is at the center of American life and government. All of these ideas are decidedly un-American, dreamed up by radical right-wing extremists in support of Donald Trump's love affair with autocratic dictatorship. What else is in this 900-page wish list of dangerous right-wing extremism? It includes: Abolish the Department of Education. Yeah, who needs that? Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Today Glenn Kirschner, NBC News and MSNBC legal analyst and instructor of criminal law at George Washington University, said, "When the Supreme Court says the lawless is lawful, where do you go with that?...how should President Joe Biden respond? What should he do with the new powers the Supreme Court just created and bestowed on all American presidents?" "... Trump made clear he will use military tribunals to prosecute his enemies (by falsely labeling them enemies of American democracy)." Trump has endorsed Military Tribunal prosecution for Liz Cheney, who he has falsely labeled as an enemy of American democracy. Kirschner is a genius at breaking down confusing legal issues into easy-to-understand pieces. Nonalcoholic cocktail mixer maker Urban River Spirits announced on Tuesday that the company is issuing a voluntary recall on 23 products because their safety cant be verified. Any of the recalled products which range from spritzers to mixers and syrups should be returned to Urban River Spirits, LLC at 2114 Main St., Forest Grove, OR 97116 for a refund if they were bought on or before July 2, said Michelle Garner, the companys co-founder, in a statement. Garner added that the safety of the products being recalled cant be verified because they were produced in an unlicensed and uninspected facility and they havent undergone shelf stability testing required by the Oregon Department of Agriculture. No one is known to have gotten sick from the recalled products. Tatum Todd covers crime and public safety. Reach them at ttodd@oregonian.com, or 503-221-4313. Records obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive offer new details of Oregon State Police Superintendent Caseys Coddings 2012 shooting of an 18-year-old near Yachats. It is one of three fatal shootings by Codding in his 27-year state police career. Ecosystems in the Northwest were heavily shaped by wolves before they were nearly wiped out of the region, a new study finds. By the 1930s, gray wolves were nearly gone in Oregon and the rest of the West, leading to the multiplication of animals the wolves hunted and creating an imbalance in the environment, researchers at Oregon State University found. But the full impact of their disappearance isnt fully understood because ecological research from the last century largely left out the role of wolves on the landscape. Most of the research wasnt done until the wolves were nearly gone. This means our understanding of natural ecosystems in the Northwest is flawed, according to William Ripple, an Oregon State ecologist and the lead author of the study. He said that hampers habitat restoration projects in the Northwest and moves, for example, to reintroduce more gray wolves in the West. Since the presence or absence of wolves can dramatically affect ecosystem structure and function, we believe this is a major issue for restoration, conservation and management, Ripple said in an email. The study was published recently in the journal BioScience. Gray wolves are listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act in most of central and western Oregon. Oregons population of gray wolves has only recently returned and grown following decades of absence. The first gray wolves to return to Oregon wandered into the eastern part of the state in the late 1990s, more than 50 years after they had been effectively hunted and pushed out of the U.S. By 2009, the wolf population in eastern Oregon became more established, but growth has leveled off. The analysis looked into ecological studies between 1955 and 2021 at 11 national parks to see whether they mentioned or explored the effect of the wolves disappearance. Less than half 39 of nearly 100 studies included such data. We found that the historical presence of wolves was not considered in the majority of relevant publications that we analyzed, he said. Ripple said this lack of research has created a false baseline, with many scientists measuring ecosystem health based on the degraded conditions that spread after the wolves were gone. Without them, elk populations grew, leading to overgrazing; coyote numbers grew, shrinking populations of the small animals coyotes hunt; even trees struggled due to changes in animal populations and plant functions once the wolves were gone, the researchers found. The historical loss of wolves from Western landscapes is a major ecological issue, he said. Ripple and the researchers suggest more historical data needs to be identified and studied across the region to better understand the effect wolves and other large predators had on ecosystems in the Northwest and to adjust expectations of their health. It is important that we do not forget what ecosystems looked like before the loss of wolves. We need to document the shifting baseline and remember that we might now be studying landscapes that are a sick patient, Ripple said. Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, the nations largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. Even before Russian President Vladimir Putin landed in Pyongyang for his first trip to North Korea in nearly a quarter century, foreign policy observers were pontificating about what Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un might have up their sleeves. Was the Putin-Kim summit an inflection point in the world order? Did the signing of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement mean that Moscow and Pyongyang were now officially allies? And if so, how should the United States react? The commentary thus far has taken on an almost hysterical turn. Victor Cha, a former National Security Council director for Asian affairs, has alleged that Russia and North Korea are now embarking on " a full-fledged military alliance similar to what both countries had during the Cold War. President Joe Bidens administration views the renewed Russia-North Korea partnership as an extremely dangerous arrangement that should be of concern to anybody who cares about stability on the Korean Peninsula or about saving Ukraine from Russian revanchism. People enjoyed warm weather and clear skies on the Portland waterfront the afternoon of Wednesday, July 3, 2024, ahead of a predicted heat wave that could send temperatures into the triple digits.Dave Killen / The Oregonian PORTLAND 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 the East Coast to the West Coast, forecasters said. Oppressive heat and humidity could team up to spike temperatures above 100 degrees 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 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 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 in Phoenix, which saw a record high of 118 for the date on Friday. Meteorologists predict temperatures will be near daily records regionwide through most, if not all, of the coming week with lower desert highs reaching 115 to 120 degrees. 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) wont get below 100 degrees until next weekend, the service posted online. And unfortunately, there wont be much relief overnight either. A new heat record for the day was set on Friday in Californias Death Valley one of the hottest places on Earth with the mercury climbing to 127. The old mark of 122 was last tied in 2013. Palm Springs, California, hit 124 degrees Friday, breaking the citys all-time record high of 123 degrees. More extreme highs are in the near forecast, including 129 for Sunday at Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park, and then around 130 through Wednesday. The hottest temperature ever officially recorded on Earth was 134 degrees in Death Valley in July 1913, though some experts dispute that measurement and say the real record was 130, recorded there in July 2021. Colby Goodman and his blue heeler Mulder play fetch on the beach in front of a new dock that opened last week in the Willamette River at Cathedral Park under the St. Johns Bridge on Thursday, July 4, 2024. Dave Killen / The Oregonian The worst is yet to come in many areas The worst was yet to come across much of the West, with triple-digit temperatures likely between 15 and 30 degrees 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, 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 that 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. Revelers at a music festival cope with the heat with cold water and shade At the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, 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 as she protected herself from the heat at the music festival. Definitely a difference between the shade and the sun, Quiroz said Friday. When youre in the sun, it feels like youre cooking. CLAIRE RUSH, REBECCA BOONE and SCOTT SONNER, Associated Press 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. The Russian invaders continue to steal Ukrainian grain from the temporarily occupied cities. Recently, the enemy smuggled over 80 thousand tons of grain through Mariupol. ADVERTISIMENT It was a new batch of grain harvest. This was reported by the National Resistance Center. According to the Center, since the beginning of this year, Russian terrorists have organized more than 15 such "transfers" from the temporarily occupied territories. In particular, the invaders use the port in Mariupol for their illegal actions. The theft of Ukrainian bread from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine is being carried out under the guidance of Russian military officials and local collaborators. Recently, Cyber Resistance activists gained access to the mail of Zakhary Dzhioev, deputy head of the Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport (Rosmorrechflot), who is in charge of exporting stolen Ukrainian grain. The National Resistance Center urges people to provide information about such criminals so that they can be brought to justice. ADVERTISIMENT Subsequently, the advisor to the mayor of Mariupol, Petro Andriushchenko, said that the Russian occupiers had sent Ukrainian grain to Turkey. Moreover, the invaders themselves do not hide the fact that they did so "under the control of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision (Rosselkhoznadzor)". Andriushchenko emphasized that this information should be the basis for raising questions to official Istanbul about the violation of international norms. "Turkey is an accomplice of loot maniacs? I think Mr. Erdogan is not ready for questions. Nor is he ready to answer them. But according to previous experience, this may complicate the passage of Russian grain through the Bosphorus," Andriushchenko wrote. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! ADVERTISIMENT The Embassy of Ukraine in Bulgaria called on officials and political forces to refrain from using the war for political purposes. They emphasized that Ukrainians pay the worst price every day for deterring the aggressor. ADVERTISIMENT The statement was published by the Embassy's press service. "Calls to limit or block aid to Ukraine practically mean an incentive to assist the aggressor state. Slowing down or restricting the provision of necessary assistance to Ukraine will lead not to peace but to more casualties and the frontline moving closer to the EU's borders," they emphasized. On the other hand, increasing defense assistance to Ukraine will help strengthen security in the entire region, restore respect for international law and move towards a just peace. The Embassy added that Ukraine, together with its allies, is actively working to implement President Zelenskyy's Peace Formula. The Ukrainian side expresses its gratitude to the Republic of Bulgaria, in particular to Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev, for participating in the Peace Summit in Switzerland on June 15-16. ADVERTISIMENT "Only through joint efforts can and should the international community force the aggressor to stop the war and restore peace. Restoration of security is possible only through joint efforts too," the statement reads. It is noted that Ukraine highly appreciates and is grateful to the Republic of Bulgaria, the National Assembly and the Government for supporting Ukraine in all spheres: political, financial, energy, humanitarian and defense. "This is a significant contribution to our common victory, confirmation of historically friendly Ukrainian-Bulgarian relations and mutual assistance in difficult times. Expressing its gratitude, the Embassy of Ukraine calls for the consolidation of all political forces and civil society to strengthen assistance to Ukraine to restore sustainable peace and justice," the press service summarized. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber . Do not fall for fakes! A Tennessee judge has ruled that the writings of the Nashville school shooter will remain undisclosed, citing potential harm from their release. This decision follows prolonged litigation involving police officials, the media, and the victims' families. Court Decision Highlights Public Harm Concerns On Thursday, Davidson County Chancery Court Judge I'Ashea Myles concluded that disclosing the shooter's writings would do more harm than good, especially with ongoing or prospective criminal investigations. In her ruling, Myles emphasized that unrestricted access to all records at any time does not support the justice system's fairness and impartiality. Myles stated that there are certain exceptions that limit unrestricted access to public records, as the potential harm from disclosure outweighs the public's right to know. While the current order restricts the release of the writings, it leaves room for future disclosure. One media company seeking their release plans to appeal the ruling. Legal Battle Over Records from Covenant School Shooter This decision concludes months of legal disputes following the March 27, 2023, mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, where former student Audrey Hale killed three children and three staff members before being fatally shot by police. The shooter's motive remains unclear, though initial suggestions pointed to possible resentment towards the school. Authorities described the shooter's writings as indicative of a mental health struggle, initially offering to release them post-investigation. However, the potential release became a contentious issue, with media companies advocating for public interest and victims' families fearing it might inspire copycats. Ownership of the writings was another focal point, as the shooter's parents transferred legal ownership to the families of about 100 Covenant students. The school and families argued that the writings were private under state law protecting school security records. Myles sided with the families, noting that the documents fall under a federal Copyright Act exception to the Tennessee Public Records Act. Families and Officials React to the Ruling The families of the victims felt relieved after Myles made his decision. Erin Kinney, the mother of 9-year-old victim William Kinney, said that this perspective is a crucial initial move towards ensuring that the perpetrator cannot harm our children any longer. The family of substitute teacher Cindy Peak, also killed in the shooting, shared similar sentiments, saying the ruling brings a measure of relief. The situation escalated when conservative media personalities, including Steven Crowder and The Tennessee Star, leaked portions of the writings. These leaks prompted Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell to demand an investigation, leading to administrative assignments for seven city police employees. Despite the investigation revealing that the leaks originated from cellphone photos taken by detectives, it ended without permanent action due to lack of cooperation from a former detective. Michael Patrick Leahy, editor-in-chief of The Tennessee Star, announced plans to appeal the ruling, arguing it subverts the Tennessee Public Records Act's intent. In December 2023, Nashville police investigated the leak but found no resolution. Myles acknowledged the legitimate concern of copycat crimes, noting that Hale had modeled their attack on previous perpetrators, idolizing them and mimicking their methods and targets. While many of Hale's documents remain protected, some may be released once the case concludes. Hatch Baby Inc. has announced a recall of their product, the Hatch Baby Rest 1st Generation sound machines, due to recorded reports of its adapters being an electrical shock hazard. The recalled adapters of these baby sound machines have affected approximately 919,400 devices that were sold across the country and carried by major retailers such as BuyBuyBaby, Walmart, and Target. This Hatch recall also affects 44,352 units sold in Canada. Recall Details and Safety Concerns The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (USCPSC) announced the recall on Wednesday, highlighting the risk posed by the AC power adapters supplied with the Rest 1st Generation sound machines. These adapters have been found to have a faulty plastic housing that can detach when unplugging the device. This defect exposes the metal prongs, potentially leading to electrical shocks for adults and children. As of the announcement, there have been 19 reported incidents of the plastic housing detaching, with two instances resulting in minor electric shocks. To mitigate the risk, consumers are urged to cease using the recalled adapters immediately. Steps for Obtaining a Replacement Adapter To obtain a free replacement power adapter, affected consumers must follow specific steps. First, they should unplug the cord and cut it. Then, they need to take a photo of the cut adapter, ensuring the model number CYAP05 050100U, "1.0A" amps, "Jiangsu Chenyang Electron Co. LTD," and "Made in China" are visible. Consumers should upload this photo to the Hatch recall website at www.hatch.co/adapterrecall and provide their name and mailing address. Hatch Baby Inc. will contact all registered owners directly to facilitate the replacement process of the faulty products. The company has set up a helpline to further assist the customers affected at (888) 918-4614, available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT. Additionally, customers can reach out via email at recall@hatch.co. Read Also: Arkansas Abortion Rights Amendment Clears Major Hurdle with Over 100,000 Signatures Identifying the Recalled Units The recalled sound machines were sold between January 2019 and September 2022 at various retailers across the U.S., including: Hatch.co Amazon.com BuyBuyBaby Target Walmart Nordstrom Pottery Barn Kids Best Buy The estimated price range for these machines during the sale period was $60 to $200. The recall specifically targets Hatch Rest 1st Generation sound machines with AC power adapters. These adapters were not sold separately and came included with the sound machines. The Hatch Rest 1st Generation sound machines themselves are not part of the recall. However, if you own one of these machines and the included adapter matches the description above, it's crucial to take immediate action. In addition to the U.S. sales, approximately 44,352 units were sold in Canada. It's important for consumers to check their adapters for the specific model number CYAP05 050100U and the other identifying marks mentioned above to determine if their unit is affected. Consumers are strongly advised to discontinue using the recalled adapters to avoid potential shock hazards and to promptly initiate the process to receive a free replacement. For the latest updates and detailed instructions on the recall process, visit www.hatch.co/adapterrecall or contact Hatch Baby Inc. directly. Stay informed and ensure the safety of your household by addressing this recall promptly. The missing American teen who vanished from a cruise ship in Germany has now been found alive and safe. The 14-year-old boy named Aydin Brown disappeared after the cruise ship he was in with his grandmother, Caribbean Princess, docked at Rostock-Warnemunde, Germany and has been reportedly missing for three days. Search Efforts To FInd Missing American Teen Aydin Brown had been missing since Thursday morning, prompting an extensive search by German authorities. The police authorities distributed three new photos of the missing 14-year-old boy during the search, two of which showed him with an unidentified man. The images that were released were captured from security footage indicating that Brown and the man were walking towards Warnemunde church square around 7:45 a.m. on Thursday. Authorities chose to publicly release photos of the missing American teen with the unidentified man who appeared to be speaking with him in hopes that he might know valuable leads. The search for Brown intensified the following days after his disappearance that involved the state and local police working diligently to locate the missing boy. Aside from the grandmother, the cruise ship company also flew the boy's mother to Germany. A breakthrough happened on Saturday as Brown's grandmother confirmed to the public that he has now been found safe. Princess Cruises also issued a statement expressing their relief and gratitude towards the German authorities for their effective efforts in locating Brown. "We are delighted that Aydin Brown has been found safe and sound. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to German authorities for their swift response and exceptional efforts in locating Aydin after he disembarked in Warnemunde last Thursday morning," the company said. Family Reunion and Ongoing Support Following Brown's disappearance, his grandmother left the ship Thursday night to join the search efforts on the ground. In an effort to help locate the missing boy, the cruise line company also confirmed that they were the one who facilitated the travel arrangements of Brown's mother. Princess Cruises has clarified that they are committed to providing continuous support in search efforts to find the boy and the family during this challenging time. In a statement, Princess Cruises stated that they understand the distress this situation has caused and will continue to provide ongoing on-site support to the family. The company emphasized their commitment to ensuring the family received all necessary assistance and care during the ordeal. Cruise Details and Passenger Reactions The Caribbean Princess is on a 12-day journey through the Baltic Sea, with stops in notable destinations such as Copenhagen, Denmark, and Stockholm, Sweden. The roundtrip cruise commenced on June 30 from Southampton, England, and is scheduled to return on July 12. Despite the incident, passengers on the ship have expressed varying levels of awareness and concern regarding Brown's disappearance. As of writing, police authorities in Germany have not released thorough details as to where and how Brown the missing American teen was found and. Additionally, the police have yet to answer queries and disclose information regarding his disappearance. Authorities released statements that they are now focused on working to reunite the boy safely back to his family. The cooperation between Princess Cruises, German law enforcement, and the support from the public played a crucial role in the positive outcome of this case. Eligible residents of Alaska can expect a financial boost in their household as this year's payment benefit from the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) comes their way and could reach as high as $1,312. The said financial boost for the constituents of Alaska is part of the ongoing effort of the state to distribute and allocate oil revenues to their people. Eligible participants, including those who still hold an "Eligible-Not Paid" status, will receive their payments throughout 2024. Recipients can expect their dividends via mail or direct deposit, providing a significant financial boost to many in the state. Understanding 2024 PFD Payments The PFD program was established to distribute Alaska's oil earnings to its constituents, offering monetary support and stimulating the local economy. The director of the Division of Permanent Fund tips, Genevieve Wojtusik, emphasizes the division's commitment to ensuring all eligible Alaskans admit their dividends immediately while efficiently processing fraud and treating all stakeholders with respect. Economic stimuli, similar as the PFD, aim to boost profitable activity by adding aggregate demand, which encompasses the total demand for goods and services within an economy. These measures help boost production, make jobs, and encourage economic growth, thereby serving the state's frugality and residers' particular finances. stimulants like the PFD help increase aggregate demand, which in turn can boost production, create jobs, and encourage overall economic growth. Payment Schedule for 2024 Residents with an "Eligible-Not Paid" status by specific dates can expect their payments according to the following schedule: July 10 Status: Payment by July 18 June 12 Status: Payment by June 20 August 7 Status: Payment by August 15 To ensure timely receipt of their PFD payment, applicants should regularly check their status online through the myPFD portal on the PFD Alaska website. It is crucial to verify and update the address listed on the application if necessary. This can be done digitally or by submitting a printed form to one of Alaska's government offices. How to Apply for the PFD The deadline to apply for the PFD is March 31 of the application year. Certain exceptions exist, such as for applicants who are disabled, filing on behalf of a deceased individual, or military personnel receiving hostile fire or imminent danger pay during the application period. Applicants can begin the application process from January 1 to March 31 by visiting the official homepage and selecting "CLICK HERE TO FILE YOUR ONLINE APPLICATION." There are several options available: using an existing myAlaska username, creating a new myAlaska account, or printing, signing, and submitting a paper signature page. The application is officially received once it is assigned a Confirmation Number. The PFD program continues to play a vital role in supporting Alaska's residents by providing financial assistance and stimulating the state's economy. Staying informed about application status and deadlines ensures eligible participants receive their dividends without delay. The substantial payments, particularly the $1,312 maximum, reflect Alaska's ongoing commitment to sharing its oil revenues with its people, fostering economic stability and growth. : SNAP Benefits Highest Payments: Food Stamp Differ Across the US With Benefits Soaring Up to $445 Per Person 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. Featured Video The Federation of Associations of Ghanaian Exporters (FAGE) is set to organize the inaugural Ghana Horticulture Expo 2024, which aims to transform the agricultural landscape by spotlighting the countrys vibrant horticultural sector. Scheduled to take place from July 9th to 11th, 2024, at the Accra International Conference Center, this event will promote sustainable practices, foster collaboration, and address key challenges faced by the industry. Under the theme "Celebrating Ghana's horticultural diversity; produce quality, export more," the Expo aims to spotlight Ghana's potential in horticulture and underscore the importance of sustainable farming methods in achieving economic growth through export of value-added products. The event will bring together a diverse array of stakeholders, including business leaders, investors, agricultural producers, researchers, and international buyers. Over 126 exhibitors will showcase the richness of Ghana's horticultural products, ranging from fresh vegetables and fruits to coconut-based products, cashew, and oil palm. Ghanas horticultural sector plays a significant role in the national economy, contributing to both GDP and employment. The government has been proactive in developing policies to support the sector, including initiatives aimed at improving market access, enhancing quality standards, and promoting sustainable farming practices. Despite these efforts, the sector still faces challenges such as limited international exposure, inadequate supply volumes, and compliance with global standards. Mr. Davies NarhKorboe, President of FAGE, expressed enthusiasm about the Expo's potential impact, stating, "The Ghana Horticulture Expo 2024 represents a pivotal moment for our sector. It's more than just an exhibition; it's a catalyst for elevating our industry, enhancing market access, and fostering sustainable growth. We look forward to showcasing Ghana's agricultural prowess and forging partnerships that will drive economic prosperity and job creation." "We believe that by addressing challenges such as limited international exposure, inadequate supply volumes, and non-compliance with standards, the Expo will contribute significantly to the socio-economic development of our country," added Mr. Davies NarhKorboe. The Expo will feature a series of activities designed to promote dialogue, innovation, and collaboration among stakeholders. Central to these activities are seminars on sustainable farming practices, conferences addressing market access and technological advancements, and networking sessions aimed at fostering partnerships across the agricultural value chain. Additionally, a technology showcase will highlight innovations in horticulture, with discussions focused on identifying challenges and devising strategic plans for the sector's advancement. Key objectives of the Expo include enhancing visibility for Ghanaian horticultural businesses on the global stage, promoting sustainable agricultural practices, and facilitating knowledge exchange to empower farmers and stakeholders with the tools necessary for success. By addressing challenges such as limited international exposure, inadequate supply volumes, and non-compliance with standards, the Expo aims to significantly contribute to Ghana's socio-economic development. The Expo is expected to generate substantial interest and participation from both local and international audiences, reaffirming Ghana's status as a leading hub of agricultural excellence in the region. It represents a unique opportunity for stakeholders to engage, collaborate, and explore innovative solutions that will drive the future growth of Ghana's horticultural sector. As Ghana stands on the brink of an agricultural renaissance, the Ghana Horticulture Expo 2024 is set to play a crucial role in shaping the future of the country's horticultural industry. By bringing together key players, fostering innovation, and promoting sustainable practices, the Expo promises to be a cornerstone event that will drive the sector's evolution and set a new benchmark for agricultural excellence in the region. The event is expected to have in attendance as Guest Speaker King TackieTeikoTsuru II, Ga Mashie Mantse, Honourable ministers of State, Members of Parliament, Chief Executives of State-Owned Enterprises, Heads and representatives of corporate institutions, and Heads of Research Institutes and the Academia. For more information and to participate in this transformative event, please contact [0243457783, 0240756057] Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video UPDATE: Police, FBI working to ensure safety of area after bomb threat at Pa. Capitol The State Capitol Complex was evacuated Saturday after more than 250 people, including all Republican and Democratic members of the Pennsylvania House and Senate, received an email threatening to detonate highly lethal devices there until President Joe Biden publicly denounces Israel. The email, sent around 5:45 p.m. with the subject line My manifesto, said lead azide devices were hidden in and around the Pennsylvania State Capitol and Pennsylvania Judicial Center In the name of Palestine. Capitol Police told PennLive they are aware of the threat but will not be commenting on the incident at this time. I plan on triggering one device every few hours until Joe Biden goes on national television and publicly denounces the illegitimate state of Israel, the email said. Keep in mind, I am inside one of the two buildings armed w/ a knife, and plan on remaining here to my dying breath! Michelle Richwine, a special assistant at the Office of Chief Clerk for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, sent a mass email to people in the Capitol that said: Attention House Members and Staff Vacate the Capitol Complex immediately. Do not reenter until cleared by Capitol Police. A half dozen Senate staff members gathered outside the building told PennLive there were very few people in the building when they were told by Capitol police to leave around 6:15 p.m. because they were sweeping the building. Legislative staff were working this weekend on the state budget which has yet to be finalized. State Rep. Ryan Bizzarro confirmed the situation in post on X around 7 p.m. Can confirm. Im tired of the foolery and unhinged behavior. Lets hope they find this menace. https://t.co/Pou315jmEZ REP. RYAN BIZZARRO (@RyanBizzarro) July 6, 2024 (PennLives Zack Hoopes and Jan Murphy contributed to this story) By Melanie Lidman and Samy Magdy, The Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel Marking nine months since the war in Gaza started, Israeli protesters blocked highways across the country Sunday, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down and pushing for a cease-fire to bring back scores of hostages held by Hamas. The demonstrations come as long-running efforts to broker a truce gained momentum last week when Hamas dropped a key demand for an Israeli commitment to end the war. The militant group is still seeking a permanent cease-fire, while Netanyahu has vowed to keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed. Sundays Day of Disruption started at 6:29 a.m., the same time Hamas militants launched the first rockets toward Israel in the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war. Protesters blocked main roads and demonstrated outside of the homes of government ministers. Near the border with Gaza, Israeli protestors released 1,500 black and yellow balloons to symbolize those fellow citizens who were killed and abducted. Hannah Golan said she came to protest the devastating abandonment of our communities by our government. She added: Its nine months today, to this black day, and still nobody in our government takes responsibility. Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people in the surprise attack and took 250 others hostage. Israels retaliatory offensive has killed over 38,000 Palestinians, according to the territorys Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. About 120 hostages remain captive after more than 100 hostages were released as part of a November cease-fire deal. Israel has already concluded that more than 40 of the remaining hostages are dead, and there are fears that the number will grow as the war drags on. The United States has rallied the world behind a proposal for a phased cease-fire in which Hamas would release the remaining captives in return for a lasting cease-fire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. But Hamas wants guarantees from mediators that the war will end, while Israel wants the freedom to resume fighting if talks over releasing the last batch of hostages drag on. Netanyahu has also said Israel is still committed to destroying Hamas military and governing abilities, and that it would resume the war after a pause to release hostages. Police disperse demonstrators blocking a road during a protest calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Jerusalem, Sunday, July 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)AP Israel continues to battle pockets of Palestinian militants across Gaza after months of heavy bombing and ground operations that have devastated the territorys main cities and displaced most of its population of 2.3 million people, often multiple times. On Sunday, Israel issued new evacuation orders for parts of Gaza City, which was heavily bombed and largely emptied early in the war. Bodies found with hands tied The Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis said the bodies of three Palestinians were retrieved from the area of the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel. A hospital statement said they were handcuffed, and an Associated Press reporter saw one of the bodies with bound hands. Abdel-Hadi Ghabaeen, an uncle of one of the deceased, said they had been working to secure the delivery of humanitarian aid and commercial shipments through the crossing. He said he saw soldiers detain them on Saturday, and that the bodies bore signs of beatings, with one having a broken leg. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports. Thousands of Palestinians have been detained since the start of the war, and many of those who have been released, as well as some Israelis who have worked at detention facilities, say detainees have been tortured and held under harsh conditions. Israeli authorities have denied abusing prisoners. Israeli airstrikes overnight and into Sunday meanwhile killed at least 13 Palestinians, including the undersecretary of labor in the largely dismantled Hamas-run government. Jewish settlers pray in the Eviatar outpost in the Israeli-occupied West Bank during morning prayers calling for the legalization of the outpost and the return of the hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, Sunday, July 7, 2024. Far-right ministers in Israels government have said they want to legalize unauthorized outposts in the West Bank in a sweeping expansion of settlements. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)AP Ihab al-Ghussein was among four people killed in a strike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City, according to the Civil Defense, a first responders group under the Hamas-run government. Hamas mourned his loss in a statement and said a strike earlier in the war had destroyed his house and killed his wife and daughter. The Israeli military said it had struck a militant complex in the area of a school building, as well as a nearby Hamas weapons-making facility in Gaza City after taking steps to mitigate harm to civilians. Israel trades fire with Hezbollah The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said early Sunday that it launched dozens of projectiles toward northern Israel, targeting areas more than 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, deeper than most launches. A 28-year-old man was seriously wounded, Israels national rescue service reported. Another attack near the border wounded three people, one of them seriously, according to the Galilee Medical Center. Israeli media reported that the critically wounded individual was an American citizen. There was no immediate confirmation from the army. Hezbollah began launching rocket and mortar attacks after the outbreak of the war in Gaza. The range and severity of the attacks and Israels counterstrikes have escalated in recent weeks, raising fears of an all-out war that would have catastrophic consequences for people on both sides of the border. Mediators from the United States, Egypt and Qatar have intensified their efforts in the past week to broker an agreement between Israel and Hamas. Hezbollah has said it will halt its attacks if there is a cease-fire in Gaza. The compromise on Saturday by Hamas could lead to the first pause in fighting since November and set the stage for further talks, though all sides still warned that a deal is not yet guaranteed. Demonstrators march with Israeli flags during a protest marking nine months since the start of the war and calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, July 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)AP Washingtons 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. War-weary Palestinians in the Gaza Strip appeared pessimistic, after previous instances in which the two sides appeared to be closing in on a deal. We have lived nine months of suffering, said Heba Radi, a mother of six children living in a tent in the central city of Deir al-Balah, where she has been sheltering since they fled their home in Gaza City. The cease-fire has become a distant dream. Magdy reported from Cairo. Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war Russia's war against Ukraine is beneficial for China, and it wants to gain certain advantages. Judging by the way Beijing supports Moscow in its aggression against our country, it is clearly interested in its continuation. ADVERTISIMENT This was stated by Andreas Umland, PhD in History and Political Science and analyst at the Stockholm Center for Eastern European Studies in a commentary to OBOZ.Talk. "Over the past year, it seems that China is actually interested in this war and will get something out of it, otherwise it would not have supported Russia so much economically," he said. According to Umland, if the United States and China came to an agreement, the situation would be completely different. "But I'm afraid that this will not happen. Or if Trump becomes president, there will be pressure on Ukraine to end the war and give up territory to Russia. And this will, of course, be a big problem for the entire international system because then this whole system, which was created in 1945 after World War II, will be questioned," the analyst says. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Capitol Police and the FBI were still working late Saturday to ensure the safety of the area after the State Capitol Complex was evacuated earlier in the day following a bomb threat. In a statement Saturday night, officials said that no explosives were found during a K9 search of the perimeter, but a comprehensive search and investigation remained underway. Along with Capitol Police and the FBI, officials said Pennsylvania State Police, House and Senate security and the Dauphin County Sheriffs office were involved. The threat was emailed to Republican and Democratic members of the Pennsylvania House and Senate at 5:45 p.m. Saturday with the subject line, My manifesto. That email claimed there were explosive devices hidden in and around the State Capitol Complex and the Pennsylvania Judicial Center In the name of Palestine. I plan on triggering one device every few hours until Joe Biden goes on national television and publicly denounces the illegitimate state of Israel, the email read. Keep in mind, I am inside one of the two buildings armed w/a knife, and plan on remaining here to my dying breath! Pa. House and Senate members received this email this afternoon - and the folks working in the Capitol were told to exit the building pic.twitter.com/k3zOThG2IX Jan Murphy (@JanMurphy) July 6, 2024 A half dozen Senate staff members gathered outside the building told PennLive there were very few people in the building when they were told by Capitol police to leave around 6:15 p.m. because they were sweeping the building. Legislative staff were working this weekend on the state budget which has yet to be finalized. (PennLives Madison Montag and Zack Hoopes contributed to this story) Sen. Ryan Aument, R-Lancaster County, defends his bill that would require schools to give parents the ability to opt-out their child in any grade from exposure to sexually explicit content in curriculum and other school materials and be provided a non-explicit alternative. The bill was passed by the Senate Education Committee in June with one offered by Sen. Scott Martin, R-Lancaster County, that bans instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in grades preK through five. June 21, 2022 Provided by Senate GOP Caucus Get ready, shark fans! Discovery Channels 36th annual Shark Week will begin Sunday, July 7 and run through Saturday, July 13. WATCH SHARK WEEK ON Philo with a FREE TRIAL Fans are in for a special treat this year with John Cena set to host the week-long event as he accompanies viewers through 20 hours of shark movies. According to Discovery Channels official website, this years annual Shark Week Event promises to be an unforgettable and electrifying experience. Shark Week will feature a mixture of entertaining movies along with educational documentaries like Monster Hammerhead: Species X which explores a newly discovered species of hammerhead. Shark Week will begin Sunday, July 7 at 8 p.m. with Belly of the Beast: Bigger and Bloodier, described as an intense and eye-opening show that delves into the world of great white shark feeding frenzies. How to watch Shark Week 2024 if you dont have cable For those who have cut the traditional cable cord, you can still watch Shark Week live through streaming services Philo which offers free trials to new subscribers. What is Shark Weeks 2024 schedule? Keep reading to see a breakdown of the entire 2024 Shark Week schedule: Sunday, July 7 8 p.m. Belly of the Beast: Bigger and Bloodier, Philo Dr. Austin Gallagher and his fearless team deploy a 29 foot whale decoy to attract and study massive great whites in New Zealand; witnessing their feeding frenzy and uncovering dominant Queen Boss females ruling male dominated clans. 9 p.m. Jaws vs. Leviathan, Philo In New Zealand, a clash of titans is about to erupt, the Great White versus a 60 foot leviathan; Dr. Tristan Guttridge and Kina Scollay simulate epic battles and study orca tactics to discover the ultimate predator. 10 p.m. Makozilla, Philo A spike in attacks on sea lions off the coast of Southern California sends shark researchers searching for an oversized, aggressive mako shark they believe could have family ties to the legendary record-breaking mako called The Beast. 11 p.m. Sydney Harbor Shark Invasion, Philo Three recent bull shark encounters in the heart of Sydney Harbor leave the city on edge; shark attack survivor Paul de Gelder returns to the exact location where a bull shark nearly took his life to determine the cause for the spike in attacks. Monday, July 8 8 p.m. Big Shark Energy, Philo Shark experts Dr. Riley Elliot and Kori Burkhardt conduct a one-of-a-kind shark competition to determine which male great white is the alpha in the pack; to see who has the most swagger, they test the sharks speed, hunting ability and fearlessness. 9 p.m. Shark Frenzy: Mating Games, Philo Dr. Craig OConnell and his team willfully ignite shark-feeding frenzies to uncover whether these violent and chaotic events trigger mating behavior; the results could be the key to ensuring the survival of these crucial apex species. 10 p.m. Great White Serial Killer: Sea of Blood, Philo After fatal shark attacks in 2022 and 2023 off the shore of a Mexican fishing village, shark attack survivor Paul De Gelder joins shark investigator Brandon McMillan to ID the killers and help prevent future attacks from happening. Tuesday, July 9 8 p.m. Deadliest Bite, Philo A group of shark experts set out to discover which shark species has the deadliest bite; using bite force meters, biomedical imaging and a cutting edge super slow motion camera rig, theyll document and analyze shark bites like never before. 9 p.m. 6000 LB Shark, Philo With reports of enormous fat white sharks appearing off the coast of New Zealand, scientists Tom Hird and Leigh de Necker set out to find one of these behemoths and determine if the great white can reach a staggering 6,000 lbs. 10 p.m. Monster Hammerheads: Species X, Philo Dr. Austin Gallagher and his team investigate an aggressive population of hammerhead sharks in Turks and Caicos; they could be an entirely new species. Wednesday, July 10 8 p.m. Great White North, Philo Theres a growing population of aggressive white sharks in an unlikely location, Canada; Andy Casagrande heads out on an expedition along Nova Scotias coast to determine if this new population could be the largest in the world. 9 p.m. Expedition Unknown: Shark vs Nazis in Paradise, Philo 10 p.m. Alien Sharks: Ghosts of Japan, Philo Wildlife biologist Forrest Galante explores the alien world of Japans oceans; teaming up with deep sea shark expert Christina de Silva, they search for the extremely rare Japanese angelshark, the ghost of the sea. Thursday, July 11 8 p.m. Monsters of Oz, Philo In southwestern Australia, an unknown predator with a taste for great white and mako sharks ignites fears of sea monsters in the abyss; filmmakers Dave and Jennene Riggs join Dr. Tristan Guttridge and Rosie Moore to track down the killer. 9 p.m. Caught! When Sharks Attack, Philo Researchers are witnessing an unusual amount of shark aggression and attacks; a team of experts analyzes the most intense shark encounters caught on camera, unveiling mysterious new behaviors within these dangerous interactions. 10 p.m. Great White Danger Zone, Philo Alison Towner and her team investigate a new great white hot spot off the coast of South Africa; it is equipped with cutting-edge fin cameras, tracking tags and underwater surveillance; researchers unveil unusual behavior in these great whites. Friday, July 12 8 p.m. The Real Sharkano, Philo Shark Week star Paul De Gelder is taking a small team to an ultra remote island of shark worshiping natives to see if their secret ways of swimming with deadly sharks could hold the secret to humans and sharks living together in peace. 9 p.m. Sharks of the Dead Zone, Philo Dr. Tiara Moore has discovered bull sharks thriving in polluted, algae filled lagoons; teaming up with Dr. Craig OConnell, they study why pregnant females still migrate there and how their pups survive in a seemingly hostile environment. 10 p.m. Shark Attack Island, Philo Saturday, July 13 8 p.m. Sharktopia, Philo In Indonesias Raja Ampat Islands, a team of researchers hunt for one of the regions last living leopard sharks; they venture deeper into the unknown and their journey brings them face to face with some of the weirdest and wildest sharks on Earth. 9 p.m. Mothersharker: Hammer Time, Philo By Juan Lozano and Jim Vertuno, The Associated Press HOUSTON Beryl was hurtling across the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico on a collision course with Texas, forecast to pick up strength and regain hurricane status before nearing the coast Sunday and making landfall the following day with heavy rains, howling winds and dangerous storm surge. A hurricane warning was declared for a large stretch of the coast from Baffin Bay, south of Corpus Christi, to Sargent, south of Houston, and storm surge warnings were also in effect. Other parts were under tropical storm warnings. 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. 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). 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 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. 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. Visitors crowd the beaches, Saturday, July 6, 2024, in Port Aransas, Texas, ahead of Hurricane Beryl's arrival. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)AP Some coastal cities called for voluntary evacuations in low-lying areas that are prone to flooding, banned beach camping and urged tourists traveling on the Fourth of July holiday weekend to move recreational vehicles from coastal parks. Mitch Thames, a spokesman for Matagorda County, said officials issued a voluntary evacuation request for the coastal areas of the county about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Houston. 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. Residents were advised to secure homes by boarding up windows if necessary and using sandbags to guard against possible flooding. Traffic has been nonstop for the past three days at an Ace Hardware in the city as customers buy 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 has been definitely a lot of buzz about the incoming storm, with customers stocking up on food and drinks, particularly meat and beer. Visitors pass a restaurant closed in advance of Beryl, Saturday, July 6, 2024, in Port Aransas, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)AP In Refugio County, north of Corpus Christi, officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for its 6,700 residents. Before hitting Mexico, Beryl wrought destruction in Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Barbados. Three people were reported dead in Grenada, three in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, three in Venezuela and two in Jamaica. Vertuno reported from Austin, Texas. Associated Press writer Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska, contributed. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form The video with Latvian MEP Rihards Kols, who slammed Russian delegation at OSCE by asking them to "follow the direction of Russian warship", went viral in 2023. Now he aptly mocked Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The Hungarian leader visited Moscow and met with Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin the day before. ADVERTISIMENT Richard Kohls left a comment under Orban's post. "," Kolhs wrote in Cyrillic. It is the play of words regarding his "heroic mission". is a hint at the word "peace", while the whole expression stands for a derogatory remark towards someone smaller in height, age, or lower in position. There are many memes about it on the Internet (Moy Pizdyuk). Back in 2023, the head of the Latvian Saeima's foreign affairs committee, Rihards Kols, asked the Russian delegation to follow the direction of Russian warship. He also proposed to stop issuing visas to the EU to Russian citizens. The representative of the aggressor country, in turn, said that he was present at the event "by right" and suggested that those who disagreed leave the hall "with their Ukrainian flags". In response, the participants of the event began to blatantly leave the premises. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! 138 players made their way to Casino Schenefeld today, all dreaming of getting their hands on the PokerStars Eureka Hamburg Main Event trophy and corresponding first place prize of 110,070. After a frantic day of action, only 19 players remain to return for Day 3 and their shot at the trophy, with Dutchman Stan Van Dijk (2,000,500) taking the chip lead into the final day, closely followed by Tim Werner (1,850,000) and Sergej Schumacher (1,645,000) of Germany. Van Dijk's career best score is second in the Battle of Malta Main Event in 2022 for over $150,000, and he will be hoping to add another six-figure prize to his resume. Werner and Schumacher both have recorded live cashes totaling under $10,000 and they will be be looking to bag a career-best score, along with the trophy. PokerStars Qualifier Philipp Ruthard (260,000) is also still going strong, albeit amongst the short-stacks. Philipp Ruthard End of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts Place Player Country Chip Count Big Blinds 1 Stan Van Dijk Netherlands 2,000,500 80 2 Tim Werner Germany 1,850,000 74 3 Sergej Schuhmacher Germany 1,645,000 65 4 Khossein Kokhestani Ukraine 1,580,000 63 5 Timo Scarcella Germany 1,245,000 49 6 Rens Buijs Belgium 1,130,000 45 7 Ercan Atmaca Netherlands 1,100,000 44 8 Branko Samardzic Germany 1,080,000 43 9 Timo Schmiedeke Germany 970,000 38 10 Simone Demasi Italy 930,000 37 Rens Buijs 2024 Pokerstars Eureka Hamburg Main Event Remaining Payouts Place Prize Place Prize 1 110,070 14-15 6,140 2 68,750 16-17 5,340 3 49,110 18-19 4,640 4 37,780 5 29,060 6 22,350 7 17,190 8 13,230 9 10,610 10-11 8,840 12-13 7,370 Recap of Day 2 Action 138 players started the day, with 87 places in the money and guaranteed a minimum payout of 1,750. The knockouts came quickly at the start of the day as players such as Tjenno Eskes, Alexander Wahl and Jochen Schreiber made early exits, Schreiber after his aces were cracked. Rens Buijs made an early charge to be among the chip leaders at dinner break, while players such as Claus Spieckermann and Niklas Krawczyk departed just before a 90-minute bubble ensued. Axel Junker made a huge hero call for his tournament life on the bubble on the river with third pair, while Eazy Wendt-Shabaz spiked an unlikely nine on the river for a set to stay in it and prolong the tension. The bubble ultimately burst when the unfortunate Floris Pop had his aces cracked. Floris Pop The knockouts came quickly once the bubble had burst, with players such as Patrick Lorenz and Dominick French departing with a minimum cash. With 50 players left Malte Von Ostrowski was chip leader having scooped a big pot with two pair. However things started to go south for Ostrowski when he overbet jammed the flop with a gutshot against Julian Paulsen and missed, and he ultimately exited before the end of the day. Van Dijk made his charge towards the top of the standings when he won a blind on blind confrontation with Gregory Kehren. There were then a flurry of departures before the end of play, as Robert Rohr ran his pocket jacks into Werner's pocket queens, and short-stacks Walter Beckmann and Helge Pedersen busted after the final three-table redraw. Play gets underway again at 3:00 p.m. local time on Sunday, July 7. Be sure to stay with us at PokerNews for all your coverage as we get towards the nitty gritty of the tournament and play down to a winner here at Casino Schenefeld. Sen. J.D. Vances wants to be vice president so badly that he claimed Trump is a good husband, but even his brain wouldnt stand by that lie. Video: Not even J.D. Vance believes what he said about Trump being a good husband, based on his quick pivot away, "Barack Obama despite my many political disagreements with him, he's clearly a good husband and a father. I'd say the same thing about Donald Trump whose children love him." pic.twitter.com/xog4CR82fO Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) July 7, 2024 Transcript via Meet The Press: KRISTEN WELKER: Let me ask you something that caught our eye. This is something you wrote in the New York Times op-ed in 2017 about former president Barack Obama. You criticized his policies, but you also said, quote, It is one of the great failures of recent political history that the Republican Party was too often unable to disconnect legitimate political disagreements from the fact that the president himself is an admirable man. For at a pivotal time in my life Barack Obama gave me hope that a boy who grew up like me could still achieve the most important of my dreams. For that, you write, I will miss him and the example he set. You wrote that just days before Donald Trump was inaugurated. Do you still consider Barack Obama to be an admirable man who you miss? SEN. JD VANCE: Well, you know I grew up in a broken family, Kristen, and I just wanted to be a good husband and dad. And certainly, Barack Obama, despite my many political disagreements with him, hes clearly a good husband and a father. By the way, Id say the same thing about Donald Trump whose children love him. And I think this is one of the things the media often misses about Trump is how genuinely devoted he is to his family, to his grandchildren, and how part of his pro-life messaging, his fundamental pro-life view is that we ought to make it easier for more American families to have those thriving children and thriving families. So, certainly I think weve been blessed with a lot of good examples across our country. And yes, absolutely. Was Barack Obama a good president? No. Was he a good husband and father? Yes. J.D. Vance couldnt convince his own brain that Trump is a good husband. Trump is such a good husband that his wife refuses to appear in public with him. Trump is such a good husband that he ended up convicted of 34 felonies because he tried to hide his sexual activity with another woman while he was married to his current wife from the voters. Sen. Vance desperately wants to be Trumps running mate, but after he claimed that Trump was a good husband, he immediately had to talk about Trumps kids, because nobody in their right mind believes that Donald Trump is good husband, and even J.D. Vance couldnt sell that idea to himself. PoliticusUSA has been your source for democracy first news since 2009, but we could use your help. If you can please consider supporting us by donating today. Sen. Chris Murphys (D-CT) answer on Sunday morning revealed that the Capitol Hill Democratic Biden panic might be coming to an end. To support PoliticusUSA, please consider making a donation: Murphy said when asked by CNNs Dana Bash if he thought Biden could be Trump: Oh, absolutely. Listen, I think the president needs to answer those questions that voters have. If he does that this week, I think he will be in a very good position and we can get back to what this campaign needs to be a contrast between Joe Biden, a decent, honorable man of character and Donald Trump, a pathological liar who is advertised that he wants to endorse and mainstream political violence in this country. But again, if the president is unwilling to do the things necessary to restore voters confidence or answer voters questions, then of course, he has a decision to make about what the best path forward is for the country. But if he answers those questions this week, theres no doubt that he can win this race. Video: Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) answers when asked if Biden can beat Trump, "Oh, absolutely. I think the president needs to answer those questions that voters have. If he does that this week, I think he will be in a very good position." pic.twitter.com/tvYwuTetFC Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) July 7, 2024 By voters, Murphy means the Democrats in polling who expressed the belief that Biden is too old and cant do the job after the debate. Bidens problem isnt so much with voters at large, but with scared Democrats on Capitol Hill that are fanning the flames of a panic that is freaking out their own voters. Biden has two campaign events in Pennsylvania and a press conference this week, but that should not be the end of it. Trump isnt campaign. The Biden campaign needs their candidate to hold lots of events and be in front of voters. Biden needs to do campaign stops, interviews, and town halls. President Biden has an opportunity to outwork Trump, and if he does so, he will not only reassure voters and elected Democrats, he will also be in a fantastic position to win. Whether youre a fan of fiction or the real deal, fall is full of amazing selections. This week, just a few youll love. For more book info, along with upcoming events and all the new fall releases, visit Main Street Reads, Summervilles independent bookstore, your local library or shop sma Read moreSummerville Reads: Fall into fiction with must-read picks for every book lover Charleston, SC (29403) Today Cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low around 65F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low around 65F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%. China spearheads collaborative, inclusive agenda for global AI governance Xinhua) 09:10, July 07, 2024 This photo shows an installation at the 2024 World AI Conference in Shanghai, east China, July 6, 2024. AI-powered products and applications have captivated lots of visitors during the 2024 World AI Conference. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe) SHANGHAI, July 6 (Xinhua) -- As global scrutiny on the governance of artificial intelligence (AI) intensifies, China has emphasized the critical need to develop this transformative technology in a way that is safe, reliable, inherently controllable and equitable. In a declaration unveiled at the ongoing World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), China underscored the importance of ethical and responsible AI development while advocating for the use of AI to bolster the capabilities of developing nations. The development of AI technologies faces a series of new challenges in areas such as law, security, employment and moral ethics, said Chinese Premier Li Qiang while addressing the opening ceremony of the WAIC. "The risks associated with AI range from data leaks, privacy and copyright infringements to disinformation and ethical issues like bias and discrimination," said Zhou Bowen, director of Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, in a keynote speech at the WAIC. "There is also growing concern about its potential disruption to employment," Zhou added. "While perspectives on AI may vary, one consensus is clear: we must ensure that AI is always subject to human oversight to achieve safe and constructive outcomes, and achieving this goal demands a collaborative approach from nations worldwide," said Yin Hejun, Chinese minister of science and technology. China's proposal for global AI governance has been widely endorsed by WAIC attendees from across the world. They agreed on the pressing need to bolster international collaboration to effectively mitigate the potential risks posed by this groundbreaking technological progress. The best approach to strike a balance between the pace of AI innovation and the need for responsible development is to "work together globally," ensuring that these remarkable new capabilities are deployed responsibly, noted Sassine Ghazi, president and CEO of Synopsys. Addressing the main forum on AI governance at the WAIC, Chinese vice foreign minister Ma Zhaoxu voiced strong opposition to attempts to monopolize AI resources, unilaterally dictate the formulation of rules, or create exclusionary alliances. He also denounced any malicious interference in the initiatives of other countries. George Chen, an analyst at the Asia Group, a consultancy firm headquartered in Washington D.C., said that it is understandable for Washington to seek a significant advantage in its competitive stance against Beijing. Chen, however, stressed the critical need for a global consensus to "prevent AI from being weaponized," and cautioned that without such an agreement, "the consequence can be unthinkable." China's advocacy for AI governance has placed a special focus on ensuring that developing nations do not lag behind in the global AI landscape. The effort includes initiatives such as the Global AI Governance Initiative launched by the country, and a resolution unanimously adopted at the 78th UN General Assembly to enhance international cooperation on AI capacity building. "Every nation, irrespective of its size, power, wealth, or social structure, holds an inherent right to the equitable advancement and application of AI," said Ma. "It is particularly crucial to increase the representation and influence of developing countries." "There is a gap between what you see in the Global South and in developed countries," said Jose Roberto, deputy consul-general of Brazil in Shanghai. "After WAIC, we are creating an agenda of visits to AI institutions in Shanghai and in Beijing," Roberto added. "I'm very excited for the collaboration." (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Kou Jie) Darius is 15 years old and is a dazzling example of how medical research has advanced. Born with a rare and lethal genetic disease, early active cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy CALD, the same condition that killed his older brother Danuk the adolescent boy is today, healthy and happy in his hometown of Quintanar de la Orden, in the Spanish province of Toledo. His recovery has been thanks to a gene therapy called Skysona. A benevolent virus, a Trojan horse that was introduced into his body when the boy was five years old, it was able to replace the boys defective gene with a healthy one, thus saving his life. But to the frustration of his doctors and other families, Dariuss treatment has not been available on the European market since 2021, due to a decision made by its pharmaceutical company Bluebird Bio that has left dozens of young people in the EU without the opportunity to follow Darius down the same path to survival. It is difficult to comprehend, says Carmen Sever, president of the European Lecodystrophies Association in Spain (ELA-Spain), which has helped patient associations to finance and develop the drug. Skysonas complex relationship to the commercial market is no exception, but rather the norm when it comes to this kind of drug. Despite enormous expectations that have sprung up around them, of the 11 gene therapies for rare diseases that have been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) since 2012, only two Zolgensma and Luxturna, both from Novartis have seen significant commercial deployment. The rest have failed due to various reasons, having been withdrawn due to business strategy or are still subject to a search for their economic viability. On some occasions, the problem is that there is simply no market as such, due to a limited number of patients, and that causes insurmountable financial challenges, says Juan Oliva, a professor of economics at the University of Castilla-La Mancha. Libmeldy is another example of a gene therapy designed to treat a rare condition, metachromatic leukodystrophy, which affects only three children born each year in Olivas country of Spain. This results in pharmaceutical companies charging extravagant prices for its use. Libmeldy costs almost $4 million in the United States. Add to this hefty price tag the uncertainty that often surrounds the efficacy and safety of these therapies, and its easy to understand why so many patients hesitate in taking the financial plunge. They are such cutting-edge medications that sometimes the system itself is not prepared to take advantage of them, says Aurora Pujol, a geneticist at the Institute of Bellvitge Biomedical Research (Idibell). She brings up the thorny issue of neonatal screening. It is not widespread in many countries. Without it, it is not possible to identify babies with genetic conditions before they develop symptoms. And by then, it is too late for gene therapy to be effective. The system must adapt or many therapies will never make it off the ground, she says. The EMA approved its first gene therapy in 2012. That was Glyvera, a treatment for an ultra-rare hereditary ailment that affects less than one in a million people, and that prevents those affected from digesting fats. The excitement that its approval generated quickly dissipated when it became clear that the treatment was going to be a commercial failure. Use of Glyvera has been extremely limited and we dont foresee growing demand in coming years, said Matt Kapusta, director of the pharmaceutical company uniQure, in a 2017 announcement that the drug would be pulled from the market. Strimvelis, approved by the EMA in 2016, provides an even starker illustration of the havoc that concerns over a drugs commercial viability can wreck on patient access. Indicated in the treatment of so-called bubble children kids that suffer from severe combined immunodeficiency pharmaceutical research on the drug began more than two decades ago at the San Raffaele university hospital in Milan. Subsequently, pharmaceutical giant GSK acquired the rights to Strimvelis, but due to its poor commercial prospects, the firm sold them in 2018 to Orchard Therapeutics (the same company that developed Libmeldy). After years of fruitless efforts to stimulate sales, the rights were transferred back to the Telethon Foundation of Gene Therapies of Milan, which is associated with the San Raffaele hospital. This case has been presented as an example of the need to look for new formulas sometimes, independently of the logic of the market to develop treatments for rare diseases and guarantee access for patients. Francesca Pasinelli, general manager of the Telethon Foundation, confirmed last October that the group had acquired rights to Strimvelis: We are taking on a large financial commitment, but we are able to do so because we are a non-profit organization. We just have to break even. The drug will now be available to public health systems (and private insurance) in Europe and the rest of the world. The immunologist Manuel Santamaria. Chencho Martinez The problem with the ups and downs of the commercial drug market is that, when push comes to shove, patients ability to purchase medicine can be subject to dramatic delays. Eight years after it was approved by the EMA, Strimvelis had only been received by one young Spanish female patient. She was treated in Milan for the first time in November 2022. We have followed her progress since then and can confidently say that her treatment has been a success and that she has been cured, says Manuel Santamaria, a professor in clinical immunology and doctor at Cordobas Hospital Reina Sofia. The big pharmaceutical companies, in general, have abandoned this sector. The investment and development costs are very high and the chances of recovering that investment are uncertain, says Pujol. This has led to small companies, eager to raise capital and, in so doing, offer high returns to investors, becoming the leaders in this particular market. But on some occasions, these firms make shocking decisions, like that of Bluebird Bio in 2021. After disagreeing with the German government over the price of one of its drugs, it decided to close down its operations in Europe and concentrate on the U.S. market. In one fell swoop, EU patients were deprived of two promising gene therapies in Skysona and Zynteglo, the latter of which is indicated for a hereditary blood condition, beta thalassemia, which requires patients to undergo monthly blood transfusions. I will never understand why, if the medicine that saved my son exists, other European children cant also be cured, says Maria Potirniche, Dariuss mother. Bluebird Bio started selling both pharmaceuticals in the United States in 2022 at a price of $3 million and $2.8 million, respectively, making them the most expensive drugs in the world. But even in the neoliberal U.S. market, the drug has yet to be sold to 30 patients. The companys fate on the stock market, a reflection of investor confidence, likewise has failed to shine: in 2018, its stocks were selling at $115 by last Friday, they had fallen to 95 cents. Orchard Therapeutics, the other company that has battled to lead in the development of gene therapies during the last five years, has followed a similar trajectory. It was trading above $200 in April 2019, then lost practically all its value and was finally acquired last year by the Japanese pharmaceutical company Kyowa Kirin. According to the companys last reports before the acquisition, from back in 2022, Orchard earned only $20.2 million that year, the equivalent of eight sales of the drugs at their official price (though the figure could account for more, discounted sales.) In any case, these numbers are far below expectations and serve as proof that the market has not been successful in getting the treatments it has developed to the patients who need them. PTC Therapeuticss Upstaza, which was approved by the EMA in May 2022 and is indicated for protein deficiencies that can cause the nervous system to malfunction, has also failed to penetrate the market, according to the companys annual report. The reason for this, beyond Upstazas elevated price (official figures place it above $3.5 million per patient), is related to the risks involved in the method of administration [a complex injection into the center of the brain] and uncertainties surrounding its safety and effectiveness, according to a report from Spains Ministry of Health, factors that nonetheless must be put into perspective by a total absence of treatment alternatives. Hemophilia has been one of the health conditions on which gene therapy has had the greatest impact, with two treatments approved by the EMA in 2022: Roctavian (developed by BioMarin to treat hemophilia A) and Hemgenix (CSL Behrings drug designed to combat hemophilia B). They promise to allow patients to live for years from three to 10, according to available research free of the disease, without having to depend on coagulation. But the drugs high prices ($2.9 and $3.5 million, respectively) also present challenges to sales. The first European patient to receive Roctavian, for example, was an Italian who did not access the medication until last April. The problem with these prices is that, in the case of hemophilia, they means paying in advance for a large quantity for cases in which they are already accessing alternative treatments that allow for a high level of control of the illness, safely distributing the cost over time. In addition, when it comes to these situations, we must always keep in mind that we still know very little about the long-term safety of gene therapy, says Vicente Arocas of the GENESIS drug evaluation group of the Spanish Society of Hospital Pharmacy (SEFH). Last February, the EMA took a final qualitative leap with the approval of the first drug featuring the revolutionary CRISPR technique, which allows for the editing of human DNA. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Casgevy is indicated for two blood conditions, thalassemia and sickle cell anemia. Its approval took place so recently that the drug has not yet reached the market, but its advancement does show that, despite all challenges, there is no going backwards when it comes to gene therapies, says Jaime Espin, professor at the Andalusian School of Public Health and former advisor to the World Bank and the European Commission. The last few years have been complicated, which is logical if we keep in mind that they have been ground-breaking in terms of science, but also in the commercial and regulatory sense. The first drugs, for example, were approved based on less robust evidence from the results of a handful of patients. That increases uncertainty about their safety and effectiveness, which in turn complicates their purchase as very expensive medications. My opinion is that we are headed towards a scenario with more solid results that is safer for all involved, which should help the dozens of drugs currently under development to have an easier landing in the market, says Espin. That opinion is shared by sources from Spains Ministry of Health who are close to the complex process of vetting these new drugs. Their ultimate goal is to reduce uncertainty when it comes to effectiveness and safety, but also when it comes to their economics. And in that sense, new formulas, dialogue beginning in the early stages of development (long before EMA approval) between all parties, flexible agreements (as in payment according to results) and the sharing of real-life data will play important roles. Additionally, when it comes to the European Union, cooperation and even collaborative action between countries can be explored, conclude these sources. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations. PR-Inside.com: 2024-07-07 19:17:44 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 755 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 RADNOR, PA / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2024 / The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP( www.ktmc.com) informs investors that a securities class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against Fastly, Inc. ("Fastly") (NYSE:FSLY). The action charges Fastly with violations of the federal securities laws, including omissions and fraudulent misrepresentations relating to the company's business, operations, and prospects. As a result of Fastly's materially misleading statements and omissions to the public, Fastly's investors have suffered significant losses.If you suffered Fastly losses, you mayCLICK HERE or go to: https://www.ktmc.com/new-cases/fastly-inc?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=fsly&mktm=r You can also contact attorney Jonathan Naji, Esq. of Kessler Topaz by calling (484) 270-1453 or by email at info@ ktmc.com . The lead plaintiff deadline is July 23, 2024.CANNOT VIEW THIS VIDEO? PLEASE CLICK HEREor go to: https://youtu.be/MVbQwTvArKo DEFENDANTS' ALLEGED MISCONDUCTOn February 14, 2024, Fastly issued a press release providing full year ("FY") 2024 revenue guidance in a range of $580 million to $590 million. In that same press release, Fastly's CEO was quoted stating, "[t]his quarter demonstrated the progress we've made in operational and financial rigor resulting in strong gross margins and non-GAAP net income," and "[o]ur go-to-market, packaging and channel efforts through 2023 delivered an inflection in our customer acquisition as we closed out the year. This positions us well for 2024, driving our mission to make every user experience fast, safe, and engaging." On May 1, 2024, Fastly announced its Q1 2024 results. Despite Fastly's positive statements just weeks before about its performance and near-term business prospects, Fastly reported revenue of only $133.52 million, missing consensus estimates. Fastly also lowered its fiscal year 2024 revenue guidance to a range of $555 million to $565 million, significantly below its previously issued FY 2024 revenue guidance of $580 million to $590 million, and likewise below consensus estimates of $584.62 million for the same period.Then, on May 2, 2024, Bank of America downgraded Fastly stock from a "Buy" rating to an "Underperform" rating and cut its price target on the stock from $18 per share to a mere $8 per share. On this news, the price of Fastly shares declined by $4.14 per share, or approximately 32.02%, from $12.93 per share on May 1, 2024 to close at $8.79 on May 2, 2024.WHAT CAN I DO?Fastly investors may, no later than July 23, 2024, seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLPor other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLPencourages Fastly investors who have suffered significant losses to contact the firm directly to acquire more information. The class action complaint against Fastly, Kula v. Fastly, Inc., et al., Case No. 24-cv-03170, is filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE CASE OR GO TO: https://www.ktmc.com/new-cases/fastly-inc?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=fsly&mktm=r WHO CAN BE A LEAD PLAINTIFF?A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation. The lead plaintiff is usually the investor or small group of investors who have the largest financial interest and who are also adequate and typical of the proposed class of investors. The lead plaintiff selects counsel to represent the lead plaintiff and the class and these attorneys, if approved by the court, are lead or class counsel. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff.ABOUT KESSLER TOPAZ MELTZER & CHECK, LLPKessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLPprosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country and around the world. The firm has developed a global reputation for excellence and has recovered billions of dollars for victims of fraud and other corporate misconduct. All of our work is driven by a common goal: to protect investors, consumers, employees and others from fraud, abuse, misconduct and negligence by businesses and fiduciaries. The complaint in this action was not filed by Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP. For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLPplease visit www.ktmc.com CONTACT:Jonathan Naji, Esq.Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP(484) 270-1453280 King of Prussia RoadRadnor, PA 19087info@ ktmc.com May be considered attorney advertising in certain jurisdictions. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.SOURCE: Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP PR-Inside.com: 2024-07-07 12:09:34 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 670 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2024 / Leading securities law firm Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP announces it has filed a lawsuit against UiPath, Inc. ("UiPath" or the "Company") (NYSE:PATH) and certain of the Company's senior executives.Investors have until August 19, 2024 to ask the Court to be appointed to lead the case. The complaint asserts claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 on behalf of investors in UiPath securities between December 1, 2023 and the close of trading on May 29, 2024 inclusive (the "Class Period"). The case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and is captioned Zack Steiner v. UiPath, Inc., No. 1:24-cv-4702.If you suffered losses on your UiPath investment, you are encouraged to submit your information at https://www.bfalaw.com/cases/uipath-inc-investigation What is the Lawsuit About?The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants made materially false and misleading statements concerning the success of UiPath's turnaround strategy. For instance, defendants represented that the Company was "executing against that strategy, and we're seeing [the] results in the deal quality and the customer quality," asserted that "our strategic investments in innovations and our go-to-market ecosystem positions us well for continued momentum," and that "there's no doubt there's [been] better execution" since the implementation of the turnaround strategy.These statements were allegedly materially false and misleading. In truth, UiPath's turnaround strategy had failed. Fruitless investments and inconsistent execution plagued the Company's overhauled go-to-market strategy. Additionally, UiPath's AI-powered Business Automation Platform caused "confusion" among customers and was not able to be adequately scaled. As a result, UiPath experienced significant difficulties closing and/or expanding large multiyear deals.On May 29, 2024, UiPath announced the sudden departure of CEO Robert Enslin. On the same day, UiPath announced disappointing 1Q 25 financial results and significantly cut its FY 25 revenue guidance by 10%, or $150 million. The Company attributed the poor results and guidance to several factors related to its failed turnaround strategy, including an inadequate "execution strategy to scale" the Company's AI-powered growth products "to reach their full potential," and that AI had "create[ed] a little bit of confusion with our customers." Ui Path also described how the "investments we have made to reaccelerate growth have fallen short of our expectations, [and] made us less agile in responding to customer needs" while experiencing "contract execution challenges on large deals." This news caused the price of UiPath stock to decline $6.23 per share, or more than 34%, from $18.30 per share on May 29, 2024, to $12.07 per share on May 30, 2024, resulting in significant harm to investors.Click here if you suffered losses: https://www.bfalaw.com/cases/uipath-inc-investigation A copy of the lawsuit can be foundhere .What Can You Do?If you invested in UiPath, Inc. you have rights and are encouraged to submit your information to speak with an attorney.All representation is on a contingency fee basis, there is no cost to you. Shareholders are not responsible for any court costs or expenses of litigation. The Firm will seek court approval for any potential fees and expenses. Submit your information:Or contact us at:Ross Shikowitz ross@ bfalaw.com 212-789-3619Why Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP?Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP is a leading international law firm representing plaintiffs in securities class actions and shareholder litigation. It was named among the Top 5 plaintiff law firms by ISS SCAS in 2023 and its attorneys have been named Titans of the Plaintiffs' Bar by Law360 and SuperLawyers by Thompson Reuters. Among its recent notable successes, BFA recovered over $900 million in value from Tesla, Inc.'s Board of Directors (pending court approval), as well as $420 million from Teva Pharmaceutical Ind. Ltd.For more information about BFA and its attorneys, please visit https://www.bfalaw.com Attorney advertising. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.SOURCE: Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP Older married women have been advised not to allow travelling abroad to care for their grandchildren to break the union they had enjoyed over the years with their husbands. Pastor Simeon Akanji of the Potters House Christian Mission, Ibadan, gave the advice at a Family Service organised by the Trinity Council Mission on Sunday. Mr Akanji, the guest minister at the special service, addressed the increasing scenario of older men being left alone in the country because their wives travel abroad to raise their grandchildren. According to him, the husband and wife are meant to grow together and be able to let their children know they cannot separate them. If the children have this knowledge, they will find it challenging to introduce the idea of let mummy come and lets leave baba behind in Nigeria. Travelling to raise or care for the grandchildren is insufficient for separation aid. Mr Akanji berated the situation in which a 70-year-old man was seen struggling in the kitchen because the children had invited his wife over to care for their grandchildren. At that age, if the man is not helped, he could be tempted into sinning with the opposite sex, especially with younger ones, he said. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Necessary conditions He cited an example of a family where the mother insisted she wouldnt leave him behind if the father were not travelling with her. The woman told her daughter, If you are not going to give me a visa and my husband to come together, then leave me alone; take care of yourself over there. Eventually, the daughter agreed. She spoke to her husband, and they arranged for her father and mother to come together, he said. He, therefore, counselled that if the woman must travel at all costs, she should give adequate consideration to the husband. For Gods sake, let her not leave Baba behind to start all over again. And I say that the life graph is both parabola and hyperbola. So, where they began is where they will still come back to. They started as two; they will still end up as two, he said. The cleric also advised couples not to allow third parties to tamper with the oneness of the family. Perhaps they came in to settle a crisis; once its been resolved, they should withdraw and allow the couple to come together as one, he said. Japa syndrome He advised that they tread cautiously regarding the japa syndrome commonly experienced among younger couples. The economic situation of this country has created many challenges at home, seriously affecting families. But how do we fulfil the instruction and the injunction of the word of God that we read and that says they must be together? Although the Bible says no man should separate them, we now look at situations such as economic stress in the country and various challenges forcing many people to travel out. Sadly, separation creates vulnerabilities, just as in the days of Adam and Eve, where a slight separation created a loophole for the serpent to penetrate through Eve into their home. I, therefore, advise young couples to ensure they are being led to travel by God, he said. According to him, God can complete whatever he initiates. Having prayed, they should also make arrangements such that the two of them can go together, and if only one will go, it requires wisdom. Wisdom in the sense that there should be an agreement that if things do not go as planned in the UK or wherever he has travelled, let him return home to stay with the spouse he left behind. Its a serious challenge, for even if the wife travels first, the truth is that coping alone in a strange land is always tricky. To avoid this separation, let them pray and know whether the Lord is leading them to go. If it is not the Lord, they should not allow circumstances to push them to travel, he said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Movie Title: Saving Onome Language: English Running time: 1 hour 46 minutes Release date: 2024 Streaming platform: Prime Video Producer: Chinaza Onuzo and Zulumoke Oyibo Director: Dimeji Ajibola Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Cast: Nancy Isime, Olumide Oworu, Mary Lazarus, Lawal Bolaji (NasBoi), Ashionye Raccah, Femi Jacobs, Nosa Rex, Kelechi Udegbe. When a child is sick or dying, parents often find themselves surrounded by uncertainty, fear, and heartbreaking decisions. Yet, their love remains steadfast. It compels them to go above and beyond to ensure the child survives. Saving Onome highlights the profound love parents have for their children and the relentless struggle they go through to protect their kids, even though it is life-threatening. The film paints a vivid picture of sacrifice, love, determination and desperation for the sake of a loved one. Motherly love is seen through Tolas determination to raise the money for her daughters surgery. The movie tells a story about a young couple striving to raise the life of their sick daughters surgery, forcing them to resort to desperate and unlawful measures to secure the money needed for their daughters treatment. Mothers with children will resonate more with this movie by Chinaza Onuzo. PLOT The film Saving Onome begins with Jite, a father trying to save the life of his only daughter, on a mission to rob the bank. The mission is not going as envisaged, putting the life of Jite at risk of being arrested. His wife, Tola, is devastated that she might lose her only daughter, Onome, to a deadly illness. Her desperation pushes her to encourage Jite to rob the bank to raise N10 Million for her daughters surgery. Jite escapes the police after the robbery and heads to the hospital. Meanwhile, Tola is anxiously waiting for him to bring the N10 million. The couple decides to visit the Azuka Foundation for help after they pull funding for the medical scheme. However, they are disappointed as Mr Azuka reveals that the foundation is shutting down and there is nothing they can do to help. Mrs Akuza brings out a few N1000 notes and hands them to them for transportation. At the hospital, Jite receives a call from his boss, Skyscraper, because he refuses to go to work due to his daughters sickness, but Tola goes behind his back to ask his boss to lend the N10 million him. Tola is desperate and willing to do anything to raise the money for her daughters surgery. Desperation makes Tola tolerate insults and humiliation from Skyscraper, who tries to take advantage of her in exchange for money. Jite is against his woman sleeping with anybody to raise money. In the middle of the night, Tola sneaks out to meet Skyscraper, all dressed in a sexy red gown. While Tola is discussing this with Skyscraper, Mr Azukas brother Miracle walks in and proposes stealing from his brother, who plans to relocate with a lot of money. Eager to get the full details, Tola excuses herself to eavesdrop from the bathroom. After the conversation, Tola calls Jite for assistance as she plots to kidnap Miracle. Jite is upset she has betrayed his trust by going behind his back to meet with his boss. Jite, in annoyance, leaves his wife to handle the mess she created, and he heads to meet his Onome in the hospital. On getting there, he sees his robbery friend Tega conversing with his sick daughter. Tega is requesting the money he lost during the bank robbery operation because he claims he lost the money due to Jites freight while driving. Jite, calm and fragile, agrees to pay Tega and tells him he plans to get his money. They both go home to meet Tola, who has Miracle as a hostage. Tega uses his skills and gun to get the necessary info on how to get the money from Miracle. They proceed to the sendforth party at Mr Azukas house the next day. Tola and Miracle, with a lot of pleading, enter the house and cause a scene twice to gain access to the cash room. Tola finds a way to smuggle some money out of the room. She throws the bags of cash downstairs for Tega and Jite to catch. This does not go well as Skyscraper, who is present at the party, reveals Miracles plans to rob his brother and who Tola truly is. Not long after, the police catch up with them because Tega plays a fast one on them. Tolas father, Inspector Dayo, constantly reminds her of how she is a disgrace because she got pregnant out of wedlock and chose to remain with Jite. He blames Jite for his daughters actions. Did Onome Oghene survive? Did her parents unjustifiable actions to ensure she survived pay off? Character Analysis Nancy Isime portrays Tola, a daughter who is constantly reminded of her past, even in a critical state of losing her daughter. She is depicted as a strong and determined young mother who is prepared to go to any lengths, including selling her body for money and even resorting to robbery. Tola looks unbothered; judging from her appearance and how she still finds joy, she laughs at jokes. Olumide Oworu, in the role of Jite, depicts a husband deeply enamoured with Tola, shadowing her every move like an enchanted high school sweetheart. Although he rarely assumes the fatherly role, Oworus portrayal of a father is captivating, but sometimes it garns sympathy and redirects attention from their ailing child to himself. Rather than empathising with the child, I am moved to worry about him getting into trouble. Lawal Bolaji, as Tega, seamlessly plays the role of a funny but annoying character. The few times he appears on the screen, he cracks the audience up with his choice of words and sarcasm. Movie Analysis A couple striving to save their only child who is on the verge of dying is not unfamiliar, but what distinguishes the movie Saving Onome is the unique style and and execution. Despite their critical situation, the young couple Jite and Tola express love for each other. Jite and Tola dont quite come across convincingly as parents of a dying child who desperately want to save their child but can not afford to provide N10 Million in three weeks. However, they cant be faulted for this, as they seem to depict the typical characteristics of some parents in this generation. A couple who needs money to save their child would not have the time and balls to act all lovey-dovey like nothing is wrong. The movie lacks suspense and authenticity. The plot is not convincing enough as Jite and Tola appear too relaxed about their childs situation and more focused on themselves. The movie, which is about saving Onome, drifts a little from the original intent to focus on the act of theft and shortcut to raise money. For a moment, I forgot the movie was about saving a sick child, and I got lost in the robbery mission. The theme of love is even more evident among the couples than towards the child emotionally. Also, the movie has apparent loopholes. In the scene where Tola visits Skyscraper in a red dress, she is on heels. How did she put on slippers when she hit Miracle in the bathroom? How do you also plan a kidnap in minutes and a robbery in a few hours without any form of professionalism or experience? The performance and efforts of the characters are commendable as they make the movie enjoyable. Every character adds spice and spark to the film in compelling ways. The films technical aspects, like cinematography, editing, visual effects and sound, seamlessly enhance the movies narrative. Saving Onome is now showing on Prime Video. Verdict 5/10 Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria has been re-elected as the chairperson of ECOWAS. Mr Tinubu was re-elected as the head of the regional bloc during the 65th Ordinary Session of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government on Sunday in Abuja, Nigerias capital city. Mr Tinubu called on the Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS to work towards the establishment and sustenance of a regional standby force for the security and economic advancement of the community. The Nigerian President highlighted the expediency of a standby force in the face of growing security threats. The Regional Action Plan against Terrorism has enhanced cooperation on training, intelligence sharing, and humanitarian interventions. In addition to this, the Ministers of Finance and Defence met recently in Abuja to raise funds for activating the ECOWAS Standby Force to boost counter-terrorism efforts. Member countries are also displaying their commitment to combating insecurity by individually increasing their defence budgets in order to acquire necessary equipment and ensure preparedness, the President said. President Tinubu urged member states to commit more to providing the needed resources for securing the region. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Let me underscore that a peaceful and secure society is essential for achieving our potential. As we move to operationalise the ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF) in combating terrorism, I must emphasise that the success of this plan requires not only strong political will but also substantial financial resources. We must, therefore, ensure that we meet the expectations and recommendations set forth by our Ministers of Defence and Finance in order to counter insecurity and stabilise our region, the President added. He advised ECOWAS leaders to leverage the capabilities of Nigerias National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), which has been widely acknowledged as one of the best on the continent. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) has condemned the kidnapping of two of its members and their families. The police have also provided more information on the abductions and said operatives are working to secure their release. PREMIUM TIMES reported the kidnap of the two journalists, AbdulGafar Alabelewe and Abdulraheem Aodu, and some members of their families. Mr Alabelewe is a correspondent for The Nation newspaper, while Mr Aodu is a correspondent for Blueprint newspaper. All the victims were kidnapped in the Danhono area, a Kaduna suburb in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna. The incidents occurred at about the same time, 10:30 p.m. on Saturday in the separate homes of the journalists within the community. It is not clear if the abductions were done by the same group as no group has claimed responsibility for the kidnap. Kidnapping for ransom is common in some parts of Kaduna. In its reaction, the Kaduna State Council of the NUJ condemned the kidnap. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later In a joint statement issued by the councils Chairman, Asmau Halilu, and the Secretary, Gambo Sanga, the NUJ said it received with shock, the brazen and barbaric attack by suspected kidnappers. The attack resulted in the abduction of the Kaduna State Correspondents of The Nation Newspaper and the BluePrint Newspaper, alongside their families last night at their residences in Danhono area, a Kaduna suburb, in Chikun LGA. We strongly condemn the ugly incident and appeal to the security agencies in the state to swing into action with a view to rescuing the journalists and their families from the kidnappers den. The statement expressed dismay over the abduction of the journalists alongside their family members. It added, We implore the government at all levels to intensify efforts towards guaranteeing the security of lives and property of the citizens at all times. The ugly phenomenon of kidnapping in Kaduna and environs is now resurfacing and must be checked to avert the experiences of the recent past. The Kaduna State Council of NUJ, however, enjoined all practising journalists in the state to be vigilant in their daily activities while also praying for the safe return of their abducted colleagues and their families. Also, the Kaduna police spokesperson, Mansir Hassan, said police operatives were trying their best to secure the victims release. He said: We have deployed our operatives into the bush where the kidnappers are suspected to be. He identified the victims as Mr Alabelewe, who is also the Chairman of Correspondents Chapel, Kaduna State NUJ Council, and three of his family members. Also taken was Mr Aodo and his wife, the police said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Rwanda High Commission in Nigeria celebrated the 30th anniversary of its liberation, known as Kwibohora 30, on Saturday in Abuja. The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN), reports that the celebration marked a significant moment in Rwandas history, symbolising the end of genocide and the defeat of the oppressive regime that orchestrated it on 4 July 1994. This years theme, Rwandas Journey Continues, signifies the ongoing efforts towards national reconciliation, justice, economic prosperity and social development. While Rwanda has made remarkable progress in these areas, the journey towards building a prosperous and unified nation is still ongoing. Rwandas High Commissioner to Nigeria, Christophe Bazivamo, reflected on the challenges Rwanda faced after gaining independence on 1 July 1962. While we acknowledge our independence day on July 1, Kwibohora, July 4 holds a deeper significance for Rwandans as it marks the day we reclaimed our nation, our dignity and our right to chart our own path. We honour the resilience of the Rwandan people and the bravery of the Rwandan Patriotic Army, highlighting their sacrifices in the struggle for freedom and peace. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later We express gratitude to those who fought for Rwandas liberation and honoured the heroes who laid down their lives for a free and united Rwanda, he said. The ambassador also added that true liberation involves healing, reconciliation and rebuilding. Rwandas innovative approach to justice, including initiatives like the Gacaca courts and the Ndi Umunyarwanda programme, has played a crucial role in healing the wounds of the past and fostering national unity. Today, Rwanda stands stronger and more united than ever before. Significant progress has been made in reducing poverty, expanding access to healthcare and education, and empowering women. With an impressive annual economic growth rate of 7 per cent, Rwanda has emerged as a key investment destination in Africa. We want to invite individuals to #VisitRwanda through #RwandAir to explore the countrys natural beauty, diverse wildlife and vibrant culture. For investors, Rwanda offers a supportive business environment and a government committed to facilitating growth and development, he added. Furthermore, the ambassador acknowledged the valuable collaborations with nations like Nigeria that had contributed to Rwandas progress. He expressed gratitude for the partnerships that had supported Rwandas development and emphasised the importance of strengthening those relationships for mutual benefit. In his remarks, Nigerias foreign affairs minister, Yusuf Tuggar, commended the people of Rwanda on their liberation, growth and achievements over the past three decades. Mr Tuggar, who was represented by Safiu Olaniyan, reaffirmed Nigerias commitment to enhancing cooperation with Rwanda and strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries. NAN also reports that during the event, two lucky attendees won complimentary round-trip Economy and Business air tickets to Rwanda, adding a touch of excitement to the festivities. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Samuel Ogbuku, said the forthcoming Niger Delta Stakeholders Summit 2024 would help the commission implement projects that would ensure the sustainable development of the Niger Delta region. Mr Ogbuku stated this on Friday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, while briefing reporters on the imperatives of the summit, which will take place there from 10 to 13 July. Mr Ogbukus remark is contained in a statement by the commissions Executive Director, Corporate Affairs, Seledi Thompson-Wakama, on Friday. The NDDC managing director said the summit will address the aspirations and needs of the people of the Niger Delta, and noted that the summit would help the development partners in the region to harmonise their activities, rather than working at cross purposes. NDDC, an interventionist agency, was established in 2000 to address the development challenges facing the region, which has suffered environmental degradation as a result of oil pollution and gas flaring by oil companies doing business in the region. In the past, the commission has been criticised for not living up to the expectations of the people of the region. Mr Ogbuku said that the summit, themed Renewed Hope for Sustainable Development of the Niger Delta Region, would create a platform for new ideas and strategies to fast-track development in the region in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later The summit, Mr Ogbuku said, will provide a forum for individuals and other major stakeholders, including National Assembly, ministers from the region, traditional rulers and the private sector experts to discuss the region. He said that previous engagements with various groups were instrumental to maintaining peace in various communities, adding that development could not take place in a crisis-prone environment. Youth empowerment Speaking on the commissions youth empowerment programme, Holistic Opportunities Programme of Engagement (HOPE), Mr Ogbuku urged youths in the region to seize the opportunity and participate in the process. We encourage more persons to register because we want to ensure that our future engagements with youths will be based only on those who have registered with us in the database. That will enable us to know their areas of competence, because we discovered that our previous trainings were given to friends and family members who are probably not even interested in the training. Building a comprehensive data base for the youths in the region will give the commission the opportunity to plan, as well share the relevant data with other development agencies that may need them for planning, he said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Plastic is a material invented by humans that has gone from not existing at all to spreading uncontrollably across the planet. Micro- and nanoplastics have been detected in the oceans, in the air, in rain, in our food, in the water we drink and even in our cells. However, if there are still questions about this form of pollution and its effects, this is largely due to the great complexity of carrying out research on such a small scale, with such tiny contaminants. The water we drink is an example of this challenge. What contains more microplastics: tap water or water from a plastic bottle? A study published by the Enviroplanet research network found 89 times more microplastics (nanograms per liter) in bottled water than in tap water in Spanish cities. However, another investigation carried out this year by the Institute of Environmental Diagnosis and Water Studies (IDAEA-CSIC), found the opposite: more microplastics in tap water than in bottled water. This disparity in results is largely due to the different methods used to detect micro- and nanoplastics that cover different sizes, since there is no approved technique that is followed by all researchers. This is one of the most widely used methods, but there are other systems where researchers do not have to count tiny particles under the microscope. In the IDAEA-CSIC research, the scientists separated the micro- and nanoplastics with ultrafiltration equipment, dissolved them in toluene and passed the solution through a mass spectrometer. This way they found what types of polymers were in the water and in what amount. A new technique developed by researchers at Columbia University to detect increasingly smaller plastic fragments found on average about 100,000 particles (most of them nano) in a liter of water from a plastic bottle, an amount much higher than previous estimates. Regardless of the technique used, it is clear that we are drinking plastic. Although the number of microparticles is very high, the mass concentration of what we ingest is usually quite low. As Enviroplanet scientist Roberto Rosal explains, even taking the highest measurement of 1,600 nanograms per liter from these two recent investigations in Spain, to ingest one gram of plastic a person would need to drink 625,000 liters of this water. And if the recommendation to drink three liters of water a day is followed, it would take a person more than 570 years to achieve this. But care needs to be taken. This may seem like an insignificant amount, but here, again, the problem is just how small the microplastic is. As Marinella Farre, a researcher at the IDAEA-CSIC, points out, the smaller it is, the more it scares me. If it is too big, I will swallow it, and it will probably be in the intestine for a while, but it will eventually come out. But if it is small or small enough, it can pass through the tissues and then be absorbed into the body and stay there. The fact that we are drinking, eating and breathing micro- and nanoplastics can affect our health in two ways: first due to presence of foreign particles in the body, and second, as a result of the effects of the chemical additives used to make these materials. Micro- and nanoplastics have been found throughout the human body: in blood, the placenta, breast milk, inside cells... Recently, new research warned that this plastic had even been found in the testicles. Although there are still many questions about how this affects health, a study on the carotid artery is one of the first to link this contamination with human diseases. More experiments are needed to confirm these conclusions, since these investigations are complicated by the risk of contamination from the tiny particles in the laboratory itself. As Emma Calikanzaros, an ISGlobal researcher who works with microplastics, points out, with this type of small particles, some figures may seem insignificant, but the problem is that we are exposed to them everywhere, every day. Whats more, she explains that, apart from all types of plastics and additives, we do not know the effects that the mixture of all of them has on the body, the cocktail effect of these substances. Microplastics everywhere While most people talk about microplastic pollution in the oceans, we are most exposed to them in our own homes. In the last century, houses have been filled with objects and materials made with these polymers. They are everywhere: in food packaging, in electronic equipment, in synthetic textiles, in cosmetics... Washing clothes is one of the main sources of microplastics, since washing machines release a large amount of microfilaments down the drain. But the wear and tear of the textile itself also releases fragments into homes. According to Nicolas Olea, a professor of Radiology and Physical Medicine at the University of Granada, house dust contains mainly plastic microfilaments from textiles, especially polyester and, to a lesser extent, polyamide (nylon). Nowadays the majority of textiles are also plastic, if we talk about food packaging, I explain that clothing is human packaging, because we are stuffed in plastic, says Olea. In addition to textiles, electronic equipment and cosmetics, Professor Olea also points to the odorants used in homes and consumer products that now contain plastic, such as tea bags. He also warns about an item that became widely used during the Covid-19 pandemic: face masks. One of the most striking buildups of plastic in the body is in the lung tissue and polypropylene, a material linked to masks, is found in large quantities, he says. This is a mess, isnt it? Although it is difficult to find scientific data on this type of pollution in homes due to its magnitude and the size of the particles , Enviroplanet researchers have studied microplastics spread across a country. In Spain, they observed how wastewater from homes and industries continues to come out of treatment plants with a large amount of plastic microparticles, which end up in rivers or agricultural fields (through sludge). Using airplanes, the researchers also found concentrations equivalent to a trillion microplastics in the sky over Madrid, at an altitude of between 1,500 and 2,000 meters. In this way, transported by the water of rivers and oceans, as well as by wind, atmospheric currents and raindrops, plastic microparticles have been spreading all over the planet. Plastic is a material without which we cannot live in our industrial society, it is a very useful material that we need, says Rosal, of the scientific platform Enviroplanet. We must manage this material so that the waste does not continue to be scattered without control, he adds, warning that with this kind of pollution, it is easy to fall into alarmism. The plastic tide that washed up on Spains northwestern coast of Galicia in January after thousands of plastic pellets were dumped in the sea highlighted the magnitude of this pollution. It made visible a problem that tends to go unnoticed, as the pollution is made up of tiny particles invisible to the human eye. But the pellets that reach our oceans are just a miniscule part of the problem. International negotiations on the first global treaty against plastic pollution are currently underway. The goal is to have a text ready by the end of 2024. Meanwhile, plastic production continues to run rampant across the world, while scientific research is stepping up its efforts to learn more about the impact of micro- and nanoplastics. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna State have passed a vote of confidence in Governor Uba Sanis government. The leaders took the decision at the Umaru Yaradua Event Hall, Kaduna, on Saturday. The gathering commended Governor Sanis efforts in rural development, youth and women empowerment, and the transformation his administration is making in the state However, notable party leaders, including former Governor Nasir El-Rufai and Mohammed Abdullahi, the former Chief of Staff to Mr El-Rufai, were absent. But those who were there affirmed their support for Governor Sanis government and their commitment to the unity and development of the state. The attendees included the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen; former governor Ramalan Yero; and the North-west Chairperson of the APC, Datti Babawo. Also at the event were the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Yusuf Liman; former Deputy Governor James Magaji; serving and former state and federal lawmakers; and local government chairpersons. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Umar Farouq, a senior APC leader in Kaduna, spoke to PREMIUM TIMES after the event. He commended Governor Sani, saying the party is delighted with his leadership and the progress of the state Governor Sani has united the state, transcending the religious and ethnic divides. His leadership has brought everyone together under a shared vision, fostering a sense of inclusivity and harmony that was previously elusive. This remarkable achievement deserves recognition and praise, he said. On why some prominent party members were not in the gathering, Mr Farouq said, everyone was invited. The relationship between Governor Sani and his predecessor, Mr El-Rufai, is strained. The ongoing probe of the previous administration has intensified the conflict, splitting the party in Kaduna into two factions. The partys women leader, Maryam Mairusau, was suspended after she berated the governor for accusing his predecessor of burdening the state with debts form loans. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The 1 Brigade of the Nigerian Army in Gusau, Zamfara State, on Saturday, celebrated the 161st anniversary of the army with children who lost their parents in the fight against terrorism in Zamfara State. The brigades spokesperson, Suleiman Omale, said the event was dedicated to the memory of the fallen heroes. Mr Omale, a lieutenant, said the brigade distributed medical consumables, writing materials, clothes and footwear to orphans, the less-privileged and other needy people in the state. He said the Brigade Commander, Sani Ahmed, a brigadier general, led the distribution of the materials to underscore the armys commitment to civil-military cooperation. This initiative is part of the Armys ongoing efforts to support the civil community in various ways, promoting goodwill and strengthening relationships. The distribution reached approximately 400 orphans and needy individuals, alongside the provision of exercise books, pencils, and pens to Students and Pupils across Eleven Primary and Secondary Schools in the Gusau metropolitan area, Mr Omale said. He said the army has also supported rural areas, but this particular event focused on Gusau, the states capital. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later The Brigade Commander used the occasion to urge the civil community to discourage informants from aiding bandits by reporting military activities. Instead, he encouraged these elements to repent and surrender their arms to restore peace in the state. Brigadier General Ahmed expressed his concern over bandit activities in the state, affirming that troops are working tirelessly to ensure that farmers can cultivate and harvest their crops smoothly, thereby ensuring food security and economic development, Mr Omale said in a statement. He appealed for public support and cooperation by providing useful information to the army in the fight against terrorism in the state. Earlier, the brigade distributed medical consumables to the 14 local government areas within its area of responsibilities. It also distributed customised exercise books to primary and secondary school students in 11 schools in Gusau, Mr Omale said. Zamfara, like many states in the troubled North-west region, has suffered a decade-long violent armed conflict that resulted in the deaths of thousands of people. A report commissioned by the state government says between 2011 and 2019, terrorists in Zamfara collected more than N3 billion as ransom from the 3,672 people they abducted. According to the report by a committee set up by the government in 2019 to review the state of insecurity in the state, the activities of terror gangs, popularly called bandits, also led to the displacement of 190,340 people within the period. The committee, headed by a retired police chief, Muhammad Abubakar, also revealed that 4,983 women were widowed, and 25,050 children were orphaned within the period. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Armed persons have kidnapped two journalists, AbdulGafar Alabelewe and Abdulraheem Aodu, and some members of their families. The kidnaps occurred in two separate incidents Saturday night in the same Danhono 2 community, Millenium City, Kaduna. Mr Alabelewe, a correspondent for The Nation Newspaper and Chairman of the Correspondents Chapel in Kaduna, was kidnapped along with three members of his family. In the same community, Mr Aodu, a correspondent for Blueprint Newspaper, was kidnapped alongside his wife. A former Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Kaduna chapter, Adamu Yusuf, and another member of the union, Tajudeen Ajigbade, confirmed the incidents. The Public Relations Officer of the Kaduna State Police Command, Mansir Hassan, confirmed the abductions to journalists, including PREMIUM TIMES. He said efforts are underway to locate and rescue the victims. No group has claimed responsibility for the abductions. However, kidnapping for ransom is common in many parts of Kaduna and other parts of the country. The kidnaps are carried out by various armed groups, including those locally called bandits. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The federal government says it will file a complaint against Daily Trust Newspapers to the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) over its publication on the Samoa agreement. The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who gave this hint on Saturday in Abuja, said the government would also approach the court over the report he described as fake and mischievous. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the information minister spoke at a press conference to react to the report believed to have the potential to spark up religious and social tensions in the country. NAN also reports that Mr Idris addressed the press along with his budget and planning counterpart, Atiku Bagudu. In the report, the medium claimed that the federal government signed an agreement with clauses requiring Nigeria to endorse the rights of Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex(LGBTQI+) people. It also said that Nigeria would collect 150 billion dollars for endorsing the deal. The agreement, generally referred to as the Samoa agreement, was signed on 28 June at the Organisation of Africa, Caribbean and Pacific States(OACPS) Secretariat in Brussels, Belgium. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Details of the agreement indicated that the partnership is between the European Union and its member states on one hand, and members of OACPCS on the other. Negotiations on the agreement began in 2018, and it was signed on 15 November 2018 by all 27 EU member states and 47 of the 79 OACPS states. The African Regional Protocol on the matter consists of two parts framework for cooperation and areas of cooperation that include inclusive and sustainable economic growth, environmental and human rights protection, among others. Reacting to the mediums report on the matter, the minister described it as gross falsehood. He said it followed a pattern that Daily Trust had become used to since the Bola Tinubu administration came on board. While noting that Mr Tinubu had maintained a good relationship with the media in line with his philosophy as an avowed democrat, he said it was disheartening that some elements are abusing this free environment guaranteed by the government. We are alarmed by the level of reckless reporting and statements by some media organisations and individuals that border on national security and stability. While we sometimes view and treat those occasional reporting as part of the medias normal work, we have now seen a pattern that is difficult to be wished away as normal journalism. The insidious and inciting publications by the Daily Trust these past months have come across as nothing but a deliberate effort to brush the government with a tar. On many occasions, we have restrained ourselves from believing that this was the case but the consistency of the mischievous publications leaves us with no option. In the aftermath of the coup in Niger Republic, Daily Trust championed a jaundiced narrative that the Federal Government was driving the country into a war and twisted it with regional sentiment to cause disaffection. The same newspaper gave a banner headline to a baseless accusation that the government was working on siting foreign military bases in the country. Neither Daily Trust nor originators of that imaginative allegation provided any shred of evidence. Then just two weeks ago, Daily Trust concocted and popularised a lie that the Federal Government had renamed the Murtala Mohammed Expressway in Abuja to Wole Soyinka Way. In all those instances, all that the paper depended on were falsehoods and hearsays. They also showed no remorse or the humility to recant. We, however, did not envisage that Daily Trust and people behind it could descend to the reckless level of attempting to set the country on fire by falsely accusing the government of signing a deal to promote LGBTQI. We found that despicable and wicked because the allegation is nowhere in the document signed. Surprisingly, the paper put forward no evidence nor provided the agreement allegedly signed to prove their point. The baseless and sensational story unfortunately formed a basis for khutba (sermons), by some of our respected imams who were misled by the story, thereby raising tempers, he said. He said, however, that the government would continue to toe the path of civility by restraining itself from seeking self-help or adopting draconian measures. While past governments clamped down on the media for infractions much lower than this, we are, however, toeing the path of civility and the rule of law, he said. The minister said that the federal government would take the matter to the NPAN Ombudsman on this irresponsible reporting. He added that the federal government will also use every lawful means to seek redress in a court of law. Mr Idris restated the governments friendly policy toward ethical media and free speech but warned that it would not accept fake news and disinformation that could injure the peace of the nation and hurt national security. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Representative Abdulmalik Zubairu (APC-Zamfara), on Saturday, sponsored the mass wedding of 105 orphans and underprivileged brides in his constituency. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the wedding ceremony took place in Bungudu Town in Bungudu Local Government Area. Mr Zubairu represents Bungudu/Maru Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. The 105 brides selected from the 21 political wards of Bungudu/Maru Federal Constituency were daughters of deceased victims of banditry. In a speech at the event, the lawmaker said that all the beneficiaries were assisted with household materials, including beds, mattresses, wardrobes, bed sheets and pillows, amongst others. He said: We paid N100,000 for each of the 105 brides as dowry. You know, during our campaign, we promised to support families affected by banditry. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Alhamdulillah, today, I am fulfilling one of my campaign promises by sponsoring 105 brides for marriage to their suitors. Mr Zubairu also said that most of the brides lost their parents to banditry, while a few others were selected from less privileged families. He also said that, in addition to the dowry payment, each groom received N100,000, while each bride received N50,000 to start any business of their choice. The Chairman of the occasion, Abdulrahman Kawu-Sumaila, commended the lawmaker for the kind gesture. Mr Kawu-Sumaila, a Kano senator, urged the constituents to appreciate, support and pray for the lawmaker. He advised the couples to be patient with each other, saying that marriage is part of Ibadat (faith). READ ALSO: Mixed reactions in Niger as Speaker halts mass wedding of orphans after ministers intervention He also announced a personal donation of N20,000 to each of the couples. NAN further reports that the event was attended by traditional rulers, Islamic scholars, community leaders and politicians, among other important dignitaries from the constituency. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, in a landmark judgment, has ordered Sadia Umar-Farouk, former minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development, to account for payments of N729 billion to 24.3 million poor Nigerians for six months. The court also ordered the former minister to provide the list and details of the beneficiaries who received the payments, the number of states covered and the payments per state. The judgment was delivered last month by Justice Deinde Dipeolu following a Freedom of Information suit number: FHC/L/CS/853/2021, brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP). The certified true copy of the judgment was obtained last Friday. In his judgment, Justice Dipeolu held that, The former minister is compelled by the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act to give information to any person including SERAP. I therefore grant an order of mandamus directing and compelling the minister to provide the spending details of N729 billion to 24.3 million poor Nigerians in 2021. Justice Dipeolu ordered the minister to provide SERAP with details of how the beneficiaries have been selected and the mechanisms for the payments to the beneficiaries. Justice Dipeolu also ordered the minister to explain the rationale for paying N5,000 to 24.3 million poor Nigerians, which translates to five per cent of Nigerias budget of N13.6 trillion for 2021. Justice Dipeolu also stated that, The minister did not give any reason for the refusal to disclose the details sought by SERAP. SERAP has reeled out the relevant sections of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 that the minister contravened and has in line with sections 20 and 25(1) of the Act prayed this Court for an order of mandamus to direct and compel the minister to provide the information sought. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Justice Dipeolu dismissed the objections raised by the ministers counsel and upheld SERAPs arguments. Consequently, the court entered judgment in favour of SERAP against the minister. Justice Dipeolus judgment, dated 27 June, 2024, read in part: where a statute clearly provides for a particular act to be done or performed in a particular way, failure to perform the act as provided will not only be interpreted as a delinquent conduct but will be interpreted as not complying with the statutory provision. The minister filed a preliminary objection to this suit dated the 4th of October 2022 and a counter-affidavit to SERAPs motion on notice. I will first deal with the ministers preliminary objection because it bothers on the jurisdiction of this Court to entertain this suit. The grounds upon which the preliminary objection was filed are: whether this suit is not incompetent having not been commenced within 30 days after SERAPs request for information was deemed to have been denied. Having not complied with the provision of section 20 of the Freedom of Information, whether this Court can assume jurisdiction to entertain SERAPs application. As arguments on both issues, the ministers counsel submitted that by the provision of section 4,7(4) and 20 of the Freedom of Information Act, subject to lawful exceptions within the Act, a public institution has 7 days to grant a request for information, failure of which would be deemed denial. SERAPs request was deemed denied on 6th July, which is the expiration of 7 days. Therefore, SERAP has 30 days pursuant to section 20 of the Act to apply to this Court. SERAPs 30 days within which to bring this suit expired on 5th of August 2021, whilst the motion on notice was filed on the 9th of November 2021, outside the 30 days stipulated by the Act. Consequently, this suit is statute barred. In response, SERAPs counsel argued that this suit was not commenced via the motion of notice dated 8th November 2021. This suit was initiated by a motion exparte dated 13th July 2021 but filed on the 15th of July 2021, after the expiration of the 7 days period required of the minister to respond to the FOI request by SERAP. This is in compliance with section 20 of the Freedom of Information Act and Order 34 Rule 3(1) of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019. The above are the submissions of counsel as regards the preliminary objection by the minister. I agree with SERAPs counsel that the minister did not carry out a proper search of the casefile before filing the preliminary objection. It is obvious that SERAP commenced this suit via a motion exparte dated 13th of July 2021 but filed 15th of July 2021, which is well within the time to file this action after the denial of the information requested from the minister. SERAP complied with section 20 of the Freedom of Information Act in filing this suit. Therefore, this suit is not statute barred and I dismiss the ministers preliminary objection. I so hold. SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare said: This ground-breaking judgment is a victory for transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds. Justice Dipeolus judgment shows the urgent need for the Tinubu government to genuinely address the systemic allegations of corruption in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development and other ministries, departments and agencies, as documented by the Auditor-General of the Federation. We commend Justice Dipeolu for her courage and wisdom, and urge President Bola Tinubu to immediately obey the court orders. Femi Falana said on the judgment: SERAP deserves the commendation of all well-meaning people that have agonised over reports of systemic corruption in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development and in other MDAs. This is one of the most patriotic public interest litigation ever undertaken in Nigeria. We call on the Tinubu government to use the judgment as the basis for comprehensively addressing cases of corruption in the ministry and bringing to justice those suspected to be responsible as well as recovering proceeds of corruption. In the letter dated 6 July 2024 sent to President Bola Tinubu on the judgement, and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said, We urge you to demonstrate your expressed commitment to the rule of law by immediately obeying and respecting the judgment of the Court. SERAPs letter, read in part: We urge you to direct the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development and the office of the Attorney General of the Federation to immediately compile and release the spending details of the N729 billion as ordered by the court. The immediate enforcement and implementation of the judgment by your government will be a victory for the rule of law, transparency and accountability in the governance processes and management of public resources including the N729 billion. By immediately complying with the judgment, your government will be demonstrating to Nigerians that it is different from the Buhari government, which persistently and brazenly defied the countrys judiciary, and sending a powerful message to politicians and others that there will be no impunity for grand corruption. Immediately implementing the judgment will restore trust and confidence in the independence of Nigerias judiciary. SERAP urges you to make a clean break with the past and take clear and decisive steps that demonstrate your commitment to the rule of law, transparency and accountability in the governance processes. SERAP trusts that you will see compliance with this judgment as a central aspect of the rule of law; an essential stepping stone to constructing a basic institutional framework for legality and constitutionality. We therefore look forward to your positive response and action on the judgment. The suit was filed against the former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development. The suit followed the ministers decision in January 2021 to pay about 24.3 million poor Nigerians N5,000 each for a period of six months to provide help to those impoverished by the COVID-19 pandemic. Kolawole Oluwadare SERAP Deputy Director 7/07/2024 Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The management of the University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu State, has spoken on the death of a 100-level female student of the institution. The death of the student PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the body of the deceased, Favour Okenyi, was found at the back of Eni-Njoku male hostel within the university premises on Friday evening. Ms Okenyi, a student in the Department of Medical Laboratory Science of the university, went missing after attending her chemistry practical on Tuesday. A video clip which showed her corpse dumped inside what appeared to be a gutter had circulated on social media. Were shocked Confirming the development, the spokesperson of the university, Okwun Omeaku, in a statement on Sunday, said the institutions management was shocked by the discovery of the students body. The university administration is deeply saddened by the loss of our student and extends heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased for the tragic death of such a promising young student, Mr Omeaku said. The spokesperson said the university management was collaborating with security agencies and the family of the deceased student to uncover the circumstances surrounding her death. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later He said uncovering the circumstances behind the students death would help the university to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the institution. We implore anyone in possession of useful information that could aid in the investigation to kindly reach out to the university administration, he said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has said only 36 state-owned institutions have complied with the directive to upload their students data to its platform to enable them benefit from the fund. The agency said only students of these institutions can now apply for the loan scheme introduced by the Nigerian government to address the difficulties being experienced by Nigerian students to access tertiary education in the country. Students of the remaining 115 state-owned tertiary institutions are not yet eligible to apply due to their institutions failure to upload their data to the NELFUND Student Verification System (SVS). The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) is pleased to announce that students enrolled in the following 36 state-owned tertiary institutions can now apply for student loans effective today, 7th July, the government agency posted on its X handle on Sunday. The management of these institutions have successfully submitted their student data to the NELFUND Student Verification System (SVS). Postponement NELFUND had earlier postponed by 14 days the commencement of the application processs second phase, which is expected to capture state-owned institutions over the failure of institutions to upload their students data. NELFUND said two weeks ago that only 34 institutions had uploaded their students data. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later The government agency expects student data from 48 state universities, 49 polytechnics, and 54 colleges of education. We urge all other state-owned tertiary institutions to submit their complete student data to the NELFUND Student Verification System timely to enable their students benefit from the scheme. Why institutions need to upload data The Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, had said institutions failure to provide their students data might result in their students missing out on the programme. Unfortunately, if the institutional data is not there, we cant give the loan. And so, it is ultimately the applicant that will pay the price, he had said in May. The spokesperson for the agency, Nasir Ayitogo, also said incomplete or incorrect data submissions by the institutions would result in application delays and potential disqualification for affected students. Institutions that fail to meet the revised deadline risk putting at a disadvantage their students who depend on these loans to support their education, he had said. Compliant institutions 1. Adamawa State University, Mubi 2. Ramat Polytechnic, Maiduguri 3. Borno State University 4. Mohammed Lawan College of Agriculture, Borno State 5. Edo State University, Uzairue 6. Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti 7. Gombe State University 8. Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe University, Imo State 9. Imo State University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Umuagwo 10. Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria 11. Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano 12. Umaru Musa Yaradua University, Katsina 13. Katsina State Institute of Technology and Management 14. Kebbi State University of Science and Technology, Aliero 15. Confluence University of Science and Technology, Kogi state 16. Lagos State University of Education 17. Lagos State University 18. Nasarawa State University, Keffi 19. Tai Solarin University of Education, Ogun State 20. University of Medical Sciences, Ondo 21. Osun State University 22. University Of Ilesa, Osun State 23. Government Technical College (Gtc), Ara, Osun State 24. Government Technical College (Gtc), Gbongan Osun State 25. Government Technical College (Gtc), Ijebu-Jesa Osun State 26. Government Technical College (Gtc), Ile-Ife, Osun State 27. Government Technical College (Gtc), Inisa, Osun State 28. Government Technical College (Gtc), Iwo Osun State 29. Government Technical College (Gtc), Osu, Osun State 30. Government Technical College (Gtc), Otan Ayegbaju Osun State 31. Osun State College Of Education, Ila-Orangun 32. Government Technical College, Ile-Ife 33. Osun State College Of Technology, Esa-Oke 34. Taraba State University, Jalingo 35. Umar Suleiman College of Education, Gashua, Yobe State 36. Zamfara State University, Talata Mafara. Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print PREMIUM TIMES can report that Nigerian Muslim leaders have taken a stance to protect the Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar, from any form of disrespect by the Sokoto State Government. At a 2nd July meeting in Abuja, the General Purpose Committee (GPC) of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) reiterated its absolute confidence in the organisations President General and Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar, for his exemplary leadership and committed service to Islam and the Nigerian Muslim Ummah. Sources at the meeting told PREMIUM TIMES that members then vowed to do everything that is legal, legitimate, and reasonable to protect Sultan Abubakar from any form of humiliation and disrespect by any individual, group, or government. The committee, chaired by the NSCIA Secretary-General, Ishaq Oloyede, a professor, said that any iota of disrespect to the NSCIA leadership in the country would henceforth be considered a direct affront to the Islamic faith and its followers. PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the committee is reacting to recent developments regarding the Sokoto State Governments perceived disrespect of the Sultan. Last month, the Sokoto government submitted a bill to the states House of Assembly seeking to amend legislation on the appointment of traditional rulers in the state. If passed into law, the bill would, among other things, strip the Sultan of the power to appoint kingmakers and district heads without government approval. Some said the move was disrespectful to Sultan Abubakar. There have also been speculations that the Sokoto government was planning to depose the Sultan the way one of his predecessors, Ibrahim Dasuki, was removed from office in 1996 during the military government of Sani Abacha. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later The state government dismissed those concerns as efforts by mischief makers to embarrass it. The administration added that the governments relationship with the Sultanate Council has always been cordial and would remain so. As the President-General of the NSCIA, the Sultan of Sokoto is the number one leader of all Nigerian Muslims. Therefore, at the meeting on 2 July, members of the General Purpose Committee (GPC) of the NSCIA strongly advised government and political leaders at all levels to continue to accord the traditional institution and its holders the due respect that they deserve, especially where such is combined with Islamic leadership. This is to ensure the protection of our cultural and religious heritage for sustainable peace and national development, the committee resolved. The Sultan was not present at the General Purpose Committee meeting led by Secretary General Oloyede. When PREMIUM TIMES contacted Mr Oloyede on Sunday to confirm the meetings details, he simply said the committee would issue a communique soon. But some attendees at the gathering said participants fumed at the Sokoto governments treatment of the countrys pre-eminent Muslim leader and vowed to mobilise faithful nationwide to confront the administration should it fail to back down on its plot against Sultan Abubakar. The Sokoto State government should realise that the Sultan is not just a traditional ruler; he is a religious figure of national and international repute, one attendee said, asking not to be named because he had no permission to discuss deliberations at the meeting with journalists. We will not allow anyone to humiliate him in any way when he has done nothing wrong. NSCIA salutes Sultan Abubakar Earlier, the Expanded General Purpose Committee (EGPC) of the NSCIA expressed its support for the Sultan and applauded his bridge-building efforts across regional and religious divides for national peace and cohesion. The EGPC meeting, which was held on 30 June and attended by most of its members, was presided over by the Sultan and the two Deputy Presidents-General: the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar El-Kanemi, and Alhaji Rasaki Oladejo. ALSO READ: Sokoto govt speaks on alleged plan to dethrone Sultan Prominent among the traditional rulers at the meeting were the Emir of Zazzau, Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli; Etsu Nupe, Yahaya Abubakar; Emir of Kazaure, Najib Adamu; and Emir of Gummi, Justice Lawal Gummi. Other members at the well-attended meeting included present and past senior members of both the bench and the bar, current and former ministers, heads of agencies, both private and public, captains of industries and respected scholars at the various strata of the educational system. At the end of the meeting, the EGPC discussed the perceived disrespect of Sultan Abubakar by authorities in his home state of Sokoto. But to avoid the Sultan being a judge in his own case, the matter was referred to the NSCIAs GPC led by Secretary General Oloyede. That body then met on 2 July, resolving to resist any disrespect to the leadership of the Muslim Ummah by anyone or authority. PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the NSCIA will release the communique of its deliberation on the matter in the days ahead. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print HAIKOU, China, July 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A report from Hainan International Media Center (HIMC): From July 4-6, a delegation from China's southern Hainan Province held Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) related promotion and exchange activities in Switzerland, cementing cooperation in the fields of medical health, education, and high-end shopping & consumption. On July 4, the Hainan Free Trade Port Medical & Health Industry Exchange Meeting was held in Zurich, Switzerland. During their time in Switzerland, the Hainan delegation held discussions and research meetings with numerous important companies and institutions, including Merck, Richemont, Roche Diagnostics, EHL Hospitality Business School, Switzerland Global Enterprise, the World Trade Organization, and the World Intellectual Property Organization. Inviting Swiss counterparts to leverage the FTP's preferential policies, Hainan is specifically promoting cooperation in the fields of medical health, independent school running, and intellectual property protection. Hainan also made a point of expressing their warm welcome to Swiss enterprises to take part in the 5th China International Consumer Products Expo in April, 2025. Co-organized by Hainan's provincial government and the Switzerland Global Enterprise, the Hainan Free Trade Port Medical & Health Industry Exchange Meeting was held in Zurich on July 4. The event was well-received, with nearly 50 representatives from well-known Swiss companies and industry associations (including the Swiss Medical Technology Association, the the Swiss Scientific and Industrial Pharmaceutical Association, Novartis, Nestle Health Science, Sonova, Similasan, Alcon, and IBSA) in attendance. At the meeting, the Swiss side affirmed that the Hainan FTP's conducive business environment and preferential policies (especially the innovative measures in the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone) mean that the island has broad development prospects in the medical and health industry. Lecheng has become the primary rapid access channel for global innovative medical products entering China, and many Swiss medical companiesin learning about how the FTP's preferential policies support Lechengare now planning to deepen cooperation with Hainan. The conference saw contract signings take place between Sonova & the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone, Industrie Biomediche Insubri SA & Susheng Biotech, and Dr. Dunner AG & Winhealth Pharma. Also, to promote innovative development in life sciences and the medical health industries, Switzerland Global Enterprise signed a memorandum of understanding with the Hainan Provincial Bureau of International Economic Development. SOURCE Hainan International Media Center (HIMC) Oralia Amad, a 41-year-old Mexican mother of three, had been working at the A&D Deli Grocery store on 188th Street in the Bronx for four months when she was brutally assaulted. The attacker was a man who had purchased a hookah for $30 at the store and had twice tried to return it without success. Two days later, on Saturday, June 22, he approached Oralia again and attacked her by hitting her over the head with a hammer, breaking her nose and rendering her unconscious. At midnight on June 17, a 62-year-old employee suffered a skull fracture after being beaten at a store in Elmhurst, Queens. And there were two other incidents in the Bronx days later. In one, an employee was shot in the chest after an altercation with a customer at noon and in the other, the owner of 69 Deli Grocery was fatally stabbed 10 times after refusing to give change to a customer. In all cases, the criminals are still at large. That is why United Bodegas of America (UBA), an association of bodega (small grocery store) owners created in New York in 2018, launched a pilot program last week whereby it has installed panic buttons in four bodegas that are located in high-risk areas due to high levels of crime. UBA guarantees that by pressing one of these buttons, the police, emergency services and anyone else added to the system neighbors, family, friends, etc. will receive an alert within two seconds. Other neighboring stores will also be monitored. The installation of the first devices was carried out with the help of the digital security company, SaferWatch. As that companys CEO, Geno Roefaro, explained during the programs launch, the same panic button system is already in use in several government and public buildings around the country. This technology has already saved many lives and prevented incidents from escalating, he said during the presentation. From a hospital room, a still convalescing Oralia Amad asked for more panic buttons to be installed to alert the neighbors in the area... To have more communication, according to a video broadcast by Telemundo. There are a total of 30,000 bodegas in New York. Bodegas are part of the citys culture; they are on every corner, and every New Yorker has their favorite. Many are open 24 hours a day, and you can get anything you need, from a carton of milk, toilet paper, chewing gum to a copy of your keys. But most importantly, employees often form a bond with customers that sometimes borders on affection. They know their names through personal relationships that have been built up over the years. Many feel as comfortable in the neighborhood bodega as they do in their own home. Protecting these establishments is also a way of caring for the city, its legacy and its inhabitants. In May 2023, police officers at a bodega in Queens investigate the murder of a customer. Theodore Parisienne (Getty Images) For UBA president Fernando Radhames Rodriguez, impunity is behind attacks. They know there are no consequences. Even if they are taken to jail, they are released without bail. We were more protected with Giuliani and with Bloomberg, Radhames explains, referring to two previous New York mayors, both Republicans. Now nobody seems to care, and they do what they want. Thats why we need more security. So far this year, the New York Police Department has recorded a total of 8,211 robberies across the city, up 4.9% from 2023. Radhames points out that the episodes of violence are reaching well-to-do neighborhoods, where violence is not as common as in other areas of the city. They want the laws changed to duly punish the wrongdoers who insult and physically and verbally assault the bodega owners, that police surveillance be increased and that officers can be on the scene faster. $3,000 per year per button The biggest obstacle to expanding this pilot program is its cost: panic buttons cost around $3,000 a year to install and maintain. This is an expense that not all bodega owners can afford. The UBA has called for politicians to mobilize to ensure the safety of bodega owners and employees, with the installation of panic buttons fully or partially publicly funded, given that episodes of violence in bodegas have increased in all five boroughs of New York. So far, there has been no promise, but Radhames is still in discussions. Oswald Feliz, Councilman for New York Citys 15th District, has publicly stated that he wants to convince his colleagues to invest $15 million in the program. This used to be a quiet neighborhood but now we feel very unsafe because of the robberies, says Amir Hussein, one of the partners of the grocery and tobacco store across the street from the Bird of a Feather restaurant in Williamsburg, where armed robberies occurred on June 21 and June 27. This is unheard of in this part of Brooklyn one of the most affluent neighborhoods of New York, also known for being one of the safest. Were open until 3 a.m. and if theres a break in, we wouldnt have time to call 911. How are we going to protect ourselves? Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Washington, July 7 : Four people were killed and three others injured in a shooting at a home in Kentucky in the US on Saturday, police said. According to the Florence Police Department, four individuals were declared deceased at the location, while three others were taken to a nearby hospital and are currently in critical but stable condition. Officers responded to the residence at nearly 3 a.m. on Saturday and as they approached the home, they still heard shots being fired, Police Chief Jeff Mallery said at a press conference. People were attending a birthday pool party at that time. The suspect, described as an adult male, fled the scene in a vehicle prior to police arrival, leading to a police chase. The suspect then drove off the road and crashed into a ditch. Law enforcement found the suspect with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, Xinhua news agency reported. Party attendees recognised the suspect and provided his identity to the police. According to Mallery, he had a prior conviction for a sexual offence, though it does not appear to be connected to the shooting. Officials said that an initial investigation indicated the suspect acted alone, and there is no danger to the public. Cairo, July 7 : Egypt will host Israeli and US delegations to discuss the "outstanding points" regarding a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip, Egyptian media reported, 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, Al-Qahera News TV channel reported, 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". $3.2 mn worth of drugs, cash seized in Aus state. Image Source: IANS News Sydney, July 7 : A man, who allegedly threatened officers with a knife at a police station, was shot dead by police on Saturday night in Australia's Queensland. A 46-year-old man allegedly entered a police station in Kirwan, a suburb in Queensland's City of Townsville, just after 10 p.m. local time on Saturday and threatened officers with a knife, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a Queensland police report issued on Sunday morning. Police shot the man and immediately rendered first aid. The man died a short time later, according to the police report. Seoul, July 7 : South Korea's car exports are estimated to have reached a record $37 billion for the first half of the year, according to industry data on Sunday. Automobile exports are estimated to have increased 3.8 percent on-year during the January-June period to reach $37.01 billion, marking the highest tally for the first half of any year, according to tentative data from the industry ministry and the Korea International Trade Association. The previous record was at $35.65 billion last year, boosted by 46.5 percent on-year growth from 2022. Since 2021, car exports have seen positive year-on-year growth for four consecutive years in the first half, reports Yonhap news agency. By region, car exports to the US, the world's largest market, jumped 29.8 percent to $18.45 billion. In contrast, exports to the European Union decreased by 30 per cent, while those to the Middle East and Latin America slipped 18.7 per cent and 8.3 per cent, respectively. Shipments of hybrid vehicles and internal combustion engine models grew 19.5 per cent and 7.2 per cent, respectively, but exports of electric vehicles fell by 17.5 per cent during the period, according to data. New Delhi: World War II with its crippling global devastation produced a lasting period of Cold War that was rooted in a sharp ideological division of the world in the competing philosophies of International Communism on one hand and Capitalism based on the free market economy resting on competition, on the other. The Cold War years were marked by a tight military balance between the two nuclear-armed superpowers -- the US and the Soviet Union -- and the deterrence of mutual assured destruction (MAD) kept either side from resorting to the so-called 'First Strike'. It is the forced withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan that led to the dismemberment of the Soviet Union and the demise of International Communism in 1991 and brought an end to the Cold War -- creating a unipolar world order in which the US would drive all global trends. Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, in the last Politburo meeting of CPSU in April 1991, announced that Democratic Centrism or aone-party rulea was being given up in favour of aparty pluralisma and formally ended the doctrine of a Communist State. The termination of the Cold War has in many ways altered the concepts of war and peace. First, it has ushered in the era of aproxy warsa with open warfare giving way to acoverta cross-border attacks, insurgencies and separatist movements instigated from outside. There were some 200 such localised conflicts recorded in the immediate aftermath of this transformation. It is interesting that the anti-Soviet armed campaign in Afghanistan totally backed by the US and the CIA was run in a proxy war mode as militant outfits reared in Pakistan were let loose on the aGod-lessa Soviet army on the war cry of aJehada. The American stinger missiles in the hands of the Jehadis caused havoc to the Soviet troops. Within a few years of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the USSR found it impossible to economically sustain the occupation and made a forced exit bringing down in the process the very existence of the Communist Super Power. The phenomenon of aproxy wara has evidently come to stay as it serves the military purpose of a hostile neighbour without putting on it the blame for indulging in open warfare and precipitating the prospect of a possible global conflict. No nation really wants another World War. Secondly, what is far more serious than acoverta warfare is the rise of terrorism as the instrument of proxy war in the post-Cold War period. This all began in Afghanistan where the radical Al Qaeda founded by Osama bin Laden was also a part of the anti-Soviet armed campaign along with Saudi-funded Lashkar-e-Taiba and Pak Jamaat-e-Islamias offspring Hizbul Mujahideen. Islamic radicals carry the historical memory of the anti-British Wahabi movement launched on the Indian subcontinent in the 19th century with NWFP -- now called Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) of Pakistan -- as the epicentre of that Jehad. Terrorism is classically defined as aresort to covert violence for a perceived political causea -- terrorists do not make an open attack and secretly plan their offensive. Since they invoke a acausea they have a acommitmenta that in turn is a measure of their amotivationa. Protagonists of Jehad use Islam as a faith to provide this amotivationa which admittedly was always very strong. Those guiding radical outfits could even raise suicide bombers using the pull of faith, interpreting Jehad as a fundamental duty in certain situations and drawing attention to the rewards of the afterlife. It is this afaith-based terrorisma that has made the world an insecure place even in the absence of open wars. A third feature of the present era is the tendency shown by major powers of our times to cloak a military attack on a neighbour as an aoperationa and deny it as a awara offensive. This is how President Vladimir Putin of Russia described the military action initiated by him against Ukraine in February 2022 and justified it as a response to the need to protect the interests of Russian-speaking people of South and East Ukraine against the unfair treatment meted out to them by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine. In a cautious move, the US and its NATO allies responded by rushing military aid to Ukraine in support of the latter and imposing economic sanctions on Russia -- they did not do anything that would precipitate a larger awara. This response was thus in a aproxy wara mode and since proxy wars always turned into protracted confrontations, this is precisely why the Russia-Ukraine conflict has remained an unending combat. If the West thought that what happened to the USSR in Afghanistan would play out for Russia in Ukraine, this has not taken place so far -- comparatively speaking the losses suffered by Ukraine seemed to outweigh those encountered by Russia. Fourthly, the retaliatory military action taken by Israel in Gaza against the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, is different from the Russia-Ukraine conflict in as much as the former had created danger for the democratic world from the rise of faith-based terrorism of Islamic radicals in the Middle East and in many other parts of the world particularly West Africa and South Asia -- especially the Pak-Afghan belt. With Iran jumping into the fray in support of Hamas and against Israel, the conflict can escalate fast making it a wider clash of interests between the US as the closest ally of Israel and the emerging Iran-China-Russia axis. Drones supplied by Iran have been used by Russia in Ukraine and Iranas proxies like Hezbollah operating out of Lebanon and the Houthis of Yemen are directly targeting Israel. There is a geopolitical shift towards a Cold War type of situation even though the ideological divide in the world is non-existent and the possibility of a nuclear war is totally discounted. Whatever the nature of military conflicts, however, the fact that the Israel Defense Forces killed over 33,000 Palestinians including a very large number of civilians -- women and children have perished in huge numbers -- has brought up once again the matter of human rights in war theatres, as a front issue of global concern. The UN is reported to have blacklisted Israel for causing the death of thousands of children in military operations. The question cannot be sidetracked on the plea that counter-terror operations were of prime importance -- the unwarranted human killings are going to ultimately benefit the hold of terrorist forces as has been demonstrated in Gaza. In any military conflict, civilian casualties therefore have to be consciously minimised and this norm has to be enforced even in an aasymmetric wara. The fifth angle of war and peace relevant to the present age is linked to the new concept that "national security is inseparable from economic security". The covert attacks so characteristic of the post-Cold War era can be directed against the economic assets of the target to make the latter substantially weak. Sabotaging the strategic establishments, damaging the economic lifelines of the nation and disrupting vital systems through cyber attacks are the new facets of aproxy wara. Further, social media has become an instrument of combat and a weapon of ainformation warfarea. This has necessitated the introduction of laws to prevent the spread of misinformation and punish resort to adeep fakesa for malicious objectives. An entirely new way of pulling down a targeted democratic regime is to influence the electoral outcome and build adverse anarrativesa against it. Non-military methods of defeating an adversary set new norms of war and peace and call for new strategies for handling international relations and defining new yardsticks of friendships and opponents. India has adopted a sane foreign policy to deal with the shifting world scene of armed conflicts and the new threats to global peace. Since foreign policy by definition is a product of national security and economic concerns -- in that order, India has opted for bilateral and even multilateral friendships based on mutual interests that did not prejudice the cause of world peace and human welfare. In the post-Cold War era, this is a new strategy of practising anon alignmenta and contributing to the stability of a peaceful world that worked for human advancement. This has enabled India to become a world power that represented the voice of sanity in todayas geopolitics. Indiaas stand on Russia-Ukraine confrontation and the Israel-Hamas conflict have earned the country a universal appreciation for supporting what was right in both cases. It advocated a peaceful resolution through mediators who understood the security concerns of both Russia and Ukraine and while denouncing the terrorist attack of Hamas on Israel called for restraint of military offensive of Israel in Gaza and a solution-finding resting essentially on the recognition of atwo statesa in Palestine. India has also given a timely warning to the US that the rise of radical Islamic forces in the Middle East and elsewhere in the Muslim world must be checked before they posed a formidable threat to the democratic world as a whole. (The writer is a former Director of the Intelligence Bureau. Views are personal) Hyderabad, July 7 : A Police Sub-Inspector, who had consumed pesticides due to alleged harassment at the workplace a week ago, died at a hospital on Sunday. Sriramula Srinivas (38) was serving as Sub-Inspector at the Aswaraopet police station in Bhadradri Kothagudem district. Unable to bear harassment by his superior official and four colleagues, he consumed pesticides at Mahabubabad on June 30. The S-I passed away in the early hours at a private hospital in Hyderabad. Hailing from the Warangal district, he is survived by his wife, a seven-year-old daughter and a five-year-old son. A magistrate recorded the Dalit police officeras statement, in which he explained the reasons for attempting suicide. On a complaint by Srinivasa wife Krishnaveni, police have already registered a case against Circle Inspector (CI) Jitender Reddy, constables, Sanyasi Naidu, Subhani, Shekhar and Shiva Nagaraju. They were all booked under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The S-Ias family alleged that the CI and four others tried to portray him as a corrupt officer and also got news published in newspapers against him. Two charge memos were reportedly served against him. Srinivas was transferred to Aswaraopet Police Station from Manuguru Police Station in February this year. Dalit organisations have demanded stringent action against those responsible for the S-Ias death. Mala Mahanadu state president Pilli Sudhakar said the harassment and discrimination against Dalit officers have increased in the police system. Meanwhile, higher officials have transferred CI Jithender Reddy. He was attached to the office of Inspector General. Four constables have also been attached to the office of SP. Sydney, July 7 : Papua New Guinea's Minister for Petroleum Jimmy Maladina was arrested in Sydney and charged with an alleged domestic assault offence, local media reported on Sunday. The local media reported that the minister was charged with domestic assault on Saturday morning after being arrested in Bondi, a suburb of eastern Sydney, reported Xinhua news agency. It said that police were called to an address in Bondi at about 10 a.m. local time Saturday after receiving reports of a domestic dispute. Officers spoke to a 31-year-old woman with facial injuries, allegedly as a result of an altercation with a 58-year-old man known to her. The man was arrested, and taken to the police station where he was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The local media also quoted a statement of Maladina as saying that he was "fully cooperating with the authorities". The minister was granted conditional bail and is due to face court on Thursday, it added. Internet is borderless, all nations must work together on cyber safety: MoS IT. Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, July 7 : As India sets the global discourse on democratising artificial intelligence (AI), former Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar is scheduled to deliver a keynote address at the 'Future of Britain Conference' next week. New Delhi, July 7 (IANS) As India sets the global discourse on democratising artificial intelligence (AI), former Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar is scheduled to deliver a keynote address at the aFuture of Britain Conferencea next week. The BJP leader will speak on the central theme titled 'Governing in the Age of AI -- Reimagined State,' hosted by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change in London on July 9. Chandrasekhar has been invited to share Indiaas experience and strategy in building the countryas digital initiatives like IndiaDPI Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), IndiaAI Mission and how technology can be used to transform governments and governance through Digital ID, DPI and technology. He will also highlight how other countries can learn from India's experience and how they can replicate Indiaas success in the Digital space. Established by Tony Blair, former UK Prime Minister, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change advises governments and leaders on strategy, policy and delivery, unlocking the power of technology across all three. The conference will discuss and lay out a framework for transforming peopleas lives for the better, putting forward a future-facing agenda, and a concrete plan for reimagining the State in the 21st century. Last week, at the aGlobal IndiaAI Missiona summit in the national capital, the Global South countries acknowledged and appreciated the role of India in giving voice to them at the global AI forum. More than 2,000 global AI experts, policy-makers, artificial intelligence (AI) practitioners, industry/startups and academia joined the summit, with over 10,000 AI enthusiasts joining the sessions virtually. The members came to a consensus about the future vision of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI). The 'IndiaAI Mission' has been approved with an outlay of Rs 10,372 crore and out of this, Rs 2,000 crore would be utilised towards supporting the Indian startup ecosystem to develop indigenous AI-based solutions. Srinagar, July 7 : At least six terrorists have been killed in the ongoing two encounters in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district, said officials here. The officials said that one more body was seen at the Mudergam encounter site on Sunday taking the toll in the two gunfights to six terrorists. Two soldiers identified as Para commando Lance Naik Pradeep Nain and Hawaldar Raj Kumar of 1 Rashtriya Rifles were martyred in the encounters. The encounters broke out on Saturday in the Kulgam district's two villages -- Chanigam and Mudergam. Earlier, the officials said that four terrorists of Hizbul Mujahideen, including one commander of the outfit, were killed on Saturday in the ongoing gunfight with the security forces in Chanigam village. "The operation is still going on in Chanigam village. Drones and other surveillance equipment are in place at both the encounter sites," officials said. Both encounters erupted when the security forces started CASO (Cordon & Search Operation) at Mudergam and Chanigam villages following information about the presence of terrorists hiding in these two villages nearly 12 km apart from each other in Kulgam district. Seoul, July 7 : North Korea's state media on Sunday called for loyalty to its leader, Kim Jong-un, ahead of the death anniversary of the founder of the country, Kim Il-sung, later this week, amid tensions over the North's weapons testing and defence pact with Russia. The North's main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, made the call as the nation is set to mark the 30th anniversary of the death of Kim Il-sung, who ruled the country from 1948 to 1994 and is the grandfather of the current ruler, Kim Jong-un, on Monday. "The path of wholeheartedly following the will of (Kim Jong-un), it is on this path there lies the eternal life of the great leader, and the path to most perfectly and excellently realising the great leader's lifelong wish," an article on its front page read. State media refer to Kim Il-sung by the title "great leader," reports Xinhua news agency. The article listed a series of projects undertaken by the current leader, such as building a new training school of the ruling party, calling them the wishes of the late founder. Kim Jong-un's hair and fashion style early in his rule was similar to that of Kim Il-sung, with observers saying the look was intended to secure loyalty from the public and consolidate power. North Korea usually holds big commemorative ceremonies on every fifth or 10th anniversary of a major national event. The country held large-scale commemorations for the 20th and 25th death anniversaries of the late founder in 2014 and 2019, respectively. Seoul, July 7 : President Yoon Suk Yeol is expected to warn against deepening defence cooperation between North Korea and Russia as he is set to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit this week, according to presidential officials on Sunday. Yoon will visit Washington from Wednesday to Thursday to take part in the summit, becoming the first South Korean president to participate in the gathering for the third year in a row, reports Yonhap news agency. On Wednesday, Yoon will hold back-to-back talks with the heads of more than five NATO members, including the Czech Republic, Sweden, Finland and Norway, as well as with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The talks are expected to discuss bilateral issues and the regional and global security situation, with a focus on energy and security cooperation. Later that evening, Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee will attend a dinner hosted by US President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, at the White House. On Thursday, Yoon will participate in a summit between NATO's Indo-Pacific partners, which also include Japan, Australia and New Zealand, before attending the main NATO summit. The gathering of the Indo-Pacific countries may produce a message critical of military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo said Friday Seoul seeks to send a "strong message" over the military cooperation between Russia and North Korea through the NATO summit. "While sending a strong message against military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, (we) will discuss ways for cooperation with NATO to respond to this," he said in a briefing. Last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new "comprehensive strategic partnership" treaty pledging mutual military assistance in case either of them comes under attack, raising concerns over their deepening ties. Meanwhile, possible bilateral summits with the United States and Japan, as well as a trilateral one on the sidelines of the NATO summit, have yet to be confirmed. Yoon is also scheduled to make a speech at the NATO Public Forum, co-organized by NATO and five think tanks in the United States and Europe, on Thursday. It will mark the first time a South Korean president will make a speech at the forum. Ahead of the NATO summit, Yoon will travel to Hawaii from Monday to Tuesday to visit the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific and the US Indo-Pacific Command in a series of events intended to enhance the bilateral alliance. New Delhi, July 7 : The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which comes under the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, on Sunday announced a call for Quantum Lab proposals to boost local R&D. For the proposal titled 'Quantum Standardisation and Testing Labs', the DoT has invited submissions from Indian academic institutions or R&D institutions, either individually or in partnership. The main objective of this initiative is to accelerate research and development in quantum technologies, ensuring the interoperability, reliability, and security of quantum communication systems. The last date for submission of proposals is August 5. "These labs will serve as innovation hubs, uniting quantum technology developers, testing equipment manufacturers, and academic researchers to explore and harness the full potential of quantum technologies for the benefit of all citizens," DoT said. The initiative, which aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for 'Jai Anushandhan', aims to support research and development in telecom products and technologies that directly enhance the lives of Indian citizens. As per DoT, Quantum Standardisation and Testing Labs are the objectives of the proposed labs. The first objective is to establish benchmarks and protocols essential for the seamless integration of quantum communication elements such as quantum key distribution, quantum state analysers, optical fibres, and components into existing and future communication networks. The second objective is to develop reliable testing facilities to validate quantum concepts, processes, devices, and applications created by Indian industry members, including startups, R&D, and academic institutions. "These labs aim at easy accessibility to industry, startups, and local telecom stakeholders at a nominal fee, ensuring that the benefits of advanced quantum technologies are available to all," said DoT. Mumbai, July 7 : The upcoming episode of the dating reality show 'MTV Splitsvilla X5: ExSqueeze Me Please' sees tension brewing between contestants Rushali and Arbaz as they clash over their partners. This prompts show host Sunny Leone to put Rushali in her place by saying, "Ghar jaao, woh door hain, chale jaao (Go home, it's over there, just leave)." Mumbai, July 7 (IANS) The upcoming episode of the dating reality show 'MTV Splitsvilla X5: ExSqueeze Me Please' sees tension brewing between contestants Rushali and Arbaz as they clash over their partners. This prompts show host Sunny Leone to put Rushali in her place by saying, "Ghar jaao, woh door hain, chale jaao (Go home, it's over there, just leave)." The contestants assemble at the challenge site, with Sunny and Tanuj declaring that the Ideal Matches will perform and form teams with two couples each for the 'Dare De Dil' challenge. The challenge tests balance and endurance, where the three ideal match guys and girls will first stand on tyres, pushing each other with sticks. The last one standing wins two points. Lakshay and Anicka argue over team choices. Lakshay aims to keep a promise to Akriti, while revenge is the only thing on Anicka's mind. Sunny advises Anicka, "But here's the deal, just a fruitful thought, what's in your favour, what's in it for you? Jab chance milega revenge ke liye, tab lena" (when you get the chance for revenge, take it). An argument between Arbaz and Rushali arises when Rushali wishes to perform with Harsh and Arbaz with Nayera. This dilemma forces Sunny to intervene and put Rushali in her place. 'MTV Splitsvilla X5: ExSqueeze Me Please' is available on MTV and JioCinema. Lucknow, July 7 : Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday demanded a CBI probe into the murder of her party's Tamil Nadu president K. Armstrong. She claimed that those arrested so far were not the real culprits and urged Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to refer the probe to the central agency to ensure justice for the victim. In a rare gesture, Mayawati visited and paid homage to Armstrong and placed a wreath before the body of the 52-year-old leader at a private school in Perambur in the city. She expressed anguish over Armstrong's death and said the way he was killed, by a group of assailants late in the evening, showed "there was nothing called law and order" in the state. Stalin must ensure justice for Armstrong and transfer the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), she said. "Those who have killed him should be arrested -- the real culprits have not been nabbed yet," she said. The BSP leader further said Dalits all over the state were apprehensive following Armstrong's killing and urged the Chief Minister to ensure their safety. The BSP has taken the matter seriously, but party workers should not take law and order into their hands, she said. Armstrong was hacked to death in Chennai on Friday (June 28). The Chennai Police have arrested eight people so far. Hyderabad, July 7 : Asserting that Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are his two eyes, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday expressed the optimism that Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will regain the glory in Telangana. The TDP chief also said that TDP's Telangana cadres indirectly contributed to the party's emphatic victory in Andhra Pradesh elections. Naidu was addressing a meeting of TDP leaders and workers at NTR Trust Bhavan, the party's Telangana headquarters here. The TDP chief was accorded a grand welcome by the party cadres on his first visit to the party headquarters after becoming chief minister for a fourth time. Naidu also told the meeting that he took the initiative to resolve post-bifurcation issues and Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy welcomed the same. "I once again thank him. There should be unity between the Telugu states. Telugu language and the interests of Telugu people should be protected," said Naidu, who met Revanth Reddy on Saturday to discuss inter-state issues. Naidu said that TDP's goal is development in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. He felt that disputes between the two will do more harm. The Chief Minister said that problems can be solved in the spirit of give and take. "There is a Congress government in Telangana and an NDA government in Andhra Pradesh. Though ideologies are different, we will work together for the good of Telugu-speaking people," he said. Naidu, who served as the chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh for two terms during 1995-2004, said he had come here to meet and thank the party cadres who contributed indirectly to the party's victory in recent polls in Andhra Pradesh. Naidu stated that though TDP is not in power in Telangana, the cadres have not left the party. "Only leaders have gone. The cadres have remained with the party," he said. He remarked that as long as Telugu people remain, the TDP flag will fly high. The TDP chief said the party turned the crisis into an opportunity to come to power in Andhra Pradesh once again. He asserted that he can never forget the love and affection shown by people when he was arrested. He mentioned that there were protests in several countries around the world against his arrest. Naidu said he can't forget the protest held in Hyderabad against his arrest. "I felt proud to see a meeting on television," he said. He recalled that TDP founder and former chief minister late N. T. Rama Rao was the pioneer of welfare schemes and he brought many reforms in administration. Claiming that it was TDP which started building the knowledge economy, he said after him, Congress and BRS continued the development. Naidu said after 2019, there was destructive rule in Andhra Pradesh. He alleged that the YSR Congress Party's rule caused more harm to the state than the bifurcation. He mentioned that people from Hyderabad came to Andhra Pradesh by 70 trains to cast their votes. The NRIs also came to the state by spending lakhs of rupees. "With all people casting their votes, there was a tsunami in Andhra Pradesh," he said. Mumbai, July 7 : Actress Esha Deol attended the Influencer Meet in Jodhpur on Sunday. The actress shared that the event, organised by the Sindhi and Marwadi communities, will encourage many women in the field. Esha reminisced about shooting her film 'Tell Me O Kkhuda' in Jodhpur back in 2010, telling the media, "I remember spending a great time in Jodhpur back then." The actress shared that whenever she visits Jodhpur, memories of filming flood her mind. "I got to experience the camel race and learned a lot. There's a camel here in Jodhpur named Saddam, who is now my camel," she added. On the personal front, Esha and her husband, Bharat Takhtani, recently announced their separation after 12 years of marriage. They released a joint statement saying, "We have mutually and amicably decided to part ways. Through this shift in our lives, the best interests and welfare of our two children is and will be of utmost importance to us. We'd appreciate our privacy is respected." The Influencer Meet event in Jodhpur was also attended by Rahul Dev and Mugdha Godse. New Delhi, July 7 : Air India on Sunday welcomed its first narrow-body aircraft - Airbus A320neo, which landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport from the Airbus facility in Toulouse, France. The A320neo aircraft joining the Air India fleet will feature a three-class configuration: eight luxurious Business Class seats, 24 Premium Economy seats with extra legroom, and 132 Economy Class seats, said the company. "The introduction of Premium Economy cabins on narrow-body aircraft is a first for Air India," it added. This aircraft is expected to enter service in August, operating on domestic short-haul routes. Three A320neo aircraft in three-class configurations with the old Air India livery have already started operating in the domestic network. From early next year, Air India will start offering enhanced flying experience operating new, upgraded and refurbished aircraft a" in both the narrow-body and wide-body fleet. In December last year, Tata group-owned Air India rejigged the 250-aircraft order it placed with Airbus in 2022. Air India had placed an order for 250 aircraft with Airbus, comprising 210 narrow-body A320 family, including 140 A320neo and 70 A321neo aircraft. The company changed the order to 140 A321neo and 70 A320neo aircraft. The remaining 40 wide-body A1350s included six A350-900 and 34 A350-1000s. --IANS na/vd New Delhi, July 7 : Ajay Upadhyay, a distinguished and pioneering journalist, was cremated at the Harishchandra Ghat in Varanasi on Sunday following his sudden demise from cardiac arrest on Saturday evening. He was 66. Upadhyay, renowned for his extensive knowledge across various subjects and popularly known as an intellectual titan, held prominent and leading editorial positions in several national newspapers. He served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Hindi daily 'Hindustan' for a significant period. Breathing his last in Varanasi following a cardiac arrest, he is survived by his wife Manju Upadhyay, son Vartik, and daughter Shaynika. Hailing from Varanasi, Upadhyay settled in Delhi, where he established himself as a stalwart of journalism through knowledge and hard work. Originally from Onia village in Uttar Pradesh's Sant Kabir Nagar district, he spent his formative years in Varanasi and received his education there. Upadhyay held significant positions in prominent newspapers such as 'Hindustan', 'Dainik Jagran', and 'Amar Ujala'. He is fondly recalled for his exceptional editorial acumen by his colleagues in these organizations. A former General Secretary of the Editors Guild of India, Upadhyay was known for his scholarly traits, determination, and polite demeanour as a journalist. Starting his journalistic journey at the Varanasi-based Hindi daily 'Aaj', he also held a B.Tech in electrical engineering from MACT Bhopal. Colleagues fondly remember him as a scholarly journalist and a beacon of journalism with unparalleled leadership qualities and a vast reservoir of knowledge. His friend Dilip Cherian paid tribute to Upadhyay, noting the rarity of journalists who matched his scholarly stature. Condolences poured in from various quarters of the media and society mourning his loss. The Press Club of India issued a condolence message on X: "We are sorry to hear about the passing away of veteran journalist, Ajay Upadhyay. He was 66. He had worked with several leading publications Dainik Jagran, Amar Ujala, Hindustan & Aaj Tak. May the almighty give strength to the family members at this time of sorrow and grief." "There were few journalists or editors of his erudition, a quality he yet wore lightly. No one had his multiplicity of sources Ajay-bhai could summon up on any issue. Economics, politics, geo-security, technology he could access fountains of wisdom on all. He wrote on many, edited with conviction and courage. Owners quailed, sources sighed, readers understood and journalists and journalism stood taller, each time," Cherian penned in his heartfelt tribute to the departed soul on his X handle. The Editors Guild of India has also condoled Upadhyay's death. In a press statement, it said: "The Editors Guild of India condoles the passing away of senior journalist Ajay Upadhyay, member of the Guild and former General Secretary. Mr Upadhyay, 66, passed away on July 6, 2024, in Varanasi. He was associated with several leading dailies and media houses. A versatile journalist, he had professional contacts across the political spectrum. Friendly and affable by nature, he guided a generation of younger journalists in his long professional journey." Shashi Shekhar, the editor-in-chief of 'Hindustan', reminisced about his time with Ajay Upadhyay in the past, praising him for his diligence, intellect, and expertise. "Ajay, you have departed, but there is one thing that never fades, and that is the past. A significant part of my past belongs to you. You will be remembered!", he posted on social media. Hyderabad, July 7 : Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Sunday promised action as actor Sai Dharam Tej reported child abuse online after a YouTuber's disgusting remark. The young actor took to 'X' to express outrage and tagged the chief ministers and deputy chief ministers of both the Telugu states to demand necessary action to curb horrific acts like this in future. "This is beyond gruesome, disgusting and scary. Monsters like these go unnoticed on the very much utilised social platform doing child abuse in the disguise of so-called Fun & Dank. Child Safety is the need of the hour," he wrote while sharing a video of a Telugu YouTuber making inappropriate comments on a video that features a father and his daughter. The YouTuber made the comments during a live chat session with his friends. Dharam Tej, who is the nephew of Andhra Pradesh's Deputy Chief Minister and actor Pawan Kalyan, also requested parents to use 'some sort of discretion when you post a video or photos of your kids as the world of social media has become ruthless and dangerous and is very difficult to control or stop these animals from becoming violent and dangerous'. "So kindly please be cautious, aware and take proper care before posting pictures or videos of your children, and to those people who have stooped to such low standards, I hope that you never get to see the turmoil of a parent in regards to your comments," the actor wrote. Reacting to his post, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy thanked Dharam Tej for bringing the incident to their notice. "Child safety is the utmost priority for our government. Will look into this incident and take appropriate action," reads the post from the Chief Minister's official handle on 'X'. "Child safety is indeed a top priority. We will ensure that our government takes the necessary steps to prevent child abuse and exploitation on social media platforms. Let's work together to create a safer online environment for our children," wrote Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka. Chairman Emeritus and MD of large listed company diverted public money: SEBI reply to SAT in Zee matter. Image Source: IANS News Mumbai, July 7 : Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), in its 46-page show-cause notice to Hindenburg Research, has detailed how the US short-seller shared an advance copy of its critical report on the Adani Group with New York-based hedge fund manager Mark Kingdon two months before its public release. The show-cause notice alleged that Hindenburg, Kingdon's hedge fund, and a broker associated with Kotak Mahindra Bank benefited from the over $150 billion decline in the market value of Adani group's 10 listed firms after the publication of the report. The markets regulator has also accused Hindenburg of making "unfair" profits through collusion, using non-public and misleading information to induce panic selling in Adani Group stocks. Last week, senior lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani alleged that a businessman with Chinese links had commissioned the report by Hindenburg Research which led to shares of Adani Group companies taking a hit. In a post on social media platform X, Jethmalani claimed that Kingdon, the American businessman behind Kingdon Capital Management LLC, had hired Hindenburg to prepare a report on the Adani Group. The SEBI has issued a show-cause notice to Hindenburg Research, Nathan Anderson and the entities of Mauritius-based foreign portfolio investor (FPI) Kingdon for trading violations in the scrip of Adani Enterprises Ltd, leading up to the Hindenburg report and thereafter. An investigation by the markets regulator also exposed that Kotak Mahindra and Hindenburg conspired together to take short positions in Adani shares. Kotak Mahindra (International) Ltd, a unit of Kotak Mahindra Bank, has said Hindenburg was never a client of the group's K-India Opportunities Fund (KIOF) and Kotak Mahindra International Ltd (KMIL). Hyderabad, July 7 : Bonalu festival began on Sunday amid fanfare with devotees offering the first Bonam to goddess Jagadambika at historic Golconda Fort here. The month-long festival, which symbolises the unique culture of Telangana, began with the traditional Golconda Bonalu. Endowment minister Konda Surekha presented silk robes to the goddess on behalf of the state government. Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, Minister for Transport Ponnam Prabhakar, MLA D. Nagender, Greater Hyderabad Mayor Gadwal Vijayalaxmi and others were present. A procession was taken from Langar House to Jagdamba temple at Golconda fort. A large number of women with pots on their heads, aPotharajusa and devotees participated in the event. The women devotees offered 'Bonam', containing cooked rice, jaggery, curd and neem leaves to the goddess. Golconda Bonalu ushers in the aAshadama month, during which the festival is celebrated at various places in Hyderabad, Secunderabad and other parts of Telangana. Golconda Bonalu will conclude on August 4. The celebrations are organised every Sunday and Thursday. Every year, the festival is held in Hyderabad in three phases. Golconda Bonalu will be followed by Lashkar Bonalu, which is held at the Ujjaini Mahankali temple in Secunderabad The festivities will conclude at Sri Simhavahini Mahankali temple in Lal Darwaza and at Sri Akkanna Madanna Mahankali temple in Haribowli in the old city of Hyderabad. Devotees, especially women, make offerings in the form of food to goddess in specially decorated pots. It is commonly believed that the festival was first celebrated over 150 years ago following a major cholera outbreak. People believed that the epidemic was due to the anger of Mahankali and began offering Bonalu to placate her. Lashkar Bonalu will be celebrated on July 21 and 22 while Lal Darwaza Bonalu is scheduled on July 28 and 29. This year, the state government has released Rs 20 crore for celebrating Bonalu. The endowment department distributed cheques to temple committees. The festival calendar, coffee table book, posters and CDs of Bonalu-inspired songs were also released by endowment minister Konda Surekha on Saturday. Sambhajinagar : , July 7 (IANS) Shiv Sena-UBT President and former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said that the Lok Sabha election was the battle for the country and to safeguard the Constitution while the upcoming Assembly election is a battle for the survival of Maharashtra's identity and pride. "The Assembly election is going to decide what will be the identity of Maharashtra that will be written in history. Do you want Maharashtraas identity as a state of saints, Lord Shiva, and fighters or do you want a Maharashtra of traitors, the powerless, and rogues? I will fight and not allow Maharashtra to be identified as the state of traitors, of the helpless, and rogues," he said in his address at the Shiv Sankalp Yatra at Sambhajinagar where the party nominee Chandrakant Khaire lost to Shiv Sena candidate and state minister Sandipan Bhumre in the Lok Sabha election. Thackeray led a scathing attack against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde saying that the traitors have won by stealth. "They stole the Shiv Sena and the party symbol of bow and arrow to grab power. Their policy is to stick to power despite being recognised as traitors. However, my policy is that I will never commit treachery though I lose the power,a" he asserted. Thackeray said Shinde-led Shiv Sena used his father and Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackerayas photos along with bow and arrow during the poll campaign to seek votes. "Many people told me that they voted for the bow and arrow symbol because Shiv Sena UBTas torch symbol reached the people quite late. Now we have to burn their sins with the torch," he added. Thackeray strongly criticised the Shinde governmentas freebies and sops to various sections including women, girls, farmers, and youth in the state budget, saying that they have been announced with an eye on the Assembly election. "I always say, there is a drought of plans and a drought of execution. The veil of sins of this government has been torn. This government wants to hide under the cover of various schemes. Farmers' suicides have not stopped yet. When I was the Chief Minister, I had announced a complete debt waiver for farmers. It may be my stupidity," he said. Thackeray dared the Shinde government to waive both the pending electricity arrears and also the current electricity bills for farmers. "Donat just waive the electricity bills alone. Or announce that you are going to recover the arrears," he said. Thackeray recalled that after Balasaheb Thackeray had promised to waive electricity bills for farmers if voted to power in 2004, then Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde promised the same. "The farmers were sent zero electricity bills then. The Shiv Sena lost the election as the Congress-NCP came back to power again. However, after the election, Shinde was replaced by Vilasrao Deshmukh as the Chief Minister but after that, the free electricity decision was revoked as the farmers were sent inflated bills," he recalled. Thackeray said he deliberately chose Sambhajinagar to launch his state-wide Yatra to tell the traitors that Shiv Sena-UBT will win it next time. "I am sorry that there is no MP of the Shiv Sena-UBT though it was our winning seat. The Modi government was to win with 400 plus but in Maharashtra, we have brought them (BJP) to 9. I am a fighter, I have come to Sambhajinagar with the desire that I will win again," he asserted. Meanwhile, a large number of activists including BJP leader and former Deputy Mayor Raju Shinde joined the Shiv Sena-UBT in Thackerayas presence. Kolkata, July 7 : A senior citizen travelling towards Kolkata from north Bengal by the Uttar Banga Express suffered major injuries to his head after the middle berth of the train he was travelling in collapsed. The passenger, Bimalendu Ray, however, is out of danger, his head injuries are serious in nature. He has been advised bed rest and is currently undergoing treatment. The incident created panic among the fellow passengers travelling in the same AC three-tier compartment of the train in the backdrop of a similar incident where a passenger, Ali Khan, who was travelling from Kerala to Delhi by the Ernakulam-Hazrat Nizamuddin Express, died after the middle berth of the train collapsed over his head. The fellow passenger travelling with Ray by the Uttar Banga Express said that the accident occurred as the train was entering the Sealdah railway station when the chain of the middle berth snapped and fell on Ray's head. After the train stopped, the fellow passengers first took Ray, who was severely bleeding, to the station master, from where he was rushed to the adjacent NRS Medical College and Hospital. He was undergoing medical treatment, following which he was released from the hospital. However, the doctors have advised Ray to be on bed rest for some days. Mumbai, July 7 : In another shocking case of a hit-and-run accident in Maharashtra, a fisherwoman was killed and her husband injured when a BMW car allegedly driven by a Shiv Sena leader's son, who was reportedly drunk, rammed into their two-wheeler in Mumbai's Worli early on Sunday and dragged the victims nearly for a 100 metres on the car's bonnet, police said. The accident occurred near the Atria Mall around 5.30 a.m. The victims were identified as Kaveri Nakhwa, 45, who fell from the bonnet and succumbed, while her husband Pradip Nakhwa, 52, sustained serious injuries in the crash, that came as they were returning after buying fish from the Sassoon Dock for selling in the local markets. The car was allegedly driven by Mihir Shah, the son of Rajesh Shah, a Palghar leader of the ruling MahaYuti ally Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. After getting the information about the accident, the Worli police rushed to the spot but Mihir Shah had fled the scene, but Rajesh Shah was detained, and their driver Rajendra Singh Bidawat questioned. Mihir Shah, 24, had reportedly gone for a late-night party with some friends in the Juhu area and then started for home, but en route, he insisted to the driver that he wanted to drive. He took the wheel of the BMW and minutes later crashed into the scooter on which the Nakhwe couple were riding near Worli. Police are scouring the CCTV footage of the entire route and also enquiring with morning walkers or joggers in the vicinity at the time of the crash. Shiv Sena-UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray slammed the government and demanded immediate punitive action against the accused youth for the fatal crash. "I met the Worli police station staffers probing the hit-and-run case. I am not going into the political affiliations of Mihir Shah, the accused, but I expect the police will catch him soon and bring him to justice. Hopefully, there will be no political refuge to him from the regime," said Thackeray Jr., the MLA from Worli, in a swipe at the MahaYuti government. Facing a barrage of criticism, CM Shinde told the media that the accident was sad and unfortunate but the police will thoroughly probe it, as the matter could come up in the state Legislature on Monday. "The law will take its own course I have spoken with the police and ordered strict action in the matter. Everybody is equal before the law," Shinde told media-persons. Deputy Commissioner of Police Krishnakant Upadhyay said that two persons have been detained for questioning and the investigations are continuing. Thackeray, along with SS-UBT MLC Sunil Shinde went to meet the family of Nakhwa and assured his party would do everything to ensure justice for them. Pradip Nakhwa broke down while describing the sudden tragedy that struck his family and claimed his wife. "It happened right in front of me The car rammed us I saw him inside the car and asked him to stop, but he ran away from there," he said, choking with tears. A grieving relative of the deceased, Gajanand Worlikar said that the Nakhwas were a very friendly couple, fisherfolk for years and residing in the Worli gaothan, and they have a son and daughter. "In monsoon, as local fishing activity in small boats stops, they were eking out a living by buying small quantities of fish from the Sassoon Docks and selling them in the local markets with some profit margin," Worlikar told IANS. The funeral of Kaveri Nakhwa was performed this evening at the Worli gaothan crematorium with almost the entire fishing community attending, said a family friend. Sambhajinagar : , July 7 (IANS) Shiv Sena-UBT leader Chandrakant Khaire, who lost the Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat in the recent elections, on Sunday initially expressed his unhappiness over the inclusion of BJP leader Raju Shinde into the party, holding him responsible for his defeat. A large number of activists, including former Deputy Mayor Shinde joined the Shiv Sena-UBT in the presence of party chief Uddhav Thackeray at his Shiv Sankalp Yatra in Sambhajinagar. Khaire, in his speech, first seemed to express displeasure over the induction of Shinde into the party, saying that he was responsible for his defeat as he helped his Shiv Sena rival Sandipan Bhumare to win 25,000 votes. "However, I want to clarify that I am not upset. Now I expect Raju Shinde to do a good job for the party," he added. In his address at the event, Thackeray said he deliberately chose Sambhajinagar to launch his state-wide Yatra to tell the "traitors" (the Shinde-led Sena) that the Shiv Sena-UBT will win it next time. "I am sorry that there is no MP of the Shiv Sena-UBT though it was our winning seat. The (Narendra) Modi government was to win with 400 plus but in Maharashtra, we have brought them (BJP) to 9. I am a fighter, I have come to Sambhajinagar with the desire that I will win again," he asserted. New Delhi, July 7 : Abhay Kumar Singh, the only Indian-origin lawmaker in Russia, speaking exclusively to IANS, said on Sunday that the ties between India and Russia will further get emboldened during the two-day visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PM Modi is set to visit Russia on Monday to attend the 22nd India-Russia summit, scheduled on July 8 and 9. Abhay Singh, who is a deputat (akin to MLA in India) and member of the United Russia party, led by President Vladimir Putin, spoke to IANS on various other issues including the warm and friendly ties between heads of the two nations and also on the demand for a Hindu Temple in Russia, on lines of US and UAE. He said that the construction of a Hindu temple in Russia would be a positive and trailblazing move. Notably, this is the first visit of PM Modi to Russia, after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022. IANS: How important is Prime Minister Narendra Modias visit to Russia on July 8? Abhay Kumar Singh: Russians have been waiting for PM Modi for the past two years. In todayas time, India is playing a huge role in global affairs. So, keeping in view Indiaas role, PM Modias visit to Russia is important. All the world leaders will be focused on his visit and will wait for the outcome of this visit. This visit is a welcome step and we are waiting to give him a grand welcome in Russia. IANS: The friendship between PM Modi and President Putin is deep. Lately, the Russians have been growing closer to China. Will this impact the India-Russia relationship? Abhay Kumar Singh: Nations do have a relationship with other countries based on their national interests. Also, there is a long border which Russia shares with China. Their relationship (China-Russia) will have no impact on the relationship between New Delhi and Moscow. We have been friends with the Russians for the last 75 years. And there has been no conflict between us. However, I believe that the Chinese will be keeping a close watch on PM Modias visit to Russia. IANS: The trade between India and Russia has grown manifold. What impact trade is going to have on Indian currency? Abhay Kumar Singh: Initially, India and Russia had a trade turnover of 10 billion dollars which now has increased to 50 billion dollars. The Indian Rupee has become stronger because of this trade which not only has benefited India but also her neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal. IANS: PM Modi has talked with President Putin, many times. How do you see the ties between the two leaders? Abhay Kumar Singh: Their (PM Modi and President Putin) friendship is deep. They often speak to each other as and when circumstances arise. President Putin takes these conversations very positively and in a friendly manner. IANS: Even before PM Modias visit, there has been an increasing demand for constructing a temple in Moscow. How do you view these developments? Abhay Kumar Singh: Construction of a temple in Russia will be a positive development. Unofficially, there are many temples in Russia and everyone knows this fact but officially constructing a temple in Moscow will be a big message for Hindutva. We must understand that Russia is not inclined to one particular religion. There are Christians who are in the majority, it also has an ample population of Muslims, Buddhists and other religions. There are many Russians who have converted to Hinduism and they will immensely welcome the move if the Russian government takes steps for the construction of a temple in Moscow. IANS: Russia promised to deliver S-400s to India. But the delivery has been delayed due to the Ukraine war. When can we expect the delivery of these S-400s to India? Abhay Kumar Singh: Rosoboronexport, the Russian defence company which exports S-400s, has said that the delivery will be done to India at any time during 2024. Many reports by Western media that the Ukraine war stopped the delivery of S-400s to India are not true. The equipment will be delivered by this year only. IANS: Both countries have strong ties as far as the defence equipments are concerned. The bullets used in T-72 and T-90 tanks (which are also called Mango) are now being developed indigenously, under Make in India. How do you see this development? Abhay Kumar Singh: Both the tanks, T-72 and T-90, are the worldas best tanks. Manufacturing them indigenously is a plus for the Indian army as they will not be dependent on any other country during times of war. IANS: Lastly, your message for both countries? Abhay Kumar Singh: Even if we look before 1947, Russians have never had a bad eye towards India. They have been always friendly with India. We should help each other and take this friendship forward. Vijayawada, July 7 : One person was killed and 16 others injured in an explosion in a cement factory in Andhra Pradesh's NTR district on Sunday, officials said. Vijayawada, July 7 (IANS) One person was killed and 16 others injured in an explosion in a cement factory in Andhra Pradeshas NTR district on Sunday, officials said. The incident occurred at the Ultra Tech cement factory at Bodavada near Jaggaiahpet when the boiler exploded. Seventeen workers hailing from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh were injured in the explosion and admitted to two hospitals in Vijayawada. One of the injured succumbed while undergoing treatment. The condition of three of the injured is stated to be critical. District Collector G. Srijana called on the injured. She said an inquiry was ordered into the incident to find out the reasons. She asked the officials to ensure the best possible treatment for the injured. Some workers alleged that the negligence of the company officials concerned led to the tragedy. Meanwhile, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu enquired about the incident and directed the officials to take all measures for the rescue of the affected. He also told the officials to take steps to see to it that the injured get better medical care. He directed the local officials to submit a detailed report on the reasons for the incident and also take action against those responsible for the blast. Besides taking steps to see to it that the affected get proper compensation from the company, the Chief Minister also declared that ex gratia will be paid to them by the state government. New Delhi, July 7 : Abhay Kumar Singh, the only Indian-origin lawmaker in Russia, on Sunday said that the construction of a Hindu temple in Russia is a positive development and it will be immensely welcomed by the Hindus living in Moscow. "Construction of a Hindu temple in Moscow will be a positive development," the Indian-origin lawmaker in Russia told the IANS during an exclusive interview. He said that there are many Russians who have converted to Hinduism and they will immensely welcome the move if the Russian government takes steps for the construction of a temple in Moscow. He said that unofficially, there are many temples in Russia and everyone knows this fact but officially constructing a temple in Moscow will be a big message for Hindutva. "We must understand that Russia is not inclined to one particular religion. There are Christians who are in the majority, it also has an ample population of Muslims, Buddhists and other religions," the lawmaker said. There has been an increasing demand for constructing a temple in Moscow ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's to visit Russia to attend the 22nd India-Russia summit, scheduled on July 8 and 9. Notably, this is the first visit of PM Modi to Russia, after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022. Jammu, July 7 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President and Union Minister J.P. Nadda on Sunday said that Late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had stalled the development of Jammu and Kashmir by imposing Article 370. "Late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had stalled the development of Jammu and Kashmir by imposing Article 370 in the state. The development was further stalled by the regional political parties like National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by opposing to remove Article 370," Nadda told party workers in Jammu. He also paid homage to Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mukherjee, who had opposed the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. "I express my gratitude towards PM Narendra Modi for abrogating articles 370 and 35A as a fitting tribute to the BJP ideologue. The country must be governed by one flag, one Constitution and one Prime Minister. This was possible only due to the BJP government," the BJP President said. He said that there are around 1500 parties but the BJP is the only party which is ideology-driven and cadre-base and follows the mantra of "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas." "During the last 10 years, under the leadership of PM Modi, Syama Prasad Mukherjee's visionary efforts dedicated to financial development are bearing fruits on the ground in J&K, which will shape its bright," he said. He said that during the upcoming Assembly election, BJP workers must remain committed to the service of the people, good governance and development. Nadda said that during the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the people of Jammu and Kashmir exercised their right by voting in large numbers and expressed their complete faith in the Indian democracy. "I salute the people of Jammu and Kashmir for voting in large numbers," Nadda said. He said that under PM Modi, Jammu and Kashmir has undergone a transformation while Dalits, Backward Classes and sisters are getting several facilities, including reservation. "The people of Jammu and Kashmir are getting benefits of various welfare schemes launched by PM Narendra Modi-led government," he said. The BJP President also visited the Raghunath Temple in Jammu and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Jammu's Vijaypur, where he also addressed a programme. Nadda is on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the upcoming Assembly elections. This is the first visit of J.P. Nadda to Jammu and Kashmir during the third term of PM Modi. Phoenix, United States : Colombia's manager Nestor Lorenzo urged his players to remain grounded after the team reached the Copa America semifinals with a 5-0 rout of Panama. The result means Lorenzo's men will meet Uruguay in Charlotte on July 10 for a place in the final, reports Xinhua. "The goal is to win our semifinal because the most important game is always the next one," Lorenzo said when asked about Colombia's chances of lifting the continental trophy for only the second time. The Cafeteros are unbeaten in their past 27 outings dating back almost two and a half years. All but three of those games have been under the command of Lorenzo, who replaced Reinaldo Rueda in June 2022. "We are confirming the importance of coming to the national team and wearing the shirt," Lorenzo said. "The players feel great pride in being here and that is very important." Lorenzo did not hide his delight at seeing forward Miguel Borja come off the bench against Panama to score his first goal in this Copa America. Borja had limited playing time here despite having scored 22 goals in 25 games across all competitions for Argentina's River Plate this year. "I was happy to give Borja an opportunity and to see him score," he said. "Irrespective of whether they start or not, our aim is always to see players do well and be successful." New Delhi/Aizawl, July 7 : Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma discussed the Bangladeshi refugee issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and reportedly told him that the state government is reluctant to push back the refugees, officials said on Sunday. An official of Mizoram Chief Ministeras Office (CMO) said that the Chief Minister, during the meeting with the Prime Minister at his residence in New Delhi on Saturday, apprised him that the Bangladeshi refugees are belonging to Bawm community of the tribals, one of the ethnic Mizo tribes, have taken shelter in Mizoram since November 2022, while many tribals of the same community are still trying to enter into Mizoram. The Bangladeshi refugees from Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) fled from their villages and sought refuge in Mizoram after an offensive by the Bangladeshi Army against the insurgent group Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA). The KNA reportedly has been fighting for the autonomy of the tribals in CHT of southeast Bangladesh. Besides the Bangladeshi refugees, around 36,000 Myanmarese took shelter in Mizoram in different phases after the military takeover there in February 2021. Around 10,000 people including women and children belonging to Kuki-Zomi tribes, have also taken shelter in Mizoram after the ethnic violence broke out in neighbouring Manipur in May last year. The Kuki-Zomi-Chin tribes in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Manipur share ethnic ties, and cultural and linguistic similarities with the Mizo people. Most refugees stay in rented accommodation and the homes of their relatives or friends, while others live in relief camps across the border state, which shares a 510-km-long unfenced border with Myanmar and 318 km with Bangladesh. The present Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) government and the previous Mizo National Front (MNF) government have sought financial assistance from the Centre for the relief and shelter of the Myanmar, Bangladeshi, and Manipur refugees. The CMO official said that the Chief Minister discussed the shifting of Assam Riflesa state headquarters from the heart of Aizawl city to the newly allocated camp at Zokhawthar, which is about 10 km from the state capital. Paris, July 8 : The far-right's stab at power in France, buoyed by its strong showing in the first round of the parliamentary elections, seems to have fallen apart as the leftist coalition is projected to win the maximum seats, as per exit polls released after the close of polling in the second round on Sunday, though no bloc will get a majority. All the major TV channels were predicting a victory for the left combination New Popular Front (NPF - as per its French name), while the far-right National Rally seems to have slumped to third place, behind President Emmanuel Macron's Ensemble alliance. As per the Ipsos-Talan poll for France Televisions and Radio France, the NPF is projected to gather 170-190 seats, Ensemble 150-170, and the National Rally 130-150. The Republicans could scoop up 50-70 and the remaining will go to the other left and other smaller parties. 289 is the majority mark in the 577-member National Assembly. However, the picture will be clearer on Monday only when the results are formally announced after counting of votes. There was jubilation in the camp of the NFP, a combination of Socialists, Ecologists, Communists and France Unbowed (LFI), formed as a united force against the far-right after President Macron called the snap parliamentary election last month. Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of the radical left France Unbowed, the largest in the left-wing coalition, claimed victory, terming the result "the outcome of a magnificent mobilisation effort". "The President has to bow and admit this is a defeat... the Prime Minister needs to leave. The President has the power and the duty to call the NFP to govern," he added. "The NFP is ready," he adds. On the other hand, the mood was subdued in the headquarters of the National Rally, where its PM hopeful Jordan Bardella could not mask his disappointment even as he sought to portray a positive position, citing the increase in the strength of the party. Marine Le Pen, who co-leads the National Rally with Bardella, was more defiant, saying that her party's "victory has only been delayed", and she "sees the seeds of tomorrow's victory in today's result", the BBC reported. President Macron will be "analysing" the results before taking any next steps, the President's office said in a statement, adding he will "respect the choice of the French people". Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said that he would submit his resignation to the President on Monday. "Tonight, although Ensemble has won three times the number of seats than had been predicted, we don't have a majority. And so, tomorrow morning, I will hand in my resignation to the President of the Republic," he told reporters at this official residence. 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 Property details: Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE NOTE: If you do not want to wait 12 months before your Log Cabin is built all you have to do is pay a down payment of at least $26,000 and we will IMMEDIATELY TRANSFER THE DEED TO YOU AND IMMEDIATELY BUILD YOUR NEW LOG CABIN. . . . 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Geeta, who could easily be mistaken for an ordinary Dalit oppressed-caste woman, stands out from her neighbors in her rural community once she begins her day as a hard-nosed reporter shedding light on the plight of Indian society's most marginalized people. Carrying a small bag containing a notepad, pen, water bottle and her most precious item -- a microphone attached to her smartphone -- Geeta interviews the farmers and common people she meets to later share their stories via video for an online news portal. The news portal, which became the subject of the Academy Award-nominated Indian documentary "Writing with Fire," was founded in 2002 as a newspaper led by Dalit women, belonging to the lowest caste in the traditional Hindu social hierarchy, to closely cover issues affecting rural villages that are often overlooked by mainstream media. "I never had any plans to join the news field. I was not that educated and only studied until elementary school before joining Khabar Lahariya," said 37-year-old Geeta, whose reporting career based in Banda began in 2009. As she walks through the lanes and houses of the village, Geeta is determined to record the thoughts and grievances of the farmers facing eviction, who lament being compelled to sell their land to the government for the construction of highways and expressways. The administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi boasts that it has doubled the highway network in its first decade in office. While many people will benefit from the improvements of arterial roads linking cities, the livelihoods of people in the villages that they intersect will be severely disrupted. "What is the point of fighting for a temple or mosque when the farmers have to give up their land? Where will the money come from for us?" a farmer says while Geeta records with her smartphone. "Land creates wealth time and again, but the money you get from an eviction comes only once. You never know if you will be able to get a piece of well-watered land again," complained one older farmer. "Prime Minister Modi may be good at big talk like international strategy and diplomacy, but the farmers are suffering," he added. After wrapping up her news gathering, Geeta enlists a passerby to record a video on her smartphone introducing the day's coverage of eviction issues in the village, to be edited for release after she returns to the Khabar Lahariya office. Geeta was born in a rural area near Banda where education only went up to junior high school, and it was customary for women in their mid-teens to marry and start families. Unable to afford further education, she married at the age of 15. On her journey to becoming a reporter to speak truth to power for the common people, she has faced many trials, especially living with her conservative in-laws who were disrespectful toward her. Eventually, she summed up the courage to leave her husband in order to provide a healthy environment for her three children, whom she gave birth to at an early age. Because of this experience, she believes she understands the suffering of rural people, especially women, better than almost anyone. "In villages, a woman is identified as someone's daughter or wife or maybe daughter-in-law. You don't get to have your own identity," she said. Khabar Lahariya, literally meaning "News Wave," initially established itself as a chain of local language newspapers published in various dialects of Hindi in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. It currently has about 40 staff members, including female journalists, editors and a production team, and now largely relies on its digital platform to report the news on YouTube, substantially increasing its audience. Geeta's interest in education inspired her to become a single parent while dedicating her life to meaningful work that creates value in society. "I always wanted to do a job and have my own identity," she said. Like Geeta, there are many such women who work for Khabar Lahariya, fighting in their own way to get their message out while claiming their identities in today's world. "When I used to go for coverage, people never took me seriously and didn't believe that I was a journalist. They used to think that I was approaching them for some financial help, and thus they looked at me with skepticism. That thinking has changed now," said Meera Devi, editor-in-chief of Khabar Lahariya. "We generally work on various topics, but with each our main concern remains to bring to the forefront those voices which are not heard by mainstream media, especially from rural areas," she added. While their YouTube channel has around 591,000 subscribers and aims to increase that number in the future, Meera and her band of women journalists acknowledge the dangers of reporting because of the crime segments they also cover in their news stories. "There have been days when people have visited our reporters' homes to threaten them in order to stop reporting about particular issues," Meera said. But she believes that now, with so many years of experience, they have learned to face such scenarios head-on. "We are prepared mentally and less afraid compared with the past," Meera said. Amid a chaotic political, social and criminal situation in rural areas, reporters of Khabar Lahariya work with the motive that their efforts will lead to a wave of social justice rather than achieving acclaim for themselves. Even so, their reporting in which they determine not to flinch from prejudice or discrimination, gained recognition when "Writing with Fire," directed by filmmakers Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas, was nominated for an Academy Award in 2022. The film was released last year in Japan. They consider it their mission to amplify the voices of rural populations, but what is concerning is the increase in those people afraid of taking a stand themselves against the Modi administration. Fear of the powerful Modi government, which has stifled opposition parties and decisively enacted harsh policies against the Muslim minority, has quietly spilled over into rural areas. While Geeta was covering the eviction issue, one man told her, "If they find out I'm complaining about Prime Minister Modi, I could get in a lot of trouble later." But for the women of Khabar Lahariya, their attitude toward their work defines women's empowerment in a male-dominated society, where not only Dalits or other lower classes but even women considered of higher status struggle to survive. "I will continue working as a reporter until the time I want to and until the time I'm no longer capable to run and travel to different places. I love this job and enjoy each and every second of it," Geeta said. Related coverage: FEATURE: India's "cremation king" helps to bring salvation in modern times Property details: SCHOONER LANDING Newport, Oregon Welcome to The Friendliest vacation resort on the central Oregon coast! Established in 1983, the prime Cape Cod-style condominiums of Schooner Landing offer complete, functional amenities to give you the relaxation youre looking for. 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Nearby Pennsylvania KYODO NEWS - Jul 7, 2024 - 11:00 | All, Japan Japan will require all new automatic passenger cars to have technology to prevent drivers from accelerating unintentionally by hitting the gas pedal instead of the brake, according to the transport ministry. With the country facing a rapidly aging population, it is hoped the new rule will curb traffic accidents, often committed by elderly drivers, in line with new U.N. regulations expected to take effect in June next year. "Japan has been proposing to make it an international standard since 2022," transport minister Tetsuo Saito said at a press conference in late June. "We will prepare for the new regulations and strive to improve the safety of cars," he said, without specifying the precise timing of the requirement's introduction. The technology will suppress acceleration, meaning even if the driver fully steps down on the accelerator pedal 1 to 1.5 meters away from a sizeable object, the car will stop before hitting it or slow to less than 8 kilometers per hour if a collision is unavoidable. When the technology is activated, an in-vehicle display will also show a warning, such as, "Step off the accelerator pedal," according to the ministry. The ministry will revise its ordinances after the U.N. regulations are formally agreed upon in November this year, requiring new automatic models to install the technology first before having it expanded into new cars for existing models. Stick-shift cars are exempt from the new rule as they are less likely to cause accidents resulting from stepping on the wrong pedal, according to the ministry. Most new cars in Japan are already equipped with similar technology, and some automakers are also selling products that can be retrofitted into existing cars. According to the Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis, Japan saw 3,110 traffic accidents caused by drivers mistaking the gas pedal for the brake in 2023, leading to 38 deaths and 4,343 injuries. Related coverage: Toyota global output falls in May for 4th month on price war in China The death toll in the collapse of a six-storey building in Gujarat's Surat city has gone up to seven with the recovery of six more bodies overnight, police said on Sunday. IMAGE: Police and fire department personnel carry out rescue operation after a building collapsed, in Sachin area, Surat, Gujarat, July 6, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo A person who collected rent from the building occupants has been arrested and he and two owners of the structure have been booked on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, they said. The residential building, which was in a dilapidated condition and located in the Pal area, collapsed at around 2.45 pm on Saturday, as per the police. A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), two teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), police personnel and fire brigade were involved in the rescue operation, the Surat police said in statement. After around three hours of operation, they managed to rescue a 20-year-old woman, named Kashish Sharma, and rushed her to the hospital for treatment. The body of a man was pulled out on Saturday night, an official earlier said. Rescue teams later pulled out six more bodies from the debris, according to police. Seven bodies were recovered from the debris in the operation that continued through the night, Sachin GIDC police station inspector Jignesh Chaudhari said. The deceased, most of them textile workers from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, have been identified as Hiraman Kevat (40), Abhishek (35), Brijesh God (50), Shivpujan Kevat (26), Anmol Harijan (17), Parvesh Kevat (21), and Lalji Kevat (40), the statement said. An FIR has been registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections, including 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), against the building owners Raj Kakadiya and his mother Ramilaben Kakadiya, and one Ashwin Vekariya, who collected rent from the occupants, inspector Chaudhari said. Vekariya has been arrested and efforts are underway to nab the two other accused, he said. Raj Kakadiya is currently in the US, as per the police. As per the FIR, the dilapidated building was mostly vacant as the earlier occupants had left due to the danger it posed. A few families, however, continued to live there on rent. On April 26 this year, the Surat Municipal Corporation issued a notice to the building's owner to get it vacated due to its dilapidated condition, the FIR stated. The building's occupants repeatedly requested Vekariya to carry out repair works for damages caused to the structure but he told them the owners had refused it and they will get it done next year, it claimed. The building was constructed in 2016-17, Surat Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot said on Saturday. Around five flats were occupied, mostly by those who work in factories in the area, he said. An NDRF official said the rescue operation concluded by around 9 am on Sunday. All 80 people stuck at Pali waterfall in Goa's Sattari taluka were rescued on Sunday by the state's Fire and Emergency Services and the police, an official said. IMAGE: Vehicles ply on an inundated road following heavy rainfall, in Panaji on Tuesday. Photograph: ANI Photo These persons had got stranded after sudden increase in water upstream and the river that has to be crossed to reach the waterfall got swollen by afternoon amid heavy rains in the region through the weekend, the official said. There was heavy rush of visitors at the site since it was a Sunday, he said. "All 80 people have been rescued from Pali waterfall. No casualty has been reported. The rescue operation was carried out along with Goa Fire and Emergency Services," Superintendent of Police (North) Akshat Kaushal told PTI in the evening. According to officials, the rescue operation began after people stranded there alerted Valpoi police station and sought help. In another development, the state education department declared holiday for schools on Monday in view of the incessant rains. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has declared 'red alert' for the state till Tuesday. 'In view of incessant rains and alert issued by IMD, Goa centre predicting heavy to extremely heavy rainfall, and keeping in mind safety of young children, it has been decided to declare holiday on Monday for all schools in the state,' the circular issued by state education director Shailesh Zingade said. 'It is also clarified the holiday is for the students as well as teachers. However, teachers deputed for training shall report for training,' the circular added. The education department asked students to stay indoors and not venture into flooded streets, riversides and other such hazardous locations amid heavy rains. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday attributed the setback suffered by the National Democratic Alliance in recent Lok Sabha elections in the state to many loyal voters going on holiday during voting, under the assumption that the saffron alliance was set to win more than 400 constituencies. IMAGE: Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal with Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar besides BJP leaders Narayan Rane (third from right) and Panjaka Munde (left) and NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal (second from left) during the Mahayuti meeting, in Mumbai. Photograph: ANI Photo He acknowledged that the National Democratic Alliance was caught off guard by the Opposition, which succeeded in voter consolidation. Speaking at a joint rally of Mahayuti partners in Mumbai, Bharatiya Janata Party 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. The rally was attended by leaders of Shiv Sena, BJP, Nationalist Congress Party headed by deputy CM Ajit Pawar, and other small constituents. In Maharashtra, which sends 48 members to Lok Sabha, the BJP-led NDA could win only 17 seats, while the MVA comprising the Congress, NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray bagged 30 constituencies. The Independent candidate who won the Sangli constituency is a Congress leader. "We were caught off guard by the opposition during the Lok Sabha election," Shinde said. "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," he said. Shinde claimed the Opposition voters diligently exercised their franchise, with almost 80 percent turnout. "If 60 percent 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. In a critical remark against Congress, Shinde highlighted its history of scams, such as Bofors, fodder, and coal, while questioning if there had been any corruption allegations against Prime Minister Modi. Fadnavis emphasised the significant impact of lies spread by the opposition during the campaign on the voters and the urgent need for an effective response. "The MVA won two lakh votes more than the NDA candidates, but they won nearly 30 seats. They used to lie every day before the media, and we thought it would not affect our voters. But in reality, it did affect our voters, and we could not counter it effectively," he added. Fadnavis also taunted some party leaders who made statements against NDA partners. "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. The Madras high court on Sunday held a special sitting to hear a plea of the wife of slain Tamil Nadu Bahujan Samaj Party president K Armstrong, seeking to bury his body at the party office in Chennai. IMAGE: BSP chief Mayawati paid last respects to the mortal remains of Tamil Nadu party president K Armstrong, in Chennai on Sunday. Photograph: ANI Photo The HC allowed the burial to be held in neighbouring Tiruvallur district. The government opposed the plea, saying the party office was located in a residential area. Armstrong (52), chief of Tamil Nadu unit of the Mayawati-led BSP, was hacked to death by a group of assailants on Friday. His wife moved the HC with a plea to bury him in the party office in Chennai. The plea came up before Justice V Bhavani Subbaroyan. The government opposed the plea saying it was a residential area and that it had identified three others spots for the burial. Additional Advocate General J Ravindran later informed the judge that the government had allowed the burial to be held at a land belonging to Armstrong's relative in Pothur in Tiruvallur district and the necessary orders were also given for the process. The petitioner also accepted the proposal, following which the judge directed that Armstrong's body be buried at Pothur. The judge directed the petitioner to hold a peaceful funeral procession and asked the police to give protection. Self-styled godman Bhole Baba's lawyer A P Singh alleged on Sunday that witnesses told him some people opened cans containing a poisonous substance in the crowd during the July 2 Hathras 'satsang', triggering the stampede. IMAGE: People gather at the stampede site, at Phulrai village in Hathras on July 3, 2024. Photograph: Mohd Zakir/ANI Photo Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Singh also alleged a conspiracy, which he attributed to Bhole Baba's 'rising popularity', behind the stampede. The stampede after the 'satsang' of self-styled godman Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras left 121 people, mostly women, dead. "Witnesses have reached out to me and said there were 15-16 people carrying cans of a poisonous substance that they opened in the crowd. I have seen post-mortem reports of those killed and it showed that they died of asphyxiation and not because of injuries," Singh claimed. Alleging a conspiracy behind the stampede, he said, "There were vehicles parked at the site to help the men escape. We have proof and we will submit it. This is the first time I am speaking about it." Singh claimed the witnesses who reached out to him requested anonymity. "We will demand security for them." So far, nine people, including key accused Devprakash Madhukar, have been arrested in connection with the stampede. On Saturday, Hathras police said it was also probing into the suspected funding of the congregation by a political party and warned of the 'strictest possible' action against it. Madhukar was the main organiser and fundraiser of the 'satsang' where more than 2.5 lakh people had gathered, much beyond the permitted limit of 80,000, officials had said. The godman was not mentioned as an accused in the FIR lodged at the local Sikandra Rao police station. The judicial commission set up by the Uttar Pradesh government will speak to anyone required for its inquiry, a probe panel member said when asked if Bhole Baba would also be questioned. The commission will also issue a public notice soon, asking locals and witnesses to share any evidence related to the stampede, along with their statements, another member and chairperson of the panel, retired Allahabad high court judge Brijesh Kumar Shrivastava, told reporters in Hathras. KYODO NEWS - Jul 8, 2024 - 00:31 | All, Japan, World A United Airlines plane bound for Guam on Sunday returned to Chubu airport in Aichi Prefecture for an emergency landing after detecting a system malfunction during the flight, the transport ministry said. Flight 136, a Boeing 737 aircraft, made the return landing at around 11:35 a.m. There were no injuries among the 44 passengers and six crew members on board, according to the ministry. The flight was canceled, and the runway at Chubu airport was temporarily closed, the ministry said, adding that no damage to the aircraft had been confirmed. Japanese regional airline Airdo Co., meanwhile, said later in the day that its flight 73, a Boeing 737 aircraft bound for Kushiro in Hokkaido from Tokyo's Haneda airport, experienced hydraulic system trouble at about 5:45 p.m. Airdo said the plane was redirected to Memanbetsu airport in Hokkaido due to poor visibility caused by fog at Kushiro airport, adding that none of the 148 passengers and crew members was injured. After the plane landed at Memanbetsu airport around 6:15 p.m., the runway was closed, and total of eight flights scheduled for departure or arrival were canceled or diverted. Airdo said it is investigating the cause of the trouble. Related coverage: Singapore Airlines plane hit by turbulence, 1 dead, dozens injured 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. In first public statement after knee surgery, the Tibetan spiritual leader says he feels physically fit. In a video released Saturday on his 89th birthday, the Dalai Lama said he was recovering from his recent knee replacement surgery, felt physically fit and thanked Tibetans around the world for praying for him. I am nearly 90 now, except for the issues with my knee, I am basically in good health, the Tibetan spiritual leader said in the five-minute video, his first public statement since undergoing successful knee surgery on June 28 at a top New York City hospital. Despite the surgery, I feel physically fit, the Dalai Lama said, allaying concerns about his overall health. So, I wish to ask you to be happy and relaxed. Today, Tibetans inside and outside of Tibet are celebrating my birthday with much joy and festivity, he said, speaking in Tibetan. I would like to thank all my fellow Tibetans, inside and outside Tibet, for your prayers on my birthday. Several global leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, sent birthday greetings. Through his promotion of nonviolence and compassion, as well as his commitment to advancing human rights for all, His Holiness serves as an inspiration for the Tibetan community and many around the world, Blinken said in a statement. Modi wrote on X: Sent my greetings to His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the occasion of his 89th birthday. Pray for his quick recovery after his knee surgery, good health, and long life. The Nobel Peace Prize winner enjoys strong support in the United States, where prominent lawmakers have spoken out about human rights issues in Tibet. China, however, considers him a separatist and has criticized those who meet with him, including a delegation of U.S. lawmakers who recently met with him in Dharamsala, India. Last month, the U.S. Congress passed a bill urging China to re-engage with the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan leaders to resolve its dispute over the status and governance of Tibet. China-Tibet talks ground to a halt in 2010. We stand by His Holiness and the Tibetan community as they seek to preserve Tibetans distinct cultural, religious, and linguistic heritage, said U.S. Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues Uzra Zeya, in a birthday greeting. Thousands converge At the Park Hyatt Hotel in New York, where the Dalai Lama is recovering, a steady stream of Tibetans and Buddhist devotees have gathered every day since his arrival in the United States on June 23, braving the heat to walk around the hotel and offer prayers. On Saturday, to mark his birthday, devotees converged in even larger numbers to offer hundreds of katags, white Tibetan silk scarves, and bouquets of flowers outside the hotel, which many referred to as their temple. A billboard in New York's Times Square flashes a birthday greeting to the Dalai Lama just after midnight on July 6, 2024. (Nordhey Dolma/RFA) On Friday evening, on the eve of his 89th birthday, at least a thousand Tibetans gathered in New Yorks Times Square to witness two giant billboards carrying birthday messages written in Tibetan and English. As the messages flashed at midnight, the crowd many of whom were decked out in Tibetan dress and waving the Tibetan flags cheered, sang, danced and chanted prayers. Reflecting on his life so far, the Dalai Lama said in the video he was resolved to continue to give his best to promote Buddhism and the well-being of the Tibetan people. He also acknowledged the growing interest in the Tibetan cause in the world today, and felt he had made a small contribution toward that. Year of Compassion In Dharamsala, India, Sikyong Penpa Tsering, the leader of the Central Tibetan Administration, the Tibetan government-in-exile, announced plans to celebrate the Dalai Lamas 90th birthday next year as the Year of Compassion marked by a series of year-long events starting in July 2025. The Dalai Lama has said that he will provide clarity around his succession, including on whether he would be reincarnated and where, when he turns 90. Sikyong Penpa Tsering and Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang cut the birthday cake at the official Central Tibetan Government-led ceremony to commemorate the Dalai Lamas 89th birthday in Dharamsala, India on Saturday, July 6, 2024. China which annexed Tibet in 1951 and rules the western autonomous region with a heavy hand says only Beijing can select the next spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, as it seeks to control the centuries-old selection process for religious leaders, including the Dalai Lama. Tibetans, however, believe the Dalai Lama chooses the body into which he will be reincarnated, a process that has occurred 13 times since 1391, when the first Dalai Lama was born. The 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet amid a failed 1959 national uprising against Chinas rule and has lived in exile in Dharamsala, India, ever since. He is the longest-serving Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader in Tibets history. Ever since, Beijing has sought to legitimize Chinese rule through the suppression of dissent and policies undermining Tibetan culture and language. Beijing believes the Dalai Lama wants to split off the Tibet Autonomous Region and other Tibetan-populated areas in Chinas Sichuan, Qinghai, Yunnan, and Gansu provinces which Tibetan refer to as Amdo and Kham from the rest of the country. However, the Dalai Lama does not advocate for independence but rather proposes what he calls a Middle Way that accepts Tibets status as a part of China and urges greater cultural and religious freedoms, including strengthened language rights. Blinken said in his statement Saturday that the The United States reaffirms our commitment to support efforts to preserve Tibetans distinct linguistic, cultural, and religious heritage, including the ability to freely choose and venerate religious leaders without interference. Additional reporting by Tashi Wangchuk, Dolkar, Nordhey Dolma, Dickey Kundol, Yeshi Dawa, Sonam Singeri, Dorjee Damdul, Tenzin Dickyi for RFA Tibetan. Written and edited by Tenzin Pema, edited by 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." Two years have passed since violence erupted in western Uzbekistans Karakalpakstan Sovereign Republic. In early July 2022, Uzbek law enforcement personnel used stun grenades and tear gas to disperse thousands of Karakalpaks gathered in a peaceful protest in the Karakalpak capital, Nukus, over proposed changes to Uzbekistans constitution that would have stripped Karakalpakstan of its nominal status as a sovereign republic and right to conduct a referendum to secede from Uzbekistan. Officially, 21 people were killed, most of them protesters. Since then, Uzbek authorities have imprisoned dozens of Karakalpaks, and Karakalpak activists located in other countries are also facing pressure. Joining host Bruce Pannier to discuss the topic are Leila Nazgul Seiitbek, a lawyer and chairwoman of the NGO Freedom for Eurasia; Hugh Williamson, the Europe and Central Asia director of Human Rights Watch; and Mynaim, a pseudonym for a Karakalpak activist living outside Uzbekistan. (Note: Mynaims comments have been voiced over to protect her identity, family, and friends in Karakalpakstan.) WASHINGTON -- In his 1949 speech at the Washington signing of the North Atlantic Treaty, U.S. President Harry S. Truman set the tone with simple words and a straightforward message. "For us, war is not inevitable," Truman said. "Men with courage and vision can still determine their own destiny. They can choose slavery or freedom, war or peace. I have no doubt which they will choose." Seventy-five years later, the alliance this week will mark the moment that 12 allies put pen to paper to commit to the transatlantic relationship and address the Soviet threat to peace and security in Europe. Having seen the Iron Curtain divide the continent, the 12 countries -- Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States -- agreed to the principle of collective defense, which is still at NATO's core today. Outlined in Article 5 of the NATO treaty, the principle states that if one of the signatory countries is attacked, it shall be considered an attack against all other signatories. It is sure to be noted during the conference that Article 5 has been invoked only once -- following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. Ironically, at the founding of NATO, the United States was one of the most skeptical of the treaty and Article 5. The United States, whose nuclear guarantee would give the treaty its eventual strength, was wary of automatic declarations of war because the U.S. Constitution gives Congress alone the power to declare war, John Deni, a NATO historian and professor at the U.S. Army War College, told RFE/RL. Washington had, however, signed the 1947 Rio Pact, which ensured mutual assistance throughout the Western Hemisphere but lacked any military commitment. Deni said this opened the door for five European partners -- Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom -- to approach the United States with the aim of European collective defense. "We were reluctant partners," Deni said. "This was the brainchild of the Brits. The United States wanted economic rebirth from Europe." Although the American public was told the treaty was a way to oppose communism, Deni said a "hidden rationale" for the alliance came from the U.S. need for economic stability and success in Europe. In Truman's words, NATO would be "a bulwark which will permit us to get on with the real business of government and society -- the business of achieving a fuller and happier life for all our citizens." Deni says events in 1948 -- a coup in Czechoslovakia and the Soviet blockade of Berlin had alerted the United States to the impact of instability on the European economy and "changed the minds in Washington." But the treaty was written "in a way that we Americans insisted upon," Deni said. It did not require an automatic declaration of war and therefore won strong bipartisan support in Congress. By early 1949, a draft was ready to go, and the treaty was signed on April 4 in Washington at a meeting of the heads of state of the 12 founding countries. The Soviet Union was put on notice that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization meant its members would stand in common defense. As Washington prepares to host a NATO summit on July 9-11 and mark the alliance's 75 years, the importance of Article 5 and NATO's milestones have been on the agendas at several think-tank events in the U.S. capital. Some speakers have noted that NATO's unity was put to the test at the end of the Cold War, when the alliance no longer faced the Soviet threat that Max Bergmann, director of CSIS's Europe Center, said it was "founded to focus on." Other speakers recalled that some policymakers and politicians argued at the time that NATO was no longer needed, while others favored adapting to the new world order. Phillippe Dickinson, deputy director of the Transatlantic Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council, said the end of the Cold War drove "a real change in NATO's posture and purpose in the world." NATO created its Partnership for Peace program during this period, inviting Russia in 1994 to be part of it, an arrangement that lasted for 20 years until its forcible annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Next came two major waves of post-Cold War enlargement, in 1999 and 2004, when several European countries and the Baltics joined. The alliance later shifted to focus on international operations, counterterrorism, and crisis management. NATO allies also began peacekeeping missions outside of the North Atlantic, including in Iraq and Kosovo. In addition to peacekeeping, NATO has been increasing cooperation with countries outside of the North Atlantic, especially in the Indo-Pacific. Four of NATO's 35 partner nations -- Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea -- have been invited to the alliance's events on Indo-Pacific threats at the upcoming summit. Aside from the Indo-Pacific, the majority of NATO's other 31 partner states come from Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. All of NATO's members and partners, aside from the suspended Afghanistan, Belarus, and Russia, have been invited to the summit. This includes Georgia, despite its adoption of what many call a Russia-influenced "foreign agent" law on May 28, and Ukraine, which is desperate for a path to membership. A senior U.S. official told reporters in Washington that NATO allies will present a "bridge-to-membership" scenario for Ukraine at the summit. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and emerging regional threats to NATO are expected to be major topics at the summit, but it will also be clear that in its 75 years the alliance has changed in an effort to take on far more than the Soviet threat it was founded to contain. Nevertheless, Truman's words in 1949 could be echoed by any Western leader today: "Our method of achieving international unity through the voluntary association of different countries dedicated to a common cause is an effective step toward bringing order to our troubled world." By Tomoyuki Tachikawa, KYODO NEWS - Jul 8, 2024 - 00:07 | All, Japan Incumbent Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike was reelected in Sunday's gubernatorial election with the effective backing of the ruling party, signaling that voters have positively evaluated her policies centered on quality of life and political competence over the past eight years. Koike, 71, secured a third consecutive four-year term, defeating Shinji Ishimaru, a 41-year-old social media-savvy former mayor from Hiroshima Prefecture, who closely contested second place with Renho, a 56-year-old former lawmaker backed by the main opposition party. The election was initially expected to be a neck-and-neck race between Koike and Renho, both former TV anchors. However, Ishimaru, relatively unknown in Tokyo before the official campaign began, significantly boosted his profile by expanding his election activities through social media. Ishimaru apparently garnered popularity from voters with no particular party affiliation as a recent political funds scandal eroded trust in politics, but it was not enough to catch up with Koike. After the polls closed, he spoke before a group of supporters and said, "I did all I could." Sunday's election was closely watched as the outcome could affect the future course of national politics, with the Liberal Democratic Party, led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, under heavy scrutiny amid the slush funds scandal revealed late last year. The race was also seen as a proxy war between national parties as the conservative incumbent was challenged by the left-leaning opposition politician, while the election was criticized for prioritizing popularity over policies due largely to swing voters. In 2024, a record 56 people, including former Air Self-Defense Force chief Toshio Tamogami, 75, threw their hats into the ring. According to political pundits, many candidates entered the race solely to gain fame through campaign broadcasts and posters. Some candidates in Tokyo's gubernatorial race were criticized for making a mockery of the electoral process by posting sexually explicit posters or covering large parts of official campaigning boards with their materials, with some groups obstructing the election campaigns of others. Koike told her supporters on Sunday, "I received threats and heckling. It was the toughest election campaign I have ever experienced," emphasizing the necessity of amending legislation related to the electoral system. All incumbents in past Tokyo gubernatorial elections who sought reelection have gone on to win, but this year's race sparked enthusiasm among voters as they were able to choose from a diverse range of candidates. After the media reported her loss, Renho said, "I was able to express my thoughts from the bottom of my heart thanks to the support of many people, and I did everything I could," adding that Sunday's result came "down to my lack of ability." The governor of Japan's capital, home to around 14 million people, controls an annual budget of more than 16 trillion yen ($100 billion), nearly equivalent to the national spending of Sweden or the Czech Republic. Koike became the first female Tokyo governor in 2016. The former LDP lawmaker was also Japan's first female defense minister, while Renho was a member of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan before running in the gubernatorial election. The LDP did not field its own candidate, as support for the ruling party has plummeted to its lowest levels since it returned to power in 2012 after a brief period in opposition. It decided to back Koike along with its junior coalition partner, the Komeito party. Yuko Obuchi, the LDP's election campaign chief, said Koike's victory may "provide a big advantage in upcoming elections, but restoring trust in politics is still a work in progress," with another party lawmaker saying, "This is not a triumph for the LDP." Renho who served as minister in charge of administrative reform under the three-year rule of the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan from 2009, was backed by the CDPJ, the Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party. A former banker, Ishimaru has attracted attention with his YouTube posts featuring fierce exchanges with municipal assembly members. He has broadened his support base among the younger generation and gathered thousands of volunteers for his campaign. On the policy front, Koike has touted assistance measures for raising children, such as cash handout programs, as one of her achievements during her eight years in office. Critics, however, argue that she has not fulfilled most of her pledges from previous races. In the latest election, Koike promised to concentrate primarily on supporting families and child-rearing, while Renho committed to enhancing policies to benefit those in the younger generation who wish to have children. Renho contended that a core issue would be how to handle the controversial redevelopment of the Meiji Jingu Gaien district, which would involve demolishing two historic sports venues and tearing down hundreds of trees. Koike has greenlit the project. Ishimaru, meanwhile, pitched himself as a candidate "well versed in economic theories and practices," vowing to hand out 1 million yen to student council presidents of public high schools in Tokyo. Asked about his future ambitions, he told reporters, "One option is to run" in a House of Representatives election "from the Hiroshima No. 1 district, which is Prime Minister Kishida's constituency," indicating the possibility of stepping into the national political arena. Voter turnout in Sunday's gubernatorial election was 60.62 percent, up from 55.00 percent in the 2020 race, the Tokyo metropolitan election management committee said. Related coverage: FOCUS:Closely watched Tokyo governor race may shape fate of opposition bloc Incumbent Koike leads by small margin in Tokyo governor race: poll FOCUS: Tokyo's July governor election akin to Japan's "presidential race" 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. On May 4, an unidentified activist with a group called the Urals Feminist Initiative was detained in the industrial city of Chelyabinsk while holding a sign reading: Child-Free Is Not A Crime. According to OVD-Info, a group that tracks political repression in Russia, the young woman was later released without charges. Although for many passersby the womans sign may have been the first time they saw the strange foreign word chaildfri, senior officials in President Vladimir Putins Russia have been bandying the term about for years, with many identifying child-free as a hostile ideology that poses a threat to the country and its purported traditional values. At a legal forum in St. Petersburg on June 27, Deputy Justice Minister Vsevolod Vukolov announced that the government, working with lawmakers in the Kremlin-controlled parliament, is drafting legislation that would ban the propaganda of the child-free ideology, particularly among young women. He asserted that this supposed ideology should be characterized as extremist. A top official with the Russian Orthodox Church immediately endorsed the proposal. Child-free is an ideologythat claims children are not obligatory in life and, more generally, even fosters hatred toward children, said Fyodor Lukyanov, the head of the patriarchs Commission on the Family and the Defense of Motherhood and Childhood. Such child-hating, people-hating ideologies particularly child-free must be banned and equated with extremism since they are destroying our future, our children. Critics of the Kremlin see such discussions as the assertion of the needs of the state facing a demographic decline aggravated by Russias war against Ukraine, in which hundreds of thousands of Russians soldiers have been killed or wounded -- over those of individuals and society as a whole. What we are seeing is an assault on the rights of women, said sociologist Igor Eidman. Putin is trying to resolve his demographic problem through paranoid ideas, Eidman added. That is why the Duma will now pass a series of such laws that arent aimed at motivating women to have children, but to restrict their right not to have children. 'An Ultraconservative Program' Earlier this year, the Rosstat government statistics agency projected a possible worst-case scenario in which the countrys population could fall below 130 million by 2046. The agencys best-case scenario, in which the population increases by 4.6 million over the same period, projects a birthrate of 1.8 children per woman, which demographer Igor Yefremov noted would be a post-Soviet high. In addition to the casualty toll, Russias war against Ukraine has separated hundreds of thousands of young families for extended periods and has prompted hundreds of thousands of people to flee the country. In response, Putins government has unleashed numerous initiatives. The first draft legislation to ban the child-free ideology was introduced in the State Duma in September 2022, the same month that Putin ordered military mobilization after Russia failed to achieve a quick victory over Ukraine. In February, the cabinet mandated family studies lessons in the schools. According to a Health Ministry official, the lessons are aimed at forming a healthy society through intolerance of childlessness and the popularization of large families. Duma members have also raised the idea of imposing a tax on childless families, while officials and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill have called for a crackdown on inducing abortions. In November 2023, Duma Deputy Sultan Khamzayev proposed that the state purchase babies from women who were planning to have abortions and transfer them to the care of the state. In May, Deputy Nikolai Burlyayev proposed chastity lessons in the schools aimed at inculcating in girls the understanding that the goal of their lives and Gods calling for women is to be the keeper of the hearth and, to the best of her ability, to be obedient to her husband. And boys must be taught that they are the defenders of the Motherland. Abortion bans, chastity lessons, the repression of LGBT+ people are all connected, said Yaroslav Sirotkin, an activist with the Kallisto LGBT-rights group and a former schoolteacher who has left Russia. All of this is part of an ultraconservative program that is being realized in Russia with the participation of the Russian Orthodox Church. The rise in repression is also tied to the war and the Putinist striving toward conservatism. Womens rights activism has been under assault in Russia for years, with male chauvinist vigilantes targeting them with threats and violence. In a post on Telegram, commentator Aleksandr Nevzorov who was branded extremist along with his wife by a court on July 2 -- called the proposed law against child-free families predictable, saying women could face prison for not fulfilling the plan to create cannon fodder for the war against Ukraine. The popular anti-Kremlin X channel Professor Preobrazhensky cautioned those who claim the law will not really lead to the imprisonment of childless women. Dont say, No, thats absurd. It wont come to that, the channel posted. It will. It has already come to people being taken to court for poems and plays. It has already come to people being sent to prison for saying, No war. It has already come to people being imprisoned for stickers. It will soon come to people getting long prison terms for an unwillingness to actively have children. Many critics of the initiative on social media asserted that the closest real examples of child-free ideology are religious groups, like the Russian Orthodox Church, that mandate celibacy for some or all of their clergy, as well as for monks and nuns. It would be strange for a nun to be agitating for large families, Yelizaveta Senchukova, a Russian Orthodox nun in the Sakha Republic, also called Yakutia, wrote on Facebook. I dont believe that in the Christian paradigm there is any commandment to ensure the genetic diversity of humanity or to improve the demographic situation. With reporting by RFE/RLs Russian Service Roscommon native and award-winning milliner Laura Hanlon will be the judge for Ladies Day at Roscommon Races on Monday, July 8th. Get ready for a fashionable and thrilling evening at Roscommon Racecourse where the SuperValu Ireland Ladies Day meeting will get underway. A seven-race National Hunt card has been lined up. Gates open at 3.30 p.m. with the first race going to post at 5 p.m. sharp. Its time to dust off your best outfit and get ready for a day of exceptional horse racing action, electrifying fashion, and unforgettable memories! Laura Hanlon attends most Ladies Day events across Ireland. Ruth McCourt of Smart Digital Marketing Agency says: We are very excited for Ladies Day at Roscommon Races. Im thrilled to have award winning milliner Laura Hanlon on board as our judge. A Roscommon native and racing lover, Laura attends most Ladies Day events across Ireland with her mother and son Alex. Alex made headlines earlier this year for making a hat for his mother Laura out of Lego, also one of Lauras headpieces was worn at the Royal Wedding of Meghan and Harry. I think Laura is the perfect choice for this year's Ladies Day competition and as a lover of style myself Im very excited to be doing the live coverage of the fashion on the day, said Ruth. Tickets are available at the gate or save 10% by purchasing online at https://bit.ly/RosRacesTickets with no admin fee. If you cant make the races? Catch it live on Racing TV. Dimitrie Cantemir, the musician A talks with musician Bogdan Simion about Dimitrie Cantemir's legacy in the field of music. Dimitrie Cantemir, the musician Christine Lescu, 07.07.2024, 14:00 Celebrated in 2023 on the anniversary of 350 years since his birth and 300 years since his death, the ruler and scholar Dimitrie Cantemir was born in 1673 in Iasi and died on his estate in Russia in 1723. Cantemir led the principality of Moldavia in 1693 and again between 1710 and 1711, fought to defend his country, read and wrote works of history, geography, musicology, philosophy and literature and was even admitted into the Berlin Academy of Sciences, being recognised to this day as the first promoter of the Enlightenment in these parts. Endowed with great intellectual abilities, Dimitrie also benefited, together with his brother Antioh, of a good education, secured by their father Constantin Cantemir. The latter also ruled over Moldavia, but was not himself educated, and it is even believed he was semi-illiterate. When he was young, Dimitrie was sent as a hostage to the High Porte in Istanbul, as was the custom at the time as a way for the sultan to secure the loyalty of the voivodes of the Romanian principalities that were vassal states to the Ottoman Empire. During his time in Istanbul, the future ruler furthered his education and training, learning to speak several languages, acquiring knowledge of theology and philosophy and studying music. He would excel at Oriental music, which was dominant in this part of Europe. His contribution in this field was crucial at a time when there were no musical scores in these lands, the musician Bogdan Simion explains: Before Cantemir we didnt have manuscripts in these parts and even his manuscripts are very complicated to read and especially to perform. First of all, because there is no indication of tempo, we dont know how fast or how slow the tunes in question are to be played. Of course, we can establish that by looking at Iranian, Afghan and Turkish music and imagine a kind of prolonged tempo. Other indications in this respect are given by foreign travellers who listened to the respective music. Cantemir, however, invented a music notation system. We, in the Romanian countries, didnt write music before Anton Pann and his Hospital of Love work of 1851, that was already a different era and Pann was using the Byzantine musical notation, like in church chants. Cantemir invented a system that was relatively easy to write down and interpret, easy to use and which the composers at the court of the sultan of the Ottoman Empire adopted and used until 1900, so it was quite good. Travelling to Istanbul I was surprised to learn that Dimitrie Cantemiroglu, as the Ottomans called him, is remembered first and foremost as a pioneer of Turkish music in the Ottoman Empire. It isnt much known that he was a ruler or that he wrote works of geography and philosophy or that he spoke Latin or that he was a member of the Berlin Academy. Dimitrie Cantemiroglu is believed instead to come from a province of the Ottoman Empire, perhaps being of Tartar origin himself, and of leaving an extraordinary mark on Turkish musical culture. Dimitrie Cantemirs main contribution is a treatise of musicology entitled The Book of Science of Music, most probably written in Istanbul between 1695 and 1700. Musician Bogdan Simion tells us more: The Book of Science of Music was written in Arabic and was dedicated to sultan Ahmed III, a great patron of the arts and a man passionate about culture in general. Its a work many specialists describe as more political than cultural. In the 17th century, Cantemir was asked to demonstrate that there was such as thing as an identifiable Turkish music. Around 1700, there was a heated debate in the Ottoman Empire, as many Turkish thinkers argued there was no Turkish culture as such, but that this was in fact a lower form of Persian culture. This book appeared around 1700 in Istanbul, which at the time was a very cosmopolitan city and home not only to Muslim thinkers and philosophers, but also the wisest and most widely read Orthodox Greeks, with whom Cantemir had excellent ties, as he never renounced his Orthodox faith. So, there were voices in Istanbul saying there was no such thing as Turkish culture and that Ottoman culture was the sum of a number of ancient cultures, of which the noblest and highest was that of the Persians. Naturally, sultan Ahmed wanted the brilliant young man to demonstrate that this was not so. In the forward, the author makes a diachronic historical analysis of music genres, after which he embarks on the treatise itself and the musical scores. At the end, which is the most interesting part for us, he included some original compositions, drawing on Sephardic sounds from North Africa and even a series of suites he calls Moldavian. Of course, listening to the latter today they sound as if they are entirely from Istanbul. No Romanian today will say they recognise anything of what we today call traditional music, but if we travel to the north of Moldavia, to Botosani, the Tartar Bugeac, the centre of what is today the Republic of Moldova and if we listen to certain kobza tunes we understand that Oriental music influenced the music on the outskirts of towns and later even village music, following the abolition of Roma slavery. As someone who knew the Ottoman Empire well, having also written a work entitled The Rise and Fall of the Ottoman Porte, Dimitrie Cantemir tried to free Moldavia from under the sovereignty of the Sublime Porte, joining forces with Peter the Great against it. His plan, however, failed following the defeat at Stanilesti in 1711. Forced to flee to Russia, he would spend the rest of his life as an advisor at the court of Peter the Great. His remains were brought back to Romania in 1935 and were buried at the Three Hierarchs Church in Iasi. This photo taken by a mobile phone on July 6, 2024 shows graves of citizens buried near walls of a school in Omdurman city, Sudan. Sudan has been embroiled in a deadly conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since mid-April 2023. The conflict had claimed at least 16,650 lives by May 10, 2024, according to a watchdog update cited by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in late June. (Photo by Mohamed Khidir/Xinhua) CAIRO, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Delegations of various Sudanese political parties and civil groups met here in the Egyptian capital on Saturday to find a political solution to the Sudan crisis. Representatives from regional and international organizations also attended the conference, Egyptian Minister of Foreign, Emigration and Expatriates' Affairs Badr Abdelatty said in a statement upon opening the conference. "Any real political solution to the crisis in Sudan must be based on a purely Sudanese vision emanating from the Sudanese themselves," he said. The statement did not elaborate on which Sudanese parties or groups participated, but Abdalla Hamdok, former Sudanese prime minister and now head of the Coordination of Civil and Democratic Forces, a Sudanese antiwar coalition involved in peace talks, attended the conference. Abdelatty stressed that all parties in Sudan should be included in the peace-seeking process under the principles of respecting Sudan's sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity, as well as the rules of non-interference in its internal affairs. He added that the conference is a continuation of Egypt's efforts to stop the war in Sudan in cooperation with regional and international partners, including Sudan's neighboring countries, the United Nations, the African Union, and the Arab League. Sudan has been embroiled in a deadly conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since mid-April 2023. The conflict had claimed at least 16,650 lives by May 10, 2024, according to a watchdog update cited by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in late June. The UN International Organization for Migration estimated early last month that about 7.3 million people in Sudan had been internally displaced amid the conflict. In addition, many Sudanese people crossed borders into neighboring countries to seek refuge. According to official Egyptian figures released in March, about 500,000 Sudanese had fled to Egypt since the beginning of the war. This photo taken by a mobile phone on July 6, 2024 shows graves of citizens buried near walls of a school in Omdurman city, Sudan. Sudan has been embroiled in a deadly conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since mid-April 2023. The conflict had claimed at least 16,650 lives by May 10, 2024, according to a watchdog update cited by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in late June. (Photo by Mohamed Khidir/Xinhua) July 7, 2024 A roundup of local and international news. Newsflash Newsroom, 07.07.2024, 13:51 Citizenship. Romanian nationals living in Spain will be able to obtain dual citizenship by the end of the year, said the Romanian prime minister Marcel Ciolacu after talks with his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez in Bucharest on Saturday. Ciolacu said the document was at the ministry of justice in Madrid and gave assurances that the over 1 million Romanians living in Spain will be able to benefit from this facility by the end of the year. 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. Ciolacu said that, also by the end of the year, Romanian citizens will no longer need visas to travel to the US and voiced hope that Romania would fully join Schengen. Ciolacu conveyed to the Spanish prime minister the intention of the Romanian side to host a joint meeting of the two governments to discuss the agreement on the creation of bilingual Romanian-Spanish sections, the holding of a bilingual baccalaureate exam in Romanian high schools, cooperation in the area of defence and combating human trafficking. Last but not least, the Spanish side said it supported Romania in its endeavours to obtain a representative portfolio in the future European Commission. Festivals. The Neversea and Saga music festivals are coming to an end today, having attracted thousands of young people to the Black Sea coast and the capital Bucharest. Drug-fighting agents carried out a number of prevention activities, both ahead and during the events. On the first day of the Neversea festival, two persons were detained on drug-related charges and 37 fines were levied, worth 2,500 euros. The Saga festival is today featuring acts like Nicki Minaj and Armin Van Buuren. The Neversea electronic music festival is Europes biggest music event to take place on a beach, and according to organisers, the British publication DJ Magazine ranked it 23rd in the world. Almost 280,000 people attended last years edition, which took place between 6th and 9th July. Drugs. The prosecutors of the body fighting organised crime and terrorism in Romania have detained a Romanian citizen residing in the US on suspicion of trafficking in high risk drugs. According to investigations, he offered banned substances in the form of jellies containing THC at an event held on 29th June that was also attended by minors. A 3-year-old girl who ate a jelly was later taken to hospital for complex medical tests. A large amount of cannabis was found when the suspects home was searched and inquiries indicate that the drugs were about to be sold at the Neversea music festival in Constanta. According to prosecutors, the person has been detained and will appear in front of a judge to decide whether it can be held under arrest for a period of 30 days. Stock exchange. The Bucharest Stock Exchange earned over 1.44 billion euros worth of capitalisation this week. The total capitalisation exceeded almost 70 billion euros, with the Bucharest Stock Exchange enjoying a very good year. In the first 6 months of the year, the BET index, which shows the dynamics of the 20 most traded stocks, saw a growth of 18.7%. Also, the BET-TR index, which reflects both the evolution of the price of listed companies and their dividends, saw an increase of 25.2%. The Bucharest Stock Exchange says that since the start of the year, its main indicators reached all-time highs amid a growth trend on international markets. Last year, the capitalisation of the Bucharest Stock Exchange grew by almost 50% compared with 2022. Elections. The 28,000 voters in Costinesti, a resort on the Black Sea coast, are again expected at the ballots today to elect their mayor. The Central Electoral Bureau cancelled the elections held on 9th June and decided they should be rerun as it noted contradictory results after several recounts, as well as flaws in the voting process. The incumbent Social Democrat mayor was initially the winner by one vote compared with his Liberal rival. After a recount, the Liberal candidate was ahead, but the decision was challenged by the Social Democrat candidate. Another recount showed the two tied. The Social Democrats and the Liberals are partners in the ruling coalition, but they had different candidates in the local elections in most cities and localities. Japan will on Monday release May figures for current account, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. In April, the current account surplus was 2.051 trillion yen. Japan also will see June results for bank lending and for the watchers index; in May, bank lending was up 3.0 percent on year, while the eco index had a score of 45.7. Australia will provide May data for home loans; in April, loans were up 4.3 percent on month and investment lending rose 5.6 percent. Indonesia will see June results for its consumer confidence index; in May, the index score was 125.2. Finally, the in Malaysia are closed on Monday for the Islamic New Year; they will re-open on Tuesday. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Economic News What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more. JAKARTA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- At least seven people were killed and three others injured due to landslides and flash floods that struck a traditional gold mine and surrounding areas in Indonesia's Gorontalo province, a senior disaster agency official said on Sunday. The incident occurred at midnight at the gold mine located in Bone Bolango regency and seven bodies were found, said Achril Babyonggo, head of the operational unit of the disaster management and mitigation agency in the regency. "The landslides and flash floods hit a camp on the mountain where the mine is situated. There were about 40 miners inside the camp at the time. Some of the miners managed to escape, but the fate of others remains uncertain," Babyonggo told Xinhua via phone. In addition to the main camp, two smaller camps on the mountain slope, housing six people, were also swept away by the flash floods, with three people still missing, he said, adding that the mine's remote location in a forest, far from villages, has made communication and access challenging. The official added that heavy rainfall is to be blamed for the disaster. CAIRO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Egypt condemned in strong terms on Sunday the deadly Israeli bombing of a UN school-converted shelter for displaced Palestinians in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. "Egypt denounced the continued Israeli violations of the provisions of international law and international humanitarian law," said a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates, demanding Israel "stop targeting defenseless civilians in the Gaza Strip." At least 16 Palestinians were killed, most of them children and women, in an Israeli bombing of the UN-run Al-Jaouni school that sheltered thousands of displaced people in Gaza's Nuseirat area on Saturday afternoon, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported. The ongoing Israeli onslaught on Gaza since Oct. 7 last year has so far killed 38,153 Palestinians and injured 87,828 others, according to the latest update released by the Gaza-based health authorities on Sunday. The war also led to massive destruction of homes, hospitals, and infrastructure in the enclave. The Israeli military campaign followed a surprise attack by Hamas on southern Israeli towns, in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and around 250 others were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Education Spotlight Child-care advocates press on after presidential debate snub Craig Lee/The Examiner Childrens Council San Francisco estimates that parents in The City pay $29,000 annually for infant care on average, making it the second-biggest expense for families after housing. Amid staggering child-care costs in San Francisco and across the country, viewers of the first 2024 presidential debate late last month looking for answers from the two candidates competing for the nations highest office said they were left feeling empty-handed. CNN debate co-moderator Jake Tapper asked President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump how they would lower child-care costs for American families, citing a report that found that the average cost of child care for two children is now higher than the average cost of rent in all 50 states. Childrens Council San Francisco estimates that parents here pay $29,000 annually for infant care on average, making it the second-biggest expense for families after housing. Trump didnt answer the question, while Biden called for an expansion of the child-care tax credit and [encouraging] businesses to have child care in an answer that took less than 30 seconds. The candidates arent scheduled to share the debate stage again until Sept. 10. Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Moms First, which advocates for affordable child care, garnered 15,000 signatures from parents and educators across the country and delivered the question to CNN to include in the debate. Sanujani, like many others, said she wasnt satisfied with the response. When asked directly about their plans to lower child-care costs, both candidates spent the majority of the time bickering and only President Biden briefly addressed the question, leaving millions of moms and families out to dry, Sanujani said. She said she was disappointed that our presidential candidates failed to acknowledge the seriousness of our child-care crisis and its impact on American mothers. That sentiment was echoed by leaders of local nonprofits and advocacy groups, including Mary Ignatius, executive director of the California grassroots parent advocacy group Parent Voices. She said members were left to think that politicians dont care. It was actually poetic in a way, because the way they ignored the answer is how working mothers have felt forever ignored, with no clear answer or direction to address a significant and monumental barrier to our employment, education, and life goals, Ignatius said. Ignatius and Sanujani are among millions of parents who say that issues around child care cant be overlooked in the upcoming election. A poll conducted by First Five Years Fund, which builds federal support for early childhood education, found voters across the country and in key battleground states overwhelmingly backed the expansion of existing child-care policies. Eighty-nine percent of the voters surveyed called for candidates to have plans to make child care affordable. The results of that poll, published in May, demonstrate that not only do voters want Congress to do more to address child care challenges today, they also want future lawmakers to have a plan for addressing child care challenges tomorrow, said Sarah Rittling, executive director of FFYF. The California Child Care Resource and Referral Network conducted its own survey last year, and found that affordability especially for Bay Area respondents was the top concern among parents for care of children under 5 years old. And thats across the income spectrum, even for those who were getting subsidized care, said Linda Asato, the networks executive director. They just felt like child care in general is very expensive. The early-childhood education system is fragile, Asato said, especially in a post-pandemic world. There are a lot of moving pieces, she said. Many parents now work [nontraditional hours], and [day-care] centers have enrollment ratios that must be met for them to make ends meet. Then we are having worker shortages in this area because its such low pay, and those workers could get higher wages and benefits elsewhere. Local legislators are responding to the affordability crisis. San Francisco Mayor London Breed recently proposed to pilot nontraditional day-care hours for those who receive subsidized care, funded by whats called Baby Prop. C, which was approved by voters in 2018. Breeds office also invested $60 million annually to advance pay raises and increase benefits for San Franciscos workforce of over 2,000 City-funded early educators. Although the lions share of funding for local subsidized child-care programs comes from local initiatives, the loss of federal funding threw a wrench in an already fragile system. When federal COVID-19 relief funds expired last year, many child-care providers were left scrambling to hire and retain qualified workers. Local legislators called it a child-care crisis as many centers and day-care providers in the Bay Area shuttered. Decisions made at the top affect San Francisco families, and First 5 Association of California Executive Director Avo Makdessian said that its important for voters to pay attention to whats happening at the federal level. Many benefits that help lift families out of poverty, such as paid-leave subsidies and child tax credits, fall under the purview of federal legislation and policymaking. These are all federally driven budgets and policies, and so thats why we have to pay attention to this race and other races down ticket in Congress, Makdessian said. Earlier this year, the Biden Administration made updates to the Child Care and Development Fund the nations largest funding stream to help families afford child care and announced a new rule that recipients should pay only 7% of their household income on child care. Vice President Kamala Harris said the administration will continue fighting to cap child-care costs at $10 a day for millions of American families and make preschool free for all 4-year-olds as we once again call on Congress to get it done. But many San Francisco parents pay well above that 7% cap, Makedessian said. So only 7% of your income should be spent on child care and the rest should be supported by the government, he said but in California, its closer to 27% of income is dedicated to childcare, and thats a pretty big delta of 20 [percentage points]. [Were] going to need some significant federal and state dollars to close that gap, he said. Its a pretty big chunk of dollars. But advocates said there is hope that politicians are taking these issues seriously, despite what little was said at the June 27 debate. Asato said she is noticing a different and more welcome trend when it comes to early-childhood education issues in the political sphere. Child care, once considered a social or womens issue, has become more of an economic issue in recent years, she said. [Legislators] are thinking of ways to help Californias economy grow, and certainly child care is important to that, she said of state lawmakers. If roads are broken and people cant go to work, you fix the roads and if child care prevents people from getting to work, then we must fix child care. Voters will be paying attention to whether or not the nations top politicians meet this critical moment, Ignatius said. Women, especially women of color, are a key voting bloc, and its time candidates provide real answers to our pressing needs, she said. Keir Starmer opted to recall senior ministers from the New Labour government to join his team. The experienced hands being installed as non-political ministers include Douglas Alexander, as trade minister, or Jacqui Smith as education minister. Starmer's approach was reminiscent of Gordon Brown's attempt to build a "government of all the talents". - Guardian Burberry is set to cut staff numbers as it struggles to right the ship. The redundancies are a part of wider cost-cutting plans aimed at buttressing profit. The decline in the company's share price year-to-date carries the danger of a possible ejection from London's top-flight index. Affected employees were first notified in June and the retailer is now in the midst of a 45-day consultation. As many as 400 jobs may be at risk. - The Sunday Telegraph Owners of Tesla-made batteries Down Under may be unable to benefit from power companies' rewards from for altering their power usage during peak load periods, including for air conditioning, hot water and solar panels. That is because the manufacturer disables the ability in its main storage product, the Powerwall 2 battery, in Australia, unlike in the US. - Guardian Grant Thornton is studying a radical plan to sell part of the business to a private equity investor. Should it come to pass, it would be but the latest in a long list of deals that are reshaping the accountancy industry. At present, the firm was owned by over 200 partners. However, the terms of any deal would stipulate that the audit side of the business would have to remain majority-owned by the company's partners. - The Sunday Times NEW DELHI, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in Saturday's building collapse in India's western state of Gujarat rose to three, confirmed a local cop over the phone on Sunday. The multi-storeyed building had collapsed in the Sachin area of the state's Surat district. The victims were workers of the local cloth manufacturing industry. On Saturday one injured woman was successfully rescued from under the debris of the ill-fated building, and admitted to a local hospital. Local media reports quoted Surat's Commissioner of Police Anupam Singh Gehlot as saying that the rescue operation was being carried out by Gujarat's State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). "Rescue operation is underway by the SDRF and NDRF teams. According to the information that was received, 6-7 people are trapped and three bodies have been retrieved. One person is injured and has been rescued," Gehlot reportedly said. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. New York City is warning residents of a new text message scam that asks people to pay for parking tickets. New York Citys finance department is warning about messages instructing people to pay fake CityPay balances. If you receive a text message claiming to be from CityPay, you should delete it, as it is a scam. Do not open the link. Heres what several of the text messages read as: New York Citypay, our records indicate that your vehicle has an unpaid parking invoice. To avoid additional charges of $25.00, please settle your balance of $2.50 at [link]. The finance department does not send unsolicited text messages requesting payment for parking tickets. If you receive a text message claiming to be from CityPay, please delete it. We will never send you an unsolicited text message reminding you to make a payment. Do not click any links sent to you in a text claiming to be from CityPay, as this is a scam, states the CityPay website. You should use the CityPay website to check your accounts at http://nyc.gov/citypay The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is banning an additive typically used for sodas and other beverages after a recent study determined it was unsafe. Earlier this week, the FDA revoked the regulation that authorized the use of brominated vegetable oil (BVO) a vegetable oil that is modified with bromine in food. The agency concluded that the intended use of BVO in food is no longer considered safe after the results of studies conducted in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health found the potential for adverse health effects in humans. The FDA has regulated BVO as a food additive since the agency removed it from the list of Generally Recognized As Safe or GRAS substances in 1970. It was used in small amounts to keep the citrus flavoring from floating to the top in some beverages. Manufacturers were required to list BVO in the ingredients list if it was used. According to the FDA, few beverages in the United States contain BVO. The removal of the only authorized use of BVO from the food supply was based on a thorough review of current science and research findings that raised safety concerns, said Jim Jones, FDA deputy commissioner for Human Foods. We will continue to monitor emerging evidence on the chemicals we have targeted for reassessment, and in cases such as this, where the science no longer supports continued authorized use, we will take action to protect public health. The FDA proposed to revoke the regulation that allowed BVO to be used in food last year. It came shortly after California banned BVO at the state level in October. According to reports, the most widely known soda containing BVO is Sun Drop, manufactured by Keurig Dr. Pepper. The new rule takes effect on Aug. 2, and the compliance date is one year after the effective date. This will give companies time to reformulate, relabel and deplete inventory with BVO. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Cheers and happy tears abounded recently at ArchCare Senior Life in Old Town upon the return of two memorable visitors: Miniature therapy horses who go by the names Aidan and Pearl. The pair were warmly welcomed by participants and staff alike. Miniature therapy horses comfort participants at ArchCare Senior Life in Old Town on June. 27, 2024. (Staten Island Advance/Isabella Acierno)Isabella Acierno/Staten Island Advance The June 27 event marked the second time the animals have visited ArchCare; the first time was in 2019. Aidan, a white horse, and Pearl, a brown horse, made their rounds from 10:30 a.m. to noon alongside their chaperones, Danielle Brando and Reece Gallagher from HorseAbility. Infatuation at first sight was experienced by over a dozen participants, and many were eager to embrace the animals. Miniature therapy horses comfort participants at ArchCare Senior Life in Old Town on June. 27, 2024. (Staten Island Advance/Isabella Acierno)Isabella Acierno/Staten Island Advance Lauren Abate who serves as a manager at ArchCare Senior Life, which is located on the first floor of Carmel Richmond Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center coordinated the event, and expressed her gratitude for its resurgence. At Christmas time, I was asked if there was anything on my wish list to bring to the center, said Abate. The miniature horse event was one of our best programs, and I wished to see the same smiles that I saw at the first event. Through the efforts of the Carl V. Bini Memorial Fund, a sponsor of the event, the wish was granted, and gratitude was extended by those who attended. Miniature therapy horses comfort participants at ArchCare Senior Life in Old Town on June. 27, 2024. (Staten Island Advance/Isabella Acierno)Isabella Acierno/Staten Island Advance The Carl V. Bini Memorial Fund has long served Staten Island well in its efforts to strengthen the community through programs and sponsorship, the miniature horse therapy event securing a spot as a fan favorite among those who attend. One participant, Eugenia, experienced a surge of emotions in the presence of the horses, as they reminded her of childhood in Puerto Rico. Participant Eugenia from Archcare Senior Life reminisces of childhood memories at the sight of miniature therapy horse on June 27, 2024. (Staten Island Advance/Isabella Acierno)Isabella Acierno/Staten Island Advance My brother had a horse just like Aidan, said Eugenia through an ArchCare employee. Im kissing him because he is beautiful. While small in stature, the miniature horses brought an undeniable amount of comfort and emotional support to those who attended. Many of the participants collectively reminisced about the Coney Island pony rides they experienced years ago. Another participant, Marlene, rode horses in her home country of Ecuador for many years. She showed off her skills by braiding Pearls hair all with a smile on her face. Participant Marlene from Archcare Senior Life braids the hair of miniature therapy horse at event in Old Town on June. 27, 2024. (Staten Island Advance/Isabella Acierno)Isabella Acierno/Staten Island Advance Many participants voiced that they hope for more events as special as this to be brought back to the center. I saw people smile today that I never see smile, Abate heard one participant say to another. The unconventional therapists were yet again successful in their efforts to bring comfort to those who may not have been seeking it but still achieved it. I know in my heart that they will all remember this forever, Abate said proudly. Lauren Abate from ArchCare (right) and Michael Scarimbolo from The Bini Memorial Foundation (left) at ArchCare Senior Life in Old Town on June. 27, 2024. (Staten Island Advance/Isabella Acierno)Isabella Acierno/Staten Island Advance ArchCare Senior Living accommodates to those who are 55 and older through its home and community-based and residential care programs, including its Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). Its wellness center serves as a spot for social events to take place, boosting its mission of supplying quality care. More information on ArchCare can be found at ArchCare.org. NEW HYDE PARK, N.Y. Hundreds of police officers gathered alongside family, elected officials, and residents to say their goodbye to Officer Emilia Rennhack, who was killed by an alleged drunken driver last week in Long Island. Rennhack, 30, was one of four people killed after Steven Schwally, 64, drove his 2020 Chevy Traverse through a Deer Park nail salon after consuming 18 beers on June 28, according to the New York Daily News. Rennhack first began her work with New Yorks Finest in 2018 and was off duty at the time of the crash. She was getting her nails done. Mayor Eric Adams and other officials gather to pay their respects to NYPD Officer Emilia Rennhack, who was killed by a drunk driver on June 28 in Long Island nail salon, Hawaii Nail and Spa. (NYPD Ceremonial Unit via X)NYPD Ceremonial Unit via X According to CBS News, photos of Rennhack were seen at New Hyde Park Funeral Home for all those paying their last respects. Those photos of our police officer Emilia tell it all. That infectious smile brought joy to the 102 Precinct stationhouse. She was just a friendly person who was liked by everyone who met her. She was an incredibly hard worker who touched so many lives, Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said, CBS News stated. It was at Queens 102 Precinct that Rennhack met her husband, Det. Carl Rennhack. The couple was together for four years, and tied the knot in September of 2023, the Daily News reported. Officers embrace the family of NYPD Officer Emilia Rennhack, who was killed by a drunk driver on June 28 in Long Island nail salon, Hawaii Nail and Spa. (NYPD Ceremonial Unit via X)NYPD Ceremonial Unit via X Here you have a family that came to America from Poland to live out the American dream, and that dream turned into a nightmare ... This tragic loss of losing a young lady like this is just going to impact everyone, Mayor Eric Adams said, according to CBS News. Schwallys bail stands at $1 million; his present charges are likely going to be elevated, CBS News said. Additionally, he has a decade-old DWI conviction. On top of the four deaths, nine other people were injured in the crash. Former National League Rookie of the Year Raul Mondesi has been sentenced to more than six years in prison in San Cristobal after being accused of embezzlement there during his time as mayor, according to multiple reports. The 53-year-old was also reportedly fined 30 million pesos, which is about $500,000. Mondesi was mayor of San Cristobal from 2010-to-2016. He is reportedly wrapping up a six-year house arrest sentence and will then report to prison for a term of six years and nine months. Mondesi broke into the Major Leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers and was the 1994 National League Rookie of the Year. He played for the team through 1999 before having stints with the Blue Jays, Yankees, Diamondbacks, Angels and Braves. He spent time with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2004. Mondesi was an All-Star in 1995 and was a two-time Gold Glove winner. He wrapped up his career in 2005 with a .273 average to go with 271 home runs and 860 RBIs. Advertisement FoodMasterChef Recap Ingredient beasts are unleashed and an unpopular decision sends a fan favourite packing The MasterChef finalists take things to extremes in their quests to make the top four. Ben Pobjie July 7, 2024 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share This recap appears in the MasterChef 2024 recap collection. See all stories . Things are getting real now. The pointy end looms. For the four amateurs cooking in tonights elimination, it is a chance to get one step closer to their dream of losing to Nat in the final. As Harry, Mimi, Sav and Josh arrive in the kitchen, the judges are nowhere to be seen. Just as they begin searching for ransom notes, they appear from the shadows and tell the amateurs that todays challenge will be five times as intense. From where will this extra intensity come? Will they have to cook nude, or while being attacked by trained eagles? Nothing so fun all they have to do is pick one especially intense ingredient to put into a dish. Sav, Pezza, Mimi and Harry are up for elimination. Ten The first ingredient is epoisses, a pungent cheese that nobody can pronounce and that is banned on public transport. The second ingredient is a Carolina Reaper chilli, the worlds hottest chilli as voted by the readers of Maxim magazine. The third ingredient is monkfruit concentrate, 300 times as sweet as sugar, which is a major ingredient in Nicholas Parsons novels. The fourth ingredient is umeboshi plums, which are three times as sour as lemons and terrible company. The final ingredient is a bitter gourd, the only gourd in the world to genuinely believe it couldve been a success in life if everyone wasnt against it. They have to cook with at least one of these ingredients, which will obviously be difficult because all the ingredients are horrible and it is completely inexplicable why they even exist, given nobody in their right mind would ever want to eat them. Advertisement Harry is pairing the smelly cheese with gnocchi, Mimi is combining the bitter gourd with crabs, and Sav is sticking the super-hot chilli in a prawn consomme, revelling in one more chance to achieve her dream of bursting Andys head. Josh is in a reflective mood. He is depressed that he didnt win the last cook he genuinely thought he would, but his failure to be Nat cost him. Like Harry, Josh is cooking with the epoisses cheese, putting it into a steak sandwich. Andy feels a chill run through him: he senses that Josh might be on the verge of feeling good about himself, and moves immediately to prevent such a disaster. He tells Josh that steak sandwiches are the last refuge of a scoundrel, and Josh agrees that he is a bad person and promises to try to be better. Meanwhile, Mimi has cleaned her crabs, which is more information than anyone needed. Im feeling pretty good, she says, instantly summoning Andy to her bench to explain why she should be full of crippling self-doubt. But despite Andys warnings, Mimi is sure she can pull the gourd back from its extreme bitterness. She begins by explaining to the gourd that happiness comes not from railing against fate, but from practising acceptance. Back to Harry. Gnocchis done a lot for me in my life, he says it was gnocchi that helped him connect with his nonna, made his wife fall in love with him, went guarantor for his home loan, etc. We flash back to scenes from Harrys home life and see he and his wife kneeling before a gnocchi shrine to worship. Advertisement On a day like today its all about maximum flavour! shouts Andy, even though its actually about reducing the maximum flavour. He then moves over to Savs bench to remind her that the last time she made consomme she really sucked at it. With another psyche crushed, Andy whisks himself off, satisfied with a job well done. Balance is key, says Sav. I have to make sure its not going to blow someones brains out, she continues, in a tone that kind of suggests she really would love to blow someones brains out right now. Judgement time. Ten This bitter gourd kimchi is looking such a beautiful colour, says Mimi, not realising its TV and we can literally see the kimchi, so we know shes lying. Even worse, she takes her brioche buns out of the oven and theyve begun to cook. Ive always assumed that taking something out of the oven and finding its cooked is a good thing, but apparently its a huge disaster, which proves something that I have always suspected: I do not understand how bread works. Luckily Mimi does, and therefore she starts making sushi. Meanwhile Josh has lost belief in himself, much later than everyone else did. He is trying his best to turn the disgusting cheese into something edible, but the sad piano on the soundtrack is not auguring well for his chances. Poh tries to give him some encouragement, risking undoing all Andys good work. Come on, Pezza, calls Nat from the balcony, which makes all the difference. Suddenly Josh has a brainwave: onion puree! As moments of epiphany go, its not exactly up there with Archimedes, but itll have to do. Sav checks her consomme to make sure that its still spicy. This challenge is all about taming the beast, so I have to make sure the beast is still there. This is wise few lion tamers find it possible to make a living without lions. Having balanced the extreme heat of the chilli, she decides to put more chilli in, because at the end of the day, MasterChef is about hurting people. Meanwhile, having pivoted from crab burgers to sushi rolls, Mimi decides that sushi rolls suck and the right way to go is to put a bunch of stuff in a bowl. Advertisement With Josh and Mimi suffering agonies of doubt, Harry feeling pretty damn cocky, and Sav chuckling darkly over the sinister fulfilment of her master plan, time runs out. The judges prepare to taste with the trepidation natural to people who have deliberately asked a bunch of amateur cooks to serve them dishes made from the worst ingredients in the world. Harry is first, with his gnocchi epoisses. That cheese, as soon as I smelt it, it gave me flashbacks to home, he says, remembering with a smile how dreadful his home smells. All are agreed that Harry has done a great job making a dish that barely makes anyone want to vomit. Second is Mimi, with her indecisively assembled bowl of various objects. Sofia loves the bitter gourd kimchi, but admits that as good as it is, it tastes terrible. As surprising as it is, it would seem that trying to make three different dishes in 75 minutes isnt the best way to shine. Third is Josh, who is deeply depressed but has nevertheless brought the judges a steak with some bits of bread sticking out of the top, with onion puree and cream cheese. I dont want to go home on something Im not happy with, he says, but why would you be happy with something that you went home on? Josh speaks in riddles. Jean-Christophe thinks the dish is great, but Poh and Andy think its basic, and isnt it better to have something complex that tastes bad than something basic that tastes good? Actual human beings would say no, but these are MasterChef judges. Advertisement Fourth is Sav and her prawn consomme with deadly chilli. It makes Jean-Christophe cough and beg for mercy. Everyone laughs at the wacky Frenchman. He declares himself blessed to have had the opportunity to be assaulted by Savs cooking. Everyone loves Savs violent attack. Bye bye Mimi. Supplied Judgment must now be passed. Sav is declared dish of the day, having injured the judges like never before. The two in danger are Josh and Mimi. As Joshs sense of doom rises to a crescendo, the judges pull a surprise twist, declaring Mimis failed buns the deciding factor. Josh survives, and Mimi walks out of the kitchen to an almost total absence of emotion from everyone. Tune in tomorrow, when the amateurs are asked to cook with things that taste nice. Collection MasterChef 2024: The Ben Pobjie episode recaps 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. #GLOBALink Police have found two bodies at Little Bay after a member of the public found personal items on the beach with their owners nowhere in sight, and reported it to police. The bodies are yet to be identified due to injuries, but were found on rocks. One is yet to be recovered, with efforts from Marine Area Command and Polair called off this evening due to poor light. Police said the second body would be recovered tomorrow. The victims are believed to be rock fishermen. Rescuers on the rocks at Little Bay. Credit: Nine News Police said they arrived at Little Bay Beach about 11.10am after receiving a call from a member of the public, who had found unattended belongings on the beach. Officers from the Eastern Beaches Police Area Command then found a number of items on rocks, and the first body nearby. They found the second body about 1.40pm. The states chief health officer has warned Queenslanders to prepare for a spike in illnesses as children return to school and COVID-19, flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases continue to climb. Dr John Gerrard said large parts of the state, particularly the south-east, are in the grip of a flu outbreak with the highest number of cases in children and influenza A of particular concern. Just three weeks ago we were seeing an average of three children per day in hospital with flu. Last week that had increased to 20 children per day and right now it is on track to be above 50 per day within the next two to three weeks. A bitter legal feud involving Melbourne-based crypto billionaires Ed Craven and Bijan Tehrani is playing out in the US and could spill over into Australian courts as the pair tussle with a former business partner over allegations of stolen bitcoin, lies, and fraud. Florida-based tech entrepreneur Christopher Freeman a childhood friend of Tehrani and friend of Craven has been battling for two years to gain a $600 million slice of the fortune linked to online casino Stake.com. Bijan Tehrani (left) and Ed Craven at the February launch for the Stake F1 team Kick Sauber. Credit: Bijan Tehrani, X The tussle over control of the fortune, estimated at $2 billion, has led to lawsuits in US courts, while Tehrani a US citizen who lives in a Melbourne penthouse has claimed he is stateless and unable to be sued in the US. Stake.com, which allows only cryptocurrency payments, is a hugely popular site that sponsors Everton FC and has rapper Drake as a brand ambassador. 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 Peter Dutton will never be universally liked. He doesnt care. To become prime minister, he needs to win 76 seats in the House of Representatives, not nationwide acclaim. The opposition leader who will never use 100 words where 10 will suffice and rarely leaves anyone wondering what he thinks is something of a loner. Unlike predecessors Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison, for example, he is not surrounded by a host of acolytes, boosters and fixers. As one colleague puts it, Dutton doesnt have a tight group of bromancers. Colleagues say while it is possible to change his mind in a shadow cabinet meeting or on a major decision if an argument is well-made, he trusts his own judgment after 23 years in parliament. Duttons small inner circle includes chief of staff Alex Dalgleish, deputy COS Tom Fleming, press secretaries Nicole Chant and Adrian Barrett and senior advisers Sam Jackson-Hope and Christian Hayes. Eight of his staff once worked for Abbott and he has, so far, approached the job of opposition leader in a similar way, from regular radio spots with 2GBs Ray Hadley to a negative campaign against Labors climate policy. Duttons patient approach seems to be working. The most recent Resolve Political Monitor underscores his slow climb in the estimation of voters. For the first time, he now leads Albanese, 36 per cent to 35 per cent, as preferred prime minister. Labors primary vote has fallen to just 28 per cent, compared with 36 per cent for the Coalition, and the opposition now enjoys a big 40 per cent to 24 per cent lead on who is best placed to manage the economy. The first details of Duttons policy to introduce nuclear power in Australia have been well received according to the Resolve poll, too. Advertisement The former police officer, a veteran politician, has placed a premium on unity and it has paid off so far. Now that he has ordered them to brace for an early election as soon as spring, his team will be tested. This is how his team works. The inner circle <> Credit: Credit: Bethany Rae James Paterson has enjoyed a meteoric rise from the backbench to opposition home affairs spokesman under Dutton. One of the hardest-working members of the Coalition, he is blessed with a baby face and a killer instinct. Still just 36, Paterson has landed significant blows on the Labor government. A former staffer at the libertarian Institute of Public Affairs, he can surprise with his views on certain issues hes a constitutional conservative and a monarchist but he was a supporter of same-sex marriage. But its Patersons role as shadow cabinet secretary, a position previously occupied by veteran former senator Marise Payne, that elevates the Victorian senators importance. It means Paterson plays a crucial part in helping shepherd policy development, and it ensures he has Duttons ear and trust. Loading Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor is a colours-to-the-mast conservative who speaks for the leader in the NSW branch of the party. Dutton trusts Taylor to give him a line of sight on the machinations of the heavily factionalised NSW division. Taylors faction, the NSW Right, has been a divided mess in recent years, but the dumping of sitting Centre Right faction senator Hollie Hughes in favour of conservative Jess Collins, who controversially had a letter of recommendation from Taylor, suggests it might finally be getting its act together. Advertisement Conversely, the fact that Taylor moved against a frontbench colleague and successfully steered another factional ally, Simon Kennedy, into the seat of Cook, will not have gone unnoticed by Dutton, who is aware that Taylor has ambitions to lead the party himself one day. Duttons recent hes not incompetent comment about Taylor was seen internally as a shot across Taylors bows. But factional tensions aside, Taylor has Duttons confidence on the economy and the pair work closely together in shadow cabinet and on the shadow expenditure review committee. The covert influencers <> Credit: Credit: Bethany Rae Victorian MP Michael Sukkar has one of the biggest portfolio loads of any shadow minister, taking care of social services, the NDIS, housing and homelessness. He is also Duttons eyes and ears in Victoria. As a colleague of the pair observes, he relies on Sukkar for a sense check on what will fly in a Melbourne marginal seat. Sukkar is the day-to-day leader of Duttons Right faction (leaders cant afford to be too involved in the daily cut and thrust) and he is one of the organisers of its Its Right on the Night annual dinner. (The moderates annual knees-up is called the Black Hand dinner.) Like Paterson, Sukkar has high-level strategic and policy input and he is prepared to jump on a grenade for his leader. Michaelia Cash is another covert influencer in the Dutton shadow cabinet. While her portfolio of shadow attorney-general is important, it is not one that generally lends itself to day-to-day political attacks, although employment and workplace relations gives her more leeway. Cash is also Duttons point person on the ground in Western Australia, where the Liberals lost their stranglehold at the last election. Though not as close to Dutton as former finance minister and fellow West Australian Mathias Cormann was, shes in the leadership group and she is another conservative whom Dutton trusts. The message carriers <> Credit: Credit: Bethany Rae Advertisement While theyre not personally close to Dutton, foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham and deputy leader Sussan Ley, along with finance spokeswoman and fellow moderate Jane Hume, are three of the oppositions most important message carriers. The three make regular appearances on morning TV and radio; they can speak across a range of portfolios and they are seen, internally, as key to winning back some of the people who abandoned the Liberal Party to vote for so-called teal independents at the last election. Hume is particularly impressive and she is seen inside the party as a talented MP on the rise. She speaks directly, relishes public debate and while she is not a factional warrior, she has not been afraid to publicly advance the case for centrist policy positions or to push back against far-right positions. Hume helped lead the partys post 2022 election review and played a big part in setting up the Margaret Guilfoyle Network for professional women, a group designed to reach professional women whose support for the party has dwindled. Ley who, like Taylor, has ambitions to lead the party one day is a factional moderate with links to NSW Centre Right powerbroker Alex Hawke through key staff in her office. She has staked out a role in which she concentrates on visiting teal seats, a crucial group of seats for the Coalition to reclaim if it is to return to government. Ley has not been afraid to take the occasional controversial position nor to publicly defend her leader, even when it has attracted some political heat. Running their own show <> Credit: Credit: Bethany Rae Defence spokesman Andrew Hastie and immigration spokesman Dan Tehan are two of the most talented members of the shadow frontbench, though they approach their portfolios very differently. Tehan gets along well with Dutton but he is not in the leaders circle of trust; he has leadership ambitions, after all. Nevertheless, the Victorian MP has been key to the oppositions attack on Labor over its response to the High Courts NZYQ decision that indefinite immigration detention was unlawful. A country Liberal MP, a former diplomat and a former cabinet minister, Tehan is a straight talker who runs his own race. Hastie is the opposite of some of Duttons more politically minded frontbench: he keeps a relatively low profile in the defence portfolio and goes out of his way not to politicise an issue unless its really necessary. A safe pair of hands, he and Dutton are personally close, but the former SAS captain is in danger of being typecast as someone interested only in defence and national security, which is far from correct. Hes recently completed a graduate certificate in economics from Harvard and whether the Coalition wins or loses the next election, it would not be surprising to see him seek a new portfolio to broaden his resume. Hastie is seen by some as a future party leader. Advertisement Fils is the next stumbling block for de Minaur after another Frenchman, Lucas Pouille, handed the Australian a walkover because of an abdominal injury he sustained against Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round. Loading De Minaur is wary about the threat Fils poses, after losing to him in straight sets on Barcelonas clay in April, then watching him eliminate seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz and 2023 quarter-finalist Roman Safiullin in his past two matches. Fils is coming with a lot of confidence, obviously beating Hubi, which is a very good win on this surface, de Minaur said. Hes got a big game, big groundstrokes. In previous years, I probably wouldnt have thought he would have enjoyed the grass as much. But hes obviously enjoying it quite well, and feeling comfortable on it, so hes going to be very tricky hes got a great serve as well, and hes an overall great athlete. However, Fils, one of two 20-year-old French players in Wimbledons last 16, along with 203-centimetre lucky loser Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, said that Barcelona result would count for little in the rematch on grass. We played on clay, so its completely different. Its going to be a good match. Hes one of the best on the surface, for sure, Fils said after rallying from two-sets-to-one down against Safiullin. Lets see if I can win this one, but its not going to be easy at all. Hes one of the fastest guys I know. Its like if I want to hit one winner, I will have to hit three winners against him, so its going to be very interesting. Of course, everyone knows that hes fast, but he is also super clever on the court. Hes doing unbelievably since the start of the year, so its not going to be easy. There is added motivation to advance to a maiden Wimbledon quarter-final for de Minaur, who retains bitter memories of losing from two sets up and having two match points in the fifth set against Chilean Cristian Garin. That was still, to this moment, a tough, tough moment, he said. Alex de Minaur has had a brilliant year. Credit: AP But I think Im a different player now. I think Ive got the weapons that maybe a couple of years ago, I needed a little bit of luck with draws and match-ups to kind of squeeze my way in there. I feel like maybe this year I can kind of create it on my own terms. Going a step further at SW19 this year would also mean the Australian Open is the sole major where he has not made the last eight. De Minaur led Andrey Rublev by two sets to one in the fourth round in Melbourne in January, only for the Russian to hit his way out of trouble. Doubles legend Mark Woodforde, who won six Wimbledon titles with Todd Woodbridge and booked a last-16 berth in singles three times, believes there is a significant opportunity for de Minaur this fortnight. Seeing Hurkacz step out, its a gap [in the draw], Woodforde told this masthead. Probably for Demon, because hes squeezed into the top 10, a result here just puts a stake in the ground Im here to stay. Hes almost like a silent assassin now, a ninja, because theres a lot of focus on other players, bigger players, bigger names, some bigger games, and hes silently just going through. Alcaraz, Sinner advance Defending mens champion Carlos Alcaraz and world No.1 Jannik Sinner remain on a semi-final collision course as New Zealand qualifier Lulu Sun ended Emma Raducanus title assault. Raducanu was not the only big name to exit, with No.2 seed Coco Gauff falling 6-4, 6-3 to fellow American Emma Navarro to continue the seeded carnage in the womens draw. Elena Rybakina, the 2022 champion, is the highest-ranked player left. Alcaraz, the No.3 seed, survived a third-set lapse to defeat 16th-seeded Ugo Humbert 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 and advance to the quarter-finals. Queens Club champion Tommy Paul is Alcarazs last-eight opponent after sweeping aside Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2. Sinner, who next faces Russian fifth seed Daniil Medvedev, beat American 14th seed Ben Shelton 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (11-9) as he hunts his maiden Wimbledon title. Medvedev advanced when 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov retired due to injury while trailing 5-3, after being the latest player to slip on the grass three games earlier. American Madison Keys, the 12th seed, also retired from her match against Roland-Garros runner-up Jasmine Paolini with a thigh issue. Loading Keys was 5-2 up in the final set but lost the next three games before calling it quits, with Paolini to face Navarro, who has won all three of their meetings. Suns 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 victory over British wildcard and 2021 US Open winner Raducanu was the headline-grabbing news of the day. It was a great match against her, and she really dug deep to get the win from me, so I really had to fight tooth and nail, Sun said, wiping away tears. I dont even have the words right now but Im just super happy. To be able to play on this court in front of all of you is such an amazing experience. This is an opportunity for people to enter the ecosystem, he said. Years back, I was seeing all the Blackbird investment news and AirTree news and thought I should get involved, but there wasnt an easy bridge for me to do that. Thats why weve created this its a way for mums and dads who might have an investment property for example, they might want to expand their portfolio and start dabbling in start-up investments. This platform can help marry them with the types of founders they might be interested in based on their industry and insights. Canva has made millionaires out of its early backers. Credit: Bloomberg Data from Cut Through Venture shows that after a prolonged investment drought, the capital raised by Australian start-ups is up 30 per cent year-on-year, with interest particularly strong in AI and big data start-ups. Already on the AngelClass platform are high-profile local angel investors including Peter Moore, who sold his company to Atlassian in 2010, and Simon Rossi, Uber Eats Australias first employee. The investors appear in a series of masterclasses, where they share their learnings and insights on how to improve and refine an investment strategy or make fewer mistakes, as well as tips for unicorn hunting. There are so many start-up investment opportunities out there that finding and picking the right ones is the critical component, Rossi said. The traditional way of start-up investing is knowing somebody who knows somebody, and then it always happens over email. This is a much better way of doing things. I dont know if its right for everybody, because it is high-risk so you need to be able to stomach that risk appetite. My approach to angel investing is very much about going wide, and what that means is making more smaller investments and knowing most will fail, but you make your returns on the few that do hit. The AngelClass program joins a number of similar existing programs, including Airtree Explorer and Aussie Angels, which are both designed to encourage more people to become angel investors and educate them on dipping their toes in the water. Maxine Minter is an angel investor in start-up companies. Credit: The Age Maxine Minter is an angel investor on the AngelClass platform and said that Australia still collectively invests a tiny proportion of capital into tech start-ups compared with investors in the United States. Its awesome to see these education offerings pop up; theyll do a lot for the local sector, Minter said. Youre going to have folks out there deploying $10,000, which becomes $20,000 and then $100,000 over the course of 10 years, if theyre good at it. And for start-ups, their cap table should be like a group of Avengers, all bringing different things to the business ideally, very strategic things. A recent court stoush between mattress maker Sleeping Duck and its largest investor, Adir Shiffman, highlighted some of the common pitfalls of angel investing, Spiegel says. Last month, Melbournes Supreme Court ruled against Shiffman, who had sued Sleeping Duck alleging he had been frozen out of the company and oppressed, or effectively omitted from key product and marketing decisions. Spiegel said common pitfalls for first-time investors included putting too much money into their first investment round so that they couldnt support future rounds, and falling in love with the founder rather than doing due diligence on the business model or problem. Sleeping Duck co-founders Selvam Sinnappan (left) and Winston Wijeyeratne. Credit: Daniel Hartley-Allen If we can help more founders succeed, and more investors succeed, and do that at scale then thats our job done, Spiegel said. We want to be able to improve the success rate of Australian start-ups. When you cant get what you want, it only makes you want it more. Ever since I joined my local parents Facebook group it has been singing the praises of the same resort in Fiji the Radisson Blu. Ive always understood the appeal of Fiji, with its gracious hospitality, easy flight time, warm tropical weather and insta-perfect tropical idyll. I understand why Denarau Islands daisy-chain of ginormous, family-focused resorts is so popular: just 20 minutes from the airport, its the perfect place for exhausted families with young kids to test the waters on their first international trip away. Radisson Blu, Denarau, is a great spot for families. But the 270-room Radisson, arguably one of the smallest resort properties on Denarau, always comes up consistently in the parenting groups as the place to stay on Denarau Island. Just what is their secret sauce? Im a big believer in word of mouth, and I wanted to find out. Arriving, the first clue to what makes the hotel tick is the staff. First impressions count, and on arrival we watch the porters toss a rugby ball with teenagers they know by name, while another gives an impromptu guitar lesson to their curious sibling. Both interactions are natural, unforced and relaxed. You havent really lived until you find yourself in the back of a police car overseas, I think to myself. We are strolling through one of South Americas most beautiful cities, completely content from an afternoon of meandering through local markets. As our party crosses an intersection in a chic, vibrant neighbourhood, full of tourists and locals, a man jumps off a motorbike and literally onto the back of my travelling companion. In seconds, the thief rips the watch right off my mates wrist and jumps back on the bike, his getaway driver tearing off into the distance. Were all left shell-shocked, staring at each other in disbelief on the footpath. Being robbed while on holiday can be a traumatic experience. Credit: iStock Overseas theft happens everywhere. But once you realise its just happened to you, it feels like a punch in the guts. As savvy travellers, our group were all aware of how to stay safe when travelling, but if something does go wrong, how should you handle it? 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 Mexico City: Gerardo Medina runs the Taqueria Los Amigos, a 24-hour stand at a busy intersection in an upscale neighbourhood in Mexico City. With more customers from abroad eating his tacos, he began noticing similar reactions to his pico de gallo: red faces, sweat, complaints about the spiciness. Medina, 30, got rid of the serrano peppers, leaving just tomatoes, onions and cilantro. While he still offers an avocado salsa with serrano and a red salsa with morita chiles and chiles de arbol, he wanted to provide a non-spicy option for international visitors unaccustomed to intense heat. It attracts more people, he said. Customers line up outside La Chula taqueria in Roma Sur, one of the Mexico City neighbourhoods that has become popular among tourists and international transplants. Credit: Luis Antonio Rojas/The New York Times Chillis are fundamental to Mexican cuisine and, in turn, the countrys identity. Mexicans put them, often in the form of salsas, on everything: tacos, seafood, chips, fruit, beer and even sorbet. Food that isnt spicy practically isnt good food for the majority of Mexicans, Isaac Palacios, 37, who lives in Mexico City, said after consuming tacos smothered in salsa. Advertisement But since the pandemic, the countrys capital with a metropolitan area of 23 million people, a temperate climate and rich cultural offerings has become hugely popular as both a tourist destination and a new home for international transplants who can work remotely and whose earnings in dollars or euros makes the city more affordable. (Americans are the biggest group.) As a result, in certain neighbourhoods, the gentrification has been inescapable. English is often heard on the streets. Rents have ballooned. Boutiques and coffee shops are increasingly common. Guadalupe Carrillo holds bags containing dried chiles morita and chiles de arbol at Los Parados taqueria where she works in Mexico City. Credit: Luis Antonio Rojas/The New York Times But another key manifestation of this international shift the lowering of heat levels of salsas at some of the citys many taquerias has caused consternation among Mexicans and set off a debate about how much to adapt to outsiders. What might be good for business might not be good for the Mexican psyche. Its bad, said Gustavo Miranda, 39, a Mexico City resident, after downing tacos with work colleagues. If you dont want it to be spicy, dont use any. If you lower the heat on a salsa, now its a dressing. Its not a salsa any more. The influx of residents from abroad has been a boon for certain Mexico City neighbourhoods such as Roma, Condesa and Polanco that feature lush tree-lined streets and vibrant shopping and food scenes. Advertisement Taquerias that have softened their salsas said they wanted to be more welcoming to people with different tolerance levels, not just Americans, but also Europeans and even customers from other Latin American countries where the cuisine doesnt have as much heat. Jorge Campos, 39, manager of El Compita, a taco shop that opened in the heart of Roma a year ago, said the taqueria had dropped the heat level on one of the three table offerings a charred, tomato-based salsa by using more jalapenos and fewer habanero peppers. Visitors wait to be seated at El Califa, a chain of taquerias that has branches in affluent Mexico City neighbourhoods. Credit: Luis Antonio Rojas/The New York Times International customers, he said, would sometimes send tacos back because the salsas had burned their mouths. Since the other salsas are inherently spicier the red one is made almost entirely of chile de arbol, while the green one has serrano peppers they tweaked the charred salsa to make it easier on some diners. You give them a range of options, and since they know themselves, they say OK, Ill try the medium one, Campos said, adding that the waiters typically explain the spiciness to people from abroad. A few taco shops have even begun labelling their salsas with spice-level indicators, in part to help customers who dont speak Spanish. One red flame equals fairly tame; five red flames means watch out. At Los Juanes, a popular taco stand on a Roma Norte sidewalk every night, one worker, Adolfo Santos Antonio, 22, said the staff had started cutting down on the heat level of one of their three salsas using more jalapenos and avocados, fewer serrano peppers after international customers made remarks about how hot it was. Advertisement But not all taco shops have felt the need to placate multinational tastebuds. Guadalupe Carrillo, 84, manager of Taqueria Los Parados, which has been in Roma Sur for nearly 60 years, said that in her three decades there the salsa recipes hadnt changed despite the growing flood of non-Mexicans. Foreigners have to learn our customs and our flavours, she said. Just like when we go there and we eat hamburgers or what isnt spicy. Kate Paliotta, Catherine Verklin and Cecelia Galligan, visitors from New York, eat tacos at a street stand in the Roma Norte neighbourhood of Mexico City. Credit: Luis Antonio Rojas/The New York Times Janelle Lee, 46, who was recently visiting Mexico City from Chicago with her husband, said she simply could not handle spicy. Still, she added, she didnt expect taquerias to tweak their salsas for people such as her. They should preserve who they are, the culture that they have and their food, she said. On social media, weakened salsas in Mexico City have become a hot-button issue, amplifying fears about a changing city. Advertisement Carmen Fuentes Leon, 29, a Tijuana native, DJ and social media influencer who posts often about food and lives in San Diego, created a stir on social media this year after a two-week visit to Mexico City, where she said she ate tacos for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Her conclusion? Some salsas packed no heat. The culprits? People from abroad. Diners at a taqueria in the Mexico City neighbourhood of Roma Norte. Credit: Luis Antonio Rojas/The New York Times Im in Mexico City as a victim of gentrification, she said in a video on TikTok, criticising the salsas at the El Califa taco chain, which has locations in many affluent parts of the city. In colourful language, Fuentes said that if Americans didnt like the salsas, they should go home and eat the less spicy options there. The video, so far, has drawn 2.3 million views and nearly 5000 comments, many of them in support. Fuentes, in an interview, said she had recorded the video because she was very frustrated that she couldnt get the heat level she wanted, noting that she did finally find spicier sauces but outside the most gentrified neighbourhoods. Advertisement After watching Biden in private, in public and while travelling with him, the official said they no longer believed the president had what it took to campaign in a vigorous way and defeat former president Donald Trump. The official, who insisted on anonymity in order to continue serving, said Biden had steadily showed more signs of his age in recent months, including speaking more slowly, haltingly and quietly, as well as appearing more fatigued in private. Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman, pointed to Bidens comments from an interview with US broadcaster ABC News, in which he vowed to stay in the race. Vice President Kamala Harris embraces President Joe Biden at a campaign rally earlier this year. Credit: AP In that interview, Biden also defended his sharpness and ability to serve. For years, Democratic officials have largely limited their concerns about Bidens age and abilities to quiet conversations, although many voters have loudly expressed their reservations about nominating someone who would be 86 by the end of a second term. But in the days since the first presidential debate, in late June, and what some Democrats have described as the campaigns weak attempt at damage control, the whispered anxieties have been turning into a whirlwind of action, although where it all will lead is an open question. Many Democrats who believe Biden should exit the race stress their personal affection and respect for him, describing a sense of genuine sadness. Still, donors are funding private polling to assess how alternatives to Biden would fare. Politicians are discussing whether and when to break publicly from the president, with one Democratic strategist close to moderate members of Congress predicting the dam is about to break when representatives return to Washington next week. And at least one recent endorser is expressing open misgivings. Geoff Duncan, a Republican who is a former lieutenant governor of Georgia, campaigned for Biden the day before the debate, as part of his opposition to Trump. But the debate was a huge eye-opener for me about the physical and mental wellbeing of President Biden, Duncan said. It will take a significant amount of counterevidence to unwind what I saw and heard during that debate. That seems like an unlikely scenario at this point. There is also a new effort under way to organise delegates before the convention in August to show that rank-and-file Democrats want a different candidate, said an organiser who insisted on anonymity to discuss a nascent campaign. It will be conducted through a new group, Pass the Torch, which is also promoting a petition for Democrats more broadly, urging Biden to step aside. A man standing near the president before he spoke at a rally in Wisconsin on Friday held a sign bearing the slogan Pass the torch, Joe. An attendee holds up a sign encouraging President Joe Biden (right) to drop out of the election during a campaign event at Sherman Middle School in Madison, Wisconsin. Credit: Jamie Kelter Davis/The New York Times Biden said he had no intention of doing that. During his Wisconsin speech, the president struck a defiant tone, saying no one could push him to drop out. Let me say this as clear as I can: Im staying in the race, he proclaimed. He echoed those comments in his interview with ABC News, and he plans to campaign in Pennsylvania on Sunday (Monday AEST). Loading President Biden knows better than anyone that campaigns are all about earning voters trust and support, Kevin Munoz, a spokesperson for Biden, said in a statement. Hes out on the campaign trail doing that and in the states with the voters who will decide this election. There are a lot of days between now and election day, and the hard work of earning every single vote is far from over. Bidens family holds great influence in his decision-making, and after the debate, they urged him to stay in the race. The decision is effectively his alone: If he stepped aside, he would almost certainly have to release his own delegates, freeing them up to support another nominee. Chris Coons, the Democratic senator from Delaware, a longtime Biden ally, said that the president joined a call with his campaign co-chairs on Saturday and what was scheduled for a 15-minute check-in turned into a 75-minute discussion led by the president. Biden spent the time soliciting feedback from them about his performance during the debate, his rally in Wisconsin and the ABC News interview. There is nobody among the co-chairs who is recommending anything other than we keep going, Coons said. He said the group shared messages with Biden from supporters who wanted him to keep going but also messages from supporters urging him to drop out. Loading He was told that we have members of the Senate and the House and governors, and especially donors, who have unanswered questions and were unsettled and who have concerns, Coons said. Biden told the group that he understood the concerns and wanted to do more interviews and unscripted appearances in the future. Some of Bidens advisers have suggested that the focus on the presidents age and debate performance is only of interest to donors, the news media and pundits. They said the campaigns small-dollar fundraising remained strong and noted that many Democratic elected officials had publicly stressed their support for Biden and continued to campaign for him. But polls show that a strong majority of voters believe Biden is too old to serve another term as president, including one survey conducted after the debate by The New York Times and Siena College. Ruwa Romman, a representative from Georgia, urged Democrats to pay attention. Loading Its really worrying me because I dont think people are listening, she said, stopping short of calling on Biden to step aside. Its just worth thinking about and talking about and really exploring and making sure that we did our due diligence so that, come November, we can honestly say we did all that we could. In interviews with dozens of DNC members, key party activists, many said Biden had their full support. In their view, the election remains a choice between Biden and Trump, and they have no interest in reassessing their options. I am happy to have President Biden at the top of the ticket, said Virgie Rollins, chair of the DNCs Black caucus. I will take President Biden in a wheelchair before I take the convicted felon. Jonathan Saidel, a committee member from Philadelphia, said he thought Bidens ABC News interview had gone better than the debate. But even if it had gone poorly, he said, he would have remained committed to Biden, arguing that the election was more about convincing voters of the dangers of Trump than the merits of the current president. What I tell people is that they dont have Jesus and Moses on the ticket, Saidel said. No one is perfect. Other Democrats expressed wariness about diving into an unpredictable, messy process of finding a new nominee less than four months before election day. There is also no unanimity, in these hypothetical scenarios, about whether the party should immediately unite behind Vice President Kamala Harris or pursue an open nominating process if Biden steps aside, tensions that may move to the fore in coming weeks. A few DNC members mentioned a proposal circulated by James Zogby, a longtime committee member, to establish a more open nomination process in that scenario. It was evidence that even within the most supportive party apparatus, some are openly thinking through other contingencies. If it ends up that President Biden steps down, I hope and assume any process to replace the top of the ticket will be fully transparent while empowering our grassroots base, said Jeri Shepherd, a committee member from Colorado. David Walters, a former governor of Oklahoma and a DNC member, has been raising concerns since the debate, citing Bidens polling. There is only one relevant issue, he wrote in an email to the Times on the Fourth of July. Who is the best candidate to stop Donald Trump. He praised Bidens record of legislative accomplishments and his foreign policy acumen, and said that if the president stepped down, he would receive the accolades of the world for his personal sacrifice for the good of his nation. Former French President Francois Hollande and his wife cast their ballots at a polling station in Tulle, France, July 7, 2024. The second and decisive round of France's snap legislative elections kicked off Sunday in Metropolitan France for voters to elect the remaining 501 members of the 577-seat French National Assembly. (Photo by Laetitia Notarianni/Xinhua) PARIS, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The second and decisive round of France's snap legislative elections kicked off Sunday in Metropolitan France for voters to elect the remaining 501 members of the 577-seat French National Assembly. According to the results published by the French Interior Ministry, the French far-right wing party National Rally (RN) was leading the first round of the elections held on June 30, taking 37 seats. Following the RN, the New Popular Front (NFP), the left-wing parties' electoral alliance, won 32 seats, while French President Emmanuel Macron's centrist coalition only gained two seats. Five other deputies from various right and extreme right parties were also elected during the first round. France has a long history of preventing far-right wing parties from taking power, but according to a survey published by consulting firm Elabe on Friday, 33 percent of the French voters want the RN to obtain the largest number of seats in the National Assembly this time, 24 percent for the NFP, and only 18 percent for Macron's centrist coalition. To stop the RN from gaining the absolute majority, the NFP and Macron's coalition announced that their candidates who entered the second round in third place would renounce their candidacy to not split anti-RN votes. Any party that wants to form a government should hold an absolute majority of 289 seats in the 577-member assembly. The latest projections show that the RN would win the most seats in the National Assembly but not an absolute majority. No matter which side wins the legislative elections, Macron has already announced that he will continue his second presidential term until the end of 2027. Foreigners in France are worried that the RN would take over the French National Assembly. The anti-immigration party has repeatedly said that it would put the French at the core of its possible governance. "I think it would become very difficult to get French nationality if the RN gets the power," a resident of African origin of the 17th arrondissement of Paris told Xinhua. "I have been living in France for many years, and I work. But I am still a foreigner, so I worry about my rights," said the 42-year-old man who didn't wish to disclose his name. Not only foreigners are worried, but also the French are concerned about the future of the country. "I don't want any extremists, either the right or the left," French lawyer Herve Boukobza said. He cast his ballot in the 16th arrondissement for himself and on behalf of a friend who already left for vacation before the first round. Just like Herve, more than 2.3 million French have mandated their friends or families to vote by proxy in this crucial election. Physical attacks targeting 51 candidates were registered during the campaign period before the second round, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Friday, adding that some 30 suspects were arrested across the country. Given the possibility of riots following the announcement of the election results, Darmanin said that some 30,000 police officers would be deployed across France on Sunday, including 5,000 in Paris and its suburbs. Polling booths are open for the 49.5 million registered voters from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. local time (0600 GMT to 1600 GMT), while in major cities, such as Paris, Lyon and Marseille, the booths will close at 8:00 p.m. local time. First projections are expected at 8:00 p.m. local time (1800 GMT). Former French President Francois Hollande and his wife cast their ballots at a polling station in Tulle, France, July 7, 2024. The second and decisive round of France's snap legislative elections kicked off Sunday in Metropolitan France for voters to elect the remaining 501 members of the 577-seat French National Assembly. (Photo by Laetitia Notarianni/Xinhua) Former French President Francois Hollande casts his ballot at a polling station in Tulle, France, July 7, 2024. The second and decisive round of France's snap legislative elections kicked off Sunday in Metropolitan France for voters to elect the remaining 501 members of the 577-seat French National Assembly. (Photo by Laetitia Notarianni/Xinhua) Former French President Francois Hollande casts his ballot at a polling station in Tulle, France, July 7, 2024. The second and decisive round of France's snap legislative elections kicked off Sunday in Metropolitan France for voters to elect the remaining 501 members of the 577-seat French National Assembly. (Photo by Laetitia Notarianni/Xinhua) French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron arrive at a polling station in Le Touquet, northern France, July 7, 2024. The second and decisive round of France's snap legislative elections kicked off Sunday in Metropolitan France for voters to elect the remaining 501 members of the 577-seat French National Assembly. (Photo by Frank Bonham/Xinhua) French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron arrive at a polling station in Le Touquet, northern France, July 7, 2024. The second and decisive round of France's snap legislative elections kicked off Sunday in Metropolitan France for voters to elect the remaining 501 members of the 577-seat French National Assembly. (Photo by Frank Bonham/Xinhua) French President Emmanuel Macron communicates with residents after voting at a polling station in Le Touquet, northern France, July 7, 2024. The second and decisive round of France's snap legislative elections kicked off Sunday in Metropolitan France for voters to elect the remaining 501 members of the 577-seat French National Assembly. (Photo by Frank Bonham/Xinhua) French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron arrive at a polling station in Le Touquet, northern France, July 7, 2024. The second and decisive round of France's snap legislative elections kicked off Sunday in Metropolitan France for voters to elect the remaining 501 members of the 577-seat French National Assembly. (Photo by Frank Bonham/Xinhua) NATO, the US-led defence alliance Brussels, Belgium, July 7 (AFP) Jul 07, 2024 Born at the start of the Cold War, NATO -- the North Atlantic Treaty Organization -- is the world's biggest collective defence grouping with 32 members in Europe and North America. - How many divisions? - NATO's military forces come from its member countries, put under a unified Allied command each time it launches a mission. US forces are by far the biggest contingent. In Europe, there are some 79,000 US servicemen and women deployed, more than 48,000 of them in Germany, according to the Pentagon. The only military equipment NATO itself owns is a fleet of sensor-loaded AWACS planes and drones. Sweden became its newest member in March, swelling its potential ranks by 50,000 more troops -- around half of them reservists -- to more than three million, according to several specialised institutes. - Brussels HQ - NATO was created from a Washington Treaty signed on April 4, 1949. Its mission at the time was to counter the threat posed by the Soviet Union and to affirm the principle of mutual defence of its members. In a Madrid summit following Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the alliance adopted a new strategic concept designating Russia as "the gravest threat to Euro-Atlantic security". Its 12 founding nations (Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States) have been joined by others over succeeding years, up to Sweden's adhesion. NATO's first headquarters was in London, then it was moved to Paris before being transferred to Brussels in 1966 where it remains today. Its SHAPE military command is in Mons, also in Belgium. The alliance's head since 2014 has been Jens Stoltenberg, a 65-year-old former Norwegian prime minister. His term runs to the end of October this year -- when he will be succeeded by former Dutch premier Mark Rutte, 57. NATO's main decision-making body is the North Atlantic Council. - Article 5 - The core of NATO is Article 5 of its founding treaty which stipulates that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all. It has been invoked just once to date: in 2001, in a show of allies' support for the United States the day after it was hit by the September 11 attacks. NATO has carried out several missions over its history, including one in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 attacks. That came to an end with a hasty pull-out in September 2021 of the 10,000 personnel deployed at the time. NATO is present in Iraq and notably in Kosovo, where it has 4,500 troops in its KFOR stabilisation force sent from 27 countries. Deadly Gaza battles, Hezbollah rockets as war enters 10th month Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories, July 7 (AFP) Jul 07, 2024 Israel carried out deadly air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday as the war entered its 10th month, with fighting raging across the Palestinian territory and fresh diplomatic efforts underway to halt the violence. Lebanon's Hezbollah movement fired another 20 rockets at northern Israel, leaving one person injured there, the latest cross-border attacks launched in solidarity with Gaza's Palestinian militant group Hamas. Efforts towards a truce continued with US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators hoping to halt the worst-ever Gaza war, which has caused mass civilian casualties and devastated the coastal territory since Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel. Egypt's Al-Qahera News reported that Cairo was "hosting Israeli and American delegations to discuss the outstanding points" for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, citing an unnamed high-level official source. Mediators were in contact with Hamas amid "intensive Egyptian meetings this week with all parties to push efforts" for a truce, said the news report late Saturday, without giving further details or dates. Israel has also said it would send a delegation in the coming days to continue talks with Qatari mediators, even though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman said Friday that "gaps" remained with Hamas. US President Joe Biden announced a plan in late May that included an initial six-week truce and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners. 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 the group's new ideas had been "conveyed by the mediators to the American side, which welcomed them and passed them on to the Israeli side", adding that "now the ball is in the Israeli court". - Heavy clashes - The fighting and bombardment in besieged Gaza raged on unabated on Sunday, with medics and emergency services in the Hamas-run territory reporting yet more deaths in several strikes. The Palestinian Red Crescent said the bodies of six people including two children were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah. And paramedics said six people were killed in one strike on a house in Gaza City and three in another elsewhere in Gaza's largest urban area. An AFP correspondent said Israeli drones were firing in Gaza City's Shujaiya district, which has been largely evacuated and rocked by intense battles for two weeks. The Israeli army said that in Shujaiya, its "troops eliminated several terrorists, dismantled terror infrastructure sites and located numerous weapons, including explosive devices, AK-47 rifles, machine guns and pistols". It also said 30 "terrorists" had been killed in far-southern Rafah over the past day and that Israeli forces had carried out an operation in nearby Khan Yunis where Hamas had taken up position in a municipality building. On Saturday, the Gaza health ministry said 16 people were killed in a strike on a school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA 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. - 'Catastrophic hunger' - 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 251 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 data from the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. The war has uprooted 90 percent of Gaza's population, left almost 500,000 people enduring "catastrophic" hunger and shuttered most hospitals, UN agencies say. "The situation is very difficult," said Dr Muhammad Salha, acting director of Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia. "There is no fuel in the hospital to work. We only operate the small generator for two hours a day and we have postponed many scheduled operations due to the lack of fuel." - Hezbollah rockets - Amid the Gaza war, Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have exchanged almost daily cross-border fire and the attacks and rhetoric have escalated over the past month, sparking fears of a full-scale war. While the exchanges have been largely restricted to the border areas, Israel has repeatedly struck deep inside eastern Lebanon, including on Saturday in a strike that killed a Hezbollah operative. Early on Sunday, air raid sirens again sounded across northern Israel and the army then reported that 20 rockets were fired, some of which were intercepted by air defence systems. One person was wounded by shrapnel in Kfar Zeitim near Tiberias, around 30 kilometres (over 18 miles) inside Israel, local police said, adding they were in stable condition. Hezbollah said that "in response to the attack and assassination that the Israeli enemy carried out", it had targeted "one of the main bases" in northern Israel, west of Tiberias, with "dozens of Katyusha rockets". burs-cg/fz/dcp New UK defence minister pledges fresh Ukraine support in Odesa trip Kyiv, Ukraine, July 7 (AFP) Jul 07, 2024 The UK's new defence minister pledged on Sunday to deliver more artillery guns, ammunition and missiles to Ukraine, stressing London's ongoing support for Kyiv during a visit to the southern city of Odesa. John Healey, appointed defence minister Friday by new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, was visiting the port city, a frequent target of Russian missile and drone strikes, on his first international trip. "There may have been a change in government, but the UK is united for Ukraine," Healey said, according to a statement published by Britain's defence ministry. Healey pledged a new package of assistance including artillery guns, 250,000 rounds of ammunition, de-mining vehicles, small military boats, missiles and other equipment, the defence ministry said. In Odesa, he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov. London has been one of Kyiv's staunchest backers since Russia invaded in February 2022. Zelensky posted footage showing Healey laying flowers at a memorial to mark Ukraine's Navy Day. He said he had briefed Healey and Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans -- who also took up the post last week -- on the situation on the battlefield. In the capital Kyiv over the weekend, the Netherlands' Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp pledged to begin sending F-16 fighter planes to Ukraine "without delay". Britain's Healey also said a major UK aid package announced in April would be delivered "in full to Ukraine within the next 100 days". Kyiv has regularly complained about the late arrival of Western military supplies, which are vital to its outmanned and outgunned forces fighting off the Russian invasion. burs-jc/imm * FIRST NAME * LAST NAME * EMAIL Your email address * PASSWORD Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number Show * YEAR OF BIRTH You must be at least 18 years old to create an account 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960 1959 1958 1957 1956 1955 1954 1953 1952 1951 1950 1949 1948 1947 1946 1945 1944 1943 1942 1941 1940 1939 1938 1937 1936 1935 1934 1933 1932 1931 1930 1929 1928 1927 1926 1925 1924 1923 1922 1921 1920 1919 1918 1917 1916 1915 1914 1913 1912 1911 1910 1909 1908 1907 1906 * Required fields I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice CREATE ACCOUNT I'LL TRY LATER Already have an account? SIGN IN By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. She initially told her millions of Instagram followers that she would arrive at midday, this was later pushed back to 2pm and when she tried to enter the venue just before 6pm police had to form a wall around her as masses of fans rushed to see her and she was escorted away before entering the venue. BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee has issued a circular calling on Party members to play an exemplary and vanguard role in the country's flood relief efforts. As parts of China grapple with rain-triggered floods and geological disasters, the circular highlights the critical function of grassroots Party organizations in these relief operations. Officials at all levels are urged to bolster their command during flood relief operations, fulfilling their political obligations in flood control and disaster relief. Grassroots Party organizations and members are required to mobilize resources, coordinate efforts and engage the community in bolstering flood defenses. The circular mandates Party organizations to provide recognition to those involved in flood relief. This includes evaluating officials based on their response to the disaster and commending exemplary grassroots organizations and Party members. Since the onset of China's main flood season, heavy and prolonged rainfall has resulted in flooding and geological disasters in various regions, notably causing a breach in the dike of Dongting Lake, China's second-largest freshwater lake, in Hunan Province. This story was commissioned by the River City Journalism Fund. ST. LOUIS When Vera Emmons was growing up in suburban Chicago, the topic of family art treasures stolen by the Nazis was hardly at the forefront of her life. She knew her mother, Gerda Nothmann, had survived concentration camps and made it to the United States, rebuilding her life and letting people know what she had gone through in Germany. She knew her mothers side of the family had been wealthy, with a big house that included art. That was about as far as it went. She always spoke about her experiences, recalled Emmons, who now lives in St. Louis. But I dont remember anything about the art. There were other things that were more important, I guess. In the Nazi years, art didnt remain in the homes of Jewish families. The family of Veras great-grandfather, Max Ginsberg, had made a fortune in textiles and he had acquired an extensive art collection, including an array of Islamic art. After the collection was seized, dozens of pieces were sold, with documentation and ownership details often lost, disregarded or both. Now, Emmons is part of a growing effort by descendants worldwide to recover such pieces. Vera, a volunteer at the Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum in St. Louis, and her son, Nathan, a lawyer in Chicago, are in a dogged but often frustrating battle to track down artwork and determine legal routes. The art collections of Ginsberg and others belonged to families that suffered dearly in the war years. Experts estimate that the Nazis stole more than 600,000 works of art from Jewish families during World War II. Although she knows the road is far from easy, Vera says the families should recover what is rightfully theirs. I dont understand all of the rules about provenance, she said. I think the line is changing. But it was stolen from the family. For Nathan, the enterprise is a crash course in both art and law. Its often daunting work that has him spending hours in libraries and trying to locate relatives. Sometimes I get really excited about thinking what we might find, he said. Another time Im realistic and realize nothing is guaranteed that were going to ever really recover anything. Extensive array of art The case of the stolen art begins with Ginsberg, who was born in 1872 in Berlin. According to research by the State Museums in Berlin, he was a wealthy merchant who collected an extensive array of art. It included historic Islamic plates, bowls, urns, water jugs and other decorative pieces. In 1923, he loaned an elaborately carved wooden board to the museum. (Nearly 100 years later, in 2021, it was rediscovered in a museum storeroom.) In 1933, the museum put together an exhibition of Ginsbergs artworks, which were later returned to the family. As late as 1936, he loaned some pieces to Switzerland. But what specifically was included, and what happened to the pieces afterward, is unclear. Ginsberg died in 1938 of natural causes, and much of his family was subsequently killed in concentration camps. Under Nazi rule, more than 380 of the objects from his collection were put up for auction in London in 1939. Where they ended up remains murky. Nothmann, Ginsbergs granddaughter, survived the war after being sent to foster parents in Holland, where she lived under German occupation. Eventually she was rescued, then moved to Sweden before migrating to the United States in 1946. She met Charles Luner in 1952 and they were married the following year. They had two kids, Vera and her sister Julie, and raised them in the Chicago area. After the war, Nothmann typed her memories on 32 densely filled pieces of paper to let the world know of her experiences, realizing that other survivors had stories of their own. Following her death from cancer in 1999, her husband decided to publish her recollections as Gerdas Story: Memoir of a Holocaust Survivor. Though she tells her story in graphic detail, the memoir doesnt mention the artwork collected by her grandfather or what may have happened to it. That story, and the scope of the Third Reichs confiscation of art from Jewish families and others, began to attract attention in the years following the war, raising the issue of returning the valuable pieces to their rightful owners. Luner, who is now 99 and still in the Chicago area, said his wife was very upset about the seizure of artwork, but it was hardly discussed in the years of their marriage. Still, he would like to see the restitution effort succeed. I think it is important to recover what belonged to the family, Luner said. Tracking down the art In 1995, about 50 years after the end of World War II, countries in Europe announced details of a process to locate plundered art pieces and return them to families of the original owners. Three years later, 39 other nations pledged to help track down the stolen works of art. That year also featured the Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets, co-hosted by the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. It led to guidelines that required museums to review the ownership history of items in their collections, with an emphasis on works that may have been seized from Jewish families and others. The German government established a database as a clearinghouse for identification of such items. Governing the process of locating and returning stolen art were the so-called Washington Principles, the result of the 1998 conference. They directed nations to identify art that had been confiscated by the Nazis, publicize when such art was found, open records to facilitate the return of stolen works and establish a registry to expedite returns, among other guidelines. But as the descendants of Max Ginsberg are finding out, the road to recovery is long and convoluted, with little guarantee of success. Olaf S. Ossmann knows that road well. An attorney in Europe, Ossmann brings both experience and a realistic attitude to art searches, which he has been involved with since 1990. About three years ago, he got in touch with Nathan Emmons and his family, whom he had located through Dodi Reifenberg, an Israeli artist who had moved to Berlin and started researching the Ginsberg collection. Ossmann inquired about working with the Emmons family, on two continents, to try to find some of the artwork that had belonged to Ginsberg. There is no such thing as a typical case in this field, Ossmann said in an email. As artwork is a very personal issue, the way to collect it and the way to lose it are different in every case. It also depended on the position of the owner before and during the Nazi period. In some cases, you have well documented collections and papers from the pre-persecution, the persecution period and the after-war period, when families started to search for it. ... I have an idea of their story in general, but to research the ways their art work went is still a separate topic. Part of the difficulty, he added, is the very quiet and confidential nature of the art market. Transfers are not really documented or registered like in real estate, he wrote. For the Ginsberg collection, Ossmann wrote, the primary obstacle is the fact that only 22 photos have been found of objects from a collection that once had nearly 400 pieces. That means objects have to be identified just by description, which is very difficult. Another critical factor is where the artwork ended up. If it is in a public collection, this is good, he wrote. If we find the art work in private hands or in countries not open for such solutions, prospects get worse and a solution depends on the pressure on the owners side to get rid of the claims to be able to sell it freely on the market. Regardless, the process of identifying artwork, making an ownership case and negotiating for its return can take years. Nathan Emmons, noting how much more esoteric and convoluted the legal process is than what he is used to, put it this way: Were trying to argue that, sure, it was sold, but it wasnt a fair market sale. Thats a much more challenging case to bring when youre already dealing in a universe where things arent as black and white as they normally are. Where is Joe Hill? Part of the frustration is the international search for a long-lost relative who may or may not have been named Joe Hill and who may or may not have lived in Canada. The Ginsberg estate was divided three ways, although Vera, her sister Julie and Veras three children are the only lineal descendants. Hill, who was born Joseph Hirschland but changed his name when he made it to North America, belongs to another branch of the family and did not leave much of a trail. In the United States, Nathan can call county probate offices to track down wills. But Canadian laws are different. Thats sort of where weve hit this brick wall, he said. So the search is proceeding on parallel tracks. While Ossmann works in Europe, Nathan spends what time he has available looking on this side of the Atlantic. Today Im going to go to the library and do some more searching on Ancestry, he said. Usually every couple of months, I try to go spend an hour and try to find these anonymous Canadians. Every quarter, I spend an hour getting frustrated with it and then I sort of put it on the back-burner again. The quest to find Ginsbergs art has all of the elements of the 2014 film The Monuments Men, but on a smaller, familial scale. That personal aspect is what keeps Nathan and Vera Emmons engaged. The balance between the justice and pursuing whats right and also just the realities of what it takes to achieve justice, Nathan said, is a sort of a universal feeling of the fire of wanting to do whats right with the more sober reality of how hard it is to do seeing something that should happen and how hard it can be to get there. His mother also sees the balance, and shes realistic about the odds of reclaiming her familys artwork. Its a tricky business, she said. It might be serendipity, but it would be nice. It affects lives. It was ours, and it was stolen. For more information about the River City Journalism Fund, which seeks to support journalism in St. Louis, go to rcjf.org. HARRISBURG, Penn. President Joe Biden urged his supporters to stay unified during a series of Sunday stops in critical Pennsylvania on Sunday, even as some leading congressional Democrats privately suggested it was time for him to abandon his reelection bid because of intensifying questions about whether hes fit for another term. Addressing a rousing church service in front of stained glass windows bathed in sunshine at Philadelphias Mount Airy Church of God in Christ, the 81-year-old Biden joked, I know I look 40 but Ive been doing this a long time. I, honest to God, have never been more optimistic about Americas future if we stick together, he said. There and during a subsequent rally with union members in Harrisburg, Biden offered short speeches that touched on familiar topics. But he also left plenty of room for key backers to discuss standing by him. In that way, the Pennsylvania swing seemed meant to showcase support for the president from key political quarters more than proving hes up to four more years. His party, though, remains deeply divided. As Congress prepares to resume this week, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries convened top committee lawmakers Sunday afternoon to assess their views. Several Democratic committee leaders said Biden should step aside, according to two people familiar with the meeting and granted anonymity to discuss it. Other top Democrats, including members of the influential Congressional Black Caucus, argued just as forcefully that Biden should remain the partys choice. The conversation was wide ranging, with the committee leaders sharing various views on the situation, but there was no unanimity on what should be done, the people said. Biden was personally calling lawmakers through the weekend. He also joined a call with campaign surrogates and reiterated that he has no plans to leave the race. Instead, the president pledged to campaign harder going forward and to step up his political travel, according to two people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. One Democrat the president spoke to, Sen. Alex Padilla of California, said he and others are pushing the Biden campaign to let Joe be Joe, get him out there. I absolutely believe we can turn it around, Padilla told The Associated Press. Still, at least five Democratic lawmakers have publicly called on him to abandon his reelection campaign ahead of November. Meeting this coming week in person means more chances for lawmakers to discuss concerns about Bidens ability to withstand the remaining four months of the campaign not to mention four more years in the White House and true prospects of beating Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump. Bidens campaign team was also calling and texting lawmakers to try to head off more potential defections, while increasingly asking high-profile Biden supporters to speak out on his behalf. Calls to bow out nonetheless popped up from different directions. Alan Clendenin, a Tampa city councilman and member of the Democratic National Committee, on Sunday called for Biden to step aside and allow Vice President Kamala Harris to carry forward his agenda as our Democratic nominee. Director Rob Reiner, who has helped organize glitzy Hollywood fundraisers for Biden in the past, posted on X, Its time for Joe Biden to step down. The Democratic convention is fast approaching and Bidens Friday interview with ABC has not convinced some who remain skeptical. Democratic fundraising bundler Barry Goodman, a Michigan attorney, said hes backing Biden but, should he step aside, hed throw his support to Harris. Thats notable since Goodman was also a finance co-chairman for both of the statewide campaigns of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has also been mentioned as a top-of-the-ticket alternative. We dont have much time, Goodman said. I dont think the president gets out. But if he does, I think it would be Kamala. There was no such suggestion at Mount Airy, where Pastor Louis Felton likened the president to Joseph and the biblical story of his coat of many colors. In it, Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers, only eventually tp obtain a high place in the kingdom of the pharaoh and have his brothers beg him for assistance without initially recognizing him. Never count Joseph out, Felton implored. Then, referring to Democrats who have called on Biden to step aside, he added, Thats whats going on, Mr. President. People are jealous of you. Jealous of your stick-to-itiveness, jealous of your favor. Jealous of Gods hand upon your life. Felton also led a prayer where he said, Our president gets discouraged. But today, through your holy spirit, renew his mind, renew his spirt, renew his body. After the church service, Biden visited a campaign office in Philadelphia, where Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat who won a tough 2022 race while recovering from a stroke, offered a forceful endorsement. There is only one guy that has ever beaten Trump, Fetterman said. And he is going to do it twice and put him down for good. Later stepping off Air Force One in Harrisburg, the president was asked if the Democratic Party was behind him and emphatically responded, Yes. Joining him at the union event, Rep. Madeleine Dean, also a Pennsylvania Democrat, said that democracy is on the line. Theres one man who understands it, its Joe Biden. Isabel Afonso, who saw Biden speak in Harrisburg, said she was worried when she saw the presidents debate performance, but doesnt think he should drop out of the race and that he can still win. I know he is old, but I know if something happens to him, a reasonable person will replace him, said Afonso, 63. History-making moments from presidential debates Gaffes galore Getting personal Biden-Trump redux HONG KONG, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Total asset under management in Hong Kong grew 2.1 percent year on year to more than 31 trillion Hong Kong dollars (about 4 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2023, signaling global confidence in Hong Kong's financial market, Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government Paul Chan said Sunday. "Worries about funds leaving Hong Kong are overblown," said Chan in his blog, citing the fact that over two-thirds of the asset under management came from outside Hong Kong. He also noted that private funds under management in Hong Kong topped 1.7 trillion Hong Kong dollars in 2023, which made it the second largest private fund management center in Asia. Hong Kong's active and efficient financial market, as well as its cosmopolitan, secure and colorful way of life, have made it a magnet for high-net worth individuals, according to Chan. Since the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme launched on March 1, the HKSAR government has received over 3,800 enquiries and over 340 applications. A total of 117 applications have been approved in principle. The HKSAR government will make continued efforts to enhance Hong Kong's role as an asset and wealth management hub, said Chan. (1 HKD equals 0.13 USD) There were no winners in the recent presidential debate. There were only losers the American people and we have the two major political parties to blame for the fiasco. While former President Donald Trump had a much stronger performance, his answers, when he bothered to answer the question, were primarily lies and big ones at that. President Joe Biden, on the other hand, failed miserably for all the world to see. Last September, I asked readers to imagine a scenario in which we fast forwarded to September 2024. In the imagined scenario, Biden and Trump each had received their respective partys nominations. Trump had been convicted in the federal trial for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and his other trials were ongoing. The American people had learned enough through the trials that a majority of the electorate thought Trump should be disqualified from holding the office of the presidency. All the while, President Bidens approval numbers remained low, with Vice President Kamala Harris even lower. Biden then had a major health event and both confidence in him and enthusiasm for the general election tanks. While I was not exactly right. I was also not far off. Trumps trials, other than the New York case, have been delayed. Yet he was still convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a case stemming from silencing a porn star ahead of the 2016 election. Current voters also have all the information they need regarding the events around the 2020 election and Jan. 6 to make an informed decision on whether or not Trump should be barred from holding the highest office in the land. While Biden has not suffered a major health event, his debate performance has certainly demonstrated to the American people that he is too old to be president for another four years. Especially in the midst of world turmoil. In the September 2023 column, I wrote in support of the No Labels effort to gain ballot access as an insurance policy if something like the above happened. No Labels gained ballot access in 24 states before shutting their efforts down in April due to an inability to find candidates who were willing to buck their partys establishment. No Labels has come forward and shared that political elites and operatives mainly from the Democratic party started aligning against them. No Labels Chief Strategist Ryan Clancy wrote the following in an email: [T]he political hacks working against us decided to spread every lie they could about our effort, at one point even hijacking our website to make it look like we were a pro-Trump group. As of today, both parties are set to nominate the two candidates that the American electorate has been screaming for almost two years now that they do not want. The parties have also successfully robbed Americans of a third choice. There is no chance that the GOP will nominate someone other than Trump in just a couple of weeks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. The Democrats, on the other hand, are currently in the midst of a post-debate panic. Many, including me and the Post-Dispatch Editorial Board, have suggested Biden step aside and allow the Democratic Party to nominate a new ticket during their convention in August in Chicago. As of this writing, that has not happened. The Democratic Party still has a chance to find an alternative candidate who can energetically communicate a bold and forward-looking vision of Americas identity. Maybe that is Vice President Kamala Harris, or maybe another Democrat will emerge. This individual would need to connect to the electorate in a way that Biden just cannot do anymore a way that is the opposite from the Republicans current populist, America-First agenda, which is anathema to the American Dream. A political partys primary goal is to get candidates elected. Further down on the list of responsibilities is the role of gatekeeper. Both parties have failed us (and down-ballot candidates) miserably. While both parties are complicit, this is not a false equivalency. The Republican Party is no longer a functioning party. Their obligations lie with one man. They no longer offer a real party platform and they certainly have rid themselves of any monitors. If Biden and the Democratic Party fail to offer an alternative and the Republicans nominate a convicted felon, then Americans should demand and work for something or someone new and fresh in 2028. Perhaps it is a good thing that the debate occurred the week before Americas birthday. July 4 is the perfect time to be thinking about the experiment that is our democratic republic and to lean into that innovative spirit. Our great country deserves so much better than the choices before us. The first party to figure that out will be successful. And if neither does, then it is time for a new way. Missourians should not be concerned with the schoolboy antics Attorney General Andrew Bailey and challenger Will Scharf are uncovering in attempt to smear one another in advance of the upcoming attorney general primary election. ("As Andrew Bailey entered state government, Missouri's top lawyer wiped own record clean," June 20.) Rather, we should be looking at Bailey's legal record and priorities since his appointment to his position as attorney general last year and the Donald Trump criminal coattails Scharf has chosen to grab ahold of in his efforts to climb Missouri's political ladder. In my opinion, it is the judgment each has exercised professionally, not their fishing or dining habits in their college days, that disqualifies them from meriting support for the role of our state's chief law enforcement officer. Chad Silker Ballwin A Coast Guard Station Mayport, Fla., boat crew rescues five people after their vessel capsized offshore on Sunday, July 7, 2024. (U.S. Coast Guard) A crew from Coast Guard Station Mayport near Jacksonville, Fla., rescued five boaters Sunday after their 24-foot vessel capsized. The boat was about 11 miles east of the Mayport Jetties in the Atlantic, the station said in a news release. Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville command center watchstanders received a 911 relay from the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office at 10:15 a.m. Watchstanders directed the launch of a Coast Guard Station Mayport boat crew and a Coast Guard Air Station Savannah helicopter crew to assist. The boat crew arrived on scene, observed five people wearing life jackets on top of an overturned vessel and brought all five aboard the response boat. While on the water, situations can become unpredictable and dangerous in an instant, so its crucial to be prepared, said Cmdr. Nick Barrow, Sector Jacksonville search and rescue mission coordinator. Having life jackets for everyone aboard your vessel can help save lives by providing essential buoyancy and increasing visibility in the water. We appreciate the swift emergency communications relay with the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office enabling a rapid response to the scene. The passengers were were safely recovered and transferred to the Mayport Boat Ramp, where family members were waiting. Mits Yamamoto, 98, of Sacramento, Calif., reflects on June 6 about the three years he spent at the World War II Jerome incarceration camp during a pilgrimage to its location in Arkansas. The camp held more than 8,000 Japanese Americans from Oct. 6, 1942, until June 30, 1944. it was the last American incarceration camp to open and the first to close. (Paul Kitagaki Jr., The Sacramento Bee/TNS) (Tribune News Service) It was a homecoming of sorts for Mits Yamamoto but not to a home that his family had wanted. A caravan of four buses was carrying him and other Sacramento, Calif., region survivors last month to the sites of the Jerome and Rowher incarceration camps, built during World War II to hold thousands of Japanese Americans who lived on the West Coast. It was a two-hour drive from Little Rock, Ark., and the 20 survivors were joined by 185 of their descendants on the pilgrimage. In December 1941 Everything turned upside down, said Yamamoto, a 98-year-old Sacramento resident who was sharing his memories with the younger generation. I didnt even know about it until that night because theres no TV I just happened to turn the radio on and found out. Jerome and Rowher, just 26 miles apart, were two of the 10 camps administered by the War Relocation Authority that held 120,000 Japanese Americans, two-thirds of which were American citizens. Soon after Japans attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on Feb. 19, 1942, which authorized the forced removal of Japanese Americans from the West Coast to inland relocation centers. The Arkansas camps held over 16,000 people, many from Sacramento communities like Florin and Elk Grove. Others were from places like Stockton, Fresno and Los Angeles. San Jose resident Roy Matsuzaki celebrated his 91st birthday on the warm, humid day when he returned with his daughters to the Jerome incarceration camp. Thats where I lived for about three years, he said pointing to the green farm field bordered with trees. I havent been here since 1942. Matsuzaki was nine years old when he left his Elk Grove home for the Jerome incarceration camp in 1942 with one suitcase. When the camp closed, he moved down the road to the Rohwer camp. It brings backs 80 years of memories. We thought what the heck kind of place is this? he said. You were put into barracks. We had two barracks for my two sisters, my brother and my mother and father. Japanese survivors and their descendants made a pilgrimage on June 6 to the Arkansas site of the Rohwer incarceration camp, visiting the memorial cemetery of those who died there during World War II. (Paul Kitagaki Jr., The Sacramento Bee/TNS) Walking with small, fast steps and assisted with a cane, Matsuzaki explores with his daughters the farm fields that now occupy the site of the camp. The only reminder of its existence is a smoke stack. I remember a grocery store across the street, the owner didnt care how we went in but we were restricted to that area.But the guards were along each corner. You cant realize what the government spent on building these things. The Jerome camp held 8,497 Japanese Americans at its peak. It was a one-mile square camp set in swampy woods that were prone to flooding. Summers were rainy, hot and humid, with mosquitoes and poisonous snakes. The winters were cold with temperatures that could drop to zero. The tar paper-covered barracks offered little protection from the elements. Roy Matsuzaki, 91, of San Jose, Calif., visits the site of the Jerome incarceration camp in Arkansas with his daughter, Doreen Kasson, on June 6. Matsuzaki was taken from his home in Elk Grove during World War II to be held at the site. (Paul Kitagaki Jr., The Sacramento Bee/TNS) Mits Yamamoto, 98, walks with his daughter Ginny Syphx on the site of the the Jerome Incarceration camp in June in Arkansas. He lived there during the duration of World War II. (Paul Kitagaki Jr., The Sacramento Bee/TNS) Yamamoto, walking with his daughter Ginny Yamamoto Syphx, recalled that the last time he visited the Rohwer site it was raining and he could not walk the ground he experienced in 1942. My mission was to see where it was. Its just a big old field now, he said. Theres no barracks no towers or no barbed wires or nothing, you know? When Ginny asked her father why he wanted come back, he said because this was my home. Twin brothers Tad and Yukio Yoshikawa, 89, grew up in Stockton, where their parents had a barbershop and owned their own home. All we see is monuments, said brother Tad as they walked the site for the first time since 1945. It would have been nice if they kept one block intact to show what it looked like. Its so long ago and we were so young I dont remember a lot, except we had to go to school and study, said his brother Yukio. Japanese American survivors and their descendants tour the 10,054-acre site of the Jerome incarceration camp during a pilgrimage June 6 in Arkansas. The camp held more than 8,000 Japanese Americans from Oct. 6, 1942, until June 30, 1944. (Paul Kitagaki Jr., The Sacramento Bee/TNS) Their family was able to rent their Stockton home, and when they returned home after the war they had a place to live unlike many. For the first couple of months, my father put up a mattress against the window in case somebody threw rocks at our house. Now San Jose residents, the brothers became engineers and worked in the aerospace industry: Yukio on the Hubble space telescope, and Tad on the Gemini mission to put a man in space. Nobody would talk about (the incarceration) after the war, Tad said. As Denise Hayashi and Doreen Kasson walked the Jerome site with their father Roy Matsuzaki, he talked about how attitudes have changed about talking about the experience. You see something: more friendship and more talking together, he said. During a quiet moment of reflection after visiting the two sites, Yamamoto sat back in seat in the bus as the setting sun reflected on his face. Like many of his generation, he didnt talk about his experiences in the camp after returning home. Some people say it was shameful, but I dont feel that way. 2024 The Sacramento Bee. Visit sacbee.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. (Bruce McIlhaney/Stars and Stripes) Fire Support Base 25, Dak To Bo, South Vietnam, March 11, 1968: A soldier carries spent Howitzer shells. The artillery piece at Fire Support Base 25 overlooking the Cambodian border of Vietnam is one of many hill-top FSBs around Dak To. Looking for Stars and Stripes coverage of the Vietnam War? Subscribe to Stars and Stripes historic newspaper archive! We have digitized our 1948-1999 European and Pacific editions, as well as several of our WWII editions and made them available online through https://starsandstripes.newspaperarchive.com/ GAZA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Ehab al-Ghussein, undersecretary of the Hamas-run Ministry of Labor, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the west of Gaza City on Sunday, said Palestinian sources. Israeli forces targeted a house west of the city in the northern Gaza Strip, killing four Palestinians, including the senior official, Palestinian security sources told Xinhua. Israeli state-owned Kan TV news also reported the killing of Ghussein. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military about the incident. The wife and daughters of Ghussein were killed in a previous Israeli attack in Gaza. Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and around 250 were taken hostage. The Israeli attacks have so far killed 38,153 Palestinians and injured 87,828 others in the strip, said the Gaza-based health authorities in an update earlier in the day. Soldiers and retirees who served with 1st Lt. Jared Southworth gather around a monument with his name after a ceremony on July 6, 2024, dedicating a section of State Highway 133 through Oakland, Ill. (Bradford Leighton/Illinois National Guard) The section of State Highway 133 that runs through Oakland, Ill., now carries the name of a favorite son and Illinois National Guard officer who died in Afghanistan in 2009. The 1st Lt. Jared W. Southworth Memorial Highway was dedicated in a ceremony Saturday in Oakland. As Kim Southworth looked across the town park filled with people who came to honor her son, Illinois Army National Guard 1st Lt. Jared W. Southworth, she was filled with pride. This is an example of how small-town America honors one of our own, Kim Southworth told those who gathered for the ceremony. Jared loved this community. Kim and Bob Southworth (right) and other family members attend a ceremony July 6, 2024, as a section of State Highway 133 through Oakland, Ill., was named the 1st Lt. Jared W. Southworth Highway. (Bradford Leighton/Illinois National Guard) Southworth was killed by an improvised explosive device Feb. 8, 2009, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, along with Staff Sgt. Jason Burkholder. Southworth was serving as a platoon leader with the 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment, 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team. If there is a more patriotic town in America, I dont know if I could find one, said Illinois state Sen. Chapin Rose, who helped shepherd the legislation dedicating the highway through the Illinois State Senate. State Reps. Adam Niemerg and Chris Miller pushed it through the House of Representatives. More than a dozen of those at the dedication ceremony Saturday couldnt attend Southworths funeral in 2009 because they were still serving overseas. Sgt. 1st Class (ret.) Heath Clark speaks during a ceremony July 6, 2024, as a section of State Highway 133 through Oakland, Ill., was named the 1st Lt. Jared W. Southworth Highway. (Bradford Leighton/Illinois National Guard) He was always on. He couldnt shut it off, said Sgt. 1st Class (ret.) Heath Clark, who served as Southworths platoon sergeant. Sometimes hed call in the middle of the night. He had so many ideas. Clark said Southworth, who earned a Ranger Tab, worked very hard to ensure his soldiers had the education they needed for combat. He strived to be the best in his field and was dedicated to the nation, Miller said of Southworth, who was also a part-time police officer in Oakland. Freedom is often defended by citizens from small towns like Oakland. He served on the streets of Oakland as well as in far-off lands. He will not be forgotten. Offence carries maximum sentence of 14 years in jail This is the musician charged with supporting a terrorist organisation in posts on Facebook. Ciaran Kilifin faces four counts under the Terrorism Act, each allegedly committed between August 2021 and January 2022. Court documents state he expressed an opinion or belief that was supportive of a proscribed organisation by allegedly publishing images or text on the Republican Activist Coalition Facebook page. It is claimed that by putting the posts on Facebook, Kilifin was reckless as to whether a person to whom the expression was directed would be encouraged to support a proscribed organisation. The 26-year-old, of Exchange Court in Newtownards, appeared before Belfast Magistrates Court last week for a preliminary enquiry hearing that could have seen the case sent to the crown court. But his barrister asked for the matter to be adjourned for further consideration, and District Judge Keown listed it to be next heard on July 25. Applying for legal aid, the lawyer said Kilifin worked as a musician and was paid cash in hand. There are currently 14 proscribed groups in Northern Ireland on the Home Office list, seven republican and seven loyalist. They include long established terrorist organisations such as the IRA, INLA, the UDA and the UVF, as well as smaller factions and splinter groups like Saor Eire and the Orange Volunteers. The penalty for supporting a proscribed organisation ranges from six months in prison and/or a fine of up to 5,000 if dealt with in the magistrates courts. If the case is sent to the crown courts, the maximum sentence available to the judge is 14 years. Sgt Keane said Kaluhin was highly intoxicated and apologised for his actions which, she said, the accused insisted he could not recollect Valerii Kaluhin leaving Mullingar Courthouse after he pleaded guilty to assaulting a 12-year-old girl following an incident in Kinnegad almost 12 months ago. A Ukrainian man lunged at a young girl as she walked past a county Westmeath hotel causing her to run frantically from the scene and in an extremely frightened state. Valerii Kaluhin, with an address at Harrys Hotel, Kinnegad, Westmeath, pleaded guilty to assault, public intoxication and of engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour at Main Street, Kinnegad, Westmeath on July 10, 2023. The 56-year-old was arrested after gardai were called to the scene of the incident at around 6:30pm. Sergeant Sandra Keane, in outlining the States case at Mullingar District Court, said the young girl was walking past Kaluhins residing address when the accused suddenly darted towards her. Judge Bernadette Owens said Valerii Kaluhin at 56-years-of-age "should have more sense" after he was arrested and charged with assault and public order outside a hotel in Kinnegad last July. There was no physical contact between the parties, but the young child was left extremely frightened and frantically ran from the scene, she said. Gardai attended the scene soon afterwards and spoke to the accused about the incident, all of which was captured on CCTV. Sgt Keane said Kaluhin was highly intoxicated and apologised for his actions which, she said, the accused insisted he could not recollect. In defence, solicitor John Quinn was acceptive of his state of drunkenness, but did reveal Kaluhins shock at being accused of assault when no physical contact occurred between him and the youngster. He (Kaluhin) was a bit surprised when he was charged with assault because clearly he accepts the child was in fear and by virtue of that he has pleaded to that, said Mr Quinn. The local solicitor continued by saying Kaluhins state of inebriation were so acute, his client had nearly fallen on the child. Valerii Kaluhin. Judge Bernadette Owens said for a man of such adult maturity, Kaluhin should have more sense as it was revealed the accused was resident in Ireland almost two years and very much keen to settle here. In terms of his own personal circumstances, a Ukrainian interpreter through Mr Quinn informed the court Kaluhin was studying at present. When asked as to what those endeavours entailed, Judge Owens was informed Kaluhin was studying manual handling with a view to securing gainful employment. He is at pains to point out to me in no way did he intend to affront or cause any grief to the other party, added Mr Quinn. Kaluhim was subsequenly fined 300 for the assault charge with the accompanying public order charges being taken into consideration. The anonymous letter, which bears a Dublin postmark, repeats: Get him out for good and we will leave him be. Soldier Cathal Crotty was given a suspended sentence for his assault on Natasha O'Brien Gardai are investigating after a letter was posted to the family home of convicted Irish soldier Cathal Crotty warning him to leave his home in county Clare or face the threat of being kidnapped and harmed. Mr Crotty (22) received a fully suspended three-year sentence two weeks ago after he was convicted of a vicious and cowardly and unprovoked assault on Natasha OBrien (24) in Limerick City Centre on May 29, 2022. Crotty boasted about the attack to friends on social media afterwards: Two to put her down, two to put her out. The suspended sentence and comments from the sentencing judge Tom ODonnell, as well as Ms OBriens disgust at the nature of the sentence, sparked national outrage and street protests calling for legal reforms, more legal rights for victims of crime, and sensitivity training for judges. Crotty is the subject of an internal Defence Forces disciplinary process which will determine his future in the army. The DPP is also appealing the leniency of his sentence. It has also emerged that gardai are investigating the circumstances of a threatening letter sent to Mr Crottys family residence last Wednesday. Natasha OBrien was assaulted by soldier Cathal Crotty in Limerick in 2022. Photo: Don Moloney The letter, addressed to Cathal Crottys father, began: Mr Crotty, please understand this letter has nothing to do with you, so nothing will be done to you or your house. But if you do as we ask, all isnt lost, however in not doing as we ask, it will be a very sad story indeed for your son, Cathal. As you are aware, Mr Crotty, your son Cathal done (sic) a very very bad thing on that poor girlSo, since justice wasnt done in court, me and my men from Dublin and our members from "Limerick" have been talking at our meetings (and) have therefore made a rule that Cathal Crotty from Co Clare near Limerick City, will be taken from his home by any means in two weeks time, night or day, and (he) will suffer for what he has done to that poor girl who, by the way, wouldn't hurt a fly. Mr Crotty, justice wasnt done in court, your son cant get away with this crime. However, we will look at the case if your son [moves] out of the county for good, in two weeks time. This talk with my members is his last hope, leave now or else, well, you know Mr Crotty what is coming. The law cant help. Even now we have someone looking at your house - it is up to you. You might and try to hide him, your son, but we could have taken him last week for a little drive. The anonymous letter, which bears a Dublin postmark, repeats: Get him out for good and we will leave him be. The letter concludes: Time is running out fast two weeks or we are coming down Mr Crotty, night or day. A garda spokesman said: An Garda Siochana is aware of correspondence received at a domestic residence in Co Clare in July 2024. The garda spokesman added that enquiries are ongoing. The Director of Public Prosecutions has said it is to appeal Crottys sentence on the grounds that it was too lenient. A date for the appeal has yet to be scheduled. Limerick Circuit Court heard Mr Crotty grabbed Ms OBrien by her hair and delivered six uppercut punches into her face and head. He continued punching Ms OBrien after she fell to the ground and was losing consciousness, the court heard. Natasha O'Brien explains how she almost "lost faith in humanity" but the Irish people helped her regain hope once again Ms OBrien said she had politely asked Mr Crotty to stop shouting homophobic slurs at people but he grabbed her and assaulted her. Judge ODonnell faced criticism for the manner in which he reasoned his decision not to impose an immediate jail sentence on Mr Crotty. The judge had asked Ms OBrien if she understood the significance of Crottys guilty plea, explaining that it had spared her having to be cross examined by Crottys lawyers if the case had gone to trial and had spared the court and Gardai precious time and resources. The judge also said he had no doubt Crottys career in the Defence Forces would be over had he jailed him. Judge ODonnell said he had to balance Crottys cowardly attack with mitigating factors including that Crotty pleaded guilty - albeit after he initially deflected blame on Ms OBrien and changed his story only after Gardai showed him CCTV footage of the attack, and that Crotty had no previous convictions. Judge ODonnell had also heard testimony from Crottys superior officer Commandant Paul Togher, of Sarsfield Barracks, Limerick, who said that in his opinion, Crottys conduct in the Defence Forces had always been exemplary, professional and courteous. Ms OBrien told the judge that she had left her job because she could not cope with the trauma of the attack; she said she had since returned to employment and was trying to move on with her life but that she felt lucky to be alive given the level of violence Crotty had used against her. Gilchrist, who was jailed for 11-and-a-half years last week, told gardai he got involved after two men called to his home and threatened him The 8.4m worth of cocaine flown into Longford by a Walter Mitty pilot is believed to have been destined for the west Dublin gang known as The Family. Tim Gilchrist Jnr had set up a transport and logistics company the year before he was caught, and claimed to be involved in a host of business activities ranging from meat processing to mining. Gilchrist, who was jailed for 11-and-a-half years last week, told gardai he got involved after two men called to his home and threatened him, forcing him to fly the drugs in but investigators believe those claims were complete rubbish. Sources said the haul was believed to have been linked to the west Dublin crime gang known as The Family and other criminals based in Ballyfermot. The gang are involved in large-scale heroin and cocaine trafficking and are suspected of laundering more than 100m of drug money every year. Numerous multi-million euro drug seizures have been linked to them in recent years, while gardai have also confiscated several firearms and millions of euro as part of operations targeting the gang. They are top targets of the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) and senior members of the gang are currently before the courts on charges linked to organised crime activity. Gilchrist, with an address at Mavis Bank, Newrath, Waterford, set up a company called Each Way Transport & Logistics Ltd the year before he was caught with the drugs. The company never filed accounts and while it is technically still a registered company, it is not doing any business. Defence counsel Michael OHiggins SC, said his client, despite having previously been employed in the highway maintenance sector, was someone who had not enjoyed an excessive lifestyle and whose only income was just over 200 a week in illness benefit. He described Gilchrist as a Walter Mitty-type character. A director of several companies dating back to the 1990s, Gilchrist had previously been the director of African European Alliance Group Ireland Limited, which was described as being involved in the sale of agricultural raw materials, live animals, textile raw materials and semi-finished goods. In online profiles, he described himself as the MD and CEO of the company and said he was based in Uganda. In an exhaustive list of skills, he claimed he was a mechanic, a transport engineer, a welder, and a carpet manufacturer. He also said he had worked extensively in the Research and Development field of alternative energy solutions, had experience in modern manufacturing technology and processes and was involved in mining, oil, gas and coal. He claimed to be involved in energy sector development on a governmental scale and in applications for large fleet operation to domestic transportation and power needs. Despite all his claims, his companies never appeared to file any accounts. Gilchrist was caught after flying the drugs into Abbeyshrule Airfield in Longford in August 2022. The plane Gilchrist piloted with the drugs onboard Detective Garda Ciaran Cummins, of the GNDOCB, told the court of how a wide-ranging surveillance operation was put in place after confidential information had come to light over the use of a Cessna light aircraft which had flown out from the Longford based airstrip the previous day. He said, on the day of the incident shortly before 5.30pm, gardai observed Gilchrist Jnr remove several bags from the aircraft before placing them in a dark coloured vehicle. Shortly after, gardai stopped two vehicles, one driven by the accused and where five holdalls and a single suitcase were retrieved containing 120kg of cocaine worth an estimated 8.4m. The court was told Gilchrist Jnr, in a series of interviews at Ashbourne Garda Station, stated he had been under duress from a number of unknown individuals not before the court. His sentence was backdated to when he went into custody almost two years ago. Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have clearly committed to a path which in effect means the undermining of our public health system. Kate and Melanie Cleary, Corbally, holding a picture of Eve Cleary at the Candlelit vigil at UHL by Mid West Hospital Campaign group. Photo: Brendan Gleeson Barry Cleary and his wife Melanie with a photo of their daughter Eve outside the Four Courts today (Photo: Collins Courts) The mother of a young woman who died after being discharged from University Hospital Limerick is set to run as a candidate in the next general election. Melanie Sheehan Cleary, who is the mother of the late Eve Cleary, will stand for the Mid West Hospital Campaign (MWHC) and the group have hailed her standing as a political earthquake. Ms Cleary was selected to run in the Limerick constituency by the group who aim to reopen a number of local A&E departments in Clare, Tipperary and Limerick. The campaign is still considering whether to stand candidates in the Clare and Tipperary constituencies. A spokesperson for MWHC in Limerick, Charlotte Keane, spoke after the selection meeting: We have tried protests, lobbying our public reps, petitions to Oireachtas committees but its clear that the vested interests behind the decision to downgrade our A&Es in 2009 still hold sway. The politicians arent listening to us. To this day, still not one elected TD in Limerick City supports the re-opening of Ennis, Nenagh and St Johns A&Es. We warned them in February of 2020 at our protest outside St Johns Hospital that we would come to Dublin if they didnt re-open our A&Es. This is us following up on that pledge. Earlier this year, Ms Sheehan Cleary and her family reached a settlement in the High Court over the death of her 21-year-old daughter who collapsed at home and subsequently died after earlier being discharged from UHL in 2019. Speaking after her selection, Garryowen native Ms Sheehan Cleary said: I was never political or active in this way before Eve died. I thought that her death would be the catalyst for change, but nothing happened afterwards. Instead, more families have had to suffer as we did. Eve spent 17 hours on a trolley in UHLs emergency department after she hurt herself slipping and falling on a footpath. A few hours after she was eventually admitted to a ward, she was discharged and told to go home and rest. Less than four hours later she suffered a cardiac arrest, caused by a blood clot that had travelled into her lung. I have written to everyone since Eve died including the previous minister for health, and current Taoiseach but nobody seems to want to act. Sometimes you wonder if this was happening in Dublin and not in Limerick, would it be allowed to continue? Eve Cleary Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have clearly committed to a path which in effect means the undermining of our public health system. We always understood that it would take a lot of effort to force them into a U-turn, and we were prepared to put that work in. Unfortunately, it seems that Sinn Fein have committed to not rocking the boat on issues such as this in case it might present a barrier to coalition with one of those parties after an election. We say that the evidence is overwhelming for the urgent need to restore emergency services in the Midwest. We do not accept that there is any clinical argument that justifies the piling up of people on trolleys in UHL and any further delay will cost lives. People might dismiss this as a single-issue campaign, but we will make no apology for making every effort to put this crisis at the top of the national agenda. We have been ignored for far too long! We will have other positions that we will put forward, but the main thing Id say is we are not going to accept the re-opening of our A&Es at the expense of any other community." Slater, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, disappeared after setting off to walk back to his accommodation in Tenerife on June 17. A journalist claims to have witnessed "eerie signs of life" in the area where British teenager Jay Slater went missing in Tenerife last month. MailOnlines Fred Kelly described the ravine in the Masca region where the 19-year-old is believed to have visited before his disappearance on June 17. He said that while there's no sound other than the noise of geckos scuttling in the undergrowth and the distant howl of the wind above the ravine, there are haunting signs of human activity nearby. Kelly did not explicitly link these findings to Slater but explained how he found sinister objects in one of two ruined homesteads such as shoelaces tied with twigs to form haunting symbols like something out of a horror film, empty water bottles, and - most strange of all - a set of clean women's clothes." Slater, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, disappeared after setting off to walk back to his accommodation on the holiday island on June 17. An official search for the apprentice bricklayer was called off by the Spanish Civil Guard last month, but TikTokers have been roaming around in the island hills searching for Jay in the meantime. Callum Fahim is one such influencer, and says he is searching outbuildings and new routes that no-one else has examined. He gave an interesting description of the countryside in Tenerife where Jay vanished. The most sleep Ive had is about two hours because I have to plan all the routes overnight, he said. I havent been able to eat properly; Ive been living off BBQ Doritos and Appletisers. Ive never met the family. Im just a randomer from London who saw it online and wanted to help. Truthfully coming up that mountain as you get up further it gets hot, the air gets really thin and you struggle to breathe, then it turns hot, then cold, then hot again. It makes you think youre really ill - like you have some horrendous fever. I dont think personally without transport or a phone you could make it up here. You go into the middle of it the road vanishes and all you can see is the volcano. I would be confused if I didnt know where I was going. Im not scared. I always say, I look a little soft but I can handle myself 100pc . We are looking for anything at this point, he told The Independent. At the start, we wanted to bring Jay home in a fit and well state, but obviously as time passes we need to consider all options. We are looking for clothes, shoes, the wristbands from the NRG festival. There are so many people missing on Tenerife right now, people do not realise. There are a lot of TikTokers coming down and searching the same routes over and over just for likes. "We dont need to be abseiling down rocks. Jay was probably drunk, possibly injured; he was not going to be abseiling around, Callum concluded. A staff member works at an oil-paper umbrella shop in Huangling Village of Wuyuan County, east China's Jiangxi Province, July 3, 2024. In recent years, Wuyuan County has been making efforts to promote rural tourism by exploring and utilizing its unique natural resources and traditional culture. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi) This photo taken on July 4, 2024 shows a view of Huangling Village of Wuyuan County, east China's Jiangxi Province. In recent years, Wuyuan County has been making efforts to promote rural tourism by exploring and utilizing its unique natural resources and traditional culture. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi) A woman dries farm produce at Huangling Village of Wuyuan County, east China's Jiangxi Province, July 3, 2024. In recent years, Wuyuan County has been making efforts to promote rural tourism by exploring and utilizing its unique natural resources and traditional culture. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi) This photo taken on July 3, 2024 shows a view of Shimen Village of Wuyuan County, east China's Jiangxi Province. In recent years, Wuyuan County has been making efforts to promote rural tourism by exploring and utilizing its unique natural resources and traditional culture. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi) A villager sells local specialties at Shimen Village of Wuyuan County, east China's Jiangxi Province, July 3, 2024. In recent years, Wuyuan County has been making efforts to promote rural tourism by exploring and utilizing its unique natural resources and traditional culture. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi) A tourist visits Shimen Village of Wuyuan County, east China's Jiangxi Province, July 3, 2024. In recent years, Wuyuan County has been making efforts to promote rural tourism by exploring and utilizing its unique natural resources and traditional culture. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi) Tourists visit Huangling Village of Wuyuan County, east China's Jiangxi Province, July 3, 2024. In recent years, Wuyuan County has been making efforts to promote rural tourism by exploring and utilizing its unique natural resources and traditional culture. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi) Tourists visit Huangling Village of Wuyuan County, east China's Jiangxi Province, July 3, 2024. In recent years, Wuyuan County has been making efforts to promote rural tourism by exploring and utilizing its unique natural resources and traditional culture. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi) A craftsman makes a straw raincoat at Huangling Village of Wuyuan County, east China's Jiangxi Province, July 3, 2024. In recent years, Wuyuan County has been making efforts to promote rural tourism by exploring and utilizing its unique natural resources and traditional culture. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi) This photo taken on July 3, 2024 shows an interior view of a homestay at Shimen Village of Wuyuan County, east China's Jiangxi Province. In recent years, Wuyuan County has been making efforts to promote rural tourism by exploring and utilizing its unique natural resources and traditional culture. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi) Tourists visit Huangling Village of Wuyuan County, east China's Jiangxi Province, July 3, 2024. In recent years, Wuyuan County has been making efforts to promote rural tourism by exploring and utilizing its unique natural resources and traditional culture. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi) Tourists visit Huangling Village of Wuyuan County, east China's Jiangxi Province, July 3, 2024. In recent years, Wuyuan County has been making efforts to promote rural tourism by exploring and utilizing its unique natural resources and traditional culture. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi) The health ministry said the attack on the school killed at least 16 people and wounded more than 50 At least 16 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinian families in Al-Nuseirat in central Gaza yesterday, the territorys health ministry and the official Palestinian news agency said. The Israeli military said it was looking into the report. The health ministry said the attack on the school killed at least 16 people and wounded more than 50. Israeli military strikes killed at least 29 Palestinians in the past 24 hours Mahmoud Basal, spokesman of the Gaza Civil Emergency Service, said the number of dead could rise because many of the wounded were in critical condition. The attack on the school meant no place in the enclave was safe for families who leave their houses to seek shelters, he said in a statement. Al-Nuseirat, one of the Gaza Strips eight historic refugee camps, was the site of stepped-up Israeli bombardment yesterday. An air strike earlier on a house in the camp killed 10 people and wounded many others, according to medics. In its daily update of people killed in the nearly nine-month-old war, the Gaza health ministry said Israeli military strikes across the enclave killed at least 29 Palestinians in the past 24 hours and wounded 100 others. Among those killed in separate air strikes were five local reporters, raising the toll of journalists killed since October 7 to 158, according to the Hamas-led Gaza government media office. Gaza health authorities say more than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israels offensive which followed a Hamas-led assault on Israel on October 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage. Israeli forces, which have deepened their incursions into Rafah in the south of the enclave near the border with Egypt, killed four Palestinian policemen and wounded eight others, in an air strike on their vehicle yesterday, 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 their forces continued intelligence-base operations in Rafah, destroying several underground structures, seizing weapons and equipment, and killing several Palestinian gunmen. Israel has said it aims to eradicate the last Hamas armed wing battalions. A military spokesperson said they had eliminated a Hamas rocket cell in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza that operated from inside a humanitarian-designated area. The broadcaster wed her partner, whose identity she keeps private, at Courtmacsherry in West Cork on Friday after getting engaged in Connemara last year The broadcaster wed her partner, whose identity she keeps private, at Courtmacsherry in West Cork on Friday after getting engaged in Connemara last year. She took to Instagram on Saturday to share a sweet black and white photo from her big day which showed the happy couple walking down the aisle arm in arm while Zara stunned in a structured white gown. The post was accompanied by a quote from American poet E.E. Cummings from his poem I Carry Your Heart with Me. It reads: Here is the deepest secret nobody knows, (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud, and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows, higher than soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder thats keeping the stars apart, I carry your heart, I carry it in my heart. Zaras Virgin Media colleagues Muireann OConnell and Paul Quinn were in attendance, while her The Group Chat podcast co-hosts Richard Chambers and Gavan Reilly also scrubbed up for the big day. The presenter had previously shared that she was a very "chilled" bride, although she admitted she underestimated how much planning goes into a wedding ceremony. Were so excited and were really enjoying planning everything. If you asked anyone who knows me they would say Im a very chilled bride but a very disorganised bride! she told VIP Magazine prior to tying the knot. I underestimated how much work organising a wedding was, I was a bit delusional, but how are you supposed to know if you havent done it before?" I have a few things left to organise. But well get there. The wedding is this summer, so its very soon. I should probably be a bit more on top of things. But itll all be fine! Were looking forward to a great day together, everything will come together and Im excited. Maori health providers are holding tight to each other'after the Te Aka Whai Ora Maori Health Authority came to an abrupt end after two years of fighting inequalities within the system. Te Aka Whai Ora Maori Health Authority was created in July 2022 to ensure that the health system met the needs of Maori. In February, the new coalition government passed the Pae Ora (Disestablishment of the Maori Health Authority) Amendment Bill, ushering in a new round of reforms. Te Aka Whai Ora was disestablished on June 30. Local Democracy Reporting speaks to mataiwhetu/chief executive of Whanganui hauora Maori provider Te Oranganui, Wheturangi Walsh-Tapiata, about the loss of Te Aka Whai Ora and the future of Maori health under the latest reform. Maori health providers are in a state of abeyance after Te Aka Whai Ora, the Maori Health Authority, was scrapped. Wheturangi Walsh-Tapiata, mataiwhetu of Te Oranganui in Whanganui, says hauora Maori providers are waiting to see if the changes will deliver the benefits that were being advanced under Ta Aka Whai Ora. Were all holding tight to each other as a group of providers, attempting to support each other, read the scene and provide excellent practice so that, where possible, these changes do not impact on our whanau and we are still able to walk alongside them to achieve their whanau ora goals. There were immediate benefits for Maori health providers with the advent of Te Aka Whai Ora, she says. Prior to that, the system felt like the hospitals were in charge. With Te Aka Whai Ora, we were a community in partnership with other parts of the health system. It meant that we had voice. For the first time in my career in hauora, I felt there was a strong focus on Maori, pushing against the inequities in the system, and trying to correct them. That ranged from data and commissioning, to public health and what was happening in hospitals, to community outreach and how providers were aligned. Wheturangi says hauora providers are now in limbo. We are waiting to see if there will be ongoing advances for hauora Maori, particularly in an environment where were feeling the impact of the cost of living on whanau, and on our ability to survive and create our own solutions. Wheturangi says there are multiple strengths and benefits in having a specific organisation that represented the needs of Maori. The first win for providers came with a dedicated relationship manager. Te Oranganui mataiwhetu Wheturangi Walsh-Tapiata says Maori must be on their toes as the government develops the latest health reforms. Photo / Bevan Conley. Before that, we were getting to the point where we had only an email to connect us to the system. In addition, that managers focus was on supporting hauora Maori providers and ensuring we had positive whanau hauora outcomes. The second critical advance was an online forum. All of us as hauroa Maori providers could now meet regularly to be updated with all the changes occurring, to understand different parts of the system, to hear from the chief executives of Te Aka Whai Ora and Te Whatu Ora on a regular basis and to share what we know. The coalition government focus is on need for all rather than the needs of Maori or disenfranchised communities, Wheturangi says. We will work our darnedest to ensure that need for all is encompassing of Maori. We need to remain strong, have clear vision on the kaupapa, and keep collectively looking for solutions alongside of our whanau. Asked if Maori would hold the coalition government to account if disparities in Maori health are not reduced, Wheturangi says the changes will be challenged if they do not deliver for Maori. We have to be on our toes Governments come and governments go, and it is always important for us to be able to adapt to the changes and the key strategies of the government of the day, finding ways to benefit our whanau. It is up to us to continue to provide the range of delivery to our whanau that we have had. But we will also have to be on our toes. We all have to keep our eyes and ears open to the conversations that are coming out from the government. Wheturangi says her biggest fear is that the country returns to an old system that does not work for Maori. We have to look at opportunities that will benefit our population, and we relish the chance to show examples of excellence that might help cement government thinking or promote alternative ways of doing things. On practical changes, Wheturangi says providers like Te Oranganui are now working to 12-month integrated contracts rather than the multi-year contracts they previously held. Having met all the deliverables of those contracts, and having shown that we are creating change for our whanau in our communities which are often isolated, rural, and very Maori the optimist in me anticipates a return to multi-year contracts within a year. No question that NZ needs to improve Maori health Health Minister Shane Reti says improving health for Maori and everyone else remains a priority for the government. There is absolutely no question that New Zealand needs to improve Maori health outcomes, he told Local Democracy Reporting. Roles and functions from the authority have now been transferred to Health New Zealand and the Ministry, and I have made it very clear that that process needs to work well, to improve outcomes and health needs. Health minister Shane Reti says solutions that will work for Maori will "substantively come from Maori". Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver. Many former Te Aka Whai Ora staff are understood to have returned to the community health sector. In February, Reti said merging the functions of the Maori Health Authority and transferring staff into the public health system would retain the expertise needed to improve health outcomes for all New Zealanders including Maori. The government believed decisions should be made closer to the community, to the home and the hapu. Local circumstances require local solutions rather than national bureaucracies. That means that solutions that will work for Maori will substantively come from Maori, noting that two-thirds of Maori are seen by mainstream providers. Maori involvement in the design and delivery of services for Maori is likely to mean more effective services, reaching more people who need them. Reti says the governments Budget 2024 committed to a record investment in health, including cost pressure funding for hauora Maori services to maintain current service levels. Iwi Maori partnership boards would have a key role in the planning and delivery of healthcare in their communities. Local input into health services, especially primary and community services, is good for everyone and a priority for this Government. Te Oranganui mataiwhetu Wheturangi Walsh-Tapiata says Iwi Maori Partnership Boards and the Hauora Advisory Group are positioned as critical changemakers in the countrys health system. Both groups would have direct contact with the Health Minister to inform the strategic direction of the new health system and ensure that Maori voice is considered within the changes. Wheturangi says Te Aka Whai Ora staff who had merged into Health New Zealand and the Ministry of Health would advocate for Maori. A spark within Theyll be a spark within the new system. They will ensure that representation for Maori continues and I hope theyll have a strong voice so that ka whawhai tonu matou we can continue to address the challenges and needs on behalf of our people. In a farewell video last week, Te Aka Whai Ora chief executive Riana Manuel said staff would continue the work to advance Maori health outcomes from their new home. We still have mahi to do within our new waka. We will become known as Hauora Maori Services. We will continue to climb in pursuit of an equitable health system where Maori are supported to grow and flourish. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air. Technology is rapidly transforming education and at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, akonga and kaimahi are embracing chatbots to enhance learning and streamline interactions. Certificate in Beauty Therapy tutor Rochelle Flight was introduced to the idea of integrating AI chatbots by her colleagues in the Whanake Ake Academic Development team. The chatbot has since become a staple in her classroom, primarily aiding students with revision and note-taking. Added to the Google Classroom platform, the chatbot is accessible to students anytime, handling tasks such as providing additional information on topics, creating quick quizzes for test preparation, and rewording content into more understandable formats. This integration has significantly reduced Rochelle's workload outside class hours, as students can get their questions answered 24/7 without waiting for her availability. Rochelle says the response from her students has been overwhelmingly positive. "They were quite excited about the instant, individualised answers on their phones or computers," she says. This immediate feedback and interactive revision has led to better knowledge retention and engagement. Rochelle says that the chatbot allows her to focus more on other teaching aspects, as students often feel more comfortable asking the chatbot questions than doing so in class. Support for using the chatbot has been robust, with Toi Ohomai Education Technology Advisor Angela Cuff providing initial tutorials and ongoing assistance. Each unique chatbot accesses content that the Kaiako curates within the Cogniti.ai application, a design led by Professor Danny Liu and hosted by the University of Sydney. Looking ahead, Rochelle hopes for the continued integration of chatbots into teaching. I hope they become a regular integration into our teaching. We found the chatbot very user friendly, very helpful and beneficial to our learning. Tobi Gumba. Photo: Supplied. Postgraduate akonga Tobi Gumba also had access to a customised chatbot during his course and says he found it to be an invaluable tool. Throughout the development of his Mentoring Framework, Tobi used the chatbot frequentlyhe primarily sought feedback on his work, getting positive and constructive critiques. Tobi describes the chatbot as user-friendly, albeit not perfect. "It was easy to use and extremely useful for feedback," he says. Tobi also received feedback from his professional colleague, ensuring his assessments were comprehensive. Tobi says being able to use the chatbot has significantly enhanced his understanding of course materials and boosted his confidence in seeking feedback. "An AI doesnt have emotions, which some people find intimidating in human interactions," he says. Transport Minister Simeon Brown's announcement that NZTA expects to begin procurement, enabling works and construction of the first seven roads of national significance - RONS - in the next three years is welcome news for the freight sector. "The appointment of a project team to accelerate consenting, property acquisition, and design, in combination with the engagement of construction partners for the first seven roads shows this Government is serious about investing in infrastructure," says National Road Carriers Policy & Advocacy GM James Smith. "It provides much needed certainty to the construction companies who can now invest in the people, resources and technology needed to deliver these critical projects." James says well planned roading that enables freight to be delivered safely and efficiently has been asked for by the transport industry for years. "It is extremely pleasing to see the Coalition Government is delivering on its transport promises. "The infrastructure can has been kicked down the road for far too long and action is long overdue." National Road Carriers Policy & Advocacy GM James Smith. Photo: Supplied. Better roading delivers for all New Zealanders, says James. "The economic growth that will be unlocked by the RONs will not only facilitate efficient movement of goods and services and boost local economies, but it also contributes to the overall well-being and prosperity of the country." He says these roads were well known "pain points" across the network. "Prioritising progress on the RONs promises to both improve and save the lives of those who use them. This announcement is very much welcomed by NRC members," says James. A young farmer from the Waikato has his last chance this year to win NZs ultimate farming title. The Piarere young farmer went from building to farming then back again before entering one of the countrys most prestigious farming contests for his last chance at stardom. Thirty-year-old Dennis Main has never quite escaped rural life, and the jack-of-all-trades wouldnt have it any other way. Hes hoping his skills will work to his benefit in the upcoming FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final. Im excited to draw on my experiences and I hope they can all contribute. My club and community have given me heaps of support, and I hope Ill make them proud as I navigate the unknown ahead. Dennis Main competing at the Waikato BOP regional final. Photo: Supplied. Following in the footsteps of last years FMG Young Farmer of the Year Emma Poole, all eyes will be on the Waikato Bay of Plenty. The adrenaline will be pumping. Ive got some big shoes to fill. The FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final kicks off in Hamilton on Thursday, July 11 and runs over three days. With thousands of spectators watching on, seven grand finalists will race against the clock and each other in a series of high-pressure challenges designed to test them on their farming knowledge and ability to think quickly. The title of FMG Young Farmer of The Year and over $90,000 worth of prizes will be up for grabs. Fourteen FMG Junior Young Farmers of the Year teams will also compete for a national title, along with 63 AgriKidsNZ competitors from across New Zealand. Te Awamutu College students Summer Korkie and Luke Pease are excited about the opportunity the FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final will give them. They hope their background in equestrian and dairy farming will give them an edge other teams may not have. Luke and I have been hard at work practising our practical skills, and we visited Fieldays to pick up some extra information," says Summer. "Now, were patiently waiting for the speech topic and prompts so we can crack on with some further study. Dennis Main competing at the Waikato BOP regional final. Photo: Supplied. The FMG Young Farmer of the Year competition is dedicated to showcasing the very best talent in New Zealands food and fibre sector. Now in its 56th year, the title of FMG Young Farmer of the Year is held up as one of the most prestigious farming awards in the country. The event, while popular with contestants, is also a fan favourite. The 2023 Grand Final in Timaru attracted hundreds of spectators, providing a substantial boost to the local economy over three days. New Zealand Young Farmers Chief Executive Lynda Coppersmith says this years Grand Final contestants come from a wide range of backgrounds so picking a winner is anyones guess. Weve got sheep and beef farmers, a fencing contractor, an agri-manager and even a builder it just goes to show the depth and variety of skills in Aotearoa and highlights the diversity of the food and fibre sector today. Lynda says a key highlight for her is watching the next generation of young farmers compete. The AgriKids and FMG Junior participants represent schools across the country. Their knowledge, skills and passion for the industry is impressive and certainly leaves us excited for the future of farming. New Zealands primary sector exports were worth more than $57 billion in the year to June 2023, accounting for 81.9 per cent of New Zealands merchandise exports. NZ Young Farmers has been part of the backbone of this primary industry for nearly 100 years, nurturing and supporting talent while growing connected communities. Coppersmith says its the regional communities and volunteers who have made the FMG Young Farmer of the Year the prestigious event it is today. We simply couldnt do it without the tireless work of our local committees, communities and volunteers. These are people who support us year in, year out, and were incredibly grateful to everyone who has played a part. The FMG Young Farmer of the Year Contest is proudly supported by FMG, Ravensdown, WorkSafe, Ministry for Primary Industries, Milwaukee, Woolworths, Honda, Lincoln University, Massey University, PTS Logistics, New Holland and Bushbuck. If you're passing the Harbour Bridge today after 6pm, you might notice the green and gold lighting design. International Paramedics Day, launched in 2022, is celebrated annually on July 8, marking the birth anniversary of Dominique-Jean Larrey, often hailed as the 'father of modern-day ambulance services.' This years theme is The Difference We Make. In New Zealand, paramedics make a crucial difference in communities across the motu every hour. Hato Hone St John services about 90 per cent of the countrys emergency ambulance needs, and Wellington Free Ambulance services Greater Wellington and the Wairarapa. Last year, Hato Hone St John responded to 437,960 incidents, averaging 1,203 incidents per daya 2 per cent increase from the previous year. Hato Hone St John boasts a dedicated workforce of 4594 ambulance officers, both paid and volunteer. Among them, 1457 are qualified paramedics, with 198 in specialist paramedic roles. This diverse skillset is fundamental to the exceptional healthcare service they provide. Following the organisations Annual Appeal, which encouraged New Zealanders to Light the Way by donating towards ambulance station builds and repairs, Vector Lights on the Auckland Harbour Bridge will light up in green and gold to commemorate this special day. Words cannot fully express my pride in the work our paramedics and ambulance teams do," says Hato Hone St John chief executive Peter Bradley. "They show up when people are at their most vulnerable and make a positive difference in their lives every single day. Its wonderful to see this iconic landmark lit up in green and gold. The Harbour Bridge has seen many an ambulance cross over it to aid those in need, so it will be a brilliant sight as it shines as a small token of recognition for the work our paramedics and all ambulance teams do. Our Wellington Free Ambulance paramedics make a difference to everyone in Greater Wellington and Wairarapa, providing support 24/7, 365 days a year," says Wellington Free Chief Executive Dave Robinson. "Our team of over 200 frontline paramedics is highly regarded by the community and their healthcare colleagues. "Its humbling to see their relentless drive for high clinical standards and compassion in responding to those in need. I am deeply grateful to every team member for their unwavering commitment to our community. Hato Hone St John and Wellington Free Ambulance encourage New Zealanders to join them in thanking all the wonderful paramedics around the country for the invaluable difference they make to local communities health and wellbeing. International Paramedics Day is organised by the College of Paramedics in the UK, with support from professional paramedic organisations worldwide. NEW DELHI, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Dengue has gripped several parts of India's southern state of Karnataka, even as nearly seven persons were suspected to have died due to the viral disease and over 7,000 cases registered, confirmed a state health department official. Over 1,000 cases were registered in the state capital Bengaluru alone. Among the districts severely affected by dengue were Hassan, Chikmagalur, Bengaluru and Mysore. Considering the rising number of dengue cases, federal lawmaker from the Bengaluru Rural constituency and noted cardiologist C.N. Manjunath urged the state government to declare dengue as a "state medical emergency." He warned that if the breeding of mosquitoes was not contained, it could also lead to Chikungunya, Zika, and other harmful diseases. Media reports quoted the lawmaker as saying, "The cases are soaring close to 7,000 in the state with about six to seven deaths. Hassan, Chikmagalur, Bengaluru, and Mysore, among other districts, are seeing a steep rise in dengue cases. The government has to declare a state medical emergency to control the infection." Meanwhile, the country's capital city New Delhi was too witnessing a dengue outbreak, even as a total of 240 cases had been registered till Saturday night. Syracuse, N.Y. A 28-year-old womans face was cut Saturday morning by a man who ran away after the assault in downtown Syracuse, police said. Police found a woman with a slash on her forehead when they arrived in the 400 block of East Washington Street at 3:01 a.m., Syracuse police said Sunday. The man had swung a large knife at the woman, causing the cut, police said. The man then ran away from the area on foot, they said. The woman was taken to Upstate University Hospital and is in stable condition, they said. Police ask anyone with information about the stabbing to call the departments Criminal Investigations Division at (315) 442-5222. Staff writer Timia Cobb covers breaking news. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at tcobb@syracuse.com. The following letters were submitted to syracuse.com | The Post-Standard about the June 27 debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump that aired on CNN. To the editor: The Democratic Party needs a presidential candidate who can rid us of the hateful rhetoric and threat presented by the Republican leadership of Donald Trump. Rather than an inexorable decline into autocracy, we need world level democratic leadership. The person most able to provide that leadership and rid us of MAGA is Michelle Obama. In my opinion, she must put aside her personal wishes for privacy and take her innate abilities and vast experience and become a noteworthy leader of the free world. President Biden needs to step aside and present America with a cant miss candidate to win the November election. Tom Ryan Manlius, NY To the editor: Any politician or journalist that was surprised by Joe Bidens debate performance is either stupid or lying. Nothing has been more obvious than Bidens decline. To feign shock only exposes reasons you should be fired or voted out of office. To be that inept or deceitful is beyond belief. Ive often written letters to this paper saying that democracy isnt in danger but after witnessing the recent behavior of the mainstream media and democrat politicians I now have doubts. That half the people in government and most of the media can ignore the obvious decline of our president is frightening. Their actions are driven by a thirst for power thats fueled with their hatred of Trump. The destruction caused by this behavior can only be ignored by those who put personal power above country. That type of person isnt qualified to be a politician or a journalist. The politician should put the people first. The journalist should make sure the politician does just that. Both have failed miserably. Alan Pack Manlius NY To the Editor: As a strong supporter of President Biden, I, like everyone else, was disappointed by his performance last Thursday. But my far greater concern is what has happened in the aftermath. I am greatly concerned by all the focus of the mainstream media and some in public office on whether or not Biden is still fit for the office of president rather than on the horrors of what a Trump presidency would bring. My great fear is that what they are doing increases the possibility that that could happen. This morning, I watched a video of a very good conversation between esteemed historian, educator, and author Heather Cox Richardson and CNNs Christiane Amanpour. She talks about the horrifying Supreme Court decision last week granting presidential immunity from criminal conduct while the person is conducting official duties. Richardson does mention the debate and agrees that Bidens performance was disappointing. But she expresses her grave concern over what much of the mainstream media as well as some leaders in the Democratic party are emphasizing, despite the huge stakes in this election and stresses that we absolutely must elect Biden. (She points out that, historically, when another candidate is put in at this point, the Democratic candidate loses, e.g. Hubert Humphreys loss after he replaced the resigning Lyndon Johnson). She mentions her own positive interactions with Biden, what a very good president he has been, etc. But what she emphasizes most and what I want to emphasize is that this is not the time to focus on possible failings in the Democratic alternative to Trump. His election would be horrifying and he almost certainly would refuse to leave office after four years. Shelley Conture Syracuse, NY To the editor: I write to raise some questions. 1. Ive had my fill of what weve come to call political debates. Maybe Im old-school, but the going model for these events would never meet the definitions of a debate. Not just what happened on June 27, 2024, between Joseph Biden and Donald Trump but all those previous presidential debates of the 20th and 21st centuries. Check a dictionary. You will find such words as individuals and/or teams arguing one side or another on an agreed upon question or issue; they should be prepared, considered, deliberative in engaging the topic. Have you seen anything like that anytime recently? Are selected moderators effective in supporting this kind of discussion? 2. Why has this present model evolved to become the template of presidential debates? I think the present model makes good theater and raises audience numbers. It doesnt require serious preparation for the participants. As I prepared to watch on June 27, I realized I didnt have to get up to speed on any issue, just tune in and see what they will be saying. I ended up being greatly stressed early in the experience and decided to just tune in (four times) and see how things were going. Badly. On both debaters parts. 3. Now, its over and the pundits are making hay of it. Why has virtually ALL the post-debate discussion centered on President Bidens performance? Why has there been no discussion of Mr. Trumps ranting, braggadocio, disregard for facts, enormous self-promotion, disrespect for people struggling to make a life (e.g. immigrants and refugees like those in our own life histories), and, yes, BULLYING. Was it a performance demonstrating worthiness and readiness to hold the office of President? It was a performance fit for any person contemplating bullying behaviors themselves. Like we are dealing with every day - in our schools, parks, traffic, homes, and yes, in the halls of government. Mary L. Gardner Skaneateles, NY Jeroen Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Delhi Posts: 8,551 Thanked: 56,379 Times View My Garage Re: Your review of Air India | 2 years since Tata took over Over the years we have experience, as you can imagine an number of hurricanes during our visits In general Barbados is located too far south and east to be in the direct path of a hurricane. Have a look here: The few hurricanes that make it out to Barbados are always reduced to tropical depressions. Even so with a hurricane passing close by, the island is pounded by high winds and lots and lots of rain. The island is made up of coral. So within hours of the rain stopping most of the flooding on the island tends to be completely gone. It is quite amazing. Water could be running a mater high in some streets. A few hours later it is gone completely. Wind can and does some damage, but on the whole the island is pretty well prepared for hurricanes. So Barbados usually has just a very short period of disruption due to hurricane alerts. Its something everybody on the island takes seriously, but nobody worries too much. Happens every year several times. We have never had damage to our properties. From all the islands out in the Caribbean, Barbados is probably the best to ride out a hurricane. In fact that is how I met my wife. I was out on a freight ship in the Caribbean and we wanted to shelter for a hurricane. So we docked at nearby Barbados. I went ashore, met my wife and a year later we got married. Rest is history as they say. Of course, non local folks have little to no knowledge on these matters. And might go to extreme lengths to leave the island prior or as quickly after the hurricane has past. In my experience, that is simply not necessary. Jeroen Just a few facts on Barbados and hurricanes. My wife grew up in Barbados, we met in Barbados, we got married in Barbados. In the past 45 years I must have visited 70-80 times. We still owe propert in Barbados. My wife left Barbados when she went to university in the UK at the age of 18.,over the last five years she has spend about 3-4 month a year at Barbados to look after her mum who was very ill. So usually three trips a year every year for her.Over the years we have experience, as you can imagine an number of hurricanes during our visitsIn general Barbados is located too far south and east to be in the direct path of a hurricane. Have a look here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...dos_hurricanes The few hurricanes that make it out to Barbados are always reduced to tropical depressions.Even so with a hurricane passing close by, the island is pounded by high winds and lots and lots of rain. The island is made up of coral. So within hours of the rain stopping most of the flooding on the island tends to be completely gone. It is quite amazing. Water could be running a mater high in some streets. A few hours later it is gone completely.Wind can and does some damage, but on the whole the island is pretty well prepared for hurricanes.So Barbados usually has just a very short period of disruption due to hurricane alerts. Its something everybody on the island takes seriously, but nobody worries too much. Happens every year several times. We have never had damage to our properties.From all the islands out in the Caribbean, Barbados is probably the best to ride out a hurricane.In fact that is how I met my wife. I was out on a freight ship in the Caribbean and we wanted to shelter for a hurricane. So we docked at nearby Barbados. I went ashore, met my wife and a year later we got married. Rest is history as they say.Of course, non local folks have little to no knowledge on these matters. And might go to extreme lengths to leave the island prior or as quickly after the hurricane has past. In my experience, that is simply not necessary.Jeroen Last edited by Jeroen : 4th July 2024 at 20:43 . Jeroen Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Delhi Posts: 8,551 Thanked: 56,379 Times View My Garage Finally: My own Nodding Donkey (Pumpjack) But you might well be familiar with the sight of these things: Nodding Donkeys are officially known as Pumpjacks. Not sure which official came up with that name, but Wikipedia says so. These contraptions are known under different names as well, such as: beam pump, walking beam pump, horsehead pump, nodding donkey pump (donkey pumper), rocking horse pump, grasshopper pump, sucker rod pump, dinosaur pump, Big Texan pump, thirsty bird pump, hobby horse, or just pumping unit. And that is in the English language only. I am sure many countries have local names for these things. In the Netherlands, we call them "Ja-Knikkers". Which means as much as Yes-nodding. I find these things fascinating. Very simple devices, come in quite a number of different varieties. Just a basic diagram of how these devices work. Pretty simple as you can see. Not much explanation is required. Nodding Donkeys have a bit of special meaning to me. Or rather bring special memories. My wife grew up in Barbados. A tiny island in the Caribbean. As you can imagine we have visited the island many times over the last 45 years or so. Also with our children (and these days grandchildren) On the island, they have some oil wells. Especially in the southern part of the island there used to be dozens and dozens of these nodding donkeys. Most of them are gone or out of commission these days. But when our kids were little there were plenty around. And they were fascinated! They could not get enough of them. Whenever we got in the car to go somewhere they would get all excited. They would play, spot the first nodding donkey, who sees the most nodding donkeys and so on. My father-in-law, i.e. their granddad, used to take them around the valley where my inlaws lived, just to see the nodding donkeys! Seeing a lonely nodding donkey somewhere out in the field, going up and down, slowly, but relentlessly, is somehow a bit of a hypnotic sight. These lonely mechanical devices bring up oil, 24/7 without any oversight! When we lived in Kansas City I recall driving some 6-7 hours out onto the prairies to an oil museum. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere. As expected many different kinds of nodding donkeys! So when I came across a "real working model of a Nodding Donkey" I had to have it immediately! Let us not discuss cost, because when you deal in important matters such as these cost is no issue. "Take my money" is the only appropriate amount. It arrived the next day by courier. It comes in this nice box, with some nice images on it. A lot of Chinese on the box too. Things get even better when you open the box. Parts are all beautifully laid out, with numbers and a very thick assembly instruction book! Me being an engineer and a terrible nerd, first thing is to read the complete manual front to back, of course! The box is full of parts, hundreds of parts. Also a box with all the small bits. Bolts, nuts, washers, O-rings etc. Hundreds and hundreds! Putting the nodding donkey together is a fairly easy process. I will show you some of the steps. I have also made a video, posted towards the end, in which you can see it actually pumping!! The piston rod comes with its own little check valve. The drill well on this model is only a few centimetres deep, essentially the thickness of the base as you will see. On the real donkey, this bit would be sitting towards the bottom of the well. So the oil is not sucked up to the surface but pushed (or pumped) up from the well. (Sucking won't work as you would not be able to go deeper than approximately 8-9 meters at best. The base plate with the Filter Box and the stuffing box. Inside the stuffing box is another check valve. This is a composite part made up of an L-shaped faucet and a small piece of silicone tube. Very tight fit, I put some Vaseline on the faucet to get the tube over it. They call this cylindrical part over the piston rod the wellbore cover. Notice the spring. Real nodding donkeys don't have springs. The piston will move downwards because of its own weight and gravity. In the model weight and gravity needs a bit of assistance. Hence the spring! All fitted together The kit comes with some simple tools. A screwdriver, some small Allen keys and one large open-ended spanner. The other tools I used are some tweezers, a flathead screwdriver and some pliers. The tweezers are really necessary to pick out the parts from the little box with bolts, nuts and so on. I only took out the parts I needed for each instruction as per the manual. The little electric engine comes together with a small gearbox. You bolt it onto a large flange. (Large being a relative term here, obviously!) I am not sure how many of you will be familiar with the term "Nodding Donkey".But you might well be familiar with the sight of these things:Nodding Donkeys are officially known as Pumpjacks. Not sure which official came up with that name, but Wikipedia says so. These contraptions are known under different names as well, such as: beam pump, walking beam pump, horsehead pump, nodding donkey pump (donkey pumper), rocking horse pump, grasshopper pump, sucker rod pump, dinosaur pump, Big Texan pump, thirsty bird pump, hobby horse, or just pumping unit.And that is in the English language only. I am sure many countries have local names for these things. In the Netherlands, we call them "Ja-Knikkers". Which means as much as Yes-nodding.I find these things fascinating. Very simple devices, come in quite a number of different varieties.Just a basic diagram of how these devices work. Pretty simple as you can see. Not much explanation is required.Nodding Donkeys have a bit of special meaning to me. Or rather bring special memories. My wife grew up in Barbados. A tiny island in the Caribbean. As you can imagine we have visited the island many times over the last 45 years or so. Also with our children (and these days grandchildren) On the island, they have some oil wells. Especially in the southern part of the island there used to be dozens and dozens of these nodding donkeys. Most of them are gone or out of commission these days.But when our kids were little there were plenty around. And they were fascinated! They could not get enough of them. Whenever we got in the car to go somewhere they would get all excited. They would play, spot the first nodding donkey, who sees the most nodding donkeys and so on. My father-in-law, i.e. their granddad, used to take them around the valley where my inlaws lived, just to see the nodding donkeys!Seeing a lonely nodding donkey somewhere out in the field, going up and down, slowly, but relentlessly, is somehow a bit of a hypnotic sight. These lonely mechanical devices bring up oil, 24/7 without any oversight!When we lived in Kansas City I recall driving some 6-7 hours out onto the prairies to an oil museum. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere. As expected many different kinds of nodding donkeys!So when I came across a "real working model of a Nodding Donkey" I had to have it immediately! Let us not discuss cost, because when you deal in important matters such as these cost is no issue. "Take my money" is the only appropriate amount.It arrived the next day by courier.It comes in this nice box, with some nice images on it. A lot of Chinese on the box too.Things get even better when you open the box. Parts are all beautifully laid out, with numbers and a very thick assembly instruction book!Me being an engineer and a terrible nerd, first thing is to read the complete manual front to back, of course!The box is full of parts, hundreds of parts.Also a box with all the small bits. Bolts, nuts, washers, O-rings etc. Hundreds and hundreds!Putting the nodding donkey together is a fairly easy process. I will show you some of the steps. I have also made a video, posted towards the end, in which you can see it actually pumping!!The piston rod comes with its own little check valve. The drill well on this model is only a few centimetres deep, essentially the thickness of the base as you will see. On the real donkey, this bit would be sitting towards the bottom of the well. So the oil is not sucked up to the surface but pushed (or pumped) up from the well. (Sucking won't work as you would not be able to go deeper than approximately 8-9 meters at best.The base plate with the Filter Box and the stuffing box. Inside the stuffing box is another check valve.This is a composite part made up of an L-shaped faucet and a small piece of silicone tube. Very tight fit, I put some Vaseline on the faucet to get the tube over it.They call this cylindrical part over the piston rod the wellbore cover. Notice the spring. Real nodding donkeys don't have springs. The piston will move downwards because of its own weight and gravity. In the model weight and gravity needs a bit of assistance. Hence the spring!All fitted togetherThe kit comes with some simple tools. A screwdriver, some small Allen keys and one large open-ended spanner. The other tools I used are some tweezers, a flathead screwdriver and some pliers.The tweezers are really necessary to pick out the parts from the little box with bolts, nuts and so on. I only took out the parts I needed for each instruction as per the manual.The little electric engine comes together with a small gearbox. You bolt it onto a large flange. (Large being a relative term here, obviously!) An aerial drone photo shows rescuers working to block the dike breach in the Dongting Lake in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) CHANGSHA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of rescuers, including firefighters, hydrologists, volunteers and police, have joined hands to protect people's lives and property following a dike breach on Friday at Dongting Lake, China's second-largest freshwater lake in central China's Hunan Province. At 5:48 p.m. on Friday, a Dongting Lake dike burst in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County, administered by the city of Yueyang in Hunan Province, causing flooding in the area. The breach was initially about 10 meters wide but later expanded. Following the immediate relocation of around 5,000 residents from the affected area, urgent measures have been taken to repair the breach. As of Sunday noon, 75 meters of the 226-meter breach in the dike had been sealed, according to the Yueyang flood control and drought relief headquarters. Rescuers are also racing against time to reinforce a 14.3-kilometer-long embankment, viewed as the "second line of defense," located around 2 kilometers from the breached dike. As of 2:40 p.m. Saturday, the water levels both inside and outside the breach had nearly matched, while the water flow had slowed down. Zhang Xuanzhuang, with the China Anneng Group First Engineering Bureau Co., Ltd., noted that the repair work was expected to take four days. At the national emergency management headquarters in Beijing, a large central screen showed live footage of the breached dike, while screens on the sides displayed scrolling hydrological data, geographical conditions, rescue operations, and related information. The Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM), the Ministry of Water Resources and the China Meteorological Administration have continued their joint efforts to conduct consultations and video links with front-line teams and local authorities in Hunan, to monitor the progress of rescue and relief operations, as well as the need for personnel, materials and equipment. A work team has also been dispatched to Hunan to guide rescue efforts, according to the MEM. As of Saturday night, over 1,400 personnel from the China National Comprehensive Fire and Rescue Team had arrived at the site. The MEM's natural disaster emergency rescue center has also deployed 350 professionals to support rescue efforts. According to the Yueyang flood control and drought relief headquarters, 4,739 rescuers have rushed to join the frontlines as of 2 p.m. on Sunday. Surveying drones and remote sensing satellites are being used to collect images of the breach and the surrounding affected area, while an emergency rescue vessel from the provincial capital Changsha has arrived to assist with placing sandbags to block the breach. Additionally, emergency supplies have been dispatched to evacuation and resettlement areas for the affected residents. At a vocational school dormitory in Huarong County, more than 700 affected residents are being housed. In addition, students have volunteered to take necessities such as food and groceries to the villagers. "Thanks to door-to-door visits by township officials and loudspeaker warnings in the village, my husband and I evacuated in time," said Ye Yanjiao from Tuanbei Village, who is in her 70s. "We feel safe staying here," she added. According to staff at the resettlement point, over 120 volunteers are working hard to provide services and support at the school. As of Friday, 5,000 family emergency kits had been organized and dispatched to Hunan from storage facilities across the country. Hunan is not the only region to experience persistent heavy rains since the start of the flood season, with many other parts of the country also facing major risks and threats to local embankments and reservoirs. Government agencies of meteorology, water conservancy, natural resources, and urban and rural development have provided flood control instructions for 18 rain-affected regions, including Hunan, Shandong, Henan and Shaanxi. Local governments are prioritizing the monitoring of rain and flooding, while also creating contingency plans and reinforcing flood control facilities. An aerial drone photo shows rescuers working to block the dike breach in the Dongting Lake in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) An aerial drone photo shows rescuers working to block the dike breach in the Dongting Lake in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) An aerial drone photo shows rescuers working to block the dike breach in the Dongting Lake in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo) An aerial drone photo shows rescuers working to block the dike breach in the Dongting Lake in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) An aerial drone photo shows rescuers working to block the dike breach in the Dongting Lake in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo) An aerial drone photo shows rescuers working to block the dike breach in the Dongting Lake in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) An aerial drone photo shows rescuers working to block the dike breach in the Dongting Lake in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) An aerial drone photo shows rescuers working to block the dike breach in the Dongting Lake in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) An aerial drone photo shows rescuers working to block the dike breach in the Dongting Lake in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) An aerial drone photo shows rescuers working to block the dike breach in the Dongting Lake in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) An aerial drone photo shows rescuers working to block the dike breach in the Dongting Lake in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo) An aerial drone photo shows rescuers working to block the dike breach in the Dongting Lake in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) An aerial drone photo shows rescuers working to block the dike breach in the Dongting Lake in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo) Phone scammers demanding passcodes are still among the widespread security threats today that hurt people financially and psychologically. To help combat this persisting menace, Macquarie University Professor Dali Kaafar and his colleagues produced speaking AI bots. Based on his extensive research, Kaafar established Apate, named after the Greek goddess of deceit, to counter worldwide phone scams with conversational AI. Apate exploits telecom providers' systems to reroute scam calls, per The Guardian. Giving Scammers a Dose of Their Own Medicine In one incident, Kaafar pranked a scam caller at a picnic with his kids, which motivated him to invent this technique. A clever "dad's joke" kept the scammer on the line and entertained his kids. This encounter inspired the idea of tricking fraudsters and wasting their time to prevent them from attacking others. The Apate AI bots are advanced, featuring various ages, accents, emotions, and personalities. These bots engage fraudsters from naive to suspicious to nasty. Apate's technology and $720,000 from the Office of National Intelligence have helped Australian telecoms reject roughly 2 billion scam calls since December 2020. Telecommunications companies might reroute scam calls to Apate. The bots then attempt alternative tactics to keep the fraudsters on the line. This method wastes fraudsters' time but provides crucial information on new scams, such as call duration, peak scam periods, and strategies. Kaafar, in the long run, expects Apate will hurt the phone scamming business model of multibillion-dollar criminal enterprises. Their next move is to utilize AI to alert victims and stop fraud in real time. Scamwatch, conducted by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC's) National Anti-Scam Centre (NASC), advises consumers to ignore scammers. Moreover, they monitor technology projects like Apate and want to evaluate their efficacy. Experts say efforts against phone scams must improve as criminals develop more sophisticated methods using the latest technology, such as artificial intelligence. Read also: In addition to smishing, hackers may imitate someone and distribute malware. Cybersecurity expert Ravichandran says hackers may easily divert cell phone numbers or send phishing emails to get personal data. These communications often contain links to fraudulent websites that steal personal data. Aside from using anti-fraud technologies, security experts advise caution when receiving unsolicited emails, especially ones asking for personal information or requesting clicks on unknown URLs. How to Spot Phone Scams Phone scammers utilize tempting offers, philanthropic pleas, and official affiliations to attract victims. They often urge people to make snap judgments without thinking. According to the site of the Texas Attorney General, here are common phone scam warning signs to watch out for: Scammers may claim to have selected you for an offer. To build urgency, they deploy high-pressure sales practices and "limited-time" offers. Scammers avoid inquiries about their businesses or propositions. Requests for Personal Details: They may "confirm your personal information" to steal your identity. Scammers may seek cash, gift cards, wire transfers, or private couriers instead of credit cards. Fraudsters may request your credit card or other payment method for "shipping and handling" costs. Scammers may use threats and intimidation to get what they want from potential victims. Security experts advise netizens to always check for unsolicited offers and demands for personal information or cash. As the hype about AI continues to rock the tech world, the rivalry between AMD and Nvidia is also heating up. However, one of them holds a massive lead. Today, Nvidia is the most valuable company in the world, thanks to its advancements in AI. However, this landscape could have looked vastly different if one pivotal event in the mid-to-late 2000s had unfolded differently. Missed Nvidia-AMD Merger Opportunity According to insiders (via Tom's Hardware), AMD was on the brink of purchasing Nvidia during its early days. This revelation came to light through Hemant Mohapatra, a former AMD engineer, who detailed the near acquisition on X. So now that Nvidia has far outstripped the market cap of AMD and Intel, I thought this would be a fun story to tell. I spent 6+yrs @ AMD engg in mid to late 2000s helping design the CPU/APU/GPUs that we see today. Back then it was unimaginable for AMD to beat Intel in market-cap pic.twitter.com/bYCS5vY0QO Hemant Mohapatra (@MohapatraHemant) July 5, 2024 At the time, Hector Ruiz who was AMD's CEO from 2002 to 2008, approached Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, with an enticing proposal. AMD, struggling to compete against Intel, saw an opportunity to join forces with Nvidia to strengthen its position in the market. The deal seemed promising, but a major hurdle emerged during negotiations. Hector Ruiz wanted to lead the combined entity, but Jensen Huang had other plans. Huang insisted on retaining the CEO position in the merged company, believing his vision and strategies were crucial for Nvidia's success. "AMD almost bought Nvidia but Jensen wasn't ready to sell unless he replace Hector Ruiz of AMD as the CEO of the joint company," Mohapatra recounted. What Happened Next? Jensen Huang's refusal to relinquish control of Nvidia was not merely a power play; it was rooted in his strategic vision for the company. Mohapatra also said that Huang had a long-term plan to lock Nvidia's GPU technology to the proprietary and closed-source CUDA model. This strategy was pivotal in positioning Nvidia as a leader in the AI and GPU markets. Faced with Huang's ultimatum, AMD opted to abandon the merger and instead acquired ATI, bringing the Radeon brand under its umbrella. This move allowed AMD to continue its pursuit of innovation in the GPU market, though it missed the chance to merge with Nvidia. Nvidia's Meteoric Rise The decision to keep Nvidia independent proved to be a great one. Nvidia's market value has since skyrocketed, surpassing $3 trillion, a milestone achieved last month. In recent months, Nvidia has also overtaken tech giants like Apple and Microsoft to become the world's most valuable company. The company's revenue tripled in the most recent fiscal quarter compared to the previous year, reaching $26 billion. Projections for 2025 estimate Nvidia's revenue will be near $117 billion, with a net margin of 53.4%, underscoring its profitability. Despite not acquiring Nvidia, AMD has also seen significant growth. In March 2024, a rally in semiconductor stocks pushed AMD's valuation above $300 billion for the first time in its history. Stay posted here at Tech Times. DAR ES SALAAM, July 7 (Xinhua) -- At least 28 Ethiopian illegal immigrants were detained Friday night in the Arusha region, northern Tanzania after a truck they were traveling in was involved in a road accident, an official said Sunday. The Arusha region immigration official Dickson Mwandikile said the illegal immigrants were arrested after they disembarked the truck after it collided with another car near Kisongo airstrip on the outskirts of Arusha city. "None of the immigrants got injured after the accident," the immigration official told Xinhua over the telephone. Mwandikile said preliminary investigations showed that the illegal immigrants entered Tanzania through the Kenyan border and were in transit to South Africa. He said the immigration authorities were charging the immigrants in court for entering the country without valid travel permits. LOS ANGELES, July 6 (Xinhua) -- The flames from railcars carrying hazardous material have been mostly extinguished one day after a train derailed in the midwestern U.S. state of North Dakota, local media reported on Saturday. Foster County Emergency Manager Andrew Kirking was quoted by KFYR Television station as saying that firefighters carried out operations Friday night and Saturday morning at the site of the train derailment near Carrington County, east of Foster County. Most of the fire has been extinguished, with only occasional flare-ups as railcars were moved, the report said. Contents of the derailed cars included methanol, anhydrous ammonia and plastic pellets, and air monitoring has consistently shown zero-percent air contamination in the area, Kirking said. The train carrying hazardous materials derailed and caught fire early Friday morning with no injuries reported, according to the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size The reason Faye Dunaway was such a powerful actor, says her son Liam Dunaway ONeill in the documentary Faye, is because she would keep her emotions inside, and then when she had to act a scene, she would let it out. Her approach won her an Oscar in 1977 for Network, in which she played a tough-as-nails television news boss, and nabbed her two more nominations, for Chinatown in 1975 and Bonnie and Clyde, just her second film, in 1968. But it also earned her a reputation as difficult, a perception that ultimately came to overwhelm all other aspects of her career. Faye, directed by Frenchman Laurent Bouzereau in his first standalone feature doc after decades shooting behind-the-scenes material for Steven Spielberg, tackles that perception head on. And his intimate but unflinching portrait reveals Dunaway not merely as a highly strung diva, but as someone who was living with mental illness. I had periods where I was very depressed and I was very moody, she says in the film. I actually have, we might as well say, a bipolar diagnosis. Faye Dunaway photographed for the cover of Newsweek magazine in 1968. Dunaway is 83 now. But it was only a few years ago that, at the urging of her son, she visited a clinic in Boston, was diagnosed and received treatment. And she came out, Liam says in the film, like a whole new person. Sitting beside her director in an interview room at the Cannes Film Festival, where Faye debuted in May, Dunaway is charming. But there are still hints of the irascibility of old. Advertisement I didnt understand the first thing you said, she says in response to a question in heavily accented English from a Polish journalist. Im yawning, she says in response to another. Im a little tired. Im sorry. She asks for a curtain to be closed, because theres just too much light coming into her eyes. Its just so bright. Not that one. No no. That one there. Just close it all the way. Faye is a riveting watch, dwelling at length on the key films Bonnie and Clyde, The Thomas Crown Affair, Network, Chinatown, Eyes of Laura Mars, the much (and unfairly) maligned Mommie Dearest, Barfly and reminding us that Dunaway at her peak was not just one of the most beautiful women ever to grace the screen but also an actor of extraordinary power. With Warren Beatty in Bonnie and Clyde (1967). Credit: Warner Bros She picked characters she could relate to, she says, and poured a bit of herself into each of them. But in turn, something of the women she played leached into her. Without overtly identifying as a feminist, she was forging her own path at a time when the studios grip on the sorts of films that got made, and the sort of roles actors could choose, was loosening. Advertisement I just wanted to do what I wanted to do, and I didnt so much care that it wasnt allowed by men, she says in Cannes. I just forged ahead, you know, thats what I did. It was desire. I suppose you can call it ambition, an ambition to achieve certain things, and I didnt hide it. I think playing those kinds of characters, the independent woman, the woman who has a life of her own the kinds of characters I played have been right in there with [the feminist] movement, she adds. Faye does, of course, detail some of the moments when diva Dunaway came to the fore, including a blow-up with director Roman Polanski on the set of Chinatown over a stray hair that refused to sit down (for what its worth, Polanski comes off no better in this tale than his star). It also includes a clip of Bette Davis no shrinking violet herself telling talk show host Johnny Carson that Dunaway was the worst person she had ever performed with. Dunaway doesnt flinch from these stories. But being able to label the source of her sometimes erratic behaviour has come as a relief. Its an excitement, and the opposite of that, of course, is theres sadness, she says of bipolar. So when I realised what was affecting my behaviour, I was very glad to know, because it explained it. But as I say in the documentary, youre still responsible for your actions. It may explain them, but it doesnt excuse them necessarily, if theyve been painful for other people. Watching the clips from her movies again, what leaps out is the raw power and emotional strength of her performance. And in the light of the bipolar diagnosis, its hard not to conclude that her talent was directly related to her ability to tap the wellspring of emotional turmoil within. That, at least, is how Dunaway herself sees it. Advertisement I had those aspects in my behaviour, I think in fact they helped the performances, because that kind of emotional scope was something you could pull on and draw on for the character, she says. But it was also a mixed bag. You dont want it in life, but in my particular world, you kind of need it, you need that up, and you need the down, and you need the complexity in between. I think it was a necessary part of what I did, my craft, she continues. Thats what we do, we use all of those emotions. So I think it was a curse and a blessing. I think its just as well to curb it in your life, to control it and understand it and to make your behaviour conform more to other people, she adds. I think Ive learned to do that to some degree. Faye is on Foxtel and Binge from July 14. Contact the author at kquinn@theage.com.au, follow him on Facebook at karlquinnjournalist and Twitter at @karlkwin, and read more of his work here. Advertisement In the 1997 film Romy and Micheles High School Reunion, Romy (Mira Sorvino) and Michele (Lisa Kudrow) take their 10-year high school reunion as an opportunity to show their classmates how much cooler and successful they have become since high school. Their elaborate plan, which includes lying about their careers and claiming to have invented Post-Its, spins out of control, ultimately providing sticky notes full of reasons why attending your high school reunion may not be the greatest idea for some people. Romy and Micheles High School Reunion follows Michele, played by Lisa Kudrow (left) and Romy, played by Mira Sorvino (right) to their high school reunion. Credit: Touchstone Pictures But in the real world, how do you decide to go or just stay home? Dr Rebecca Ray, a clinical psychologist and author of Difficult People, says its complicated. Deciding whether to attend a school reunion can be stressful because it stirs up emotions and memories from adolescence, a time that is harrowing to relive for many people, she says. Money editor Dominic Powell and our experts share tips on how to save, invest and make the most of your money. Real Money, a free weekly newsletter giving expert tips on how to save, invest and make the most of your money, is sent every Sunday. Youre reading an excerpt sign up to get the whole newsletter in your inbox. 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? NDIS Minister Bill Shorten has taken to the airwaves again to argue the case for reforms to the disability insurance scheme to curb its spiralling cost. The ex-Labor leader has lashed the Coalition and the Greens recently for delaying legislation which aims to restrict expenditure within the NDIS in areas of questionable merit or for the automatic top-up of support packages. Bill Shorten this month with the mobile billboard being used to campaign against the Coalition and Greens. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen In June, Coalition and Greens senators sent the laws to the upper houses community affairs committee for review, which is due to report back in August. Shorten claims the delay will cost taxpayers $1 billion, but Senate committee members have previously said they needed to hear from participants in the scheme at two more public hearings and consider potential amendments to the draft law. Some disability advocates, such as People with Disability Australia president Marayke Jonkers, have also pushed back against the proposed reform, arguing they need detail, not just reassurances, on things like methods for assessing needs and funding plans. Loading Last week in parliament, Shorten used some colourful examples of the type of services and goods his proposals would stop being funded including the Liberal favourite, sex toys to maintain pressure on the opposition and Greens to agree to his reforms. On ABC radio this afternoon, Shorten said his examples werent particularly common forms of NDIS expenditure, admitting using the word sex is clickbait but stressed it showed the scheme needed reform to maintain its social license. The reality is, its not what the schemes about, Shorten said. I respect that some people might need assistance to be able to be sexually healthy use your [disability support pension]. As a funded service, Im fighting to make sure people get their wheelchairs, their autism therapies, their home modifications. I dont want to make the perfect be the enemy of the good. And with this scheme, unfortunately, it has been not run as tightly as it should be, and as a result, I want to create the social licence so that this scheme can outlast me, Peter Dutton, Prime Minister [Anthony] Albanese, and be there for future generations. More venue closure news has rocked Brisbanes hospitality and live entertainment scene with the announcement Caxton Streets Brewski will be closing its doors at the end of August. Matt Emmerson and Antoinette Pollock opened the space in 2013 when the Petrie Terrace precinct was almost exclusively tailored to a non-craft beer footy crowd. It soon enjoyed a popular following as part of the 2010s revolution of smaller venues serving independent brewers and distillers and also hosted live music and trivia events. Then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel even stopped in during the 2014 G20 summit. German Chancellor Angela Merkel dropped by Brisbane bar Brewski during the G20. Credit: Brewski/Facebook The accompanying bottle shop My Beer Dealer will also close, however its two other outlets at Eagle Junction and Mornigside will remain open. Beery Peoples, it is with a heavy heart that we tell you we have made the very tough decision to close Brewski and MBD Caxton Street at the end of August, the Brewski team wrote on social media. As we all know business is extra tough at the moment, our current lease had ended and despite our best efforts we were unable to reach an agreement with our landlord that made any financial sense to continue on. Customers and supporters voiced their sadness online over the news and frustration at the state of the industry and economy. You will definitely not be forgotten as one of the OG craft beer pubs in Queensland, one wrote, while another lamented the news as a monumental loss for the Brisbane Craft scene. Tonight will also be the venues final open-mic music gig. 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 Not long after the war began, three women went to their local member of parliament to register their dismay about Gaza. The women were aged in their late 20s or early 30s. One was a lawyer, another worked for a design firm. One wore a keffiyeh draped around her shoulders. The federal MP, who asked not to be identified for fear of inciting anti-Israel protesters to target his electorate office and staff, offered a considered response. He, too, was appalled at the deaths of innocent Palestinians and acknowledged the terrible history of oppression of people who live on the Gaza Strip. He also condemned the atrocities of October 7. It is here that the woman wearing the keffiyeh interjected. That never happened, she said. The 7th of October never happened. It is fake news. Young Israelis last month returned to the site of the Nova dance festival, the site of one of the worst massacres of October 7. Credit: AP This flat denial of murder, rape, and mutilation of Jewish and Arab Israelis, a daylight carnage captured on hundreds of security cameras, dash cameras, mobile phones and body cameras worn by the killers, left the MP flummoxed. That was in November, he says. Already, the disinformation campaign had done its work. Nimrod Palmach, an Israel Defence Forces reservist and among the first Israeli soldiers to arrive at Kibbutz Beeri where Hamas and other Palestinian militants killed nearly one in 10 residents, is disgusted but not surprised at the virulence of October 7 denial. Palmach saw things that day he will never forget. People shot in the head. Bodies of dead women, stripped half naked. Burnt corpses. I felt like I was in zombie land, he says. Advertisement He remembers a moment late in the day, as the kibbutz was wreathed in smoke and he was lying in the scrub pinned down by Palestinian gunmen whod taken control of a farm building. It occurred to him then that even if he survived to bear witness, some people would never believe him. I was shooting with one hand with a machine gun, and with the other hand, I am holding my phone to take photos and to document, he tells this masthead from Tel Aviv. We are the only country in the world that has to go through a massacre like this, an act of barbarism like this, and people will not believe us, will want to see proof, will blame us for manipulating the truth. Stephen Smith, a Los Angeles-based genocide scholar, says that October 7 denial, like Holocaust denial, is a spectrum of disinformation. There is flat-out denial, which is hard to justify because Hamas filmed themselves with their bodycams, he says. Its also minimisation and marginalisation of the significance of the event. It is making the public doubt the veracity of what occurred on that day. Reasonable attempts to confirm facts about October 7 are not denial, Smith says. Rather, it is the attempt to obscure, distort and misrepresent the deadliest day in Israels history. Posters of Israeli civilians abducted by Hamas were defaced in Inkerman Street, St Kilda East. Advertisement In Australia, this can be seen in avowed feminists refusing to accept that Jewish women were raped on October 7; a respected journalist promoting conspiracy theories about Benjamin Netanyahus government sacrificing its own citizens to secure a pretext to invade Gaza; a prominent Palestinian activist telling shoppers they have been lied to about October 7; and a vandal on Melbournes Inkerman Street scrawling the word fake across the image of Ariel Bibas, a four-year-old boy abducted by Hamas from a kibbutz. Sara Aniano, a disinformation analyst with the New York-based Anti-Defamation Leagues Centre on Extremism, says the prevalence of October 7 denial, although difficult to quantify, is disturbing. I have seen super progressive, left-wing influencers promote the same narrative as neo-Nazis, she says. We have seen state-sponsored media from Iran and Russia sowing division. It has been a mix of orchestrated, highly co-ordinated and more organic campaigns. Danny Ben-Moshe, a Walkley Award-winning, Melbourne film-maker and Holocaust researcher who travelled to Israel to help document the stories of Palmach and other October 7 survivors, is struck by the parallels between arguments used to deny the Holocaust and those now being employed to downplay the truth about what Hamas did nine months ago. The difference is the speed with which October 7 denial set in. A vigil in Tel Aviv for those killed or taken hostage by Hamas. Credit: Getty Images It took about 20 years for Holocaust denial to gain momentum. It took a matter of days for October 7 denial to take root, he says. Smith is a former executive director of the University of Southern Californias Shoah Foundation, an organisation founded by Hollywood director Steven Spielberg to record and preserve the testimonies of Holocaust survivors. He worked with Palmach and Ben-Moshe on Be the Witness, a sequence of short, virtual-reality films that tell the story of October 7 through the eyes of five survivors. Advertisement The project is funded by Israel-Is, a non-government organisation, at which Palmach, a 39-year-old father of two who describes himself as a social entrepreneur, is the chief executive. Smith has interviewed Holocaust survivors and travelled to Bangladesh to document harrowing accounts of the persecuted Rohingya people fleeing Myanmar. He says of the intensity of atrocity recorded on October 7: I dont even have a word for it. There was nothing off limits. Smith says confronting the truth of October 7 does not preclude critical examination of Israels conduct in a war that has killed an estimated 38,000 Palestinians. An Independent International Commission of Inquiry established by the United Nations Human Rights Council, in its first detailed findings on the conflict published last month, concluded that Israels security forces deliberately attacked civilians, including children, forced the displacement of 1.7 million Palestinians, degraded civilians, sexually humiliated women and used starvation as a method of war. Any of these, if proven by a court, would constitute war crimes. Genocide scholar Stephen Smith is documenting stories of October 7 survivors. Credit: Justin McManus By the same token, Smith says denying the nature of the October 7 attacks is to deny survivors the only meaningful justice they are likely to receive acceptance of their stories. I am not saying lower your critical faculties and take everything at face value, he tells this masthead during a recent trip to Sydney and Melbourne. But when an event like this takes place, when there is clear evidence of atrocities, diminishing that event is a terrible attack on individuals who are traumatised and struggling to present the truth of that day because they are having to push up against a barrage of disbelief or misinformation. Advertisement I am not just telling their story so people can know what happened, I am telling their story because within days of this atrocity, the memory of that is already under assault. There are well-documented examples, particularly in the chaotic days following the Hamas attacks, where either false or unsubstantiated allegations of atrocities were made. The most notorious was the reported discovery of 40 decapitated babies in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, an unverified claim first made by an Israeli television reporter after foreign journalists were taken to view the kibbutz. This horrific tale, now discredited, was repeated by an Israeli government spokesman and US President Joe Biden. A separate claim by a member of Hatzalah, an Israeli volunteer emergency service, about a baby being burnt to death in an oven, was never substantiated. What did happen on October 7 at Kibbutz Beeri and other sites in southern Israel is dispassionately laid out in a report published by the same commission of inquiry that delivered damning findings on Israels conduct in the war. Just before 7am, two Hamas militants ambushed a car stopped at the kibbutz security gate and executed the three occupants. A short time later, a convoy of about 60 fighters entered the kibbutz riding on motorbikes and on the back of pick-up trucks. Once inside, they went from house to house, killing whoever they found. That Saturday morning, they found mostly women, children and the elderly. They shot dead their youngest victim, nine-month-old Mila Cohen, in the arms of her mother. They killed four members of the same family a mother, father and two teenage sons while two younger children, aged 11 and 8, survived by hiding beneath the bodies of their dead family. They murdered 105 Beeri residents and abducted a further 30. The killers included members of Hamas military brigades and other armed Palestinian groups. According to the commission of inquiry, they set houses on fire when people were still inside, burnt, mutilated and decapitated bodies, stripped victims naked and used accelerants to set fire to their genitals. They stood over the bodies of their victims and posed for photographs. The commission concluded that women were sexually assaulted at multiple sites. Advertisement Two pilots were grounded during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to cheer themselves up, they turned to chocolate making in a Perth kitchen. Friends who tasted the results asked where they could buy more, and so their chocolate-making company, Two Lost Pilots, was born. Brett Holmes with samples of his Two Lost Pilots chocolate at The Australian Chocolate Festival. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui Brett Holmes and Brad Laver, both originally from Victoria, are back flying planes but when theyre at home in Perth, theyre making chocolates. Holmes says its fun. Also, everyone loves chocolate. Horses for courses There has been criticism of the first past the post system in the UK because Labour received 34 per cent of the vote yet won 63 per cent of the seats. Im reminded that the National Party in Australia only ever receives around 4 per cent of the vote and yet when the Coalition wins the general election the Nationals get cabinet positions including deputy prime minister. Doesnt sound particularly democratic. Phil Alexander, Eltham Youth crime Youth crime is totally out of control in Melbourne and the surrounding suburbs. Something must be done to curb this scourge. Twelve to 14-year-olds are old enough to know right from wrong. A 17 year-old has been charged for allegedly driving a car involved in a high-speed crash in a stolen car that killed a man of 28 who was studying to be a doctor. The person charged was bailed. Burying heads in the sand regarding this with weak excuses is totally unacceptable to our communities. What about the poor victims and the families affected by these crimes? More and more victims are being left with lifelong trauma. It is so difficult to source help when the health service industry is also in crisis. Where is the compensation for these victims who have to go through ridiculously, lengthy processes to gain any justice, causing even more stress. The Victorian government must do better to give the law enforcement the legislation to make sure this is addressed now. Bev Goss, Parkdale Ends dont meet I was drawn to write in response to Landlord anxiety (Letters, 6/7) that your correspondent is now paying $20 a week in land tax. I am reliant on the disability support pension. I find it difficult to muster empathy for them. I pay $330 a week in private rent, leaving me with just $300 a week to live on. I cant afford to run the gas heating in my home. The small fan heater that I do use only runs two hours a night, barely heating one room. It gets so cold of a winters night that I can see my breath in my lounge room. As for my bedroom, when I sleep my beard gets wet with condensation. Ive been unemployed for a total of 27 years because of health conditions. My last holiday was in 1993 when I was 19 and I drove along the Great Ocean Road for a couple of days. My last appointment with a dentist was in 2015 when I had to have eight teeth extracted. I try to make $60 of petrol last three weeks. My diet mainly consists of bread and milk, which isnt good for my type 2 diabetes. The last time I was in Melbourne was 2008, and I would love to return and browse the bookstores like Paperback Books and Hill of Content, but I cant afford to, and neither could I afford any of their books. I think the love of books is one of the few things which has kept me going these years. For your correspondent to say that $20 a week is greedy, when there are people in the community really struggling to survive each day, is disappointing. Daniel ODubhlaoich, Wendouree Share housing Many people in Australia are finding it increasingly difficult to locate and afford rental accommodation, including single mothers and their children, and older women who have limited finances due to relationship breakdowns and inadequate superannuation balances. At the same time, there are many pensioners, singles and couples, who own or rent their dwellings but are experiencing tight finances and often lonely and isolated lifestyles. The Commonwealth could make a big difference to the circumstances of all of these cohorts by allowing pensioners to take in boarders, at a modest rent, without an impact on their pensions. This would help people to find satisfactory and affordable accommodation, ease the general pressure on rents, reduce the need to build more dwellings, and enable pensioners to enjoy less lonely lives with a little extra money for creature comforts. All this without any effect on the Commonwealths budget. Andrew Trembath, Blackburn East of Eden Thank you for your great article on Moorabbin (6/7). I grew up there and in my day the most exciting thing to do was hanging around Southland or the Moorabbin Bowls, listening to the Moorabbin Bowies boast about their run-ins with the Sandy Boys or the Brighton Beach Boys. I even worked at Philip Morris. But Moorabbin has changed, its full of fancy eateries and drinking spots, several on Station Street when the most gourmet option used to be the dodgy fishnchip shop. But Moorabbin High has sadly closed, the train station is unchanged, while the old town hall, now the Kingston Art Centre/City Hall hosts a wide variety of acts including A-listers from the Comedy Festival. So even though I now live on the other side of Nepean Highway, Im still that Moorabbin girl, which is why Im always East Brighton, not Brighton East. Samantha Keir, East Brighton Two men from Dayton have been charged with child sexual assault offences after they were discovered in a van with a teenaged girl at a Mid West truck stop on Friday. WA Police will allege the two men were talking with the 13-year-old via social media from Perth after which they allegedly drove several hundred kilometres to a Mid West Gascoyne town to pick up the girl. It is further alleged the men were on their way back to Perth with the girl when she was sexually assaulted by both men. Police located the alleged offenders and the girl inside a van parked in a truck stop bay on Brand Highway. Visitors have fun at an indoor ice and snow theme park in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, July 6, 2024. (Photo by Yin Zhongwei/Xinhua) HARBIN, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Tourists visiting Harbin, China's "Ice City" in its northernmost Heilongjiang Province, now have a new attraction to explore, namely an indoor ice and snow theme park that opened on Saturday. With a construction area of 23,800 square meters, the park has clinched the Guinness World Record as the world's largest indoor ice and snow theme park. According to the park manager, the facility features nine themed areas showcasing lifelike ice sculptures illuminated by colorful lighting. The theme park maintains a constant temperature to accommodate visitors throughout the year. The park will complement Harbin Ice-Snow World, a landmark outdoor ice and snow theme park covering 810,000 square meters, thereby transforming Harbin into an all-season resort destination. Harbin, with its cold winters, is celebrated for its annual ice and snow festival. The Harbin Ice-Snow World received an average of over 30,000 visitors daily last winter. Visitors are seen at an indoor ice and snow theme park in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Jianfei) A visitor takes photos at an indoor ice and snow theme park in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Jianfei) Visitors are seen at an indoor ice and snow theme park in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao) Visitors collect cold-proof clothes before entering an indoor ice and snow theme park at Harbin Ice-Snow World in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Jianfei) A child visits an indoor ice and snow theme park in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao) Visitors are seen at an indoor ice and snow theme park in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao) Visitors are seen at an indoor ice and snow theme park in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Jianfei) A visitor is seen at an indoor ice and snow theme park in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Jianfei) Visitors watch a performance at Harbin Ice-Snow World in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Jianfei) An ice sculpture is seen at an indoor ice and snow theme park in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao) A visitor is seen at an indoor ice and snow theme park in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao) Visitors pose for photos at an indoor ice and snow theme park in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao) A visitor is seen at an indoor ice and snow theme park in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Jianfei) Visitors have fun at an indoor ice and snow theme park in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, July 6, 2024. (Photo by Yin Zhongwei/Xinhua) 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. Were going to be really pragmatic and realistic about expectations on the station on our side, and we understand the position theyre in from a cost perspective. Obviously, getting us back on track also means the funding needs to recommence. Melbourne Airport had accused the government of abandoning negotiations in April last year. Melbourne Airport said it would compromise to pursue the above-ground option. Credit: Melbourne Airport The state government referred the project to a Commonwealth review of infrastructure projects around the country, delaying work and angering MPs in the north-west. Federal Transport Minister Catherine King ultimately ruled it should go ahead. The federal and state governments have each committed $5 billion to the project. A business case for the $10 billion to $13 billion project in 2022 considered both above- and below-ground stations. Melbourne Airport just last month pledged to continue its fight for an underground station after mediator Neil Scales, who was appointed by the federal government, recommended the station should not be built below ground unless the operators could show it made commercial sense. Loading Victorian Transport Infrastructure Minister Danny Pearson has said a below-ground station would cost billions more, cause more disruptions, and take an extra two years to deliver. He has blamed the delays on the airport for pursuing the underground station, which he said did not stack up. Weve spent three years trying to reach an agreement with the airport, and weve been blocked and frustrated at every step of the way by the airport because of its fixation on a below-ground solution, Pearson told reporters on Friday. The airport still prefers an underground station but said it had compromised to support growth when a third runway, awaiting a final sign-off from the Commonwealth, opens in 2030. About 45 million passengers a year are expected to fly through the airport by then. Loading Argus said the Scales report had found traffic congestion was worse than the business case predicted in 2022, making the case for the project even stronger. So our view now is we need a public transport link. Victoria needs a public transport link. I think everyone agrees we need a train, and we dont really want to find ourselves a couple of years down the road still debating our end. Wed rather accept the compromise, move on and make sure it can be delivered. About 18,000 workers also commute to the airport. Delays to the rail link have become a sore point for Labor in the western suburbs because of a perception the government has prioritised major infrastructure projects in the east. The government, which rebranded the airport rail link SRL Airport at the 2022 election, has locked in major works contracts for the $35 billion first leg of the Suburban Rail Loop in the east. Loading Transport Workers Union state secretary Mem Suleyman said the airports thousands of workers needed affordable and efficient ways to get to work. We reminded the airport of this obligation recently and are pleased to see the corporation has agreed to stop standing in the way of this critical infrastructure, he said. This is a major project that will provide more jobs. With the airports commitment to cooperate and the billions being invested by governments, we must now get straight on the tools and in the trucks to build the rail link. City of Moonee Valley Mayor Pierce Tyson, whose community will receive a railway station in Keilor East as part of the project issued a one sentence statement. About bloody time, lets get on with it, he said. Deputy Premier Ben Carroll in May declared it was time to get the rail link done and that he would not leave parliament until the promised Keilor East station in his electorate of Niddrie was delivered. Last week, standing alongside Pearson, he announced the government had secured the land for that station to fix a 100-year access gap for residents in the north-west without trains. The state government is yet to respond to the airports compromise. The Age was restricted from contacting third parties, including the government, as part of the announcement. Justice, a principle By Biraj Dixit : JUSTICE that easier-said-than-done goal of a societal life has seen many conflicts, chaos, charters and chapters to come this far and yet it remains elusive to most people. Basically, it just means a fair, reasonable and rightful behaviour extended to others. But since humanity floundered big timegettingitsbasicsright,the wise men of the yore associated this simple, basic and expectedhumanbehaviourto honour, dignity and integrity. Men of honour were just in their approach to others, had the integrity to always speak truth, honestin their dealings with others and dignified enough not to succumb to any form of injustice to anyone. The religions turned these basic valuesintogoodandbaddeeds and highlighted theirretribution during the meeting with the Maker. Political powers crafted laws which the denizens were expected to follow or face punishment so that the high dream of Justice can be achieved. In came modern societies with many variations, names, definitions and charters for good and bad, just and unjust. So, in our societies, laws are paramount. All intended to reach that primary goal of being just and creating a just society. Recently, India made a significant departure from its old ways.Anew system of criminal laws has been introduced bidding farewell to an earlier system which was designed not to serve but to get served. Justice has again taken its rightful place in the concern of the nations decision-makers. The justice delivery system will hopefully gain a lot of strength through these laws and the common man will find it easier to knock its doors and hope for timely justice. But laws, however well-intentioned and strong, can neverguaranteejusticeuntiljusticebecomestheprinciplewhich people revere and live by. Justice can only flourish when it comes not from without but from within an individuals sense of fairness. Laws, how-so-ever good, come as little compensation for the victims of injustice. The speediest delivery of justice, perhaps a life term in prison, cannot bring a life, snuffed out at the hands of a murderer back. For the remaining family it is injustice forever.Adrunk mowing down people on the footpath may serve a prison sentence but the dead cannot be turned undead. To stop such crimes, first steps need to be taken first. And no Government or its legal system can do that.This can only happen when the society strengthens its own moral code. Homes not dismissing unruly behaviours as small transgressions; schools doing value-addition to their curriculum by adding values to it, communities making a clear demarcation between right and wrong, and society making honest efforts to make justice the cornerstone of all ethos. Main accused in Hathrasstampede arrested NOIDA : DEVPRAKASH Madhukar, the main accused in the July 2 Hathras stampede that killed 121 people, was arrested from Delhis Najafgarh area by a Special Operations Group of Hathras police, officials said on Saturday. Madhukar, who was arrested late night on Friday, was contacted by some political parties recently, Hathras Superintendent of Police Nipun Agarwal said. Agarwal said Madhukar worked as a fundraiser for events of self-styled godman Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba and collected donations.Meanwhile, Devprakash Madhukar, the key accused in the July 2 Hathras stampede, was on Saturday sent to14-dayjudicialcustodyby a magistrate court, officials said. Besides, Sanju Yadav, another suspect who has been arrested in connection with the case, was also sent to jail forthe same duration, they said. His financial transactions, money trails are being looked into, and call detailrecords also being checked, Agarwal added. However, on Friday night, Madhukars lawyer AP Singh had claimed he had surrendered to the police in Delhi, where he hadcomeformedical treatment. Around 2.15 pm on Saturday, Madhukar was brought by the police to theBaglaCombinedDistrict Hospital in Hathras for a medical examination amid heavysecuritydeploymentin and around the government hospital. Madhukar had his face covered with a handkerchief and a stole tied aroundhishead.Madhukar, the mukhya sevadar of the satsangwherethestampede occurred. He is the only accused named in the FIR lodgedatSikandraRaopolice station in Hathras in connection with the incident. 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 SITandtheSTFinDelhisince hewasundergoingtreatment here, lawyer Singh claimed in a video Friday night. We had promised we would not apply for anticipatory bail since we did no wrong. What is our crime? Heisanengineeranda heart patient.Doctorssaidhiscondition is stable now and so wesurrenderedtodaytojoin the probe, the lawyer said. Singhsaidpolicemaynow recordhisstatementorquestion him but they must take intoconsiderationhishealth 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 viewedasanefforttosaveourselves and being scared... Questions were being raised abouthis(Madhukar)whereabouts and if he had run away,hesaid.Madhukarwill join the probe and share information abouttheantisocialelementsattheevent, he added. Uttar Pradesh Police had announced a reward of Rs1lakh forinformation leading to Madhukars arrest.OnJuly 3, the Supreme Court lawyer hadclaimedthathealsorepresentsSurajpalaliasNarayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba, the self-styled godman at whosesatsangthestampede occurred, and that some anti-social elements were behind the tragedy. NMC to conduct street vendorsSOCIO-ECONOMIC SURVEY Staff Reporter : The move is aimed at assessing hawkers status post launch of PM SVA Nidhi Scheme NAGPUR Municipal Corporation (NMC) is going for an exercise to map the current status of street vendors and their families in a bid to assess benefits given to them post subscription to PM SVA Nidhi Yojana. For the same a survey is ordered of hawkers wherein their financial and social status would be profiled to ascertain changes in their lifestyle, if any. In case the hawkers are still struggling to make their two ends meet, then the families would be provided support under eight social welfare schemes. The aim is to continue the State's outreach so that they be uplifted from poverty and ensure their status changes for better. The study is to determine their overall position vis-a-vis average development matrix in the society. The status of street vendors has been a matter of concern as in absence of any jobs people take to hawking articles to food items of the streets in major centers of the country. Especially, post-COVID-19 pandemic, many lost their steady jobs and took to hawking goods off the roads. Taking note of the lack of capital that often put the street vendors at d i s a d v a n t a g e , Central Government launched PM SVANidhi Yojana to provide boost to capacity of enterprising vendors. The scheme was entirely funded by Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The Ministry has listed three main objectives of the scheme, (i) To facilitate working capital loan up to Rs 10,000; (ii)To incentivise regular repayment and (iii) To reward digital transactions. First a loan of Rs 10,000 was disbursed and interest subsidy was credited in account of vendors and those who repaid first tranche, they were eligible for next financial assistance of Rs 20,000. And then, after six months period post-repayment, the vendors would get Rs 80,000 finance to enable them to expand their businesses. According to Dr Ranjana Lade, Deputy Commissioner, Social Welfare Department, NMC, over 70,000 street vendors had registered under PM SVANidhi Yojana and they were disbursed the loans as per their requirements and taking into consideration policy guidelines. As far as civic body is concerned their role is of facilitator of Central Government scheme and now as part of survey is to identify what changes has occurred in the background of the street vendors. The survey of civic body is akin to fact check as to success of the scheme, said NGOs working in street vendors sector. Dr Lade said as part of survey apart from taking note of street vendors current capacity, his family members would also be profiled, to determine what is their current status. Asked in case vendors are putting-up alone, she said, such chances are very less. The check-up on family members is to determine whether the family as a unit has managed to overcome their difficulties and gained new momentum post financial assistance from Centre. Representatives attend a ceremony marking the 87th anniversary of the beginning of China's whole-nation resistance war against Japanese aggression at the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Beijing, capital of China, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xiang) BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- China on Sunday marked the 87th anniversary of the beginning of its whole-nation resistance war against Japanese aggression. Yin Li, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, presided over a ceremony at the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression near the Lugou Bridge, where the historic Lugou Bridge Incident took place 87 years ago. On July 7, 1937, Japanese soldiers attacked Chinese forces at the Lugou Bridge, marking the beginning of Japan's full-scale invasion of China, and China's whole-nation resistance against the Japanese invaders. At 9 a.m., the ceremony began with China's national anthem. Poems were recited and songs were performed by students from the capital to express the younger generation's resolve to carry forward the spirit of the heroes and martyrs, advance China's modernization and contribute to the building of a strong nation and national rejuvenation. Attendees offered floral tributes and bowed to pay their respects to those who had laid down their lives in fighting the Japanese aggression. The ceremony was attended by about 500 people, including war veterans and family members of military officers in the war. Yin Li, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, presides over a ceremony marking the 87th anniversary of the beginning of China's whole-nation resistance war against Japanese aggression at the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Beijing, capital of China, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xiang) Student representatives attend a ceremony marking the 87th anniversary of the beginning of China's whole-nation resistance war against Japanese aggression at the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Beijing, capital of China, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xiang) A university student choir performs at a ceremony marking the 87th anniversary of the beginning of China's whole-nation resistance war against Japanese aggression at the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Beijing, capital of China, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xiang) Student representatives attend a ceremony marking the 87th anniversary of the beginning of China's whole-nation resistance war against Japanese aggression at the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Beijing, capital of China, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xiang) Student representatives attend a ceremony marking the 87th anniversary of the beginning of China's whole-nation resistance war against Japanese aggression at the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Beijing, capital of China, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xiang) Attendees offer floral tributes to martyrs at the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Beijing, capital of China, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xiang) BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Amid the global race to build artificial general intelligence, the development of stronger computing power has become a major focal point of China's strategic initiatives, driven by the needs of a booming digital economy and innovations in large language models. Data revealed at the Global Digital Economy Conference 2024, which closed on Friday in Beijing, showed that by the end of last year, the total number of standard racks in use at data centers nationwide had exceeded 8.1 million in China, with a total computing power of 230 EFLOPS. EFLOPS is a measurement unit used to determine a computer's speed. A 1 EFLOPS computing system can complete 1 quintillion floating-point operations per second. In the era of interconnected devices and data surges, computing power, as the "new energy" of the digital economy, is reshaping global economic landscapes at an unprecedented pace, said Wang Xiaoli, who is with the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, at the conference. Looking ahead, China aims to boost the country's aggregate computing power by more than 30 percent by 2025, according to a plan released by six government departments in October 2023. The plan also sets a target for China's total computing power to reach 300 EFLOPS by 2025. During this process, computing systems and data centers require substantial electricity to operate and cool hardware, making energy efficiency a critical consideration in the development of computing power. In order to meet increasing energy demands, China's related sectors have undertaken extensive efforts to integrate the development of green energy with computing power. At the just-concluded conference, Yan Gang, technical director of Yovole Network, a Shanghai-based cloud computing data center service provider, outlined their strategy for efficient energy storage using advanced energy management technologies. "Our intelligent computing center employs combined cooling, heating, and power systems using hydrogen energy, photovoltaic storage, indirect evaporative cooling and liquid cooling technologies. In April, we also partnered with Tesla to apply their Megapack energy storage technology at our intelligent computing center," Yan said. Meanwhile, due to the strong demand for computing power, eastern regions of China have shared development opportunities in the digital era with the rest of the country. Expansive and resource-rich western provincial-level regions in China leverage significant advantages in terms of green energy and favorable geographical conditions. These factors enable them to provide high-quality computing resources and have led them to seize the opportunity to establish massive data centers that support the country's intelligent industries. In December 2023, the city of Ulanqab in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region signed a strategic cooperation memorandum with the Beijing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology to promote the influx of green computing power into Beijing. According to Chai Yue, vice mayor of Ulanqab, the city plans to provide Beijing with over 10,000 PFLOPS of green general-purpose computing power annually by 2025. One PFLOP, or petaFLOP, equals one quadrillion floating-point operations per second. Additionally, the region's computing power resources have transformed it from a traditional hub of the livestock industry into an attraction for AI-related sectors. According to the Big Data Management Bureau of Hohhot, the regional capital, half of the 70 large models registered in Beijing are undergoing training in Inner Mongolia. In addition to establishing infrastructure such as data centers, computing service providers across various industries are exploring ways to integrate computing power directly into enterprises, households and business districts. This promising sector is exploring the "computing power plus" model, forging deep collaborations with sectors including finance, education, healthcare, and transportation. In 2020, Beijing launched an autonomous driving demonstration area in Yizhuang, located in a southern suburb of the capital. The intelligent road system utilizes holographic smart devices to monitor traffic conditions, supported by multifunctional poles along the road that transmit computational data to vehicles and real-time cloud systems. This vehicle-road collaboration technology, powered by abundant computing resources, optimizes driving solutions for cars, thereby enhancing traffic safety and efficiency. "Computing power is widely applied across various sectors, including government, industry, transportation, and healthcare, continually driving the emergence of new technologies, models, and business forms. This infusion of innovation is providing significant momentum for high-quality economic development," said Jin Zhuanglong, minister of industry and information technology. 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. CAIRO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The conference for Sudanese political parties and civilian groups concluded late Saturday in Egypt's capital Cairo with a consensus on forming a committee for peace-making in war-torn Sudan. "The conferees agreed to form a committee to push forward discussions and follow up on relevant efforts to reach lasting peace (in Sudan)," said a concluding statement released Sunday by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates, the sponsor of the meeting. The statement stressed that "the conferees agreed to preserve Sudan as a unified homeland, on the foundations of citizenship, equal rights, and a civil, democratic, and federal state." The Cairo meeting brought together for the first time Sudan's civilian parties in the political arena since the onset of the conflict in the country in mid-April last year, according to the statement. The conference, themed "Together to Stop the War in Sudan," was held at the call of Egypt to address the crisis in Sudan resulting from the persistent conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The deadly conflict had claimed at least 16,650 lives by early May 2024, according to a watchdog update cited by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in a report in late June. The UN International Organization for Migration estimated that over 7.7 million people in Sudan have been internally displaced amid the conflict, while about 2.2 million others have crossed borders into neighboring countries. According to official Egyptian figures released in March, about 500,000 Sudanese had fled to Egypt since the beginning of the war. The Radisson Blu Ikeja was the epicentre of a groundbreaking event on Thursday, July 4, 2024, as MMT for Social Change was officially unveiled. This innovative initiative, spearheaded by the budding but influential Nigerian musician Masked Mykatee (MMT), aims to harness the transformative power of music to promote unity, social development, and the empowerment of Nigerian citizens. The highlight of the day was the unveiling of the Artist MMT, and the keynote address delivered by the esteemed Nigerian lawyer and human rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), who commended the event's organizer, the budding but influential musician Masked Mykatee (MMT), for his unwavering dedication to using music as a tool for social transformation. Mr. Falana's keynote address was a powerful and inspiring call to action. He began by praising Masked Mykatee for his innovative approach to addressing Nigeria's social challenges through music. "MMT has shown us that music is not just an art form but a powerful medium that can inspire, unite, and mobilize people towards positive change," Falana stated. Falana delved into the historical and contemporary significance of music as a catalyst for social reform, resistance to authoritarian governments, injustice, and transformation for national building and economic development. He highlighted the role of music in various global movements, emphasizing its ability to transcend barriers and foster a sense of shared identity and purpose. "In Nigeria, where tribalism and ethnic divisions have often hindered our progress, music offers a unique opportunity to promote unity and collective action." He reflected on his experiences as lawyer to the legendary Afrobeat King Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and the struggle for social change and transformation of the Nigerian society in particular, Africa, and the world in general. He spoke about the significance of the music for transformation by legends such as Bob Marley, Sonny Okosun, Peter Tosh and many others. Falana's speech underscored the importance of unity for national development. He addressed the challenges posed by tribalism and ethnic divisions, proposing music as a unifying force that can bridge these gaps. "Through music, we can create a narrative that celebrates our diversity while promoting a sense of common identity and purpose," he said. He also touched on the transformative power of music in engaging and empowering the youth. "Our young people are the future of Nigeria. By using music to inspire and mobilize them, we can foster a new generation of leaders committed to social change and national development," Falana asserted. Following the keynote address, the event featured a panel session moderated by Prof. Silk Ugwu Ogbu of the Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos. The panel included distinguished speakers such as Zakka Bala, Nkechi Ali-Balogun, Dr. Desmond Ekeh, and Dr. Omotola Bamigbaiye, who each brought unique perspectives on leveraging music for social change. Zakka Bala discussed the cultural and governance dimensions of music and its role in bridging gaps between the government and the people especially on issues of governance and accountability and the curbing of government malfeasance and corruption of the different spheres of the society. Nkechi Ali-Balogun emphasized the importance of effective communication strategies in amplifying messages of social change through music. She gave a specific example of the significance of the music of such Nigerian artist as Onyeka Onwuenu of the One Love fame, and Mike Okri, the Time na Money crooner. Dr. Desmond Ekeh explored the socio-political climate in Nigeria and the potential of music to empower the youth towards cultivating dignifying social values that can promote the growth and development of the country. He emphasised that the choices made by the youth are motivated by their values. He encouraged music artists to focus on music that encourages the youths to embrace noble values to promote the upliftment of the society. Dr. Omotola Bamigbaiye advocated for integrating music education into the curriculum to nurture socially conscious and culturally neutral Nigerians. She recollected how storytelling and music were used to pass knowledge and information in her formative years as a child. She emphasised the need to develop school curriculars that use music for education and social enlightenment. The interactive sessions allowed attendees to engage directly with the speakers, fostering dynamic exchanges of ideas and experiences. These discussions underscored the collective commitment to using music as a means of uniting and transforming Nigerian society. Fielding questions from a battery of press reporters comprised of newspapers, radio, television and digital media, Masked Mykatee, the inspiration behind MMT for Social Change spoke passionately about his mission to use music as a tool for social change. "The mask I wear represents neutrality and an unbiased commitment to unity and collective progress in Nigeria," he explained. He shared his experiences and the challenges he has faced in his journey, as well as his vision for a culturally neutral Nigerian identity. He also discussed upcoming projects aimed at furthering the cause of social change through music and emphasized the importance of engaging and empowering young Nigerians. "Our youth are the key to a brighter future for Nigeria. Through music, we can inspire them to take active roles in driving social change," Masked Mykatee stated. The "Music for Social Change" event successfully highlighted the transformative power of music in fostering unity, social development, and youth empowerment in Nigeria. The insightful speeches and discussions provided attendees with a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities in using music as a medium for social change. The event also served as a platform for networking and collaboration among individuals and organizations committed to promoting social change through music. Attendees left with a renewed sense of purpose and a collective commitment to supporting initiatives that leverage music for social transformation. ASTANA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- A just-concluded summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held here enhanced mutual trust in the region and further promoted the economic development of the member states, a Kazakh expert has said. "Wherever there is trust and stability, there will always be economic development. This is a key factor that drives the development of our corridor. We believe in this and we will jointly work towards this," Gaidar Abdikerimov, secretary-general of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) International Association, said in a recent interview with Xinhua. He said he believes that the TITR has become a vital artery for transporting goods from Southeast Asia and China to Europe. Stretching over 11,000 km, the TITR starts from China's port of Lianyungang, running through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan and Georgia to Turkiye and European countries, Abdikerimov said. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) proposed by China in 2013 is inspiring, especially for the transportation and logistics industries, Abdikerimov said. "We have seen new opportunities for the revival of the ancient Silk Road," he said. He believed that after more than 10 years of development, the BRI has fully demonstrated its feasibility and has had a positive impact on the development of the TITR. At the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held last year, China announced eight major steps to support high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, including participating in the construction of the TITR, he said, adding that China's support is practical and effective, bringing good news to the construction of the TITR. According to Abdikerimov, 2024 turned out to be a good year for the TITR, as it has managed to increase the volume of container trains from China by 10.5 times. "We only transported eight container trains within a period of five months last year. In contrast, we transported 85 container trains within five months in 2024," he said. The official throughput capacity of the TITR is 6 million tons of cargo per year, said Abdikerimov, adding that the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO, which was held in the Kazakh capital on July 4, has undoubtedly injected impetus into the future development of the route. Acknowledging the stand of UNC Noting indigeneity | The United Naga Council (UNC) has a point and New Delhi should take note of it. And the acknowledgment should stem from the fact that the areas which the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), Kuki Inpi, Manipur (KIM) and the ten Kuki-Zo MLAs have claimed should come in the map of the Separate Administration cannot have a legal standing. It should not be forgotten that the call for a Separate Administration has come amid the growing demand that a National Register of Citizens be exercised here, the latest being the joint memorandum submitted by the UNC and the Co-ordination Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) to the Governor not so long back. What is significant here is not just the submission of the memorandum but the response of the Governor wherein she has been quoted as stating that necessary steps will be taken to ensure implementation of the NRC in the State...the issue has been discussed with President Droupadi Murmu, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Home Minister Amit Shah. This is coming from the Raj Bhavan and nothing can be more significant than this at this point of time and this is where one would need to look at the Separate Administration demand as well as the stand of the UNC with the statement issued by the Raj Bhavan just some days back. The undivided Senapati district, Ukhrul district, Chandel district, Tamenglong district and Churachandpur district that include areas of the so called newly created districts of Kamjong, Kangpokpi, Tengnoupal and Noney are lands that do not belong to the Kukis, is the stand of the UNC and this implicitly implies that the Kukis have no land in Manipur which they can claim as their ancestral land. In other words they are not indigenous to the land, is the assertion of the UNC. The Kuki bodies will obviously contest this stand, but it is significant to note that the UNC has made its stand clear and simple and come to think about it, this is not a recent development. From the day the new districts were created in the winter of 2016, the UNC had been steadfast against the move of the State Government, particularly with the creation of Kangpokpi district. All in Manipur will understand the staunch opposition of the Naga folks, under the aegis of the UNC, against any proposal to create Kangpokpi, a demand which was previously raised as Sadar Hills district with even a body christened Sadar Hills Districthood Demand Committee spearheading the demand. Back then the Meiteis did not fully realise the import of something called infiltrators of illegal immigrants but now that the realisation has dawned on the two groups of people indigenous to the land, perhaps it is time to give more substance and meaning to the understanding of people who are indigenous to the land here. And it stands that the UNC has reasons to be apprehensive. Even as it made its stand clear in the memorandum submitted to the office of the Prime Minister, refugees from across the border continue to be a source of concern and worry. It was on July 4 that the Wung Tangkhul Region of the NSCN (IM) asserted that two Kuki villages, Kachouphung Kuki village and Gampal Kuki village fall under the ancestral land of the Tangkhuls and hence should obtain legal permit to continue staying at the said two villages. This is where it becomes important for Manipur as a whole to acknowledge that it is the Tangkhuls and the other Naga tribes which are first and directly impacted by the gradual entry of people from across the border and in due course of time claim ancestral rights over the land they occupy. The claim on Mount Thangjing and the furore over Mount Koubru should be seen and understood against the decree issued by the WTR of NSCN (IM). The stand of the UNC should also be seen and appreciated against the fact that it was as recently as 2021 that it had opposed the proposal to bury a Kuki scholar, who had passed away due to Covid, at Kangpokpi on the ground that the deceased was born at Myanmar, a Myanmarese by birth. This is a fact that was not disputed but which was reasoned with the line that the deceased grew up in Manipur. Citing an example of how infiltrators from across the border can lay claim to be naturalised citizens of the land and it is against this fact that the UNC had raised their stand to the Prime Minister. Goutam Goswami, a leader of Trinamul Congress, was presented before the Jalpaiguri District Court today after being arrested by the Siliguri Metropolitan Police in Delhi yesterday for his involvement in a land scam. The court has granted the police 10 days of custody to further investigate and question Goswami. He was taken into custody for the purpose of extended interrogation, according to the police. At the behest of chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Debasish Pramanik was initially apprehended by the police and eventually Goswami was also arrested for his alleged role in a government land acquisition case. Today, Goswami informed reporters at the court that he had been away from the city for medical treatment. Advertisement Goswami stated, After receiving orders from the chief minister, things in Dabgram Fulbari became tense. I ultimately surrendered to the police. I have high respect for Mamata Banerjee and have followed her example in entering politics. I have faith in both her and Abhishek Banerjee. I am confident that the Siliguri Metropolitan Police will treat me fairly as I am not familiar with the woman who filed a complaint against me. In light of two influential TMC members being detained by the police, other party leaders in the Siliguri Jalpaiguri region are attempting to avoid legal consequences for their alleged involvement in a government land acquisition scandal in Dabgram and Gajoldoba regions of Jalpaiguri district. As a result of efforts by the land and land reforms department to reclaim illegally acquired land in Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts, both ruling party officials and local businessmen are preparing for potential challenges. However, public support is behind the chief ministers strong stance against these individuals, with hopes that a list of leaders involved in land scams will be compiled. The people are also urging the police to continue taking action against those who have unlawfully taken and sold government land. Subodh Singh, the gangster, who is now in CID custody in Kolkata, allegedly told investigators, that though he hailed from Bihar, he had created a space in Bengal allegedly through his crime syndicate, which he had established from 2007, when he used to stay at Sodepur, North 24-Parganas. CID sources said that the gangster during interrogation told investigators that his alleged network was active for a long time and he had committed several heists in banks, in areas like Baguiati and Madhyamgram. After he returned to his native Bihar, his network was as busy as ever, as his henchmen in the state would work for him for crimes like extortion, heists in banks. Advertisement In 2017, he again came back to the state and took shelter with one of his aides, identified as Samashan, a notorious criminal from Bally, Howrah. By virtue of his stay in Bally during 2017, Singh, as told investigators, had committed several robberies in collusion with Samashan in Howrah belt. Samashan is currently lodged in Beur jail in Bihar. Police today busted an inter-state car lifting racket and arrested three members of the gang, allegedly from Bihar. The arrests follow a specific tip-off from an app-cab driver, who was looted midway and beaten up after three members of the car-lifting gang boarded his car hired from Kolkata. City police sources said the incident happened on 17 March, when three gang members boarded an app cab for their trip to Jhalda, Purulia after hiring it from Girish Park area of north Kolkata. Advertisement Midway through their journey, the three passengers waylaid him flaunting a knife and then tied him up and looted his two mobiles and cash he had, near Saltora in Bankura. They then allegedly threw him outside and fled in the same car towards neighbouring Bihar. The driver, who was later identified as Samrat Mishra, had lodged a complaint at Saltora police station. Based on his plaint, the cops started an inquiry. Following a tip-off from its sources, a team of Bankura police first nabbed one of the alleged members, identified as Sanjit Kumar Rabidas from Giridhi in Bihar. Following interrogation of Rabidas, police picked up another accomplice from Bihar, Bikas Kumar and Vijay Kumar, who the police claimed had booked and hired the app cab from Kolkata and who served the SIM of the alleged mobile from which the car had been booked. Launching a drive, the Saltora police recovered the missing car on Friday. Investigations revealed, the police claimed that Sahani, who was a car driver in Bihar had allegedly purchased the car in lieu of a hefty sum from the gang members The legal advisor to RSS in Asansol, senior advocate Piyush Goswami has refuted the allegations made by chief minister Mamata Banerjee that the RSS building in Asansol has been set up on land after filling up a waterbody. Showing papers of records from the land and land reforms department, he claimed that the land record (RS record) of the said land was recorded as danga land in 1962. At a meeting held in Kolkata last month with the civic bodies of the state, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had alleged that she had heard from law minister Moloy Ghatak that the RSS office building in Asansol has been set up on land after filling up a pond. Advertisement She directed the Asansol Municipal Corporation to check facts and take legal actions. Immediately after her instructions, officials of both the land and land reforms department and the Asansol Municipal Corporation visited the RSS office and served notice. Advocate Goswami had sought 15 days time to collect and submit all documents. Accordingly, he has organized a press conference at Asansol Court on this issue. He has claimed that the land belonged to Indra Bhusan Banerjee and his family and later was sold to Dilip Kumar Shaw and Ushadevi Shaw (Plot number 479). After which all necessary permissions have been taken to set up the Sudarshan Bhawan in J C Bose Lane in South Dhadka, under Asansol North police station area, he claimed. We have submitted all the legal documents and papers pertaining to the building to the AMC and land and land reforms department within seven days after the notice was served, he added. The papers included tax payment receipts of Asansol Municipal Corporation, searching documents from BLLRO office, nod of the building plan by AMC and No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Asansol Durgapur Development Authority (ADDA), he said. On 28 June, AMC and BLLRO office served notice to the RSS office. We are now waiting for further instructions or steps from the Asansol Municipal Corporation on this land issue of RSS Bhawan, he said. 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 (MEM). The ministry, together with the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, has continued to increase rescue forces. As of Saturday night, over 1,400 personnel from the China National Comprehensive Fire and Rescue Team have arrived at the site, according to the MEM. Additionally, the MEM's natural disaster emergency rescue center has also deployed 350 professionals to support rescue efforts. Surveying drones and remote sensing satellites are being used to collect images of the breach and the surrounding affected area. An emergency rescue vessel from the provincial capital Changsha has arrived to assist with pile driving and placing sandbags to block the breach. 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. 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. Since June 16, Hunan has seen its heaviest rainfall of the year, breaking historical records in some regions. In addition to Hunan, vast parts of the country have experienced persistent heavy rains since the flood season began, posing major risks to local embankments and reservoirs. Government agencies of meteorology, water conservancy, natural resources, and urban and rural development have provided flood control instructions for 18 rain-affected regions, including Hunan, Shandong, Henan and Shaanxi. Local governments are prioritizing monitoring rain and flooding, creating contingency plans and reinforcing flood control facilities. The Pre-Budget consultations for Union Budget 2024-25 were concluded on 5th July 2024, the Ministry of Finance said on Sunday. The consultation meetings were started on 19th June 2024 in the Finance Ministry and chaired by Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman. As per the Finance Ministry, in the course of the in-person consultations, more than 120 invitees across 10 stakeholder groups took part. Advertisement They included experts and representatives from farmer associations & agriculture economists; trade unions; education & health sector; employment & skilling; MSME; trade & services; industry; economists; financial sector & capital markets; as well as, infrastructure, energy and urban sector, participated in the meetings. In the course of the consultations, the Finance Minister expressed gratitude to the participants for sharing valuable suggestions and assured experts and representatives that their suggestions would be carefully examined and considered while preparing the Union Budget 2024-25. Union Ministers of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary; Finance Secretary and Secretary Expenditure, Dr T V Somanathan; Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ajay Seth; Secretary, DIPAM, Tuhin K Pandey; Secretary, D/o Financial Services, Vivek Joshi; Secretary, D/o Revenue, Sanjay Malhotra; Secretary, M/o Corporate Affairs, Manoj Govil, Secretaries of Ministries concerned, Chief Economic Adviser, Dr V Anantha Nageswaran, and senior officers from the Ministry of Finance and Ministries concerned were also present during relevant meetings. On Saturday, President Droupadi Murmu, 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 the Lok Sabha on 23 July, 2024. The Crime Branch of Delhi Police has arrested a dreaded criminal, also listed as a bad character of Mangolpuri, the police said on Sunday, adding that he had previous involvements in 71 criminal cases including of murder, attempt to murder, dacoity, robbery, abduction, theft and Arms Act. A loaded handgun with four live bullets was recovered from his possession, the police added, and a case under appropriate sections of the law has been registered in this regard. He has been identified as Mohammed Afsar. Non- bailable warrants were issued against the accused in a robbery case in Delhis Shalimar Bagh, and he was also wanted in a firing case of Vijay Vihar. Advertisement A team of Central Range of the crime branch under overall supervision of a senior official carried out an operation in the wee hours near the Jama Masjid Metro Station and nabbed a dreaded and notorious criminal identified as Mohammed Afsar. A pistol loaded with four live cartridges was recovered from his possession. The police had laid a trap on the basis of secret input received by a cop from an informer about the movement of a notorious criminal who is wanted in a case of PS Vijay Vihar, Delhi. According to the police, his links are also being verified and further probe is underway in this regard. For some time, the Delhi Police has been running such operations and is keeping a track on dreaded criminals , proclaimed offenders and especially those involved in supply of illegal drugs and weapons. The special units of the Delhi Police through their network always keep a track on such criminals. Ira Khan recently shared a heartwarming glimpse into her grandmother Zeenat Hussains 90th birthday celebration, hosted by her father, Aamir Khan. The intimate affair, captured in a series of Instagram photos, showcased the joyous occasion held last month at Aamirs Mumbai residence. In her post, Ira Khan directed the focus to her grandmothers radiant smile amidst the festivities, despite the challenges of aging. She reflected on the profound impact of witnessing aging firsthand, emphasizing her grandmothers resilience and happiness throughout the ceremony. The lavish event was attended by a close-knit gathering of over 200 family members and friends, who came from different cities to mark this special milestone. Among the attendees were Aamirs ex-wife Reena Dutta and his current partner Kiran Rao, captured in the candid snapshots shared by Ira. Advertisement View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ira Khan (@khan.ira) On the professional front, Aamir Khan is gearing up for his upcoming production venture, Lahore 1947, featuring Sunny Deol in a leading role. Directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, the film also stars Preity Zinta, Shabana Azmi, Karan Deol, and Ali Fazal. This collaboration marks the first-time pairing of Aamir and Sunny on screen, following their memorable past as box-office competitors. Their rivalry dates back to iconic clashes such as Dil vs Ghayal in 1990, Raja Hindustani vs Ghatak in 1996, and the legendary face-off between Lagaan and Gadar in 2001. Despite their historical competition, Lahore 1947 represents a new chapter as they unite their talents for this ambitious project. Furthermore, the film marks a reunion for Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Santoshi after their cult classic Andaz Apna Apna, adding anticipation among fans for what this collaboration will bring to the screen. In summary, while celebrating family milestones and preparing for new cinematic adventures, Aamir Khan continues to intrigue audiences with his diverse roles both behind and in front of the camera. Shehnaaz Gill was overjoyed when her long-held dream of seeing global superstar Justin Bieber perform live finally came true at the extravagant sangeet ceremony of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant. Justin Bieber, renowned for hits like Baby and Love Yourself, recently graced Mumbai to headline the pre-wedding celebrations of Anant and Radhika. The event was a star-studded affair, filled with glamour and musical enchantment. Justin himself took to social media to share glimpses of the memorable night, where one particular photo captured Shehnaaz Gill cheering enthusiastically from the front row. Advertisement View this post on Instagram A post shared by Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) Eager to express her excitement, Shehnaaz shared Justins post on her Instagram Story with the caption, Dream come true (Red heart emoji). She also couldnt resist sharing a clip of Justins electrifying performance, gushing in the video, Guys, Justin Bieber bilkul mere samne hoga, oh my god! (Justin Bieber right in front of me, oh my god!). Justins arrival in India on Friday morning met great anticipation as he prepared to entertain the wedding guests later that evening. Dressed casually, Justin captivated the audience with a medley of his chart-topping songs, ensuring an unforgettable experience for all present. Following his exhilarating performance, Justin reached the Mumbai airport bidding farewell to India, having left an indelible mark on the Ambani-Merchant wedding festivities. The celebrations have been a blend of tradition and extravagance, setting the stage for the upcoming main wedding ceremonies scheduled for July 12 and 13. As guests continue to revel in the splendor of the occasion, the Ambani and Merchant families have embraced Indian customs and rituals, creating moments of joy and cultural exchange. Union Health Minister JP Nadda said on Sunday that the OPD of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jammu, will start operating within a fortnight. During an inspection of the AIIMS on his two-day visit here, the BJP President said the institution was among the best in the country. Recalling that PM Narendra Modi inaugurated AIIMS Jammu in February, he said, After that, classes started here. I saw world-class facilities in the institution and tried to understand how AIIMS Jammu is moving ahead. It has become one of the best institutions in India. Its facilities, infrastructure, equipment, appliances, and logistics are of world standard. Advertisement We are trying to get more faculties here. The faculty, which has come here so far, is Indias best, he added. During his visit to the AIIMS, the health minister was accompanied by the Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh and J&K BJP President Ravinder Raina. Addressing the faculty and students at the AIIMS Jammu, Nadda said, Today, we have 22 AIIMS in the country. I will do everything for the development of AIIMS at Jammu. We are working on the recruitment of staff. Medical institutions do not develop in a day it needs at least a decade. We will not compromise on the quality of AIIMS, he said. He also visited the state-of-the-art digital library and lecture hall at the AIIMS. He also visited the famous Raghunath Temple situated in the heart of the city to offer prayers. Martand Singh, grandson of Dr Karan Singh and Trustee of J&K Dharmarth Trust, welcomed the visiting minister to the iconic temple. Nadda also visited the BJP headquarters at Trikuta Nagar where he addressed party activists. BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh and J&K BJP chief Ravinder Raina were present on the occasion. He asked the party activists to gear up for the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state, the first after scrapping of Article 370 and J&K becoming a UT in August 2019. Nadda presided over a meeting of the core committee of the party here last night. He also addressed the executive committee of the party and asked the party activists to get ready for the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and secure victory for the party. Nadda lauded the people of J&K for rejecting dynasties in the recent Lok Sabha elections and electing common people. In a jibe at the Congress, he said they have failed to cross the double-digit mark in the three successive Lok Sabha elections and pointed out that Congress did not have a single seat in 13 states, and whatever it won was with the support of other parties. He paid rich tributes to Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherji who laid down his life in Srinagar while struggling for the abolition of the permit system in J&K and also against the separate constitution of the erstwhile state. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday affirmed his commitment to revive the party in Telangana, aiming to reclaim its lost glory with a complete restructuring of the state party unit. The TDP, viewed as an Andhra party in Telangana, lost momentum post-bifurcation, particularly after Naidu chose to shift his base to Vijayawada. Many party leaders either joined the BRS or the Congress like Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. On his first visit to NTR Bhavan, the party headquarters in Hyderabad, after returning to power in Andhra Pradesh, Naidu thanked the party workers in Telangana for their participation in protests during his incarceration in the Rajahmundry Central Jail last year. Advertisement TDP, which was born for Telugu people, should be in Telangana. I am asking you whether the party that was born in Telangana should continue here or not. There were several people who worked for the party. TDP will be restructured in Telangana soon. We will encourage youth and bring in young blood, said Chandrababu Naidu, who was greeted by party activists with visible enthusiasm. Stating that the political roadmap of the party in Telangana will differ from Andhra Pradesh, he said, With the enthusiasm among the cadre here, I am confident that the TDP will certainly regain its past glory. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are like my two eyes, and TDP will continue to work to protect the interests and welfare of both states. Naidu also praised the development that Telangana witnessed in the past ten years while ruing that his own state was lagging behind. The difference in the per capita income between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh was 35 per cent, primarily due to Hyderabad. Although due to the relentless efforts of the previous TDP government, it had gone down to 27.5 per cent under the destructive reign of YSRCP, it increased to 44 per cent, claimed Naidu. Referring to Saturdays meeting between the chief ministers of two Telugu states, he further pointed out that although Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were under two different parties, there was a need to work together in the interest of the Telugu people. After bifurcation, Naidu had conceived hopes of turning TDP into a national party with a presence in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. But after the cash-for-vote fiasco, he gave up on the hopes of expanding TDPs influence in Telangana and shifted to Vijayawada lock, stock, and barrel. However, with the BRS on the decline and KCR on the back foot, Naidu hopes to resuscitate the TDP in Telangana. Blaming the law and order situation in Tamil Nadu, Bahujan Samaj Party national president Mayawati on Sunday called for a CBI probe into the gruesome murder of party Tamil Nadu unit chief K Armstrong. She also demanded that the real culprits involved in the murder be arrested. Paying her last respects to the slain leader by placing a wreath, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, who landed earlier in the morning by air, told the media that the real culprits involved in the ghastly killing have not been arrested yet. She was dismissive of the eight accused who have been arrested following their surrender hours after the murder late on Friday night. Those who have been arrested are not the real accused, she maintained, echoing the views of the party local functionaries and many political parties, including the allies of the ruling DMK like the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) of Thol Thirumavalavan, MP. Advertisement We are not hopeful of the state government ensuring justice in this matter. The probe should be transferred to the CBI immediately, she said, expressing anguish and adding that Dalits across the state are very much apprehensive following the murder of Armstrong and their safety should be assured. Urging Chief Minister MK Stalin to refer the matter to the CBI immediately, Mayawati pointed out that only this would ensure justice to the victims family. The way he (Armstrong) was killed by assailants late in the evening, shows that there is nothing called law and order in Tamil Nadu, the BSP leader alleged, lending credence to the opposition chorus against the DMK government. However, she appealed to the party workers not to take the law into their hands. Earlier, Mayawati consoled Armstrongs wife, carrying her two-year-old daughter, and other family members and assured that the party would support and stand by them. The state government should give them protection, she added. Paying rich tributes to the slain leader, she said Armstrong had carried out the party programmes with commitment and was in the forefront of taking up the Dalit cause. Leaders of various political parties and film personalities including ace filmmaker Pa Ranjith and national award winning director Vetri Maran have paid homage to the body, kept in state at the Corporation School ground in Perambur. The burial would take place after the family identifies a suitable place instead of the BSP party office. Hearing a plea of Armstrongs wife, Porkodi, the High Court had asked the family to choose a suitable place from those suggested by the government for passing orders. Meanwhile, Chennai City Police Commissioner Sandeep Rai Rathore said with three more arrests, the total number of suspects held in connection with the murder had gone up to 11. The arrests were made after analysing the mobile phone signals of the accused and CCTV footage at the scene of crime, he added. Chief Minister Stalin had, on Saturday, expressed shock over the brutal murder and directed the cops to speed up the pace of the investigation and nab all those involved in the crime. Taking a big leap to solve the waterlogging problem in the Kirari area, the Delhi government has decided to construct a 4.5 km-long drain between Najafgarh Supplementary Drain and Mundka Haat Railway Station. Once constructed, the main drain will provide relief to people from waterlogging during rainy days. It will allow water to drain out quickly even during heavy rains much to the relief of many colonies of Kirari Assembly, the Delhi government said on Sunday. During heavy rains, due to the overflow of drains in many parts of Kirari Assembly, it usually takes time to drain out rainwater as a result of which the problem of waterlogging persists for a long time. Advertisement People were worried about the waterlogging problem. Taking cognizance of this, the Delhi government has decided to construct the drain between Najafgarh Supplementary Drain and Mundka Haat Railway Station. After the construction of the drain, the outfall of the colonies drains will be connected with this big drain, and during the rainy season, water will be able to drain out quickly from the colonies. It is worth mentioning here that the drain is to be constructed along the railway line. In this regard, the Public Works Department of the Delhi Government will soon sign an MoU with the Indian Railways. For this, the PWD has received approval from Minister Atishi. Four terrorists, including a top Hizbul Mujahideen commander, were killed in two encounters in the Kulgam district in south Kashmir. Two army soldiers were also martyred in the operations. The soldiers Lance Naik Pradeep Nain, a Para Commando, was killed in action in Modergam while Havaldar Raj Kumar of the 1 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) was killed in action in Frisal, Kulgam on Saturday. These soldiers lost their lives in a gunfight with terrorists. Advertisement The encounters 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. At least two to three terrorists have been trapped in the area. Four terrorists were killed in another encounter at Frisal Chinnigam area in Kulgam where the terrorists were hiding. The soldiers were injured when terrorists fired at the security forces. They were shifted to the hospital where they succumbed to injuries, reports said. 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 Special Operations Group(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. Bahujan Samaj Party Chief Mayawati and partys National Coordinator Akash Anand on Sunday paid their last respects to Tamil Nadu BSP President K Armstrong in Chennai. Armstrong was brutally hacked to death by a group of men near his residence in Perambur on 5 July. Addressing reporters, Mayawati expressed her deep concern over the incident and said that the party has taken the issue seriously and that they will exert pressure on the state government to refer the case to CBI. Advertisement Our party has taken this incident very seriously and we will not sit quietly. Our state unit will not sit quiet and will exert pressure on the state government to refer this case to the CBI, she stated. I will pray to god to give his family and supporters strength to bear the loss To ensure action against the accused, the party cadre should come forward but at the same time, stay within the limits of law and show that the weaker section does not take law into their hands, the BSP chief said. Reiterating the demand for a CBI investigation, Mayawati emphasised the importance of law and order in the state. We urge the state government to refer the case to the CBI, she said. I urge the state government and especially the CM that he should ensure law and order in the state, weaker sections in particular should feel safe. Had the government been serious, the accused would have been arrested, but now since thats not the case, we urge the state government to refer the case to the CBI. The brutal killing of K Armstrong has sent shockwaves through the country with the party workers calling for swift justice. Amid criticism, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin said that the assassination of the BSP state unit chief was shocking, and that he has ordered the police to pursue the case expeditiously and bring the culprits to justice. Bahujan Samaj Party State President Armstrongs assassination is shocking and deeply saddening. The police arrested those involved in the murder overnight. 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, he said. Meanwhile, the police has said that K Armstrong was killed over personal enmity. The 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. TEHRAN, July 7 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian destroyer, dubbed Sahand, capsized off the coast of the southern port city of Bandar Abbas on Sunday, wounding several individuals, according to the Iranian Army. The destroyer of the army's naval forces was undergoing maintenance in the port city when it lost balance and capsized due to the infiltration of water into its ballast tanks, the army said in a statement on its website. According to the statement, the vessel has been rebalanced, and the injured have been transferred to the hospital. Sahand is a class of domestically produced Iranian light frigates. With a length of 95 meters, it has a helicopter deck and electronic warfare systems and is armed with cruise anti-ship missiles. It joined the Iranian Navy's southern fleet in December 2018. In a fresh attack on the Central government on the issue of Chinese incursion into Indian Territory, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday accused the Narendra Modi Government of failure to maintain the status quo ante at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). In a post on X, Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, wrote, How can China build a military base near Pangong Tso, on a land which was under Indian occupation, until May 2020? Even as we enter the 5th year of the clean chit given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Galwan, where our brave soldiers sacrificed their lives, China continues to impinge upon our territorial integrity. Alongside his post, the Congress chief shared a media report that claimed the Chinese army digging in close to Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh. Advertisement Attacking the Prime Minister, Kharge said, Just to recall on 10th April 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an interview to foreign press failed to put forth Indias case strongly at the global stage. On 13th April 2024, EAMs (S Jaishankars statement that China has not occupied any of our land exposed Modi governments meek policy towards China. On 4th July, 2024 even though EAM meets his Chinese counterpart and says respecting the LAC and ensuring peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential The Congress president further said, China continues to be belligerent on occupying our territory and constructing a military base at Sirijap, reportedly a land that was under Indian control. Modi government is responsible for not maintaining the status quo ante at the LAC. We have lost possession of 26 Patrolling Points (PP) out of 65 including points in Depsang Plains, Demchok and Gogra Hot Springs area. The Indian National Congress once again reiterates its demand to take the nation into confidence on the border situation at LAC. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our valiant soldiers, he said. Earlier, Kharge had said, Wearing 56-inch long Chinese blinkers, on the laal Aankh, the Modi government has given a free pass to the Chinese, twice in a weeks time. First, Narendra Modi jis interview in foreign press where he failed to put forth Indias case strongly on the global stage. Now, his Foreign Minister, handing over another clean chit to expansionist China. Amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will leave here on Monday on an official visit to Russia to hold the 22nd Annual India-Russia Summit with President Vladimir Putin. From Moscow, the PM will leave for Austria in what will be the first visit by an Indian PM to the European nation after 41 years. That Mr Modi has chosen to visit Moscow on his first foreign trip after becoming the PM for the third time reflects the importance India attaches to its time-tested friendship with Russia. Advertisement The Indian leader will reach Moscow tomorrow afternoon. He will be welcomed with a private dinner to be hosted by President Putin. Among other engagements the next day, Mr Modi will have an interface with the Indian community in Russia. He will also pay respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers in the Kremlin and visit an exhibition in Moscow. This will be followed by his restricted talks with President Putin and delegation-level talks between the two countries. A whole range of issues, including defence, trade linkages, culture, education, civil nuclear cooperation, culture and people-to-people contacts, will be on the agenda. They will also discuss global developments. Given the personal chemistry between the two leaders, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict is likely to figure prominently during the Modi-Putin meeting. The PM is expected to reiterate Indias stand that this is not the time for war and that the two warring nations must give dialogue and diplomacy a chance to resolve the crisis. The talks between the two leaders will also provide Mr Modi an opportunity to raise with Mr Putin the issue of Indian nationals who were misled into the Russian Army to join its ongoing war with Ukraine. According to Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, while ten Indians have returned home, an estimated 30-45 Indian nationals are still working for the Russian Army. He said India has strongly taken up with the Russian authorities the issue of their early repatriation to India. The PMs visit to Moscow marks a continuation of high-level engagement between India and Russia. The last annual summit was held in New Delhi in December 2021, Mr Kwatra said, adding that the two leaders have maintained contact through various means, including a meeting on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Samarkand last September and multiple phone conversations. The India-Russia Summit is being held at a time when India is under intense pressure from its Western allies to minimise its contacts with Russia in view of its aggression against Ukraine. After concluding the Moscow leg of his tour, Mr Modi will reach Austria in the afternoon of July 9. He will call on President Alexander Van der Bellen and hold talks with Chancellor Karl Nehammer. The PM and the Chancellor will also address business leaders from India and Austria. Mr Modi will also interact with members of the Indian community in Vienna. Meanwhile, Mr Modi said here on Sunday that it would be a historic occasion and an honour for him to visit Austria for the first time next week, which will coincide with 75 years of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations between both countries. Thank you, Chancellor @karlnehammer. It is indeed an honour to visit Austria to mark this historic occasion. I look forward to our discussions on strengthening the bonds between our nations and exploring new avenues of cooperation. The shared values of democracy, freedom and rule of law form the bedrock upon which we will build an ever closer partnership, the PM wrote on X. His response came after the Austrian Chancellor on Saturday described PM Modis upcoming maiden visit to the country as a significant milestone and said it is an opportunity to deliberate on closer collaboration on many geopolitical challenges. Leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has demanded that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath increase the compensation given to the family of Hathras stampede victims. Gandhi has written a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath regarding the Hathras stampede which claimed more than 121 lives. Through a letter sent on Saturday, Gandhi cited the problems of the affected families to Chief Minister Adityanath. The Rae Bareli lawmaker has demanded that the Uttar Pradesh CM increase the amount of compensation and that the solatium be given to the victims family as soon as possible. Advertisement He wrote that in this hour of grief, the affected families need our collective condolences and help. In the letter posted on social media platform X, he wrote that the compensation announced by the government was very less. In such a situation, it (compensation) should be increased. Besides, arrangements should also be made for proper treatment of the injured, he said. After meeting the families of the victims affected by the stampede accident in Hathras on Friday, and feeling their sorrow and knowing about their problems, I have informed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath about them through a letter, he wrote. The Centre has announced Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia for the next of kin of the dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured. The same compensation has been announced by the UP government. Having stunned all with a formidable performance in the recently held Lok Sabha elections, the Samajwadi Party is brainstorming to select suitable candidates for the upcoming by-election for 10 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh. After the return of party president Akhilesh Yadav from Delhi, the party leaders are meeting everyday to discuss the probable candidates, who can be strong enough to counter any BJP onslaught after their humiliating loss in the Lok Sabha polls in the state. SP President Akhilesh Yadav has already called upon the party officials of the respective district units to work wholeheartedly for victory in the by-elections so that the results obtained in the Lok Sabha elections can be repeated in the future as well. Advertisement Elections are to be held on 10 vacant assembly seats in UP soon. Of these, one seat has become vacant due to the conviction of Sisamau (Kanpur) SP MLA Irfan Solanki, while nine MLAs have now become Lok Sabha MPs. Of these, five seats Karhal, Sisamau, Milkipur, Katehari and Kundarki are currently with the SP, while Khair, Ghaziabad and Phulpur seats are with the BJP, Majhwa seat is with the Nishad Party and Meerapur with the RLD. According to party sources, the SP will field former MP Tej Pratap Singh Yadav from Karhal, which has fallen vacant after Akhilesh Yadavs election to the Lok Sabha from Kannauj. The most important seat for the SP is Milkipur in Ayodhya. Milkipur MP Awadhesh Prasads son Ajit is a contender for the ticket. But the party is not ready to take any chance as the BJP would put all its power to wrest the seat to counter the SPs narrative on Ayodhya. Milkipur is one of the 5 assembly segments of Faizabad Lok Sabha seat. Katehari assembly seat has become vacant due to the election of Lalji Verma as MP from Ambedkarnagar Lok Sabha seat. Lalji Vermas daughter Chhaya is said to be the frontrunner from her fathers seat. In Sisamau assembly seat in Kanpur, only a member of Irfan Solankis family is likely to be fielded. The name of Vandana Vajpayee, wife of SP MLA from Kanpur, Amitabh Vajpayee is also being considered. It is almost certain that Turks and Muslims will be fielded from Kundarki assembly seat in Moradabad district. SP sources say that looking at the BJP candidates, the party will assess its caste equations and prepare its electoral battlefield on the same basis. This is the reason why names of Muslim, Gurjar and Jat claimants are being considered for Meerapur (Muzaffarnagar) seat. An RLD leader is also said to be in touch with the SP for the ticket from Khair seat. The SP will bet on the leader of Patel or Kushwaha community from Phulpur while in Majhwa (Mirzapur) assembly seat, a leader of Brahmin or Bind community may get a chance. Jat and Dalit equations are being considered in Ghaziabad assembly seat. Acknowledging the crucial role being played by the cleaning staff for maintaining institutions and keeping our surroundings fresh and refreshing, Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Tourism Suresh Gopi on Sunday called them as super heroes and invited them to sit on the seats meant for the special guests. The incident took place during the inauguration of Swachhata Pakhwada campaign organized by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) at Silver Hills School in Keralas Kozhikode. As part of the programme aimed at building a clean India, it was decided to honour the cleaning staff at the school. During the function, Union Minister Gopi told the cleaning workers that you are the star of the day and you should occupy the seats meant for the special guests. Advertisement When they stood on the stage to be honoured, Union Minister Suresh Gopi announced: All the cleaning staff should sit on the seats arranged for the special guests on the day. On hearing the ministers announcement, the cleaning staff looked confused and looked at each other not knowing what to do. Soon came the second announcement from the minister: Come on. Take your seat. The cleaning staff eventually sat on the seats with surprise. Then Minister Suresh Gopi positioned himself in the row behind the cleaning staff and asked other dignitaries to come on stage. They all posed for photographs amidst cheers and applause. K Prabish, C Roja, K Bindu, PT Ajitha, M Sindhu, TK Sheeja, Suma Unnikrishnan, KP Sunitha, KP Lissy, and K Seena were the staff, who were honoured at the event. MK Raghavan, MP and Thottathil Ravindran, MLA gave keynote speeches. Collector Snehil Kumar Singh, State Head of Bharat Petroleum Corporation KV Ramesh Kumar, General Manager M Rajan, and Silver Hills School Principal Fr Mathew Kalappurail also addressed the audience. The Uttar Pradesh government has successfully rescued 87 people trapped in floods in the Shravasti and Kushinagar districts caused by the sudden release of over five lakh cusecs of water following heavy rains in Nepal. The rescued included 76 persons in Kushinagar and 11 in Shravasti. During the operation, 400 villagers stranded in 18 villages of Shravasti were moved to safer places while 20 cattle trapped in the Kushinagar floods were also rescued. Advertisement It is worth mentioning here that the administration sprang to action and carried out the relief and rescue operations following Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths directive to expedite relief efforts in flood-affected areas and relocate victims to safer locations. The district magistrates of the flood-affected Shravasti and Kushinagar districts have been instructed to conduct a survey of the damaged crops and submit a report to the government within 24 hours. While the situation in these districts is currently under control, crop damage has been reported in some areas. State Relief Commissioner GS Naveen said at around 8 pm on Saturday that the state-level emergency operations Centre received information about 11 people, including three men, five women, and three kids, being trapped in floods due to the sudden release of water from Nepal in the villages of Mohanpur Bhartha and Kevtan Purva of Gram Panchayat Gajobhari, Tehsil Jamunha, Shravasti. He said, Upon receiving this information, Shravasti District Magistrate Ajay Kumar Dwivedi was immediately informed who promptly arrived with his team to oversee the rescue operation. The district administration and flood PAC teams conducted a joint rescue operation, working tirelessly for approximately eight hours to safely evacuate all the individuals. Following their rescue, a team of doctors provided first aid to everyone. The victims were then taken to the guest house located at Rapti Barrage, he added. Devipatan Division Commissioner Shashi Lal Bhushan Sushil stated, All the victims were safely transported back to their village after receiving first aid and food. During the rescue operation, the following individuals were successfully rescued: Karika (10 years), Minnie (12 years), Rita (25 years), Sheru (8 years), Archana (17 years), Kamala Devi (40 years), Shanti Devi (50 years), Saktaram (18 years), Rekha Devi (28 years), Nandan (30 years), and Ram Ujagar (50 years). The Relief Commissioner stated, At around 8 PM on Saturday, the State Level Emergency Operation Center received information that 5,71,850 cusecs of water were being released from the Devghat Barrage due to heavy rains in Nepal. In response, the Kushinagar District Magistrate Umesh Mishra was promptly notified about the potential release of 3 lakh cusecs of water from the Balmiki Nagar Barrage, which could affect the villages in Tehsil Khadda. He added, The Kushinagar District Magistrate and his team promptly inspected the 13 affected villages in Tehsil Khadda and urged villagers to vacate their homes and move to safer places. During the inspection, they learned that some people and cattle were stranded on an island in Narayanpur, Tehsil Khadda. Consequently, the NDRF and PAC teams initiated a rescue operation. After hours of effort, the rescue team safely evacuated over 76 people and 20 cattle. The rescued persons have been moved to safer places where they are being offered nutritious food, he added. On Sunday morning, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath spoke with the District Magistrates of Shravasti and Kushinagar, the areas affected by the water release from Nepal, to get an update on the situation. The District Magistrates informed the CM that 87 people and 20 cattle had been rescued. In response, CM Yogi directed all District Magistrates to survey the crops damaged by floodwaters within 24 hours and submit the report to the government. He also spoke with government officials, ordering immediate compensation once the crop damage reports were received. During this time, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath emphasized that officials in the affected districts should visit the area, monitor the relief efforts, and assist the affected people. He instructed that the authorized relief amount be promptly provided to families who suffered loss of life due to the disaster. He also stressed that those who experienced damage to their homes or loss of livestock should receive the permissible financial assistance immediately. It was a momentous occasion when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi shook hands in the Parliament. It was after the election of Speaker Om Birla last week. This handshake, steeped in tradition, symbolises the nations political evolution. This tradition marked a crucial moment. It dates back to the early days of Parliament. Despite their ideological differences, it exhibits the expected cooperation between the ruling party and the opposition. More impor tantly, it signified Rahuls formal recognition as the leader of the latter. There will be new dynamics within the Congress and challenges for Rahul in his new role. After ten years of Modis rule, the Lok Sabha has a leader of the Opposition. Rahul Gandhi has resumed his leadership of the Congress, standing as the top political contender against Modis BJP. This marks a critical moment for the party, with high hopes for rejuvenation. He is seeking to build a united Opposition, which may pose a more robust challenge to the BJP. Rahuls transformation from a reluctant leader to an LOP showcases his political growth. His popularity soared after he embarked on a twomonth-long Bharat Jodo yatra, which led to the Congress achieving twice the number of seats it won in 2019. The yatra was aimed at connecting with the people. He followed it up with another yatra. Rahul Gandhis political journey, which began in 2004 when he became an MP from Amethi, is a testament to his resilience. Over the past two decades, he has faced numerous challenges, criticisms, and missed opportunities. He also served as the party president for a couple of years. His political journey was filled with doubt and criticism about his leadership qualities. However, he has stayed strong and determined, becoming a credible rival to PM Modi. Despite holding important positions, Rahul has been known to disappear at crucial times. He chose not to serve as a cabinet minister during the ten years of UPA, focusing on the party instead. Despite being mocked, he has became the Leader of the Opposition today, following in the footsteps of his father, Rajiv Gandhi, and his mother, Sonia Gandhi. Advertisement During the short inaugural session of the 18th Lok Sabha, Rahul functioned as a credible Opposition leader. He aggressively attacked the Modi government on many issues, including the situation in Manipur, the Agnipath policy, the NEET exam, and the Constitution. Additionally, the current Lok Sabha has a more significant presence of Opposition members. The INDIA bloc, a coalition of various opposition parties, comprises 234 members and has the support of three Independents, compared to NDAs 292 in the 543-member House. Earlier, the Congress could not secure the Opposition party status due to insufficient numbers. Many of Rahuls attacks in Parliament pricked the BJP, which also shouted back when he said many members of the BJP are not Hindus. His inaugural speech triggered a massive showdown between the two sides. At the end of the first session, the prime minister replied to the Motion of Thanks to the Presidents address. He described Gandhi as one with Balak Buddhi, in effect, a grown man with a childs mind. Modis use of this term was a derogatory reference to Rahuls leadership style, implying that he is immature and lacks the wisdom expected from a political leader. This person hit me, that person hit me, I was hit here, I was hit there this drama is being played to gain sympathy, said PM Modi. As Leader of the Opposition, Rahul now has new responsibilities that could significantly impact Indian politics. He is tasked with rallying the opposition parties, raising important issues, keeping the Opposition united, and strengthening his own Party. His role also requires him to master parliamentary rules and regulations and develop practical communicative skills to represent the Opposition effectively. The weight of these responsibilities is significant and will shape the future of Indian politics. He might also become the head of the Public Accounts Committee, a position usually given to the Opposition in Parliament. This would allow him to help select members for other parliamentary committees and take part in choosing some of Indias most influential civil servants. As the Opposition Leader, Rahul challenged Modi and the new Speaker, Om Birla. He told the Speaker, The real question is not how well the house is running but whether it is running at all, and how much the voice of the people is being heard. The ongoing battle between the ruling party and the Opposition is expected to persist beyond parliamentary sessions. The fight will be both inside and outside Parliament. Rahul has managed to grab front-page attention in Parliament and has made a good start. Whether he will develop further in his new role remains to be seen. This is an opportunity he must not miss. Nauru, touted as the wealthiest nation in terms of GDP during the 1980s, is now described as one of the worlds poorest and least visited countries. The decline of Nauru can be attributed to several factors, primarily stemming from its own resources, particularly its phosphate reserves. This case serves as a stark reminder of how colonial exploitation, insufficient economic planning, lack of environmental impact assessments (E.I.A), absence of cost-benefit analyses, and corrupt governance can lead to a nations downfall, adversely affecting its citizens. Currently, Nauru relies heavily on aid from countries like Australia and New Zealand, lacking adequate medical facilities and even a capital city. The dire state of Nauru offers valuable lessons for countries like India, blessed with abundant natural resources such as coal, petroleum, and major minerals. India, too, has a history of colonial exploitation and faces the risk of similar problems if proper steps are not taken. Nauru, an island situated at the heart of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia, was discovered by a British ship named Hunted in 1798. It remained a British colony until the 1830s, serving as a vital trading centre for exports like coconut water and fruits in exchange for alcohol and weapons, leading to a decade-long civil war in 1878. Later, the German Empire took control, confiscating all weapons, and making Nauru a German colony. In 1900, the countrys trajectory changed dramatically when Albert Ellis from New Zealand discovered phosphate, a highly valuable mineral at the time. Subsequently, in 1906, the Pacific Phosphate Company struck an agreement with the Germans, initiating phosphate mining operations. After Germanys defeat in World War I, Naurus administration fell under the joint control of the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, with the signing of the Nauru Agreement, granting British control over phosphate reserves. The British exploited Nauruans by purchasing phosphates at a fraction of their value and selling them to farmers in New Zealand and Australia at exorbitant prices. Advertisement During World War II, the Japanese Empire further exploited Nauru, inflicting suffering on its people and resources. After the Axis Powers defeat, control reverted to the joint partnership of the UK, New Zealand, and Australia. Nauruans, desiring independence, finally achieved it in January 1968. Nauru serves as a stark illustration of how haphazard development, inadequate infrastructure upgrades, and corruption can profoundly alter a nations trajectory. Presently, Nauru finds itself in a precarious position where its future hinges solely on the There Is No Alternative (TINA) factor. Its only recourse is to rely on aid and guidance from neighbouring countries such as Australia and New Zealand. However, this reliance severely constrains Naurus ability to shape its foreign policy and exert influence on the global stage. This scenario offers a valuable lesson for countries like India, especially considering its neighbour, China. If India fails to manage its natural resources wisely, it risks falling into a situation where China exploits the opportunity to make India. This would not only advance Chinas String of Pearls policy and Belt and Road Initiative but also limit Indias autonomy and influence in the region. Naurus excessive exploitation of its natural assets, notably through phosphate mining, has severely impacted its tourism sector. The destruction of its natural environment has rendered its coastline hazardous, resulting in a significant decline in tourism. Consequently, Nauru stands as one of the worlds least visited countries, while its formal trade relations have suffered due to its economic turmoil. The nations current challenges stem from its lack of economic diversification and heavy reliance on a single natural resource. This reliance, coupled with economic uncertainty, financial mismanagement, and corruption, exacerbated by the depletion of phosphate reserves, has plunged Nauru into a severe economic crisis. The countrys heavy dependence on phosphate mining, coupled with its failure to diversify its economy, has led to bankruptcy, internal unrest, and an extensive dependence on foreign aid. India can glean crucial insights from Naurus ordeal. By prioritizing sustainable resource management and diversification, India can ensure enduring prosperity and resilience. This necessitates adopting a holistic approach to natural resource stewardship, encompassing investment in sustainable and renewable energy, conservation and restoration of natural habitats, improved water management practices, and the active engagement and empowerment of local communities, particularly farmers. Through these strategies, India can mitigate the risks associated with overreliance on specific resources and foster a more balanced and sustainable development trajectory. Naurus experience underscores the imperative of prudent economic governance, diversification of revenue streams, and the establishment of robust governance and regulatory frameworks to forestall the adverse consequences of dependence on a sole natural resource. India possesses valuable assets such as phosphate reserves in Rajasthan, lithium reserves in Kashmir, and oil reserves in the Bay of Bengal, which underpin its economy. It is imperative for India to prioritize sustainable development, economic diversification, and anti-corruption measures to avert a similar fate to Naurus. (Shreya Banerjee is an Assistant Professor at Dept. of Political Science, Adamas University. Sadhrid Guha & Sougata Roy Chowdhury are students at Department of Political Science, Adamas University, Kolkata.) The British election results that led to Labour leader Keir Starmers entry into 10 Downing Street mark a pivotal moment in the countrys politics, promising to steer the nation through the turbulent aftermath of 14 years of Conservative governance. His pledge to rebuild Britain and restore faith in its political system speaks directly to a populace weary from years of scandals, economic hardship, and public service deterioration. Mr Starmers vision is clear: a reset for the nation, grounded in pragmatic governance and a commitment to unity. The enormity of Labours victory cannot be overstated. Achieving a massive majority in Parliament, Labour has been given a clear mandate to implement change. This electoral success is reminiscent of Mr Tony Blairs landslide win in 1997, which similarly signaled a dramatic shift in the political landscape. However, unlike the optimism that accompanied Mr Blairs New Labour, Mr Starmers triumph is met with a mix of cautious hope and subdued enthusiasm. The low voter turnout and reliance on the first-past-the-post system underscore a deeper disillusionment with politics that Mr Starmer must address head-on. Advertisement His acknowledgment of the publics lack of trust in politics is a refreshing departure from the often defensive posture of recent administrations. His promise to heal this mistrust through actions rather than words is a step in the right direction. The British public has grown cynical after enduring repeated scandals, including the infamous Downing Street parties during the Covid-19 lockdowns, which eroded confidence in government integrity. A focus on transparency and accountability could serve as a crucial antidote to this disillusionment. Economically, Mr Starmer inherits a nation grappling with significant challenges. The tax burden is at its highest since the post-World War II era, and public services, particularly the National Health Service, are under immense strain. His governments ability to deliver on ambitious promises, such as green spending initiatives and public service improvements, will be a key measure of success. Yet, Mr Starmer has wisely tempered expectations, emphasising the difficulty and gradual nature of meaningful change. His pledge not to raise taxes on working people aligns with his pragmatic approach, but balancing fiscal responsibility with necessary investment will require deft handling. One of the most immediate and contentious challenges will be immigration. The decision to scrap the Conservatives policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda will be controversial amid growing frustration with illegal immigration across the West, including Britain. Moreover, finding a sustainable and humane solution to the influx of migrants across the English Channel will test his leadership. His commitment to improving relations with the European Union, while not seeking reentry, reflects a balanced approach to the Brexit aftermath. Mr Starmers domestic agenda is ambitious, but his stance on foreign policy remains steadfastly aligned with his predecessor. Continued support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia reaffirms Britains role on the global stage, signaling stability in foreign relations amid the domestic overhaul. Prime Minister Narendra Modis upcoming visit to Russia is significant, marking a critical juncture in Indias geopolitical strategy and economic diplomacy. As Mr Modi heads to Moscow to engage in discussions with President Vladimir Putin, the focal points are clear: addressing the trade imbalance between India and Russia and securing the release of Indian nationals misled into participating in the Ukraine conflict. This visit, part of a long-established tradition of annual summits between the two nations, comes at a time of heightened global tensions and shifting alliances. The trade imbalance between India and Russia is a pressing issue. Despite the robust energy cooperation that has propelled bilateral trade to nearly $65 billion, Indian exports to Russia remain a meager $4 billion. This disparity underscores the need for a more balanced trade relationship. Mr Modis agenda includes pushing for increased Indian exports in sectors like agriculture, technology, pharmaceuticals, and services. Such diversification is crucial for India to reduce its dependence on imports and strengthen its economic footprint in Russia. Furthermore, Mr Modis visit is strategically timed to demonstrate Indias commitment to maintaining its historical ties with Russia while navigating the complex dynamics of global politics. India has managed a delicate balance, refraining from outright criticism of Russias actions in Ukraine while advocating for dialogue and diplomacy. This stance reflects Indias broader approach of strategic autonomy, prioritising its national interests without aligning too closely with any single power bloc. The issue of Indian nationals being misled into fighting in the Ukraine war is a humanitarian concern that Mr Modi will address with urgency. Reports of Indians lured to Russia under false pretences and subsequently forced into combat highlight a disturbing exploitation of vulnerable individuals. Mr Modis efforts to secure their release will not only provide relief to affected families but also reinforce Indias commitment to protecting its citizens abroad. This visit also serves as a diplomatic signal. Advertisement For Russia, welcoming Mr. Modi is an opportunity to showcase its enduring partnerships amid international isolation due to the Ukraine conflict. For India, it is a chance to affirm its independent foreign policy stance and prevent the perception of a drift in India-Russia relations. By engaging with Russia at this juncture, Mr Modi underscores the importance of keeping Russia within a balanced geopolitical equation, particularly given the deepening ties between Russia and China. As global power dynamics shift, Indias ability to maintain strategic autonomy and foster diverse partnerships is crucial. The emphasis on correcting trade imbalances, protecting citizens, and engaging in high-stakes diplomacy reflects a mature and multifaceted approach to foreign policy. But Mr Modis Moscow visit is not just about bilateral trade or resolving immediate humanitarian issues. It is a testament to Indias nuanced and strategic engagement on the global stage. As India continues to rise as a significant global player, such visits are pivotal in shaping the contours of international relations and ensuring that Indias voice remains influential and independent GAZA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- At least 10 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others wounded on Sunday in an Israeli airstrike on a school housing displaced people in Gaza City, said Palestinian sources. Security sources told Xinhua that an Israeli army hit the Holy Family school in the west of Gaza City. Meanwhile, medical sources said the rescue teams recovered the bodies of at least 10 people and are still searching for survivors. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Sunday that based on intelligence, the Israeli Air Force struck a complex and a Hamas weapons manufacturing facility in the area of a school in Gaza City. IDF added that before the strike, numerous steps were taken to "mitigate the risk of harming civilians." Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and around 250 were taken hostage. A man, who allegedly threatened officers with a knife at a police station, was shot dead by police on Saturday night in Australias Queensland. A 46-year-old man allegedly entered a police station in Kirwan, a suburb in Queenslands City of Townsville, just after 10 p.m. local time on Saturday and threatened officers with a knife, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a Queensland police report issued on Sunday morning. Police shot the man and immediately rendered first aid. Advertisement The man died a short time later, according to the police report. The recent Lok Sabha election was the largest democratic exercise in human history. Spanning seven phases over seven weeks, more than 642 million out of 969 million registered voters cast their votes. This massive turnout underscores Indias profound commitment to democracy, a cornerstone of our civilisational ethos. It is safe to say that democracy is the national ideology of our great nation, with its vitality manifesting in each election cycle. India, historically revered as a land of education and knowledge, has long embraced democratic principles. At a time when much of the world was governed by monarchies, India upheld a rich tradition of democracy that spanned thousands of years. This deep-rooted democratic spirit finds its origins in Indias ancient traditions of sustainable development and spiritual democracy. Democracy was innate to our civilisation and that is why our nation is known to be the mother of democracy, being one of the oldest and the largest democracies of the world. The 2024 election marked a significant milestone in our democratic journey. Conducted by the vigilant Election Commission of India (ECI), it not only reaffirmed our status as the worlds largest democracy but also highlighted the logistical feat of organising polls for 100 crore eligible voters. Salil Bera Despite initial scepticism, the EVMs have proven their reliability through rigorous testing and numerous court challenges, including Supreme Court mandates for all machines to include Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units. These measures have bolstered public confidence in the electoral process, despite occasional criticism from defeated parties. Since the introduction of EVMs, instances of electoral fraud and human errors have significantly reduced, along with other malpractices like booth capturing and ballot stuffing, which were common in many parts of India. It is debatable whether a nascent party like the Trinamool Congress, led by Mamata Banerjee, would have won the historic West Bengal elections in 2011 against the CPI(M), which had ruled the state for decades and was known for electoral misdemeanours, without the fairness and security brought to the polling process by the EVMs. For many years now the Congress has been blaming the EVMs when it lost any election, but laughingly the EVMs were given credibility when the party won an election. Such behaviour shows that winning is everything for some people and national interest is secondary. Elon Musks comment on the possibility of EVMs being hacked by humans or AI, in response to a report on alleged voting irregularities in Puerto Rico, has once again caused a stir among certain groups in India. The time is right for India to highlight one of its most underrated and successful indigenous innovations. At present, Namibia, Nepal, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Venezuela, besides the US, use some form of electronic voting. Indias EVMs are a testament to indigenous innovation. They boast over 275 safety protocols, including a single-use, encrypted chip and stringent transportation and storage SOPs. Designed without any capability to connect to networks, such as Wi-Fi or bluetooth, Indian EVMs are impervious to remote hacking or external interference, ensuring unparalleled security and reliability. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi rightly said, the poll result is a victory for the democratic world showcasing resilience, peaceful conduct of elections and smooth transfer of power. The election has raised the credibility of the EVMs as the result symbolises impartiality and transparency. Lekhi is former Union minister. Political folklorists say, theres a charmed circle around every powerful person. Political gossipers would tell you stories about what many do to get into that circle, or to get others out. Several of our Panchatantra tales are about tricks played by people to get into the kings favour, or how the jealous would poison the kings ears against others. Fathimath Shamnaz Alis is one such. She had been politically close to Mohamed Muizzu when he was mayor of Male, and she a town council member. She followed Muizzu when he rode to power in the Maldives last year, and moved into the presidential mansion Muliaage. Blame it on the flawed vaastu of Muliaage, Muizzu soon despatched her to the environment ministry. Pretty vital, we would think, considering that climate change is a lifeline matter for the Maldives as is the actual line of control for us Indians. Many of the isles will sink if the globe warms by a degree or two, the polar ice melts, and the sea rises. Imaging: Deni Lal But Shamnaz Ali thought she was being sent out to count the waves, and was desperate to get back into Muizzus charmed circle. She engaged a sorcerer to bewitch him. Made of sterner stuff, Muizzu didnt fall for the spell; he got her arrested along with her sorcerer and his apprentices. Sorcery is practised widely as fanditha (white and benign magic) and sihuru (black and invoking demons) in the Maldives. At times white wizards are hired to dispel the spells cast by the black. Politicians are known to hire, on the sly, persons who practise both. Sorcerers had a field day during the 2013 presidential poll, as jyotishis have during our elections, with one of the contestants, Abdulla Yameen, suspected to have been a firm believer in sorcery. He kept a charm circle around him, and his presidential order to uproot trees in a town square was believed to have been on the suspicion that the rival party had cast a spell on them to make him ill. Yameen was even caught in a video discussing with a Lankan national Asela Wickramasinghe on how to cast a spell on his rival Mohammed Nasheed so as to make him go "temporarily crazy" or take his life. In the end, he decides against murder, saying, "but Asela, human life is so precious, so precious." The video, that came out in 2016 after Asela complained that he had not been paid for his services, has since been banned in the Maldives. Yameen may have gone to jail on other charges, but sorcerers are still haunting the charmed woods on the islands, blessing and cursing leaders and lesser folk. Four men, including two high-ranking civil servants, were arrested on Kulhudhuffushi isle for working magic for the opposition in last years presidential polls. Two months ago, a 60-year-old sorcerer was arrested from Sh. Funadhoo for having cast a black spell on the islands trees against the local MP-elect Mohamed Mamdhooh. Coconuts, a favourite voodoo object, with spells written on them, were found near polling stations, purportedly to influence swing voters. A suspect coconut was recently detained on Guraidhoo island, until a white magician arrived and judged it harmless. Police caught a man couriering five cursed coconuts after his wife found them hidden under the bed and raised a hue and cry. The penal code does not have a specific provision against sorcery. A 1978 law allows fanditha under health ministry licence, but both fanditha and sihuru are considered taboo and un-Islamic. In December, 2015, the Islamic ministry issued a warning against black magic. Thats still a cry in the enchanted wilderness. prasannan@theweek.in If everything goes as planned, Bengaluru will get a second airport by 2033. The Karnataka government will soon convene a meeting to decide the location for the proposed airport, with Sarjapura, Kanakapura Road, Tumkur and Dabaspete being the strong contenders. "If we prioritise passenger load, areas such as Sarjapura and Kanakapura Road are strong contenders. On the other hand, if connectivity to the existing airport becomes a priority, places like Tumkur and Dabaspete will be in the lead," Minister for Infrastructure M.B. Patil said on Sunday. He said the next departmental meeting will discuss these considerations and that the matter will also be taken up in the cabinet meeting. The Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) is the operator of the existing Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) which is the third busiest airport in the country, following Delhi and Mumbai. Last year the airport handled 37.5 million passengers and over 4,00,000 tonne of cargo. By 2033, the KIA is expected to reach its maximum passenger handling capacity. The exclusivity clause with the BIAL, which restricts the establishment of another airport within a 150-kilometer radius, ends in 2032, allowing the potential development of a new airport by 2033. With only nine years left on this agreement, planning for a second airport has become imperative, Patil had recently said. The government has already initiated the planning process, considering the time required for land acquisition and compensation for landowners. In 2020, the Bengaluru Chamber of Commerce had urged the state government to build a new airport for the city. It highlighted that a second airport would enhance connectivity and affordability while promoting inclusive development in the region. At least four terrorists were killed and two soldiers were martyred in two encounters in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district on Saturday. The latest terrorist attack took place in Frisal Chinnigam while the earlier encounter occurred in Modergam. The soldiers made contact with terrorists during a cordon and search operation in the Frisal Chinnigam area, following which four terrorists were neutralised in the exchange of fire, said officials, adding that their bodies have been found. They said the four bodies were discovered through a drone footage of the encounter site but they could not be recovered as the firing was still going on. One soldier was killed in the firing while another was injured. Police and security forces are still tracking the movement of surviving terrorists as they believe two more are hiding in the area. In Modergam village, a gunfight broke out after joint forces of the CRPF, Army and local police launched a cordon and search operation there following specific inputs about the presence of terrorists, the officials said. At least two terrorists are believed to be trapped in a housed targeted in the operation. A soldier, who was injured in the initial gunfire, later died during treatment. The two operations are still on with the security forces cordoned off both the encounter sites to catch the remaining terrorists. This comes less than a month after security forces kiled three terrorists in Doda district's Gandoh. BAGHDAD, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces arrested a senior Islamic State (IS) militant responsible for manufacturing car bombs, the Iraqi military said on Sunday. Based on intelligence reports, an Iraqi army and police force circled the suspect in an operation, arresting him in a village in the Yusufiya area, some 30 km south of Baghdad, according to a statement issued by the Baghdad Operations Command. The suspect is in charge of explosive-laden manufacturing units in the IS terrorist group, the statement said. Meanwhile, Major Saad Ibrahim from the command told Xinhua that the arrested IS militant is a major mastermind wanted by the security forces for making dozens of car bombs that targeted the security forces and civilians and caused the death and injury of many people. The security situation in Iraq has improved since the defeat of the IS in 2017. However, IS remnants have sneaked into urban centers, deserts, and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. The Chennai police suspects revenge led to the murder of Tamil Nadu Bahujan Samajwadi party leader K. Armstrongs murder, who was hacked to death by a motorcycle-borne gang on Friday. Police have so far arrested eight persons in connection with the case. Police on Sunday said as part of the probe, they have seized seven blood-stained weapons, a Zomato t-shirt, a Zomato delivery bag and three motorcycles. Police said those arrested were related to gangster Arcot Suresh who was murdered in August last year. Asra Garg, Additional Commissioner of Police, Law and Order, North Chennaitold ANI, After sustained interrogation and due analysis and due diligence of the facts and circumstances as pertaining to each of the suspects, we have arrested eight people. We have seized seven blood-stained weapons, one Zomato t-shirt, a Zomato bag and three bikes that were prima facie used in the offence. Garg said those related to Arcot Suresh, including his brother were involved in Armstrongs murder. Armstrong was murdered by associates of Arcot Suresh, including his brother, who has been arrested by us," added Garg. Police suspect Arcot Sureshs associates conspired to murder Armstrong as they believed the BSP leader conspired to murder Suresh. The preliminary investigation so far indicates that the motive prima facie appears to be based on different types of analysis. In August 2023, Arcot Suresh was murdered by a gang; his family and associates believe it was done under the direction or in conspiracy with Armstrong, who was murdered on Friday," Garg said. Meanwhile, BSP leader Mayawati has sought a CBI probe in the case. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister paid homage to Armstrong's body in Chennai on Sunday and charged those arrested were not the real culprits and only a CBI probe could unearth truth. Bahujan Samajwadi Party chief Mayawati demanded a CBI probe into the murder of the partys Tamil Nadu head K. Armstrong on Sunday. Mayawati charged those arrested by the state police in the case are not the real culprits. The BSP supremo visited Chennai on Sunday and paid homage to the mortal remains of Armstrong who was hacked to death on Friday. Addressing party cadres, Mayawati said, Our party has taken this incident very seriously and we will not sit quietly. Our state unit will not sit quiet and they will exert pressure on the state government to refer this case to the CBI." However, Mayawati advised party cadres not to take law into their hands. To ensure action against the accused, the party cadre should come forward but at the same time, stay within the limits of law and show that the weaker section does not take law into their hands, ANI reported quoting the BSP leader. Mayawati charged real culprits have not been arrested in the case and only a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation will unearth truth. "The real culprits have not been nabbed. Transfer the probe to CBI. We are not hopeful that the state government will ensure justice. So, refer the matter to CBI immediately," she demanded. The BSP leader further said Dalits all over the state were apprehensive following Armstrong's killing and urged Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to ensure their safety. Mayawati charged the murder of Armstrong shows the law and order situation is deteriorating in the state. The way he was killed, shows there is nothing called law and order in Tamil Nadu. Those who have killed him, the real culprits have not been nabbed," she said. Mayawati placed a wreath before the body of the 52-year-old leader at a private school in Perambur in the city. 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 in Chennai on Friday. The victim is a former councillor of Chennai Corporation. Weather Today July 8 -12, 2024: After heavy to very heavy rainfall spells were witnessed in parts of Uttarakhand on Sunday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has clarfied that the showers will gradually weaken in the state. However, several parts of India can brace of heavt rainfall from July 7 to July 12, Friday, the department said. "Heavy to very heavy rainfall spell likely along West Coast, many parts of northeast & east India and Uttar Pradesh next 5 days," an IMD release predicted. A cyclonic circulation lies over northeast Rajasthan extending upto middle-tropospheric levels. Coastal Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala is expected to get rains this week, while Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and the northeast states should also prepare for heavy showers. Thunderstorms accompanied by lightning is also predicted by the weather department in many of these regions between July 7 and 12. (THE WEEK INTERACTIVE GUIDE: Tap/Click on the "SEARCH" button below the Google interactive window to reach the results page. To know about weather predictions for each state/region, click on the images; to go back to the previous page, Tap/Click anywhere outside the info box or hit the 'X' button.) (CLICK on the full-screen button on the bottom right for better experience. This is a phone-friendly interactive and may not suit PC users) Here are state-wise rainfall predictions for the coming days (July 8, Monday to July 12, Friday) NORTHEAST INDIA: IMD says "fairly widespread to widespread light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorm and lightning very likely over Northeast India during next 5 days." Sikkim can expect heavy rainfall in the next five days Isolated very heavy rainfall very likely in Nagaland on July 8; Arunachal Pradesh during 8-10; Assam & Meghalaya on 8 & 9 Isolated heavy rainfall very likely over Arunachal Pradesh on 7th & 11th; Assam & Meghalaya on 7, 10 & 11 Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Tripura likely to get isolated heavy rainfall between July 7 & 11 SOUTH INDIA IMD says, "fairly widespread to widespread light to moderate rainfall accompanied with thunderstorm & lightning very likely over Konkan & Goa, Kerala, Lakshadweep, coastal Karnataka during next 5 days." Scattered to fairly widespread light to moderate rainfall likley over coastal Andhra Pradesh & Yanam, Telangana and Interior Karnataka during next 5 days Tamil Nadu, Puducherry & Karaikal & Rayalaseema may get isolated to scattered light to moderate rainfall during next 5 days Isolated heavy rainfall very likely over Kerala & Mahe on July 8 Isolated heavy rainfall very likely over Telangana on July 8 & 9 Isolated very heavy rainfall likely over coastal Karnataka during July 8, 10 & 11 South interior Karnataka may get isolated heavy rainfall on July 8 & 10, while north interior Karnataka may experience the same on July 10 HIMACHAL PRADESH: Isolated heavy rainfall is very likely over Himachal Pradesh on July 10 & 11, IMD said. Earlier, the department had said The thunderstorms are expected to make recurrent appearances till July 12. The MeT also asked people residing in the state's low-lying areas to remain prepared for extremities caused by heavy rains and thunderstorms. Waterlogging, traffic disruption, damage to kutcha houses and crop destruction are likely to affect these areas in the coming days due to strong winds and rain. UTTAR PRADESH: In the next five days, fairly widespread to widespread light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms & lightning is very likely in Uttar Pradesh Isolated heavy rainfall very likely over Uttar Pradesh on July 8 & 9 Isolated very heavy rainfall likely over Uttar Pradesh on July 10 & 11 UTTARAKHAND: The IMD has predicted fairly widespread to widespread light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms & lightning over Uttarakhand in the next five days. On July 8, 10 & 11, the state may witness isolated heavy rainfall, it said. RAJASTHAN: A cyclonic circulation lies over northeast Rajasthan extending upto middle-tropospheric levels, the weather department has said. Thus, isolated heavy rainfall is very likely in the state on July 10 & 11. East Rajasthan is listed among the areas likely to witness fairly widespread light to moderate rainfall in the next five days. The western parts of the desert state may get light to moderate rainfall during this period, the IMD release said. At least seven bodies were recovered from the rubble after a six-storey residential building collapsed in Surat's Sachin area on Saturday afternoon, according to officials. More people are feared trapped in the debris. "The search operation continued throughout the night. Seven dead bodies have been recovered," Surat Chief Fire Officer Basant Pareek told ANI. A woman was rescued alive from the debris soon and taken to New Civil Hospital after the building collapsed on Saturday around 2.45 pm at DN Nagar society in Paligam, Sachin. NDRF and SDRF teams are leading the rescue operation as they believe four to five out of the 30 flats in the building were occupied. JCBs were used to move the rubble while rescuers had to use drilling machines to break large concret slabs. Surat Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot said the voices of trapped victims 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," Gehlot told PTI. However, the number of victims still trapped in the debris has not been confirmed. Most of the residents of the building were labourers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar working at the local textile factories and they were outside when the collapse occurred. Labourers who were sleeping following their night shift are believed to be among the trapped. The building, which was constructed in 2016-17, was in a dilapidated condition. With 'very heavy' rain predicted to wreak havoc in Uttarakhand, the Chardham Yatra was suspended on Sunday. This comes as the Indian Meterological Department issued a red alert for the state's Garhwal region on July 7 and 8. Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey said the pilgrimage was postponed for the safety of devotees and urged the pilgrims who already proceeded for the journey to wait wherever they are until the weather department lifts the warning. The state has reported heavy rainfall over the past few days, resulting in landslides in the hilly regions. The highway leading to Badrinath has been blocked at several areas, including Baldouda bridge near Vishnu Prayag, with the rubble falling from the hills. Rudraprayag Gaurikund NH 107 is also blocked in the Doliya Devi (Phata) area, local police said. The Alaknanda river is flowing near the danger mark near Joshimath in Vishnu Prayag where it merges with Dhauli Ganga. Heavy rain is expected in Rudraprayag, Pauri and Chamoli districts on Sunday. Chamoli police warned on X that public should check road conditions on its social media handles before deciding to travel. Two pilgrims from Hyderabad were killed after boulders fell on their motorcycle near Chatwapeepal in Chamoli district's Karnaprayag. On July 9, intense rains are expected in Dehradun, Haridwar, Uttarkashi and Tehri district while on July 10, Nainital, Almora, Pauri, Tehri, Bageshwar and Champatwat districts are predicted to witness heavy downpour. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has asked district magistrates of the affected regions to stay on high alert and urged the public to remian cautious. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is embarking on a UK-wide tour to reset relations with Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. Following his party's landslide victory, Starmer emphasised a new approach to politics based on cooperation and respect. Starmer aims to transform disagreements into cooperation, starting with a meeting with Scottish First Minister John Swinney in Edinburgh. Starmer's approach prioritises respect and empowerment, seeking to decentralize power from London to regional leaders. He believes this will address the country's challenges, including a struggling economy, a disillusioned public, and a "broken" National Health Service (NHS). This tour is part of Starmer's broader mission to serve the people and tackle the country's problems. He will also meet with regional mayors in England and travel to Washington for a NATO meeting. His top diplomat, David Lammy, is strengthening ties with European partners, including Germany, Poland, and Sweden. Lammy affirmed that the UK will not rejoin the EU single market but will seek closer cooperation. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds supported improving trade with the EU while rejecting the free movement of people required for EU membership. While the UK won't rejoin the EU single market, Starmer's government seeks to improve trade relations and cooperation with the EU. They aim to put the divisive Brexit years behind them, focusing on collaborative solutions that benefit both the UK and the EU. Starmer's commitment to cooperation extends across party lines, recognizing that good ideas know no political boundaries. By engaging with politicians from all sides, he hopes to create a more inclusive, effective government that truly serves the people. France votes on Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock. Sunday's snap elections in this nuclear-armed nation have potential impact on the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy and Europe's economic stability. And they're almost certain to undercut President Emmanuel Macron for the remaining three years of his presidency. France could have its first far-right government since the Nazi occupation in World War II if the National Rally wins an absolute majority and its 28-year-old leader Jordan Bardella becomes prime minister. Racism and antisemitism have marred the electoral campaign, along with Russian cybercampaigns, and more than 50 candidates reported being physically attacked highly unusual for France. The government is deploying 30,000 police on voting day. The second-round voting began on Saturday in France's overseas territories from the South Pacific to the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and North Atlantic. The elections wrap up Sunday at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) in mainland France. Initial polling projections are expected Sunday night, with early official results expected late Sunday and early Monday. Here's the latest: Parisians worry about future after casting ballots Voters at a Paris polling station were acutely aware of the elections' far-reaching consequences for France and beyond. The individual freedoms, tolerance and respect for others is what at stake today, said Thomas Bertrand, a 45-year-old voter who works in advertising. He voted at a school where, as at all French schools, the national motto Liberty, Equality, Fraternity was displayed prominently. Pierre Lubin, a 45-year-old business manager, was worried about whether the elections would produce an effective government. This is a concern for us, Lubin said. Will it be a technical government or a coalition government made up of (different) political forces? Even with the outcome still in doubt, Valerie Dodeman, a 55-year-old legal expert, said she is pessimistic about the future of France. No matter what happens, I think this election will leave people disgruntled on all sides, Dodeman said. Prime minister casts ballot in Paris suburb Prime Minister Gabriel Attal cast his ballot in the Paris suburb of Vanves Sunday morning. Macron is expected to vote later in the seaside town of La Touquet, while Le Pen is not voting after winning her district in northern France outright last week. Across France, 76 other candidates secured seats in the first round, including 39 from her National Rally and 32 from the leftist New Popular Front alliance. Two candidates from Macron's centrists list also won their seats in the first round. Polls open in mainland France for the second round of high-stakes legislative elections Voting opened on Sunday in mainland France for the second round of high-stake legislative elections that have already seen the largest gains ever for the country's far-right National Rally party. French President Emmanuel Macron took a huge gamble in dissolving parliament and calling for the elections after his centrists were trounced in European elections on June 9. The first round on June 30 saw the largest gains ever for the anti-immigration, nationalist National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen. Sunday's vote determines which party controls the National Assembly and who will be prime minister. If support is further eroded for Macron's weak centrist majority, he will be forced to share power with parties opposed to most of his pro-business, pro-European Union policies. The second-round voting began on Saturday in France's overseas territories from the South Pacific to the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and North Atlantic. The elections wrap up Sunday at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) in mainland France. Initial polling projections are expected Sunday night, with early official results expected late Sunday and early Monday. Candidates make hurried deals to try to stop far-right National Rally from leading government Opposition parties made hurried deals ahead of Sunday's second round of voting to try to block a landslide victory for Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally in the legislative elections, as she said her party would lead the government only if it won an absolute majority or close to it. An unprecedented number of candidates who qualified for Round 2 from the left-wing alliance of the New Popular Front and from President Emmanuel Macron's weakened centrists have stepped aside to favour the candidate most likely to win against a National Rally opponent. According to a count by French newspaper Le Monde, some 218 candidates who were supposed to compete in the second round have pulled out. Of those, 130 were on the left, and 82 came from the Macron-led centrist alliance Ensemble. (AP) Rajeshwari Noyal, 46, arrived as a refugee on the shores of Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka in 1990, when the conflict between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government was at its peak. The 14-year-old did not fully understand what was happening, except that all 11 members of her family would have to sail by boat to reach a safe zone. Other than their national ID cards and a few sets of clothes, her mother only packed around 15 maida rotis and sambol, a traditional side dish of Sri Lankan Tamil cuisine. The maida rotis were meant to stay fresh for at least four days. The sambol was prepared without coconut or tuna, its usual ingredients. But upon reaching Rameswaram, the family had to throw away all the food, because the high tide had made them soggy and inedible. Rajeshwari was so hungry she was even prepared to eat the soggy rotis. However, when they got off the boat, they were served upma by officers of the Indian coast guard. That was the first time I ate it, she says. She was so hungry she did not even register the taste. And now, 34 years later, Rajeshwari lives in a refugee camp in Chennais Puzhal, and is one of the celebrated Sri Lankan refugee chefs there. She can cook Indian and Burmese delicacies, having learnt the latter from a Burmese colleague at a health centre in Chennai, where she used to work. Along with her neighbour Nilavani Kamleswaran, 50, she runs a small restaurant in the camp. Plating the past: Paramanathan Ravichandran | R.G. Sastha She and Nilavani are among the 50 or so chefs participating in the third edition of a refugee food festival organised by the UNHCR in Chennai from July 5 to 7. They will serve appam, masi (tuna) sambol and katta (spicy) sambol. The festivalOorum Unavum (cities and food)is aimed at improving the perception of refugees in their host country. Taking place at Annasalai in Chennai, it will feature the rich culinary traditions of Sri Lankan Tamils and Rohingya Muslims from Bangladesh and Myanmar. It is nice to bring people together around the question of immigration in a more positive way, says Prema Rajani Devendram, 46, a Sri Lankan refugee from Jaffna who will prepare red rice idiyappam, sothi (a kind of watery gravy), coconut sambol, red rice puttu and chicken pirattal (another gravy) at the festival. Rajani, unlike Rajeshwari and Nilavani, is used to south Indian cuisine. She was first introduced to it in the 1980s by the personnel of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF)the military contingent sent from India to Sri Lanka to promote peace between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government. Rajanis house was close to the IPKF camp in Jaffna. We used to get chapati and soup packets, millets like ragi, lentils and rice from the soldiers, says Rajani, who now runs a food truck in Chennai. When she first landed at Rameswaram as a refugee in 1999, the Indian cuisine tasted just like the food prepared at home. The coast guard gave us chapati and biscuits. The only difference was that this chapati was not hot like the ones served by the IPKF, she says with a smile. Rajeshwari Noyal | R.G. Sastha Unlike the others, Paramanathan Ravichandran, 49, came to India from Sri Lanka on a tourist visa two years after the war in which he was badly hurt. He runs a Sri Lankan bakery in Chennai, which serves kothu roti, veg and chicken rolls, and types of triangular buns called kombuvan, sangilivan and fish van. He came to India after spending two years in the camps for the internally displaced in Sri Lanka, and started his business by selling rolls and tea at the Koyambedu market from 2am. Everyone there used to call him Roll Ravi. Later, in 2000, he registered with the refugee rehabilitation department and launched his own bakery with his savings. While the Sri Lankan refugees can adapt to life in Tamil Nadu because of similar culture and language, it is much more difficult for the Rohingya Muslims like Thosalima Mohammed Yusuf, 28, who migrated from Bangladesh and has been living at a government-run camp in Chennai for the past 12 years. She says she is yet to adapt to Indian food and culture. There are over 18 families and 90 Rohingya Muslims living in the camp. I am not particular about food, even when we have our own traditional cuisine, she says in broken Hindi, adding that it does not matter when they do not have a country. Thosalima and her neighbour Shaji Begum, 22, will cook dhoofida (made with rice, coconut and jaggery) faasfida (a traditional vegetarian snack made with wheat flour, coconut and jaggery), lapasu (a salad prepared with green chilli, onion, cucumber, tomato and oil) and sana (another salad made with potato, onion, tomato and noodles). The two work as home chefs at the camp. The men are mostly daily wage labourers. The women also go out to work sometimes. So we help them by taking orders from home, says Thosalima. She explains that Rohingya recipes mostly revolve around fish, vegetables, rice, milk and chilli. One of the mainstays is gura fira, a sweet rice pudding that is consumed in the morning before prayer and during religious festivals like Eid. But the most important Rohingya dish might be durus kura, a whole-fried chicken curry that is prepared on special occasions. For Thosalima and the other refugee chefs, the food festival offers an opportunity to connect with other members of their community from across India. After all life, much like food, is meant to be shared. In 2022, there was no food, fuel or electricity in Sri Lanka. Poor, hungry and destitute, the people became desperate. The economic crisis tipped into political instability and there were widespread protests. Once again Sri Lanka burned, but this time, with a fire from within. It is in this backdrop that Sri Lankan filmmaker Prasanna Vithanage set his film Paradise. After all, paradise is what the main charactersKesav (Roshan Mathew) and Amrita (Darshana Rajendran)were after when they travelled to Sri Lanka, unaware of the tensions simmering there. They did not know that when they planned to celebrate five years of marriage in a burning country, they risked their love going up in flames. It was a five-hour chat with Vithanage that convinced actor Mathew to take up the film. There is a certain sense of simplicity and minimalism in his filmmaking, which I admire, says Mathew. I saw that in his films With You, Without You, Gaadi and Paradise. It was an illuminating experience to work with him. Although Mathew was initially hesitant to do Paradise because his film Choked had followed a similar relationship trajectory, he got enthused after meeting and speaking with the filmmaker. Vithanage wanted the actors to go to Sri Lanka without any preconceived notions to experience the situation firsthand. In the film, the couple visits the country for its beauty and affordability. Paradisepresented by filmmaker Mani Ratnam's Madras Talkies and produced by Newton Cinemawon the Kim Jiseok award at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea and the Prix du Jury Lyceen at the Vesoul International Film Festival in France. It released in India on June 28 to much acclaim. Referring to independent and non-commercial films like Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light (which won big at Cannes this year) and Paradise attracting audiences on OTT instead of theatres, Mathew says, There is a certain responsibility to ensure that the diversity in cinema remains, and for that we must go to watch these films. Mathew has worked in Malayalam, Hindi and Tamil films. His international project Poacher was produced by Alia Bhatt. He says that while Tamil and Telugu films are becoming pan-India hits, he is happy that Malayalam actors and films, too, are getting attention, especially after the pandemic. The actor is keen on trying different genres, especially those he has never explored before, like his upcoming film, Ulajh, a spy thriller co-starring Janhvi Kapoor. I take up a project if the character excites me or if the people in it do, or if it is multilingual, he says. It is high time we embrace all languages in cinema. Poacher was his second collaboration with Alia Bhatt, after the comedy-thriller Darlings (2022), which starred her along with Mathew, Shefali Shah and Vijay Varma. Who would not want to work with Alia? he asks. She is at the top of her game, doing some incredible work, and evolving as an artiste so beautifully. I was lucky to be able to work with her. Even now, if there is a discussion about a project with Alia, I get excited. Mathew says he is agnostic of the medium he works in, whether it is OTT or the big screen. As an actor, all that matters to him is that he does his work well. ANKARA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed on Sunday readiness to mend ties between Turkiye and Syria, emphasizing his country's desire to restore Turkiye-Syria relations to their previous levels. If Syrian President Bashar al-Assad takes a step toward improving relations with Turkiye, "we will respond positively to that approach," Erdogan was quoted by the semi-official Anadolu Agency as saying. Regarding his hinted invitation to al-Assad for a visit last week, the Turkish president reiterated his willingness on this matter. "We will extend our invitation," he said, adding "it can happen any time." Erdogan emphasized the importance of peace in Syria for the return of millions to their homeland, amid Turkiye's sheltering of over 3.1 million registered Syrians. Anti-Syrian riots broke out earlier this month in Kayseri province, central Turkiye, triggered by the arrest of a Syrian man for allegedly sexually abusing a seven-year-old Syrian girl. Local residents set fire to houses and businesses belonging to Syrians and vandalized their vehicles. The unrest subsequently spread to multiple provinces. Erdogan condemned the violence and stressed the Syrian refugee issue in the country cannot be resolved through "prejudices and fears." Formal diplomatic relations between Turkiye and Syria were severed following the onset of the Syrian civil war, with Turkiye backing opposition groups against the Assad government. While there have been signs of thawing relations in recent years, substantial progress remains elusive. Rabbi Aharon Asayag shlita at the Beit Halevi site In response to the growing need for affordable housing among young haredi families who live by the ethos of Torato Omanuto, a new initiative has been launched in Netivot. Kiryat Beit Halevi, a community of 10,000 housing units slated to be built over the next few years, surrounded by multiple Talmud Torahs, Kollelim, Yeshivas Hanegev, shopping centers, and playgrounds approximately the size of the entirety of Kiryat Sefer (Modiin Ilit) today. This, in addition to another 10,000 units to be built in the city in the near future. These homes will be priced significantly lower than similar properties in established haredi communities like Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, and Beit Shemesh, with a starting price around $200,000 less. The goal is to make Netivot an appealing and practical option for families seeking to continue their Torah learning and living as their families grow. The projects driving force includes prominent Torah supporters from the United States. This initiative, with endorsements from leading rabbanim in Eretz Yisrael, led by Rabbi Aharon Asayag Shlita, aims to create a thriving Torah community in Netivot, having coordinated the citys education, Torah, and chessed initiatives for the past 20 years. By providing affordable housing and a supportive environment, the initiative seeks to place Netivot on the map of haredi real estate, transforming it into the next Lakewood of the South. Putting Netivot on the Haredi Housing Map Map of Netivot. In red, the existing haredi community. In blue and green, areas under construction. In yellow, Yeshivas Hanegev To encourage families to make the move, several strategies have been put in place. A partnership with generous donors from the U.S. has resulted in a $10 million fund, offering grants of $50,000 to each family that relocates. Additionally, agreements with contractors ensure that the projects first 300 units are reserved exclusively for families recruited through this initiative. Furthermore, leading yeshivas such as Ponevezh and Tifrach have already committed to sending some of their avreichim to Netivot, with 25% of the projects units already sold to alumni of these esteemed institutions. Netivot was chosen after careful consideration of several factors. These included the availability of 3,000 new housing units within five years, the citys proximity to major haredi centers like Bnei Brak and Jerusalem (just an hours drive), and its existing infrastructure to support a haredi community with diverse, existing employment opportunities. Netivot scored the highest in these areas, making it the ideal location for this ambitious project. The short-term goal is to attract 300 quality families from prominent yeshivot to establish a strong initial community. Over the next four years, the project aims to settle 1,500 families in Netivot, firmly establishing it on the haredi housing map. Modern Apartments Designed With the Haredi Family in Mind Apartments in the Beit Halevi project. For illustrative purposes only This effort to strengthen the Torah community in Netivot is a collaborative endeavor, guided and coordinated with community leaders like Rabbi Aryeh Levy, a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, and Rabbi Shmuel Montag, the communitys spiritual leader. Their involvement ensures that the project stays true to the values and needs of the haredi community. Rabbi Aharon Asayag shlita and Rabbi Yissachar Meir ztl As such, the apartments being built in Netivot as part of the Kiryat Beit Halevi project promise modern living and are designed to meet the needs of young haredi families. The apartments feature spacious layouts kitchens with upgraded cabinetry and a double sink, and sukkah balconies. Common areas include luxurious lobbies, and each apartment has a designated private parking space. These specifications ensure that families moving to Netivot will enjoy a high standard of living, with all the conveniences needed for a comfortable and fulfilling Torah lifestyle. A Growing Kehilla, Week After Week There are many apartments to choose from within the Beit Halevi project Since its founding by Rabbi Yissachar Meir ztl, the Netivot haredi community has grown into a diverse and vibrant kehillah. Yet, until now, it has remained in the shadow of other peripheral cities where haredi communities have developed more recently. The parallel growth of the haredi community alongside the city as a whole is necessary to preserve the unique character of the kehillah, following the spiritual foundations laid by great rabbis like Rabbi Yissachar Meir ztl, Rabbi Reuven Yosef Gershonowitz ztl, and Rabbi Chaim Friedlander ztl. Netivot is experiencing unprecedented growth, poised to become a city of 100,000 residents. The citys expansion will include the construction of 1,500 new housing units around the haredi community, an upcoming agreement to add another 12,000 units city-wide, and the inclusion of 3,000 units designated for haredi families. Hundreds of young haredi couples have already purchased homes, and more families join the Beit Halevi project every week. This accelerated development in Netivot presents a unique opportunity for new haredi families to join and live Torah lives comfortably and surrounded by a growing and invested community. Additionally, the city offers developed transportation channels, shopping areas, employment opportunities, and quality educational institutions, making it an ideal location for a life of Torah and bracha. 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, Irans 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. Pezeshkians 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. Pezeshkians victory also wasnt a rout of Jalili, meaning hell 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 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 G-d, 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. 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, 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 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. (AP) The IDF eliminated another key Hezbollah commander in a town in the Baalbek district in the northeastern part of the country a rare airstrike deep inside Lebanon. The IDF said that the strike killed Meitham Mustafa Altaar, a key operative in Hezbollahs air defense unit. Meitham led many of the units activities and took part in the planning and carrying out of numerous terrorist attacks against Israelis, the IDF spokesperson said. Meitham also flew to Iran multiple times, where he gained knowledge and assisted in building up Hezbollahs force and arsenal of Iranian weapons. His elimination significantly harms the capabilities of Hezbollahs air defense unit. (YWNs Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis haShabbos in Israel) 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 two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, said Washingtons 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 groups approval came after it received verbal commitments and guarantees from the mediators that the war wont be resumed and that negotiations will continue until a permanent cease-fire is reached. Now we want these guarantees on paper, the representative said. 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 terror 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. Netanyahus office did not respond to requests for comment, and there was no immediate comment from Washington. On Friday night, the Israeli prime minister confirmed that the Mossad spy agencys chief had paid a lightning visit to Qatar, a key mediator, but his office said gaps between the parties remained. On Motzei Shabbos, UTJ chairman Moshe Gafni slammed Netanyahu for issuing a statement on Friday night about the return of Mossad chief Dedi Barnea from Qatar. I condemn the announcement by the Prime Ministers Office on Shabbos night night that did not have any indication of being a matter of pikuach nefesh. I condemn it completely, an entirely unnecessary announcement while being mechallel Shabbos. (YWNs Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis haShabbos in Israel) (AP) A 28-year-old Israeli civilian was seriously injured on the moshav of Kfar Zeitim after Hezbollah launched a heavy barrage of rockets and suicide drones at the Lower Galil on Sunday morning. The barrage is a response to the IDFs elimination of a key Hezbollah commander over the weekend. Paramedics who arrived at the scene administered emergency medical aid and evacuated the victim to Poriya Medical Center near Tivereia. As a result of the barrage, a number of fires broke out in open areas near Tiveria and firefighting teams are currently fighting the flames. Hezbollah later claimed responsibility for the attack, issuing a statement that it targeted an IDF base near Tiveria. Hezbollah fire has expanded to areas of northern Israel that havent experienced rocket sirens since October. On Friday night, two IDF soldiers in Kiryat Shmona were lightly injured from Hezbollah rocket fire. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) The same leftists who encouraged Hamas to attack Israel on October 7th are continuing their battle to topple the government by wreaking chaos in the country, holding a day of disruption and resistance on Sunday. Achim LNeshek (Brothers in Arms) and other protest groups began their day early, blocking major roads throughout the country and protesting outside homes of ministers and MKs. Social media users slammed the police for allowing a small number of protesters to block major highways. Likud MK Tally Gotliv stated: The protesters who are hated by the majority of the nation: you have neither values nor ideology. You are no longer impressing anyone. You dont care about the hostages like you claim. You hijack every feeling of pain and emotion in favor of your desire to overthrow the right-wing government. You are supported and funded! Your demonstrations have become pathetic. You are broadcast on Telegram Gaza and subject us all to the ridicule of our enemies. Our soldiers are fighting on the battlefield and you are busy with incitement and hatred based on lies and desecration of every symbol and value of the State of Israel. You look bad, you humiliate us all during a time of war. You brought upon us our enemies who saw us divided and in pain enemies who said in their investigations that the protests and [army] refusals encouraged them to attack Israel. And you continue like this even at a time of war. You take advantage of the dear families of the hostages and send messages of hatred through them. You people of the extreme left disparage the beauty of our country and harm our strength. Protesters burn tires on Highway 1: (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) The IDF admitted that the recruitment of tens of thousands of Charedim is neither possible nor practical, an internal IDF document revealed according to a Kan News report. Therefore, the IDF wants to begin drafting Chareidim, as mandated by the Supreme Court, by recruiting only those who are already working and not learning full-time. In order to accomplish this, the IDF requested data from the Israel Tax Authority and Bituach Leumi. The data is expected to be transferred to the IDF within two weeks. Meanwhile, a meeting was held this week headed by Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara about the IDFs fulfillment of the Supreme Court ruling regarding the recruitment of all Chareidim eligible for the draft. At the meeting, IDF officials said that they want to avoid drafting Chareidim by force, preferring to do so via marketing, with a goal of recruiting 3,000 Chareidim this year in addition to the 1,800 Chareidim already serving. However, Deputy Attorney-General Gil Limon, whom Likud minister Dovid Amsalem has called the most dangerous man in the country, insisted that the IDFs position contradicts the courts ruling. Ultimately, Baharav-Miara reached a compromise, allowing the IDF to recruit Charedim via marketing through August. But if the IDF doesnt meet the target number, it will have to to issue forced draft orders to Chareidim in the next recruitment cycle. Meanwhile, although the IDF says that it is only capable of recruiting 3,000 Chareidim this year out of over 60,000 Chareidim eligible for the draft, the Supreme Court and Attorney-General ordered the immediate halt of funding to yeshivos and kollelim, a ruling based on a very shaky legal foundation. BChadrei Chareidim reporter Yanki Farber stated on Monday that he knows of many Chareidi bochurim who recently tried to enlist in the IDF but were turned away. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has lashed out at State Prosecutor Amit Aisman, in response to an investigation into three Israeli civilians who were detained on suspicion of killing a Palestinian man on October 7 and stealing weaponry from Israeli troops. The state attorney who started working to investigate me on suspicion of incitement against the residents of Gaza, is also the one who ordered the crazy investigation against three heroic fighters who on October 7 went out to fight in the hell of the Gaza border area and are now suspected by Aisman of murdering a Nukhba terrorist, Ben Gvir said in a statement. Ben Gvir slammed Aisman, saying, It would be better for the state attorney to remember that he is the attorney of the State of Israel, and not of its enemies. The National Security Minister has been a vocal critic of the investigation, which he sees as an attempt to target Israeli citizens who were fighting against Hamas-led terrorists. The investigation into the three Israeli civilians has been controversial, with some seeing it as an attempt to appease the International Court of Justice. Aisman had separately reportedly asked Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara for permission to open a criminal investigation into Ben Gvir for allegedly inciting violence against residents of Gaza. Ben Gvir has made several inflammatory comments about the Gazan population since the Hamas-led October 7 onslaught, including a remark in November: When we say that Hamas should be destroyed, it also means those who celebrate, those who support, and those who hand out candy theyre all terrorists, and they should also be destroyed. His comments have been cited by South Africa in its filings to the ICJ. The investigation into the three Israeli civilians may be restricted to the theft of weapons going forward, according to Hebrew media reports. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) National Unity chairman Benny Gantz commented on the case of the three Israelis who were arrested for allegedly murdering a Hamas terrorist on October 7. October 7th was the day of the greatest disaster in the history of the country, Gantz said. Many heroes arose on that day soldiers, members of security squads, police officers and civilians who fought bravely and many of them fell in battle. Gantz then interjected, saying that he has not personally seen the evidence regarding the suspects but at the same time, it is important to say as a matter of principle all Gazans who crossed the border that day deserved death. All of them were a clear and immediate danger. We must remember that there were many weapons in the area and some of the terrorists also acted as drivers who abducted civilians. Therefore, in that situation of chaos, surprise and guerilla fighting for many hours, we must fully support those who fought soldiers, police officers, or civilians. This is our duty towards those who saved human lives and protected our country, and I believe that the law enforcement system will also act in this spirit. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) 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 DAR ES SALAAM, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Ministers for foreign affairs of member states of the East African Community (EAC), a regional bloc, are meeting in Tanzania's Zanzibar to address the region's peace and security challenges and forge greater unity. The EAC said in a statement issued Sunday that the meeting, which started Saturday and will end Monday, also examined how to strengthen relationships among member states and move the integration agenda forward. The statement said the ministers would use the retreat to emphasize the importance of solidarity and collaboration in promoting stability and advancing the region's collective interests. Veronica Nduva, the EAC secretary general, said the meeting provided a platform for frank exchanges, strategic planning, and the identification of actionable steps to enhance peace and security while deepening integration efforts within the EAC. Nduva said that as the EAC continues to navigate evolving challenges and opportunities, the meeting will guide future initiatives to foster sustainable development and shared prosperity and stability across the region. January Makamba, Tanzania's minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, emphasized the importance of unity among EAC member states, noting that it catalyzed the region's economic and social development. Makamba said the integration can only succeed if peace, stability, and security are established throughout the region. The EAC is an intergovernmental organization composed of eight member states, namely the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania. 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. NAIROBI, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Josiah Arap Tanui recalls the days when he and other members of his community would venture into Mau Forest, Kenya's largest water tower, cutting down trees for firewood and allowing their livestock to graze indiscriminately. "We cut down trees for their logs and to build beehives," said Tanui who hails from the northwestern Kenyan county of Nakuru, where agricultural activities prevail. Nakuru County is one of the regions intersected by the Mau Forest Complex, regarded as the most vital of Kenya's five main water towers due to its significant economic, social, and environmental contributions, according to government reports. Over the last decades, at least 25 percent of Mau forest has been lost to excisions and encroachment. This alarming trend has led Tanui and other members of his community to seek alternative sources of income to reduce their reliance on the forest. "My focus has now shifted to the sustainable honey business so that I can preserve the forest," Tanui said during a recent interview. Tanui is not new to the honey business, as he had done this trade for a while, but he was not doing it sustainably, he admits, saying that he would cut down trees to access hives. "After I received training on bio enterprise this year, I have learned the importance of using modern beehives and doing things the right way so that I can make my business more profitable," said Tanui. The project to support farmers within the South Western Mau ecosystem with alternative sources of income to reduce forest reliance is being implemented by the Kenya Forest Service, a state agency, alongside the charitable organization Rhino Ark and UK-based Darwin Initiative. The idea of the initiative is to avail other forms of socioeconomic activities to reduce the pressure of forest resources, says Benard Kibet, an official from Rhino Ark. "One of the initiatives is beekeeping, the other is supporting the rebuilding of Community Forest Association (CFA) and finally a community scout program that creates employment and ensures the forest is safeguarded against any threat," Kibet added. More than 40 farmers in the area participated in the specialized honey program, including Grace Cheplongei, a member of the Ndoinet Beekeepers Association who is learning the ropes of the trade. "During my last harvest, I got ten kg of honey which I sold for 100 shillings (about 78 U.S. cents) per kg. With the newfound knowledge I hope to make more in my next harvest," said Cheplongei. She observed that in the past, beekeeping was male-dominated as only men could climb trees, but now she is encouraged that modern ways of farming bees for honey have created an opportunity for women to tap into the profitable business. Like Tanui, Cheplongei used the forest unsustainably in the past, but now she is turning a new leaf. Benson Njoroge, an official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development who is leading the training, says the government is keen to support alternative sources of income. "People are compelled to use natural resources unsustainably due to lack of income. In areas like the Mau, we are teaching sustainable beekeeping, to discourage harming the environment," Njoroge said. Between 2000 and 2020, Kenya lost around 2,850 square kilometers of forest cover where 80 percent of the loss happened in humid forests like Mau and others, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Daniel Maritim is spearheading a community forest association which is a gazetted organization given access to use forest resources with some reservations. The association has recently set up a tree nursery to support rehabilitation efforts and employ locals. "We have over 20,000 tree seedlings in the community tree nursery which can restore about 20 hectares of degraded forest. We are encouraging community members to purchase the seeds to restore forest cover," said Maritim, chairperson of Ndoinet Community Forest Association in Kuresoi South, Nakuru County. The association has also trained eight scouts to protect the forest and so far their efforts have led to the rehabilitation of 30 acres (about 12 hectares) of degraded land. "We are making efforts to open up the forest for ecotourism because this is a potential that has never been exploited in order to support the community with a source of income," said Maritim. Gardai are investigating after an anonymous threatening letter was sent to the family home of Cathal Crotty. 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. "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 that they are "aware of correspondence received at a domestic residence in Co Clare in July 2024" and "enquiries are ongoing". Right now the eternal legacy of angel Candice inspires our Sunday sort through pop culture, community news and top headlines. Check TKC news gathering . . . Toy Train Anticipation Peaks Riders eager for new connectivity as Kansas City Streetcar expansion nears completion The highly anticipated Kansas City Streetcar extension, stretching from downtown to the Country Club Plaza, is now 90% complete, streetcar officials announced Friday. Local Biz Lady Inspiration 'It's OK to start small': She knew nothing about decorating cookies; a year later this baker quit her full-time job to scale up Karissa Todd - who worked at Hallmark for 20 in corporate communications before freelancing - was at a career crossroads in 2018 when a friend suggested she start selling her sugar cookies. "That one little nudge sparked that thing that has always been in the back of my mind," she said. Faith Community Rallies Thousands to gather for Jehovah's Witness event at Cable Dahmer Arena The 10th annual Jehovah's Witness convention is back in Kansas City, where more than 12,000 people are expected to attend the event across the three weekends it takes place. Kansas Reform Rolling After years trying to recover his car, man welcomes changes to Kansas law This week, the state's civil asset seizure and forfeiture law changed following years of work trying to balance law enforcement and people's rights. Show-Me Rising Tide Warning Coast Guard temporarily shuts down boat travel on Missouri River The U.S. Coast Guard has temporarily shut down traffic on the Missouri River across almost the entire Show-Me state due to high water levels and levee conditions. Community Artsy Reporting 346: Art as Mentorship Prepares for AMERIK'ANA Fest - Northeast News Join us on this week's Northeast Newscast as we sit down with Juliana Chi and Art as Mentorships' Erika Noguera - a local, non-profit, music-driven organization. With its founding band "Making Movies" at the forefront, this program works to bring musical and artistic education to youth within the Northeast community. Tasty Tribute . . . Kansas City's oldest barbecue joint celebrates 90 years of tradition Kansas City's oldest barbecue restaurant celebrated 90 years of tradition with a holiday weekend rib special. Angel Shares Another Glance Candice Swanepoel, Kate Upton and Daiane Sodre pose for V cover Candice Swanepoel is V magazine's newest cover star, alongside fellow models Kate Upton and Daiane Sodre. All three have worked for Vivtoria's Secret. Embattled Prez Tempts Fate & Demands Sign From Above Only the 'Lord Almighty' could compel me to quit - Biden The president dismisses suggestions he may end his re-election bid, as a fifth House Democrat calls on him to quit as the party's nominee. MAGA Wins In Court For Once Trump wins delay in classified documents case His legal team has requested more time to submit supplemental briefing on the immunity claim. Dems Fight For Power All eyes on Jeffries as Democrats weigh Biden's future House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has found himself at the center of the storm as Democrats weigh the wisdom of keeping President Biden at the top of the ticket following his disastrous debate performance in Atlanta last month. The Democratic leader is being squeezed between two powerful but opposing forces. US Against Nature Beryl bears down on Texas, where it is expected to hit after regaining hurricane strength Beryl is hurtling across the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico on a collision course with Texas. It is currently a tropical storm but is forecast to regain hurricane status before nearing the coast Sunday and making landfall the following day. More Proof: War Is Hell In Ukraine, Killings of Surrendering Russians Divide an American-Led Unit A German medic said he was so troubled that he confronted his commander. Others boasted about killings in a group chat. Holy Land Hope?!? Hamas says it's waiting for Israeli response on ceasefire proposal Hamas is waiting for a response from Israel on its ceasefire proposal, two officials from the Palestinian group said on Sunday, five days after it accepted a key part of a U.S. plan aimed at ending the nine-month war in Gaza. Right Turn For Europe . . . France's political future hangs in the balance as votes cast in final round of snap election French voters are heading to the polls on Sunday for the second and final round of voting in a snap parliamentary election. Hollywood Against MAGA Redux Minnie Driver Says Donald Trump 'Deserves to Be in Prison' and She Refuses to Live in a Red State if He Is Re-Elected Minnie Driver said 'of course' Donald Trump 'deserves to be in prison,' and that she couldn't live in a red state if he is re-elected. Catholics Live & Die By Rules Papal arch enemy Archbishop Vigano found guilty of schism and excommunicated A fierce ultra-conservative, the archbishop branded the pope a "false prophet" and a "servant of Satan," and accused him of representing an "inclusive, immigrationist, eco-sustainable, and gay-friendly" Church. El Papa Considers Republic Democracy is in bad health, Pope Francis says Democracy is not in good shape, Pope Francis said on Sunday, urging politicians to shun populism and instead work together to build stronger societies and tackle voter apathy. Celebrate Golden Ghetto Offerings Hummus and Pita One of my favorite cuisines is Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food. I love discovering a new falafel restaurant or one that has a great dinner platter. Most of this is because I have adhered to a vegetarian restaurant for decades and this cuisine is very vegetarian friendly. Show-Me Fun Time Precautions All Missouri State Fair dairy cows must be tested for bird flu, state orders The Missouri Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday that dairy cows exhibited during the fair, which runs through August 8-18 in Sedalia, must test negative. Forecast For Sunday . . . FIRST WARN FORECAST: Minimal storms tonight, First Warn in place Sunday The rest of our evening remains dry, but we are watching a line of thunderstorms that should decay as they get into our viewing area after 9-10 PM. Robbie Williams - Angels is HORRIBLE but, nevertheless, right now it is the Sunday song of the day and this is the OPEN THREAD for right now. YANGON, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar police seized 500,000 stimulant tablets in eastern Myanmar's Shan State, according to the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control late Saturday. Acting on a tip-off, the joint anti-narcotic task force inspected a suspect on Pyihtaungsu road in Taunggyi Township on July 4 and found the drugs inside paper boxes carried by the suspect, it said. The seized drugs had a street value of 250 million kyats (about 119,047 U.S. dollars), it added. The two suspects linked to the drug trafficking cases have been charged under the Southeast Asian country's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law, and further investigations were underway, the CCDAC said. Gaza Strip, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Jul, 2024) Israel carried out deadly air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday as the war entered its 10th month, with fighting raging across the Palestinian territory and fresh diplomatic efforts underway to halt the violence. Lebanon's Hezbollah movement fired another 20 rockets at northern Israel, leaving one person injured there, the latest cross-border attacks launched in solidarity with Gaza's Palestinian militant group Hamas. Efforts towards a truce continued with US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators hoping to halt the worst-ever Gaza war, which has caused mass civilian casualties and devastated the coastal territory since Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel. Egypt's Al-Qahera News reported that Cairo was "hosting Israeli and American delegations to discuss the outstanding points" for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, citing an unnamed high-level official source. Mediators were in contact with Hamas amid "intensive Egyptian meetings this week with all parties to push efforts" for a truce, said the news report late Saturday, without giving further details or dates. Israel has also said it would send a delegation in the coming days to continue talks with Qatari mediators, even though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman said Friday that "gaps" remained with Hamas. US President Joe Biden announced a plan in late May that included an initial six-week truce and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners. 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 the group's new ideas had been "conveyed by the mediators to the American side, which welcomed them and passed them on to the Israeli side", adding that "now the ball is in the Israeli court". More than 2,200 domestic and foreign enterprises are seeking business opportunities at the 30th China Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair, which opened on Saturday in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu Province. Representatives from the governments, embassies, consulates, business councils and companies of 23 countries, including Belarus, Uzbekistan and Uruguay, have been invited to attend the five-day event ending on Wednesday. So far, a total of 1,325 investment and cooperation deals have been reached, covering areas such as digital information, new energy, equipment manufacturing, the petrochemical industry, and specialty agricultural products, with the total value close to 604 billion yuan (about 84.7 billion U.S. dollars). The fair will also feature business promotions and exchange activities. More than 40,000 visitors are expected to attend. First held in 1993, the fair serves as a window for the opening of northwestern China and has become a major event for Belt and Road economic and trade cooperation. Last year it attracted more than 1,600 enterprises from home and abroad. A total of 1,172 contracts were inked during the five-day fair. TOKYO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Japan is facing an unprecedented heatwave, with temperatures nearing 40 degrees Celsius in areas from Tokai to Kanto regions on Sunday. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has issued heatstroke alerts for 26 prefectures, urging residents to take precautions against the potentially deadly heat. With the relentless heat showing no signs of abating, daytime temperatures are expected to soar above degrees Celsius, marking the first time this year for Japan to see over 200 locations experience extreme heat. On Sunday, the mercury in Tokyo is forecasted to reach 36 degrees Celsius, as many regions from Tokai to Kanto could see temperatures exceeding body temperature, according to the JMA. With temperatures in Maebashi and Chichibu predicted to hit 39 degrees Celsius, those in some inland areas of Kanto would potentially reach 40 degrees Celsius. The heatwave has led to record number of heatstroke cases in many parts of the country. Two elderly residents in prefectures of Ehime and Tokushima were reported dead over heatstroke, while Tokyo reported 119 heat-related emergency cases on the same day, including three severe cases among the elderly. Authorities urged residents, especially elderly people and children, to use air conditioners appropriately, stay hydrated even when not thirsty, and avoid unnecessary outings and exercise. Ferrari junior Ollie Bearman has secured a full-time seat in Formula 1 from 2025 with Haas F1. Ollie Bearman who is currently in Formula 2 alongside Kimi Antonelli in Prema Racing. The Brit signing the Multi - year contract with Haas has come to no surprise after his impressive performance in Jeddah taking over Carlos Sainz in the Scuderia Ferrari. Ollie Bearman finished P7 in Jeddah after only one free practice and still stands P14 in the Formula One standings after 11 rounds. The Ferrari junior also have shown his skills in his current series at Formula 2 with 5 wins in 2023 and one win in Formula 2 in Austria right before his announcement to F1. Credits: Joe Portlock Bearman is also involved in six free practices with Haas and Ferrari as a reserve driver and the third will be this week in Silverstone. Its hard to put into words just how much this means to me, said the Ferrari Junior. To say out loud that I will be a Formula 1 driver for Haas F1 Team makes me so immensely proud." To be one of the very few people who get to do the thing what they dreamed of as a child is something truly incredible. To Gene [Haas, team owner], Ayao [Komatsu], Haas Team Principal] and everyone at Haas, thank you for believing in me and for trusting me to represent your team." Ive really enjoyed working with everyone since the first time we met in Mexico and I cant wait to enjoy this moment with them and hopefully many more in the future." [To] everyone at the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy, quite simply, I wouldnt be here without you. Thank you for preparing me since F4 for this incredible opportunity and know I will give it everything I have. Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal of Haas F1 added Its an exciting thing to be able to give a young driver as talented as Oliver Bearman his first full-time seat in Formula 1." Hes developed into an incredibly mature driver under the guidance of the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy and the world saw that for themselves when he was called in at the last minute to compete at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix." Oliver proved he was more than ready for the task, and weve seen that for ourselves running him in the Haas cars in our FP1 sessions over the past two seasons." Were looking forward to further developing him as a driver and reaping the benefits of his talent both inside and outside of the car." Olivers a great guy and a very welcome addition to the team when he joins us for the FP1 weekends. Now we know that relationship is going to be longer-term, its a positive thing for all concerned. Nico Hulkenberg, the current Haas driver leaving the team in 2024 to Sauber and Kevin Magnussen not having his contract confirmed it is still unknown who will be partnered with the Brit for the 2025 grid yet. Esteban Ocon who is leaving Alpine at the end of the 2024 season has been said as the lead contender for the Haas seat next year. The final seat for the American team has said to be confirmed soon. Majorie Edoi sells food from a stand in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince -- or she used to, until a conflict with armed gangs cut off the city from suppliers, paralyzed trade routes and pushed the Caribbean country to its highest levels of hunger on record. The 30-year-old mother of three now sells food out of one of the many makeshift camps for displaced people set up across the city's schools. But with goods harder to come by, opportunities to provide for her young children are shrinking fast. "We can't buy anything. We can't eat. We can't drink," she said. "I'd like there to be a legitimate government to establish security so we can move around and sell goods, so the children can go to school." Some 5 million people in Haiti, nearly half its population, are struggling to feed themselves due to the conflict, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), an international benchmark used to assess hunger. Since the 2021 assassination of Haiti's last president, armed gangs have expanded their power and influence, taking over most of the capital and expanding to nearby farmlands. Their land grabs have brought lootings, arson, mass rapes and indiscriminate killings. In June, the first contingent of a long-delayed U.N.-backed force of mostly African troops arrived in Haiti to bolster its under-resourced security services, and Kenyan police began patrolling the capital. Residents have responded with cautious optimism, though it remains unclear when the majority of the force will arrive. For mothers like Edoi and Mirriam Auge, 45, change cannot come fast enough. "We can't do anything -- there's no money, no trade," said Auge, who was forced out of her home three months ago. Since then, she has been sharing a chair to sleep on with her two daughters and five others in a makeshift school-shelter crammed with tents. "We lost everything in our homes," she said. "I cried while everyone was sleeping." Unable to work, the families depend on food rations and hygiene kits brought in by non-governmental organizations, whose delivery drivers brave stray bullets along Port-au-Prince's ever-changing battle lines. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) is a major supplier of these meals. Working with farms and kitchens staffed largely by women, it helps deliver food from four central kitchens to the camps. "It's tricky," said WFP Haiti director Jean-Martin Bauer. "There might be a shooting near one of the locations we distribute through, so you might have to cancel and leave people without a meal that day. These are the calls we need to make." WFP has looked to shorten its supply chains, sourcing food such as sorghum grains and callaloo - a leafy green popular in the Caribbean -- from nearby farms rather than risking longer transport by boat or truck via gang-controlled roads and shuttered ports. Nonetheless, Bauer said, the WFP did not have enough food in stock to meet its distribution plan. He pointed to a 2024 U.N.-wide humanitarian fund for Haiti that is over $500 million below target. Rice import In a community action center where WFP meals are prepared, workers dish out rice and vegetables into rows of polystyrene containers that will later be distributed to a school camp. The food crisis has been a long time coming to Haiti's 11 million people. In the 1980s, policies under a U.S. export program followed by trade liberalization encouraged by multilateral lenders saw import tariffs slashed and U.S. rice flood the market, while local producers of the country's staple were pushed out of their jobs. Once a self-sufficient rice producer, the Western Hemisphere's poorest country now imports some 80% of its rice from the richest. Today, farmers in the Artibonite, Haiti's breadbasket, must contend with shootings, theft, racketeering and extortion by armed gangs, U.N. agencies say. They have also reported that Madan Sara, the tradeswomen who traditionally bring fruit and vegetables from farms to markets across the country, are often kidnapped and raped. Soaring costs Rita Losandieu, 53, looks after her two granddaughters, ages 4 and 6, in a small, bare-brick house built on a dusty slope. Her daughter works in the neighboring Dominican Republic -- which built a wall to thwart migration and last year deported over 200,000 Haitians. "To buy something to eat, you need a lot of money. It's very difficult," she said. Her two sons work odd jobs to help make ends meet. For many children in Haiti, there are few options to obtain food. Desperation leads many to join gangs, while girls end up trapped in prostitution. "If you are displaced or your family doesn't have a place to sleep, you may need to join armed groups just to cover your needs," said Save the Children Haiti food adviser Jules Roberto. Soaring food prices have also fueled the crisis. Fresh fish on the island nation sold for 60% more in March than a year ago, according to Haiti's IHSI statistics agency, while cooking oil and rice both soared 50%. "We need to have a security response force but also a robust humanitarian response," Bauer said. "Haiti will never be at peace as long as half its citizens are starving." Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday congratulated new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on his election, state media reported, the first senior leader in Beijing to do so publicly. China is "willing to work with the new U.K. government to consolidate mutual political trust and expand mutually beneficial cooperation," Li told Starmer, according to state news agency Xinhua. Their call came after days of silence from top officials in Beijing, with the Chinese foreign ministry saying only that it noted the results of the U.K. election. By comparison, Chinese leader Xi Jinping congratulated Iran's incoming President Masoud Pezeshkian just hours after his election Saturday. China was Britain's fifth-largest trading partner as of 2023, according to the U.K. Department for Business and Trade. But diplomatic relations between the two countries have been icy in recent years, with Beijing and London sparring over tightening communist control in former British colony Hong Kong. The two sides have also traded accusations of espionage, with Beijing saying last month that MI6 had recruited Chinese state employees to spy for the U.K. Xinhua reported Sunday that Li told Starmer that the "strengthening of bilateral coordination and cooperation was in the interests of both sides." Myanmar ethnic minority fighters were battling their way into a town housing a regional military command, one of their leaders said Saturday. Meanwhile, the juntas second-in-command arrived in China for an official visit. Vice Senior General Soe Win arrived in Qingdao in Shandong province to attend a "Green Development Forum" hosted by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the junta's information office said in a statement. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has not visited China since the 2021 coup that plunged the country into turmoil. Myanmars ethnic 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 (TNLA) told AFP. Lashio also sits on a major highway that runs from Myanmar's second city of Mandalay to China's Yunnan province. Clashes first broke out 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 (the TNLA) entered the town yesterday from the south." Flights to the town from commercial hub Yangon had been canceled 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," he said. 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 cease-fire in January between the military and the alliance made up of the Arakan Army (AA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the TNLA. But late last month, the TNLA launched fresh attacks in Shan state and the neighboring 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. The chant is concise, but meaningful for millions of Venezuelans in 2024: "Freedom!" The calls for "libertad" have been a staple of the opposition's events ahead of the highly anticipated July 28 presidential election. With the official start of campaigns this week, they were deafening during a massive rally Saturday in the western Venezuelan state of Barinas, the home state of the late fiery President Hugo Chavez. Students, state employees, retirees, agriculture workers and business owners were among the thousands gathered in support of Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the only candidate with a real chance of ending President Nicolas Maduro's quest for a third term. Their chants, collectively, represent long-sought freedom from the 25-year rule of self-described socialist governments. Individually, people are seeking wide-ranging freedoms, including the freedom to post government criticisms on social media without fearing repercussions. "I want economic freedom, freedom of purchasing power, freedom of a living wage," Virginia Linares, 41, said with teary eyes. "We feel locked in, we feel like something is being taken away from us because a salary that is not decent is a salary that overshadows us as people, we do not achieve the things we want, our dreams." Public employees these days earn a monthly minimum wage of about $3.60 plus $130 in bonuses, while private-sector workers make on average $210 a month. Neither is enough for a family to buy a basic basket of goods, which costs about $380. Linares lost her beauty supply store in 2017 in the social, economic and political crisis that has marked the entirety of Maduro's 11-year presidency. Her business is now online only, and her concerns over the country's economic conditions have increased now that her 17-year-old son has finished high school and is thinking about his future. The July 28 election is shaping up to be the biggest challenge that Venezuela's ruling party has faced since Chavez became president in 1999. The party wants to maintain its absolute control for six more years, but its base, even in Barinas, is divided and disenchanted over the crisis. The state had long been a bastion of the late president's movement, Chavismo. His brothers, Argenis Chavez and Adan Chavez, and father, Hugo de los Reyes Chavez, all served stints as governor from 1998 to 2021. The opposition ended the Chavezes reign and has since used that victory as motivation for its base. Chavez, elected in 1998, promised to improve the lives of Venezuela's poorest using the country's oil. He expanded social services, including housing and education thanks to the country's oil bonanza, which generated revenues estimated at some $981 billion between 1999 and 2011 as oil prices soared. But corruption, a decline in oil production and economic policies led to a crisis that became evident in 2012. Before Chavez's death of cancer in 2013, he picked Maduro as his successor. Maduro and his United Socialist Party of Venezuela have fended off challenges by barring rivals from elections and painting them as out-of-touch elitists in league with foreign powers. This time, their government control led to a court ruling blocking the candidacy of opposition powerhouse Maria Corina Machado, who won the October primary of the Unitary Platform coalition with more than 90% of support. She has thrown her support behind Gonzalez, a former ambassador who's never held public office. At opposition rallies, including Saturday's, people say they will undoubtedly vote for Gonzalez but also acknowledge that it is Machado who they see as leader. Venezuela's crisis has motivated more than 7.7 million people to migrate. When Gonzalez asked the crowd to raise their hand if one of their relatives had migrated, people were quick to react. He promised them to create conditions so that their loved ones can return. Miguel Herrera, a school handyman, is worried that his teenage daughters might end up migrating in a few years if Maduro is reelected. He thinks that just as Barinas ushered the opposition into the governor's office, voters across the country can get Gonzalez elected later this month. His chants for freedom Saturday were for a change that would give his children the freedom to choose to stay in Venezuela. He also wants his rights to quality health care and other public services to be respected. "I don't want my daughters to go somewhere else, at all," said Herrera, who voted for Maduro in the past two elections. "Politicians made promises and they didn't deliver and people began to wake up until they opened their eyes. We need change." TikTok and its bite-sized videos arrived in the United States as a global version of the Chinese app Douyin in 2018. Less than six years later, the social media platform is deeply woven into the fabric of American consumerism, having shortened the shelf life of trends and revamped how people engage with food and fashion. The popularity of TikTok coupled with its roots in Beijing led the U.S. Congress citing national security concerns, to pass a law that would ban the video-sharing app unless its Chinese parent company sells its stake. Both the company, ByteDance, and TikTok have sued on First Amendment grounds. But while the platform faces uncertain times, its influence remains undisputed. Interest in bright pink blush and brown lipstick soared last year, for example, after the cosmetics were featured in TikTok videos with looks labeled as "cold girl" and "latte" makeup. An abundance of clothing fads with quirky names, from "cottagecore" to "coastal grandma," similarly owe their pervasiveness to TikTok. Plenty of TikTok-spawned crazes last only a week or two before losing steam. Yet even mini trends have challenged businesses to decipher which ones are worth stocking up for. A majority of the more than 170 million Americans who use TikTok belong to the under-30 age group coveted by retailers, according to the Pew Research Center. Whether fans of the platform or not, shoppers may have a #tiktokmademebuyit moment without knowing the origin story behind an eye-catching product. Platform's algorithm is 'secret sauce' What made TikTok such a trendsetter compared to predecessor platforms? Researchers and marketing analysts have often described the platform's personalized recommendation algorithm as the "secret sauce" of TikTok's success. The company has disclosed little about the technology it employs to populate users' "For You" feeds. Jake Bjorseth, founder of the advertising agency Trndsttrs, which specializes in Generation Z, thinks the app's use of an interest-based algorithm instead of personal contacts to connect like-minded people is what gave TikTok the edge. TikTok also changed the standard for what was considered desirable in social media content. The beginner-friendly platform featured videos made without filters, lighting setups or production-level audio. TikTok creators could develop more intimate relationships with their followers because they appeared more authentic, Bjorseth said. The platform has plenty of critics. Some experts argue that TikTok, like other social media sites, can be addictive and promote unnecessary spending. Others accuse TikTok of encouraging harmful behavior, like girls engaging in skin care rituals intended for older women. Yet for all the detractors who won't mourn TikTok if it goes away, a vocal base of fans hopes it doesn't come to that. Influencing fashion, accessories Casey Lewis, a trend analyst based in New York, said TikTok's clout in the fashion arena first became apparent to her when videos about Birkenstock's Boston clogs overtook her "For You" feed in 2022. As the number of TikTok videos exploded, creators advised their followers where they could find the suddenly sold-out clogs. Lewis thought it was odd since her brother, whom she described as a "frat boy" and not a fashionista, wore the cork-soled comfort shoes in college. "I'm not a psychologist, but I'm sure there's some psychology where your brain goes from thinking like, 'How weird? Is that fashion?' And then suddenly you're obsessed with it," she said. The pace with which TikTok-shaped trends pop can be dizzying. In the last year, the hot pink ensembles of "Barbiecore" coexisted with the deliberately unsexy looks of "dadcore" think chunky white sneakers, baggy jeans and polo shirts. The linen-draped "coastal grandma" aesthetic gave way to "eclectic grandpa." While the rotating cast of "cores" may not drive their adherents to buy entire wardrobes, they're "influencing spending in small ways, and that adds up," Lewis said. Influencers provide tips, tricks Daniella Lopez White, 21, a recent college graduate on a tight budget, said TikTok influencers provided tips on finding affordable clothes but also connected her to plus-size creators featuring fashions for larger-bodied women, which made her more confident. "Those TikTok trends really helped me figure out what parts of my body I want to accentuate and feel cute in, and still incorporate my sense of style," she said. A go-to spot With easy-to-follow cooking videos and clever hacks, TikTok became a go-to spot for home cooks during the COVID-19 pandemic. The platform made humble ingredients a star and earned endorsements from some of the stars of the food world. "Every day, honestly, I am blown away by the creativity from the FoodTok community," restaurateur and chef Gordon Ramsay said in a TikTok video late last year. Like the clothing styles of earlier eras, foods that had fallen out of fashion were resurrected via TikTok. U.S. sales of cottage cheese jumped 34% between April 2022 and April 2024 after videos promoting cottage cheese ice cream, cottage cheese toast and other recipes racked up millions of views. Ben Sokolsky, the general manager of sales and marketing for Dallas-based dairy company Daisy Brand, said cottage cheese is seeing its highest sustained growth in nearly 50 years. The curdled milk product used to be a "secret sensation," but social media helped expose new customers to its benefits, Sokolsky said. Topics that went viral on TikTok have even spawned analog equivalents. Last summer, TikToker Olivia Maher posted what she called her "girl dinner" of bread, cheese, pickles and grapes. It was a hit, with more than 1.6 million views. A handful of "girl dinner" cookbooks soon followed. But the eagerness to try trendy foods had a downside. A 14-year-old in Massachusetts died after trying a challenge involving an extremely spicy tortilla chip that appeared on TikTok and other social media sites. An autopsy of the boy, who had a congenital heart defect, found that eating a large quantity of chile pepper extract caused his death. Paqui, the maker of the chip, pulled it off the market. Upending cosmetic industry TikTok has upended the cosmetics industry by causing ingredients to get labeled as the next miracle cure or to be avoided and featuring videos of people gleefully applying or panning the contents of their latest shopping hauls. Influencers on TikTok and elsewhere have made freckles an asset with clips showing how to add faux ones with eyebrow pencils or broccoli florets. The "clean girl" aesthetic, a renamed version of the no-makeup makeup look, prompted both luxury and drugstore brands to rush out their own versions of skin tints and lip oils. Some veteran users of TikTok have noted the platform is almost too good in its role as both a tastemaker and a shopping search engine. A popular category of beauty videos shows influencers "decluttering" drawers filled with piles of barely used lipsticks, blushes and eyeshadow palettes. Though the desire for clicks can encourage creators to follow the same hair and makeup trends, TikTok's defenders credit the platform with forcing brands to create products for a wider range of skin tones and hair types. Tiffany Watson, who currently has more than 31,00 followers on TikTok and has done paid partnerships with brands like Colourpop Cosmetics, said the platform has promoted a more inclusive image of beauty compared to other sites. "I see more diversity on TikTok because (with) every video you're swiping, you're seeing somebody new," she said. Hamas is waiting for a response from Israel on its cease-fire proposal, two officials from the militant Islamist group said on Sunday, five days after it accepted a key part of a U.S. plan aimed at ending the 9-month-old war in Gaza. "We have left our response with the mediators and are waiting to hear the occupation's response," one of the two Hamas officials told Reuters, asking not to be named. The three-phase plan for the Palestinian enclave was put forward at the end of May by U.S. President Joe Biden and is being mediated by Qatar and Egypt. It aims to end the war and free around 120 Israeli hostages being held by Hamas. Another Palestinian official, with knowledge of the cease-fire deliberations, said Israel was in talks with the Qataris. "They have discussed with them Hamas' response and they promised to give them Israel's response within days," the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that negotiations would continue this week but has not given any detailed timeline. Hamas, which controls Gaza, has dropped a key demand that Israel first commit to a permanent cease-fire before it would sign an agreement. Instead, it said it would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout the six-week first phase, a Hamas source told Reuters on Saturday on condition of anonymity because the talks are private. A Palestinian official close to the peace efforts has said the proposal could lead to a framework agreement if embraced by Israel and would end the war. CIA Director William Burns will travel to Qatar this week for negotiations, a source familiar with the matter said. The conflict was triggered nine months ago on October 7 when Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel from Gaza, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages in the worst assault in Israel's history, according to official Israeli figures. More than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's military onslaught, according to Gaza health officials, and the coastal enclave has largely been reduced to rubble. The U.N. agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, called the situation increasingly tragic, saying in a post on X, "families continue to face forced displacement, massive destruction and constant fear. Essential supplies are lacking, the heat is unbearable, diseases are spreading." Protests in Israel Protesters took to the streets across Israel on Sunday to pressure the government to reach an accord to bring back hostages still being held in Gaza. They blocked rush-hour traffic at major intersections across the country, picketed politicians houses and briefly set fire to tires on the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway before police cleared the way. Meanwhile, fighting continued to rage across Gaza, and north Israel came under rocket attack from Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. Air raid sirens sent residents of 24 Israeli towns running for shelter. One person was seriously wounded, police said. Hezbollah said it had fired rockets at an army base. In Gaza, Palestinian health officials said at least 15 people were killed in separate Israeli military strikes on Sunday. An Israeli air strike on a house in the town of Zawayda, in central Gaza, killed at least six people and wounded several others, while six others were killed in an air strike on a house in western Gaza, the health officials said. Tanks deepened their raids in central and northern areas of Rafah on the southern border with Egypt. Health officials there said they had recovered three bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in the eastern part of the city. The Israeli military said on Sunday its forces had killed 30 Palestinian gunmen in Rafah during close combat and air strikes in the past day. In Shejaia, an eastern suburb of Gaza City, the military said its forces killed several Palestinian gunmen, and located weapons and explosives. The armed wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said fighters attacked Israeli forces in several locations across the Gaza Strip with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs. Freya, a 6-month-old lion cub rescued from the wildlife trade in Lebanon, poked a curious nose out of her transport crate and sniffed the air. Satisfied, she took her first cautious steps in her new forever home in a sanctuary in South Africa. Freya's relocation to the Drakenstein Lion Park is only a partial success story. She will never live as a lion should in the wild. She has been given lifetime sanctuary at Drakenstein, which has taken in other lions from zoos and circuses in France, Chile, Romania and elsewhere. Some have terrible backstories of abuse, noted on placards at the sanctuary: Ares was blind and neglected when he was rescued. Brutus had been beaten hard enough to break his jaw. But as Freya settles in at Drakenstein, animal welfare groups have again drawn attention to South Africa's contradictory position when it comes to the species that often symbolizes African wildlife. South Africa, with an admirable reputation for conservation and ethical sanctuaries like Drakenstein, also has a thriving captive lion business where the big cats are bred for petting and other encounters but also for killing in "canned hunting" experiences or for the lion bone trade. South Africa has special permission through the endangered plant and animal trade treaty CITES to export lion bones and skeletons, mostly to Southeast Asia to be used in traditional medicines. Canned hunting, where lions are chased down and shot in enclosures with no chance of a fair chase or escape, is also legal. Animal welfare groups have pushed for the business of breeding lions in captivity to end. The South African government announced recently it plans to close down the industry and it's expected to take two to three years if there are no legal challenges. It has been a stain on South Africa's conservation brand, said Audrey Delsink, the Africa wildlife director for Humane Society International, which was involved in Freya's relocation. She said it was important for people to realize that the cute cubs used for petting encounters at some South African parks but not at Drakenstein end up being big lions shipped off to be killed. "They've been pulled from their mothers, they've been hand-raised for you to take selfies with and enjoy them, and then eventually the same lions are going to be shot for trophies in a camp from which they cannot escape, and then end up as a bag of bones," Delsink said. There are more than 300 captive lion facilities in South Africa, with more than 7,000 lions. That is double the number of lions in the South African wild. Campaigners against the business say it should be made more clear to visitors that the vast majority of South Africa's lions live in cages in the world's largest captive lion industry. "We cannot pull the wool over tourists' eyes anymore," Delsink said. As for Freya, her rescuers hope that she will eventually bond and live in the same enclosure as young male cub Pi, who they believe is her brother and was brought from Lebanon in April. Pi was illegally trafficked and owned by a man who used him to promote his TikTok account, said Jason Mier, director of Animals Lebanon, which rescued Pi and Freya. Pi often had his mouth taped shut when used for videos or selfies and was locked in a small cage at night. He was kept as a status symbol for his owner "to be able to show off I'm powerful, I have money, look at me," Mier said. Freya and Pi are the latest of nearly two dozen big cats rescued from various situations by Animals Lebanon. Some have come to Drakenstein, which doesn't allow cub petting or any close encounters, but does welcome visitors to see the lions and learn about them. Freya and Pi wouldn't survive if released in the wild, so the sanctuary is the best option for them. Those involved in Pi's rescue said they remember watching the cub experience grass under his paws for the first time at Drakenstein, even if it was in the enclosure he and Freya will likely inhabit for the rest of their lives. An Israeli strike in eastern Lebanon killed a Hezbollah member Saturday. The Israeli army said he was part of the militant group's air defense unit, as tensions run high between the foes. Hezbollah has traded near daily fire with the Israeli army across Lebanon's southern border since its Palestinian ally Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, triggering the war in Gaza. "A local Hezbollah official" was killed in an "Israeli drone" strike on a vehicle near the eastern city of Baalbek, a source close to the group told AFP, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media. Lebanon's official National News Agency reported one person was killed when an "enemy drone" targeted a vehicle in the Shaat area, around 15 kilometers north of Baalbek. The area is northeast of Beirut, about 100 kilometers from Lebanon's southern border with Israel. The Israeli military said in a statement that the air force "operated in the area of Baalbek to strike and eliminate ... a key operative in Hezbollah's Aerial Defense Unit." The Hezbollah operative "took part in the planning and carrying out of numerous terror attacks" against Israel and helped build up the group's "arsenal of Iranian weapons," the statement added. Hezbollah announced that a fighter from the area had been killed. Recent Israeli strikes in south Lebanon have killed two senior Hezbollah commanders one of them this week with the Shiite Muslim movement raining rockets on northern Israel in response. The cross-border exchanges of fire have largely been restricted to border areas, although Israel has repeatedly struck deep inside eastern Lebanon. Hezbollah on Saturday claimed several attacks on Israeli positions near the southern border, including one with "explosive drones" that it said came in response to "Israeli enemy attacks" on south Lebanon villages. Lebanon's news agency reported several Israeli strikes on areas in south Lebanon later Saturday. Hezbollah says it is acting in support of Palestinians and Hamas with its attacks, which began on October 8. The escalating violence has raised fears of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, which last went to war in 2006. The cross-border exchanges have killed at least 497 people in Lebanon, most of them fighters but also including 95 civilians, according to an AFP tally. Israeli authorities say at least 16 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed on their side of the border. Taliban security forces in Afghanistan claimed Sunday that they had killed a key Islamic State commander in an eastern province bordering Pakistan. An official Taliban media outlet reported that counter-terrorism forces in Nangarhar had raided a hideout of Islamic State Khorasan, also known as IS-K, an Afghan-based affiliate of the transnational extremist group. The Al-Mersaad outlet said that Sundays action had resulted in the killing of Zakirullah known as Abu Sher and identified him as IS Khorasans military leader for the border provinces Achin district. The media report said Taliban special forces had concluded the operation in the Mohmand Dara district. It was not possible to verify Al-Mersaads claims from independent sources, nor have Taliban government officials commented on the operation in a province where IS Khorasan launched its extremist activities in Afghanistan and the region at large in 2015, with Achin as its headquarters. The Taliban returned to power in 2021 when all the United States-led NATO forces withdrew from the country after almost 20 years of involvement in the Afghan war. U.S. forces regularly conducted operations against IS Khorasan and killed several of its key leaders. The extremist group intensified suicide bombings and other attacks against security forces and members of the Afghan Shiite community after the Taliban takeover. The violence has killed hundreds of people, including prominent Taliban leaders and religious scholars. Taliban authorities say their sustained military actions against IS Khorasan hideouts have significantly degraded its ability to pose a threat to Afghanistan and beyond. De facto Afghan authorities have accused Pakistan and Tajikistan of training and nurturing IS Khorasan operatives on their respective soils. Both neighbors of Afghanistan have dismissed the accusation as frivolous and, in turn, blame the de facto rulers in Kabul for failing to prevent transnational terrorist groups from using their territory to threaten regional stability. A quarterly U.S. Department of Defense report made public in late May noted that Afghanistan-based IS Khorasan had demonstrated increased transnational terrorism capabilities through large-scale, multiple casualty attacks in the region. The report cited a January suicide bombing in neighboring Irans Kerman city of a memorial for a top Iranian military commander that killed at least 100 mourners. It added that IS Khorasan gunmen stormed a concert venue near Moscow in March, killing at least 140 people in what was described as the worst terrorist attack in Russia in 20 years. In March, General Michael Kurilla, the commander of the U.S. Central Command, testified to Congress on the growing terrorist threat emanating from Afghanistan, warning that Islamic State affiliates retain the capability and the will to attack the United States and its allies in Europe in as little as six months. The U.S. quarterly report stated that despite pledging to deny terrorist groups a sanctuary in Afghanistan, the Taliban continued to privately provide shelter to al-Qaeda senior leaders while publicly denying that al-Qaeda uses its territory to pose threats to outside countries. In a January report, the United Nations Security Council said that IS Khorasan has continued to pose a major threat in Afghanistan and the region despite losses in territory, casualties, and high attrition among senior and mid-tier leadership figures. SYDNEY, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Papua New Guinea's Minister for Petroleum Jimmy Maladina was arrested in Australia's Sydney and charged with an alleged domestic assault offense, local media reported on Sunday. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) website reported that the ABC understands the minister was charged with domestic assault on Saturday morning after being arrested in Bondi, a suburb of eastern Sydney. It said that police were called to an address in Bondi at about 10 a.m. local time Saturday after receiving reports of a domestic dispute. Officers spoke to a 31-year-old woman with facial injuries, allegedly as a result of an altercation with a 58-year-old man known to her. The man was arrested, and taken to the police station where he was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The ABC quoted a statement of Maladina as saying that he was "fully cooperating with the authorities". The minister was granted conditional bail and is due to face court on Thursday, it added. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Russia Monday for a two-day visit to shore up relations at a time that Moscow has deepened ties with New Delhis archrival, China. New Delhi analysts say the summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin set for Tuesday will help counter perceptions of a drift in ties with its longtime ally as India builds a closer partnership with the United States. Indias goal is to emphasize that India-Russia relations are important and to ensure that Putins growing relations with China will not affect ties with New Delhi, Chintamani Mahapatra, founder of the Kalinga Institute of Indo Pacific Studies told VOA. That is why it is extremely important to continue the dialogue with Russia at the highest level, he added. The summit will be the first since Russia invaded Ukraine, an issue on which New Delhi has maintained a neutral stance; It has neither condemned the war nor joined Western sanctions imposed on Moscow. Although Indian and Russian leaders have held annual summits since 2000, none have been held since Putin visited New Delhi in 2021. Calling the summit something waiting to happen, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar stressed the two countries strong history of working together. The focus of Modis first visit to Russia in five years will be reinforcing a time-tested relationship, analysts say. I dont think this will set the course for a future-oriented or path breaking partnership with a lot of new initiatives and deliverables, Sreeram Chaulia, dean at the Jindal School of International Affairs told VOA. Rather, he said, it is to sustain the relationship, maintain the existing links we have and ensure how to keep our defense and energy cooperation on track. Despite diversifying its purchases of military hardware in recent years, India remains reliant on Russian arms about one-third of Indias defense imports come from Moscow, down from two-thirds five years ago. Concerns have been growing though, since the Ukraine invasion began, about Russias ability to supply spare parts and ammunition. Meanwhile, bilateral energy trade has boomed as India increases purchases of cheap Russian oil in the aftermath of the Ukraine invasion. However, while Moscows total exports to India are $65 billion, Indian exports are only about $4 billion, causing concern in New Delhi. "Trade remains imbalanced, which is a matter of priority in our discussions with the Russian side," Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra told reporters while announcing Modi's visit on Friday. He said India wants to promote exports across various sectors, including farm products, technology, pharmaceuticals and services to lower the deficit. For Putin, the visit will be important in underscoring that he has not been isolated by Western sanctions, according to analysts. Some ot them have pointed to the optics of his meeting with Modi, which takes place even as a NATO summit focused on security concerns in Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific region gets underway in Washington on Tuesday. Russia is expecting a "very important and full-fledged visit" by Prime Minister Modi, which is so crucial for Russian-Indian relations, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying on Saturday by Russias Tass news agency. Analysts in New Delhi said Modis visit is unlikely to raise concerns in Washington, with which India has been deepening its security partnership amid mutual concerns about Chinas assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific. So far India has managed to walk a fine line between the United States and Russia, according to Mahapatra. The United States has "some concerns" over India's engagement with Russia in military and technology matters, but Washington has confidence and trust in New Delhi to advance the U.S.-Indian partnership in key areas, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said at a virtual briefing on June 26 before the India-Moscow summit was announced. Analysts in New Delhi say that while India has substantially strengthened its U.S. ties, its hostile neighborhood makes Russia important in its geostrategic calculations. A four-year military standoff between India and China along their disputed borders that shows no signs of ending remains a worry for New Delhi. It is important for India that in the event of any India-China conflict, Russia will not side with China, Mahapatra said. That will only happen if Russia thinks India is an important country in their geopolitical calculations. However, it will be challenging for India to counterbalance China due to Russias huge dependence on Beijing in the wake of its isolation by Western countries. During a Putins May visit to China, the two countries pledged to intensify their partnership, which has burgeoned since the Ukraine war began. We are conscious that for Russia, China will remain its dominant ally, but India wants to make sure that it does not become completely predominant, according to Chaulia. We dont want Russia to become a junior partner of China because then we will be surrounded by adversaries in the whole Eurasian region. So it is in our interest to make Russia stable in whatever way we can. After Moscow, Modi will go to Austria, the first visit by an Indian prime minister in over four decades. The NATO summit scheduled for this week will include a discussion among the allies about strengthening security ties with South Korea and Japan against deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, experts said. The leaders of 32 NATO members will convene in Washington July 9 to 11 to discuss ways to provide continued military support to Ukraine to help it defend itself against Russia, which invaded more than two years ago. Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea sometimes referred to as the Indo-Pacific 4 or IP4 are invited to the NATO summit. The United States, Japan and South Korea plan to meet on the sidelines of the summit. Among the items that analysts expect NATO to discuss with Japan and South Korea is the growing military cooperation between Russia and North Korea. "The Russian-North Korean agreement is a problem for both NATO countries and for the countries in the Northeast Asia," said Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation. "I expect that it will be discussed at this meeting. It may become a critical aspect of the meeting, if, by that time, intelligence is saying that North Korea is sending many military personnel to support Russia in Ukraine," Bennett said. After Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a mutual defense pact in Pyongyang last month, some speculated that North Korea could dispatch army engineers to Russian-occupied Donetsk to rebuild the war-torn region. Pentagon press secretary Major General Patrick Ryder said at a press conference on June 25 that the U.S. is keeping an eye on a possible dispatch of troops but warned North Korea about sending military forces, saying they would be "cannon fodder in an illegal war against Ukraine." North Korea on June 27 renewed its support for Russia's war against Ukraine, saying, "We will always be on the side of the Russian army" in "the war of justice." Both Washington and Seoul have estimated that Pyongyang sent about 10,000 containers of munitions to Russia. Moscow and Pyongyang denied arms exchanges between the two. But in the defense pact that Putin and Kim signed last month, they agreed to set up ways to bolster their defense capabilities and openly announced possible military and technical cooperation. "NATO members will discuss the implications of closer Russia-North Korea relations and how best to respond, including in terms of risks and opportunities," said Matthew Brummer, a professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo. "Risks primarily include material outcomes, such as how North Korea involvement will come to bear on warfighting in Ukraine. But there are also opportunities to be exploited, including how to use increased North Korea involvement to drive a wedge between China and Russia," he said. "The reemerging axis between China, Russia and North Korea has most certainly precipitated the security link between Europe and Asia. As a result, I expect increased NATO involvement in East Asia, especially with Japan, which is the world's greatest latent military power," Brummer said. Beijing said that it is keeping "a close eye" on the NATO summit and that it hopes the summit does not "target any third party." Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told VOA on Tuesday that "the Asia-Pacific lies beyond the geographical scope of the North Atlantic" and that "NATO's attempt to make eastward inroads into the Asia-Pacific will inevitably undermine regional peace and stability. "The countries and people in this region are on high alert against this and firmly oppose any words or actions designed to bring military blocs into this region and stoke division and confrontation," he said. The U.S. State Department did not respond to an inquiry by VOA's Korean Service seeking a response to Beijing's comments. Luis Simon, director of the Elcano Royal Institute in Brussels, Belgium, said he would not rule out NATO countries conducting joint military exercises with its East Asian partners "in the Korean Peninsula context rather than in a China context" because it offers "diplomatically an easier entry point." At the same time, he said, "It will be more with NATO allies rather than the NATO as a whole because NATO as a whole is very clear about being laser focused" on defending Ukraine. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force announced on June 25 that it will hold a series of joint drills in July with Germany, Spain and France all NATO members. David Maxwell, vice president of the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy, also said that bilateral arrangements between South Korea and individual NATO countries could be possible as "a number of NATO countries are member states of the United Nations Command." The U.N. Command is a multinational military body created during the Korean War of 1950-53 to defend against North Korean aggression. Some analysts said there are limits to NATO's involvement in the Indo-Pacific. "Most of the countries in NATO are focused on the Atlantic area, and those who have projection capabilities" that can go beyond that "have rather small ones," said Barry Posen, Ford international professor of political science at MIT. William Ruger, a nonresident senior fellow at Defense Priorities, said U.S. "capabilities, material and policy bandwidth" are not sufficient to deal with the security of both Europe and Asia. 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 Nigerian military spokesperson Major General 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 third at a hospital attending to the injured. At least 32 people 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 since 2009. Nigerian authorities maintained that the attacks were not a setback. Nigerian Defense Chief General 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 a 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. "It's 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 Peace's 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 group's founding leader, Abubakar Shekau, demoralized some members and made suicide bombing less popular. Clashes between Shekau's 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. He did not rule out future attacks. "That will give a better indication of the relative strength of the insurgency today as well as the Nigerian military's ability to respond," he added. 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?" Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accused South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol of generating tensions on the Korean peninsula to divert attention from problems at home, state media said on Monday. Tensions between the two Koreas are running high after Pyongyang signed a mutual defense pact with Russia and sent trash-filled balloons over to South Korea in response to South Korean activists' balloon launches with anti-North Korea leaflets. "The Yoon and his group, plunged into the worst ruling crisis, are attempting an 'emergency escape' through the platform of ever-escalating tensions," Kim Yo Jong said, according to KCNA. She cited an online petition calling for Yoon to be impeached, with more than 1 million signatures. Kim Yo Jong also called South's recent firing drills near the border an "inexcusable and explicit provocation." The South Korean military has resumed live-fire artillery drills near the western maritime border in late June, the first time since 2018. Last month, South Korea said it would suspend a military agreement signed with North Korea in 2018 aimed at easing tensions, in protest against North Korea's trash balloon launches toward the South. Kim said that in case North Korea judges its own sovereignty as violated, its armed forces will immediately carry out mission and duty according to its constitution. Scientists in South Africa have been stunned to discover that termite mounds that are still inhabited in an arid region of the country are more than 30,000 years old, meaning they are the oldest known active termite hills. Some of the mounds near the Buffels River in Namaqualand were estimated by radiocarbon dating to be 34,000 years old, according to the researchers from Stellenbosch University. "We knew they were old, but not that old," said Michele Francis, senior lecturer in the university's department of soil science who led the study. Her paper was published in May. Francis said the mounds existed while saber-toothed cats and woolly mammoths roamed other parts of the Earth and large swathes of Europe and Asia were covered in ice. They predate some of the earliest cave paintings in Europe. Some fossilized termite mounds have been discovered dating back millions of years. The oldest inhabited mounds before this study were found in Brazil and are around 4,000 years old. They are visible from space. Francis said the Namaqualand mounds are a termite version of an "apartment complex" and the evidence shows they have been consistently inhabited by termite colonies. Termite mounds are a famous feature of the Namaqualand landscape, but no one suspected their age until samples of them were taken to experts in Hungary for radiocarbon dating. "People don't know that these are special, ancient landscapes that are preserved there," Francis said. Some of the biggest mounds known locally as "heuweltjies," which means little hills in the Afrikaans language measure around 30 meters across. The termite nests are as deep as 3 meters underground. Researchers needed to carefully excavate parts of the mounds to take samples, and the termites went into "emergency mode" and started filling in the holes, Francis said. The team fully reconstructed the mounds to keep the termites safe from predators like aardvarks. Francis said the project was more than just a fascinating look at ancient structures. It also offered a peek into a prehistoric climate that showed Namaqualand was a much wetter place when the mounds were formed. The southern harvester termites are experts at capturing and storing carbon by collecting twigs and other dead wood and putting it back deep into the soil. That has benefits in offsetting climate change by reducing the amount of carbon emitted into the atmosphere. It's also good for the soil. Masses of wildflowers bloom on top of the termite mounds in a region that receives little rain. Francis called for more research on termite mounds given the lessons they offer on climate change, sustaining ecosystems and maybe even for improving agricultural practices. "We will do well to study what the termites have done in the mounds. They were thought to be very boring," she said. Japan and the Philippines signed a key defense pact Monday allowing the deployment of Japanese forces for joint military exercises, including live-fire drills, to the Southeast Asian nation that came under brutal Japanese occupation in World War II but is now building an alliance with Tokyo as they face an increasingly assertive China. The Reciprocal Access Agreement, which similarly allows Filipino forces to enter Japan for joint combat training, was signed by Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa in a Manila ceremony witnessed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. It would take effect after ratification by the countries legislatures, Philippine and Japanese officials said. Kamikawa called the signing of the defense agreement a groundbreaking achievement" that should further boost defense cooperation between Japan and the Philippines. A free and open international order based on the rule of law is the foundation of regional peace and prosperity," she said. "We would like to work closely with your country to maintain and strengthen this. Kamikawa and Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara later held talks with their Philippine counterparts on ways to further deepen relations. The defense pact with the Philippines is the first to be forged by Japan in Asia. Japan signed similar accords with Australia in 2022 and with Britain in 2023. Under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the Japanese government has taken steps to boost its security and defensive firepower, including a counterstrike capability that breaks from Japans postwar principle of focusing only on self-defense, amid threats from North Korea and Chinas growing assertiveness. Its doubling defense spending in a five-year period to 2027 in a move to bolster its military power and make Japan the worlds third-biggest military spender after the United States and China. Many of Japans Asian neighbors, including the Philippines, came under Japanese aggression until its defeat in World War II and Japans efforts to bolster its military role and spending could be a sensitive issue. Japan and the Philippines, however, have steadily deepened defense and security ties. Kishidas moves dovetail with Marcos effort to forge security alliances to bolster the Philippine militarys limited ability to defend Manilas territorial interests in the South China Sea. The busy sea passage is a key global trade route which has been claimed virtually in its entirety by China but also contested in part by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. The United States has also been strengthening an arc of military alliances in the Indo-Pacific to better counter China, including in any future confrontation over Taiwan, and reassure its Asian allies. Japan and the Philippines are treaty allies of the U.S. and their leaders held three-way talks in April at the White House, where President Biden renewed Washington's "ironclad" commitment to defend Japan and the Philippines. Japan has had a longstanding territorial dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea. Chinese and Philippine coast guard and navy ships, meanwhile, have been involved in a series of tense confrontations in the South China Sea since last year. In the worst confrontation so far, Chinese coast guard personnel armed with knives, spears and an axe aboard motorboats repeatedly rammed and destroyed two Philippine navy supply vessels on June 17 in a chaotic faceoff in the disputed Second Thomas Shoal that injured several Filipino sailors. Chinese coast guard personnel seized seven navy rifles. The Philippines strongly protested the Chinese coast guards actions and demanded $1 million for the damage and the return of the rifles. China accused the Philippines of instigating the violence, saying the Filipino sailors strayed into what it called Chinese territorial waters despite warnings. Japan and the United States were among the first to express alarm over the Chinese actions and call on Beijing to abide by international laws. Washington is obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea. Two soldiers and six suspected militants were killed in two separate gun battles in Indian-administered Kashmir, police said Sunday. Kashmir police inspector general Vidhi Kumar Birdi told AFP that authorities in the disputed territory had "carried out two different operations" in villages in the Kulgam district. Birdi said two members of the security forces had been killed, with clashes continuing in Modergram and Frisal Chinnigam villages. "We have retrieved the bodies of two terrorists from Modergram, and four others from Frisal Chinnigam," said Birdi. This is the latest incident in an uptick of attacks in the disputed territory. India and Pakistan both claim Muslim-majority Kashmir in full and have fought three wars for control of the Himalayan region. Rebel groups have waged an insurgency since 1989, demanding independence for the territory or its merger with Pakistan. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels. In June, nine Indian Hindu pilgrims were killed and dozens wounded when a gunman opened fire on a bus carrying them from a shrine in the southern Reasi area. It was one of the deadliest attacks in years and the first on Hindu pilgrims in Kashmir since 2017, when gunmen killed seven people in another ambush on a bus. Pope Francis decried the state of democracy and warned against "populists" during a short visit to Trieste in Italy's northeast on Sunday ahead of a 12-day trip to Asia -- the longest of his papacy. "Democracy is not in good health in the world today," Francis said during a speech at the city's convention center to close a national Catholic event. Without naming any countries, the pope warned against "ideological temptations and populists" on the day that France holds the second round of a snap parliamentary vote that looks set to see the far-right National Rally party take the largest share of the vote. "Ideologies are seductive. Some people compare them to the Pied Piper of Hamelin: they seduce but lead you to deny yourself," he said in reference to the German fairytale. Ahead of last month's European parliament elections, bishops in several countries also warned about the rise of populism and nationalism, with far-right parties already holding the reins to power in Italy, Hungary and the Netherlands. Francis also urged people to "move away from polarizations that impoverish" and hit out at "self-referential power." After Venice in April and Verona in May, the half-day trip to Trieste, a city of 200,000 inhabitants on the Adriatic Sea that borders Slovenia, marked the third one within Italy this year for the 87-year-old pontiff, who has suffered increasing health problems in recent years. Since travelling to the French city of Marseille in September 2023, the Argentine Jesuit has limited himself to domestic travel. But he plans to spend nearly two weeks in Asia in September visiting Indonesia, Singapore and the islands of Papua New Guinea and East Timor. He arrived in Trieste shortly before 9 a.m. and was due to meet with various groups from the religious and academic spheres, along with migrants and the disabled. The papal visit is due to conclude with a Mass in the city's main public square before he departs for the Vatican in the early afternoon. Israels war with Hamas militants reached the nine-month mark Sunday, with Israeli protesters blocking highways across the country, calling for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign and pushing for a cease-fire. Sunday's "Day of Disruption" started at 6:29 a.m. local time, noting the moment that Hamas militants launched the first rockets toward Israel last October 7, an attack that killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of about 250 hostages. Protesters blocked main roads and demonstrated outside of the homes of members of Israel's parliament. Near the border with Gaza, Israeli protesters released 1,500 black and yellow balloons to symbolize those who were killed and abducted. Hannah Golan said she came to protest the "devastating abandonment of our communities by our government." She added, "It's nine months today, to this black day, and still, nobody in our government takes responsibility." Netanyahu has long said any discussion of the countrys massive security failure should occur after fighting ends. Watch related report by Arash Arabasadi: Israels subsequent ground and air counteroffensive in Gaza after Hamas shock October attack has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Israel says it believes Hamas is still holding 116 hostages, including 42 the military says are dead. Meanwhile, fighting raged on, with at least nine Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes. An Israeli airstrike killed Ehab Al-Ghussein, the Hamas-appointed deputy minister of labor, and three other people at a church-run school in western Gaza City sheltering Christian and Muslim families, Hamas media and the Civil Emergency Service said. The Israeli military said it was looking into the report. Ghussein's wife and children had already been killed in an Israeli strike in May. Israel and Hamas, however, may be inching closer to an elusive cease-fire after Hamas dropped its demand that any deal include a complete end to the war, although both sides said significant gaps remain. Talks to end the fighting have stalemated for weeks but two Hamas officials said Sunday the Palestinian group is waiting for a response from Israel on its cease-fire proposal, five days after it accepted a key part of a U.S. plan aimed at ending the war. "We have left our response with the mediators and are waiting to hear the occupation's response," one of the two Hamas officials, speaking anonymously, told the Reuters news agency. The three-phase cease-fire plan for Gaza was offered in late May by U.S. President Joe Biden and is being mediated by Qatar and Egypt. It aims to end the war and free the remaining hostages. About 100 hostages were freed in a weeklong cease-fire last November in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians jailed by Israel. Bidens plan calls for 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, officials have said. Israel was discussing a halt to the fighting with the Qataris, according to another Palestinian official with knowledge of the cease-fire deliberations. "They have discussed with them Hamas's response and they promised to give them Israel's response within days," one official told Reuters. Netanyahu has said that negotiations would continue this week but has not given any detailed timeline. Hamas says it would allow negotiations to achieve an end to the war but during the talks some of the hostages would be returned to Israel in exchange for more Palestinians jailed by Israel. A Palestinian official close to the peace efforts has said the proposal could lead to a framework agreement, if embraced by Israel, that would end the war. U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns is set to travel to Qatar this week for further negotiations, according to a source familiar with the matter. Flag-wielding demonstrators stopped traffic at an intersection in Tel Aviv, calling for parliamentary elections and for the government to do more to free the remaining captives in Gaza. Police stepped up security around Netanyahu's Jerusalem residence before a rally called for Sunday. On Saturday night, anti-government demonstrators blocking a highway clashed with police on horseback before authorities deployed water cannon to clear the road. Still, some Israelis held out hope for a cease-fire and return of the remaining hostages. "For the first time, we all feel that we are closer than ever to getting our loved ones back," Sachar Mor, a relative of hostage Ofer Kalderon, told a Saturday rally. "This is an opportunity that cannot be missed." While fighting continues in Gaza, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it launched dozens of projectiles toward northern Israel, targeting areas more than 30 kilometers from the border, deeper than most launches. A 28-year-old Israeli man was seriously wounded in Kfar Zeitim, a small town near the city of Tiberias, Israel's national rescue service reported. The barrage came after the Israeli military said in a statement an airstrike targeted a car and killed an engineer in Hezbollah's air defense unit Saturday, which Hezbollah confirmed. Near-daily clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces over the past nine months have threatened to turn into an all-out regional war and have catastrophic consequences for people on both sides of the border. Some information for this report provided by Agence France-Presse, The Associated Press and Reuters. Is the $1M nest egg irrelevant? 81% of retirees 65-plus with $50K-$100K in savings say they're living decently Youve probably heard that youll need at least $1 million in savings to retire. But you may have also seen reports indicating Americans arent saving enough for retirement. And given that Americans typically believe theyll need $1.46 million to live comfortably in their golden years, according to a study from Northwestern Mutual, this could be true. Don't miss These 5 magic money moves will boost you up America's net worth ladder in 2024 and you can complete each step within minutes. Here's how 'You didn't want to risk it': 80-year-old woman from South Carolina is looking for the safest place for her family's $250,000 savings. Here's Dave Ramsey's response Car insurance premiums in America are through the roof and only getting worse. But 5 minutes could have you paying as little as $29/month The same study found baby boomers and older Americans report having only $120,300 in savings on average. This is on track with the most recent stats from the Federal Reserve: the median amount that Americans aged 65 to 74 have in dedicated retirement accounts is only $200,000, as of 2022. Those aged 75-plus have a median $130,000 in their accounts. However, the Feds most recent Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking shows 82% of retirees aged 65-plus who reported that their savings were less than $1 million also reported that theyre doing OK or even living comfortably. In fact, of those who reported savings of only $50,000 to $99,999, 81% said theyre doing OK or living comfortably. So how are they doing it? Here are a few reasons why you could still live comfortably in retirement, even without a $1 million nest egg. You may have other income sources Aside from their retirement savings, many retirees have other income sources. For example, in 2023, 80% of retirees aged 65-plus reported one or more sources of private income, such as from a pension, employment or interest, dividends or rental income, according to the Feds survey. Retirement savings are often used to supplement Social Security benefits which came to an average $1,916 a month in May for retired workers, data from the Social Security Administration shows. This works out to about $23,000 per person over a 12-month period, or $46,000 for a couple more than double the poverty threshold of $18,440 for a two-person household with at least one householder aged 65-plus, according to the Census Bureau. Retirees with decent savings coupled with incoming funds from their investments or part-time gigs could be covering their expenses while living quite comfortably. Story continues Read more: 'It's not taxed at all': Warren Buffett shares the 'best investment' you can make when battling rising costs take advantage today You may have fewer expenses A study published in 2019 by the Employment Benefit Research Institute showed that total expenditures tend to drop as the people get older. By the time you retire, its likely that your kids will have left home and your mortgage will be paid off (or close to it), so youll need much less to live on. You also may not spend as much on transportation since you no longer have to commute to work. LendingTree reports the average annual expense to raise a child was $21,681 in 2021 and thats just for the essentials, like food and clothing. Meanwhile, the Mortgage Bankers Association says the median mortgage payment for a new application was $2,219 in May 2024. If your adult children are self-sufficient and youve paid off your mortgage before retiring, you could free up a small fortune each year. You may have different priorities While it seems many Americans may not need $1 million in retirement savings to live comfortably, theres no one-size-fits-all approach. Youll need to assess your expenses and how those could change in retirement. If you have a pension through work, bring in rental income or plan to work part-time in your golden years, you may need less money in the bank than you think. And, if you plan to retire in a region or state with a lower cost of living or a state with no income tax that will also factor into your retirement budget, especially if you plan to downsize to a smaller home. At the same time, if you have health issues or theres a possibility that you or your spouse will need to move into a long-term care home, youll want to save enough to support additional medical expenses not covered by Medicare. Life is unpredictable we cant know for sure if and when our health will fail, so its well worth budgeting extra money for unforeseen medical expenses. If youre unsure of how much you should be setting aside for retirement, a financial adviser, or online financial calculators, can give you an idea of how much youll need to save to supplement your other income sources. From there, you can set your retirement goals and create a plan to reach them whether or not that means saving $1 million for your golden years. What to read next Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now use $100 to cash in on prime real estate without the headache of being a landlord. Here's how Beating the market is no myth: These expert stock-pickers' recent success could help you build generational wealth Jeff Bezos and Oprah Winfrey invest in this asset to keep their wealth safe you may want to do the same in 2024 This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. The NASA astronaut knocks loudly three times on what appears to be a nondescript door and calls cheerfully: "You ready to come out?" The reply is inaudible, but beneath his mask he appears to be grinning as he yanks the door open, and four scientists who have spent a year away from all other human contact, simulating a mission to Mars, spill out to cheers and applause. Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell, Nathan Jones and team leader Kelly Haston have spent the past 378 days sealed inside the "Martian" habitat in Houston, Texas, part of NASA's research into what it will take to put humans on the Red Planet. They have been growing vegetables, conducting "Marswalks," and operating under what NASA terms "additional stressors," such as communication delays with "Earth," including their families; isolation and confinement. It's the kind of experience that would make anyone who lived through pandemic lockdowns shudder, but all four were beaming as they reemerged Saturday, their hair slightly more unruly and their emotion apparent. "Hello. It's actually so wonderful just to be able to say hello to you," Haston, a biologist, said with a laugh. "I really hope I don't cry standing up here in front of all of you," Jones, an emergency room doctor, said as he took to the microphone, and nearly doing just that several moments later as he spotted his wife in the crowd. The habitat, dubbed Mars Dune Alpha, is a 3D-printed, 160-square-meter facility, complete with bedrooms, a gym, common areas, and a vertical farm for growing food. An outdoor area, separated by an airlock, is filled with red sand and is where the team donned suits to conduct their "Marswalks," though it is still covered rather than being open air. "They have spent more than a year in this habitat conducting crucial science, most of it nutrition-based and how that impacts their performance ... as we prepare to send people on to the Red Planet," Steve Koerner told the crowd. Koerner is the deputy director at NASA's Johnson Space Center. "I'm very appreciative," he added. This mission is the first of a series of three planned by NASA, grouped under the title CHAPEA Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog. A yearlong mission simulating life on Mars took place in 2015-2016 in a habitat in Hawaii, and although NASA participated in it, it was not at the helm. Under its Artemis program, America plans to send humans back to the Moon to learn how to live there long-term to help prepare a trip to Mars, sometime towards the end of the 2030s. 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 the Taqaddum faction, which it accuses of sympathizing with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Neither the army nor the RSF attended. The war in Sudan erupted in April 2023 and 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 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. 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 initiatives. Voters in Tokyo cast ballots Sunday to decide whether to reelect conservative Yuriko Koike as governor of Japan's influential capital for a third four-year term. The vote was also seen as a test for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's governing party, which supports the incumbent, the first woman to lead the Tokyo city government. Tokyo, a city of 13.5 million people with outsized political and cultural power and a budget equaling some nations, is one of Japan's most influential political posts. A record 55 candidates challenged Koike, and one of the top contenders was also a woman a liberal-leaning former parliament member who uses only her first name, Renho, and was backed by opposition parties. A win by Koike would be a relief for Kishida's conservative governing party, which she has long been affiliated with. Kishida's Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, Komeito, unofficially backed her campaign. Renho, running as an independent but supported by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Japanese Communist Party, slammed Koike's connection with Kishida's party, which has been hit by a widespread slush fund scandal. A victory for Renho would be a major setback for Kishida's chances in the governing party's leadership vote in September. While the two high-profile women garnered national attention, Shinji Ishimaru, a former mayor of Akitakata town in Hiroshima, was seen to have gained popularity among young voters. The main issues in the campaign included measures for the economy, disaster resilience for Tokyo and low birth numbers. When Japan's national fertility rate fell to a record low 1.2 babies per woman last year, Tokyo's 0.99 rate was the lowest for the country. Koike's policies focused on providing subsidies for married parents expecting babies and those raising children. Renho called for increased support for young people to address their concerns about jobs and financial stability, arguing that would help improve prospects for marrying and having families. Another focus of attention was a controversial redevelopment of Tokyo's beloved park area, Jingu Gaien, which Koike approved but later faced criticism over its lack of transparency and suspected environmental impact. Koike, a stylish and media savvy former TV newscaster, was first elected to parliament in 1992 at age 40. She served in a number of key Cabinet posts, including environment and defense ministers, as part of the long-reigning Liberal Democratic Party. Renho, known for voicing sharp questions in parliament, was born to a Japanese mother and Taiwanese father and doesn't use her family name. A former model and newscaster, she was elected to parliament in 2004 and served as administrative reform minister in the government led by the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan. U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel expressed regret Saturday for the handling of two cases of sexual assaults allegedly committed by American military personnel on Okinawa, which have again stoked resentment of the heavy U.S. troop presence on the strategic island in Japan's far southwest. The issue broke out late last month, triggering an uproar over reports that two American service members had been charged with sexual assaults months earlier. Both cases were first reported in local media in late June. In one arrest made in March, a member of the U.S. Air Force was charged with the kidnapping and sexual assault of a teenager, and while in May a U.S. Marine was arrested on charges of attempted rape resulting in injury. Further details about the alleged victims were not released. Okinawa police said they did not announce the cases out of privacy considerations related to the victims. The Foreign Ministry, per police decision, also did not notify Okinawa prefectural officials. The cases are a reminder to many Okinawans of the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old girl by three U.S. service members, which sparked massive protests of the U.S. presence. It led to a 1996 agreement between Tokyo and Washington to close a key U.S. air base, although the plan has been repeatedly delayed due to protests at the site designated for its replacement on another part of the island. Emanuel said he deeply regretted what happened to the individuals, their families and their community, but fell short of apologizing. Obviously, you got to let the criminal justice process play out. But that doesnt mean you dont express on a human level your sense of regret. "We have to do better, he said, adding that the U.S. military's high standards and protocols for education and training of its troops was just not working. Emanuel said the U.S. may be able to propose measures to improve training and transparency with the public at U.S.-Japan foreign and defense ministers security talks expected later this month in Tokyo. On Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the Japanese authorities would do their utmost to provide more prompt disclosures of alleged crime related to U.S. military personnel on Okinawa while protecting victims privacy. The cases could be a setback for the defense relationship at a time when Okinawa is seen increasingly important in the face of rising tensions with China. Some 50,000 U.S. troops are deployed in Japan under a bilateral security pact, about half of them on Okinawa, where residents have long complained about heavy U.S. troop presence and related accidents, crime and noise. Emanuel commented on the issue while visiting Fukushima, on Japan's northeast coast. Earlier Saturday, the ambassador visited the nearby town of Minamisoma to join junior surfers and sample locally-caught flounder for lunch, aiming to highlight the safety of the area's seawater and seafood amid ongoing discharges of treated and diluted radioactive water from the tsunami-ruined Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. China has banned Japanese seafood over the discharges, a move Emanuel criticized as unjustified. Roughly 130 million people were under threat over the weekend and into next week from a long-running heat wave that broke or tied records with dangerously high temperatures and is expected to shatter more from East Coast to West Coast, forecasters said. Ukiah, north of San Francisco, hit 117 degrees Fahrenheit (47 degrees Celsius) on Saturday, breaking the city's record for the date and tying its all-time high. Livermore, east of San Francisco, hit 111 F (43.8 C), breaking the daily maximum temperature record of 109 F (42.7 C) set more than a century ago in 1905. Las Vegas tied the record of 115 F (46 C), last reached in 2007, and Phoenix topped out at 114 F (45.5 C), just shy of the record of 116 F (46.7 C) dating to 1942. The National Weather Service said it was extending the excessive heat warning for much of the Southwest through 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. In Las Vegas, where the mercury hit 100 F (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 Saturday night at the Sphere. Maybe theyll play one of my favorites Cold Rain and Snow. In more humid parts of the country, temperatures could spike above 100 F (about 38 C) in parts of the Pacific Northwest, the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, said Jacob Asherman, a weather service meteorologist. Heat records shattered across the Southwest Meteorologists predicted that temperatures would be near daily records in the region through most, if not all, of the coming week, with lower desert highs reaching 115 to 120 degrees F (46.1 to 48.8 C). Rare heat advisories were extended even into higher elevations including around Lake Tahoe, on the border of California and Nevada, with the National Weather Service in Reno, Nevada, 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." Indeed, Reno hit a high of 104 F (40 C) on Saturday, smashing the old record of 101 F (38.3 C). More extreme highs are in the near forecast, including 129 F (53.8 C) for Sunday at Furnace Creek, California, in Death Valley National Park, and then around 130 F (54.4 C) through Wednesday. The hottest temperature ever officially recorded on Earth was 134 F (56.67 C) in July 1913 in Death Valley, eastern California, 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 the West and mid-Atlantic Triple-digit temperatures are likely in the West, between 15 and 30 F (8 and 16 C) 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," read a National Weather Service advisory for the Baltimore area. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. 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 deaths suspected of being related to heat that are still under investigation, according to a recent report. That does not include the death of a 10-year-old boy last week in Phoenix who suffered a heat-related medical event while hiking with family at South Mountain Park and Preserve, according to police. California wildfires fanned by low humidity, high temperatures Firefighters dispatched aircraft and helicopters to drop water or retardant on a series of wildfires in California. In Santa Barbara County, northwest of Los Angeles, the Lake Fire has scorched more than 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. Festival revelers meet the heat with cold water and shade At the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, Oregon, music fans coped by drinking cold water, seeking shade or freshening up under water misters. Organizers of the weekend revelries also advertised free access to air conditioning in a nearby hotel. Angelica Quiroz, 31, kept her scarf and hat wet and applied sunscreen. Definitely a difference between the shade and the sun, Quiroz said Friday. But when youre in the sun, it feels like youre cooking. Are you looking for some new picks for your portfolio? Don't make it difficult. Just borrow a few of the ideas already held by one of the world's most successful long-term investors. That's Warren Buffett, of course, and he's not called the Oracle of Omaha for nothin'. Here's a closer look at three of your three best bets currently owned by Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B). Each one is a bit off the beaten path, but that's not an accident. Most of Berkshire's biggest and/or best-known holdings are currently overvalued as well as overbought. But three of his more off-the-radar picks are currently priced at compelling levels. 1. American Express For being Berkshire Hathaway's third-biggest position, it's strange how infrequently American Express (NYSE: AXP) is highlighted as a Buffett pick. But, the reason the 151.6 million-share position in the company has been in place for a couple of decades now is still intact. American Express is of course a credit card company often grouped with rivals Visa and Mastercard (both of which are also owned by Berkshire, by the way). American Express is unique though. It's arguably first and foremost a manager of rewards programs that encourage the usage of its plastic. Some of the perks for its cards even with the lowest annual fees include rewards for dining at particular restaurants, credit toward ride-hailing services, and discounts on select hotel stays. Higher-priced tiers of its fee-based cards offer all of these benefits plus credit toward the purchase of streaming services as well as at a variety of retail stores. Visa and Mastercard offer similar perk programs, but none of them hold a candle to what American Express cards bring to the table. And numbers confirm the claim. Despite the current economic turbulence, this company's top line is expected to grow nearly 10% this year before improving another 8%-plus next year. Earnings are projected to grow at an even faster clip. The encouraging thing is that this progress is merely in line with the company's historical revenue and profit growth. The kicker: While this stock's forward-looking dividend yield of 1.2% isn't exactly thrilling, what it lacks in current yield it more than makes up for in dividend growth. Over the course of the past 30 years, American Express raised its quarterly dividend payment from $0.07 per share to its current quarterly payout of $0.70 per share. That's an annualized growth rate of 8% that isn't apt to slow down anytime soon. Story continues 2. VeriSign Whereas American Express is a rarely discussed Buffett pick, most investors probably don't even realize Berkshire's also a long-term stakeholder in VeriSign (NASDAQ: VRSN). Indeed, some investors may have never even heard of VeriSign. In simplest terms, Verisign oversees website name registrations. More specifically, it manages a domain name system (or DNS) that prevents different parties from registering for the same website URL. These registrations must be updated on a regular basis, bearing revenue each time it happens. It's not a high-growth business. While new websites are always being created, the World Wide Web in place today is no longer rapidly expanding due to the addition of more sites. Most of the internet's current expansion instead stems from the addition of more content to existing websites. It's still a reliable high-margin business, however, that's clearly never going away. More than half of last year's $1.5 billion worth of revenue was turned into net income, roughly matching the prior fiscal year's profit margin rates. Its top and bottom lines also both extended their already lengthy growth streaks. Although VeriSign's consistency is typical of Buffett's stock picks, it's an atypical holding in at least one way. It lacks a dividend! It has never had one, and it's not a stretch to guess that it never will. Rather, the company adds immediate shareholder value by buying shares back in a big way. Its outstanding share count has been more than halved over the course of the past couple of decades. That's one of the key reasons this stock's gained on the order of 800% during this span, in step with its per-share earnings growth. That makes it one of Buffett's best-performing picks for the time frame in question. VRSN Chart Look for these trends to carry on into the foreseeable future, too. Berkshire's stake in VeriSign isn't a particularly big one; it's only holding about 12.8 million shares worth a total of $2.2 billion. That's less than 1% of the value of Berkshire Hathaway's stock portfolio. But, it's still telling that Berkshire owns roughly 12% of VeriSign itself. 3. Chevron Finally, add Chevron (NYSE: CVX) to your list of Buffett's picks that would likely be at home in your portfolio as well. Berkshire's owned energy stocks in the past, so it's not completely shocking that it holds a $19 billion stake (making it Berkshire's fifth-biggest stock position) in the oil and gas giant now. Given the advent of alternative energy though, Buffett would seemingly recognize that this industry's days are numbered. Or maybe Warren Buffett realizes that the rumors of fossil fuels' impending death are greatly exaggerated. That's the word from Goldman Sachs anyway. The investment bank's research arm says the world's daily consumption of crude oil is apt to continue growing all the way through 2034. Separately, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that as far down the road as 2050 oil will still be the world's single-biggest source of energy ... when we'll also be using more natural gas than we are right now. There's still lots of money to be made in this sliver of the energy business. Chevron obviously isn't the only way to capitalize on this opportunity. But, there's a reason Buffett specifically selected Chevron as one of only two oil and gas names Berkshire currently holds (the other one is Occidental Petroleum, by the way). That's most likely Chevron's sheer size and proven operations, supporting the stock's reliable dividend that's been raised every year for the past 37 years. Newcomers will be plugging into Chevron stock while it's yielding a healthy 4.2%. Sure, the stock's been a lackluster performer since mid-2022, when many investors began fearing oil prices were set to weaken. That never happened though, and isn't likely to now. The Energy Information Administration predicts that Brent crude's average price though 2025 will be $85 per barrel, in line with where it is now. That's more than a profitable price level for Chevron. Should you invest $1,000 in Chevron right now? Before you buy stock in Chevron, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now and Chevron wasnt one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, youd have $771,034!* Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of July 2, 2024 American Express is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway, Chevron, Goldman Sachs Group, Mastercard, VeriSign, and Visa. The Motley Fool recommends Occidental Petroleum and recommends the following options: long January 2025 $370 calls on Mastercard and short January 2025 $380 calls on Mastercard. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 3 Warren Buffett Stocks That Are Screaming Buys Right Now was originally published by The Motley Fool Dining chat: A waiter gave our anniversary bubbly to the table next to us. What should we have done? School Set Down Kilkenny County Council is preparing a new Local Area Plan (LAP) for Ferrybank to replace the existing one. Public consultation sessions at Abbey Community College on June 19, had a good turnout, with many positive ideas. However, St. Mary's Boys National School has raised concerns about the dangerous conditions during drop-off and pick-up times. The school entrance is on a busy main road without a designated drop-off area or car park, creating significant safety risks. The Board of Management has communicated these concerns to Kilkenny and Waterford County Councils, the Department of Education, local TDs, Councillors, and the Gardai. Issues include vehicles running red lights, cars parking on double yellow lines, and pupils exiting cars onto the main road. The school is urging community members to submit their opinions on the challenges and opportunities in the area, emphasising the need for a designated drop-off area and car park. This would ensure safer crossing at the lights, reduce illegal parking near the school gate, and provide parking for staff and visitors during events like Christmas plays, parent-teacher meetings, and graduations. A safer environment would also encourage more pupils to walk, cycle, or scoot to school. The school believes that widespread community support through submissions will strengthen the case for these improvements. They stress that without numerous submissions, this critical safety issue may not be prioritised. Parents and community members are encouraged to spend a few minutes writing emails to highlight the need for a drop-off area and car park, demonstrating the community's significant concern. Peader's Summer Camp Ireland's oldest summer camp is back again, commencing on Monday, July 15. The popular summer camp will see over 200 boys and girls aged between 6 and 13 years coming down to the GAA grounds to learn the skills of our national game. Applications forms can be obtained from the Spar Shop in Ferrybank, Coffee by King, or from any committee member. The annual fundraising event for Peadars Summer Camp will take place in Briar Rose on July 12. Your support in buying tickets for this event and attending allows us to keep the cost of the camp down. Our camp is probably the cheapest in the country for a full week of activities and this is down to you supporting these events and to all our other sponsors. Once again, many thanks to our main sponsors Keltech for their continued support, for which we are truly grateful. Ferrybank Shopping Centre The Chairperson of Kilkenny County Council, Councillor Ger Frisby, said Dunne's Stores moving into Ferrybank Shopping Centre would benefit the area. Cllr Frisby, Chair of the Piltown Municipal District, noted the centre will serve Ferrybank and nearby areas. Recently installed as Chairperson at the districts AGM, Cllr Frisby has long sought clarity on the centre's opening. Progress appears to be underway, with Kilkenny County Council officials meeting with Dunne's Stores' owner. A report will be presented to councillors soon, with more details expected at tomorrows municipal meeting. Rent a Workbench You can rent a Woodwork/ Metalwork bench at Ferrybank Mens Shed. This is for anyone who would like to try their hand at setting up a business or working on personal projects, or even if you just need time to yourself for a few hours without the burden of taking on a long-term lease or purchasing expensive equipment this would be an ideal opportunity. You can rent a bench monthly, with access to a wide range of tools. You have full access to canteen and secure yard with support from Shed members. Contact Ferrybank Mens Shed on Abbey Road by email at ferrybankms@gmail.com or by phoning Frank on 083 4721336. Summer Camp Stay cool this summer at our Indoor Games Summer Camp from July 8 to 12, at CUBEX, Ross Abbey Retail Park, Ferrybank (X91 ARX6). Tired of the usual outdoor activities? Join us for exciting indoor games, including board games, card games, VR games, e-sports, and more. Our expert staff will ensure you have fun while staying safe. Make new friends, learn new skills, and create unforgettable memories. Open to boys and girls aged 6 to 11 years old, the camp costs 100. Sign up now by contacting us on WhatsApp or phone at 087 7179775 for an unforgettable summer. Summer Stars The Summer Stars Shining at Kilkenny Libraries, with a one-of-a-kind interactive family gameshow, is coming to Ferrybank Library on Friday, July 5, at 4pm. 'Helena the Storyteller', will take you on a spectacular time-travelling, fact to fiction adventure around the world. Through treasure hunts, quiz questions, team challenges and all sorts of interactive role play, this gameshow will be fun for young and old. Suitable for those aged over 7 ( parents/guardians), the whole family can take part. Booking required and for more information contact Ferrybank Library on 051 897200. 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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement 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. 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. Daniel Krason / Shutterstock.com It was reported that short-term listings on Airbnb generated $85 million in net revenue in New York City alone in 2022. Then, in 2023, the city cracked down on short-term rentals on Airbnb, causing over 80% of the listings to disappear and forcing many hosts to decide what to do with their property next. As profitable as short-term listings can be, we cant ignore the fact that putting a space on Airbnb isnt always the best business venture. We will look at the different reasons why renting out your home on Airbnb may cost you money and become unprofitable in the long run. Explore More: Dave Ramseys Best Passive Income Ideas for 2024 15 Steady, Profitable Ways To Build Wealth Fast Read Next: 5 Unusual Ways To Make Extra Money (That Actually Work) Here are five ways renting out your home on Airbnb might cost you money. Wealthy people know the best money secrets. Learn how to copy them. You Spend Too Much Money on Another Mortgage/Housing Expenses The goal of purchasing or renting a property for Airbnb is to turn a profit by charging more than you spend on your housing costs. However, the harsh reality is that you may not always cover these costs or be able to turn a substantial profit after you add everything up. When youre buying a property for Airbnb, its important to make sure that the numbers still work as a long-term rental and during the slow season as well, said Cody Berman, a real estate investor who teaches people how to build passive income. The mortgage might be well covered during the hot season, but you dont want to find yourself trapped when rental demand slows down. When you run the numbers, youll want to consider every possible expense that could impact your bottom line. What real estate costs do you have to factor in when listing your place on Airbnb? Your mortgage/rent Property taxes Home insurance Taxes Cleaning fees Possible damages Slow periods As enticing as it can be when you find out that you charge hundreds of dollars per night, you must consider that there wont always be a busy season. You also have to plan for increased competition, and you cant forget that you rely on one platform. One negative review from a guest could bring you down in the rankings, possibly making it challenging to land guests. When you cant fill up your space, youll be stuck paying for a mortgage and living expenses for a home that isnt bringing in any money. Discover More: How To Earn $750 a Week in Passive Income Furnishing a Home Can Be Expensive Furnishing a property and getting all the supplies isnt cheap, said James Lowery, a real estate investor and one of the founders of Rethink The Rat Race. Theres also no guarantee that youll make your money back. Story continues Setting up a home for Airbnb can be costly and time-consuming. While you can likely be profitable if you simply list a spare bedroom on the platform, you could struggle to make money when you invest solely in a home for Airbnb. If you purchase a space for Airbnb, you may have to renovate the entire house to ensure its adequate for hosting, and then youll have to spend a hefty amount on furniture. You should also consider that furnishing a home for Airbnb is different than a traditional space because you have to factor in every possible request that guests could have, from an ironing board to extra towels. Once you run all of the calculations, you may realize that this space will take a long time to become profitable compared to the money you couldve made from finding a long-term tenant. Cleaning Fees After Messy Guests As an Airbnb host, you can charge a cleaning fee, but there will be times when the mess requires extra attention. You also cant forget a short-term guest who stays in a place for a night or two wont take the same care of the space as someone living there. You may spend extra money replacing appliances sooner due to wear and tear or paying for deep cleaning services. Guests Damage Your Home There are plenty of times where guests damage a property and ghost the owners, so youre coming out of pocket for repairs, Lowery said. While you may be able to prove certain damages, you could be stuck replacing a toilet seat or dishwasher due to the negligence of careless guests. There have been numerous horror stories shared by hosts about how guests damaged their homes, and they struggled to recover the fees. Even though Airbnb states that it offers host damage protection through AirCover, collecting your money or proving that your guests caused the issues can be difficult. Airbnb Could Become Illegal Where You Live There are a number of hosts who are operating in grey areas or even outright illegally and it could cost them in fines, back taxes, and more, Lowery said. As mentioned earlier, new restrictions were placed on short-term rentals in New York City last year, and most listings disappeared. However, many other municipalities have unclear laws and rules about short-term listings. For example, your condo corporation couldve banned Airbnb years ago, and you didnt realize it. This means that you could be facing hefty legal bills if caught. Another expense that could eat into your profits is home insurance expenses since many providers dont allow for short-term rentals. While you may think youre running a legal business, your home insurer could feel otherwise about this venture. Those are the five main reasons why renting out your home on Airbnb might actually cost you money in the long run. This is why we always recommend that you conduct your due diligence to ensure that youre making the right financial moves for your situation. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 5 Reasons Renting Out Your Home on Airbnb Might Actually Cost You Money benedek / Getty Images/iStockphoto Finding any kind of home for less than $100,000 is not easy these days, and that includes apartments that are typically less expensive than single-family homes. Buying an apartment at all is a challenge since most are owned by real estate companies that rent them out rather than sell them. The most common multifamily development options are condos, which are essentially apartments under a different name. See More: 20 Best Cities Where You Can Buy a House for Under $100K Read Next: How To Get Rich in Real Estate Starting With Just $1,000 In densely populated cities like New York, Boston, San Francisco or Chicago, you might find apartments listed for sale alongside single-family homes. In other cities, apartments might be listed as condos or co-ops, according to Realtor.com. A condo is similar to buying a home where you are actually getting the deed to the unit, and generally if you ever want to rent your unit out, you will be able to without any stipulations except, of course, that the new tenant must qualify through the condo board, real estate agent Lila Nejad of Douglas Elliman told Realtor.com. A co-op, on the other hand, means you are buying a share in a building. You own the unit, but there are more board requirements to qualify for purchase and non-U.S. citizens are far less likely to get into most of these buildings, Nejad added. The subletting policies are also generally much stricter, often with limitations of only two years, or no third-party renting at all. There are even situations where you can purchase an apartment you are currently renting as part of a rent-to-own agreement. In any of the above cases, youll have to hunt around if you want to find an apartment or condo for less than $100,000. As previously reported by GOBankingRates, median condo prices in major U.S. markets range from a low of $161,500 in Cleveland, Ohio, to a high of $800,000 in San Francisco. That doesnt mean you cant find condos or apartments at less than $100,000. The PropertyUnder50k.com website conducted a study last year looking at U.S. markets where you are most likely to find a condo for around $100,000. Here are six of the cities the site settled on, based on an analysis of the Zillow Home Value Index. All quotes are from the PropertyUnder50k.com report. Earning passive income doesn't need to be difficult. You can start this week. Austin, TX The Lone Star States capital has seen significant growth in recent years due to its strong economy and vibrant culture, but there are still pockets of affordability where you can find apartments and condos for under $100,000. This is particularly true on the outskirts of town or in older developments. Story continues Cincinnati, OH Cincinnati has a low cost of living compared with other U.S. cities. The real estate market here offers a range of affordable housing options, including condos and apartments prices at less than $100,000. Indianapolis, IN Like Cincinnati, Indianapolis is a comparatively affordable Midwest city where you can still find an apartment or condo for around $100,000, although you will probably need to look in the suburbs and other outlying areas. Orlando, FL The high supply of condos in Orlando has made it possible to find apartments or condos under $100,000, although youll find more options at higher price points. Portland, OR If you want to find an apartment or condo for less than $100,000 in Portland, youll need to look in areas outside the center city. But if you stretch your search wide enough, you can still find affordable options. Salt Lake City, UT You can find apartments and other properties in Salt Lake City for less than $100,000 thanks to the markets overall affordability. There are a range of condo options in this area, especially in the suburbs and surrounding areas. Moreover, the real estate market in Salt Lake City has been relatively stable. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 6 Best Cities Where You Can Buy an Apartment for Under $100K 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 Antonio_Diaz / Getty Images/iStockphoto Lets get the disclaimer out of the way right up front there is no portfolio of stocks that is the right match for every single person thats a member of Generation Z. This is because every person has their own individual financial goals and tolerance for risk. However, there are a number of stocks that do tend to appeal to younger generations, such as Gen Z, based on the world in which they grew up. Check Out: In 5 Years, These 2 Stocks Will Be More Valuable Than Apple Try This: 6 Unusual Ways To Make Extra Money (That Actually Work) Unlike most older generations, Gen Zers, who are generally regarded as being between 12 and 27 years old, grew up in an era in which technology was a part of everyday living and convenience was prioritized. As such, theres a general tendency of Gen Zers to invest in these types of stocks. Of course, not all technology stocks are worthy of investment, nor are companies that simply provide convenience. Even the hippest-sounding business needs a path to consistently growing sales and earnings if its stock is to be a good long-term investment. Here are a few that might make the cut. Wealthy people know the best money secrets. Learn how to copy them. Dutch Bros (BROS) Price as of July 3, 2024: $41.52 YTD return: 31.83% A few decades ago, Starbucks was the hot coffee chain, revolutionizing the industry and spawning numerous competitors. But while growth at Starbucks has since stalled, Dutch Bros remains an up-and-coming chain thats popular with Gen Zers and has plenty of room to expand. In its Q1 2024 earnings release, for example, Dutch Bros reported a 39% year-over-year increase in revenue. Explore More: 10 Valuable Stocks That Could Be the Next Apple or Amazon PayPal Holdings (PYPL) Price as of July 3, 2024: $59.64 YTD return: -2.86% Unlike many of the other stocks on this list, PayPal has fallen on hard times in recent years, with its stock cratering 80% over the past three years. But for long-term investors like Gen Z this could be an opportunity. Analysts are back onboard with PayPal, as the company has made profitable growth its top priority, predicting a one-year stock gain of about 19% and a potential multi-year run ahead. In addition to its namesake payment services company, PayPal also owns Venmo, Xoom, Hyperwallet and numerous other companies as it seeks to dominate the technologically advanced industry. Apple (AAPL) Price as of July 3, 2024: $221.55 YTD return: 16.9% Apple may be an old-school technology stock, but its products, especially the iPhone, make it the company of choice among younger generations, especially Gen Z. The company battles with Microsoft for the title of largest company in the world, and its stock generally leads the overall market up or down. Story continues While its growth rate has slowed as it has achieved a market cap in excess of $3 trillion, its still the type of innovative company that will likely appeal to both consumers and Gen Z investors for years to come. Sweetgreen (SG) Price as of July 3, 2024: $28.39 YTD return: 143.27% Have you ever been disappointed that theres no such thing as healthy fast food? While social pressure has forced some of the big burger chains to add token salads to their menus, Sweetgreen has been at the forefront of a movement to bring quick, healthy, salad-based meals to the world. Started by three college students who were simply looking for a healthier way to eat, Sweetgreen provides the type of sustainable, healthy option that resonates with many Gen Zers. The stock has already skyrocketed in 2024, but analysts still see further gains ahead. Lemonade (LMND) Price as of July 3, 2024: $16.20 YTD return: 0.99% Lemonade is one of the more aggressive/speculative entries on this list, but if the technology-based insurance company executes its vision, it could revolutionize its industry. Lemonade offers renters, homeowners, car, pet and life insurance, and it operates in a different manner than most insurance companies. Via its app, the company relies on telematics to get real-world data about where and how its members drive, thereby allowing it to price its policies fairly. If it collects too much in premiums in any given year, it donates that money to charities of its users choice. The bottom line is that Lemonade uses technology to keep prices low, along with an environmental and charitable bent that appeals to many Gen Z users. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) Price as of July 3, 2024: $232.17 YTD return: 21.2% While not an individual stock, the Technology Select SPDR Fund is an extremely low-cost way to play one of the most explosive sectors in the market today. This ETF trades on the stock exchange but provides access to 67 tech stocks across a variety of innovative industries, such as internet software and services companies, IT consulting services and computers and peripherals. This includes names that are well-known among Gen Zers, such as Microsoft, Nvidia and Apple. In fact, those three names alone currently comprise nearly half of the ETFs entire portfolio. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 6 Stocks That Gen Z Should Invest In Pekic / iStock.com One of the things that many workers dont understand about retirement is that youll have to create a completely new budget. While you might feel as if life will continue in more or less the same fashion, the truth is that lifestyles and spending patterns change in retirement, sometimes dramatically. Read Next: 8 Things Boomers Should Sell Right Before Retiring Learn More: The Surprising Way You Can Get Guaranteed Retirement Income for Life The good news is that many retirees learn that common expenses theyve had in their working budget for years will actually disappear, freeing up more cash flow for other costs or even discretionary expenses. While not all retirement budgets are the same, here are some common bills that you may find you no longer have to pay once you retire. Wealthy people know the best money secrets. Learn how to copy them. Mortgage By the time you retire, its possible you can kiss your mortgage goodbye. If you take out a 30-year mortgage at age 35 or earlier, for example, youll have it entirely paid off if you retire at age 65. Even if you take out a mortgage after that age, there are two ways you may have it paid off by the time you retire. The first is simply by making additional principal payments along the way. Another way is to consider a shorter mortgage. With a 15-year mortgage, for example, even if you buy a house at age 50, it can be paid off by retirement. Without a mortgage, youll likely free up thousands of dollars from your monthly retirement budget. Find Out: Retirement Savings: 4 Expenses Retirees Regret Keeping in Their Budgets, According to Experts Second Car Many workers have two cars, especially if they have families. But by the time you retire, youll likely be an empty nester. While you may also want a car for your spouse, many retirees can get by quite easily on just a single car. And if youve paid that car off, then you wont have any car loan expense at all. As most Americans pay car loans throughout their working lives, this can save you hundreds of dollars per month after you retire. (Higher) Taxes Generally speaking, your tax burden will be higher during your working career than it will be after you retire. Most retirees live off a combination of fixed income sources, such as Social Security and investment income. For many retirees, Social Security isnt taxed at all, and no retiree pays taxes on more than 85% of their Social Security income. Investment income can also receive special tax treatment, especially if it comes from qualified dividends or capital gains. You may also find yourself in a lower tax bracket after you retire, as your peak earning years are generally in your 50s, not after retirement. Story continues Life Insurance After you retire, you may find that you dont need to pay for life insurance anymore. Generally speaking, life insurance is used to cover major expenses like a mortgage or lost income on behalf of a non-working or lesser-earning spouse. But if youre all alone in retirement, or if youve already paid off your major obligations like your home mortgage, you may not need life insurance anymore. This is particularly true in the case of term insurance, which becomes prohibitively expensive as you get older. Payroll Taxes When you work a job, at least 7.65% of your income goes towards payroll taxes to pay for Social Security retirement and disability benefits. If youre self-employed, you have to pay both the employer and employee portions, making your total obligation a whopping 15.3% of your income. But if you are only earning Social Security and/or investment income in retirement, you wont have to pay a dime in payroll taxes. This is another way you can trim a significant amount of money out of your monthly retirement budget, as youll get to keep much more of your income. Dry Cleaning Its true that not all workers have to pay for dry cleaning, especially as work culture has become more casual over the past few decades. But many companies still require workers to dress up for work, and that can cost hundreds per month in dry cleaning bills. In most cases, retirees can opt more for casual clothes, so its likely you can completely eliminate your dry-cleaning bills once youre done working. Commuting Costs While travel expenses do increase for some retirees, if you dont have a job anymore, you can stop worrying about commuting costs. No matter how you got to work, you likely had to pay to get there. If you used your own car, gas, oil and maintenance likely added up to a few hundred dollars per month, depending on how far you had to go. You can say goodbye to those expenses forever once you retire. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 7 Bills You Never Have To Pay When You Retire This article looks at the best place to retire in Houston. Check out our full list of Best Places to Retire in Houston. Houston Housing Market Redfin Corporation (NASDAQ:RDFN) reports the median price of a home in Houston to be $360,000; up 3.7% since last year. According to the real estate company, the housing market in the region is somewhat competitive, with average homes selling 2% below the list price. Redfin Corporation (NASDAQ:RDFN) is a Seattle-based residential real estate brokerage and mortgage origination services. The company operates in more than 100 markets in the United States as well as Canada. In Q1 2024, the company generated a revenue of $225.5 million, a 5% increase from the year-ago period. This is a considerable win for the company considering the business has been operating in the wake of soaring interest rates and declining home sales. Meanwhile, the management of Redfin is also predicting $2 million in positive EBITDA in the current second quarter (ending June 30), as well as a positive full-year result. Wall Street is currently forecasting two interest rate cuts from the Fed by the end of 2024. With interest rate cuts in speculation, there might be an increased activity from home-buyers in turn benefiting the company. While we at Insider Monkey recognize the potential of Redfin stock and its potential to generate returns, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising but trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock. Zillow notes that housing markets that have long been hot such as that of Houston, will comparatively cool down in 2024. Rightly so, those in Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio have been slipping since last year. In another study conducted by Smart Asset, Houston has made it to the list of top 10 Where Retirees Are Moving - 2024 Study. Whether or not Houston is in demand or not, the one thing that is established is that Houston is a good place to retire for senior residents. There are many pros of retiring to Houston. For example, it lies in the state of Texas, one of the most tax-friendly states to retire to. The state doesnt have an income tax, which is why all retirement income in the state goes tax-free to retirees. Houston in particular is also recognized for its affordable cost of living. The cost of living index for Houston is 96, which indicates that living expenses in the area are 4% lower than the national average. Warm weather is another reason senior residents prefer living in the area. There is a thriving arts and music scene, numerous incredible restaurants, and lots of senior-friendly amenities and activities to do. Story continues However, when looking for a home in Houston, its wise to do some homework on neighborhoods that have a historically low risk of flooding. The latest risk to the area is Tropical Storm Beryl, the first-ever storm to reach Category 4 in June that has weakened to a tropical storm after passing over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Flood risks like these mean that residents should be wary of houses they choose to live in, ensure thorough research on flood zones and invest in appropriate flood insurance. The key is to look for best places to live in Houston without flooding, such as the neighborhoods of Briargrove and Houston Heights. Despite its risk of floods, Houston remains a desirable place to live due to its diverse culture, strong job market, and vibrant arts scene. The city's resilience and ongoing flood mitigation efforts further enhance its appeal for residents. The Best Place to Retire in Houston Pixabay/Public domain Methodology To compile the list of best places to retire in Houston, we began by rounding up a list of suburbs and destinations within the Houston metropolitan area. Next, we used various websites and forums to garner consensus on the best places to retire, awarding 1 point to a destination to a place each time it was recommended by a source. Scores were summed and places were ranked based on their total scores. At Insider Monkey we are obsessed with the stocks that hedge funds pile into. The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletters strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see the details here). 1. The Woodlands Insider Monkey Score: 19 IM Cost of Living Index: 112 Median Home Price: $618,000 Median Rent: $1,806 Based on our methodology, the best place to retire in Houston is The Woodlands. This award-winning luxury master planned community is a special-purpose district and census-designated place (CDP) in the U.S. state of Texas in the HoustonThe WoodlandsSugar Land metropolitan statistical area. Downtown Houston is just 28 miles away, but the Woodlands is a complete world of its own. Built in and around 28,000 tree-filled acres, this destination is the perfect place to experience nature, countless leisure activities, and outstanding medical care. There are more than 200 miles of biking and hiking trails, popular lakes and nature parks, and many shopping destinations as well. Art shows, concerts and music festivals keep residents busy all year-long, while there is a bustling nightlife for the young at heart as well. Overall, The Woodlands can be an ideal place for retirees. Check our complete list of 12 Best Places to Retire in Houston. At Insider Monkey, we delve into a variety of topics, ranging from the best places to retire to the best MBA programs; however, our expertise lies in identifying the top-performing stocks. Currently, Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology stands out as one of the most promising fields. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NVDA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: Analyst Sees a New $25 Billion Opportunity for NVIDIA and Jim Cramer is Recommending These 10 Stocks in June. Disclosure: None. Insider Monkey focuses on uncovering the best investment ideas of hedge funds and insiders. Please subscribe to our free daily e-newsletter to get the latest investment ideas from hedge funds investor letters by entering your email address below. Returning to their screens following the July 4 break, U.S. traders were confronted with a historic plunge in bitcoin {{BTC}} that saw its price fall more than 10% from the pre-holiday level. Based on ETF data, they decided to lift the offer. According to numbers compiled by Farside Investors, U.S.-based spot bitcoin ETFs saw $143.1 million in net inflows on Friday, the highest level of inflows in at least two weeks. Leading the way was Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), which took in $117.4 million of net new money. Other funds with net inflows were the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), the ARK/21 Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) and the VanEck Bitcoin Trust (HODL). Per usual, the high fee Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) continued to bleed assets. Bitcoin ETF Flow (US$ million) - 2024-07-05 TOTAL NET FLOW: 143.1 (Provisional data) IBIT: 0 FBTC: 117.4 BITB: 30.2 ARKB: 11.3 BTCO: 0 EZBC: 0 BRRR: 0 HODL: 12.8 BTCW: 0 GBTC: -28.6 DEFI: 0 For all the data & disclaimers visit:https://t.co/4ISlrCgZdk Farside Investors (@FarsideUK) July 6, 2024 As for price action, bitcoin has seen a very modest of bounce since tumbling from nearly $61,000 Wednesday to under $54,000 early Friday, currently trading back to $56,800. That's down 6% from the week-ago levels and roughly 23% from its all-time high above $73,500 set in mid-March. Taking the blame for this latest downdraft in price was worry about a massive surge in supply as trustees for defunct exchange Mt. Gox began the return of 140,000 bitcoin to former customers and the German government apparently moved to sell at least some of the thousands of bitcoin it holds. Read more: Crypto Crash Pushes Fear & Greed Index to Lowest Since Bitcoin Traded at $17K in Early 2023 BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday sent a message to Masoud Pezeshkian, congratulating him on election as 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 said. The Chinese president said he attaches great importance to the development of China-Iran relations, and is willing work with Pezeshkian to guide the deepening of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. (Source: Xinhua) Editor: Lei Yang Click the photo and watch the video. * China and Tajikistan on Friday elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era during Chinese President Xi Jinping's third state visit to the Central Asian country. * China has long been Tajikistan's largest source of investment and major trading partner, with the two-way trade nearing 4 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. * In an act to show the Chinese people's friendly feelings towards Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and the people of Tajikistan, Xi on Friday awarded the "Friendship Medal," China's highest state honor for foreigners, to Rahmon. DUSHANBE, July 6 (Xinhua) China and Tajikistan on Friday elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era during Chinese President Xi Jinping's third state visit to the Central Asian country. The decision was announced during Xi's talks with his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon, who described China and Tajikistan as friendly neighbors and loyal friends. The past 32 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries have seen fruitful cooperation. China and Tajikistan have also set an exemplary model of international relations between nations and are aiming for even more cooperation in various fields. Growing Ties for Shared Development The decision to elevate ties was based on the current development needs of bilateral ties, the two countries said in a joint statement after the presidents' talks. China and Tajikistan, connected by mountains and rivers, share a common destiny, Xi wrote in a signed article published in Tajik media on Friday, noting that 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. Based on the high level of cooperation between the two countries and their common aspiration to deepen bilateral relations, the two sides are committed to building a China-Tajikistan community with a shared future featuring everlasting friendship, solidarity and mutual benefit, according to the joint statement. Noting that China will remain steadfast in promoting friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation with Tajikistan, Xi said during the talks that 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 an act to show the Chinese people's friendly feelings towards President Rahmon and the people of Tajikistan, Xi on Friday awarded the "Friendship Medal," China's highest state honor for foreigners, to Rahmon. Friday's ceremony marks the first time this prestigious award has been presented outside of China. Chinese President Xi Jinping awards Tajik President Emomali Rahmon the Friendship Medal of the People's Republic of China at the presidential palace in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. [Xinhua/Shen Hong] As he presented the medal to Rahmon, Xi said: "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." By fostering closer ties with China, Tajikistan can witness greater social and economic development, said Yusuf Akhmatbekzoda, deputy director of the Directorate for Construction of Government Facilities of the Executive Office of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan. Booming Practical Cooperation China has long been Tajikistan's largest source of investment and major trading partner, with the two-way trade nearing 4 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. Ten years ago, China and Tajikistan signed a memorandum to build the Silk Road Economic Belt, making Tajikistan the first country to do so under the Belt and Road Initiative. 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, which have helped upgrade Tajikistan's industrial technology and created thousands of local jobs. Premium green produce of Tajikistan such as cherries, lemons and grapes has steadily made its way to Chinese households and is quite popular among Chinese consumers. 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] China is currently the top investor in Tajikistan's economy, driving economic growth, creating more job opportunities, and promoting social and infrastructure development in the country, said Qanoatullo Saifulloev, deputy director of Tajikistan's state-run Khovar News Agency. During their talks on Friday, Rahmon said Tajikistan is willing to take the implementation of the outcomes of Xi's visit as an important opportunity to further promote Belt and Road cooperation, deepen cooperation in connectivity, agriculture, critical minerals, new energy and other fields, so as to accelerate the country's industrialization and modernization. When the two leaders jointly met the press following their talks, Xi said China is ready to import more quality products from Tajikistan and continuously upgrade the quality and scale of China-Tajikistan economic and trade cooperation. The two countries have agreed to continue to deepen connectivity cooperation and support Tajikistan in tapping more potential in boosting transit transport, he said. On Friday, Xi and Rahmon also attended the inauguration of the parliament and government buildings aided by China on the Rudaki Avenue in Dushanbe. Akhmatbekzoda said these "Made by China" buildings are unique, and "will stand as symbols of Tajik-Chinese friendship, benefiting our descendants." Flowering People-to-People Exchanges The Rudaki Avenue is also a witness to China-Tajikistan people-to-people and cultural exchanges. A Tajik poet living more than a thousand years ago, Rudaki is celebrated in his home country as the founder of classical Persian-Tajik literature and is often referred to as the "Adam of poets." In Xi's signed article, he invoked the words of Rudaki to express his anticipation for meeting with Rahmon. "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." The life stories of Tajikistan's historical and literary figures, including Rudaki, are widely known in China, Xi wrote in his signed article in Tajik media ahead of his 2019 visit to Tajikistan. Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon at the presidential palace in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. [Xinhua/Yan Yan] Rudaki's works have been translated by Chinese translators, one of whom is Xia Ran, a teacher at the Confucius Institute at Tajik National University. Over the past few years, Xia has also collaborated with his wife, a Tajik national, on translating the Analects of Confucius and Tang Dynasty poetry. The couple found that the process of translation is also a journey into each other's culture. Tang Dynasty poetry, known for its concise language, rich emotions, and profound meanings, "like Rudaki's poetry, has a timeless charm that enlightens people," said Xia. The Confucius Institute, where Xia works, is a crucial platform for Chinese-Tajik cultural exchanges. Since its establishment in August 2008, it has trained nearly 39,000 Chinese language learners. In recent years, the number of Tajik students attending Confucius Institutes in their home country or studying in China has significantly increased. In Xi's article on Friday, he highlighted how cultural exchange programs, including the Confucius Institutes, the Luban Workshop, seminars, and the translation and publication of literature in both languages, "have helped foster greater mutual understanding and strengthened the ties" between China and Tajikistan. "These initiatives are akin to small streams that will ultimately converge to form a vast ocean of friendship between our two nations," Xi remarked. According to the joint statement, Tajikistan is ready to work with China to promote exchanges and mutual learning among global civilizations, and the two sides will carry out cooperation in areas including research on ancient civilizations, restoration of antiquities, and joint archaeology. "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," Xi said in his signed article. (Video reporters: Yin Jiajie, Wu Yao, Xu Yang, Liu Kai, Zhou Tianhe, Meng Jing, Geng Pengyu, Jiang Youlin, and Guan Jianwu; video editors: Hong Ling, Liu Xiaorui, Yin Le, Li Qin, Meng Na, and Wei Yin) (Source: Xinhua) Editor: Lei Yang People search the rubble of a collapsed building in the aftermath of an Israeli attack at UNRWAs Al-Jaouni school in al-Nuseirat camp in central Gaza on July 6. Campaign to help youngsters use the internet safely launches in north Wales This article is old - Published: Sunday, Jul 7th, 2024 A new campaign to help youngsters use the internet safely has launched in north Wales. With the school summer holidays fast approaching Get Safe Online has created a Safer Kids campaign which encourages children across the area to use the internet safely, securely and with confidence. Whether for school, to game or to socialise with their friends, kids are using the internet more and more and it is vital that they do so safely. Get Safe Online, a service commissioned by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and North Wales Police, is a leading source of unbiased, factual and easy-to-understand information on online safety in the UK and its advice for the campaign includes: Sit down and talk regularly with your child about their online activities and get them to show you what theyre doing. Steer your child towards safe searching, websites and apps. Check what theyre watching and/or sharing on streaming sites like YouTube and TikTok. Familiarise yourself with new game and social media trends, especially those attracting negative publicity because they may be violent, encourage gambling or leave the way open for messaging random strangers, enabling potential grooming or other types of coercion. Dont underestimate the part social media and messaging apps play in your childs life, nor how what they experience online can make them feel. Gaming, social media, picture/video sharing and many other apps and websites have age limits for a reason, so you should make sure your child doesnt access those for which theyre underage. Consider setting up parental control software and apps on computers, mobile devices and games consoles. Warn your child about confidential information, personal details and images/video about themselves or others they share in posts, profiles, messages and chats. Without being controlling, keep an eye on your childs online activities and know how to recognise the signs of something not being right. Tony Neate, CEO at Get Safe Online commented: The internet has so many benefits and for our children to have the opportunity to use it to support their studies, interact with their friends and even to shop has become second nature. However, as with so many other things they do, its really important that we teach them to go online safely. Our campaign this month focuses on key advice to help all our children use the online world in a respectful, safe and secure way. Andy Dunbobbin, Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales added: Over the summer holidays, many parents and guardians can naturally be busy juggling a job, family and a home, and we can all sometimes leave children to their own devices, on their own devices. But we can all take a few simple steps to ensure our families are using the internet safely and I would urge all people looking after children to follow this advice from Get Safe Online, which is a service I am proud to commission as part of my plan to see a North Wales where crime is further reduced and where people are kept as safe as possible. For further tips and advice visit the Get Safe Online website. More dentists needed to address Wales dental deserts This article is old - Published: Sunday, Jul 7th, 2024 The Senedd called on the Welsh Government to increase the number of training places for dentists amid warnings about dental deserts across the country. Sian Gwenllian led a cross-party debate on dentistry training, with the Conservatives and Lib Dems joining forces with Plaid Cymru to amplify concerns about poor access to services. Ms Gwenllian said a shortage of dentists exacerbates Wales three-tier system, with none of the practices in her Arfon constituency taking on new NHS patients. She said: A three-tier system where some are fortunate to access an NHS dentist, others can pay to go privately and the third tier, unfortunately, are those who cant access NHS dentistry and cant afford to pay to go privately. I dont have to outline the problems that emerge for those in the third tier. Members are only too familiar with horrific stories about sepsis and do-it-yourself dentistry. Depressing Ms Gwenllian told the chamber, or Siambr, a common-sense solution would be to increase the number of university training places. But, to the contrary, the government sets a cap on the number of places that can be provided in our only school of dentistry in Cardiff an annual cap of 74 places, she said. The former councillor and journalist criticised a new dental workforce strategy, saying it does not commit to any specific increase in educational or training provision for dentists. Pointing to a Tory commitment to a 24% increase in undergraduate places in England, she said: Unfortunately, the party of Aneurin Bevan hasnt shown the same ambition. And it is depressing and its a stain on Wales that the ability of a number of our constituents to access dentistry is reliant on their ability to pay. The Plaid Cymru politician argued having one school of dentistry in south Wales will never be sufficient to meet the needs of the whole country. Dental deserts Sam Rowlands, the Conservatives shadow health secretary, said provision in north Wales is simply not good enough as he raised concerns about dental deserts. He agreed that 74 places a year is not enough to plug the gap as he echoed calls for a fully funded and fully functioning dental school in his region. Carolyn Thomas, who also represents North Wales, said people across the UK are struggling to access NHS dentists, with nine in ten not accepting new patients. The Labour member recognised Wales-specific challenges on recruitment and retention, but pointed to progress with the dental academy in Bangor. She told the chamber Labour has a fully costed plan to rescue dentistry at a UK level which will lead to much-needed consequential funding for Wales. Astonishing Mabon ap Gwynfor, Plaid Cymrus shadow health secretary, raised concerns about a failure to retain dentists and an even greater failure to train new dentists. Mr ap Gwynfor said only eight people from Wales got a place on Cardiffs dentistry course last year, with only about half of the wider annual cohort choosing to stay in Wales. Rhys ab Owen criticised a lack of data, saying: Its astonishing that we cant say here and now in the Senedd how many people are waiting to see a dentist under the health service. Mr ab Owen raised a constituents concerns about their son, who was referred aged 11, having to wait nine years until he is 20 for orthodontic treatment. The independent, who represents South Wales Central, said: My constituents son has experienced bullying, his confidence has been knocked and his self-esteem damaged. Streets ahead Eluned Morgan told the July 3 debate that NHS dentistry has been a key priority since she became Wales health minister four years ago. Providing an update on the recommendations of a 2023 health committee report on dentistry, Baroness Morgan said work on an all-Wales central waiting list is under way. She said more than one million people received NHS dental treatment in 2022/23. The health secretary reiterated that the key aim of dental reforms was new patients who have historically struggled to get access to NHS dental care. Baroness Morgan said 500,000 people who had not received NHS dental care for more than four years have gained access since the reforms restarted in April 2022. She said: Its interesting to note that an incoming Labour Government is also planning to deliver new NHS appointments, but proportionally were streets ahead of where the UK Tory Government was in terms of NHS access by new patients. Pressures Turning to dental training places, she stressed the need to take a long-term evidence-based view and be careful not to over-focus on dentists. Baroness Morgan, a former member of the European parliament, said any increase would be difficult due to financial challenges and a lack of spaces at Cardiffs dental school. She said a second school would be the best option but warned: That would mean a great deal of investment and financial pressures dont allow that at present. However, she encouraged a joint proposal from Aberystwyth and Bangor universities. The motion which was co-submitted by Ms Gwenllian and Jane Dodds, the Lib Dems leader in Wales was agreed with 29 for, none against and 15 abstentions. Seven Labour backbenchers voted in favour. By Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter Talented young musicians to shine at Wrexham Gala Concert This article is old - Published: Sunday, Jul 7th, 2024 A talented young cornet player will be taking centre stage at a gala concert just seven months after she started playing the instrument. Akusua Asubonteng,12, hasnt looked back since she joined the Bellevue Community Youth Band in Wrexham along with her 10 year old brother, Paapa, in January. They will be taking part with more than 200 other children in the concert being organised by Wrexham Music Cooperative at the Stiwt theatre in Rhos at 7pm on Monday, July 15 It will be the first ever public performance for Akusua, Paapa and around 10 other new members of the multi-national brass band. Among those joining the band on stage will be the Wrexham County Youth Choir, the Signing Sensations Sign Language Choir and the Wrexham Blast Off Wind Band who will be making their debut. Also there will be the winners of the Song for Wrexham Project from Ysgol Rhiwabon who will be represented by a rock fusion band and their 30-strong Year 7 choir. The Wrexham coop is part of the North Wales Music Cooperative which includes a sister organisation in Denbighshire and between them they teach 5,000 children every week. The service was formed nine years after funding cuts were made to music lessons and teaching. Since then, its gone from strength to strength and the Bellevue Community Youth Band was formed in September 2021 as the world began to emerge from the Covid nightmare. Its provided a real boost to Akusua, a pupil of Darland High School in Rossett, whose family moved to live in Wrexham from Ghana nearly three years ago. She said: Ive been a member of the band since January and Im really enjoying it. I had a warm welcome and the teachers are very good. I am excited about taking part in the concert but also a bit nervous. Also loving every minute of being in the band is fellow cornet player Muddi Smith, 10, a pupil of Victoria County Primary School whos been attending the weekly sessions at the Bellevue Community Centre for the past few months. She said: One of the things I like about the cornet is that its easy to carry and I like being in the band because my family is really musical. Looking forward to the concert is tuba player Ethan Roberts, 10, a pupil of Ysgol Alexandra, in Wrexham. Ethan was homeschooled for six months and the band has helped his return to mainstream education. He said: I joined about two years ago . I wasnt sure about the tuba straight away but I did get into it and I really like it now. Being in the band has given me something to do and it gave me an extra thing to do at home when I practise . Its also helped me at school and given me more confidence. Its made a big difference. The band is the brainchild of Wrexham Music Cooperative Manager Scott Lloyd who served as a tuba player with the bands of the Royal Irish Regiment and the Prince of Wales Division. During his 14 years in the army, Scott toured internationally and played at a great many ceremonial State occasions both at home and abroad, from the Falkland Islands to the Festival of Remembrance at the Albert Hall. Hes now on a mission to bring music to the youngsters of his hometown of Wrexham and is passionate about making a positive difference to their lives. Scott said: The band started at the back end of Covid when children and young people had such a rough time. We wanted to set something up that was community focused without any barriers so we didnt want it to cost the kids anything to attend and provide the instruments. A lot of the children have difficult stories. We have some school refusers who were not even attending school but who were attending band every week and it was the band that helped get them back into the education system The band also about strengthening the community which is pretty diverse around here with around five different nationalities represented in the band. They all bond really well. Its been particularly good for the kids who are new to the area its been a great way for them to make friends. When they arrive in Wrexham they know nobody and the fact that they have this new skill is something they can take into their school to help them integrate. Ive watched the band break down cultural barriers and see integration happen because music is an international language. Being immersed in music helps you make new friends. Its about bringing a community together through the medium of music. It makes the world a better place. Head of Service Heather Powell added: Im looking forward to hearing this fantastic youth band and all of our other ensembles at the Gala concert. As a service we are proud of all of our ensembles from beginners to our Higher grade performers. We work hard to ensure all of our pupils access high level training, support and can attend one of our many ensembles in Wrexham. Well done to all involved Free tickets for the concert at the Stiwt at 7pm on Monday, July 15, can be booked on the theatres website: https://stiwt.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873660749 and for more information about Wrexham Music Cooperative go to https://wrexhammusic.com/ Nearly six years since it began operations, the China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area (SCODA) in China's eastern coastal city of Qingdao has evolved into a critical hub for international trade, seamlessly integrating sea, road, air and rail transport. Earlier this week, 100 standard containers loaded with cars and auto parts were transported by ship from Incheon in the Republic of Korea (ROK) and reloaded onto a China-Europe freight train at the demonstration area. The train will travel past Alashankou Port in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region before arriving at its final destination of Boralday, Kazakhstan. The 14-day express transport service from the ROK to Kazakhstan is an example of how the demonstration area facilitates multilateral trade cooperation. "We are striving to build the area into a gateway to the Asia Pacific for Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) countries," said Zang Yuanqi, an official of SCODA's management committee. Leveraging its transport advantages, the demonstration area has gradually become an international logistics corridor connecting the Asia-Pacific region to its east, Central Asia and Europe to its west, South Asia and Southeast Asia to its south, and Mongolia and Russia to its north, according to Zang. SCODA now operates 32 international train routes, reaching 54 cities in 23 countries, including the SCO countries and Belt and Road partner countries. Several train routes for goods like cold-chain products and fresh vegetables have also been launched. To date, the area has managed over 3,200 China-Europe freight train trips, with an increasing variety of goods transported through its routes. In addition to traditional exports such as tires and building materials, high-value-added industrial products like photovoltaic equipment, home appliances and automobiles have seen a significant rise in exports. In 2023 alone, over 12,000 vehicles were shipped to SCO countries from the area. SCODA has also launched 42 maritime routes to SCO countries. Three new international air cargo routes have been opened since 2023, optimizing air connectivity with SCO countries and Belt and Road partner countries. As a critical complement to its sea, rail and air capabilities, SCODA has also developed an advanced international road transport network. Last September, a road transportation route operating under the TIR system was launched between the demonstration area and Russia. TIR, which stands for Transports Internationaux Routiers, or International Road Transport, was created to save time and money for transport operators and customs authorities as goods are shipped across borders. Under the system, it takes roughly eight days to cover the 9,800-kilometer distance between Qingdao and Moscow, facilitating the timely delivery of Chinese goods, including fresh fruit, to Russia. As SCODA continues to grow, 10 ports, stations, enterprises and other organizations on the trans-Caspian route have proposed a cooperation initiative. Increased cooperation on infrastructure development and transportation efficiency is expected to enhance connectivity to a greater extent. Key Insights Telekom Malaysia Berhad's estimated fair value is RM6.19 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity Telekom Malaysia Berhad's RM6.81 share price indicates it is trading at similar levels as its fair value estimate The RM7.13 analyst price target for TM is 15% more than our estimate of fair value In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of Telekom Malaysia Berhad (KLSE:TM) by projecting its future cash flows and then discounting them to today's value. We will use the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model on this occasion. Believe it or not, it's not too difficult to follow, as you'll see from our example! Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model. View our latest analysis for Telekom Malaysia Berhad Crunching The Numbers We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate: 10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 Levered FCF (MYR, Millions) RM1.81b RM1.98b RM1.57b RM1.48b RM1.43b RM1.42b RM1.42b RM1.44b RM1.47b RM1.51b Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x7 Analyst x6 Analyst x1 Est @ -5.90% Est @ -3.07% Est @ -1.08% Est @ 0.31% Est @ 1.28% Est @ 1.96% Est @ 2.44% Present Value (MYR, Millions) Discounted @ 8.6% RM1.7k RM1.7k RM1.2k RM1.1k RM948 RM863 RM797 RM743 RM698 RM658 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = RM10b The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 3.6%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 8.6%. Story continues Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2034 (1 + g) (r g) = RM1.5b (1 + 3.6%) (8.6% 3.6%) = RM31b Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= RM31b ( 1 + 8.6%)10= RM13b 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 RM24b. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of RM6.8, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out. dcf The Assumptions We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Telekom Malaysia 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 Telekom Malaysia Berhad Strength Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry. Debt is not viewed as a risk. Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows. Weakness Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Telecom market. Opportunity Good value based on P/E ratio compared to estimated Fair P/E ratio. Threat Annual earnings are forecast to decline for the next 3 years. Next Steps: Whilst important, the DCF calculation ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. 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. For Telekom Malaysia Berhad, we've compiled three fundamental elements you should consider: Risks: You should be aware of the 2 warning signs for Telekom Malaysia Berhad (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) we've uncovered before considering an investment in the company. Future Earnings: How does TM's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered! PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every 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 26 Times Celebrities Opened Their Mouth And Said The Most Nonsense Thing I've Ever Heard 1.One of the most ridiculous, dumb-yet-harmless celeb quotes to me is when Harry Styles said of Don't Worry Darling, "You know, my favorite thing about the movie is, like, it feels like a movie. It feels like a real, like, you know, 'go to the theater' film movie." Fred Film Radio / Via youtube.com 2.Speaking of Harry Styles Liam Payne once referred to himself as the "antichrist" of Harry when he probably meant "antithesis," saying, "I mean, look at the stuff I put out and the stuff Harry puts out. Polar opposite. I'm like the anti-Christ version of what Harry is." Marc Piasecki/GC Images via Getty Images 3.In an interview with Vogue to promote The Hills and its spinoffs which are infamously about privileged, young, attractive white people Mischa Barton claimed, "I think the interesting thing about this show is you have people from all different walks of life. It's definitely interesting." Jon Kopaloff / Getty Images 4.When the interviewer then brought up diversity, Heidi Montag said, "We don't all look the same. I mean, Audrina [Patridge] has darker hair. I feel like Mischa has darker hair." Tibrina Hobson / Getty Images 5.Jack Antonoff once referred to himself as "a straight man with, like, lesbian chemicals," adding, "You can be a man who loves a woman but love someone the way a gay man loves another man or a woman loves a woman." Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images for TIME 6.Sometimes celebs can say MUCH more harmful things about queer people...that also happen to be very, very dumb. Soon after becoming governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger said, "I think gay marriage should be between a man and a woman." Heinz-Peter Bader / Getty Images 7.Anytime celebrities try to get involved in politics, we get some wild, out-of-touch quotes. In a Fox News appearance, Craig T. Nelson spoke against government programs for the needy, saying, "They're not going to bail me out. I've been on food stamps and welfare. Anybody help me out? No. No." Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / FilmMagic via Getty Images 8.This is obviously not as bad, but I still find it hilarious that Lady Gaga cosplayed as the FBI after the January 6 Capitol riots. "I walked through the Capitol like a detective and looked for evidence of the truth. Because we see these things on screens, right? We witness these things on the news," she said. "But to be there in person, I was afraid." 9.Some stars reallyyyy struggle with geography. For example, Addison Rae doesn't seem to know that Korea is in Asia. In this video with Bryce Hall, after Hall referred to a woman as Asian, Rae said, "You don't know that. She could be Korean." Frazer Harrison / Getty Images 10.Kim Kardashian once tweeted, "We are here in Botswana, South Africa! Wow what a long flight!" Botswana and South Africa are two different countries. Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images 11.Christina Aguilera once asked, "So, where's the Cannes Film Festival being held this year?" The famous film festival is, of course, held in Cannes. Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images for The Recording Academy 12.Cultural appropriation is also a big problem with celebs, and in one of the worst examples, Gwen Stefani said something I don't think she'll ever live down. In an interview with Allure, Gwen Stefani spoke about admiring Japanese culture (which led her to create the fragrance brand Harajuku Lovers) after her father told her stories about work trips to Japan while she was growing up. She added that when she finally got to go to Japan herself, she exclaimed, "My God, I'm Japanese and I didn't know it" because of how much she connected with the culture. Gilbert Flores/Penske Media via Getty Images 13.History can also be tough. On the celebrity reality show Stars on Mars, Ariel Winter confused fellow contestant Lance Armstrong with the late astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon. Fox 14.While we'll give him a bit of a pass, as he was a teenager at the time, Jaden Smith has several ridiculous, iconic quotes. My favorite has got to be "Being born was the most influential thing that's ever happened to me, for myself." Kevin Winter / Getty Images 15. Though this one's a close second. How Can Mirrors Be Real If Our Eyes Aren't Real Jaden (@jaden) May 2, 2013 Twitter: @jaden 16.Brooke Shields was also a teenager when she said this, but it's still pretty bad she once stated, "Smoking kills. If you're killed, you're lost a very important part of your life." Sonia Moskowitz / Getty Images 17.One more teenage celebrity quote: when asked about which political party he might support when he turned 18, 16-year-old Justin Bieber replied, "I'm not sure about the parties. But whatever they have in Korea, that's bad." D Dipasupil / Getty Images 18.He also once referred to the Sistine Chapel as the "Sixteenth Chapel" while discussing his tattoos with David Letterman. CBS 19.In another vocabulary error, when Mike Tyson was asked about his future, he quipped that he was going to "fade into Bolivian." Cooper Neill / Getty Images for Netflix 20.David and Victoria Beckham have tried out a few different religions over the years, and when their son Brooklyn was born, David said, "I definitely want Brooklyn to be christened, but I don't know into what religion yet." The word "christen" only pertains to Christianity. Darren Gerrish / WireImage via Getty Images 21.Demi Lovato has had several iconic interview responses, but one of my favorites is when she was asked about her favorite dish and replied, "I like mugs because they're very comfortable in your hand and they hold hot things that you don't have to touch, so, you know, coffee, hot tea." Lovato later said she was joking, tweeting, "For anybody who actually thinks I misunderstood the 'favorite dish' question - you clearly don't get my sense of humor" and "I was homeschooled, but I'm not that stupid." NRJ 22.In a similar example, she thought students talking about inherited jeans were talking about hand-me-down jeans. 23.Snooki also has a ton of iconic quotes, but this one lives in my head rent-free. MTV 24.Noah Centineo's People's Choice Awards speech also lives in my head rent-free because, like...what was he saying? E! 25.You gotta love out-of-touch comparisons celebs make (like that time Kim Kardashian compared her life to a cancer patient's, which she later backtracked on), but one I just love is when Charles Melton said, "Riverdale truly was my Juilliard," comparing the time on the teen show to attending one of the world's most prestigious performing arts schools. Amy Sussman / Getty Images 26.And finally, we have to end on the most iconic: when Jessica Simpson didn't know if tuna was chicken or fish. MTV BECKLEY (WVNS) Beckley celebrated one of its most famous hometown heroes. The city held its 4th Annual Bill Withers Music Festival at the Bill Withers Plaza. The festival featured musical performances by seven West Virginia musical groups, food and merchandise vendors, the winners of an art competition, and fun activities for all ages. While this might only be the 4th time the festival has been held, Withers music has been celebrated for decades and has fans that span generations. Never Have I Ever: Caleb Okes Bridge Walk Judy Patterson, who was in attendance with her grandson Jacob Maatan, shared what brought them out. My grandson Jacob is Bill Withers number one fan, as he was introduced in middle school by his music teacher. We have a personal connection because my mother in law, Pauline Morris and Bill Withers grew up together in Slab Fork, played in the Rocks together. So weve always been fans of his music since his first recording. We wouldnt miss it, said Patterson. Never Have I Ever: Taking a Shot There was a special significance to this years festival. The Bill Withers Committee celebrated reaching their fund-raising goal for a bronze Bill Withers statue. The statue was designed by West Virginia Artist, Frederick Hightower. The committee hopes to install the bronze statue later this 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 WVNS. Pomona, California is $500 a month to parents with children under 4 years old. d3sign / Getty Images Pomona is launching a basic income pilot for families with children under 4 years old. Funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, the pilot offers $500 monthly to 250 eligible families. New parents can spend the no-strings cash on housing, groceries, and childcare. Babies are expensive: Formula, diapers, clothes, toys, frequent pediatrician check-ups, and a crib can cost new parents thousands of dollars and that doesn't include childcare or household bills. That's why city officials in Pomona, California a city in LA county are planning to offer guaranteed basic income to new parents. Beginning in August, 250 families with children under 4 years old will receive $500 a month for 18 months. The basic income pilot called Pomona Household Universal Grants Pilot Program is run through the city and FORWARD, an organization that helps governments administer resources to their communities. Funding will largely come through President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan Act. Pomona's program mirrors over 100 basic income pilots across America. As an approach to poverty reduction, cities and counties have given low-income residents between $100 and $2,000 a month for a set time period. Participants can spend the money as they choose, with no strings attached. Like Pomona, a growing number of cities are choosing to direct the cash to financially-vulnerable families. Along with having a baby or toddler, eligible families must meet at least one of the following criteria: have experienced a negative financial impact from the pandemic, live in a high rent-burdened area, be enrolled in federal safety nets like SNAP or Section 8 housing, or have an income at or below the median area income, which is $81,150 for a family of three. People who fit the income criteria and are currently pregnant can also be eligible. The 250 families will be randomly selected from 600 eligible applicants, and the remaining 350 applicants will be placed in a control group so researchers can study the effects of the program. Throughout the 18 months, both groups will share their experience with researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles. Mayor of Pomona, Tim Sandoval, told Business Insider in a statement that basic income allows the city to "extend a lifeline" to families during crucial developmental years. "It provides parents with the stability and resources they need to create nurturing environments for their children, setting the stage for lifelong success and well-being," Sandoval said. Pomona's GBI pilot joins others aimed at new parents Pomona joins cities like Baltimore and St. Louis, which have directed basic income to young families. BI has heard from parents across the US who have received GBI, and some used the money to pay bills and secure stable housing, while others were able to afford groceries and childcare. Story continues For example, low-income mothers of color based in Marin County, California received $1,000 a month between 2021 and 2023, and a 2024 extension of the program gave some families an additional $7,500. Participants reported using the money to pay rent, buy food, build savings, and pay off debt. During the pilot's run, the number of families with housing stability rose by 15%, and participants reported an 8% decline in homelessness. Elsewhere in the US, Flint, Michigan's pilot called RxKids is currently offering basic income to all mothers with a baby born in 2024. New mothers receive a $1,500 lump sum and $500 a month during the first year of their baby's life. These programs are in addition to other federal safety net programs geared toward families, like the Child Tax Credit, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Women, Children and Infants (WIC) that provide aid to parents with young children. Luke Shaefer, a co-director for RxKids and public policy professor at the University of Michigan, told BI that a family's household income often drops to its lowest point during a person's pregnancy or when their child is an infant, due to lost work hours. "Combine that with the fact that a new child comes with all these added expenses: you're in a perfect storm of income dropping and expenses rising," Shaefer said. He added that no-strings basic income can help families fill this earnings gap, and parents have the flexibility to spend the money "where it will help their kids the best." Still, GBI research reflects short-term results. Some participants experience more housing and food security while receiving money, but it's not clear if families remain financially stable after the pilots end. Basic income continues to face political and legal opposition across the US, and not all policymakers agree that cash payments are a sustainable approach to poverty. As Pomona looks toward its first GBI payments this summer, Sandoval is hopeful the money will support the city's "youngest residents," he said. "It allows us to invest in the future of our community as a whole," he said. Have you benefited from a guaranteed basic income program? Are you open to sharing how you spent the money? If so, reach out to this reporter at allisonkelly@businessinsider.com. Read the original article on Business Insider "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Ever since Kevin Jonas burst onto the scene as one-third of the popular band Jonas Brothers (which includes him and his brothers Joe Jonas and Nick Jonas), he's been a well-known face in the music industry. Amid a busy career, he's been lucky to have his wife Danielle Jonas (nee Deleasa) at his side. Kevin and Danielle's love story starts out a bit differently than most Hollywood romances. The two first met back in May 2007, when they each were vacationing with their families in the Bahamas. At the time, Danielle was working as a hairstylist and she had no idea of the Claim to Fame host's star status. "I didnt know who the Jonas Brothers were," she admitted to People in July 2009. Donna Ward - Getty Images As most great love stories go, the rest was history for Kevin and Danielle. The two immediately hit it off and dated for almost two years. In July 2009, the former boybander proposed to Danielle outside of her home in New Jersey. She said yes, and by December of that year, the two wed in a romantic ceremony at Oheka Castle on Long Island, New York. The two not only had 400 guests there to celebrate their love, but Kevin later celebrated the couple's anniversary with a heartfelt romantic post on Instagram. "Love of my life forever and always," he wrote in December 2021 featuring a photo of them walking down the aisle. "Happy 12 years @daniellejonas." In July 2012, Kevin and Danielle gave folks a glimpse into wedded bliss with the premiere of their E! Network series Married to Jonas. The show ran for two seasons and it focused on balancing their work and family life, which at that point was just the two of them. While the series eventually got cancelled in 2013, they had a surprise awaiting them: they were expecting their first child. "It's true @daniellejonas is pregnant!" Kevin wrote on X (formerly Twitter) in July 2013. "Can't even imagine how excited we are I can't wait to share this with my best friend. I love you baby." Kevin and Danielle welcomed their daughter Alena Rose in February 2014, and by October 2016, the couple announced the birth of their second daughter, Valentina Angelina. In March 2019, the Jonas Brothers got the band back together after a six-year split. Fans got to see Danielle involved in Kevin's music career in an interesting way. She starred in the music videos for "Sucker"and "What a Man Gotta Do"(which also saw Nick's wife Priyanka Chopra and Joe's ex-wife Sophie Turner) and she frequently was seen with her daughters at Kevin's concerts. Their marriage remained stronger than ever, as Kevin made sure to pay a romantic Instagram tribute to Danielle when their 10th wedding anniversary occurred later that year. "My wife of ten years. My best friend of twelve years. The love of my life," he captioned the post. "I can not explain how amazing it is to look back on our journey together and to see how much we have grown together! You help me see my true potential in all things. You make me better, stronger, and show me what love is every day. So what I will say to my best friend, mother of my children, and forever love. This is just the beginning, we havent even started our journey and I can not wait for the next 10 and then the next. I love you to the moon and back." John Nacion - Getty Images If there's one thing to know about Kevin and Danielle's road to romance, it's one that comes with a lot of moving parts. But amid balancing work and home life, Kevin did note how appreciative he is for his wife being a big support system while he's on tour. "[Danielle] understands my rest schedule along with my ability to do the honey-do list when I am home," he told People in October 2021. "Luckily she knows how to hold it all down." "I do the best I can to always include them in everything we do and make them understand that what we get to do is very special," he added about his two daughters. "At the same time, life at home is just as special. It's a hard balance to find, but they know that when I'm home, I'm home with them. It's about putting the phone down. It's about taking that time and taking the moments." We absolutely love them together! You Might Also Like Jeremy Clarkson offered almost 1 million to the owner of a pub within minutes of meeting her. The former Top Gear presenter, 64, has been developing his Cotswold smallholding for the popular Amazon series Clarksons Farm. Keen to find a pub to sell his produce, Clarkson arranged to meet with the landlady of The Windmill near Burford in Oxfordshire, and is said to have offered her a vast sum over a coffee. The pub is nestled deep in the Cotswold countryside and boasts of views across the Windrush Valley, as well as being just 10 miles from the presenters Diddly Squat Farm. Set on five acres of its own land, the presenter hopes to transform the venue into a pub that will only serve British produce, and offer farmers a free pint. Publican Jackie Walker, 79, had been invited to Diddly Squat to discuss the terms of a potential deal for The Windmill. The Windmill in Asthall, on five acres of countryside near Burford, Oxon - Emma Trimble/SWNS She told MailOnline: A film crew had come into the pub and the next thing I knew someone with Clarkson knocked on the door and asked if I was interested in selling. Mrs Walker, who opened the rural pub with her late husband Alan in 1983, visited Clarksons home near the village of Chadlington to discuss terms over a coffee. She said: The first thing Jeremy said to me was I suppose you want a lot of money for this. It has been reported that almost 1 million was offered almost immediately, and Mrs Walker accepted. Clarkson has secured the freedom of the pub, which is not affiliated with a brewery, meaning he can sell his own beer on site. Mrs Walker said: It did make me laugh, but that is Jeremy Clarkson. She said she had not been planning to sell the place, but wasnt that happy with how it was being run, adding I am not getting any younger. I assume he will make a TV series out of it. I really do hope that he can make a big success of the place and restore it back to how it was. My husband and I had so much fun running it. Clarkson plans to make this a 'British produce' Cotswolds pub - Emma Trimble/SWNS Clarkson has been seeking a pub as a venue to market his own products, including his Hawkstone ale. Renovation work on The Windmill, which Clarkson described as full of dead rats with lavatories that are illegal, has begun. Mrs Walker, who stepped back from the day-to-day running of the pub when her husband died 11 years ago and allowed leaseholders to step in, said she hopes Clarkson can make the pub as successful as it was in its early days, when it was popular with locals and tourists. She said the pub was often packed in its early days and known for good food. 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. In September 2002, the astronaut Buzz Aldrin the second man to walk on the Moon was confronted in Beverly Hills by a camera crew led by Bart Sibrel. Sibrel, the creator of several documentaries alleging that the Moon landings never happened, shoved a Bible at Aldrin and demanded he swear on it that he wasnt lying about walking on the Moon, before calling him a coward and a liar. In response Aldrin, then 72, punched Sibrel in the face. Aldrins angry reaction didnt reassure anyone, though, and just fuelled a new wave of conspiracy theories. The central claim: the Apollo landings were a gigantic scam, perpetrated on the whole world by the American government. Humans first landed on the Moon on July 20 1969. More than half a billion people watched on television as Neil Armstrong and Aldrin took their first steps on the arid surface. They left behind an American flag, a patch honouring the fallen crew of Apollo 1, and a plaque that read: We came in peace for all mankind. The sixth Apollo mission to land humans on the Moon concluded three years later. The Moon has not been visited by astronauts since December 1972. By 1976, doubts were already creeping in. That year, Bill Kaysing, a former US Navy officer who had worked for one of Nasas rocket manufacturers, self-published a pamphlet titled We Never Went to the Moon: Americas 30 Billion Dollar Swindle. In it, Kaysing pointed to unexplained optical anomalies the absence of dust clouds or blast craters around the lunar module, and the lack of stars in surface photographs to suggest that the footage was created in a studio. Such hypotheses have proliferated into a body of literature that shades into hallucinatory weirdness: theories on the demonic nature of UFOs, astral projection, ancient aliens genetically engineering the human race, and other oddities. The hoax is of such a vintage that its become a staple of popular culture. Already in 1971, James Bond was depicted stumbling upon a Nasa film set made to look like the lunar surface, before giving chase in a Moon buggy, in Diamonds Are Forever. In this months Fly Me to the Moon, Scarlett Johansson plays a marketing genius hired by Nasa to film a fake landing in case the Apollo 11 mission fails. With that kind of pedigree, the Moon-landing hoax cant just be explained away as a form of modern-day fake news that blooms and fades on social media. Scepticism about the Apollo space programme was swirling long before the advent of the internet, beginning almost immediately after the landings themselves. In turn, a great deal of effort has been expended over the decades trying to use evidence to dispel the conspiracy theories. But attempting to debunk them logically is to misunderstand what such claims are communicating. Today, one in eight Americans think the Moon landings were staged as do one in 11 Britons. Why wont we all just accept the facts? Perhaps because most people arent interested in or persuaded by facts alone. We need only recall how, when Covid broke out, the educated classes demanded officials discard the existing pandemic action plan to see this extends well beyond those routinely accused of ignorance and emotional reasoning. Conspiracy theories make most sense when understood not as factual claims but as emotional stories allegories that exist in oblique relation to empirical reality. They convey diffuse, and sometimes prophetic, intuitions about the world. Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum film a fake Moon landing in Fly Me to the Moon - Sony The pandemic illustrates this again. Among the many conspiracies that circulated concerning the Covid vaccination programme, one common claim was that vaccines were really a covert programme to inject each of us with a microchip that would allow Bill Gates to track our whereabouts or even control our minds. This is, we can safely say, not true. Conversely, though, the vaccination programme really was accompanied by the international rollout of digital vaccine passports, which link vaccination status to other biomedical data, as well as official state identifiers. And while its no longer in active use, this architecture now enables states potentially to track individuals movements, and to index freedoms previously taken for granted such as travel or access to public spaces to co-operation with who-knows-what future mandatory medical interventions. However, this probably isnt a sinister plot, whatever the conspiracists may say. It does nevertheless prompt us to read the conspiracy differently poetically interpreting Bill Gates as personifying a fusion of tech and governance interests, and the microchip injection as symbolic shorthand for the discomfiting sense that unknown technologies wielded by this figurative Bill Gates increasingly intrude into our physical, embodied lives. Its fancifully expressed, but is it really so far from the truth? The Moon-hoax conspiracy also makes sense as allegory, when we consider what the Moon landings symbolised in mid-century American culture and international politics. The space race between America and Russia stood, symbolically, for the competition between capitalist West and communist East: that is, between two ways of organising a mass industrial civilisation. Which social framework was better at delivering rapid, ambitious advances in real-world engineering and technological progress? The race to reach the Moon served as a proxy for this competition, by virtue of the sheer immensity of the goal, as well as its technical demands. For a living human being to leave the Earths protective envelope for the emptiness of space and walk on the surface of a celestial body took extraordinary financial, organisational and technical resources, not to mention tremendous courage and ambition. Winning the space race, then, served as proof positive that the Land of the Free was a more fertile home for this kind of ambition and innovation than any command-and-control socialist regime. Putting the first man on the Moon wasnt just a giant leap for mankind, as Neil Armstrong famously said. It was also a watershed moment in the Cold War. What, then, to make of the sceptics who appeared in the midst of that mid-century American triumphalism to cast aspersions on its veracity? It perhaps reflects an early intuition that Americas long, slow drift away from the material and sociocultural conditions that enabled the space race had already begun at the moment it was won. To build the lunar landers, the Apollo programme drew on American engineering talent and heavy industry that has since been shredded by globalisation, outsourcing and changing educational priorities. By the last Apollo flight, this process was well under way: US manufacturing was already declining from its 1957 peak of more than a quarter of American GDP and today it languishes at about 11 per cent. Buzz Aldrin during the Apollo 11 mission - Nasa Meanwhile, the sense of common American purpose that drove the project has also fractured. In a 2001 interview, Armstrong praised the missions low rate of engineering failure, which he attributed to a sense of common endeavour and striving towards excellence spread across the hundreds of thousands of engineers, makers and fitters involved in the mission. Among this number, he said, every guy in the project, every guy at the bench building something, every assembler, every inspector, every guy thats setting up the tests, cranking the torque wrench, and so on, is saying, man or woman, If anything goes wrong here, its not going to be my fault, because my part is going to be better than I have to make it. Since the Moon landings, though, the sense of civic unity that enabled this degree of co-ordinated striving towards excellence has become increasingly contested. No longer taken for granted as core American attributes, instead national pride and cultural homogeneity have come increasingly to be seen as actively inimical to American values. And this has occurred, the historian Christopher Caldwell argues in The Age of Entitlement (2020), as a consequence of the many state-mandated measures to impose equality by fiat, which have mushroomed since the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Though he does not endorse the segregation the act sought to dismantle, in Caldwells view its ratification in effect created a rival Constitution, which implicitly treats civic unity and patriotism not as necessary preconditions for high civilisation, but as obstacles to radical equality. Other distractions have displaced the 20th-century drive for industrial innovation: though there are exceptions, such as Elon Musks SpaceX, there has been a notable shift away from trying to reach outer space towards a preoccupation with virtual worlds. Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley investor, argues that this has been enabled by the digital revolution, whose advances serve, in his view, as a distraction from the stagnation and decline of real-world technological progress. In his notorious formulation: We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters. Understood against this backdrop, the eruption of scepticism about the Moon landings can be read as an early intuition that even at Americas crowning civilisational moment, the enabling conditions for that moment were already under threat. Deindustrialisation had already begun; the germinal form of diversity, equity and inclusion was already written into American law; the precursors of the internet were spreading. Earlier this year, Bart Sibrel himself appeared on the wildly popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast. Its not difficult to see how modern America might struggle to believe that their forebears were capable of the kind of engineering inventiveness, courage and large-scale co-operation required to make the Apollo missions a reality. At its peak, Apollo involved some 400,000 people, across thousands of institutions. Even the rockets were built across multiple locations. It was an extraordinary feat of co-ordination, achieved in an age before modern computer-design programmes or tools for instantaneous communication. By contrast, when in the 2000s California invited bids for construction of a high-speed rail line through the state, the French rail firm SNCF tendered a proposal only to withdraw it in 2011 to work on a similar project in Morocco, whose government, the SNCF engineers declared, was less politically dysfunctional than Californias. Moroccos high-speed railway began operating in 2018. Californias is still not completed. It is unlikely that the America of today could muster the degree of co-ordination and industrial resources that put Armstrong and Aldrin on the Moon in 1969. Were I an American raised on the conviction that progress moves only in one direction, I too might conclude that, logically, these feats could not have been achievable half a century ago. The most comforting conclusion, in other words, might be that the Moon landings were a hoax. The alternative is far bleaker: that the achievements of mid-20th-century America were the achievements of a different civilisation, one now as distant and mysterious as the Moon. Fly Me to the Moon is in cinemas from Friday 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. Nicki Minaj - Credit: Astrida Valigorsky/WireImage Nicki Minaj abruptly canceled her headlining performance at Bucharest, Romanias SAGA Festival Sunday night due to a planned protest Monday in the city. Out of concern for the well-being of our team and myself, I have been advised by my security detail not to travel to Romanias festival tonight due to safety concerns regarding protests in the area, the rapper tweeted Sunday, hours before her set. I look forward to seeing you all at another time. More from Rolling Stone Out of concern for the well-being of our team and myself, I have been advised by my security detail not to travel to Romanias festival tonight due to safety concerns regarding protests in the area. I look forward to seeing you all at another time. As a mom, I have to make sure Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) July 7, 2024 Minaj continued, As a mom, I have to make sure Im making sound decisions for me to make it home to my son and for my team to make it home to their families. To not heed the advice of security at this time is simply not what I think I should be doing. I love you and thank you for your understanding and support. It is with a heavy heart that we have to announce Nicki Minaj has just cancelled her performance due to concerns for her and her teams well-being in Romania This has nothing to do with SAGA, and is beyond our powers, SAGA Festival organizers said in a statement Sunday. The news has left us all devastated, and we know its a huge disappointment for all of you, just as it is for us. Organizers added that all unscanned tickets for the sold-out Sunday festival would be refunded. The rapper didnt specify what protest posed a security concern, and international news services havent reported much on the situation, but Crisis24 writes that civil society groups plan to march in Bucharest on Monday, July 8. Business groups and taxpayers are demanding improvements to the states fiscal policies and processes. Demonstrators will then rally in front of the Ministry of Finance until 13:30, Crisis 24 noted, adding that several hundred to low thousands of protesters will take part and that the demonstration will likely be peaceful. Despite the seemingly low threat level of the protest, Minajs security detail still deemed the situation a safety concern. However, Minaj said shell be back onstage Friday in London for her very special headlining show at Wireless Festival. Best of Rolling Stone Kenzie Hansley, a native of Wilmington, was recently crowned Miss North Carolina USA 2024. Raised on the beaches of Topsail Island, Hansley graduated from Topsail High School in 2017. Hansley entered her first pageant at the age of 10, competing for the title of Jr. Miss Wilmington, which she won. "It is a full circle moment being able to represent my community for the last time at Miss USA," Hansley said. Over her 15 years of pageantry, Hansley has held 12 titles. "Four of those being major state titles in the pageant world making me the first in the state to do so," Hansley said. She was crowned Miss North Carolinas Outstanding Teen 2015, Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2017, Miss North Carolina Collegiate America 2019, and Miss North Carolina USA 2024. After experiencing the helplessness and fear of a sexual assault, Hansley is passionate about her platform "Women on Fire" where she equips women with the confidence and physical training needed to navigate and thrive in todays society safely. She finds confidence in knowing she is creating a safer future for women. Providing both preventative and survivor classes for middle school-aged students and up. "It was truly the most shocking and awestruck I have ever felt," said Hansley after hearing her name called as the winner of Miss North Carolina USA. Hansley is familiar with being in the final two; he placed first runner up last year. "The last thing I was expecting was to hear my name and title being announced as the next Miss NC USA," Hansley said. "It has been years of unconditional dedication, work, determination, and practice. My dreams finally came true and Im going to Miss USA!" Topsail High School graduate, Kenzie Hansley, wins Miss North Carolina USA 2024 pageant. More: 'Stand Up, Be Seen, Be Kind': Wilmington native crowned 2024 Miss Black North Carolina Hansley is a Cum Laude graduate of High Point University with an undergraduate education in Broadcast Journalism and Business. Hansley received her masters degree in integrated marketing communications from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Mentorship is what Hansley hopes to focus on the most during her year. She aims to show others how impactful pageantry has been in her life, build up young women and expand her Self-Defense Series Women on Fire. She plans on being the example of showing resilience in fearlessly chasing your dreams. Hansley is paving the way in her workplace, taking the role as chief marketing officer as the sole female employee within her company. By winning the pageant, Hansley said, "It means that everything 10-year-old Kenzie dreamed of has come to fruition. Never in my 15 years of pageantry did I think I would make it to the Miss USA stage." A dream that seemed slightly unreachable, Hansley said she reached for it anyway by working hard and giving it everything she had. Topsail High School graduate, Kenzie Hansley, wins Miss North Carolina USA 2024 pageant. Her goal is to give back to everyone who supported her along the way the community, her family and her friends. "This win isnt just for me. It is for every little boy or girl who has a dream that feels like it is light years away. Im living proof that your circumstances dont define you. My sexual assault, my losses, my nos, my past achievements, everything in my life has built me for this moment. Your dreams are within reach despite how big they may seem," Hansley said. Hansley enjoys anything outside from hiking to wake surfing, spending time with her friend group in Charlotte, where she currently resides, exploring farmers markets, and walking trails with her dog. Hansley will compete in the 73rd Miss USA Pageant airing live on The CW on Sunday, Aug. 4. This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Miss NC USA 2024 pageant winner graduated from Topsail High Buying a home abroad can be a wise financial investment that also offers you and your family an exciting place to live or vacation. Still, it can be a daunting experience. Depending on where youre considering purchasing property, you may have to deal with a language barrier, foreign currency, unfamiliar legal processes, and a whole lot of bureaucratic red tape. And some countries, like Thailand and Vietnam, dont allow foreign ownership at all. But certain nations are actively trying to attract foreign buyers with appealing real estate laws and benefits that make the whole process seamless (or at least as seamless as any real estate transaction can be). These countries offer the most hassle-free buying experiences for Americans. For more real estate inspiration and tips: Costa Rica With clear property rights, a legal system that respects foreign ownership, and a warm, welcoming environment, Costa Rica is a top choice for foreign investors and a simple place to buy property, says Mauricio Umansky, CEO and founder of The Agency, which has offices around the world. This biodiverse country also has a large and bustling expat community so its not just easy for Americans to buy there, its easy for them to live and work there too. Related: Designer Raili Clasen on How to Master Surf Style Kryssia Campos - Getty Images Dominican Republic Instead of retiring to Florida, consider this balmy and beautiful Caribbean countrywhich is just a four-hour direct flight from the New York area. Like everything else on the island, the real estate laws are relatively relaxed, which makes buying a house easy-breezy, and you can buy and own property without having to obtain residency status or special permissions, as is the case in many other Caribbean islands. Foreigners can own property outright in the Dominican Republic, with legal protections for foreign investors, Umanksy says. One important consideration is financing: You can certainly get a mortgage in the DR, but it may not be quite as cushy as what you can get in the U.S.so pay cash if possible. Related: This Dominican Republic Airbnb Is the Perfect Tropical Getaway todaydesign - Getty Images Panama This affordable, below-the-radar Central American country has breathtaking beaches, lush rainforests, and exceptional wildlife. It has many similarities with neighboring Costa Ricaincluding how easy the country makes it for Americans to buy real estate. Its Friendly Nations Visa program offers permanent residency for citizens of 50 countries, and the U.S. is on the list. Plus, Panama doesnt place any restrictions on foreign ownership, and the legal system is efficient and reliable, Samira Easton, a certified international property specialist with Premier Sothebys International Realty, says, so you can invest with confidence. Related: Expert Advice on Where to Buy Affordable Beach Houses BriBar - Getty Images Thailand Thailand is home to beautiful sandy beaches (it has 1,400 islands!), Buddhist temples, ancient ruins, and excellent street food, making it a good place to consider buying if youre looking for an easy investment. Housing prices are relatively affordable and foreigners can own up to 49 percent of the units in a condominium building, offering a straightforward option for property investment, Easton says. There are also plenty of English-speaking real estate agents and real estate attorneys who can walk you through the process. Related: The Ultimate Design Lovers Travel Guide to Bangkok Kanok Sulaiman - Getty Images Mexico Bordering the Southwestern United States and a direct flight from most major cities, Mexico is a geographically desirable spot for a second homeand Mexico makes it especially easy for its American neighbors to buy property. The country has straightforward real estate laws for foreigners, especially in designated restricted zones like beachfront areas where foreign ownership is facilitated through a bank trust, Umansky says. Cities like San Miguel de Allende, shown are just as beautiful, especially for design lovers. Mexicos real estate agents also tend to be very professional and are accustomed to working with Americans and other foreign buyers. Related: This Mexican Home Is Shea McGees First-Ever International Project Kim Rogerson - Getty Images Portugal The people in this popular Western European coastal country are famously friendly and inviting, and that extends to real estate. According to Easton, Portugal offers a Golden Visa Program, which makes it simple to buy property and gain residency; clear real estate laws; and a well-established network of English-speaking real estate agents, lawyers, and notaries to help you during the process. In addition to the capital, the seaside city of Porto, seen here, is a popular destination for expats. Related: The Definitive Design Lover's Guide to Lisbon Alf - Getty Images Spain Like Portugal, Spain offers a Golden Visa Program that enables foreigners to gain citizenship by purchasing real estate. Plus its real estate market is robust and transparent, and there are plenty of professional services in place to help guide you through the process. The are also numerous online resources and property portals available, so its easy to find listings and information, Easton says. This is a boon for those who arent able to make the trip over to Europe to house shop in person. Related: Everything You Need to Know About the Spanish Colonial Design Style Kirill Rudenko - Getty Images You Might Also Like Atlanta is the most affordable travel destination, according to a new study Everyone wants to travel over the summer, but some of us dont have the financial resources to go all out like wed like. So if youre balling on a budget, the ATL might be the summer vacation spot of your dreams, if you believe what a new study says. A study from WalletHub named Atlanta as the best affordable summer travel destination in the U.S. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The study compared 100 of the largest metropolitan areas in the country over 41 factors. Ultimately, Atlantas inexpensive flights from major cities, diverse attractions and 4 a.m. last call earned it the top spot. The Atlanta metro area is the best summer travel destination, in part because the cheapest flights from major cities dont require any connections and can cost as little as $278, the study wrote. Augusta is the only other Georgia city to make the list, coming in at number 28. TRENDING STORIES: Rounding out the top five are Washington, D.C., Orlando, Florida, Honolulu, Hawaii and Tampa, Florida. Santa Rosa, California and Oxnard, California came in at the bottom of the list. You can check out the full results of the study here. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: Baby Giraffe Born at Kansas City Zoo 'Already Stands 5 Feet 6 Inches Tall': 'Welcome to the Herd' The female Masai giraffe "weighs in at approximately 125 pounds," the zoo said Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium/Facebook The Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium's new baby giraffe A baby giraffe has been welcomed "to the herd" at the Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium. On Sunday, June 30, a female Masai giraffe was born at the Missouri-based establishment to mom Makali and dad Aidan, the zoo said in a post shared on Facebook. "The calf weighs in at approximately 125 pounds and already stands 5 feet 6 inches tall," the zoo wrote. "A neonatal exam has been performed and showed that the calf is in good health." "Right now, she is bonding with her mom behind the scenes and will soon be meeting her herd mates one by one," the attraction added. According to the Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium, the unnamed newborn and her parents are joined by other members of the location's herd, including 4-year-old Chandy and 2-year-old Alika. 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. Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium/Facebook The Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium's new baby giraffe Related: Spotless Giraffe Believed to Be the Only One 'Anywhere on the Planet' Born at Tennessee Zoo Earlier this week, the zoo shared an update on Facebook, in which the newborn calf could be seen bonding with another giraffe. "Baby's first friend," the Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium wrote in its caption, sharing a photograph of the infant animal with Chandy. The establishment said it "will be a while before this adorable girl makes her public debut." The zoo added that it will keep fans updated on any developments on its social media pages, including what they decide to name the newborn. The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now! According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Masai giraffe are currently listed as an endangered species. "Over the past 35 years, giraffe numbers have decreased by nearly 30 percent," the zoo said, noting how they work with the Save Giraffes Now organization to "ensure a safe future for the giraffe species." For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. ALBRIGHTSVILLE, CARBON COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) Some folks spent their Saturday having some fun in the sun all while enjoying the Christmas spirit in July. Seeing Santa in the heart of Summer is something you might not expect to see in the Poconos. But at Spruce Ridge reindeer in Albrightsville. Owner Casandra Hoover believes the joy of Christmas should not stop after December. She decided to bring Christmas to July. It is a one-of-a-kind thing. We had our first reindeer come to the farm in 2015. We travel a lot during the holiday season. This location here in the Poconos offers an opportunity for people to learn and experience, reindeer year-round, said Hoover. Hundreds come out for the first day of Summer Fest Hoover says caring for the reindeer is no easy task because this is not their native habitat. To ensure they are in the best health, she curates the ecosystem around them and makes sure it is parasite-free. Reindeer are an arctic animal and so we dont find them down here in the lower 48 in the wild and its not because its most people think its because its too warm down here. Its not that its too warm for the reindeer itself. They mind the heat like we do when I was in Alaska it was 78 degrees, explained Hoover. The reason for that being. Its more so that they have an immune system for the Arctic and down here where it is warm enough for parasites that they dont have an immune system to live. They wouldnt survive out in the wild, added Hoover. A fun fact about reindeer. Its right now were in our summer antlers. Thats why theyre all fuzzy the blood flow and nerves on the outside of that antler helping that antler grow and antlers can grow up to an inch a day, stated Hoover. Spruce Ridge reindeer hosts events in the Winter as well. 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 PAhomepage.com. Church bells speak again in Spain thanks to effort to recover the lost 'language' of ringing by hand +++ON HOLD++++ Sitting in a chair with ropes looped around both feet and hands, Joan Carles Osuna, a student of the Vall d'en Bas School of Bell Ringers, performs playing all four bronze bells at the church bell tower of the12th-century Sant Roma church, at the village of Joanetes, about two hours north of Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, July 29, 2024. A school set up to revive the manual ringing of church bells has graduated its first class of 18 students after learning their ringing skills. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) JOANETES, Spain (AP) Xavier Pallas plants his feet on the belfry floor, grips the rope, and with one tug fills the lush Spanish valley below with the reverberating peal of a church bell. Clang-clong! Clang-clong! Clang-CLONG! The swinging bronze bell resonates with each strike of the clapper, filling the small stone tower with an undulating hum. Once Pallas finishes his peals, the metallic melody fades to stillness. Silence returns to the tower, giving the valleys soundscape back to the birdsongs and rooster crows. For most, church bells are just a quaint bit of automated background noise. But Pallas and his 18 students at the Vall den Bas School of Bell Ringers are trying to change that by resuscitating the dwindling art of tolling and communicating by hand. The shift to mechanical tolling devices over the past century has flattened the bells dynamic songs and muted their messaging powers, said Pallas, the schools founder and director. If played with the know-how, the sounding of church bells in various sequences, tones and rhythms can signal the time for rejoicing or mourning and when to run to the aid of a neighbor in need. For centuries, the tolling of church bells was our most important communication method, said Pallas, standing inside the belfry which doubles as his classroom. Machines cannot reproduce the richness of the sounds that we used to hear, so there has been a simplification and unification of bell ringing. The language has been lost little by little until now, when we are finally recognizing its worth. Before newspapers, radio, telephones, television and the internet, it was bellringing that transmitted important information. A physically demanding job that required long hours and complete dedication, to be a bellringer was to be a human clock and the public loudspeaker. While manual church bell ringing has persisted in Eastern Orthodox countries, it has largely been replaced by bell ringing systems in Catholic and Protestant churches in Western Europe. Many of Spains church bell towers that were automized in the 1970s and 80s are in a dire state, said Pallas, who witnessed widespread problems while researching the belfries of Garrotxa, a county in northeast Catalonia. The rural area is known for its verdant hills, dormant volcanoes and picturesque villages where most people speak Catalan before Spanish. His research included the 12th century Sant Roma church in Joanetes, a tiny village about two hours north of Barcelona, where Pallas has spent the past 10 months teaching the inaugural class one Saturday a month. Since the last generation of bellringers had died off, the only thing to do was to train new ones in how to toll the bells. And thats where the idea of the school was born, Pallas said. Intangible heritage The initiative comes two years after UNESCO added manual bellringing in Spain to its compendium of humanitys intangible cultural heritage. UNESCO described how the bells had knitted together communities even before they were functioning modern states. The first thing we have to do is rediscover the bells. That is why this school is so important, said Roman Gene Capdevila, president of Catalonias Bell Ringers brotherhood. There are so many ways to ring a bell, what we need are bellringers. The bellringing course, officially recognized by the ISCREB theology school in Barcelona, finished last week with a demonstration by the class. All drawn to the allure of the banging bells, the students were men and women with diverse professional backgrounds ranging from engineering to teaching. One was in his 20s; several were retirees. They spent the past few months researching old chiming sequences, documenting their origins and learning to play them. That ethnographic task meant students had to search out old bellringers, or their family members, to record what they knew. Roser Sauri jumped at the chance to reconnect with her childhood by recovering and playing the chiming sequence that had sounded in her grandfathers village when he was baptized. The bells formed a part of my life, said Sauri, who now works in artificial intelligence. She missed their constancy while studying for her computing doctorate in Boston, where she heard none. When I visited my family, I began to associate the sound of church bells with being back home. The human touch The students took turns tolling sequences for everything from calls to Easter Mass, bad weather warnings, help for fighting a fire to orders for the village militia. They also could tell workers to get back to reaping wheat, or housewives when the fresh fish was coming to market and even how much it cost. Many of the ringers wore earplugs or headphones to muffle the deafening peals. The students tolled a gamut of death announcements that could specify gender and social class. Juan Carles Osuna and two others tolled for the death of a woman. That meant swinging the largest bell at 429 kilos (945 pounds). It still had a clapper secured in the traditional method of using a dried skin of an ox penis. Osuna, who paints church murals, also performed a complex sequence with all four of belfrys bells that required him to sit in a chair with ropes looped around his hands and feet. Whew! Its an emotional experience. You feel your blood pumping. You feel the strength, and how you are communicating with everyone in earshot, he said. For me it is an honor, its a way to honor both humans and God. The hesitation, the variation in the strength of each toll: in these details, and sometimes mistakes, the listener can hear the creator of the sound. The (automated) hammer will always be mathematically precise, Osuna said. There is emotion in the human touch. There is a human element. Utopian, quixotic? Maybe not What might seem like a quixotic mission has so far had a promising start. While admitting that his dream of having a bellringer for every bell tower is utopian, Pallas said he has a full class lined up for the fall and some 60 more people on a waiting list. Many of his graduating pupils, including Sauri and Osuna, hope to continue playing at their local parishes or help convert their belfries into systems that allow manual ringing. Pallas believes that a recovery of bell ringing in a neighborhood or towns life could help strengthen communities in this dizzying age of technological, economic and political change. This is a means of communication that reaches everyone inside a local community and can help it come together at concrete moments, Pallas said. That can include a death in the community or the celebration of a holiday. It can help mark the rituals that we need. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. Dividend-paying stocks are often sought after for their potential to provide a reliable source of income. However, companies like Hyosung Advanced Materials, which have shown a decline in their dividend growth, may pose risks that warrant careful consideration. In the vibrant South Korean market, where many dividends have seen substantial growth, identifying those that fail to maintain or increase their payouts is crucial for investors looking to minimize exposure to unstable returns. Top 10 Dividend Stocks In South Korea Name Dividend Yield Dividend Rating Kia (KOSE:A000270) 4.43% LOTTE Fine Chemical (KOSE:A004000) 4.33% NH Investment & Securities (KOSE:A005940) 6.18% Industrial Bank of Korea (KOSE:A024110) 6.91% KT (KOSE:A030200) 5.50% Shinhan Financial Group (KOSE:A055550) 3.93% Kyung Nong (KOSE:A002100) 4.95% HANYANG ENGLtd (KOSDAQ:A045100) 3.16% Cheil Worldwide (KOSE:A030000) 6.00% Korea Cast Iron Pipe Ind (KOSE:A000970) 6.12% Click here to see the full list of 72 stocks from our Top KRX Dividend Stocks screener. Let's explore one of the standout options from the results in the screener and examine one not meeting the grade. Top Pick Simply Wall St Dividend Rating: Overview: Hana Financial Group Inc., a major financial services provider in South Korea, operates through its subsidiaries with a market capitalization of approximately 18.79 trillion. Operations: The company generates revenue primarily through three segments: Banking (8.98 billion), Capital (1.01 billion), and Credit Card (0.52 billion). Dividend Yield: 9.7% Hana Financial Group, trading at 62.3% below our fair value estimate, offers a compelling value in the South Korean dividend stock market. Despite its relatively short dividend history of 7 years marked by volatility, the company's dividends are well-covered by earnings with a current payout ratio of 30.5%. The forecast suggests a similar coverage in three years (28.6% payout ratio). Notably, Hana's dividend yield stands at 9.67%, placing it in the top quartile of KR market payers. Recent activities include a cash dividend payment and participation in multiple investor conferences, underscoring its active engagement with the financial community. KOSE:A086790 Dividend History as at Jul 2024 One To Reconsider Simply Wall St Dividend Rating: Story continues Overview: Hyosung Advanced Materials Corporation, with a market cap of approximately 1.55 trillion, is engaged in the manufacturing and global distribution of industrial, polyester, nylon, and carpet yarns. Operations: Hyosung Advanced Materials' revenue is primarily derived from its Industrial Materials Sector, generating 3.14 billion, followed by the Textile Sector at 0.36 billion. Dividend Yield: 1.9% Hyosung Advanced Materials exhibits concerning signs for dividend investors, with a declining dividend over its short two-year history and a current yield of 1.87%, below the top quartile in South Korea's market (3.58%). The company's dividends are not well-supported, evidenced by a high payout ratio of 127.9% and lack of free cash flows. Recent financials show a downturn, with net income dropping from KRW 33.05 billion to KRW 20.21 billion year-over-year, further straining its dividend sustainability. KOSE:A298050 Dividend History as at Jul 2024 Key Takeaways Explore the 72 names from our Top KRX Dividend Stocks screener here. Shareholder in one of these companies? Ensure you're never caught off-guard by adding your portfolio in Simply Wall St for timely alerts on significant stock developments. Take control of your financial future using Simply Wall St, offering free, in-depth knowledge of international markets to every investor. Curious About Other Options? 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. Companies discussed in this article include KOSE:A086790 and KOSE:A298050. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com Climbers Adapt to Drought, Danger for New Routes in Cordillera Blanca Climbing teams are busy in Perus Cordillera Blanca despite dry conditions, which have turned some mixed routes into straight rock climbs. I may never be able to complete such a difficult and dangerous climb again in my life, wrote Yudai Suzuki after returning safely despite a 15m fall from a new line on Quitaraju (6,036m). The ace Japanese climber has done many other highly difficult routes throughout his career. Only last year, he completed the formidable Moonflower Buttress on Alaskas Mount Hunter, Ausangates North Face in the Andes, and the northwest ridge of Ghamubar Zom in Pakistan. Ice funnels on the upper sections. Photo: Yudai Suzuki Now Suzuki, with partners Keisuke Ohkura and Kazumasa Ostubo, climbed Dream House, a 1,240m monster route that they graded as M6, AI5+, A2, R/X, VI up the south face and the west ridge of the mountain. The route includes 30 pitches, and none of them were easy, Suzuki admitted. White Godzilla I thought we would be able to speed up once we crossed the technical south face on the first day, said Suzuki. But the crux of the climb happened to be the whole ridge beyond that, which looked like a White Godzillas back. Climbing on sight, the team eventually feared they might have reached a dead end. Miraculously, at the last moment, they found some ice funnels that allowed them to progress further. I took a 15m fall on a sketchy 90 snow-ice section at 5,900m, but we somehow passed that part, Suzuki added. Triumphant on the summit of Quitaraju. Photo: Yudai Suzuki I am so filled with an indescribable feeling of havingbeen able to draw such a beautiful and adventurous big line in alpine style, with no trial attempt, he said. Suzuki noted that the southeast ridge of the peak, which the climbers eventually followed to the summit, was probably climbed about 40 years ago. We could find little information about it, and the conditions seem to have changed significantly since that time, Suzuki said. Slovak climbers adapt to rock The Slovaks celebrate their new routes at a local restaurant. Photo: Instagram Marek Radovsky and Juraj Svingal of Slovakia ventured into the Tuctubamba Valley of Perus Cordillera Blanca at the beginning of June, hoping to open some routes on mixed terrain. Instead, they found themselves surrounded by bare rock spires. They quickly adapted to the new, drier circumstances and bagged a first ascent of a 4,950m rock tower on Nevado Tauar. The 340m line featured difficulties up to 7a. They also opened two other slightly easier routes on a wall they found during an exploratory trip, 20 minutes from a lake called Laguna Suyrococha. The Tuctubamba region, circled in red. Not all place names in the story appear on this topo. The Slovakian climbers did find some mixed climbing on the south face of 5,888m Ocshapalca in the Llaca Valley. We chose a line and went for it on June 9 in the early morning, the team told Up Climbing. The ice climbing alternated with mixed pitches, each more beautiful than the previous one. The return trip took them 16 hours, and they rated the 12-pitch,600m line M7, WI5, 90. Topo of the new Slovakian route. Photo: Marek Caci Radovsky The post Climbers Adapt to Drought, Danger for New Routes in Cordillera Blanca appeared first on Explorersweb. EPCC to provide variety of food options to students, community EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) El Paso Community College (EPCC) will host a Grocery Giveaway event from 9 to 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 9 at the EPCC Valle Verde Campus Courtyard, 919 Hunter Drive. This event is aimed at providing fresh produce and a variety of food options to students, faculty, staff and the broader community, according to a press release sent by EPCC. This initiative is made possible through a partnership with El Pasoans Fighting Hunger and is part of a broader effort to address food insecurity on campus, read the press release. 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. Travelers are increasingly looking for cooler places to visit during the summer, when many destinations get higher temperatures. Cathy Balestriere was expecting especially low bookings last month at Cranes Beach House, the boutique hotel she manages in Delray Beach, Florida. Instead, they jumped 12% from the year before. It feels like a miracle based on where we were sitting just a few weeks ago, she said. Its not a miracle. Its the weather. The surge coincided with a sweltering mid-June heat wave across the Midwest and the Northeast, putting over 80 million people under heat alerts the latest run of unseasonably extreme temperatures fueled by a global climate that is warming at a record pace. Florida might not be the first destination that comes to mind for people looking to beat the heat, but its where some headed after their hometowns became just as sweltering.This time of year, most guests at Cranes are in-state or regional travelers, Balestriere said. But many of the surprise last-minute bookings came from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Texas. Delray Beach has been hot, too, but visitors to the hotel can at least enjoy the ocean breeze and access to the beach and refreshing pools, she said. Its a similar story at the Lake Nona Wave Hotel in Orlando, where reservations soared 45% in the past three weeks compared with the year before, largely from the Northeast and Texas. We have had a couple of guests mention while they are checking in that the heat at home is unbearable, sales and marketing director James Tattersall said. Cranes Beach House in Delray Beach, Fla., is looking to take advantage of higher off-season demand. Snowbirds typically head south to Florida and other balmier states in the winter and spring, creating a high season there when its frigid up north. But Cranes Beach House now sees a growing opportunity in warmer months. It has already shifted its seasonal editorial calendar, Google ad strategy and newsletter messaging to capture more of the off-season demand, Balestriere said.Its part of a broader change that has been underway for years as tourist hot spots adapt to shifting demand tied to evolving seasonal weather. While not every place is feeling an impact in the same way, or at all, there is no question that we are seeing a growing preference for destinations with more comfortable summer temperatures alongside rising global temperatures, said Jesse Neugarten, founder and CEO of Dollar Flight Club, a travel deal alert service. From May to June, the platform had a 31% surge in flight bookings and interest from Northern cities like New York and Boston to destinations in Florida, he said, where travelers are looking for relief from heat waves. Scorching weather at home is also pushing people toward cooler climes abroad. While hotel bookings in Italy a longtime summer hot spot are up a modest 3% since last year, its Scandinavia that is having a moment, researchers at the Virtuoso luxury travel network said in a recent report.Bookings in the region have surged 25% since last year, with even steeper 49% and 47% increases in Iceland and Sweden, respectively. Even the Netherlands, where authorities have tried to reduce tourist volumes, is seeing 33% higher hotel demand this season, Virtuoso found. Andy Knestaut and his wife, Cathy Raines, on vacation in Paris. I decided I had enough of Washington, D.C., summers, said Andy Knestaut, 59, a retiree who was considering a trip with his wife somewhere in South America before they opted for northern Europe. We chose Copenhagen and added two Baltic countries. Well go from late July to late August.Some parts of the continent are getting so hot during the summer that the typical high season is getting longer, said Rebecca Masri, founder and CEO of Little Emperors, a private members luxury hotel club. With the weather in southern Europe staying warm, booking trends are shifting to September, October and even November, she said, as some hotels and resorts that usually close at the end of the summer extend their operations. These months are becoming the new peak season. Consumers will increasingly see those shifts reflected in pricing, said Chris Lafakis, a director at Moodys Analytics. You wont have to be rich to vacation, but its going to be more expensive to travel to the more favorable destinations, he said. Those with the means to do so will be able to, and those that dont will unfortunately not have as many options to fall back on. As airlines have added capacity, domestic and international airfares have fallen by double-digit percentages this July Fourth holiday week compared with last years, according to booking platform Hopper, despite record expected travel volumes. But while average hotel room rates in some cooler northern European countries have stabilized since last years surge, theyre climbing in popular areas up 18% in Iceland and 47% in Norway, Virtuoso said. Weather-driven shifts in travel patterns will create economic winners and losers, Lafakis said. Probably 20% to 30% of the overall damage to the economy from the heat is because of less travel tourism, he said. As seasonal temperatures soar, would-be visitors may go somewhere else or choose not to go at all. Some industry experts arent so worried. During hot weather, travelers will usually change their behavior rather than cancel a trip, said Tiffany Townsend, a spokesperson for New York City Tourism and Conventions. They might visit more museums and indoor attractions or do more shopping while its scorching outside and schedule outdoor activities early or late in the day. Heather Dickie, 69, a Texas-based marketing consultant, said her travel itinerary is still in flux, but she said she needs a break from the heat. If I can get out of Dallas, where temperatures have already hit triple digits, Alaska is sounding good, she said. But shes more likely to head about 650 miles up the road a bit toward Taos, New Mexico, for the relative reprieve of highs in the mid-80s. I have friends in that area, she said, and am looking at late July or August for a nice, cool getaway. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Change happens every moment, accumulating mostly in unnoticeable measures. Think of the relative who remarks how much your child has grown since last summer. But sometimes monumental changes occur in short and dramatic order, seemingly in series of three. This spring, the last of my children to attend Spring Garden Waldorf School graduated the eighth grade. I enrolled my eldest son there in January of 2001 and, after driving from our home in Ohio City for two years, decided to move to Akron. Unlike public schools, Waldorf teachers and administrators are not hemmed in by federal and state testing requirements that limit innovation and the deployment of scientifically proven best practices. Waldorf students don't know that. They believe it's normal to have outdoor recess in all weather, the same classroom teacher and classmates for eight years, no computers nor textbooks. Classmates bond like cousins, which explains the gauntlet of events that filled our calendar prior to Leif's graduation. The next morning, we began three days of hard driving. Five days after Leif's graduation, we attended my son Hugo's wedding in the Teton Mountains. Hugo and his bride, Claudia, chose to wed at a scenic lookout in front of Grand Teton Mountain. Instead of nearby Jackson Hole, Wyoming which is horrendously touristy and expensive, everyone was booked in a resort just across the border in Idaho. Then, three days before the wedding, the Teton Pass collapsed, increasing the drive from the resort to the wedding site by two hours each way. Portending a successful marriage, the bride and groom swiftly found an alternate site near our hotel, which turned out to be as good, if not better, than the original one. The weather mimicked the bride's serene beauty, while the ceremony included charming traditions both old and new. Holly Christensen's son Hugo and new daughher-in-law, Claudia, during their wedding in the Teton Mountains. The next day everyone dispersed, most heading back east. We drove west to Crater Moon National Park and stayed the night in Twin Falls, Idaho. From there we traveled to Salt Lake City, where I have dear family and countless ancestral sites. I showed my youngest children the homestead property of my great-great grandparents, Christina and Soren Peder Henrichsen. Born in Sweden, they were children when they immigrated to Holladay, Utah, where they raised 10 children. After two days of heritage touring, Lyra flew back to Ohio with family, leaving Leif and me to began our own adventure. In 2007, my first three sons and I circled most of the country in my 5-speed Toyota Matrix. That summer the boys were 13, 10 and 7 and their father and I had decided to divorce. Two of them think of their childhoods as pre- and post-road trip segments, yet, in spite of the divorce, they frequently refer to the trip with fondness. Leif will be a freshman at Akron Early College High School this August, going from a small school to a college campus. Hearkening the '07 road trip, I was eager to spend time away with my last son during the liminal months between his boyhood and young adulthood. The drive from Salt Lake City to our campsite in Grand Teton National Park was just under six hours. When we arrived, we learned the temperature that night would plummet to 28 degrees and it would snow (back east, Akron was sweltering under a heat dome). At the park gift shop, we bought woolen caps and socks, insulated mittens and thermal sweatpants. That night, we broke a national park rule. Wearing all our new gear, coats and several shirts, we took blankets and sleeping bags into our car where we slept poorly, yet giggled through our temporary discomfort. The truth is, many of the best memories are made when handling life's challenges well. Holly Christensen and her youngest son, Leif, during their mother-son trip. The next day we made the short trip to Yellowstone National Park, where we spent two days. The park understandably forbids cell towers to dot its vistas, making cell service almost non-existent. But as we pitched our campsite, a call came through from my sister. Our step-father had been unexpectedly diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. Bob McGhee is the only grandfather my children have ever known. A laconic man, the boys realized early on that the best time with Gramps, as they call him, was when helping him at the cemetery where he was sexton. He taught them how to use power equipment, but also how to fish. Two days after my eldest son graduated from high school, he was working at the job Gramps had gotten him. Together they buried an unembalmed body that had been packed in dry ice and flown to northern Michigan from California. When the boys were in college, they'd drive up in mid-May to help Gramps prep the cemetery for Memorial Day. He never asked, they just showed up and spent time with the man who always showed up for them in whatever way he could. As Leif and I worked our way back east over several days, he frequently told me he was glad we were road tripping. This summer, my youngest son leaves behind the things of a child, while his brother Hugo begins life as a husband and their grandfather prepares to make the greatest transition. My sons quickly moved work schedules and funds for one more road trip this summer to visit Gramps before he departs. Contact Holly Christensen at whoopsiepiggle@gmail.com. This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: The journey of life brings monumental changes | Holly Christensen Helena Esparza of Akron hoops it up during the Kent Heritage Festival on Saturday in Kent. A fun-filled Main Street attracts a crowd during the Kent Heritage Festival on Saturday in Kent. Remi Schweninger, 3, get a bird's-eye view of the Kent Heritage Festival while riding on her father Adam's shoulders Saturday in Kent. Sunny skies, a brisk crowd and a variety of vendors greeted festivalgoers at the 29th annual Kent Heritage Festival Saturday as the event sought to return to pre-pandemic levels. The festival was set to take place from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., with a fireworks display capping off festivities. The festival, which scaled back after the COVID-19 pandemic, returned to its pre-pandemic footprint this year, said Dennis Campbell, executive director of the Kent Area Chamber of Commerce. "We wanted to build it back, but also our intent was to keep it Kent-focused," he said. A classic car show was popular, as was a children's play area featuring Daniel Tiger, from Daniel Tigers Neighborhood, a television show that airs on PBS Western Reserve. By mid-day, a crowd was already visiting the craft and food vendors set up along Main Street, Franklin Avenue and Erie Street. Musicians and entertainers performed at Hometown Bank Plaza and Dan Smith Park. "It turned out beautiful," Campbell said. In the afternoon, Joe Robinson, vice president of management for the Kent Jaycees, was busy selling sponsorships for the Ducks River Race later in the evening. The event had seen good pre-sale and was on its way to its goal of 2,500 duck sponsorships, he said. The Kent Fire Department was set to drop the ducks off the West Main Street Bridge, where they then float toward a finish line down river. The first duck to be picked out of the water would win a $1,000 prize for its sponsor, with numerous different prizes for other winners. Proceeds from the sale go to the Jaycees Mini Grant program, which helps fund various charitable activities in the area. Kent native Derek Desko brought his business, Rogues Over the Top Pierogi, to the festival for the first time. The graduate of Theodore Roosevelt High School, who hadn't been to the festival in more than a decade, went to culinary school after graduation and now lives in Austin, Texas. "I came back for the big day," he said. "It's definitely different from this side." Reporter Diane Smith can be reached at 330-298-1139 or dsmith@recordpub.com. This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Kent Heritage Festival expands after scaling back for COVID Analogous Destinations is a four-part series showcasing comparable, cost-effective options to popular travel destinations. If you'd like to contribute to our future reporting and share your experience as a source, you can click here to fill out this quick form. The ATV loudly whirred as I drove, dust swirling up behind me from the dirt road. No other vehicles were in sight, although I had to stop for a bull making a leisurely crossing. I navigated through the forest until I reached a manned gate, where I paid a small fee to continue down the windy road, teasing peeks of the blue sea below. In the trees, I spotted spider monkeys sitting comfortably underneath the shady leaves. Finally, I arrived at Playa Escameca. The tide was too low to surf, but the exposed sand showed how vast the beach was at half-a-mile-long. Just a handful of fellow beachgoers sat in chairs and hammocks, eating food from the small outdoor restaurant run by locals. I went on to have a few more experiences like this in Nicaragua, where the raw beauty and ruggedness of the Central American country were on full display thanks to the lack of crowds and development. Yes, my mode of transportation was typically ATV. Get more news like this delivered to your inbox by signing up for our Travel newsletter here. I could see the beach peek out as I drove the winding road. Providing the same sun, sand, and surf without the overwhelming tourist atmosphere, Nicaragua is an alternative for travelers who love Mexico's charming and authenticity. While adventure is aplenty in Nicaragua, so are the chances for relaxation. While in Nicaragua, I stayed at La Santa Maria Resort and Residences, perched atop a hill in the endearing beach town of San Juan Del Sur. Located right above the border straddling Nicaragua and Costa Rica, San Juan Del Sur is a 100-year-old fishing village beloved by expats and surfers, who mingle with locals who have lived there for generations. Its an undiscovered paradise, Julio H. Arguello, Nicaragua native and developer of La Santa Maria Resort and Residences, told USA TODAY. If San Juan Del Sur was in Costa Rica (or Mexico), it would be Santa Theresa or Tulum (respectively.)" In 2023, Nicaragua welcomed just over 1.2 million tourists, up nearly 29% from the 932,700 visitors in 2022. The same year, 33 million tourists traveled to Quintana Roo, the state where Tulum is, and almost 2.5 million tourists to Costa Rica. Cancun without the crowds: Meet Isla Mujeres, a quieter Mexican getaway How do I get to Nicaragua? Like Cancun, its a short flight from the U.S. to San Juan Del Sur, but it requires a long drive to reach the peninsula where the town is located. Take a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Miami to Managua and then an uneventful three-hour drive from the airport to the beach town. Alternatively, you can fly into Liberia, Costa Rica a five-and-a-half hour flight from Los Angeles or a four-hour flight from Dallas and cross the border north into Nicaragua on a two-hour drive. To enter Nicaragua, Americans must pay for a Tourist Card, which costs $10 at immigration. Bring cash, though, as checks and credit cards are not accepted. Where to stay in Nicaragua The infinity pool offers the best vantage point to view the sunset. Although I felt the San Juan Del Sur area was rugged, staying at La Santa Maria Resort and Residences was far from roughing it. Opened in 2018, the gated resort is small yet intimate, with the modern fixings of any four-star resort in Cancun, like a gym, clubhouse, snack bar and infinity pool overlooking the beach and offering a stunning view of the vibrant red sunset. Theres an outdoor and indoor workspace, making it an ideal home base for digital nomads. As its name implies, La Santa Maria is not just a resort for travelers but also comprises condos for expats or snowbirds, which can be used as vacation rentals. So far, 95% of La Santa Marias inventory has sold. Theres this sense of experience where you get all these resort-like amenities but live in a community, Arguello said. La Santa Maria is the only resort in the area, but there are affordable vacation rentals, hostels and smaller boutique hotels. The town of San Juan Del Sur La Santa Maria Resort is a short five-minute walk into town, with abundant surf shops and food options, from a tiny dumpling shop to a tucked-away marketplace of locally owned food stands. I didnt even have to do a currency exchange during my trip as every business I went to accepted the Nicaraguan cordoba and U.S. dollar. The town was easy to get around by walking. It only took about 15 minutes to cross the entire town. It reminded me of a less crowded Sayulita, another charming beach town thats become popular on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. I also never felt unsafe walking around, even at night. Unlike Cancuns downtown, I didnt encounter hordes of tourists or vendors coming up to me trying to sell souvenirs in San Juan Del Sur, although there were a few. The Nicaraguan breakfast at Ding Repair Cafe included plantains, pico de gallo and avocado. The main beach of San Juan Del Sur is lined with restaurants serving up fresh seafood like ceviche. My favorite restaurant which I may or may not have frequented about four times during my four-day trip, was Dale Pues lets do it that served casual eats like shrimp tacos and breakfast bagels in a bohemian atmosphere. Theres also Ding Repair Cafe, a coffee shop with an outdoor bowl for skateboarders and dishes like a Nicaraguan breakfast with eggs, beans and plantains. Beaches galore Many of the beaches are San Juan Del Sur were vast and nearly empty. The main draw for San Juan Del Sur is the sea. The little town is surrounded by beaches to the north and south, and I was able to reach a few of them with the resorts ATV and the help of street signs and Google Maps. Like Playa Escameca, many beaches felt intimate, and since theyre so expansive, they're also basically empty. Others, like Playa Maderias a popular surfing locale were more crowded with beachgoers and surfers, both beginners taking lessons and the more experienced. Here, it cost $20 to rent a surfboard for the entire day, which you could switch out at any point. Some beaches require a nominal entrance fee of around $3 to $5, but different beaches like Playa Maderias and Playa Remanso are free. Every beach I went to had restrooms and at least one restaurant where I could take some respite from the sun and eat some food to fuel up. Can it be too hot to fly? How summer weather can affect your travel plans. What to do in Nicaragua Parque de Aventura Las Nubes has 12 ziplines of different lengths and inclines, plus rope stairs and platforms. While you could spend the entire day at the beach, I discovered the area to be filled with other adventures. Ziplining: On a sunny morning, I ventured to Parque de Aventura Las Nubes, an 80-acre private nature reserve located at one of the highest elevations in San Juan Del Sur and, thus, offering sweeping vistas of the ocean and volcanoes. The reserve is home to over 80 sloths and howling monkeys, porcupines and iguanas, too so youre bound to spot some wildlife on the ATV ride up the mountain. But, as the name suggests, Im at Parque de Aventura Las Nubes for adventure: ziplining. There are 12 ziplines of different lengths and inclines, plus rope stairs and platforms, crossing the canopies of the park to showcase southern Nicaraguas nature. Horseback riding: When the sun's heat wore away, I had the chance to go horseback riding at sunset with Big Sky Stables, owned by a Canadian expat. I was outfitted with the ranchs stock of jeans and boots and hopped on my horse. With three guides, we rode through the ranch and a forest until we reached an empty beach just as the sun set over the horizon. Then, I had the chance to gallop with my horse across the sand, which felt like a scene from a movie. Ever gallop a horse during sunset on an empty beach? You can in Nicaragua. Hiking: Looking out over San Juan Del Sur from a cliff is an 82-foot-tall Christ of the Mercy statue, which visitors can hike to. The hour-long trail can be reached at the north end of the beach, or hikers can park at the foot of the hill and go up the around 100 steps. After traversing the stairs, youll be met with a panoramic view of the town and coastline. The entrance fee for the viewing platform is $2 for foreigners. Visiting the volcano: The Masaya Volcano National Park is just two hours from town and overlooks Lake Nicaragua, offering hiking trails and wildlife like coyotes and iguanas. The indigenous people of Masaya believed the volcano to be god, and Spanish colonizers referred to it as The Mouth of Hell. The countrys first and largest national park, Masaya Volcano National Park, allows visitors to get up close and personal with the crater, a lava lake and bat-filled caves. Unfortunately, the volcano has been closed since April due to a landslide, so I couldnt visit. Kathleen Wong is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Hawaii. You can reach her at kwong@usatoday.com. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Forget Mexico: Nicaragua offers beaches and adventure away from crowds Relentless bad weather has caused some climbers to abandon Nanga Parbat, while others, including skiers Anna Tybor and Tom Lafaille, continue to stick it out, hoping for a change. The forecasts indicate an improvement over the weekend, with the possibility of a weather window lasting a few days, Tybor wrote. Chhang Dawa Sherpa, climbing director of Seven Summit Treks, confirms that the ropes are fixed until Camp 4, the highest on the normal Kinshofer Route of the Diamir Face. Factoring in the weather, conditions, and climbing times, Chhang Dawa estimates July 10 as the most suitable summit day. Even in the best case, it will not be easy or free of risk. Some climbers follow their guides advice, but others have a different opinion about how much risk is acceptable. Klara Kolouchova passed the infamous Kinshofer Wall to reach 6,100m, but that was as far as she went. After evaluating the snow conditions and the weather forecast, I made the more difficult decision, she said. She returned home on June 30. Snow overloads the upper slopes of Nanga Parbat. Photo: Klara Kolouchova Familiar faces Climber and journalist Monika Witkowska of Poland led a trekking group to Nanga Parbat and reached the Diamir side Base Camp on July 1. Back in town, she offered some interesting insights from the field. At the time, she counted 14 climbers remaining on the mountain, including some familiar names, such as Israfil Ashurli of Azerbaijan. Ashurli sacrificed his summit attempt last year to aid a Pakistani climber in trouble and also helped many others. As a reward, local authorities gave him a free climbing permit this year. Trifish Chang of Taiwan, Santiago Quintero of Ecuador, and the previously mentioned Tybor and Lafaille are also ready to go for the summit as soon as the weather clears. Other waiting climbers come from Oman, Romania, Japan, Norway, Greece, and Pakistan. Seven Summit treks had six sherpas in place, fixing the ropes. Fishtri Chang of Taiwan in Base Camp. Photo: Monika Witkowska Local climbers include the controversially young Selena Khawaja and her father. They first appeared at Broad Peak in 2021 when the so-called Mountain Princess was only 12 years old. She was attempting to break a risky age record. The situation worsened when Khawajas father got sick and was evacuated from the mountain but left the child there, accompanied only by porters, to continue. She eventually did not go up the mountain. Read more about the controversy here. Khawaja is now 15 years old. Report from the field People have just started climbing; they only reached Camp 1 on July 1, Witkowska wrote. (Tybor and Lafaille had already rotated higher up). Climbers on oxygen have to reach at least Camp 2 before attempting the summit. Those going without need to get to Camp 3 to fully acclimatize. Witkowska describes the current situation [edited for clarity]: The atmosphere in BC is on one hand very nice and friendly (people meeting, chats etc.) but on the other hand, I felt the frustration surrounding the poor prospects of a summit push. The problem is the weather and conditions. Theres too much snow, the weather forecasts have been wrong, and there is not a clear window in sight. People have no access to internet in Base Camp, and the only contact with their families is via InReach. When I was in Base Camp, they discussed a date for the summit push. Some talked about July 3 as a good day, but it was impossible because they had to wait for the sherpas to fix the ropes to Camp 4. Some climbers are in a hurry because they have more than one peak in mind. The post Nanga Parbat: Some Stay, Some Leave, As Weather Stalls Attempts appeared first on Explorersweb. Aurora police K-9 Ory is scheduled to be at Popsicles with Police at the Kiwanis Moore Splash Pad on July 12. The Aurora Police Department will host Popsicles with Police from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday at the Kiwanis Moore Park Splash pad, 34 W. Pioneer Trail. The event is an chance for children and residents to meet police officers, ask questions and enjoy some cool treats. There will also be opportunities to get photos inside a police car and meet police K-9 Ory. This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Popsicles with Police set Friday in Aurora When Dale Ahlquist cofounded Chesterton Academy in Hopkins, Minnesota in 2008 with colleague Tom Bengtson, he wanted to offer an ideal learning environment for his younger children and some of their friends. His older children graduated from a conventional private school and there was much he appreciated about their experience; but he believed he could build something even better. The vision was a school focused on a classical educational philosophy, embracing the traditional liberal arts, within a Catholic religious worldview that would be both joyful and affordable. What began as a tiny school with only 10 students now enrolls more than 150 high schoolers. That flagship school is one of more than 70 independently operated high schools within the fast-growing Chesterton Schools Network, educating more than 2,000 students. Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Wildflower Montessori Microschools Joy and access were two of the guiding principles that spurred Veronica Vital into teaching. Growing up in Mexico, Vital had seen teachers hit their students in class and employ other harsh practices. She decided early on that she wanted to be a teacher who would respect and honor children with kindness. After college, Vital moved to the United States and began working as a teaching assistant in a Montessori preschool where she fell in love with the Montessori philosophy and its child-centered approach to education. She became certified in Montessori education, teaching in both private and public charter Montessori schools in Minneapolis, but she kept feeling the tug toward education entrepreneurship. Dale Ahlquist, cofounder of Chesterton Academy (Kerry McDonald) I always wanted to have my own school, Vital told me. She got that opportunity in 2018 when she launched Cosmos Montessori, a bilingual preschool and elementary public charter school in South Minneapolis. Cosmos is part of the national Wildflower Montessori microschool network that began in 2014 to support smaller, community-embedded, more accessible Montessori schools. Wildflower helps teacher-entrepreneurs like Vital who want to launch their own schools. The network now has more than 60 microschools across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Most are private schools, but Wildflower public charter schools operate in Colorado, Minneapolis, New York City and Washington, D.C. Today, Vital is leading another Wildflower microschool, Greenbrier, also in South Minneapolis. Skola Microschool Just outside of the city, in Roseville, another longtime educator, Kristin Fink, launched Skola Microschool in 2022. A classroom teacher in a conventional private school for 16 years, Fink was growing increasingly frustrated by the standardization and rigidity of traditional schooling. When Covid hit in the spring of 2020 and her school went remote, Fink, like so many parents across the U.S., created an informal pandemic pod for her two young children and a couple of neighbors. That sparked everything I knew to be true, said Fink about the learning pod. Kids want to learn, and if you fuel their fire, theyll go much further than you could ever take them. When she returned to in-person teaching in the fall of 2021, Fink was hopeful that there could be meaningful changes in how schooling was done. She was disappointed. Kristin Fink talks with a learner at Skola Microschool. (Kerry McDonald) Everyone was just trying to get back to the way it was, said Fink, understanding the eagerness for a return to normalcy. But I thought that this was our chance to build something new. I felt so philosophically alone in my workplace. Why would anyone ever want to go back to the way it was? The next fall, Fink and her longtime colleague Ginger Montezon, opened Skola as a faith-based K-8 microschool. All students are recognized homeschoolers who attend the program up to five days a week at an annual cost of $6,250. With about 25 mixed-aged learners, Skola is as big as Fink wants it to get. I want to be kid-facing not admin-facing, said Fink, explaining that if she grew bigger or scaled to new locations she may lose the time to teach, which is her driving passion. Retaining the intentionally small, individualized atmosphere of Skola is a key priority, but Fink is supporting the growth of more schools like hers in other ways. Weve hosted 12 current educators in our space and four of them have launched or are planning to launch their own microschools, she said, adding that she will be welcoming five public school teachers from southern Minnesota later this month who are also interested in opening their own school. Related Inside Maines Microschooling Movement Homeschooling Collaboratives Finks full-time microschool for homeschoolers is representative of many of todays emerging educational models. Parents and teachers alike crave more educational autonomy and flexibility and are seeking and starting alternatives to conventional schooling. Amy Marotz, founder of Awakening Spirit Homeschool Collaborative . (Kerry McDonald) This is particularly true for parents of children with special learning needs. In Stillwater, Amy Marotz launched a full-time homeschooling collaborative, Awakening Spirit, to serve the distinct needs of gifted and neurodiverse learners. After earning an education degree and teaching at a Minneapolis charter school early in her career, Marotz began homeschooling her own children and saw a need for a dedicated program to address neurodiversity within a holistic, nurturing environment. She now runs the program from her home with about a dozen learners and, like Fink, is helping other aspiring founders to create their own microschools, homeschooling collaboratives, and similar learning models. Veteran homeschooling parents have known for years how homeschooling and its various iterations can support customized, creative education. Some of them, such as Rebecca Hope, are helping a new generation of parents navigate alternative education options. After homeschooling her five children through high school, Hope launched Mid-Metro Academy in 2020 as a twice-weekly, faith-based homeschooling program offering a la carte classes to local middle school and high school homeschooled students. Located in Roseville, Hopes program now serves more than 200 homeschoolers and continues to grow. Rebecca Hope, founder of Mid-Metro Academy This small sampling of innovative schools and spaces in and around the Twin Cities demonstrates the variety and breadth of emerging learning models I am seeing across the U.S. From faith-based programs to secular options, Montessori models to classical, home-based and storefront, school, homeschool or something in betweenentrepreneurial parents and teachers are creating a medley of more personalized, low-cost learning options for families. As Awakening Spirits Marotz told me: When I started in 2017, no one had heard of a microschool. Now, there are so many options. That is what we need. For a cuisine famous the world over, Italian food often gets pigeonholed into a few famous dinner and dessert dishes: pasta, pizza, gelato, and tiramisu. Italian breakfast, on the other hand, gets little attention in the discussion of the best breakfasts in the world. This might be partly because many visitors to the country tend to take the continental breakfast included in their hotel stay. But it's also due to the simplicity that characterizes the meal for most Italians, who prefer to keep breakfast light and quick, rather than a deep cultural or culinary experience. Break out of your hotel in Italy in the morning, and you'll see the pastry shops and coffee bars doing brisk business, but you'll probably only find two things in front of locals: a cup of coffee and a pastry. For the first, latte, cappuccino, and espresso are the most common, while the latter generally comes as a cornetto, or "little horn," which resembles a croissant but is sweeter. In Milan, it's called "brioche," instead. Traveling further afield in Italy tends to change it to the local specialty for example, the sfogliatelle puff pastry in the Campania region, biscotti in Tuscany, and brioscia in Sicily. All over, pastry remains dominant. Read more: 44 Types Of Pasta And When You Should Be Using Them Italian Breakfast Outside The Box a ciambella on plate - Ivan Canavera/Getty Images Not everyone thrives on caffeine in Italy, and a leading option for breakfast to avoid it is caffe d'orzo, made from roasted ground barley grains and pressed through a coffee or espresso maker. Not only does it look like regular coffee, it delivers many of the same nutty notes and can even be made into a cappuccino-esque version with milk. Italian hot chocolate is another option. Thick and rich, it has the consistency and texture of a chocolate pudding pulled out of the oven a few minutes too soon. Head south to Sicily and switch the hot for cold with a granita, a shaved ice treat infused with coffee, toasted almonds, and more. On the heartier side, Italian breakfast fare might include crespelle, the Italian version of the crepe. Sweet versions often include fruit and cream, while savory ones may combine ricotta, spinach, and prosciutto. Find further richness in a ciambella, an Italian breakfast cake. Essentially a bundt cake, it generally comes in a lemon and olive oil flavor. Eggs don't usually play a significant role in Italian breakfasts but can be found in frittatas and dishes like the wonderfully named uova al Purgatorio, or "eggs in Purgatory," which serves them poached in a spicy tomato sauce. All of these make for delicious additions to the 25 Italian dishes you need to try at least once and your favorite breakfast recipes to start your day. Read the original article on Tasting Table. Two Oklahoma boys shocked the nation with their unaccompanied trip across the U.S. Two young boys just a few years older than their home state of Oklahoma trudged across dirt paths and the barely tamed wilderness of the American heartland in a remarkable journey. It was 1910, three years after President Teddy Roosevelt signed the paperwork that turned Oklahoma from a U.S. territory into a bona fide state. Temple, 6, and 10-year-old Louis "Bud" Abernathy rode horseback alone from their home in Frederick, Oklahoma, to New York City where they hoped to meet Roosevelt. Temple and Louis "Bud" Abernathy. By this time the boys already had proven their talent for adventure. A year earlier, they had convinced their widowed father to let them ride alone from Guthrie to Santa Fe and back. The trip to New York wasn't their last, either. Buoyed by the immense celebrity that followed them northeast, Temple and Bud would make four other trips across the country. They launched their journeys at the inflection point of a new century, caught between the legacy of America's wild Western frontier and the modern comforts that soon would define a growing nation. Abernathy_boys_trailmap An adventure East Temple and Bud were the sons of Jack Abernathy, a U.S. marshal who had been appointed by Roosevelt to keep the peace in Oklahoma Territory. Years earlier, Jack had made a name for himself as a wolf hunter and amazed the president on a hunting trip by catching them with his bare hands. The boys' mother died in 1907, the year Oklahoma became a state. Within two years, the Abernathy boys would step out on their first adventure. On their travels, they met cattle rustlers and Indigenous tribes, visited the Wright Brothers Aeroplane Factory, and rode along with firefighters on a horse-drawn, steam-powered fire engine in Cincinnati before marching in a parade with Roosevelt in New York City. Temple and Louis "Bud" Abernathy ride their horses in a parade after arriving in New York City in 1910. The adventures continued. Before the younger brother Temple turned 10, the boys would purchase and drive their own car from New York to Oklahoma, ride horseback from New York to San Francisco and take another trip to the Big Apple, this time on an Indian motorcycle. In a memoir published in 1992 with the help of his wife, Alta, Temple described in vivid detail those trips and the experience of taking such a journey at a young age. "Although we were just little boys, we eagerly ventured forth with eyes wide open and minds ready to examine and absorb anything and everything around us," he wrote. Temple and Louis "Bud" Abernathy sit on the horses they rode, alone, to New York City in 1910. Temple and Louis "Bud" Abernathy drove an automobile back to Oklahoma after riding alone to New York City on horseback. Witness to a fading American frontier The early 20th century was a momentous time for the United States. About a decade before the boys took their first trip, the Chicago World's Fair showcased the modernization and technical prowess of the nation. At the expo, historian Frederick Jackson Turner delivered a seminal essay on the state of the American frontier. Turner argued there was no longer a clear line of settlement in the Western United States, which meant the frontier as it had been described in countless articles and fabulous stories was essentially finished. While Turner's paper ignored the impact of westward expansion on Indigenous peoples, he warned Americans that "never again will such gifts of free land offer themselves." "He delivers his paper saying the frontier made Americans more individualistic, self-reliant, more democratic," said David Wrobel, a historian of the American West and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Oklahoma. "And also, he said it was a source of American nationalism. If you're there on the frontier, you're sort of doing the work of the nation." Maybe that explains one reason why the boys became famous along their journey. Yes, they came out of the newly recognized state of Oklahoma that had only recently been settled by white people during the Land Run. And yes, they rode horseback for over 2,000 miles in a time when that same trip could be made by rail, experiencing a version of the hardship felt by earlier explorers. But Wrobel said others had already made cross-country journeys out of the West, and by now it wasn't that much of a novelty. "What's most remarkable is not that they're going on horseback, it's just that they're that young," said Wrobel. Temple and Louis "Bud" Abernathy. Mark Twain's fictional boyhood adventurers Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer were already on the cusp of being teenagers. It wasn't uncommon for boys that age to be laborers on farms or in factories. Yet seeing two boys, ages 6 and 10, riding alone must have been a shock. "These are clearly kids who grew up a lot quicker than most parents would be comfortable having their kids grow up," Wrobel said. A traveling pair Jack Abernathy was an intrepid man himself. Along with hunting wolves, he hunted criminals across the territory and later the state of Oklahoma. Whenever he returned home, he would read cowboy and adventure novels that sparked the boys' curiosity. "One day Bud and I decided we had to go see these things for ourselves," Temple wrote in his memoir. "With our dad as a role model, we thought it only natural that we look for adventure in fact, being his only sons, we decided it was our duty!" It was settled their first adventure would be westward into New Mexico. By the light of a kerosene lamp, the boys spent nights plotting on a map their route to Santa Fe and back across the Great Plains. It took some convincing, but Jack relented and helped prepare the boys for their journey. The trip was harsh and taught the boys about solving problems on their own. They didn't do everything alone, though. On the open range, Temple recalled meeting some men who said they worked in the cattle business. The cowboys fed and followed the boys for a bit on the return leg of that first journey. Once home, a letter turned up addressed to "The Marshal of Oklahoma." "I don't like one hair on your head, but I do like the stuff that is in these kids," the letter read. "We shadowed them through the worst part of New Mexico to see that they were not harmed by sheepherders, mean men or animals." At that point it became clear. The cattlemen they met were rustlers, and the letter's author, a man called Arizona, had been in a shootout with their dad just a few months earlier. In 1910, the boys wanted to meet their dad's friend and former President Teddy Roosevelt in New York City as he returned from an overseas safari. Jack already had planned to meet Roosevelt at the docks, and the boys somehow convinced their father to let them leave early and alone. Their solo trip across the Southwest apparently proved their ability, and he relented. Temple and Bud left their family farm near Frederick, dressed in new boots and hats. They had new leather saddles and blankets ordered all the way from Kansas City. At each city along their path, the boys would stop for a few nights, meet the locals and inevitably speak to reporters. Word of their trip lit up telegraph lines all across the East, and eventually the Abernathy boys were famous everywhere they went. Once reaching New York, they rode their mares behind Roosevelt in a parade celebrating his cavalry regiment known as the Rough Riders. The "Abernathy Boys" portrait depicts a Rough Riders victory parade in New York City, which featured Bud and Temple Abernathy, two young boys who traveled alone on horseback from Frederick, Oklahoma, to New York City and was painted by Mike Wimmer. The portrait hangs in the Oklahoma Capitol. After a few more adventures, the Abernathy boys decided it was time to be normal kids. In his memoir published in 1992, Temple laments that Bud started liking girls around that time, while he became fixated on cars and airplanes. Their dad left law enforcement to become a wildcatter in Texas, where the family remained as the boys grew into adults. "Our eyes were always on the future. We didn't think then about the things we'd learned on our cross-country adventures. But from a perspective of 80 years, it's clear that there were many lasting lessons on those bumpy rides," Temple wrote. "Some of the people who had the least to give were the ones who gave us the most along the road food, shelter and friendship. And when we looked for some good in everyone, we usually found it, even in the bandits we met in New Mexico." This map shows the first three cross-country trips that Temple and Louis "Bud" Abernathy took alone. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Abernathy boys rode horseback alone from Oklahoma to New York City They are sleek, toothy, beautiful, dangerous, endangered, hunted, hunter, prehistoric and often misunderstood. Still, most of us hope to never see one swimming by us at the beach. It's that time of year again where we celebrate and discuss all things shark-related here on the Space Coast otherwise known as the second most likely county in Florida to experience the snapping of tooth-filled jaws on our arms or legs. Just as the Discovery Channel dedicates a week to the wonder and mystery of sharks, so too will we. All this week expect to find new shark-related content online and in the printed FLORIDA TODAY. Shark bites in Florida: See pictures of wounds, scars from survivors We'll learn what types of sharks frequent our waters, what they eat, how they might help us forecast hurricanes, how to protect yourselves from them and much more, including whether shark attacks can help forecast the winner of November's presidential election. With that being said, I wanted to kick off our version of Shark Week by sharing the stories you, the readers, sent me. Thank you to everyone who shared their stories. And apologies if yours didn't make it; I enjoyed reading every single one. Hammerhead a little too close for comfort On my birthday, November 26, 2018, I was surfing the waves on my stand-up paddle board in Melbourne Beach in chest-deep water. To the south I saw three dolphins about 30 feet apart, jumping out of the water and heading towards me. When they got close to me they went under and headed out to sea. I next saw them about 50 yards outside of the waves rolling on the surface. I just figured that they were watching something. Off to the side I saw something surface and head back in towards me. It was white, but not gray like the dolphins. As I lined up a wave to catch, a four-foot tarpon swam by me heading towards shore and right behind it was a 12-foot-hammerhead shark. I could tell the size because my board is nine feet long and as the shark passed, it was several feet longer than the board. The head of a tarpon washed up on the beach after the fish was eaten by a large hammerhead shark in the waters off Melbourne Beach. They both went under and after a while something white surfaced. I paddled over to the other surfer who was out with me and told him that the white thing on the surface was not a bird. I told him that it was the head of a Tarpon that was just eaten by a shark. With much excitement he said, I'm heading in and started to catch the next wave. About that time a large swirl was behind me and another one between me and the surfer. It was the shark swimming under us to say goodbye! The next day the head washed in to prove my story. It Is the attached photo with my feet next to it for a size comparison. Tom Morton, Melbourne Beach Encounter with Bonnetheads and Bulls I recently saw your FLORIDA TODAY article about sharks and I wanted to pass along my shark stories. I've seen both Bonnethead and Bull sharks in the Indian River Lagoon while kayaking/paddle boarding. Nearly every time that I'm on the water in the Long Point Park to Sebastian Inlet area, I see Bonnetheads. Often they will cruise by my watercraft and then swim off. I've seen bull sharks (mostly babies) near where Crane Creek meets the Indian River Lagoon by the Melbourne Harbor. I haven't been able to get any good pictures or videos of them since they seem very skittish. The biggest shark I've seen in the IRL was what we suspect was a bull shark (definitely not a dolphin). My son and I were standing in waist deep water trying to cool off while kayaking. We turned around to see a large shark-shaped fish swimming towards us, then it turned and swam away. Ken Warren, West Melbourne Bitten in the Keys! On Fathers Day 2015, my family was in the Keys where we have spent many years on our boat. We went to an island area we had visited many times before to explore the island and cool off in the water. The wind was high that day and the water was very churned up and cloudy, unlike other times we had been to this area when it is usually very clear. Ironically, we were talking about a recent shark attack that had happened and how rare that is. We were standing in waist-deep water when suddenly, my 9-year-old daughter started screaming that she had just been bit. My husband and I both said, no you probably just got stung by something and she was still very upset while she swam to the boat. The shark bite mark on Samantha Guettler's 9-year-old daughter. When she climbed into the boat her thigh was bleeding profusely and I said, she has been bit! At the same time this same shark was bumping into my husbands and my sons legs we believe trying to get away from the area but not being able to see well due to the churned-up sand. Once we got the wound clean it was obvious the shark had latched on and then immediately let go. People who looked at the bite felt it had the appearance of a nurse shark, one of the rarest to bother people. Thank goodness it was superficial and healed completely. Needless to say, that has been our most memorable Fathers Day and a great story for her if she ever plays two truths and a lie! Samantha Guettler, Viera More: Enormous great white shark pings off Cape Canaveral, in time for Delta IV Heavy launch Scuba diver's recent experience I scuba dive. And we divers know sharks dont like us. Ive had reef sharks and lemon sharks head straight for me like from your patio door to your kitchen table length! Theyve turned 180 degrees away from me and skedaddled. I took on a dive out of Jupiter Dive Center recently and saw three blacktip sharks and a lemon shark. They get hammerheads in there, too! Thats really the nearest dive charter that takes out divers because the reef really begins around Stuart/Jupiter, and the current and visibility are conducive to scuba dive from Jupiter southbound. Joyce Osteman shot this photo of a shark during a recent scuba trip off the coast of Jupiter. Please give a sentence or two of positive notes about sharks as related to diving. We experience no problems with them, in part, because they hate the smell of neoprene! Joyce Osteman, Melbourne Close call SHARKS!! In the more than 50 years of surfing all over the world, I've seen plenty of sharks. But the closest call I ever had was at Ponce Deleon park in South Melbourne Beach about three years ago. I was sitting on my board waiting for a wave when a 6-8-foot bull shark charged toward me. It turned away at the last minute and was less than three feet away! I yelled to my friends to warn them: "SHARK!" I immediately started paddling in and he swiped by me again as I was going in to shore. That was the closest call I ever had. Steve Casanova, Indian Harbour Beach Staying out of the water I arrived Oct 1965 at Cam Rahn Bay air base in South Vietnam in October 1965. At some point in time we made our way to the beach. It was gorgeous but there were no girls around. At any rate I see a 6x6 army truck drive by us with a machine gun fixed atop scaffolding. I asked if the truck and gun were for enemy patrol and they told me "No, it's for shark patrol. If you hear the gun, get out of the water!" It's been 60 years and when Playalinda, New Smyrna, Daytona and other beaches start patrolling with a 6x6 army truck with a machine gun attached, then maybe I'll go back in the water. HA! Bill Metzger, Mims Contact Torres at jtorres@floridatoday.com. You can follow him on X @johnalbertorres or on Facebook at facebook.com/FTjohntorres. This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Shark Week begins with Brevard stories of hammerheads, bull sharks Want to see the Milky Way? Heres when you can view it in the Myrtle Beach, SC, area The night sky has offered South Carolina residents a number of amazing sights so far this year, including the northern lights, launches of SpaceX satellites and a solar and lunar eclipse. And now, Myrtle Beach area residents will have another celestial opportunity this summer. The months of July and August are the best time of the year to see the Milky Way without a telescope, according to LiveScience, a popular science website. The Milky Way galaxy consists of several hundred billion stars, including our sun. If the skies are clear, its possible to see those stars in the southern sky right after sunset. You also need a moonless night, which is why now, during the new moon, is a good time to try to see the Milky Way. Thats when the skies are darkest throughout the year. According to LiveScience, the best times this summer to see the Milky Way are through July 8, July 28 through Aug. 7 and Aug. 26 through Sept. 6. Ian Hewitt, president of the Grand Strand Astronomers Club and an astronomy professor at Coastal Carolina University, said this summer is a good time to see the Milky Way. However, finding a good spot in the Myrtle Beach area could be challenging. Horry County doesnt have any major urban cities, but we do have light pollution, which can affect what you see in the night sky. Hewitt suggests going further south or west in Horry County to get out to where it may be darker. He said downtown Myrtle Beach or Conway are not good options for viewing because of the city lights. On a really good night, assuming the weather cooperates, stargazers could also see the galaxy from the beach if they look to the south, Hewitt said. Hewitt suggests checking the cloud forecast by looking at the astronomical forecast, which is different from a general weather forecast. You dont want any clouds, he said. Hewitt said such sites as Clearoutside.com or Astropheric.com offer viewing conditions for astronomers. Hewitt also suggests Hampton State Park, where members of the Grand Strand Astronomers Club usually do their stargazing. Although its a little more than an hour away from Myrtle Beach, Hewitt said its reasonably dark and when the moon is not up, you can make out the Milky Way with the naked eye pretty easily. Here are some good spots along the Grand Strand to view the stars: Playcard Environment Education center, off Highway 19 in Loris. It sits on more than 200 acres in the northwestern part of Horry County and offers outdoor education programs. It at times has offered stargazing events. Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet. This state park is along the Atlantic Ocean but is far enough away from hotels and homes to provide a nice sky view. Pawleys Island. The centuries-old community is about 35 minutes south of Myrtle Beach. A good spot that has few homes and no hotels is on the far south end of the island. Ron Thurman, 88, rides his three-wheel bike on the pathway at Keizer Rapids Park on July 3 in Keizer. The park will feature the first annual Riverwalk Art Fair on Aug. 9-11, hosted by the Keizer Art Association. The Keizer Art Association has been talking about hosting an art fair for more than a decade, never wanting to compete against longstanding events in Salem and Silverton. But the all-volunteer nonprofit saw an opening this summer when Salem Art Fair & Festival shifted to September and Silverton Fine Arts Festival announced it would be placed "on pause" for 2024. "The timing is right for us," said Lore Christopher, the board chair for the Keizer Art Association. The art association, in partnership with the Keizer Chamber of Commerce, will host the first annual Riverwalk Art Fair Aug. 9-11 at Keizer Rapids Park. It will coincide with KeizerFEST, staged at the other end of the park. Exhibitors and visitors will be provided easy access, shade and 24-hour security with display booths along the paved walk of the southernmost area of the park. If facing the boat ramp, the art fair will be staged to the left, along the 12-foot-wide path shaded by cottonwood trees. Riverwalk Art Fair is open to all Oregon resident artists with their original artwork and reproductions, and there is no commission on sales. Booth fees are $150, covering the cost of around-the-clock security during the event. The hours of the Riverwalk Art Fair are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 9; and Saturday, Aug. 10; and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 11. The deadline for applications is July 31. Artists in need of a tent should apply by Wednesday, July 10. Apply online at www.keizerarts.com under the "Call to Artists" section. Email questions to keizerartassociation@gmail.com. Capi Lynn is a senior reporter for the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips to her at clynn@statesmanjournal.com, and follow her work on Twitter @CapiLynn and Facebook @CapiLynnSJ. This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Keizer's Riverwalk Art Fair seeking Oregon artists for event NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) One person was shot in Nashville Saturday evening. Metro police said just after 6 p.m. Saturday, July 6, officers were sent to the 1200 block of Katie Avenue off Brick Church Pike to investigate a shooting. When officers arrived at the location, they found one person with a single gunshot wound to the left thigh. Have breaking news come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts Witnesses at the scene told officers the victim and suspect had an ongoing back and forth argument over the last few weeks. The suspect was said to be with his brother in a red Chevrolet Impala as they drove past the victim, firing shots at them from a handgun and shotgun, according to investigators. Police said the victims injuries are non-critical. It is unclear whether or not any suspects are in custody. 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. 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. Man shot, killed with own gun during fight along Antioch Pike, police say ANTIOCH, Tenn. (WKRN) A man was shot and killed with his own gun late Saturday night during a fight along Antioch Pike, officials said. According to Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD), the shooting was reported just after 11 p.m. in the 1600 block of Antioch Pike on Saturday, July 6. Have breaking news come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts Officials said a preliminary investigation indicates that the victim, who appeared to be a young adult, was riding a skateboard when he was approached by three individuals. Surveillance video in the area reportedly captured a physical altercation between the victim and the suspects, which led to victim dropping a pistol. Man killed in targeted shooting outside West Nashville market, police say Police said one of the individuals in the group is then seen retrieving the gun and shooting the victim. After he was shot, the victim ran from the scene before collapsing in front of a business nearby, officials said. According to MNPD, the victim who has not been identified died at the scene. Meanwhile, the three other individuals fled the scene on foot. CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime news from Middle Tennessee Anyone with information about the deadly incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463. No other information was immediately released. 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. 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. DENVER (KDVR) One person is dead after a crash involving one motorcycle in Denver Saturday evening. The call came in at 9 p.m. The Denver Police Department is investigating the crash near 19th Street and Broadway, which is right between the Central Business District and North Capitol Hill neighborhoods. This embedded content is not available in your region. One person was taken to a hospital and was pronounced dead, according to police. Police said travelers can expect road closures and delays in the area. FOX31 has a crew headed to the scene to learn more and this article will be updated. 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. 1 person flown to a hospital after fire in Washington County One person was injured after a fire in Washington County on Saturday. Washington County dispatchers say emergency crews were called to the 1200 block of Fayette Street in Washington for the fire at 6:55 p.m. One person was trapped inside when firefighters arrived on the scene, investigators say. That person was rescued and flown to a hospital in Pittsburgh. The fire is under control at this time. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Former Penn State football player among 3 people killed in early-morning crash in Maryland Pine Township neighbors react after 2 men found dead in pool on July 4th holiday Vanessa Hudgens, Cole Tucker welcome baby; slam paparazzi for breaking news VIDEO: New sports-centered OASIS event in Pittsburgh aims to help student athletes succeed DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts On Saturday, 123 combat clashes occurred at the line of contact, the situation on the Pokrovsk front remained the most intense, and the Russians also actively attacked on the Lyman and Kurakhove fronts. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 22:00 on 6 July Details: During the day, the Russians launched two missile attacks on the territory of Ukraine with the use of two missiles and 48 air strikes (including 60 guided aerial bombs) and used 317 loitering munitions. Russia carried out 2,772 attacks on the positions of Ukrainian troops and settlements. On the Kharkiv front, Russia attacked nine times near Lyptsi, Hlyboke, and Vovchansk. The defenders successfully repelled all Russian assault actions. Russian losses on this front currently amount to 62 servicemen (both killed and injured), five automobiles and three units of special equipment. 25 UAVs were destroyed, four vehicles and two artillery systems were also damaged. On the Kupiansk front, Russia tried to advance to Ukrainian positions near Petropavlivka, Synkivka and Stelmakhivka six times during the day. The defence forces have successfully repelled four Russian attacks. Two combat clashes continue in the area of Synkivka, but the situation is under control. On the Lyman front, the Russians are quite active today. They attacked 19 times in the areas of Nevske, Makiivka, Hrekivka, Terny and Torske. Six combat clashes are still taking place. The Russian losses are being clarified. On the Sivershchyna front, the Russians tried to break through the Ukrainian defence in the areas of Spirne and Vyimka four times. Russia had no success there. The situation is under control. On the Kramatorsk front, the Russians attacked nine times near the settlements of Kalynivka, Klishchiivka, Chasiv Yar, Andriivka and Ivanivske. All attacks were repelled, and the Russians suffered losses. On the Toretsk front, the Russians, with the support of aviation, tried to conduct assault operations near Toretsk, Zalizne, Pivnichne and New-York 11 times. The battle continues near New-York. The situation is under control. On the Pokrovsk front, the Russians were most active. Since the beginning of the day, they have tried to break into the Ukrainian defence in the areas of Yurivka, Novooleksandrivka, Vozdvyzhenka, Kalynove, Lozyvatka, Prohres, Novoselivka Persha, Yevhenivka, Yasnobrodivka and Karlivka 41 times. As of midnight of 7 July, 29 Russian attacks have been repelled, and 12 combat clashes continue. The Ukrainian defenders are taking measures to stabilise the situation and prevent the Russians from advancing deep into Ukrainian territory. Early reports say that on Saturday, Ukrainian soldiers killed 181 Russians on the Pokrovsk front. Three Russian vehicles were destroyed, and two were damaged. One artillery system was also destroyed. On the Kurakhove front, Russia attacked Ukrainian positions 17 times. It was most active in the area of Konstiantynivka and Paraskoviivka. There are still battles in three locations. On the Vremivka front, two Russian assaults were repelled near Vodiane. Russia did not succeed. On the Orikhiv front, the Russians attacked Ukrainian positions four times in the area of the settlements of Mala Tokmachka, Novodanylivka, Robotyne and Novoandriivka. One attack continues near Mala Tokmachka. On the Prydniprovske front, the situation has not changed significantly, and no positions or territories were lost. Ukrainian soldiers successfully repelled one Russian attack on the left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro River. Support UP or become our patron! Firefighting crews work to build a fire line as they continue to battle the Lake fire in Santa Barbara County on Sunday. (Daniel Dreifuss / AFP / Getty Images) A wildfire in the mountains above Santa Barbara County's Santa Ynez Valley has exploded to nearly 19,000 acres, prompting evacuations near vineyards and Neverland Ranch. The Lake fire was sparked near Zaca Lake on Friday afternoon just before 4 p.m. and quickly spread through dry grass, brush and timber, officials said. All weekend, the blaze grew, prompting evacuations Saturday night along Figueroa Mountain Road near Neverland Ranch, once owned by pop star Michael Jackson. Several air tankers and 10 helicopters along with hundreds of firefighters were dispatched to the area, but the flames blackened an additional 3,000 acres Sunday. The fire was 8% contained as of late Sunday, and officials forecast the fire would continue moving south and southeast, with increased heat, wind and bone-dry grass fueling its spread. Our goal is to keep [the fire] away from ... structures, said Kenichi Haskett, the public information officer assigned to the firefighting operation. Its going to continue to grow. Maps posted by the U.S. Forest Service showed the fire near the edge of Neverland Ranch along Figueroa Mountain Road, but it was unclear if any structures were damaged or if the flames had reached the property. The fire was burning in the mountains above Foxen Canyon Road, where there are more than a dozen vineyards. Several wineries north of Los Olivos were closed Sunday after fire officials cut off access to the road. But there was no need to evacuate, Ashley Parker, co-owner of Fess Parker Winery, said early Sunday. Parker felt the threat level was low, with the fire moving to the north. She said youngsters at the establishment were entertained by the fire helicopters sucking water from the vineyard reservoir. My nieces and their husbands live on the ranch," Parker said. All the kids were getting a real thrill out of it. Those helicopter pilots are really amazing. So lucky to have great fire crews. The fire was fueled by low humidity and hot inland temperatures. When the blaze started, a red flag warning was in place because of gusty winds. The wind calmed Sunday afternoon, but temperatures remained high. With less wind, they can get aircraft in there to drop retardant, said Joe Sirard, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Oxnard. But its life-threatening heat for these firefighters. He said the humidity was still in single digits in some areas of the fire, especially in the highest elevations. The cause of the fire is unknown. Vista fire ignites as crews get handle on Basin, French fires Amid scorching temperatures, crews continued to battle several wildfires in inland areas across California. The largest is the Basin fire in Fresno County, which started June 26. The fire, which has burned 14,027 acres, was 60% contained Sunday. Crews also gained the upper hand on the French fire, which began on the Fourth of July and briefly 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, stands at 60% containment. Farther south, the Vista fire ignited just before 10 a.m. Sunday in the Lytle Creek area of the San Bernardino National Forest and spread to about 94 acres by the early evening, according to the U.S. Forest Service. An evacuation order was issued for the Mt. Baldy ski area and portions of the Pacific Crest Trail. Other nearby paths were closed while more than 250 firefighters battled the blaze. The fire was 0% contained as of Sunday evening. Inland areas of California battered by heat The weather service has issued an excessive-heat warning until 9 p.m. Wednesday for inland valleys from Cuyama in Santa Barbara County down to the Antelope Valley in Los Angeles County. Forecasters say the highs along this stretch of inland California are expected to range from 106 to 116 degrees. The relentless heat shattered records in some parts of the state 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. On Saturday, a cooling trend prompted the weather service to call off excessive-heat advisories and warnings in many of the coastal areas. Read more: Motorcycle tour of Death Valley turns fatal as thermometer cracks 128 degrees In Los Olivos, vineyard managers said Sunday afternoon they were optimistic that the fire would be contained. Parker said she expected her winery to reopen Monday. I really do believe the firefighters knocked it back and that area is going to be up to speed in a day, she said. The last thing I want to do is encourage people not to come. The town of Los Olivos is in good shape. Businesses are open. People are having a good time. Adrian De La Cruz, who works at Petros Winery closer to town, said customers were being seated indoors because of the air quality. The smoke is getting really bad today, he said. Yesterday it was raining ash. He said one fire patrol officer stopped by, but he did not have time to talk to him. We were busy, he said. Time staff writer Matt Hamilton contributed to this report. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) An 18-year-old man was injured in a shooting early Sunday morning, July 7 in Las Cruces, police there said. Shortly before 9 a.m., Las Cruces Police were dispatched about a report of a shooting victim along the 2200 block of North Alameda Boulevard. When officers arrived, they found an 18-year-old man suffering from at least one gunshot wound, Las Cruces Police said. The victim was airlifted to University Medical Center of El Paso. His condition is unknown at this time. Police are continuing to investigate the shooting. Anyone with information that can help identify a suspect, or help investigators determine what led to the shooting, is asked to call police at (575) 526-0795. 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. POCATELLO, Idaho (ABC4) Idaho State Police seized 18 pounds of methamphetamine during a traffic stop near Pocatello, Idaho, on Tuesday. On July 2, an Idaho trooper was patrolling Interstate 86. The trooper saw a white 2015 Hyundai Genesis with invalid registration and conducted a traffic stop. The driver a Tulare, Calif. woman, 23 reportedly did not have a valid drivers license. She was accompanied by three others in the vehicle. Search for missing child last seen on July 4 concludes, child found near Kearns Courtesy of Idaho State Police The trooper found their behavior to be suspicious, noticed the smell of marijuana coming from the vehicle, and observed marijuana products inside. The trooper conducted a vehicle search and found multiple THC vape cartridges, as well as 18 plastic packages of methamphetamine, amounting to around 18 pounds of meth. The driver was booked into Bannock County Jail on Tracking Methamphetamine, while another Tulare, Calif. woman, 34, was booked on the same charge. The two other occupants of the vehicle both juvenile males were booked into the Bannock County Detention Center on Trafficking Illegal Drugs. This seizure highlights our unwavering commitment to removing illegal drugs from our communities, stated Domestic Highway Enforcement (DHE) Canine Sergeant Chris Cottrell. These dangerous substances pose significant risks to public health and safety, and we remain dedicated to protecting our citizens. The DHE team is a multi-jurisdictional narcotics task force that identifies, disrupts, and dismantles local, multi-state, and international drug trafficking organizations using an intelligence-driven, multi-agency, prosecutor-supported approach, according to a press release from Idaho State Police. 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. Detroit to crack down on illegal block parties after 21 people shot, 2 fatally A major crackdown on illegal pop-up block parties was announced Monday by Detroit leaders following multiple shootings that erupted at outdoor get-togethers since the Fourth of July, including one Sunday where two people were killed and 19 injured. Detroit Police Chief James White said the shooting that erupted at a large illegal block party in east Detroit early Sunday involved multiple shooters, including at least one using a handgun fitted with a so-called "Glock switch," a banned device that turns semiautomatic Glock firearms into machine guns. The shooting unfolded around 2:25 a.m. on the city's east side near Wish Egan Field in the Mohican Regent neighborhood, according to police. PHOTO: Detroit police investigate a shooting on July 7, 2024, left two people dead and 17 injured at a block party on the city's east side. (WXYZ) White said investigators recovered more than 100 shell casings and nine different weapons at the crime scene. He said the shooting left 15 women and six men shot, including a 20-year-old woman who was fatally shot in the head and a 21-year-old man who was fatally shot in the back. No arrests have been announced. When the shooting broke out, White said police officers were nearby investigating gunfire that erupted at another illegal block party. "We're not going to have neighbors becoming hostages in their own homes this summer, and that's what's happening," Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said at a news conference Monday attended by White and anti-violence community leaders. Duggan said that since July 4, six shootings have occurred at illegal pop-up block parties, including the one on Sunday, leaving a total of 27 people shot, three fatally. White added that 11 of the victims were from out of town. Duggan noted the string of block party shootings comes amid a historic 33% decrease in overall violent crime in the Motor City in 2023 compared to 2022, including an 18% drop in homicides and a 16% reduction in non-fatal shootings. "This threatens to undo a year of progress and we are going to act to address it," Duggan said. Moving forward, White said a special task force of 80 officers will focus on responding to illegal block parties in the city and prosecuting property owners and organizers of the events. He said other officers will be assigned to patrol the city specifically looking for the illegal parties. "These are pre-planned events attracting people miles away," White said. He said organizers of the pop-up block parties have tried to surreptitiously spread the word of the get-together over social media, attracting people from outside Detroit and even from outside the state. White said anyone throwing a block party must adhere to established city rules requiring hosts to apply for a block-party permit, advise police of the event and get permission from 75% of their neighbors. He said city rules also require that the parties end by 10 p.m. He said 911 complaints of illegal block parties occurring will be elevated to a high priority-one response, meaning officers will immediately be sent to investigate. White said that since May, the police department has received more than 500 911 calls reporting disturbances stemming from illegal pop-up block parties. "Were going to make it clear that right now the goal is not to chase the partygoers but to go after the party organizers," White said. Michigan State Police are assisting the Detroit Police Department in the investigation of Sunday's mass shooting through its joint Homicide Task Force. MORE: Machine-gun conversion device dubbed 'Glock switches' taking violence to the 'next level': Experts A motive for the shooting remains under investigation. Police are asking anyone with information about the shooting to call Crime Stoppers or contact Detroit police detectives. Sunday's incident follows several recent shootings that have occurred at illegal Detroit block parties. On July 4, three women were shot and wounded at an unauthorized block party in northwest Detroit that had attracted several hundred partygoers, police said. MORE: Multiple people shot at Michigan splash pad park, suspect dead: Police On June 15, an 18-year-old girl was killed and five other people were injured, including a 14-year-old girl, at a block party on the east side of Detroit. On June 1, four people were shot, two critically, at a late-night party outside a north Detroit home. Eight guns and 93 shell casings were recovered at the crime scene. Two of the weapons were found to be stolen, including the one equipped with a Glock switch, police said. Detroit to crack down on illegal block parties after 21 people shot, 2 fatally originally appeared on abcnews.go.com 2 men face drug and weapons charges after trafficking investigation in south GA Two south Georgia men have been arrested and law enforcement seized drugs and guns in a bust during a trafficking investigation. On Friday, June 28, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cook County Sheriffs Office, Hahira Police Department, and Georgia State Patrol arrested Shyiem Marquon Banks, age 28, and Roderick Dion Collins, age 36, after an investigation into drug trafficking in Adel, Georgia. A search warrant executed at the mens home led to the seizure of 210 grams of suspected methamphetamine, 3.2 pounds of suspected marijuana, 13 grams of suspected Flakka/bath salts, over 90 suspected oxycodone tablets, and 2 guns. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Banks faces charges that include trafficking methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, possession of a schedule II controlled substance, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Collins was charged with two counts of conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine, trafficking in methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, possession of a schedule II controlled substance, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Both men were booked into the Cook County Jail. TRENDING STORIES: [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: 2 Teen Sisters Die After Being Pulled from the Water at Coney Island Beach: 'Tragic Event' The teenagers have been identified as 18-year-old Aisha Mohammed and 17-year-old Zainab Mohammed of the Bronx Deccio Serrano/NurPhoto/Shutterstock General view of Coney Island Beach in New York in 2023 Two teenage sisters were pronounced dead after police say they were pulled from the water at Coney Island Beach in Brooklyn, New York. On Friday, July 5, around 8:10 p.m. local time, authorities responded to a call about a "water rescue" around Stillwell Avenue and Boardwalk West, the New York Police Department told PEOPLE. When they arrived, officers discovered that two teenage girls "entered the water and disappeared from view" at the beach. "The NYPD's Aviation, Harbor and Scuba units responded to the scene and conducted a search for the individuals," the NYPD said. "Divers removed both females from the water." The teenagers, who have since been identified as 18-year-old Aisha Mohammed and 17-year-old Zainab Mohammed of the Bronx, were transported to a local hospital where they were pronounced dead. The investigation is ongoing, the NYPD said. Related: 16-Year-Old Boy Drowns Under Bridge While Fishing with Friends: 'He Was Full of Life' Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty A New York Police Department vehicle photographed in October 2022 Multiple outlets, including CBS News and WABC, reported that Aisha and Zainab were sisters. Witness Danny Quinones told CBS that the girls' deaths were a "tragic event." "I saw a lot of cops and firemen running towards the situation, and then the next thing you know, the family of the victims they go to the same area but were told to go to the boardwalk," he said. The teens' father, Mohammed Faye, told The New York Times that relatives called him at 8:30 p.m. to notify him that his daughters were missing before his "whole family rushed to the beach." He said that by the time he arrived at the hospital, Zainab was pronounced dead and medical staff were trying to revive Aisha. Faye revealed that his daughters left for the beach from their grandmother's house and that the girls could not swim. He also told the outlet that he used to drive Zainab and Aisha to Coney Island when they were younger. "I wish they would have asked me," he said. "I would have asked God to take me and leave them." WABC reported that the teens entered the ocean as other people on the beach ran for cover amid rainfall. A witness told the outlet that a man attempted to stop them but was unsuccessful. Others reportedly did not want to enter the water due to the rough conditions. "A guy, he saw the two little girls asking for help so he tried to help but he also went into the water but he can't swim either," the witness said. Related: Influencer's Son, 2, Dead After Leaving Hotel Room and Drowning in Pool While Mom and Dad Napped: 'Little Angel' The teens were pulled from the water at 9:30 p.m. and pronounced dead after 10 p.m., per CBS News. Their deaths come less than 24 hours after two teenage boys were pulled out of the water on the same beach after lifeguards had ended their work days, the outlet noted. One of the boys was reportedly taken to Coney Island Hospital in stable condition. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Children allegedly abducted by their mother in Los Angeles have been found The three children that police say were abducted by their mother in Los Angeles have been located, authorities announced on Sunday. Mar-Naiya Shelton, 14, Major Shelton, 12, and Jeneral Wellace-Peterson, 6, were taken by their mother Timberly White around 9 a.m. on the morning of July 10 in the 2000 block of West Florence Avenue in South L.A., according to the LAPD. Police say the children are now with a family member. It was not immediately clear if White, 31, has been located by authorities, or if shell be facing criminal charges. She does not have custodial rights to the children, authorities 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 KTLA. HONOLULU (KHON) A group of kids in Hawaii were arrested after allegedly blowing up a cluster of mailboxes with fireworks over the Fourth of July weekend. Some residents in the Ewa suburb of Honolulu said they heard a loud boom around 11:30 a.m. Friday and were shocked when they saw the damaged mailboxes. It was really loudsounded like a bomb, one woman, who did not want to be identified, told Nexstars KHON. We heard something, we saw it fall, and then it dropped in my yard. It looked like the top of the mailbox. Only 1 state in the US completely bans consumer fireworks Honolulu police responded to the scene within 10 minutes, and officials said three juveniles were arrested on suspicion of second-degree criminal property damage. Hopefully theyre old enough to understand now that they did something bad. They got caught, and now theyve got to get the repercussions, said Pomai Tabilang, who lives nearby. A cluster of mailboxes was apparently blown up by a firework in Honolulus Ewa neighborhood on July 5, 2024. (Courtesy of Scott Barnes) Residents told KHON that while they were surprised at the boldness of people blowing up mailboxes in broad daylight, theyre grateful for the officers quick response. I know once it happened, there were a lot of people in the neighborhood that ran out trying to find them, like driving their cars and stuff, but the cops were fast, another neighbor said. More US and World News The U.S. Postal Inspector said destroying a mailbox can be a federal crime, but since minors are not often federally charged, any decision to pursue charges will likely be made at the state level. State Rep. Diamond Garcia said its great the alleged culprits were caught by police, but prosecutors following through with ramifications will be key. The fact is they damaged property, consequences need to be handed out, these kids need to know that there are penalties for breaking the law, Garcia said, adding that a kid could have died from it. Who knows? The Honolulu Prosecutors Office said they cant comment on cases involving juveniles. Police havent confirmed whether or not the juveniles were released pending an 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 PIX11. A family car hit a Russian mine while driving through a forest in Kharkiv Oblast, killing at least four people including a child on July 7, according to Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov. "Identification of bodies continues. According to relatives of the deceased, there could have been six people in the car: four adults and two children," Syniehubov wrote on Telegram. "Further search for bodies and identification of persons is ongoing. Investigators and rescuers are working at the scene of the tragedy." "We remind you: all forest strips, roadsides of the liberated territories are extremely dangerous! Anti-tank, anti-personnel and other mines can be well camouflaged on the surface or in the ground," Syniehubov wrote. Ukrainian officials have reported that nearly a third of Ukraine's land, totaling around 174,000 square kilometers, has been mined since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022. The ministry said on April 4 that mine-related explosions have killed 296 civilians and injured 665 others. Read also: 30,000 square kilometers of Ukraines land cleared of mine threats, operations expanding further Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Four people, including a 4-year-old, were injured in a shooting at a house party in Ohio Saturday evening. The shooting was reported on Morningview Avenue in Akron around 7:45 p.m., according to WOIO in Cleveland. >> Neighbors concerned after witnessing crash involving RTA bus in Dayton When officers got to the scene, they found four people with gunshot wounds. Along with the 4-year-old, three adults between the ages of 33 and 52 were also injured, WKYC reported. The conditions of the victims have not been released at this time. >> 4 dead, 3 hurt after mass shooting during 21st birthday party in Kentucky; Suspect dies at hospital Akron Police did not release any information on the suspect. The shooting remains under investigation. Editors note: This story is available as a result of a content partnership between WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal. An apartment complex in south Orlandos Hunters Creek neighborhood sold May 24 for $100.6 million, according to a deed that posted June 27, the only multifamily sales to cross the $100 million threshold this year. Osprey Links, a multi-building complex of 424 units on 27.67 acres near State Road 417 and John Young Parkway, was sold to Osprey Links Owner LLC, which is tied to New York-based Brookfield Properties. Read: Judsons Live features jazz from the past, present & future The seller of the property, Mar Osprey LLC, is linked to Connecticut-based Starwood Capital Group. Click here to read the full story on the Orlando Business Journals website. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. 51 arrested in massive drug, theft bust in Southern California Fifty-one suspects were arrested during a multi-million dollar drug and theft bust in Southern California. The operation, which spanned three counties, was conducted by the San Bernardino Police Departments Auto Theft Task Force along with other local agencies. Authorities searched multiple locations where 51 suspects were arrested in total. During the crackdown, a stockpile of illegal and stolen goods was discovered including: $8 million of stolen cargo $325,000 in cash 425 pounds of methamphetamine 48 gallons of liquid meth 20 stolen vehicles 20 rifles and handguns 1 working meth lab Fifty-one suspects were arrested and $8 million worth of stolen cargo was discovered during a San Bernardino County bust operation. (San Bernardino Police Department) Fifty-one suspects were arrested and $8 million worth of stolen cargo was discovered during a San Bernardino County bust operation. (San Bernardino Police Department) Fifty-one suspects were arrested and $8 million worth of stolen cargo was discovered during a San Bernardino County bust operation. (San Bernardino Police Department) Photos of the bust show the stolen cargo was stored in a warehouse and, along with the seized firearms, officers found a significant amount of ammunition as well. The 51 suspects who were arrested were booked on numerous charges including felonies related to train burglaries, VIN-switched stolen vehicles, operating a meth lab, possession of meth for sale, child endangerment, possession of assault weapons, conspiracy and more. The suspects identities were not released. Anyone with information on the case can contact San Bernardino police at 909-384-5742. 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. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) A 60-year-old woman was hospitalized after a mobile home fire in central Las Vegas valley Friday evening. Around 5 p.m., Las Vegas Fire & Rescue responded to a report of a fire at a mobile home in the 2700 block of Stewart Avenue near Eastern Avenue. When crews arrived, they rescued a 60-year-old woman from the home. Mother, children left with nothing after massive fire in central Las Vegas The woman was taken to a local hospital where she was in critical condition. LVFR investigators are still working to identify the cause of the fire. 2 firefighters injured, 13 displaced after 2 home fires in Las Vegas valley Firefighters across the Las Vegas valley were busy the day after the Fourth of July after two other homes were damaged by fire resulting in two firefighters being injured while battling flames at a townhome in the east Las Vegas valley. 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. El Paso, Texas (KTSM) Tropical Storm Beryl is currently in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday afternoon with sustained winds of 60 mph. Beryl is expected to re-strengthen into a hurricane by Sunday before making its landfall on the Texas coast. Landfall is forecasted to take place Sunday night or Monday morning. I will ensure to keep you updated on Beryl as we inch closer to its landfall. In the meantime, lets bring it back to the El Paso area. The National Weather Service has issued a Heat Advisory and it is expected to expire at 6 a.m. on Monday, July 8. On Sunday, we are forecasting sunny skies and dry conditions. Our predicted high for this day is expected to reach a scorching 106 degrees with an overnight low cooling off to 78 degrees. Stay hydrated, take frequent breaks if you are outdoors for long periods of time and wear light clothing to help keep you cool. Now, we begin to see a moisture pattern starting Monday through Thursday. Monday, we are forecasting a 40% chance of storms mainly in the evening. During the day, we can expect to reach a high of 100 degrees with evening temperatures sitting at 74 degrees. Double digits are predicted for Tuesday, with a forecasted high of 99 degrees. We will also have a 30% chance of afternoon thunderstorms which may create a humid atmosphere for us this day. Wednesday, we have a slight chance of storms once again with a high expected to remain in the double digits at 98 degrees. Wednesday evening, we are forecasting to sit at 76 degrees. As we continue the pattern of moisture into Thursday, humidity will remain a factor in our weather conditions. We are predicting a 20% chance of afternoon storms that can possibly bleed into the evening. Storm chances will continue for both Friday and Saturday. Fridays high is expected to warm up to 100 degrees, while Saturday sits at 99 degrees. Sunday, we are in for another double-digit day at 98 degrees, with some cloud coverage throughout the day with an evening temperatures at 77 degrees. Monday will kick back up to those triple digits and partly cloudy skies. 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. TEXAS (KXAN) Gov. Greg Abbott announced Sunday Texas was working toward opening a State of Texas Taiwan Office in an effort to enhance the economic and cultural cooperation between Texas and Taiwan, promoting more trade, investment, and collaboration between Texas and Taiwan, per a news release. The announcement came amid a press event in Taipei and as part of Abbotts three-nation economic development mission involving Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. While Abbott is overseas, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is serving as acting governor and helping guide preparations for Hurricane Beryl ahead of its expected landfall in the northern Mexico and South Texas area late Sunday into early Monday. RELATED: Lt. Governor Dan Patrick to be acting Governor during Hurricane Beryls expected landfall in Texas Prior to Sundays news, Abbott and Taiwan Minister of Economic Affairs Jyh-Huei Kuo signed an Economic Development Statement of Intent. That agreement is designed to promote investment, job creation and trade operations between the two entities. Once established, the State of Texas Taiwan Office will operate within the Office of the Governor and under the Texas Economic Development &Tourism Office, per the release. Texas and Taiwan are critical economic partners that seek to drive the future of innovation, Abbott said in the release. Today, I am announcing two key initiatives that will help bolster our economic relationship and foster unprecedented prosperity for our two peoples. Both initiativesan economic agreement and a new State of Texas Taiwan Officewill strengthen the economic and cultural relationship between Texas and Taiwan. By working together, we will ensure our people have the freedom and opportunity to thrive in the growing economies of the 21st century. 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 KXAN Austin. Assembly member Jenifer Rajkumar speaking at a rally in support of the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit at 32BJ Headquarters in New York State Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar, a close ally of Mayor Eric Adams, opened an exploratory committee to run for New York City Comptroller Saturday. The move is the first step toward potentially setting up a bruising 2025 primary for between the Queens Democrat and Brad Lander, who currently holds the job as the citys top fiscal steward. We have the most expensive health care system in the world, the largest education system in the country and New York City is the largest metropolitan economy on the globe, Rajkumar told The Post. And yet hardworking New Yorkers who work 25 hours a day 8 days a week and pay some of the highest taxes in the country are not able to get lifesaving healthcare, quality education or adequate transportation. There is not enough return on investment or government accountability. This government inefficiency is costing lives. I can fix it, and that is why I am exploring a run for New York City Comptroller. State Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar is moving closer toward a run for city comptroller Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images Rajkumar has been meeting with unions bosses, faith leaders and Democratic power-brokers to explore the effort. Lander, a far-left progressive, has caused controversy for tying city pensions to investments that prioritize environmental, social and governance issues, which pursue woke social justice causes ahead of maximizing shareholder value. Brad Lander has taken heat for squandering city pension cash on woke investing. Getty Images The contest may not happen at all however, should Lander challenge Adams himself in a mayoral primary which The Post previously reported he was planning to do. The 2025 NYC Democratic primary is scheduled for June 24, with the general election on Nov. 4. Gov. Jim Pillen listens to a local farmer discuss possible impacts of proposed property tax reform ideas at a town hall in Pillens hometown of Columbus on June 26, 2024. In front of Pillen is State Sen. Mike Moser of Columbus. State Treasurer Tom Briese, left, also watches during the event. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen is facing pushback for some of his property tax reform ideas from some of his closest agricultural allies in the Legislature. He may need their support to pass reforms during a special session expected this month. Pillen has signaled he will bring lawmakers back to Lincoln beginning July 25 to enact property tax reforms. Among his ideas is the suggestion to remove sales tax exemptions currently in place for agricultural and manufacturing inputs like seeds, fertilizer, chemicals or other materials used in producing final, taxable products. He has discussed taxing both at lower sales tax rates than other goods at 2 cents per dollar purchase, for example, rather than a broader rate of 5.5 cents per dollar on most goods or services. Hes said doing so could save producers money if the state does as he has also suggested and takes on a majority of local K-12 funding, which could reduce some property tax bills by up to 60%. But some farmers in the Legislature who supported Pillens property tax relief proposals during the spring legislative session said they are opposed to removing sales tax exemptions on ag inputs. Other senators Pillen could need to get to 33 votes for his property tax ideas have also questioned his living and breathing plan for not being finalized or released in writing. Some lawmakers have openly said theyll craft their own proposals. Together, the fracturing of Nebraskas legislative branch could complicate, if not jeopardize, Pillens path to find enough support to overcome a likely filibuster from opponents. A potential double whammy One of Pillens closest allies, the Nebraska Farm Bureau, is one such force seeking to influence lawmakers with a new email campaign before a special session begins. The email argues that taxing inputs could harm farm families and increase prices for producers and consumers. The Farm Bureaus support of Pillens 2022 campaign for governor helped propel the veterinarian and hog farmer into the governors office. Taxing inputs would only put Nebraska farmers at a major competitive disadvantage compared to other states that dont, the email states. State Sen. Teresa Ibach, a farmer and rancher from Sumner, expressed similar concerns that eliminating the exemptions on inputs, even at a lower rate, could raise taxes over time. She said she has been meeting closely with the Farm Bureau to be on the same page of protecting agriculture. I think the one thing we all agree on is that property taxes are a burden, and the challenge is going to be finding 33 of us who can agree on a path forward, Ibach said. After putting a pencil to how input taxes would impact her operation, Ibach said, she found shed pay about the same amount of taxes, if not more, in sales taxes instead. Ibach said all Nebraskans must be considered and benefit when lawmakers consider eventual property tax relief proposals. She pointed to young farmers and ranchers renting farmland who might not benefit from the reductions. Once we start taxing inputs and rent doesnt come down, then theyve got a double whammy and were just discouraging young folks from even returning to the farming operation, Ibach said. Rented farmland and border bleed State Sens. Tom Brandt and Myron Dorn, farmers from Plymouth and Adams, respectively, said the double whammy is because most Nebraska farmers, particularly beginning farmers, work on rented ground. Unless savings are passed on, they said, producers might pay more in taxes. The father will probably pass it on to the son, but if Im renting to my neighbor, will I pass that on? Especially if Im an out-of-state property owner, will I pass that on? Thats a good question, Dorn said as examples. That plan would work very well for older farmers like myself. Thats the fallacy in that one unique, particular argument, Brandt said. Brandt cautioned that some Nebraska consumers might choose to spend their tax dollars in one of Nebraskas six neighboring states, including taxpayers in his district, which borders Kansas. Farmers, for example, might choose to travel south to purchase needed but cheaper supplies, like net wrap, the plastic wrap used in baling hay, Brandt said. If exemptions are removed, he argued it should be meaningful ones not as easily affected by border crossings. He said that includes memberships or admissions to local nationally accredited zoos, like Omahas Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, which currently arent taxed. What are you going to do? he asked. Go across to Council Bluffs? Agricultural and manufacturing inputs make up the majority of tax revenue not collected because of sales tax exemptions. In 2022, the Nebraska Department of Revenue estimated the exemptions saved taxpayers about $1.7 billion that would have otherwise been taxed for manufacturing components and another $2.1 billion for a variety of agricultural exemptions. In contrast, taxpayers saved about $1.5 million in zoo memberships and admissions in 2022. State Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar, who represents southeast Nebraska, said she is also opposed to taxing inputs and passed the 2022 legislation to exempt net wrap from sales taxes. Local control of K-12 schools State Sen. Dave Murman, a farmer from Glenvil, said he is definitely opposed to taxing true inputs, such as seeds, chemicals and fertilizers, but said its different for physical property like machinery and equipment. Its something to at least consider, Murman said. Murman said his understanding of Pillens K-12 funding proposal is that the state would assume spending of operational expenses, which are the majority of local school property taxes. He said school boards would retain taxing authority for bonds or other special tax rates. As long as the local school districts can still tax for those things, I think its something to at least look into, Murman, a former school board member himself, said. I am a big believer in local control, but with those things still remaining there, theres still a lot of local control in that way. But should Pillen move ahead with the state taking on the entire property-tax funded portion of K-12 funding, as he has said at some events, it could cost him a key moderate vote from State Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont, a former teacher and past Education Committee chair. I am not a fan, Walz said, suggesting it could erode local control. Walz supported the Pillen-backed tax proposal in the spring but said Pillen should look toward a longer term plan, such as over three to five years. She said the limitations of the governors funding idea could prevent districts from creating opportunities their communities want. As an example, Fremont Public Schools will soon open a career and technical education center, which Walz said likely wouldnt have been funded by the state. I see more of a cookie-cutter type of school system if we go to the government funding our schools and just no opportunity for local control and the ability to allow communities to grow their schools, Walz said. The math has to math to me Walz and State Sens. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln and Justin Wayne of Omaha, members of the Education Committee, said the how of Pillens school funding idea is hard to imagine. The state has 244 school districts, as well as the Learning Community of Douglas and Sarpy Counties, for example, which could require school officials to ask the Legislatures 49 members each year if they need more state revenue. Its going to be a mess, Walz said. I cant imagine having to figure that out on the floor. State Sen. Jana Hughes of Seward, a former school board member, has said finding sustainable funds seems like a big task, but shes hoping for some progress. If we can find an extra $1 billion this special session I will be very pleased, Hughes said. Conrad, has the second longest tenure in the Legislature and previously served eight years on the Appropriations Committee. In times of hardship, she noted, the state cut aid to municipalities and counties, so its hard to say what would happen to schools under Pillens idea. State Sen. Terrell McKinney of Omaha, a former Education Committee member, said Pillens funding idea is interesting, but he also asked what would happen in times of financial crisis. Wayne, a former school board member, said some rural senators already question how much education funding goes to schools in Omaha and Lincoln, and Pillens idea would include sending more state dollars to districts in those cities. He noted some school districts are also in high poverty and require more resources as a result. The math has to math to me, and right now, it doesnt, Wayne said. Ive been working on this for seven years and still havent got the math to work the way it needs to. Contingent support Wayne and McKinney said they will be looking at new revenue streams this summer, including legalizing and taxing recreational and medical marijuana. McKinney said hell look at the states criminal justice system, which he argued is leading to negative returns, while Wayne suggested allowing punitive damages in lawsuits could increase school funding. Wayne said he will also look at how the state might be able to again fund county jails. Theres things that he could do, but it takes courage and political will, and hes got to be willing to step up, Wayne said of Pillen. But for Wayne to even come close to consider a property tax plan, he reiterated that Pillen would need to expand the scope of the special session to allow legislation to permit lawsuits against political subdivisions for negligence in certain cases of child abuse or child sexual assault. Pillen vetoed such a proposal in April. I think if were going to look out for taxpayers, we also got to look out for the taxpayers who are victims of our governments negligence, particularly child sexual assault, Wayne continued. Unserious at best and dangerous at worst Conrad said she is deeply concerned that Pillen has employed a strategy that could undercut the likelihood of a productive and successful special session. She said its bewildering to suggest lawmakers can rewrite the states tax code and school funding formula in less than a month with no clear plan or coalition. Pillen has been meeting with a group of nearly 20 lawmakers regularly through the summer, which includes Murman and Ibach. The governor will ultimately decide the scope of a special session, but that hasnt stopped groups of lawmakers from beginning to draft their own proposals ahead of a special session. At one time I was under the perception that, Oh, hey, were going to have a bill from the governor and lets go vote on that and see, Dorn said. No, were going to have a lot of proposals. Slama has targeted Pillens lack of a concrete plan and said shell be drafting her own. Im unapologetically a fiscal conservative, Slama wrote Friday on X, formerly Twitter. Thats why I oppose Pillens plan to raise taxes on middle-class Nebraskans without real state spending cuts. Im going to stand up for whats right somebodys got to. Among other ideas for offsetting property taxes, which Pillen has said hes open to, are to increase taxes on vaping products, from Hughes, and remove many unfunded mandates on local governments, from State Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue and more. Conrad said the Legislature marches toward a possibly perilous special session, which will come after Pillen used his town halls to barn storm the state and trumpet his political failures, while also belittling the Legislature. At this juncture, my assessment of the governors political strategy is that this is unserious at best and dangerous at worst, Conrad said. It is unrealistic and wrong to promise a significant tax cut without a plan. SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE The post Agricultural, education senators push back on some of Gov. Jim Pillens property tax reforms appeared first on Nebraska Examiner. This mother grizzly leads her cubs away from the river to avoid anglers floating past the area she had been fishing. Alaska officials are killing hundreds of grizzly bears to try to rebuild the Mulchatna caribou herd. Alaska wildlife officials, normally so careful with grizzly bear numbers and hunting mortality, have done something that seems harsh and unwise. In an effort to revive the famed Mulchatna caribou herd, the department has shot and killed as many as 175 grizzlies, including cubs, along with various wolves and black bears. The grizzlies were killed mostly by being shot from helicopters and airplanes, something weve done here in Texas with coyotes as ranchers try to protect sheep and goats. Its an extreme measure with an unknown effect on caribou numbers. Bears are not serious predators of caribou, though Im sure they will kill a caribou calf if they stumble upon one. One question that arises out of this mess is why Alaska officials couldnt announce a one- or two-time special hunting period that would have let hunters trim the bear numbers and would have meant some serious money for the state and bear guides in the region southwest of Anchorage. I have no interest in killing a grizzly bear, but other hunters do and would pay plenty for the chance. Ive hunted caribou within sight of the Mulchatna River and can bear witness to the steep decline in herd numbers in the area. When we hunted there 30 years ago, we saw great herds of caribou. The hunting was just a matter of flying into an area with lots of animals and then picking a good spot to set up a tent and get to a high spot to glass for animals passing by. There was really nothing to it. But that was then, and this is now. Veteran hunters and guides in the region will talk about the sparse numbers of caribou there. The real question, though, is whether grizzly bears are the cause of the herds demise. Those would have to be some hungry grizzlies to accomplish that. And invariably, whenever theres an imbalance in predator/prey numbers, it can be traced back to humans. Maybe theres proof that bears could be the cause of the loss of tens of thousands of native caribou out there. Alaska officials have taken a beating in public opinion over the slaughter of the grizzlies, which as apex predators are slow to breed and slow to be able to fill this hole in their population. Grizzly bears are the poster animal for conservation in Alaska, and anything that could be contributing to their losing any small foothold in the tundra should be approached with extreme caution. Spare the bears and monitor the caribou before we move ahead with this grotesque parody of wildlife management. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Alaska officials say protecting caribou a reason for killing grizzlies An Algerian man who disappeared 26 years ago has been found alive and yards away from his home after years of searching. According to a story in The Sunday Times, Omar Bin Omran disappeared from his home in El Guedid, around 320km from the capital, Algiers, in 1998. It wasnt until recently, when a Facebook post tipped off the village, that Bin Omran, now 45, was discovered being held captive, seemingly in plain sight, at a neighbors house a little more than 200 meters (650 feet) away. The neighbor, and prime suspect in this case, is a shepherd 16 years Bin Omrans senior, who had befriended him years earlier. As to why the shepherd, who remains anonymous, held Bin Omran captive so long is still unknown. Djamila Bouhired, the 83-Year-Old Woman Revolutionary Leading Algerias New Uprising In his late teens, the Times reported, Bin Omran left home, telling his parents he was travelling to the city of Djelfa, 45 miles away, for a vocational training program. They never saw him again. A neighbor of both the shepherd and Bin Omrans family believes that Bin Omrans forced incarceration could have something to do with revenge for an arranged marriage plot gone awry. Others think black magic could be involved. Another idea bandied about is that the captor might be gay and was holding Bin Omran for sexual purposes. In a surprising twist, Bin Omrans whereabouts couldve possibly been revealed earlier had villagers paid attention to his beloved dog, Rocky. According to Daniel, Rocky often went to and barked at the shepherd's home. The dog later vanished, which looks suspicious in retrospect. Currently, the police have six suspects in custody, including the tipster, who is the sister of the shepherd and the bride in the arranged marriage. Theories aside, Bin Omran is now a free man learning to reintegrate into 2024 Algeria. Bin Omran is reportedly reconnecting with old and new family and is learning to use a cell phone. However, he refuses to discuss details from his decades in captivity. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Duff Rubin is Southeast Regional President of Coldwell Banker Realty. Make no mistake: Florida is still the top relocation destination in the nation for personal moves. Additionally, companies that are often in search of a skilled labor force and more attractive tax options are also choosing Florida. According to fDi Markets, from 2019-23, Florida ranked second in the nation behind only Texas for the most companies relocating to the state. With the frenzied levels of residential real estate sales slowly reverting to pre-pandemic levels over the last year, this then affects inventory levels. Certain pockets of Florida are seeing higher inventory levels than others, including the metropolitan Sarasota region. Lets compare data from Florida Realtors for Sarasota County from May 2019 and May 2024. Both have comparable inventory levels for single family homes (4.5 months and 5 months, respectively) and a similar median percent of the original list price received (94.5% to 94.2%). For condos and townhomes, inventory is slightly higher than single family homes, with 6.3 months inventory (compared to 5.7 months for May 2019). One surprising area when comparing data from these two months was just how much median sales prices had increased in that four-year time period. The data shows home prices have nearly doubled, with single family prices going from $305,305 to $530,000 while condos/townhomes had a substantial increase from $238,000 to $368,000. Thats amazing news if you bought a home or condo in the last four years! The Sarasota-Manatee region still has a great deal of interest as well as many new construction projects underway. Cash buyers are taking advantage of the opportunity to purchase in all price points, but particularly at the luxury price point. We still have an active and robust market, with many buyers focusing on value purchases whatever their price range, noted Matthew Day, Coldwell Banker Realty Managing Broker of the Sarasota Downtown and Central offices. Movement in the single family residential real estate market, for both resale and new construction, has been good, with business similar to 2019 levels (pre-pandemic). And while inventory levels are higher in Sarasota and South Florida in general, having more options could be enticing buyers from other parts of Florida. Potential homebuyers in places like Tampa and St. Petersburg may find driving down the Gulf coast a short way will provide more alternatives for finding their ideal homes. Conversely, for those wanting a better price point along with more homes on the market, its very possible homebuyers originally looking in places like Naples, Miami and Boca Raton are giving Sarasota a look. Such data would be almost impossible to track, but these scenarios are certainly conceivable. Story continues Getting word out about increased inventory levels may very well serve to get some homebuyers off the sidelines. Those buying second homes often didnt like the crazy pace of homes quickly going under contract or having very limited choices. Buyers who were not in a crunch to move sometimes got frustrated at having offers repeatedly turned down as they lost out to higher bidders. And as the data above demonstrates, Sarasota residential real estate remains a sound investment while, at the same time, being an amazing place to live. Duff Rubin is Southeast Regional President of Coldwell Banker Realty. This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: DUFF RUBIN: Sarasota region seeing growth in real estate inventory Diplomats and world leaders, preparing for next weeks NATO summit, are privately voicing significant concerns about U.S. President Joe Bidens age, health, and his ability to secure victory in the 2024 presidential election. These foreign officials generally support Bidens reelection and worry that Donald Trumps return to office could harm the NATO alliance and undermine the war effort in Ukraine. However, they were disheartened by Bidens recent debate performance and fear he may be too frail to defeat Trump and lead a global superpower, Politico reports. Over the past month, the outlet spoke with 20 individuals connected to NATO or the alliances upcoming summit, revealing that many had already harbored quiet reservations about relying on Biden long before the debate. Biden must reassure his counterparts that he is not only ready for the challenge but also capable of navigating a political crisis to remain in the race. "It doesnt take a genius to see that the president is old," one official from a European NATO country was quoted as saying. "Were not sure that, even if he wins, he can survive four years more." Biden already faced a challenging task at the upcoming NATO summit, where he was set to address allies' concerns about America's commitment to Ukraine. However, his debate performance against Trump has shifted the focus of the summit to an evaluation of Bidens physical and political resilience. NATO allies are increasingly concerned about how much longer Biden can maintain American support for Europes defense, especially with the prospect of a close election against a former Republican president who is skeptical of aiding international partners. "Were having more conversations about our own defenses since it looks like Trump is coming back," said an official from a NATO country after the debate. Additionally, some NATO allies are not fully satisfied with Bidens leadership, criticizing his incremental approach to providing weapons and permitting Kyiv to strike inside Russia. Bidens stance on Russias war against Ukraine is well known, and he reiterated many of his points during the debate with Trump. He described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal who "wants to reestablish what was part of the Soviet Empire. Not just a piece, he wants all of Ukraine." Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, mentioned that he has personally heard concerns about Bidens condition from numerous G7 and European leaders. "Ukraine is still the most important topic," he said, "but concerns about Biden and growing panic from Europeans about Trump are increasingly distracting the substantive conversations." Read also: Opinion: As an American in Kyiv, Im proud of how much we helped Ukraine and scared we may let it down Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Flags were burned by vandals at a memorial for veterans in Lakewood sometime in the last few days, according to the citys Mayor. In a post to Facebook on Saturday afternoon, Mayor Todd Rogers blasted the actions of unknown vandals who allegedly burned American and MIA-POW flags placed at Veterans Memorial Plaza in Lakewoods Del Valle Park. On behalf of the entire Lakewood City Council, I am saddened and angered to report that our American flag and POW-MIA flag were burned by vandals at our beloved Veterans Memorial Plaza at Del Valle Park sometime over the past 48 hours, Rogers said. The memorial itself also sustained some minor damage in the form of burn marks to a flag pole and concrete walkway. The flags appear to have then been burned on top of a nearby yellow sawhorse barrier that asks people to treat the memorial with respect. Rogers continued to say that the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department will investigate the incident. He asked any residents or businesses within the vicinity of the park to check any security footage between July 4 and 6 for suspicious-looking individuals. I know I speak on behalf of my City Council colleagues and all Lakewood residents in decrying this shameful act of vandalism that shows great disrespect to the men and women who have served our nation, including those honored at the memorial who gave the ultimate sacrifice to protect the freedoms that these cowardly vandals abused, Rogers said. Dozens of upside-down U.S. flags spotted outside Monrovia library in wake of Trump conviction According to Rogers, repairs and replacement flags should be in place within the next few days. Veterans Memorial Plaza, created in 1964 and renovated in 2015, displays a replica of a Korean War-era Douglas jet fighter mounted on top of an aircraft carrier. It hosts Lakewoods Memorial Day festivities each 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 KTLA. What ancient farmers can really teach us about adapting to climate change and how political power influences success or failure In dozens of archaeological discoveries around the world, from the once-successful reservoirs and canals of Angkor Wat in Cambodia to the deserted Viking colonies of Greenland, new evidence paints pictures of civilizations struggling with unforeseen climate changes and the reality that their farming practices had become unsustainable. Among these discoveries are also success stories, where ancient farming practices helped civilizations survive the hard times. Zuni farmers in the southwestern United States made it through long stretches of extremely low rainfall between A.D. 1200 and 1400 by embracing small-scale, decentralized irrigation systems. Farmers in Ghana coped with severe droughts from 1450 to 1650 by planting indigenous African grains, like drought-tolerant pearl millet. Ancient practices like these are gaining new interest today. As countries face unprecedented heat waves, storms and melting glaciers, some farmers and international development organizations are reaching deep into the agricultural archives to revive these ancient solutions. An ancient irrigation method used by the Moors involving water channels is being revisited in Spain. Geography Photos/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Drought-stricken farmers in Spain have reclaimed medieval Moorish irrigation technology. International companies hungry for carbon offsets have paid big money for biochar made using pre-Columbian Amazonian production techniques. Texas ranchers have turned to ancient cover cropping methods to buffer against unpredictable weather patterns. But grasping for ancient technologies and techniques without paying attention to historical context misses one of the most important lessons ancient farmers can reveal: Agricultural sustainability is as much about power and sovereignty as it is about soil, water and crops. Im an archaeologist who studies agricultural sustainability in the past. Discoveries in recent years have shown how the human past is full of people who dealt with climate change in both sustainable and unsustainable ways. Archaeologists are finding that ancient sustainability was tethered closely to politics. However, these dynamics are often forgotten in discussions of sustainability today. Maya milpa farming: Forest access is essential In the tropical lowlands of Mexico and Central America, Indigenous Maya farmers have been practicing milpa agriculture for thousands of years. Milpa farmers adapted to drought by gently steering forest ecology through controlled burns and careful woodland conservation. The knowledge of milpa farming empowered many rural farmers to navigate climate changes during the notorious Maya Collapse two centuries of political disintegration and urban depopulation between A.D. 800 to 1000. Importantly, later Maya political leaders worked with farmers to keep this flexibility. Their light-handed approach is still legible in the artifacts and settlement patterns of post-Collapse farming communities and preserved in the flexible tribute schedules for Maya farmers documented by 16th century Spanish monks. In my book, Rooting in a Useless Land: Ancient Farmers, Celebrity Chefs, and Environmental Justice in Yucatan, I trace the deep history of the Maya milpa. Using archaeology, I show how ancient farmers adapted milpa agriculture in response to centuries of drought and political upheaval. Modern Maya milpa practices began drawing public attention a few years ago as international development organizations partnered with celebrity chefs, like Nomas Rene Redzepi, and embraced the concept. However, these groups condemned the traditional milpa practice of burning new areas of forest as unsustainable. They instead promoted a no-burn version to grow certified organic maize for high-end restaurants. Their no-burn version of milpa relies on fertilizers to grow maize in a fixed location, rather than using controlled fire ecology to manage soil fertility across vast forests. The result restricted the traditional practices Maya farmers have used for centuries. It also fed into a modern political threat to traditional Maya milpa farming: land grabs. Traditional milpa agriculture requires a lot of forested land, since farmers need to relocate their fields every couple of years. But that need for forest is at odds with hotel companies, industrial cattle ranches and green energy developers who want cheap land and see Maya milpa forest management practices as inefficient. No-burn milpa eases this conflict by locking maize agriculture into one small space indefinitely, instead of spreading it out through the forest over generations. But it also changes tradition. Maya milpa farmers are now fighting to practice their ancient agricultural techniques, not because theyve forgotten or lost those techniques, but because neocolonial land privatization policies actively undermine farmers ability to manage woodlands as their ancestors did. Milpa farmers are increasingly left to either adopt a rebranded version of their heritage or quit farming all together as many have done. Mexicos fragile artificial islands: Threats from development When I look to the work of other archaeologists investigating ancient agricultural practices, I see these same entanglements of power and sustainability. In central Mexico, chinampas are ancient systems of artificial islands and canals. They have enabled farmers to cultivate food in wetlands for centuries. The continuing existence of chinampas is a legacy of deep ecological knowledge and a resource enabling communities to feed themselves. Chinampa techniques use canals and artificial islands. This photo shows one in 1912. Karl Weule, Leitfaden der Voelkerkunde via Wikimedia The chinampas of Xochimilco are a UNESCO world heritage site today, but development expanding from Mexico City has put their survival in danger. Sergei Saint via Flickr, CC BY-ND But archaeology has revealed that generations of sustainable chinampa management could be overturned almost overnight. That happened when the expansionist Aztec Empire decided to re-engineer Lake Xaltocan for salt production in the 14th century and rendered its chinampas unusable. Today, the future of chinampa agriculture hinges on a pocket of protected fields stewarded by local farmers in the marshy outskirts of Mexico City. These fields are now at risk as demand for housing drives informal settlements into the chinampa zone. Andean raised fields: A story of labor exploitation Traditional Andean agriculture in South America incorporates a diverse range of ancient cultivation techniques. One in particular has a complicated history of attracting revival efforts. In the 1980s, government agencies, archaeologists and development organizations spent a fortune trying to persuade Andean farmers to revive raised field farming. Ancient raised fields had been found around Lake Titicaca, on the border of Peru and Bolivia. These groups became convinced that this relic technology could curb hunger in the Andes by enabling back-to-back potato harvests with no need for fallowing. But Andean farmers had no connection to the labor-intensive raised fields. The practice had been abandoned even before the rise of Inca civilization in the 13th century. The effort to revive ancient raised field agriculture collapsed. Since then, more archaeological discoveries around Lake Titicaca have suggested that ancient farmers were forced to work the raised fields by the expansionist Tiwanaku empire during its peak between AD 500 and 1100. Far from the politically neutral narrative promoted by development organizations, the raised fields were not there to help farmers feed themselves. They were a technology for exploiting labor and extracting surplus crops from ancient Andean farmers. Respecting ancient practices histories Reclaiming ancestral farming techniques can be a step toward sustainable food systems, especially when descendant communities lead their reclamation. The world can, and I think should, reach back to recover agricultural practices from our collective past. But we cant pretend that those practices are apolitical. The Maya milpa farmers who continue to practice controlled burns in defiance of land privatizers understand the value of ancient techniques and the threat posed by political power. So do the Mexican chinampa farmers working to restore local food to disenfranchised urban communities. And so do the Andean farmers refusing to participate in once-exploitive raised field rehabilitation projects. Depending on how they are used, ancient agricultural practices can either reinforce social inequalities or create more equitable food systems. Ancient practices arent inherently good it takes a deeper commitment to just and equitable food systems to make them sustainable. 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: Chelsea Fisher, University of South Carolina Read more: Chelsea Fisher has received research funding from the National Science Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, and the Fulbright-Hays Program. Prisons all across Texas will again be feeling the heat this summer, creating dangerous conditions for the inmates most of whom are nonviolent offenders serving their time before reentering society as well those who must report every day to work in those sweltering environs. The majority of Texas roughly 100 prison facilities don't have air conditioning, which makes for excruciating conditions during these ever-hotter summer months for those living and working inside these buildings. Periods of excessive heat contribute to significant increases in violence, suicide incidents, and deaths among incarcerated individuals. Pam Lychner State Jail in Humble, for example, had 15 triple-digit days inside its housing areas last summer. These are the conditions that hundreds of staff and roughly 2,000 incarcerated individuals at Lychner had to endure. That wasnt even the worst case. The Garza West prison in Beeville had 42 days exceeding 100 degrees indoors. Replicate these experiences across the 66 other Texas Department of Criminal Justice facilities that still lack sufficient indoor climate controls and you get a sense of the severity of the problem. Luis Soberon is a policy advisor at Texas 2036. The problem is not limited to the incarcerated population. Staffing is already a critical challenge for TDCJ. Weve seen major problems including prison escapes associated with the agency being short staffed. Even though there have been improvements, TDCJ still has some of the worst turnover rates among state agencies, essentially tied for second behind the juvenile justice system. In spite of serious investments to improve staff retention, including pay raises for correctional staff and improving correctional officer safety, the effects of extreme heat on correctional officers workplace environment plays a key role in staffing challenges. In testimony before the Legislature in 2022, TDCJs executive director testified to his belief that working in air conditioned spaces would improve recruitment and retention. There are real legal liabilities here, too. The record heatwave in 2011 caused multiple deaths and led to a multi-year lawsuit, in which a judge concluded that the extreme heat within one prison unit violated the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. That cases settlement ended up costing taxpayers millions in legal fees, exceeding the installation cost of the air conditioning itself at that particular unit. Fast forward to today, and we have a very similar lawsuit calling for climate control systems in the remaining prison units. For decades, state law required that county jails keep their facilities within a reasonable temperature range no higher than 85 degrees. Federal prisons have to be kept no higher than 79 degrees. This requirement does not apply to state prisons. In 2023, the average in-prison temperature exceeded 90 degrees on 69 days, to the detriment of the safety of incarcerated Texans and staff alike. Last legislative session, legislators set aside $85.7 million to install enough air conditioning to cool roughly 11,000 inmate beds. While a significant investment, that still leaves well over 85,000 inmate beds without air conditioning. This problem is not going away, and half-measures are not going to cut it. For the sake of incarcerated Texans and the public safety professionals who work there, Texas needs to fully commit to a plan to install climate control systems in all its prisons. If we dont, just like the temperature, the cost in tax dollars and human lives will continue to rise. Luis Soberon is a policy advisor at Texas 2036. This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Another view: Its time to turn the temperature down in Texas prisons At one point, the Roman Empire reached from one end of the European continent to the other. Roman cultural heritage similarly spread across the territory, sometimes erasing what was once in its place. Archaeologists in Bulgaria have seemingly found some possible evidence of one of these cultural shifts. Scientists were digging at an excavation site in the village of Rupite close to the border with Greece when they discovered a marble statue of the Greek god Hermes in an ancient Roman sewer. The town was once the site of Heraclea Sintica, an ancient city founded in the fourth century B.C.E. by Philip II of Macedon. It remained intact for hundreds of years before archaeologists say a massive earthquake leveled the town around 388 C.E. That made the discovery of a 6.8-foot statue in the sewer that much more surprisingand seemingly indicated that the local residents worked to preserve their old culture in secret. "Its head is preserved. [It's in a] very good condition," Lyudmil Vagalinski, who led the team of researchers, said of the find, per Reuters, adding, "There are a few fractures on the hands." The sculpture is purported to be a Roman replica of an ancient Greek original and is believed to have been preserved on purpose, as it was found seemingly placed carefully in the sewers and covered with soil to keep it intact. The team believes that it might have been an attempt to save the statue after Christianity was implemented as the official religion of the Roman Empire. "Everything pagan was forbidden," Vagalinski said. "They [had] joined the new ideology, but apparently they took care of their old deities." Sometimes the most valuable treasures are where you least expect them. With Argentina's president skipping Mercosur, the future of the trade alliance looks doubtful Foreign ministers, front row, and staff pose for a photo ahead of a Mercosur summit at the Port building in Asuncion, Paraguay, Sunday, July 7, 2024. From left are Uruguay's Omar Paganini, Argentina's Diana Mondino, Paraguay's Ruben Ramirez, Brazil's Mauro Vieira and Bolivia's Celinda Sosa. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz) ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) The most notable thing about the Mercosur trade bloc's meetings on Sunday in Paraguay was an absence that of Argentine President Javier Milei. With the Argentine populist skipping the summit to star at a right-wing rally in Brazil, South America's biggest trade bloc politically divided, notoriously slow-moving and beset by backsliding faces an uncertain future. Milei has advocated for pulling Argentina, a leader of the alliance, out of the agreement altogether. Overseeing preparations for the presidential summit kicking off Monday after initial meetings, President Santiago Pena of Paraguay the bloc's rotating chair set low expectations for what would be accomplished. I hope that this summit we are going to hold on Monday will be an opportunity to reflect, at a time when Mercosur is clearly not going through its best moment, Pena told journalists from Paraguay's capital of Asuncion, where 33 years ago the presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay signed the revolutionary free-trade treaty that soon became Mercosur. In 1991, as countries across Latin America were shaking off military dictatorships and opening up to free-market ideas, the formation of Mercosur, a customs union of once-estranged neighbors, signaled a regional breakthrough that sent capital surging across borders. But over recent decades, experts say, protectionism and political volatility have scuppered high hopes. The bloc has put up more barriers than it has broken down. The group's common external tariff is riddled with exceptions. Outside South America, the bloc has struck just two free trade deals, with Egypt and Israel. The fact that the countries produce similar goods, mostly agricultural, hasn't helped matters. Trade within the bloc remains low, hovering around some 15% of its members' total commerce. These countries could be 5,000 miles apart and still do the trade that theyre doing at the moment, said Christopher Ecclestone, a strategist with investment bank Hallgarten & Company. Its not the best idea for a free trade area if youre all producing the same things at the same prices. Politically powerful industries in Brazil and Argentina, the continents two biggest economies, long have dominated deal-making in the bloc, stirring consternation among their smaller partners that increasingly feel shunted to the sidelines. In 2021, the bloc hit a new low point when Uruguay announced that it would seek a deal with China outside the bloc. Mercosur's founding treaty forbade such bilateral agreements extra sales for Uruguay would come at the expense of producers in Brazil and Argentina. Uruguays president, Luis Lacalle Pou, who has staked his economic legacy on opening up to China, said Mercosur has held his country hostage. Incensed over the breach of solidarity, Brazil announced it would pursue a broader trade deal with China on behalf of the bloc. But diplomats on Sunday reported no progress in those negotiations. Paraguay's strained ties with Beijing over its recognition of Taiwan complicates matters. For the last 20 years, the bloc has also sought to finalize a free-trade agreement with the European Union to no avail. Argentines have criticized the draft deal as unfairly favoring Brazil. European countries, particularly France, have also opposed it. Ill tell you, honestly, I dont see the conditions for it, President Pena said of a prospective deal. Although there was some optimistic chatter in the conference room Sunday about future deals with the United Arab Emirates, South Korea and Japan, experts have warned that the bloc's reputation for torturous yearslong negotiations could throw cold water on things. Now, President Mileis shocking decision to skip the annual summit and a critical chance to thaw relations with his ideological foe, left-wing Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has exacerbated internal discord. The last time an Argentine president bailed on a Mercosur meeting was in 2001, when then-President Fernando de la Rua had the excuse of an unprecedented financial disaster. Although libertarian President Milei advocates free trade, he has bashed Mercosur as defective," a challenge to his free-market overhaul of Argentinas spiraling economy. Under his left-leaning Peronist predecessors as left-wing political parties dominated other Latin American countries Mercosur took on a political dimension, a sort of rival project to Washington's free trade agenda. With Milei shattering that consensus, it remains unclear whether other countries will follow Argentinas example. Uruguay holds presidential elections in October. This kind of attitude, previously from Brazil (under hard-right former President Jair Bolsonaro) and now from Argentina, weakens Mercosur as a whole, said Juan Gabriel Tokatlian, professor of international relations at the University Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires. Of Milei's absence, he added: This is a serious problem. Argentina's top diplomat on Sunday chimed in during meetings with thinly veiled criticism, going so far as to raise the possibility of the bloc breaking apart. Argentina is promoting a new foreign economic policy, strategically focused on freedom, Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino told her counterparts in Paraguay. If it's not possible to advance as Mercosur, lets think about the possibility of having bilateral agreements." Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira shot back that he still places stock in regional cooperation to achieve prosperity. We must work constantly and constructively to strengthen and not to diminish Mercosur's institutions," he said. Even as critics call Mercosur a relic of the past, the bloc is growing for the first time in years. During Monday's summit, presidents will ratify Bolivia as the fifth full member of the alliance. It means being part of an important space for regional integration, said socialist President Luis Arce of Bolivia ahead of his Paraguay visit, his first foreign trip since Bolivias alleged military coup attempt. Claims by Milei that President Arce himself orchestrated the coup which he repeated onstage before a cheering crowd in southern Brazil Sunday have sparked a political firestorm. ___ Associated Press writers Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Gabriela Sa Pessoa in Sao Paulo, Brazil, contributed to this report. BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) Given the choice between a far-right convention to bash his enemies and a presidential summit to discuss regional trade policy, Argentine President Javier Milei preferred the stadium packed with cheering fans. The libertarian leader on Sunday strode onto the stage of Brazil's CPAC, an extension of the conservative political action conference, to a soundtrack of heavy metal rock. Basking in his cult-like following, Milei rhythmically threw his hands up in the air, chanting, Freedom! as the audience hooted and pumped their fists. Before delivering his go-to manifesto about the evils of socialism and virtues of the free market, Milei gave a hearty hug to Brazil's hard-right former President Javier Bolsonaro, who just days earlier was indicted by federal police in a scheme to embezzle Saudi diamonds. My friend Jair Bolsonaro is suffering judicial persecution," Milei said onstage from the conference in Brazils southern city of Balneario Camboriu. In skipping the Mercosur trade bloc summit in Paraguay and publicly backing Bolsonaro who also stands accused of attempting to subvert Brazils 2022 election result Milei delivered another harsh rebuke to Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, escalating a risky feud with his countrys biggest trading partner. Apparently aware of those stakes, Milei made no mention of Lula in his speech Sunday after months of branding the leftist leader a communist," calling him corrupt and refusing to deal with him. Local media was awash with reports citing Brazilian diplomats Sunday that they were considering the unprecedented move of pulling the Brazilian ambassador from Buenos Aires if Milei doubled down on his insults of the president while in Brazil. When the crowd began shouting, Lula, you thief, your place is in prison! Milei allowed himself a quiet smile before returning to his speech. The winds of change are blowing in the world, he said. The ideas of impoverishing socialism have failed and people know it. Milei's photo-ops with disgraced ex-President Bolsonaro shaking hands in front of their respective national flags as though they were counterparts marked the latest example of Mileis provocative foreign policy, courting the global spotlight through friendships with hard-right allies rather than following diplomatic convention. The night before, Bolsonaro opened the Brazilian CPAC with a fiery speech declaring his desire to see former U.S. President Donald Trump return to the White House next year. He and Milei were then spotted together in a downtown hotel lobby littered with drained wine glasses, watching Uruguay kick Brazil out of the 2024 Copa America. Since the irascible Milei rode to power last December on a promise to fix Argentina's worst economic crisis in two decades, relations between the long-time allies and commodity powerhouses have rapidly deteriorated. The ideological enemies crossed paths for the first time at the Group of Seven summit last month in Italy, where their efforts to avoid each other as much as physically possible grabbed local headlines. As their war of words intensified in recent weeks, Lula demanded an apology from Milei's government. Experts say that mingling on the sidelines of the South American trade bloc meeting on Monday would have offered Milei a low-stakes opportunity to defuse tensions with Brazil, Latin Americas biggest economy with a population of some 200 million. Brazil buys nearly a sixth of Argentinas exports, supplies most of Argentina's auto industry and backs its neighbor's bids to get badly needed aid from International Monetary Fund. Instead, Milei has doubled down on a foreign policy gamble that experts have criticized as misguided. He seems to be shooting himself in the foot, Michael Shifter, a scholar of Latin America at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, said of Milei. It's shocking and counterproductive for him to thumb his nose at Lula in this way because there could be a lot of cost for Argentina, that could affect his ability to carry out his policies. The president's ideologically driven strategy set off a political storm earlier this year in Spain, the second-largest foreign investor in Argentina, as Milei shunned meetings with the socialist government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and instead gave a similar speech lambasting socialism at a far-right rally organized by the country's Vox Party. The snub spiraled into a diplomatic crisis between the historic allies when Milei called Sanchez's wife corrupt and Spain pulled its ambassador from Buenos Aires. Despite five trips to the United States since taking office, Milei has yet to enter the White House. But he has hugged Trump at CPAC in Washington, bonded over his love of free markets in Texas with billionaire Tesla executive Elon Musk and met top tech CEOs in Silicon Valley. He wants to present himself as a rock star of international politics which does generate admiration in some sectors of Argentina, said Fabio Rodriguez, director at Buenos Aires-based consultancy M&R Asociados. But already polls indicate that this may be changing, that people are seeing this as a liability, feeling abandoned in the sense that their president spends his time on tour while things are not improving on a daily basis. Pressures are building in Argentina, where annual inflation nears 300% and the local currency last week touched a historic low of 1,430 pesos per dollar on the black market, where Argentines sell their rapidly depreciating pesos. The government this week revised its own growth projections, saying it expected the economy to contract by more than 3% this year. Atlanta man found dead after running for his life on Fourth of July, police searching for 2nd man Police in Birmingham, Alabama are searching for an Atlanta man who vanished while celebrating the Fourth of July with his sister. Deundray Cottrell, 31, was last seen on July 4, according to Birmingham police. On Saturday, police say they found Cottrells body near where he disappeared. They are investigating his death as an unclassified death. Cottrells sister, Angelica Harris, told AL.com that he lives in Atlanta and came to Birmingham with his partner to celebrate the holiday. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] She said that around 10 p.m., Cottrell said he was going to go upstairs to check on his dog because of the fireworks. He went and checked on the dog and I never saw him again, Harris told AL.com. She went on to say that they found one of his shoes and his phone in the backyard. They later tracked down Ring doorbell camera video that showed Cottrell running through yards and even hopping a fence. TRENDING STORIES: It looked like he was looking for refuge, Harris told AL.com. He was running for his life. She says Cottrell works in marketing in Atlanta and is pursuing his doctorate degree. Birmingham police said on Saturday that they are looking for a man named Julian Taylor Morris, who they say is the last person to have seen or heard from Cottrell. HELP LOCATE BPD needs your help locating Julian Taylor Morris in relation to the Missing Person Investigation / Death... Posted by Birmingham Police Department, Alabama on Saturday, July 6, 2024 They are offering a $5,000 reward for anyone who can help them locate Morris. His relationship with Cottrell is unclear. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: When you buy shares in a company, it's worth keeping in mind the possibility that it could fail, and you could lose your money. But on the bright side, you can make far more than 100% on a really good stock. For example, the KB Home (NYSE:KBH) share price has soared 150% in the last half decade. Most would be very happy with that. But it's down 6.1% in the last week. Since the long term performance has been good but there's been a recent pullback of 6.1%, let's check if the fundamentals match the share price. Check out our latest analysis for KB Home 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 imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement. During five years of share price growth, KB Home achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 22% per year. So the EPS growth rate is rather close to the annualized share price gain of 20% per year. This indicates that investor sentiment towards the company has not changed a great deal. In fact, the share price seems to largely reflect the EPS growth. You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values). Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here. What About Dividends? When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. As it happens, KB Home's TSR for the last 5 years was 169%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence! A Different Perspective It's good to see that KB Home has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 39% in the last twelve months. That's including the dividend. That gain is better than the annual TSR over five years, which is 22%. Therefore it seems like sentiment around the company has been positive lately. Someone with an optimistic perspective could view the recent improvement in TSR as indicating that the business itself is getting better with time. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for KB Home that you should be aware of. Story continues If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of undervalued small caps that insiders are buying. 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 The Atlanta Police Department is asking the public to be on the lookout for a man they say pistol-whipped a man and fled the scene. On Tuesday, July 2, police responded to a person armed call at 807 Conley Road in Southeast Atlanta. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] When police arrived, they found a man suffering from a cut to his head. Officials say the man was alert, conscious and breathing and was taken to Grady Hospital. During the course of the investigation, police say the person of interest entered a location, made contact with the victim, pistol-whipped him and left the scene. TRENDING STORIES: Police say their investigation is ongoing. Any information on the case can be submitted anonymously to the Crime Stoppers Atlanta tip line at 404-577-TIPS (8477), online here or by texting CSA and the tip to CRIMES (274637). Persons do not have to give their name or any identifying information to be eligible for the reward of up to $2,000. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: Authorities Searching for American Teen, 14, Who Went Missing After Leaving Cruise Ship in Germany Authorities said Aydin Brown was last seen around 7 a.m. on July 4 after disembarking from a Caribbean Princess cruise ship Missing Hearts Advocacy Inc./Facebook Aydin Brown Authorities are searching for an American teenager who went missing after disembarking from a cruise ship in Germany. Rostock Police in Germany said Aydin Brown, 14, was last seen at around 7 a.m. on Thursday, July 4, after disembarking from a Caribbean Princess cruise ship, according to Fox News, NBC News and The New York Post. The cruise ship had docked in Rostock-Warnemunde, a German port town on the Baltic Sea located about 150 miles north of Berlin, police told the outlets. Authorities said the teen, described as 57 with long dark hair, got off at the stop wearing a dark jacket, dark pants and retro shoes, per NBC News. Princess Cruises told Fox News and NBC News in a statement that it is collaborating with German law enforcement on a missing persons case involving the teen, who disembarked from the Caribbean Princess in Warnemunde on Thursday morning without an escort. Related: 12-Year-Old Boy Who Died in Plane Crash with His Family Hit Grand Slam in Last Game, Coach Says We understand the distress this situation has caused and will continue to provide ongoing onsite support to the family during this challenging time, the cruise line said, noting it had offered to fly Aydins mother to Germany to aid in the search for her son. Princess Cruises did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment, and a contact for Rostock Police was not immediately made available. 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. Aydin had reportedly been traveling with his grandmother on the cruise ship before he disappeared, according to Fox News. The outlet reported that authorities learned that Aydin and his grandmother had gotten into an argument before he left the ship. A woman named Katie Brown, who identified herself as Aydins mother, shared in a Facebook post on a missing persons group that Aydin is from Texas and had been wearing a gray jacket with headphones and a black backpack with [an] Amazon logo when he left the cruise ship. Katie later shared in an update that he was spotted by camera with an unknown person at a train station, and that camera footage at the station was being investigated. Related: Boy, 7, Dies After Being Hit by Piece of Farming Machinery While Helping in Field Anne Yaktiyol, a cousin of Aydin's, said in a social media post, per The New York Post, that Aydin's family believes he may have been coaxed away by a stranger. Aydin remains missing. It appears once he left the ship in Warnemunde, Germany, he may have been lured away," she wrote in the post. NBC News reported that police are looking for that second person, whom police described as someone between the ages of 20 and 25, and whom Aydin was seen with at around 7:30 a.m. at the train station in Warnemunde the same day he disappeared. A guest onboard the cruise ship told NBC News that the mood on the ship is still upbeat as it continues to make its way through various stops across Europe, though the guest also noted that passengers feel extremely sorry for the family. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. As bad as Ive ever seen them. Anglers say more sharks are stealing fish in the Gulf Imagine planning all week, hoping for a nice weather day to go offshore deep into the Gulf of Mexico. Youve put many hours of time and effort into making sure youre ready for the rare opportunity when a nice weather day coincides with everyones schedules and the open season of fish you want to target. Youve used hundreds of dollars in gas, bait and tackle money before even wetting a line. As you pull up to your favorite spot that youve been dreaming about fishing since last year, you feel like its going to be a nice day. Fish will be biting, the weatherman will be correct and beautiful blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico are about to yield their bounty. The boat gets set up in position and the fish finder shows the honey hole is ready to produce. The first bait down hits the bottom and within seconds, its eaten. Got one! is said around the boat. A fight ensues and all the time and preparation are proving worthwhile. A few minutes go by and the battle is being won as the bottom dweller starts coming topside, until the tax man comes. Something grabbed it. Its now heading far away from the boat and you cant stop it. Then the line breaks. Joy is turned to frustration. F$%&ing sharks! This scenario repeats again. And again. And again. One of those results in just the head of a large red snapper. After four break-offs, you finally catch a legal red snapper that is 17 inches. The only reason you got it up is because it was smaller and you could horse it faster than the sharks could attack it. This is the reality that many Gulf anglers are facing on a daily basis when they can get offshore. Shark problems are now prevalent across Florida and other areas. What used to be an isolated incident around bigger structures like reefs and wrecks is now almost every area of the Gulf. From tarpon fishing off the beaches, to snook on the flats all the way to the steps hundreds of miles in the Gulf, it has become far too often sharks taunt anglers. At the beginning of June, on my first trip offshore we encountered sharks at two of our six spots. We were happy it wasnt more. When this occurs, the only option is generally to leave. If fish are biting, they are eaten by sharks which hover about halfway down to the bottom waiting for hooked fish to be presented in front of them. If fish arent biting, its usually a result of said sharks making fish feel unnerved. By the end of June, we had days where 40 to 50 fish and baits were lost to sharks. Nine of the 10 spots had sharks on one trip. On one spot, our baits couldnt even hit the bottom as sharks would eat them on the drop! We would move miles away only for the next one to be the same. And these spots, often small natural bottom areas, have slowly increased run-ins each year before now expanding to this magnitude. A shark encounter was more of an isolated incident and not an expectation. All across social media, the shark problem is being voiced this summer. Grouper bite has been tough with the sharks, said Captain Tyler in St. Pete. Lost lots of fish to sharks, including a wahoo, Captain Dion in Sarasota said. Theyre as bad as Ive ever seen them, explained Captain John Gunter of Palmetto. Every spot. Im not sure if they come to your boat when you start fishing or if there are just that many of them. With so many shark encounters happening with anglers, it is reaching a breaking point where something needs to be done. Hooking 40 fish to catch 10 is not sustainable and happens frequently. Are released, out-of-season fish being eaten on their way back down upon release? More than likely, and it seems like a frustrating waste. Shark mortality is one of the leading methods of fish dying that anglers are experiencing. And the biggest culprit is protected. Sandbar sharks, which seem to be the majority of the species caught, are to be released immediately when landed by anglers. But tiger sharks, hammerheads and more have been seen with increasing regularity. With no shark fishery in place and protections for most shark species the problem is only going to get worse. People block the entrance of a hotel during a demonstration against mass tourism in Barcelona under the slogan 'Enough. Let's put a limit to tourism'. Lorena Sopena/EUROPA PRESS/dpa Around 2,800 Barcelona residents held a second demonstration on Sunday against mass tourism, according to official reports in the Spanish tourist hotspot. The protestors cited rising accommodation and other costs in calling for restrictions on Spain's lucrative tourism sector, the La Vanguardia newspaper reported. Patrons of restaurants popular with tourists were sprayed with water from water pistols. Similar demonstrations have been held on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, on the Canary Islands in the Atlantic and in Malaga in southern Spain over recent weeks. The protestors point to environmental pollution, traffic jams, overcrowding, water shortages and the overloading of health and refuse removal systems. In Barcelona, they held up placards reading: "Tourists go home. You are not welcome." The conversion of many homes to holiday apartments has driven up rents. The rise in Barcelona over the past decade came in at 68%. Many residents have been forced to flee to dormitory suburbs on the outskirts, and young people are living with their parents. Barcelona plans to ban the letting of holiday apartments completely by the end of 2028 by refusing to renew permits. Landlords are threatening legal action in response. In Malaga, thousands of people demonstrated against the "invasion" of foreign tourists. Spain is expecting as many as 91 million holidaymakers and visitors over the course of this year, almost twice its population of 48 million. Tourism is estimated to bring in 125 billion ($136 billion) a year. People participate in a demonstration against mass tourism in Barcelona under the slogan 'Enough. Let's put a limit to tourism'. Lorena Sopena/EUROPA PRESS/dpa People splash water on restaurants and cafes during a demonstration against mass tourism in Barcelona under the slogan 'Enough. Let's put a limit to tourism'. Lorena Sopena/EUROPA PRESS/dpa Most people recognize Ye Olde Mill as the home of Velvet Ice Cream, but the history of the site is much older. The original gristmill was built in Washington Township, just south of Utica, in 1817 by James King. In an Advocate article titled Uticas Ye Old Mill Part of Licking Countys Rich Heritage, published Jan. 22, 1984, Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Dager wrote: The early mill was equipped with a waterwheel and millstones but without the refinements for milling found in those two or three decades later. In 1827, a second mill built by Thomas McNaughton replaced the first one. Thomas came to Licking County in 1812, at the age of 11, with his parents, John and Esther. According to a marriage record the same year he built the new mill, Thomas, 26, married Agnes Dunlap, 21. During this period it is believed the mill was the main stop south of Utica for African Americans fleeing slavery. There was a tunnel that ran from the mill, under the North Fork of the Licking River to a cabin on what was then the Belt farm. In Rita Richardson Jackson's book, Underground Railroad Stations in Licking County, Ohio, she mentions that J.W. Stevenson, who lived southwest of Newark, gave her eight names of people involved in the Underground Railroad. Three of the names were brothers of Agnes Dunlap-McNaughton, adding credence that the mill was used as a stop. In 1870, a new three-story mill was built on the site. It was built of heavy timbers and 14-inch corner posts. The mill ceased operations in 1907. According to the Advocate article published in 1984, Bert Dick bought the mill in 1922 and established a weekend and holiday recreation area. In 1933, Jacob Spillman acquired the title and converted the second floor into a roller-skating rink. In 1960, the Dager family who had been making ice cream in Utica since 1914, bought the mill and site for the permanent home of Velvet Ice Cream. On April 30, 1986, a fire started in the mill shortly before 10 a.m. Thirty-seven fire units from the county responded, but the mill was a total loss. The only things salvageable were the stone foundation and the mill wheel placed during the 1961 restoration. Many companies would have given up and built something modern on the site, but not the Dager family. Joseph Dager was quoted after the fire as saying, The family chose the location because they wanted to preserve the mill and develop it as a landmark. Plans were laid to rebuild a historic-looking mill. They used the old stone foundation and the mill wheel that survived the fire and brought in old wood beams from across the state to add to the feel of an old mill. One year later, the new Ye Old Mill opened, preserving the history of this site for future generations. Doug Stout is the Licking County Library local history coordinator. You may contact him at 740.349.5571 or dstout@lickingcountylibrary.org. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: History column: Ye Olde Mill likely was an Underground Railroad stop Beloved and iconic: Skye the giraffe dies at the age of 26, Sacramento Zoo announces Skye, a reticulated giraffe who called the Sacramento Zoo home for more than a quarter-century, died Friday at the age of 26. The giraffe had lived in the zoo since 1999 and was described as one of our most beloved and iconic animals, the Sacramento Zoo said in a release announcing her death. Skye had been receiving care for age-related issues. As a result of her declining condition, veterinary staff humanely euthanized her, according to the zoo. Born on July 14, 1998, Skye spent 25 years at the Sacramento Zoo after being born and nursed at the Milwaukee Zoo, along with another female giraffe, Gudrun. A news release from the zoo said Skye held a special place in the hearts of zoo staff, volunteers and visitors alike. One of the greatest privileges of my career has been to spend 16 years alongside Skye, said Melissa McCartney, the zoos senior manager. I got to experience firsthand her incredible intelligence and spunk during my time as her caretaker. Skye touched countless lives and has given so many people a greater appreciation for her species and the role we can play in saving giraffes from extinction. According to the zoo, giraffes in the wild usually live up to 25 years, a few years less than those in zoos and other captive habitats. Skye had been suffering from age-related lameness, zoo officials said in a Facebook post last month. Our dedicated team provides treatments like joint supplements and cold laser therapy to ensure she stays happy and healthy, the zoo said in the social media photo. Despite her challenges, Skyes vibrant personality shines through she never misses a meal and loves her browse. Skye is incredibly intelligent and communicates her needs clearly to her care team. She enjoys the sun and warmer weather but also likes spending time in the comfort of the giraffe barn. The choice is always hers, the zoo said. 1-year-old giraffe Skye, center, is seen with Gunrun, 10 months, greeting 4-year-old Val-lynn-tine at the Sacramento Zoo on July 19, 1999. The pair of young reticulated giraffes had just completed their 30-day quarantine after arriving from the Milwaukee Zoo. Skye, who had been at the zoo for 25 years, died Friday, Sacramento Zoo officials announced. Skye is remembered as unique, brave, funny, sassy and clever by her caretakers. She was always one step ahead of me and I appreciate everything she has taught me and our whole team, McCartney said. Skyes species is considered vulnerable to extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Natures Red List of Threatened Species. The population of reticulated giraffes has declined more than 50% over the last three decades due to habitat loss, poaching and human-wildlife conflict. Skye was considered an ambassador for giraffes in Africa, the zoo said. Thousands of guests fed her leaves from the giraffe encounter deck at the zoo. The proceeds from our giraffe encounters help finance our conservation efforts in Tanzania, said Jason Jacobs, the zoos executive director. So, in effect, every interaction Skye had with our guests helped save wild giraffes. Skye the reticulated giraffe is seen inside the barn at the Sacramento Zoos giraffe habitat in June 2024. Sacramento Zoo officials announced Saturday that Skye, who had been at the zoo for a quarter-century, died at the age of 26. Berlin has banned the inverted red triangle symbol due to its use by Hamas and their supporters to mark enemy targets in videos and graffiti. The motion passed in the state senate said the scarlet arrow icon represents an immediate threat to Jews and to people committed to the freedom and security of Israel and should be banned at protests and in the context of the Middle East conflict. The symbol has been used to target pro-Israel academics and politicians, including Kai Wegner, the Berlin mayor who ordered the eviction of pro-Palestine protesters from the citys Free University by police. Kai will pay was graffitied on the wall of a university under a red triangle. The German capital has the largest Palestinian population in Europe and has been a flashpoint for the conflict since the October 7 atrocity, with pro-Palestine protests being initially banned and protesters arrested. Germanys government is a strong supporter of Israel, with Israels security sometimes described as part of Germanys Staatsrason or reason of state. Tank is targeted in a video A vote passed in the state senate with the support of the ruling Christian Democrat and Social Democrat grand coalition and the far-Right AfD. The state parliament also wants to assist in passing the law on a federal level. The opposition criticised the motion as going too far, with blanket bans of symbols being legally and constitutionally questionable, argued Green politician Vasili Franco. The red triangle was originally used by the Nazis in concentration camps as a symbol for communists, but since the Israeli ground operation in Gaza it has been used by Palestinian militant groups including the Islamist Hamas to mark targets such as Israeli tanks in propaganda videos. It is taken from the Palestinian flag, which contains a red triangle. Symbol originates from the Palestinian flag - HAZEM BADER/AFP Niklas Schrader, a deputy from the Left party, warned that banning this could inadvertently make other organisations illegal. The association of victims of Nazi persecution use the symbol on their flag alongside prisoner stripes, which has even been seen flying at pro-Israel demonstrations, meaning the ban may not be legally straightforward. 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. Beryl to hit Texas on Monday, with high winds and possible tornadoes by Sunday afternoon With less than a day until landfall, Beryl remains a tropical storm but is expected to intensify into a Category 1 hurricane before reaching the Texas coast on Monday morning. But Beryl's impact will be felt far beforehand. The latest advisories from the National Hurricane Center warn of tropical-storm-force winds and possible tornadoes along the Texas coast as early as Sunday afternoon. The region will also see heavy rainfall, storm surge and swells with life-threatening riptides. More: Prepare for Hurricane Beryl, says Lt. Gov. Patrick: 'A determined storm that is still strong' 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. If the storm does make landfall as a hurricane, Beryl would be the 10th hurricane to do so in July, Phil Klotzbach, a research scientist at Colorado State University, wrote on X. 9 #hurricanes have made landfall in Texas in July on record (since 1851). These hurricanes are: Storm 1 (1866), Storm 1 (1891), Velasco (1909), Storm 3 (1934), Storm 1 (1943), Debra (1959), Claudette (2003), Dolly (2008), Hanna (2020). #Berylhttps://t.co/pts7vQYiCO pic.twitter.com/n4H4OooJbN Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) July 6, 2024 Where is Hurricane Beryl going to hit? Track projected path Location : 130 miles east-southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas; 135 miles south-southeast of Matagorda, Texas Maximum sustained winds: 65 mph Movement: north-northwest at 12 mph When is Hurricane Beryl expected to make landfall? At 4 p.m. Sunday, July 6, 2024, the National Hurricane Center shows the forecast cone for Tropical Storm Beryl. As of 10 a.m., the center of Tropical Storm Beryl was approximately 195 miles southeast of Corpus Christi and 195 miles south-southeast of Matagorda. 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 65 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 early Monday morning. The National Weather Service office in Corpus Christi advises residents to prepare for a Category 2. How will Hurricane Beryl impact Texas? The NWS office warns residents to plan for other impacts of the storm, including "scattered tornadoes (which) can hinder emergency plans during tropical events." Other possible impacts of the storm include: Wind: Hurricane conditions are expected in the hurricane warning area by early Monday. Winds are first expected to reach tropical storm strength by late Sunday, making outdoor preparations difficult or dangerous. Hurricane conditions are possible in the hurricane watch areas in Texas by early Monday, with tropical storm conditions beginning by late Sunday or Sunday night. Storm surge: The deepest water will occur along the immediate coast near and to the right of the center, where the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves. Surge-related flooding depends on the relative timing of the surge and the tidal cycle, and can vary greatly over short distances. 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 the middle of next week. This rainfall is likely to produce flash floods and urban flooding, some of which may be locally considerable. Minor to isolated moderate river flooding is also possible. Swells: Large swells generated by Beryl are currently impacting portions of the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. The swells are expected to reach eastern Mexico and much of the Gulf Coast of the U.S. shortly. These swells are expected to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions. More: Austin lands within Hurricane Beryl's possible path, though forecast not yet certain See Tropical Storm Beryl power outage map across Texas Acting Gov. Dan Patrick issues disaster declaration for nearly half of Texas' counties Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick currently Acting Governor as Gov. Greg Abbott leads a weeklong trip in Asia has issued a disaster declaration for 121 Texas counties. Based on the current forecast, heavy rain and some localized flooding could occur all the way from the coast through areas near College Station, Tyler, and Texarkana as the storm moves through Texas on its current track," Patrick said in a release. "The track may change over the next 40 hours. Texans need to take heed, watch their local officials, and prepare today and tomorrow before the storm makes landfall early Monday morning." The following 121 Texas counties are part of the disaster declaration: Anderson, Angelina, Aransas, Atascosa, Austin, Bastrop, Bee, Bell, Bexar, Bowie, Brazoria, Brazos, Brooks, Burleson, Caldwell, Calhoun, Cameron, Camp, Cass, Chambers, Cherokee, Collin, Colorado, Comal, Dallas, Delta, DeWitt, Dimmit, Duval, Ellis, Falls, Fannin, Fayette, Fort Bend, Franklin, Freestone, Frio, Galveston, Goliad, Gonzales, Grayson, Gregg, Grimes, Guadalupe, Hardin, Harris, Harrison, Hays, Henderson, Hidalgo, Hill, Hopkins, Houston, Hunt, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells, Karnes, Kaufman, Kenedy, Kinney, Kleberg, Lamar, Lavaca, LaSalle, Lee, Leon, Liberty, Limestone, Live Oak, Madison, Marion, Matagorda, Maverick, McLennan, McMullen, Medina, Milam, Montgomery, Morris, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Newton, Nueces, Orange, Panola, Polk, Rains, Red River, Refugio, Robertson, Rockwall, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, San Patricio, Shelby, Smith, Starr, Titus, Travis, Trinity, Tyler, Upshur, Uvalde, Van Zandt, Victoria, Walker, Waller, Washington, Webb, Wharton, Willacy, Williamson, Wilson, Wood, Zapata, and Zavala. Additional counties may be added as conditions warrant. "Do not ignore this storm," Patrick warned. 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 Hurricane warning A hurricane warning is in effect for the following: The Texas coast from Baffin Bay northward to San Luis Pass A Hurricane warning means that hurricane conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area. Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion. Hurricane watch A hurricane watch is in effect for the following: The Texas coast north of San Luis Pass to Galveston Island 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. 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 Texas coast north of San Luis Pass to Sabine Pass A tropical storm warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area within 36 hours. Storm surge warning A storm surge warning is in effect for the following: North Entrance of the Padre Island National Seashore to Sabine Pass, including Corpus Christi Bay, Matagorda Bay, and Galveston Bay A storm surge warning means there is a danger of life-threatening inundation, from rising water moving inland from the coastline, during the next 36 hours in the indicated locations This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Beryl to bring heavy rain, tornadoes before Texas landfall Monday Beryl tracking north of Houston as tropical storm, will race across US this week Hurricane Beryl, as seen on AccuWeather Enhanced RealVue Satellite, while making landfall near Matagorda, Texas, at 4:00 a.m. CDT on July 8, 2024. Beryl restrengthened into a hurricane late Sunday night and made landfall near Matagorda, Texas, around 4:00 a.m. CDT. Beryl was downgraded to a tropical storm at 10am CDT and will continue to bring damaging winds, storm surge flooding, inland flooding from rain, damaging wind gusts and even tornadoes to parts of the south-central United States into Tuesday. Beryl's effects will be felt far beyond the Lone Star State this week as the storm will race north and east through the Midwest and then the Northeast, bringing heavy rain and a continued risk for a few tornadoes. The second tropical system to affect Texas (after Alberto last month) and the first to make a U.S. landfall this season, Beryl made landfall around Matagorda, Texas, around 4 a.m. CDT. The storm was churning over the Gulf of Mexico about 150 miles to the east of South Texas as of Sunday afternoon and began to reorganize after losing wind intensity over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula late last week. Beryl restrengthened into a hurricane late Sunday night and flooding, damaging gusts and tornadoes are among the hazards the Lone Star State faces into Monday evening as the storm slowly loses peak wind intensity. Beryl was downgraded to a tropical storm after an expected loss in wind intensity at 10 am CDT. Beryl's impacts will not end in Texas but rather expand across the Central states and into a portion of the Great Lakes later in the week. Flooding rain and even a few twisters will be the primary concerns as what is left of the storm works its way through the nation's heartland. As the storm continues to press on over land, rainbands can bring flooding downpours and a risk of tornadoes to eastern Texas. Because Beryl was strengthening at the time of landfall, it will be slow to unwind initially. During Monday morning and midday, Beryl's eyewall passed close to Houston with torrential rain and hurricane-force winds creating dangerous conditions. One of the deadliest aspects of a tropical system is storm surge, which can and is expected with Beryl to impact areas hundreds of miles away from the point of landfall. Storm surge will continue to lead to inundation along the upper portion of the Texas coast and the western portion of the Louisiana coast into Monday night. With the storm now pushing off to the north and northeast later Monday night, storm surge along the coast will gradually subside. But, even as the storm surge subsides, an enraged Gulf of Mexico will continue to produce strong and frequent rip currents from Texas to Florida. The area in northeastern Texas will also have to endure the strongest wind gusts from Beryl, up to 60 mph into Monday evening. Tropical-storm-force wind gusts can also stretch far away from the center into Monday evening, impacting Texas cities such as Victoria, Houston and Tyler, and Shreveport, Louisiana. "These strong winds will down trees, cause power outages and significant property damage," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Tyler Roys. "Power outages can last for days to weeks in the hardest-hit areas." As of 2 p.m. CDT on Monday, more than 2.7 million utility customers were without power in eastern Texas, according to PowerOutage.US. While hurricanes are considered phenomena of the ocean, freshwater flooding from heavy rain can be a killer that extends far inland from the point of landfall. Meteorologists are warning that rainfall tallying up to the AccuWeather Local StormMax of 24 inches can fall over a span of less than a day across eastern Texas into Monday and Monday night. "The most intense rainfall, ranging from 8 to 12 inches in most areas, will occur near the storm's landfall location along the east-central Texas coast, extending up to Houston and Tyler," added Roys. Many of the same spots in this zone have had a very wet spring and early summer, which led to deadly flooding. In addition, a tornado risk will continue well after Beryl's landfall, mainly to the north and east of the storm's center. It is nearly impossible to predict exactly where such tornadoes, often obscured by heavy, tropical rainfall, will occur, so it is important for residents and businesses to have a way to receive warnings, such as by using the AccuWeather App. All told Beryl is a 1 on the AccuWeather RealImpact Scale for Hurricanes in the U.S. due to the threat posed by storm surge flooding, wind and rain. In advance of Beryl's arrival, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has issued a disaster declaration for 120 counties spanning central and eastern Texas. Landfalling hurricanes are somewhat rare during July in Texas. According to Colorado State University Hurricane Researcher Phil Klotzbach, only nine have made landfall in the Lone Star State since reliable records began in 1851, the most recent being Hanna in 2020. As is typical with most tropical cyclones after moving inland, Beryl is expected to lose wind intensity as it moves north into Texas early in the week. A similar impact was observed late last week in Mexico, where Beryl made its second landfall after grazing Jamaica and making landfall in Carriacou in the Caribbean earlier in the week. This story on AccuWeather.com has the latest on Bery's impacts across the interior of the Central states and the Northeast from Tuesday to the end of the week. GET THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP Despite the easing of wind impacts, other threats will remain deep into the new workweek as the storm races off to the north and east, warn AccuWeather meteorologists. "As Beryl moves inland, it transition into a tropical rainstorm," said Pydynowski. "However, rain bands and squalls located to the east and southeast of Beryl's center will contain a lot of spinning motion, which can spawn tornadoes." While the threat of tornadoes will be greatest in Texas early this week, that risk can extend across the Mississippi and Ohio valleys and even as far north and east as the eastern Great Lakes by midweek. "These tornadoes can be particularly dangerous as they can develop very quickly in fast-moving thunderstorms and can be obscured by downpours or darkness if they occur at nighttime," warned Pydynowski. The biggest, most widespread concern from Beryl as a rainstorm will be from heavy rain. Besides Texas, AccuWeather meteorologists are forecasting the storm to bring at least an inch of rain to portions of nearly a dozen other states from Louisiana to New York. The storm's tentacles will even reach Canada by late in the week. The heaviest rainfall will follow Beryl's track through Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana through late Tuesday, where up to 8 inches can fall. Since the storm will be moving fast, this rain can fall in just a matter of hours, leading to reduced visibility for motorists and flash flooding on highways and in poor-drainage areas. Detroit, Indianapolis, Little Rock and St. Louis are among the cities where a few inches of rain can fall from Beryl this week, leading to slow travel and airport delays. Despite the prospects of tropical downpours impacting travel and summer plans, some along the storm's path are actually looking forward to receiving a dousing of rain from Beryl. "Large portions of the southern U.S. are experiencing drought conditions," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Alexander Duffus. "This rainfall can help to alleviate that, although for some, it will come as too much at once." In addition, the broad flow to the east of the storm across the Eastern Seaboard will pull rich, tropical moisture north from the Gulf of Mexico through the Southeast and toward the mid-Atlantic throughout the week, leading to flooding downpours from showers and thunderstorms, but also some drought relief from northern Florida to eastern Pennsylvania. 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. Biden seeks boost in Pennsylvania as calls for him to step aside mount U.S. President Biden attends a church service at Mt Airy Church of God In Christ, in Philadelphia U.S. President Biden attends a church service at Mt Airy Church of God In Christ, in Philadelphia By Andrea Shalal HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (Reuters) -An embattled U.S. President Joe Biden faced escalating pressure from fellow Democrats worried about his candidacy on Sunday, concerns he worked to ease with campaign stops in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. Biden, 81, faces growing calls to end his reelection bid after a halting performance in a June 27 debate with Republican Donald Trump, 78, raised questions about his ability to do the job for another four years. He has vowed to stay in the race, dismissing calls for him to drop out as "nonsense" in a fundraising email on Saturday. On Sunday, the Democratic president received a warm welcome at a Black church in Philadelphia and later traveled to the Pennsylvania state capital, Harrisburg, for an event with union members. Black voters are a critical part of Biden's base of support and recent public opinion polling has shown their support for him softening. On a leadership call on Sunday called by House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, some House Democrats said that Biden should step aside as presidential candidate, a source familiar with the discussions told Reuters. Representatives Jerrold Nadler, Adam Smith, Mark Takano and Joe Morelle, senior House Democrats who sit on the Judiciary, Armed Services, Veterans Affairs and House Administration committees, were among those who called on Biden to step aside, according to media reports. Democrats also suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris, seen as the likeliest candidate to replace Biden in the Nov. 5 election were he to bow out, could perform well. The coming week is crucial, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said on CNN's "State of the Union." He encouraged the president to hold a town hall or news conference to convince voters he is "the old Joe Biden." "The president needs to do more," Murphy said. "I do think the clock is ticking." Democratic U.S. Representative Adam Schiff said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that Biden needs to move swiftly to put concerns to rest. He added that he believed Harris "could win overwhelmingly, but before we get into a decision about who else it should be, the president needs to make a decision about whether it's him." Asked in Harrisburg whether the Democratic Party was behind him, Biden told reporters "yes." 'NEVER COUNT JOSEPH OUT' In Philadelphia, churchgoers at the Mt Airy Church of God in Christ gave Biden a rousing welcome. Bishop Louis Felton praised him as "a man of vision and integrity." The bishop, referring to Biden's Republican challenger without naming him, chided those who "make an issue of the president - that he is conditioned with stammering and not being able at certain times to bring forth words - while another person lies fluidly and you never challenge his lies." "Never count Joseph out," Felton thundered. "Go, Joseph, you can make it." Biden addressed the congregation for a little more than six minutes, saying, "We must unite America again. That's what I'm going to do." Carla Greene, a resident of Philadelphia, said she hoped Biden felt the support, adding, "we believe he is the man for the job." In a Friday interview with ABC News, Biden said only the "Lord Almighty" could persuade him to drop out, dismissing the prospect that Democratic leaders could join forces to try to talk him into standing down. A Democratic National Committee member from Florida, Alan Clendenin, joined calls urging Biden to step aside on Sunday. "Joe Biden will be remembered by historians as one of the finest presidents in American history, but this election is about the next four years, not the last three and a half," Clendenin said. The DNC has steadfastly supported Biden since his debate stumbles so any defections could suggest a deepening of the crisis. DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said on Sunday that Biden remains the party's nominee. "The primary is over," he said. CRITICAL STATE Biden stopped at a local campaign headquarters after church, telling supporters there, "Pennsylvania is a critically important state." Accompanying Biden, Democratic Senator John Fetterman bellowed, "There is only one person in the country that's ever kicked Trump's ass in an election and that is your president." Biden also met briefly with Pennsylvania's Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro. Pennsylvania is one of the half dozen or so states alongside Wisconsin and Michigan that can swing Democratic or Republican and are expected to determine the outcome of what has been a tight race. Sunday's trip - Biden's 10th to Pennsylvania during the 2024 election campaign - is part of a July voter outreach blitz by the Democratic Party that includes a $50 million media campaign aimed at events, such as the Olympics, and travel by the president, the first lady, Harris and her husband to multiple battleground states. Biden will visit swing state Nevada on July 16 and 17, the White House said on Sunday, where he will deliver remarks at the NAACP National Convention and UnidosUS Annual addressing Black and Latino audiences. Biden will also travel to Austin, Texas on July 15, where he will commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at the LBJ Presidential Library. Pressure from Congress is expected to ramp up in the coming days as lawmakers return to Washington from a holiday recess and donors mull their willingness to keep funding Biden's campaign. Biden is also preparing to host dozens of world leaders at a NATO summit in Washington this week and hold a rare solo news conference. Five U.S. lawmakers have publicly called for Biden to end his reelection bid, including Representative Angie Craig of Minnesota, the first Democratic member of the House of Representatives from a battleground district, with others said to be poised to join in. Two letters are circulating among House Democrats calling for Biden to step aside, House Democratic sources have said. Some Democrats have publicly supported Biden's 2024 presidential run. Senator Bernie Sanders, 82, who has run for the Democratic nomination for president in the past, stood firmly in Biden's camp on Sunday, saying Democrats' focus should be on policy. "This is not a beauty contest," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation." (Reporting by Andrea Shalal in Philadelphia; additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw in Philadelphia, Doina Chiacu, Trevor Hunnicutt, Tricia Zengerle and Moira Warburton in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone, Lisa Shumaker, Bill Berkrot and Diane Craft) Joe Biden's campaign team is struggling to control a media narrative that he is too old to seek re-election - Nathan Howard Joe Bidens team gave radio hosts a pre-selected list of questions to use when interviewing him, as the presidents campaign scrambled to control concerns about his age. Two interviewers in Philadelphia who spoke with Mr Biden on Wednesday said they were prompted by his team to ask specific questions, sparking accusations that the president is unwilling to give unscripted answers. The Biden campaign team is struggling to control a media narrative that he is too old to seek re-election, following his disastrous television debate performance on June 27 and a series of gaffes since. Andrea Lawful-Sanders, a host on WURD Radio, said the Biden campaign told her which questions she could ask before she spoke with Mr Biden on Wednesday, for an interview to be aired on Thursday. She told CNN the local station had been given eight questions to choose from, and that she had selected four for the interview. The questions were sent to me for approval [and] I approved them, she said, while a second host who spoke to Mr Biden that day told ABC that he didnt get a chance to ask him all the things I wanted to ask. The Biden campaign said the questions were only suggestions, and that the hosts were free to ask whatever questions they liked. A spokesman said the campaign would not suggest questions for future interviews. The incident comes after days of speculation about Mr Bidens health, which some Democrats believe should force him to stand down from his campaign. Four senior Democrats privately told colleagues on Sunday they thought Mr Biden should quit the race. Jerrold Nadler, Adam Smith, Mark Takano and Joseph Morelle, all of whom are ranking members of congressional committees, said the campaign should be suspended, the New York Times reported. Mr Biden performed poorly in the television debate, and has since claimed he is the first black woman to serve with a black president. On Friday, in an interview with ABC News, he said only the Lord Almighty could tell him to end his campaign, and insisted he was sharp enough to continue in the White House after Novembers election. However, some serving White House officials believe that Mr Biden is too old to continue, according to one person speaking to the New York Times. They said he had steadily shown more signs of his age in recent months. Several Democrats have publicly called for Mr Biden to make way for a younger candidate, and a grassroots campaign named Pass the Torch has been established to push for that decision. The Democratic Party cannot change its nominee without Mr Bidens consent, because he won the primary contest earlier this year virtually unopposed. Christopher Murphy, a Democratic senator from Connecticut, suggested Mr Biden had a week to save his campaign by convincing congressmen and the public that he was still up to the job. Voters do have questions, he told CNN on Sunday. Personally, I love Joe Biden, and I dont know that the interview on Friday night did enough to answer those questions. This week is going to be absolutely critical. I think the president needs to do more. Mr Biden is attempting to prove his mettle by speaking at campaign events in Pennsylvania on Sunday, after similar events in Wisconsin during the week. In his ABC interview on Friday, Mr Biden admitted he was getting old, but said he was still capable of performing as president and beating Trump in the election. Asked if he would take a cognitive test, he replied: No one said I had to. No one said they said Im good. He has told crowds on the campaign trail he will not be forced out by his critics. You think Im too old to beat Donald Trump? he asked supporters in Madison, Wisconsin on Friday. I can hardly wait. 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. While Biden campaigns in Pennsylvania, some Democratic leaders in the House say he should step aside HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) President Joe Biden urged his supporters to stay unified during a series of stops in critical Pennsylvania on Sunday, even as some leading congressional Democrats privately suggested it was time for him to abandon his reelection bid because of intensifying questions about whether he's fit for another term. Addressing a rousing church service in front of stained glass windows bathed in sunshine at Philadelphia's Mount Airy Church of God in Christ, the 81-year-old Biden joked, I know I look 40 but Ive been doing this a long time. I, honest to God, have never been more optimistic about Americas future if we stick together, he said. There and during a subsequent rally with union members in Harrisburg, Biden offered short speeches that touched on familiar topics. But he also left plenty of room for key backers to discuss standing by him. In that way, the Pennsylvania swing seemed meant to showcase support for the president from key political quarters more than proving hes up to four more years. His party, though, remains deeply divided. As Congress prepares to resume this week, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries convened top committee lawmakers Sunday afternoon to assess their views. Several Democratic committee leaders, including Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut and Rep. Mark Takano of California, said privately that Biden should step aside, according to two people familiar with the meeting and granted anonymity to discuss it. But other top Democrats, including members of the influential Congressional Black Caucus, argued just as forcefully that Biden remain the party's choice. The conversation was wide ranging, with the committee leaders sharing various views on the situation, but there was no unanimity on what should be done, the people said. Biden was personally calling lawmakers through the weekend. He also joined a call with campaign surrogates and reiterated that he has no plans to leave the race. Instead, the president pledged to campaign harder going forward and to step up his political travel, according to two people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. One Democrat the president spoke to, Sen. Alex Padilla of California, said he and others are pushing the Biden campaign to let Joe be Joe, get him out there. I absolutely believe we can turn it around, Padilla told The Associated Press. Meanwhile, a person familiar with Sen. Mark Warners thinking said there will be no meeting on Monday to talk about Bidens future, as had been previously discussed, and that those discussions will take place in Tuesdays regular caucus luncheon with all Democratic senators. The person said a private meeting was no longer possible after it was made public that the Virginia Democrat was reaching out to senators about Biden, and that a variety of conversations among senators continue. Five other, different Democratic lawmakers have already publicly called on Biden to abandon his reelection campaign ahead of November. Meeting this coming week in person means more chances for lawmakers to discuss concerns about Bidens ability to withstand the remaining four months of the campaign not to mention four more years in the White House and true prospects of beating Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump. Bidens campaign team was also calling and texting lawmakers to try to head off more potential defections, while increasingly asking high-profile Biden supporters to speak out on his behalf.. Calls to bow out nonetheless popped up from different directions. Alan Clendenin, a Tampa city councilman and member of the Democratic National Committee, on Sunday called for Biden to "step aside and allow Vice President Kamala Harris to carry forward his agenda as our Democratic nominee. Director Rob Reiner, who has helped organize glitzy Hollywood fundraisers for Biden in the past, posted on X, Its time for Joe Biden to step down. The Democratic convention is fast approaching and Bidens Friday interview with ABC has not convinced some who remain skeptical. Democratic fundraising bundler Barry Goodman, a Michigan attorney, said he's backing Biden but, should he step aside, he'd throw his support to Harris. Thats notable since Goodman was also a finance co-chairman for both of the statewide campaigns of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has also been mentioned as a top-of-the-ticket alternative. We dont have much time, Goodman said. I dont think the president gets out. But if he does, I think it would be Kamala. There was no such suggestion at Mount Airy, where Pastor Louis Felton likened the president to Joseph and the biblical story of his coat of many colors. In it, Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers, only eventually to obtain a high place in the kingdom of the pharaoh and have his brothers beg him for assistance without initially recognizing him. Never count Joseph out, Felton implored. Then, referring to Democrats who have called on Biden to step aside, he added, "That's whats going on, Mr. President. People are jealous of you. Jealous of your stick-to-itiveness, jealous of your favor. Jealous of Gods hand upon your life. Felton also led a prayer where he said, Our president gets discouraged. But today, through your holy spirit, renew his mind, renew his spirt, renew his body. After the church service, Biden visited a campaign office in Philadelphia, where Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat who won a tough 2022 race while recovering from a stroke, offered a forceful endorsement. There is only one guy that has ever beaten Trump," Fetterman said. And he is going to do it twice and put him down for good. Later stepping off Air Force One in Harrisburg, the president was asked if the Democratic Party was behind him and emphatically responded, Yes. Joining him at the union event, Rep. Madeleine Dean, also a Pennsylvania Democrat, said that democracy is on the line. Theres one man who understands it its Joe Biden. Isabel Afonso, who saw Biden speak in Harrisburg, said she was worried when she saw the presidents debate performance, but doesnt think he should drop out of the race and that he can still win. I know he is old, but I know if something happens to him, a reasonable person will replace him, said Afonso, 63. At the same event, 73-year-old James Johnson said he knew what it was like to forget things as he's gotten older but called Biden a fighter." He said replacing the president at the top of the Democratic ticket would only cause confusion. Im talking about lifelong Democrats and people that have been in the Democratic Party for a long time, Johnson said. They may just decide to jump ship, because of that. Still, others aren't fully convinced. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut told CNN that Biden "needs to answer those questions that voters have while adding, If he does that this week, I think he will be in a very good position. Biden has rejected undergoing independent cognitive testing, arguing that the everyday rigors of the presidency were proof enough of his mental acuity. Yet California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff told NBC on Sunday that he'd be happy if both the president and Donald Trump took a cognitive test. As some Democrats have done, Schiff also seized on Biden suggesting during the ABC interview that losing to Trump would be acceptable as long as I give it my all. This is not just about whether he gave it the best college try," Schiff said but rather whether he made the right decision to run or to pass the torch. - Weissert and Mascaro reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Zeke Miller and Kevin Freking in Washington, Michelle Price in New York, Meg Kinnard in Chapin, South Carolina, and Bill Barrow in New Orleans contributed to this report. Democrats are still unsatisfied with President Joe Biden after his interview on Friday night did little to quiet his critics. Now, they want him to go off script and they arent giving him much time to do it. Democrats said Sunday they are looking for more from the president to assure voters that he has the stamina and mental acuity for the rigors of campaigning. Across Sunday shows, Democrats message was clear: Biden needs to make some changes this week and do whats best for the country. I think the president needs to make some moves this week to put himself out there in a position to answer those questions, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said in an interview with CNNs Dana Bash Sunday morning. And if he cant do that, then of course, hes going to have to make a decision about whats best for the country and whats best for the party. Biden on Sunday traveled throughout Pennsylvania in an attempt to salvage his campaign. It was his first public appearance since the interview on Friday and he spoke to a church congregation in Philadelphia. Murphy, a Biden ally, is not the only Democrat who wants Biden to be talking with voters without a teleprompter, such as at town halls or in live interviews. And hes not the only Democrat supporting Biden who wants the president to prove himself on the trail and beyond. If there's a silver lining I think that's come out of this debate, it's let Joe be Joe. A lot of us were trying to advise the campaign to do that since before the debate. I think now they have no choice, Sen. Alex Padilla said in an interview with MSNBCs The Weekend. Let's get Joe out there at public events, at homes, being a little bit more unscripted. Lawmakers come back to Capitol Hill on Monday, but House Democrats are already planning to meet on Sunday afternoon to discuss the president. Meanwhile in the Senate, Sen. Mark Warner is set to talk to other Senate Democrats about finding the best path forward. And that all comes amid concerns that Biden, who is polling significantly worse than down ballot Democrats in battleground states, could hinder the House and Senate efforts to secure a majority. Already, five House Democrats have called on Biden to drop out of the 2024 race, including Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig, a lawmaker in a battleground district. The president is now facing a reckoning of sorts, as members of his own party call for him to step aside and publicly express concerns over his ability to stay in the 2024 race. Those fears were laid bare during the June 27 debate with former President Donald Trump, where Biden stumbled over words and had an overall poor performance. In recent interviews and events, Biden has asserted that hes not dropping out of the race. Rep Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) in an interview with NBCs Meet the Press on Sunday morning, also expressed anxieties over Biden and suggested that the president needs to question whether he can beat Trump. At the present, our down-ballot candidates in the Senate and House are doing well. They're all ahead. They are running well ahead of the president, but you can only run so far ahead of the president, Schiff said. And so, obviously, Joe Biden is going to need to consider, for his own sake and his own legacy, can he beat Donald Trump? Is he the best to beat Donald Trump? Murphy, Padilla and Schiff were some of few Democrats who went on the air Sunday morning to defend the president, in the absence of higher ranking Democrats like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.). Clyburn, a strong Biden ally who helped rescue the presidents 2020 campaign, was scheduled to appear on CBS Face the Nation on Sunday. But he canceled about two hours before ABCs 22-minute interview with the president aired on Friday night. And on Fox News Sunday, host Shannon Bream said her team struggled to find any Democrats to defend Biden. Our team has spent days reaching out to dozens of lawmakers and Biden advocates and allies. Weve had numerous interactions with the Biden-Harris campaign, Bream said. But not a single potential guest was either able or willing to join us on todays show to defend the president and his decision to stay on the ticket. So we will be having a conversation without that voice which we have been working around the clock to avoid. President Biden and other Dem candidates face a rude awakening on Election Day from a massive wave of Hispanics set to vote Republican because of lax US border policies, a top New York Latino said Sunday. Bidens disastrous immigration stance has caused an unrelenting surge of migrants to flood New York City and other urban areas across the country, leading more and more Hispanic voters who typically lean Democratic to defect from the party and instead back Donald Trump, said the Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr., a former Bronx councilman and state senator and current Trump surrogate. Hispanics, as with other voters, object to people coming over the border without papers and diverting resources from citizens, said Diaz, a native of Puerto Rico, on 770 WABCs The Cats Roundtable. According to former Bronx politician Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr., President Biden and other Democrats face a rude awakening on election day from Hispanic voters. Stephen Yang Diaz said many Hispanic voters are backing former President Donald Trump in the election because of the migrant crisis. Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images Some of them are committing crimes, he said of the migrants. This is going to be a rude awakening for the Democratic Party, Diaz predicted. That is the worst thing that the Democratic Party and President Biden [have] done, he said of the border crisis. Maybe they thought that by opening the border, we, the Hispanic community, would be happy. But it has been the Achilles heel [for] them because now even the immigrants that are here are against them. Hispanics no longer support the Democratic Party as strong[ly] as they used to, Diaz claimed. Diaz claimed that Bidens border policies will be an Achilles heel for his campaign. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta Diaz said that the Hispanic community is upset about the migrant crisis. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images A New York Times-Siena College national poll released last week backs Diazs assertion, with former President Trump leading Biden among Hispanic registered voters by 9 percentage points (50%-41%). Even the gap between Hispanic likely voters has narrowed, with 47% for Biden and 46% for Trump as the pair race for the White House. By comparison, Biden won nearly 60 percent of the Hispanic vote when the candidates ran against each other in 2020. Diaz, president of the 150-member Bronx-based Hispanic Clergy Association, is a pentecostal minister and conservative Democrat who often backs Republicans. Diaz endorsed Trump at a May rally in the Bronxs Crotona Park. Photo by James Devaney/GC Images He is despised by many in his party for fighting against gay marriage and opposing abortion. But he argues that the Democratic Party has shifted too far to the left on immigration and crime. We have 150 Hispanic ministers. They all have congregations with people. Some people try to talk for us, people who dont know the community how we feel, Diaz, 81, told host John Catsimatidis. But I know the community. I know what Im talking about. I know how my Hispanic community feels. We are angry. Diaz endorsed Trumpat a Bronx rally in Crotona Park in May. Joe Biden with physician Kevin O'Connor during his time as Barack Obama's vice president - David Lienemann Joe Bidens doctor met with a leading Parkinsons disease specialist at the White House earlier this year, it has emerged, amid ongoing questions about the US presidents health. Dr Kevin OConnor, Mr Bidens physician, met with Dr Kevin Cannard, a top neurologist, on Jan 17 and Dr Cannard has visited the White House a further seven times in the last year. Mr Biden has refused to take a cognitive test amid speculation about the state of his health, following a television debate last week, in which he appeared to freeze and forget his lines. The White House has denied that Mr Biden has a degenerative mental condition, and the president himself has said his debate performance was just a bad night. Dr Cannard, a movement disorders specialist, works at the Walter Reed Medical Centre, a military hospital in Maryland where Mr Biden receives his checkups. The visit was revealed by the New York Post, which reviewed the White Houses visitor logs. They show that Dr Cannard also met with Megan Nasworthy, an official who liaises with the Walter Reed Medical Centre, in March. Mr Bidens health has become a major threat to his reelection campaign after some Democrats called for him to step back from the 2024 election and make way for a younger nominee. Four senior Democrats privately told colleagues on Sunday they thought Mr Biden should quit the race. Jerrold Nadler, Adam Smith, Mark Takano and Joseph Morelle, all of whom are ranking members of congressional committees, said the campaign should be suspended, the New York Times reported. The 81-year-old acknowledges that he does not talk as smoothly as he used to, but says he remains at the top of his game in private meetings about government policy. In an interview with ABC News on Friday, he said only the Lord Almighty could tell him to stand down from the campaign, stressing the importance of beating Donald Trump in Novembers election. Asked repeatedly by the network whether he would take a cognitive test to disprove his critics, 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 said they said Im good. His mental state has faced increased scrutiny in recent days, and Mr Biden has further fuelled speculation by making further gaffes. In a radio interview on Thursday, he said he was proud to be the first black woman to serve with a black president. 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. 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) 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. 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. President Joe Biden listens during a campaign stop at Mt. Airy Church of God in Christ on July 7, 2024 in Philadelphia. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) PHILADELPHIA President Joe Biden was in Pennsylvania on Sunday to speak at a church in Philadelphia and a campaign office near Harrisburg, with the states top Democrats appearing with him along the way. The trip to the key swing state comes at a time when Biden is seeking to reassure Democratic voters and some of the partys elected members that he is up to the job despite a poor showing in the June 27 debate with former President Donald Trump. Bidens first stop on Sundays visit was at the Mt. Airy Church of God in Christ, a traditionally Black church in Northwest Philadelphia, where he spoke for about 10 minutes. Biden and first lady Jill Biden were originally scheduled to address the National Education Association conference in Philadelphia on Sunday, but canceled that appearance after a group of NEA workers went on strike Friday. The campaign said Biden refused to cross a picket line. Ive been doing this a long time, Biden told the congregation on Sunday in brief remarks, speaking in a quiet voice, without the use of a teleprompter. Honest to God, I have never been more optimistic about Americas future, if we stick together. I really mean it. The president arrived in Philadelphia at about 10 a.m., according to pool reports, where he was greeted at the airport by Democratic Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman and his wife Gisele Fetterman; Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker; and U.S. Reps. Brendan Boyle (D-2nd District) and Madeleine Dean (D-4th District). The church service began at about 10:30 a.m, and Biden, Casey and Parker arrived a short time later. After an opening song, Bishop J. Louis Felton began the service with a welcome to the president, who sat next to the churchs founder Bishop Ernest Morris, Sr. We want you to know, President Biden, that Bishop Morris is 91 years old on his way to 92, Felton said. And so, Mr President, since you are only an octogenarian sitting next to a nonagenarian, dont let anybody talk about your age. You are a young whippersnapper. Felton said Biden was among family, and took some not-so-subtle jabs at former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, during his remarks. This president doesnt sell Bibles, he actually reads them, Felton told the congregation. He also defended Biden for not being able at certain times to bring forth words, noting that another person lies fluently, an apparent reference to Trump. Sunday marked the first time Biden has returned to Pennsylvania since the debate, which hes since admitted was a bad episode. Following his remarks in the church, Pamela Abrams, a Philadelphia native who has attended services at the church for 15 years, told the Capital-Star she was not concerned about Bidens debate performance or his age. That was just a little freak of nature, Joe is fine, Abrams said. I think he has all of his faculties, he knows what he wants to do, he knows how he wants his office run and I think four more years we can give him to get it done. She added she loved his speech at the church. Looking forward to four more years of Joe. Go Joe, go. Run Joe, run. Republican National Committee chairman Michael Whatley criticized Biden in a statement Sunday, saying his policies had failed Pennsylvania families. Its no wonder why Pennsylvania voters are lining up to Make America Great Again by supporting President Trump, Whatley said. Dark Brandon is coming back Biden took selfies with some of the congregants immediately following the service, then made an unscheduled stop at the Roxborough Democratic Coordinated Campaign office in Philadelphia, speaking briefly to a gathering of supporters and volunteers ahead of canvassing efforts. Fetterman, Dean and Parker joined him at the campaign office, which had signs on the wall with handwritten responses to the phrase Im onboard because. The answers included Inclusion and choice matters, Democracy is vital to our country, and I care about access to reproductive health, according to the pool report. This election is going to be about block and tackle, and simple basic politics, Biden told the gathering, repeating his oft-cited pledge to build the economy from the middle out and the bottom up, adding hes been saying that since he was a U.S. Senator. He told the gathering at the campaign office in Philadelphia that beginning the night of the debate and in appearances since, hes been drawing big crowds. Biden said voters want to know you care, and encouraged the volunteers to keep door knocking. He also said a lot of corporate greed was contributing to the cost of groceries, adding The wealthy are going to have to start paying their fair share. As he shook hands and greeted people in the audience, he approached a woman who told him, we need Dark Brandon back, a reference to Bidens cooler, meme-fied alter ego. Biden patted his jacket and said even though he didnt have his sunglasses a key feature of the Dark Brandon image Dark Brandon is coming back. Voter: We need Dark Brandon back President Biden: Dark Brandon is coming back Voters: *burst into applause* pic.twitter.com/fBPL01ReeK Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) July 7, 2024 Fetterman, wearing his usual hoodie and shorts, spoke next, saying he was proud to be with the president. I know what its like to have a rough debate and Im standing here as your senator, Fetterman said, a reference to his 2022 debate against GOP candidate Mehmet Oz. Fetterman had suffered a stroke a few months earlier and struggled during the debate with auditory processing issues. The 2024 election was always going to be close, Fetterman added Sunday. [But] there is only one guy that has ever beaten Trump and he is going to do it twice and put him down for good. Biden makes first Harrisburg visit since 2020 Biden next headed to Harrisburg, where union members, campaign staff and others began to arrive in the early afternoon at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employee Union event ahead of his appearance. Sunday was Bidens first trip to the Harrisburg area since the 2020 campaign, when he delivered a Labor Day speech at the state AFL-CIO headquarters and said he would be the strongest labor president weve ever had. Lancaster resident Harry Davis, 82, said Sunday he had planned to spend the day canvassing for Biden, despite the high temperatures. But when he was invited by the campaign to see Biden speak, he decided not to pass on the opportunity. Davis said that the concerns about Bidens age and capability have made him more aware of his own age. Hes slightly older than Biden, and said he can have trouble with words himself. It made me really mad, people saying hes a tottering old man, Davis said. Im perfectly confident he can do it. And if he cant, Kamala Harris she usually gets a short shrift but Im confident she can do it too. Davis added that for him the No. 1 issue is the environment. Janet Temin Diaz, a Lancaster City Council member and chair of the PA Dems Latino Caucus, said she has heard concerns from her constituents about Bidens age, but believes that the threat of another Trump term makes Biden a candidate worth supporting, even if its more of a vote against Trump. They do feel a little concerned about his age, Temin said about her constituents, particularly the Latinos shes spoken with since the debate. I would say theres positives and negatives, but most of them will vote for Biden, because its safer because of how far right Trump is. She cited the American Rescue Plan funding as something her constituents have felt directly, and said she appreciates Bidens support for unions. Biden is union, Diaz said. Hes always been with unions, where Trump wasnt. State Rep. Ismail Izzy Smith-Wade-El (D- Lancaster) said he was pleasantly surprised by the turnout at the event so far, speaking to the Capital-Star about 45 minutes before Bidens scheduled remarks. In 2020, the African-American and Latino communities of central Pennsylvania over-performed and delivered this state for Democrats, sending a Democrat to the White House, Smith-Wade-El said. Seeing that turnout [here], seeing Black and brown folks, seeing organized labor here, that tells me that the people who need to be brought in to win this thing are being brought in. Smith-Wade-El added that he hasnt heard much concern from his community about Bidens age. Theyre talking to me about health care, theyre talking to me about housing, theyre talking to me about Gaza, Smith-Wade-El said. Theyre not talking to me about Bidens age I think when you look at his track record vs the other guys track record, I think it becomes simple, fortunately or unfortunately. The Harrisburg Palestine Coalition protested the event. At around 12:30, when the protest was scheduled to start, the turnout was around 20 to 30 people, who stood beside a road leading to the AFSCME building where Biden spoke. Biden reaffirmed his support for unions during his remarks in Harrisburg, and doubled down on a vision for his second term focused on economic support for the lower and middle classes. He spoke off the cuff, walking in front of the gathering while holding a microphone, this time wearing his signature aviator sunglasses. The middle class built this country and, guess what, the unions built the middle class, Biden said to the AFSCME crowd. The president pledged to increase spending on child care and senior care if elected for a second term. Biden also pledged further tax reform, with a focus on a tax for billionaires and corporations. Biden was joined in Harrisburg by Dean, Fetterman and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis. All three voiced support for the embattled president, even as calls for him to step aside continued Sunday. During the Harrisburg event, Democrats sought to draw a contrast between Biden and Trumps terms in office. We were all hoarding toilet paper, Fetterman said of the end of Trumps term, whereas under Biden, Our economy is the envy of the world right now. Dean focused her remarks on the candidates character. Weve seen them both perform as president, Dean said. One with utter integrity and the other so seeded with corruption. Dean also recalled her experience on Jan. 6, when a crowd of Trump supporters rallied by the former president broke into the Capitol as Congress was certifying the 2020 election. I was there on January the 6th, Dean added. I was taken out in a gas mask. After his remarks, Biden took selfies and spoke with audience members for roughly 45 minutes, even as the temperature in Harrisburg held steady in the low 90s. @POTUS stopped by Denim Coffee in Harrisburg and ordered a strawberry smoothie. @JoshShapiroPA and @JohnFetterman and Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams joined pic.twitter.com/Y7rIwo6BBA Sophie Hills (@sophiemhills) July 7, 2024 Biden next headed to Denim Coffee in Harrisburg, where he was joined by Gov. Josh Shapiro, Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams, Fetterman and Jill Biden. The president declined whipped cream on his strawberry smoothie, according to the pool report, and left $20 in the tip jar. Biden says hes not dropping out Bidens insistence that he will remain in the race has not prevented national media and political pundits from weighing in and speculating - sometimes flat-out stating that he should step down as the presumptive Democratic nominee in favor of a younger candidate. But Biden has largely dismissed those calls to drop out. Let me say this as clearly as I can: Im staying in the race, he told a capacity crowd of more than 1,000 supporters in Madison, Wisconsin on Thursday. Those calling for him to leave the race are ignoring the will of the voters who voted for him in primaries across the country, he added. Im not going to let one 90-minute debate wipe out three and a half years of work. Most of Pennsylvanias top elected Democrats have thus far expressed support for the president remaining in the race. Shapiro whose name comes up frequently in speculation about who would replace Biden on the ticket went on cable news shows the morning after the debate and said Democrats should stop worrying and start working, while acknowledging Bidens debate performance was bad. Fetterman said Friday on MSNBC that Democrats calling for Biden to drop out were betraying the president. I am not the sum total of a bad debate and certainly the president isnt either, he said. But U.S. Rep. Summer Lee (D-12th District) said on a satellite radio show July 3 that Biden would need to show that hes up for the task, if he decided to stay in the race, adding that Vice President Kamala Harris should be the Democratic nominee if Biden steps aside. The campaign said the weekend swing through the blue wall states Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin is part of a July outreach blitz that includes a $50 million media campaign. It also will include an aggressive travel schedule which will see the Bidens, Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff travel to every battleground state. Its organizing program aims to knock on more than 3 million doors throughout July and August, the campaign said. Trump will visit Pennsylvania next weekend, with a rally in Butler County, north of Pittsburgh, days before the opening of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Neither candidate has spent much time in the western half of the state so far this campaign cycle. With a few exceptions, Trumps debate performance has not drawn the same level of scrutiny as Bidens, but a fact-check by CNN found the presumptive GOP nominee made more than 30 false claims during the debate, many of which had already been debunked. Biden last visited Pennsylvania in May, when he and Harris launched the campaigns Black Voters for Biden-Harris initiative in Philadelphia. Trump campaigned in Philadelphia in June, speaking on Temple Universitys campus, where he appeared on stage for the first time in 2024 with GOP U.S. Senate candidate David McCormick. And Trump last visited Harrisburg in February, speaking at a National Rifle Association event where he promised the audience no one will lay a finger on your firearms. Biden beat Trump in Pennsylvania in 2020 by just over 80,000 votes. Updated with a full write-through at 5:25 p.m. July 7, 2024. Correction: This article was updated July 9, 2024 to correct a caption that misidentified a person in a photo with President Biden in Harrisburg. SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE The post Biden returns to battleground Pennsylvania for campaign events in Philadelphia and Harrisburg appeared first on Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Biden tried to put his campaign crisis behind him. It isnt working yet. A defiant Joe Biden had laughed Friday at the idea that his top congressional allies would convince him to drop out of the presidential race. Theyre not gonna do that, he told ABC News George Stephanopoulos. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi? Hed already talked to all of them, he said. And indeed, there was no such public call Saturday from those figures no raising of questions, no airing of concerns. Instead, there was silence. Including, conspicuously, from Schumer and Jeffries. The two top congressional Democrats said nothing publicly. Asked for comment on the interview, Schumers team declined, while Jeffries didnt respond to POLITICOs request. It was not the kind of show of force that suggested an end to the political crisis sparked by the presidents rocky debate performance last week. Biden had sought to end the turmoil inside the Democratic Party by demonstrating his vigor and shutting down talk of replacing him on the ticket. He delivered a forceful speech before a crowd of hundreds in Wisconsin, participated in two radio interviews and sat for an interview with ABC News, during which he was asked repeatedly about his age and viability going into November. But public questions about his age and mental acuity continued to mount Saturday, starting when Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig issued a statement calling for Biden to withdraw from the race, making her the first battleground House Democrat to do so (Craig has said in the past that she believes the party needs a new generation of leadership). Shes now the fifth House member to make this plea, as others grow louder in their skepticism about the presidents odds of beating former President Donald Trump. Controversy also rose Saturday as two radio hosts said the Biden aides provided them with questions for the presidents Friday interviews. Biden campaign officials defended the process as typical, with aides sharing posts on X that described this as standard practice. The question of the state of Bidens reelection campaign which the president had tried so hard to answer was set to continue to dominate Sunday. The Sunday shows will feature a few Biden allies, including Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Before issuing a brief statement Friday about Biden being who our country needs, Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, one of Bidens top allies, pulled out of a Sunday interview on CBS Face the Nation. His team did not respond to a request for comment on why the congressman canceled his appearance. Eyes will also be on the president during his campaign trip Sunday in Pennsylvania, where Biden will attend a church in Philadelphia before traveling to Harrisburg for an event in the afternoon. And with the House and Senate set to return to Washington on Monday questions are swirling about whether a slew of Democrats will go public with their private fears about Biden in the coming days, or if the party will rally around the president and his fight to take on Trump. No one is more committed to defeating Donald Trump and defending our democracy than Joe Biden, and few know better than Joe Biden the importance of showing up and campaigning to earn the support of voters, said Biden campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz. This was always going to be a close race and the dynamics at play are the ones we've long anticipated: voters continue to be deeply concerned by Donald Trump and his harmful agenda, and the more we engage and reach out to voters, the more they support President Biden. There are a lot of days between now and election day, and the hard work of earning every single vote is far from over. Pelosis team also initially said it had no comment. Less than an hour later, soon after the Biden campaign was contacted for comment, spokesperson Ian Krager offered a statement: Speaker Pelosi has full confidence in President Biden and looks forward to attending his inauguration on January 20, 2025. White House and campaign officials on Saturday shared new polling from Bloomberg News/Morning Consult showing Biden with his best performance to date in battleground states, with the president now leading Trump in Michigan and Wisconsin. And the campaign doubled down with its message in a fundraising email to supporters Saturday titled, The pundits have gotten everything wrong. I understand you cant turn on the television or get on the internet without seeing some pundit talking about how I need to drop out of the race. Nonsense, the email said. I want you to ask yourself, what have these people been right about lately? Seriously. Think about it. Its the same posture that struck Democratic operatives and lawmakers on the Hill after the ABC News interview Friday, when several told POLITICO the president was in denial about his standing in the race. On Saturday, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) told MSNBC that there is a risk in dismissing critical voices. I think the White House has done a bad job of reaching out to those that theyve got to know have deep misgivings, he said. By not having that kind of outreach, youre leaving individuals to their own devices and their own judgment. As weve seen, that has led to erosion of support in some circles. The president had nothing on his public schedule Saturday. The Biden campaign said he joined a biweekly meeting with the campaigns co-chairs in the morning to thank them and discuss their shared commitment to winning the 2024 race in the face of the dire threat Donald Trump poses. Several of Bidens Hill allies were on the call, including Clyburn, Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE.) Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) and Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE). Coons, Clyburn and Blunt Rochester issued statements on Friday night after the interview, reiterating their belief that Biden is the best candidate to defeat Trump. But as House Democrats continued to be questioned Saturday in media appearances and interviews, it was clear that little had changed in the wake of Bidens interview: the presidents defenders continued to stand behind him, while others grew louder in airing their concerns. So long as the president says he can do this job, then that is the ticket, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) told MSNBC. She had been among the first to defend Biden, talking to reporters in the spin room immediately after the debate in Atlanta. So had Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), who echoed Crockett in saying Biden had earned Democrats support when millions of voters chose him in the primary. At the ESSENCE Festival in New Orleans, where Vice President Kamala Harris was due to appear, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said Biden wasnt going to be replaced on the ticket by another candidate. Hell, Im older than Biden, Waters, who is 85, said to applause during a panel featuring four members of the Congressional Black Caucus. No matter what anybody says, it aint going to be no other Democratic candidate. But not all Democrats were so sure. Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) told the New York Times that he was losing confidence in Bidens ability to win and that the party would be foolish not to look at another course if it believed the president would lose. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) said at the Essence festival that the partys wins did not rely solely on Biden, calling for support for the vice president. Craigs call for Biden to drop out was particularly striking because she represents a swing district that voted for Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020. In her statement Saturday morning, she cited not just the debate itself but the lack of a forceful response from the President himself following that debate. Some congressional Democrats are worried that Bidens troubles could be an electoral drag down-ballot. With the party facing a brutal path to maintaining the Senate, and Biden falling further behind in the polls, attention has increasingly turned to Democrats efforts to reclaim the House as a possible firewall against complete GOP control. The upcoming days will be closely watched as lawmakers return to Washington on Monday. Democrats from both chambers are expected to speak privately over the next few days conversations that will likely serve as a venue to air their grievances over Bidens performance and try to chart a path forward. Jeffries will meet with Democratic ranking members on Sunday, and its expected that Bidens viability will come up. And in the Senate, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) has approached Senate Democrats to organize a discussion on Bidens path to reelection, while Schumer will hold a routine leadership meeting Monday night, which will allow him to meet face-to-face with several members of his caucus. Biden is a very decent human and a legendary leader in many ways. I have no doubt in his ability to make good decisions and finish out this term as POTUS, said one House Democrat after Fridays interview, granted anonymity to speak candidly. But frankly, hes just not up to simultaneously being POTUS and being a compelling reelection candidate. Its too much for him, and while its obvious to pretty much everyone, he seems stubbornly blind to that reality. Nicholas Wu contributed to this report. Joe Biden's campaign says it raised $38 million since the debate against Trump over a week ago. In the day following the debate, Biden's team raised $27 million to Donald Trump's $8 million. Biden is recovering from a painful debate where he seemed lost next to a rambling Trump. President Joe Biden's reelection campaign knows it took a hit in the debate against former President Donald Trump. But Biden is coming back swinging, one campaign spokesperson says, touting $38 million in donations since last Thursday's debate. "People going to joebiden.com and chipping in because they understand that when you get knocked down, you get back up and you keep fighting, and that's exactly what the President has done," Michael Tyler, the communications director for Biden's campaign, told the hosts of MSNBC's "The Weekend" on Saturday. In the day after the July 27 debate, Biden raised $27 million while Trump raised $8 million, Business Insider previously reported. While Trump appeared to win the debate, both candidates made gaffes and delivered incoherent sentences. Tyler added that the flood of donations after the debate was "one of our most successful stretches of the campaign so far" and that Biden maintains he is "the best person to take on Donald Trump." "Nobody is going to fight harder to defeat Donald Trump," Tyler said of Biden. "He is the one person who has demonstrated an ability to actually defeat Donald Trump, given everybody else who was tried on both sides of the aisle." The Biden campaign intends to spend $50 million on paid advertising in July while knocking on 3 million doors, Tyler said. Since Biden's first presidential debate against Trump, the president's campaign has been rocked with growing calls from Democratic colleagues and top donors to either convince the American public that Biden is fit for a second term or step aside for a new candidate. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia has been rallying his colleagues in Congress to ask Biden to drop out of the race, The Washington Post reported. Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings was one of the first megadonors of the Democratic Party to call on Biden to end his campaign. Biden, however, appeared to dismiss the gravity of his campaign's woes in a recent interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos. The president chalked up his debate performance to a "bad night," dismissed poll numbers that continue to show him trailing behind Trump, and discredited any rumblings inside the Democratic Party about a new nominee. Biden's campaign has repeatedly touted donation numbers. According to a Politico report, the campaign brought in $127 million in June when combining funds from the Democratic National Committee, trouncing the $112 million the Trump campaign raised the same month. Spokespeople for the Biden and Trump campaigns did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider Key Insights The projected fair value for Venture is S$15.34 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity With S$14.14 share price, Venture appears to be trading close to its estimated fair value Analyst price target for V03 is S$14.91 which is 2.8% below our fair value estimate Does the July share price for Venture Corporation Limited (SGX:V03) reflect what it's really worth? Today, we will estimate the stock's intrinsic value by estimating the company's future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model is the tool we will apply to do this. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple! We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. 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 Venture The Calculation We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. To 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, 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 (SGD, Millions) S$197.2m S$331.6m S$292.4m S$270.1m S$257.3m S$250.5m S$247.4m S$246.8m S$247.9m S$250.3m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x4 Analyst x2 Est @ -11.81% Est @ -7.64% Est @ -4.72% Est @ -2.67% Est @ -1.24% Est @ -0.24% Est @ 0.46% Est @ 0.95% Present Value (SGD, Millions) Discounted @ 7.0% S$184 S$289 S$238 S$206 S$183 S$167 S$154 S$143 S$134 S$127 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = S$1.8b The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. 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 (2.1%) 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 7.0%. Story continues Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2034 (1 + g) (r g) = S$250m (1 + 2.1%) (7.0% 2.1%) = S$5.2b Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= S$5.2b ( 1 + 7.0%)10= S$2.6b 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 S$4.5b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of S$14.1, the company appears about fair value at a 7.8% 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 We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Venture 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 7.0%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.072. 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 Venture Strength Currently debt free. 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 Electronic market. Opportunity Annual revenue is forecast to grow faster than the Singaporean market. Current share price is below our estimate of fair value. Threat Annual earnings are forecast to grow slower than the Singaporean market. Next Steps: Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. For Venture, we've compiled three important factors you should explore: Risks: You should be aware of the 1 warning sign for Venture we've uncovered before considering an investment in the company. Future Earnings: How does V03'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 Singaporean 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 In April, Axios reported that President Joe Biden was planning "to issue an executive order to dramatically limit the number of asylum-seekers who can cross the southern border" in an attempt to "stem illegal border crossings." The Biden administration announced sweeping asylum restrictions in early June, but the move immediately drew backlash from both immigrant advocates and border hawks. "The entry of any noncitizen into the United States across the southern border is hereby suspended and limited," said Biden's order. When border encounters between ports of entry hit a daily average of 2,500 over a seven-day period, migrants will be barred from seeking asylum unless they qualify for a narrow exception or request an appointment at a port of entry through an app (a glitchy and cumbersome process). Restrictions will lift 14 days after daily encounters between ports of entry fall below 1,500 per day on average over a seven-day period. Border crossings have fallen recently, but it's been years since they were as low as Biden's order would demand for asylum processing to resume. And like many of Biden's actions on the border, the order has satisfied basically nobody. The International Refugee Assistance Project called it and other restrictive measures "a remarkable capitulation by the Biden administration to xenophobic politicians who thrive on fear-mongering and scapegoating immigrant communities." Jennie Murray, president and CEO of the National Immigration Forum, said the action would be "only a Band-Aid without action from Congress." Several Democratic lawmakers expressed similar concerns, and the American Civil Liberties Union has sued Biden over the order. Restrictionists, meanwhile, criticized Biden's intent and timing. "It's window dressing," said House Speaker Mike Johnson (RLa.) of the "weak" order. "Everybody knows that if he was concerned about the border, he would have done this a long time ago." Sen. Ted Cruz (RTexas) claimed the order "is about the Biden administration trying to give themselves political cover" before the presidential election. "The executive order will still allow thousands of illegal aliens to come across the border per day. That's absurd." The order will have a very real and negative impact on migrants. Border measures like this push sufficiently desperate migrants into more remote, dangerous, and deadly crossing corridorsor, for those who choose to wait for restrictions to lift, into tent cities along the border where they may experience rape, torture, or kidnapping. Biden has embraced some effective policies at the border, including sponsorship programs that let private citizens welcome refugees and other migrants. Those initiatives have been successful in reducing unauthorized migration among eligible nationalities. That's because they acknowledge a simple fact: Cracking down on migrants does nothing to address their demand for a safe immigration pathway and the opportunity to work. The administration's asylum restrictions deny that fact and will have unintended consequences, likely contribute to border chaos, andmost certain of allfail to make anyone happy. The post Biden's Election Year Border Order appeared first on Reason.com. President Biden and first lady Jill Biden will travel to Pennsylvania Sunday to begin their July voter outreach events amid the fallout from the presidents poor debate showing and concerns among Democrats. Biden is set to deliver remarks at a church service in Northwest Philadelphia before traveling to Harrisburg, Pa., for an event with union members and local Democrats, his campaign said. He will be joined by Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-Pa.), Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, both Pennsylvania Democratic Senators Bob Casey and John Fetterman, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker (D) and other local leaders. The Pennsylvania visit follows Bidens recent trip to Madison, Wis., on Friday and is part of the campaigns efforts to target battleground states. The president has faced mounting criticism after his debate performance and calls for him to step aside to allow someone else to take on former President Trump. After participating in an on-camera interview on Friday in Wisconsin, Biden has yet to instill enthusiasm in his voter base as they worry he doesnt have what it takes to beat Trump this fall. The Pennsylvania and Wisconsin visits are part of the Democratic Partys aggressive July voter outreach blitz, the campaign said. The Bidens and Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will be traveling extensively to each battleground state this month. The travel plans come on the heels of voters questioning if the 81-year-old president is mentally and physically capable of continuing to campaign, let alone handling another four years in office. Biden dismissed questions about his age in the recent interview. The plan over the next several weeks also includes a $50 million media campaign and an outreach plan to knock on 3 million doors. While MAGA hate and extremism will be on full display at the Republican National Convention, Team Biden-Harris will be focused on doing the critical outreach to our diverse coalition that wins elections, the campaign said in an email. This trip will be Bidens tenth to the Keystone State this election cycle. Its a state he won by less than 82,000 votes in 2020. According to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ, Trump has a 57 percent chance of winning Pennsylvania this time around. 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. BIG COUNTRY, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) Saturday morning, Scurry County EMS and three personnel tied to the Roscoe Volunteer Fire Department, including EMT Keegan Pruitt, Captain and EMT Martin McDonnell, and Firefighter Cody McDonnell, left for San Antonio as Beryl prepares to make landfall in Texas. Beryl set to strengthen on approach to Texas due to hot ocean temperatures EMS vehicles from several counties, including Nolan County, are part of Task Force One and are dispatched to assist in areas of the state that are expected to be impacted. The Roscoe Volunteer Fire Department shared that their members do not know exactly where or how they will be assisting just yet, but they may be aiding in the evacuations of hospitals or nursing homes. Texas coast braces for potential hit by Beryl, which is expected to regain hurricane strength They could be there anywhere from 2 to 10 days. The Big Country, and we here at KTAB/KRBC, thank our brave responders who are heading towards the danger to save Texans in harms way. We will continue to update you on their status as more 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 KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com. The Scoop As the Democratic Party convulses over questions about President Joe Bidens mental fitness, a pair of well-connected Democrats is offering an optimistic plan that would involve the president stepping down as the nominee and the party announcing a blitz primary process ahead of the August convention. The proposal is the work of Rosa Brooks, a Georgetown University law professor who served in the Obama and Clinton administrations and as a volunteer policy adviser to the Biden campaign in 2020, and Ted Dintersmith, a venture capitalist and education philanthropist who has donated to various Democratic campaigns. They want Biden to flip the script on the current Washington narrative of a Democratic Party in chaos and for the party to see the current period as an opportunity for a reset. In the midst of malaise and crisis, we can forge an uplifting path, Dintersmith told Semafor. Their idea goes something like this, according to a memo shared with Semafor that has been circulated to Democratic donors and bundlers as well as officials within the Biden campaign and administration: Biden would step down as the Democratic nominee in mid-July, and announce the new system, with backing from Vice President Kamala Harris. Potential candidates would have a few days to throw their respective hats in the ring. The Democratic Party then would begin a primary sprint in which the six candidates who receive the most votes from delegates pledge to run positive-only campaigns in the month leading up to the convention. The blitz primary would involve weekly forums with each candidate moderated by cultural icons (Michelle Obama, Oprah, and Taylor Swift are among the names floated in the memo) in order to engage voters. The nominee would ultimately be chosen by the delegates using ranked choice voting before the start of the Chicago convention on Aug. 19. It would be announced with plenty of fanfare on the third day of the gathering. The memo imagines the nominee unveiled on stage with Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. According to its authors, the country would be captivated. Donations would pour in. And Biden would be celebrated as a modern-day George Washington, the proponents argue. We can limp to shameful, avoidable democracy-ending defeat. Or Democrats can make this Our Finest Hour. While we hope for help from Lord Almighty, the Lord helps those who help themselves, the memo states, alluding to Bidens recent interview with ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos in which he said only the Lord Almighty could force him from the race. We need to act. Now. In response, a Biden campaign spokesperson pointed to comments made by the president last week about remaining in the race. Im not letting one 90-minute debate wipe out three and a half years of work. Im staying in the race, and I will beat Donald Trump, he said in Wisconsin. The spokesperson also noted that the Biden Victory Fund received a maximum donation from a top donor last week, and that grassroots fundraising remains strong. Morgans view Democrats are desperate for a way out of the current mess. Concerns about Bidens mental acuity and intraparty fighting about whether he should continue as the nominee have dominated headlines since his June 27 debate performance. Bidens Friday Stephanopoulos interview did little to quell the angst. This plan looks to chart an optimistic course of action for the party but probably stands little chance of being implemented. For one, it would require Biden who has only been digging in to decide voluntarily to exit the race within days. And it wouldnt automatically make Harris the nominee, instead ushering in a broader field, which could exacerbate the partys problems with some key constituencies if shes seen as being passed over. Its also hard to see candidates sticking to a positive-only campaign pledge that avoids attacking their competition. Even if they publicly restrained themselves, a competitive race would likely usher in a knife fight of opposition research, leaks, and whispers by their allies in the press and on social media. The memo acknowledges that time is not on the Democrats side: Will it happen? Probably not, absent a timely decision by Party leaders, including President Biden, who truly put country first, it states. Yes, President Biden has served his country with distinction for five decades. Yes, this honorable man deserves our respect, gratitude, and admiration. But not our blind loyalty. America desperately wants an uplifting choice. Room for Disagreement Brooks said that she has heard near-universal support from individuals to whom she has sent the memo, suggesting party elites would be on board with such a plan if Biden backs it. Notable Biden ally Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., predicted there would be a mini primary leading up to the Democratic convention if Biden were to bow out of the race. Some Democratic donors are pausing donations or focusing funds on down-ballot races in the wake of Bidens debate performance , The Wall Street Journal reported. The Trump campaign is already making plans to attack Harris should Biden step aside, Axios reported. For a previous report on this story view the video player above. MARYSVLLE, Ohio (WCMH) Columbus police and Central Ohio Crime Stoppers continue to ask for the publics assistance in locating a woman who has not been seen since 2001. Patricia (Patti) Adkins has been missing for 23 years since she left Honda of America Manufacturing plant in Marysville on June 29, 2001. Adkins was last seen leaving at the end of the second shift. According to NBC News, Adkins was scheduled to take a trip to Canada with her boyfriend. But when she did not return to pick up her daughter, Adkins sister reported her missing on July 8. Crime Stoppers say no one, including Adkins daughter and family members, has heard from her, with financial and personal records showing no activity since her disappearance. This embedded content is not available in your region. NBC News said police have interviewed Adkins boyfriend, and he has denied having anything to do with her disappearance. The Union County Sheriffs Office said the boyfriend remains the primary suspect, though little evidence has been connected to him. Foul play is suspected, with courts declaring Adkins legally dead at 29 years of age, per Crime Stoppers. She would be 52 years old now, and the Union County Sheriffs Office continues to investigate any and all leads. In 2022 Crime Stoppers issued a $25,000 reward to anyone with information leading to the discovery of Adkins. Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS (8477) or visit www.stopcrime.org and submit your tip. 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. NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas (KXAN) The New Braunfels Police Department said it was investigating a suspected murder-suicide following a shooting Saturday evening. Police arrived at a residence in the 900 block of Pumpkin Ridge around 5 p.m. Saturday, in response to a welfare concern regarding a woman who had made threats to harm herself and her boyfriend, per a Sunday news release. This embedded content is not available in your region. Police added neither the woman nor her boyfriend had been in contact with family for multiple days. Once entering the home, police found a woman and a man dead in a bedroom, each appearing to have been fatally shot. The department identified the woman as Abigail Garza, 32, of Robbstown and the man as Michael Burrer, 45, of New Braunfels. Based on the initial investigation, officials said they believe Garza shot Burrer before shooting herself. The shooting is the first in New Braunfels this year and is being continually investigated by the New Braunfels Police Departments Criminal Investigations Division. 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 KXAN Austin. Brazile says DNC delegates will best show state of Biden campaign amid age concerns Former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Donna Brazile said Sunday that all eyes will be on Democratic delegates before the partys convention as President Biden faces rising concerns over his age. Brazile said the returned electoral ballots from the partys delegates will show Biden whether there are serious concerns about his candidacy. Those delegates who have by and large been supportive of the president, pledged to the president, they will submit their ballots hopefully within one week, she said in an ABC This Week interview. We will probably ascertain better than any pollster, better than any pundit, better than any strategist, just where the president stands with his own delegates, she added. An increasing number of Democrats have called on Biden to leave the presidential race over concerns about his age and well-being and whether he can defeat former President Trump in November. The president has so far strongly rejected the calls. Brazile underlined the importance of the situation for Biden, making clear that the issue of whether he continues his campaign is about more than just him. This is a critical time for the country. Its a very challenging time for the Democratic Party, perhaps a sad and difficult moment for the Biden family, Brazile said. She acknowledged the criticism but stood by Biden, again encouraging a focus on party members in their nomination votes this month. We know the stakes are very high. We know whats on the line, Brazile continued. Keeping control of the United States Senate, keeping control of the United States House. But at the same time, we are going to have to reassure and the president has to do it as well as those of us in the party reassure the country, but more importantly, the delegates. 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. Millions of passengers could be compensated for late flights if a landmark legal case against British Airways and easyJet proves successful. British Airways and easyJet are battling to throw out the case, which risks forcing airlines to pay out hundreds of millions of pounds to passengers over late flights. The two carriers have been sued in the High Court over claims they must automatically compensate travellers whose flights are severely delayed or cancelled. This could potentially lead to a massive overhaul in how passengers are reimbursed for travel chaos, as they will no longer have to submit claims themselves if their trip is disrupted. Lawyers have identified up to 100,000 flights that were either delayed or cancelled since 2016, potentially landing BA and easyJet with a damages bill of at least 100m. If successful, the case could also pave the way for vast payouts across the industry, raising the stakes for airlines worst hit by delays and cancellations. Passengers are entitled to compensation of up to 520 if their flights are delayed by more than three hours but it is then down to them to contact the airlines themselves to make a claim. This has raised concerns that many travellers are unaware of their rights, with few taking up the opportunity to seek compensation. BA and easyJet will seek to fight off the case in a two-day court hearing this week. The airlines have argued that the lawsuit is misconceived and part of an attempt by lawyers to profit from passengers. It is expected to reignite discussions over chronic travel disruption, which has been a significant issue ever since the pandemic as staff shortages and air traffic control chaos triggered delays and cancellations. It comes as families prepare to jet off on their summer holidays, with new figures showing that BA has cancelled more than 4,000 flights from UK airports over the past year more than double the number of cancellations by easyJet. After the claim was first launched last year, director of policy and advocacy at consumer group Which? Rocio Concha said: While airlines already have a legal responsibility to inform passengers of their rights to compensation and assistance when things go wrong, too often we hear that this is not taking place. That this case needs to be brought at all once again exposes the UKs feeble passenger rights protections. BA chief Sean Doyle, who took over in late 2020, has been attempting to overhaul the company. BA faced fresh scrutiny last month after it was struck by a technical fault across its baggage systems, meaning some passengers were forced to fly without their suitcases while others were delayed for hours. Both BA and easyJet have instructed City law firms to fight the brewing class action, which is being brought by an individual backed by litigation funders. An easyJet spokesman said: Not only do we believe this has no legal or procedural basis, this action is being brought in order to profit by taking a cut from every claim when there are already existing and easy routes for eligible customers to receive 100pc of their compensation. A BA spokesman said: We comply with our obligations under the Regulation. We dont believe this claim has a proper legal basis its misconceived and therefore along with easyJet weve applied to strike it out. In any event, we will continue to strongly defend our position. Customers can submit compensation requests directly to us online or by writing to our customer relations team to receive full payment for eligible claims. 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. British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, right, and Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar during an event in Edinburgh to welcome new Labour MPs in Scotland, following Labour's victory in the 2024 General Election, Sunday July 7, 2024. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP) LONDON (AP) British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is seeking to reset relations at home and abroad. During a visit Sunday to Edinburgh, that he billed as an immediate reset with the regional governments of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, Starmer said he would also seek to improve the U.K.'s botched trade deal with the European Union. "I do think that we can get a much better deal than the botched deal that (former Prime Minister) Boris Johnson saddled the U.K. with, he said in reference to the pact negotiated after Brexit. Starmer said there were many discussions ahead to strengthen trading, research and defense ties with the EU. But he said those talks had begun as his top diplomat made his first visit abroad to Germany, Poland and Sweden. With two of Starmer's ministers in Europe ahead of a NATO meeting next week, the premier made a point of visiting the leaders of the regional governments in the U.K. following his partys landslide victory last week. Starmer, who said he has a mandate to do politics differently, met with Scottish First Minister John Swinney in an effort to turn disagreement into cooperation. We will serve every single person in Scotland, Starmer told a group of enthusiastic supporters. Performance, self-interest: theyre the politics of the past. The politics of this Labour government of 2024 is about public service, restoring standards of making sure that we always, always have in our minds eye the people who elected us into government. While each of the devolved nations in the U.K. elects members to the House of Commons in London, they also have their own regional parliaments. Starmers Labour Party trounced Swinneys Scottish National Party for seats in Parliament. But the SNP, which has pushed for Scottish independence, still holds a majority at Holyrood, the Scottish parliament. Swinney said after meeting the prime minister that he believed there's an opportunity to work together to make a difference for the Scottish people. The trip to build better working relations across the U.K. comes as Starmer's government faces a mountain of problems. The Labour government inherited a wobbly economy that left Britons struggling to pay bills after global economic woes and fiscal missteps. It also faces a public disenchanted after 14 years of chaotic Conservative rule and fiscal austerity that hollowed out public services, including the revered National Health Service, which Starmer has declared broken. Starmer said he wants to transfer power from the bureaucratic halls of government in London to leaders who know whats best for their communities. After his two-day tour, he'll return to England, where he plans to meet with regional mayors, saying he would engage with politicians regardless of their party. Theres no monopoly on good ideas, he said Im not a tribal political. Starmer continued to speak with other world leaders, having separate calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He spoke with both about his priorities for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, the return of hostages to Israel, and an increase in humanitarian aid, a spokesperson said. He told Abbas that the recognition of a Palestinian state as part of a peace process was the undeniable right of Palestinians and told Netanyahu it was important to ensure the long-term conditions for a two-state solution, including ensuring financial means for Abbas' Palestinian Authority to operate effectively. Labour's initial refusal to call for a ceasefire last year is blamed for costing it support and some seats in Thursday's election. In advance of Starmer's attendance Tuesday at a NATO meeting in Washington, Foreign Secretary David Lammy reiterated an unshakeable commitment to the alliance during his first trip abroad. Lammy said that the U.K. government would tighten relations with the European Union and remains ironclad in its support for Ukraine. European security will be this governments foreign and defense priority," Lammy said in Poland. Russias barbaric invasion has made clear the need for us to do more to strengthen our own defenses. However, Lammy reiterated Starmer's pledge not to rejoin the EU single market after British voters in 2016 voted to break from the political and economic union. Let us put the Brexit years behind us," Lammy told The Observer. We are not going to rejoin the single market and the customs union but there is much that we can do together. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said Sunday on Sky News that the U.K. should look for ways to improve trade with the EU and that removing some trade barriers was sensible. But he said the Labour government was not open to the free movement of people that was required as a member of the union. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary John Healey met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Odessa and said the U.K. would provide a new package of support to Ukraine, including more artillery guns and nearly 100 Brimstone missiles. Healey also said he would make sure the remaining military commitments to Ukraine by the previous government would be delivered within 100 days. A total of 24 Hunan-based companies signed agreements with China International Exhibition Center Group to take part in the second China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE), at a CISCE roadshow in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, July 5. CISCE roadshow in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, July 5, 2024. [Photo provided to China.org.cn] Ren Hongbin, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), and Jiang Difei, Hunan's vice governor, attended the event. During the first CISCE, 21 leading enterprises from Hunan, including high-growth "little giant" companies with advanced technology and strong market competitive edge, showcased their latest achievements, technologies, applications, and solutions, all demonstrating the unique characteristics and strengths of Hunan's industries. At the first expo, the Changsha Intelligent Driving Institute (CiDi), a national-level "little giant" and unicorn enterprise, presented its unmanned mining truck project, embodying the concept of "digital-physical integration and human-machine coexistence," said Lin Shunjie, chairman of China International Exhibition Center Group. Lin noted that CiDi plans to showcase its research and development process in the "advanced manufacturing" section at this year's expo. Additionally, Aier Eye Hospital, founded in Changsha, will showcase its efforts to transform and innovate the eye care medical supply chain and the digital eye health ecosystem in the expo's "healthy living" section, according to Lin. At the roadshow, Jiang Nan, China president of Lens Technology, said: "As a professional expo focusing on industrial and supply chains, CISCE not only provides us with an opportunity to showcase our corporate strength and innovative achievements but also creates valuable opportunities for cooperation with outstanding domestic and international enterprises." The second CISCE is scheduled to take place in Beijing from Nov. 26 to 30. It will feature six supply chain areas, including advanced manufacturing, smart vehicles, green agriculture, clean energy, digital technology, and healthy living, as well as a dedicated exhibition zone for supply chain services. No one should have to go through this: Single mom in NC took Airbnb squatters to court and won A single mom in Durham, N.C. is finally getting her home back after squatters took it over. Two people booked Farzana Rahman's two-bed, two-bath property via Airbnb for seven months. They then refused to leave when their stay was up in May 2024, claiming they're "legal residents" of the home. Don't miss Commercial real estate has beaten the stock market for 25 years but only the super rich could buy in. Here's how even ordinary investors can become the landlord of Walmart, Whole Foods or Kroger Cost-of-living in America is still out of control use these 3 'real assets' to protect your wealth today, no matter what the US Fed does or says These 5 magic money moves will boost you up America's net worth ladder in 2024 and you can complete each step within minutes. Here's how Rahman ended up taking them to court to get her property back. But after they didn't show up to the hearing, the judge sided with Rahman and issued an eviction order. The Durham Sheriff's County Office served it to the guests on July 3, 2024. Rahman changed the locks and hopes this ordeal is over, according to an update from ABC 11/WTVD. This is my place. Im counting on this income. My son is in college [and] Im a single parent, Rahman told ABC11/WTVD before the hearing. She added that the eviction process was wasting my time, its wasting my energy [and] its stressing me out. "No one should have to go through this. You would expect that people would understand rules and follow them, but it's just not the case in this instance," Rahman's assistant Jane Miller told the television station. Miller was reportedly at the property when deputies arrived to serve the eviction notice. Heres what happened and how you can reap the benefits of rental income without all the stress of being a landlord. We are legal residents Presumably seeking the benefits of steady cash flow, Rahman accepted a long-term booking for her Durham rental property from Oct. 25, 2023 through May 24, 2024. Her guests paid what they owed through the Airbnb platform, but when her cleaner went to the property after the checkout time, the couple had not moved out and they told the cleaner not to return. When Rahman visited the property the next day with the police, she found a hand-written note stuck to the front door. It read: No trespassing. We will vacate the property when you have filed the proper paperwork with the civil magistrate for an eviction for we are legal residents of this home. If you try to enter, we will press charges for violation of expectation of privacy. Story continues First, Rahman reached out to Airbnb for help. The platform advised her to prioritize her personal safety and work with local law enforcement to resolve the issue. When police could not remove the squatters, she initiated the judicial eviction process. Read more: Car insurance rates have spiked in the US to a stunning $2,150/year but you can be smarter than that. Here's how you can save yourself as much as $820 annually in minutes (it's 100% free) Guests who continue to live in a rental property after their lease agreement has expired are deemed holdover tenants. This poses significant risks for landlords, including loss of rental income, property damage and lengthy (and costly) legal disputes. The best course of action to get rid of an obstinate holdover tenant is to begin the eviction process as quickly as possible and with the help of a local attorney. In North Carolina law, a squatter must occupy a property for a continuous period of 20 years before they can legally create an adverse possession claim. In Rahmans case, they only overstayed their welcome by a number of weeks, which is why their efforts to take over the property failed in court. If they had stayed longer, the more rights they would slowly develop. Stress-free ways to invest in real estate If the idea of becoming a landlord and dealing with all the stresses related to that from managing bookings to fixing appliances and, in Rahmans case, dealing with unruly tenants does not appeal to you, there are other ways to invest in real estate and reap the benefits of passive income. For example, you can invest in a residential real estate investment trust (REIT), which are publicly-traded companies that collect rent from tenants and pass 90% of their income to shareholders in the form of regular dividend payments. You might also consider crowdfunding platforms, which allow everyday investors to pool their money and finance real estate projects and buy shares of properties or private REITs. All investors then stand to benefit from the rental income that the property produces and capital appreciation. This is thought to be a riskier way of investing in real estate since there's drawbacks like liquidity constraints, fewer disclosure requirements, no guarantee of income and not a lot of regulations. With both types of platforms, you can reinvest the dividend or rental income to increase your holdings and build your wealth, or you can use that income to support your lifestyle and financial goals. Rahman, for example, implied that she relies on her rental income to help fund her sons college education. The nice thing about these options is how passive they are for individual investors especially when compared to being an actual landlord and running a rental property. What to read next Car insurance premiums in America are through the roof and only getting worse. But 5 minutes could have you paying as little as $29/month Jeff Bezos and Oprah Winfrey invest in this asset to keep their wealth safe you may want to do the same in 2024 Stop crushing your retirement dreams with wealth-killing costs and headaches here are 10 'must-haves' when choosing a trading platform (and 1 option that has them all) This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. Meredith Sherwood and her daughter June Sherwood, 3, test the temperature of a slide on a hot summer day at Brookeside Park in South Jordan on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News The summer heat is great for dipping in the pool and eating a snow cone, but the heat can also quickly add danger during outdoor recreation. University of Utah Health's burn center and Salt Lake fire officials gathered Tuesday at Sunnyside Park to address common heat-related dangers families face during the hottest months of the year. Burn center director Dr. Giavonni Lewis said about a third of burn injuries are children and in the summer, 60% of burns are from fireworks and fire-related activities. Common burn injuries in children are caused by contact with hot surfaces. Burn surgeon Dr. Christopher LaChapelle said the burn center sees an increase in burns between July 4 and 24, and there has already been an uptick this week in burn injuries. "It's important to note that most burn injuries, almost all burn injuries, are preventable," he said. LaChappelle said if someone gets burned, the first step is to remove the individual from the hot surface or put out the fire, and cool the area with water. Then visit a hospital for further treatment or call the burn center for advice. What to watch out for Hot surfaces Being aware of the risks associated with hot surfaces can help parents keep their kids safe and prevent unnecessary injuries. Commonly touched surfaces on playgrounds or at splash pads can heat up enough to potentially cause serious burns, especially for children, Lewis said. Many playground surfaces and features can reach well over 100 degrees in the sun. Salt Lake City Fire Capt. Brandt Hancuff measures the temperature of a slide during a press conference at Sunnyside Park in Salt Lake City on Tuesday. The slide surface measured 97 degrees when air temperature was 71 degrees. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News Salt Lake Fire Capt. Brandt Hancuff gave a live demonstration using a temperature gauge to show how hot outdoor surfaces can get. A red plastic slide was already 97 degrees hot just after 10 a.m. when it was only 71 degrees outside. A metal table was already reaching 102 degrees at the same time. The temperature on the playground equipment is going to be much hotter than what you are experiencing just outside, Hancuff said. The temperature exponentially increases and in 90-degree weather, surfaces can be up to 50 degrees hotter than the air, he added. LaChappelle said parents should also watch out for hot surfaces in the car such as seat belts and leather seats. He suggested people use the back of their hand to check temperatures before letting a kid get inside. He said its important for kids to wear shoes while on the playground and even though it is hot, its safer for kids to have pants on. Lewis and LaChappelle suggested being proactive in checking temperatures before letting kids near them, using close supervision of children and wearing protective materials like sunscreen, clothing and shoes, will help prevent a lot of the common injuries the burn center sees. Outdoor grills When it's warm outside, the dads go out to grill. But with hot and dry conditions, outdoor grills can quickly turn into a significant fire hazard. "During the month of July, that's the highest percentage of fires that we see due to barbecue use," Hancuff said. Hancuff said all barbecue users should ensure kids and pets stay at least 3 feet away from any grill. All grills should be placed far away from homes or anything else flammable. Those with propane grills should ensure the tank and hoses aren't leaking and regularly clean the grill so grease doesn't reignite. Charcoal grillers should let the coals cool completely before they dispose of them and make sure lighter fluid isn't added after coals have already ignited. If a fire does start, Hancuff said to close the lid, turn off the grill if you can safely, then move the grill away from structures and call 911. Salt Lake City Fire Capt. Brandt Hancuff measures the temperature of a picnic table a press conference at Sunnyside Park in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. The metal table surface measured 102 degrees when air temperature was 71 degrees. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News Fireworks Fireworks also cause great fire risk, but officials said you can enjoy them safely by being aware of surroundings and knowing the rules and regulations of firework use. Hancuff said it's important to check the restrictions on where fireworks can be lit and to not light fireworks near large fields or other combustibles. He also said to pay attention to wind if using aerial devices and ensure the fireworks being used are legal in Utah. Children should not be lighting fireworks and should be supervised while using sparklers which can remain hot even after they burn out. People should not use fireworks when impaired with alcohol or drugs. Fireworks should be discarded responsibly to prevent garbage fires by soaking in water for up to three hours before being placed in trash. Hancuff said to never try to relight a firework that didn't ignite and to not handle any fireworks when trying to light them. "Recreate and celebrate responsibly," he said, adding that he wants people to have fun but also be safe. Most importantly, Hancuff said you should always have water around anytime there is an open flame and no fires should be left unattended. Callahan Sherwood, 5 months, smiles as a fan blows on him on a hot summer day at Brookeside Park in South Jordan on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News Krisanapong Detraphiphat/Getty Images You cant help but marvel at the political power Louisiana judges wield when you consider their latest pay increase. Theyll get that money up front in one lump sum rather than after their work is done. This means judges could accept the bonus ranging from $14,000 for district court judges to $17,000 for appellate judges then resign or retire without having worked the full fiscal year its meant to cover. Whats more, theres a provision in state law that could make what was supposed to be a one-time stipend a permanent pay raise. Judges enjoy distinct leverage among public employees in Louisiana. A legislative commission exists solely to consider their compensation, and its members can recommend raises for judges to the Legislature every two years. From fiscal years 2013 to 2023, the Legislature approved salary increases for trial court judges totaling 22.7% ($31,205), according to a Legislative Auditors report. As of Jan. 1, 2023, the average annual salary for Louisiana judges ranged from nearly $169,000 at district court level to more than $197,000 for the state Supreme Court. Compare that to the states median income of $93,000 for a family of four based on the most recent Census figures. When compared with similarly sized states, Louisiana had more judges per capita with 6.1 per every 100,000 people as of July 2022. Kentucky, with a nearly identical population, had 2.5. Source: Louisiana Legislative Auditor The Louisiana Legislature, where a considerable number of lawmakers are attorneys, has historically provided a friendly forum for judges in search of higher salaries. Conventional wisdom holds that legislator-lawyers are not keen to resist judges requests, with some perhaps aspiring to the bench themselves. The trend held true this year when lawmakers supported a proposal to increase judicial pay once again, even though they saw annual percentage bumps since 2019. But in a change from years past, lawmakers agreed to conditions: state judges would receive a one-time stipend instead of a permanent hike and only if they completed a study to evaluate their caseloads . Rep. Jerome Zee Zeringue, R-Houma, has consistently called on judges to share data on their work output. Judges have long resisted such efforts, dating back to 2011 when the Legislature called upon the Louisiana Supreme Court to conduct a workpoint study. In a June 28 interview with WWL Radios Tommy Tucker, Zeringue said the objective of the study is to essentially look at the judicial resources, and making sure that we have enough judges put where they need to be because of changes in demographics. In short, Louisiana is losing population as a whole, with parishes in north Louisiana seeing the largest drops. Growth in south Louisiana, especially along the Interstate 10 corridor, isnt offsetting the decrease, but supporters of a judicial workpoint study say courts have failed to adjust for these changes for more than a decade. In a 2023 study, the nonpartisan good government group Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana found caseloads statewide had fallen by half over 20 years. A right-sizing of Louisiana courts wont happen anytime soon. Gov. Jeff Landry used his line-item veto power to remove the workpoint study as a requirement for judges to see the pay increase. In his veto message, the governor said the Louisiana Supreme Court had its own work study and caseload evaluation, and its justices could also discipline and withhold pay from judges who dont complete the study, Landry wrote. The governor omitted that judges have historically avoided participating in a workpoint study, and that punishment for judges is rare in Louisiana and typically for only the most serious of infractions that rise to the level of breaking state law. State lawmakers meant to pay the stipend out gradually over the fiscal year that began July 1, but judges and justices who make up the Judicial Budgetary Control Board voted last month to allow a lump sum payment based on their interpretation of one-time stipend. The legislative intent was to spread it out over the year, but I guess we should have been more specific in the language, Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Winnfield, told Tyler Bridges of The Advocate. McFarland authored the bill that included the stipend. Not everyone in the judiciary is on board with the pay increase without a workpoint study. Chief Judge John Michael Guidry of the First Circuit Court of Appeal has said he welcomes the overview, in contrast to his four other circuit peers. Chief Justice John Weimer has been one of the most ardent backers of a workpoint study requirement and questioned the legality of stipend paid all at once. In a letter to the Judiciary Budgetary Control Board, in which he said he was writing as a concerned citizen, Weimer said paying the stipend in a lump sum before work is performed would result in a donation of public funds (which is constitutionally prohibited) to those Judges who leave their position with the judiciary before judicial services are rendered or before the related study is commenced or is completed. Multiple attorney generals opinions have found bonuses paid to public employees for work not performed violate Article VII, Section 14 of the Louisiana Constitution that prohibits donations from the government. We wont know until the spring, when the Legislature crafts the next state budget, whether judges will argue their stipend must be preserved in perpetuity. Louisiana is one of 28 states that constitutionally prevents the Legislature from reducing judges pay to reduce the influence of one branch of government over another, similar to the provision that exists in the U.S. Constitution. This years stipend for judges comes from a reserve fund state courts fund themselves, but future years would likely come from the taxpayer-supported general fund. With drastic cuts a strong possibility next fiscal year, Louisianas judiciary would be taking a bold political step to insist on making the stipend permanent. But theyve not been dissuaded in the past. SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE The post Busy or not, all Louisiana judges will get a pay hike maybe permanently appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator. California Democrat doubts House members calling on Biden to step down will have impact Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) downplayed concerns among Democrats that President Biden should end his presidential campaign, saying Sunday that he doesnt believe members calling on him to leave will have an impact. Five Democratic House members have so far called on Biden to leave the race publicly amid concerns about his age and ability to win the November election. Well, you put up five photos a moment ago. Thats five out of 212 members of the Democratic caucus, Garamendi said in a NewsNation The Hill Sunday interview with Chris Stirewalt. Will there be others joining? Thats possible. Will that have an effect? I doubt it. Biden has emphatically denied calls to leave the race, painting his poor debate performance as a one-time instance and committing to prove to voters that he can serve a second term. Garamendi said the important thing voters should consider isnt Bidens age, but his record. But the bottom line is we have a person, Biden, who has done a remarkable job, who understands what is necessary to hold together the coalition to support Ukraine as well as to push back on China, he said. Can Biden run a successful campaign? I believe he can because, ultimately, its about two individuals, he continued. One is a serial liar who has not been able to present even the minimum qualifications to be an Eagle Scout. Those are the issues of being able to present himself as a viable individual. So when now were looking at two people, going for Biden and Trump, its an easy choice. The Hill and NewsNation share a parent company, Nexstar Media Group. 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. California lawmakers are on summer vacation. Heres where some of their bills stand. Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert! AS LAWMAKERS ENJOY A LENGTHY SUMMER VACAY, HERES WHERE SOME KEY BILLS STAND Its summer break in Sacramento, so things are fairly quiet on the California politics front. Given that, it seems like as good a time as any to assess just where things stand with some of the bills that we have been following. Heres a rundown on some of them: AB 886 and SB 1327 : California lawmakers attempt to get social media companies to help pay for the news (in the form of AB 886, which charges companies like Meta and Google for news that appears on their platforms, and SB 1327, which would tax Big Tech to create a media industry tax credit) have met with heavy pushback from the tech industry. Despite that, AB 886 cleared a Senate Judiciary Committee vote and now sits in the Senate Appropriations Committee , while SB 1327 passed out of the Senate and now sits in the Assembly . It has yet to receive any committee assignments. AB 1780 : Assemblyman Phil Ting s bill to block private California universities such as Stanford from allowing legacy admissions also sits in Senate Appropriations. AB 1955 : The hotly contested bill to ban school districts from telling parents when their children request to go by a different name or pronouns at school, or seek access to facilities or activities which do not correspond to the sex listed on their birth certificate, has made it through both houses of the Legislature and now goes to Gov. Gavin Newsom for a signature. AB 2236 and SB 1053: A pair of bills aimed at banning grocery stores and retailers from handing out multi-use plastic bags now sit in the each houses Appropriations Committee. QUOTE OF THE DAY The Republican Party has fully embraced the strategy of undermining democracy as a means to advance and defend their deeply unpopular agenda outlined in Project 2025. The magnitude of the threats we currently face as a country cannot be overstated. - Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, discussing a plan by former Trump administration officials and the Heritage Foundation to implement a series of rightwing proposals in the event of a second Trump presidency, via X. Best of The Bee: Introducing the 2024 California ballot propositions. Heres what they would do, via Nicole Nixon . After Supreme Courts contentious homelessness ruling, whats next for California cities? Via Megan Vaz . If Gavin Newsom runs for president, how will his record as California governor play nationally? Via David Lightman and Nicole Nixon. The largest blaze of the California wildfire season, the Lake Fire in Santa Barbara County, continued to grow overnight, fueled by gusty winds and extreme temperatures, authorities said. The Lake Fire burning near the Los Padres National Forest has charred 26,176 acres of mostly grassland and timber, spreading an additional 5,000 acres between Wednesday afternoon and Tuesday morning, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. "It's scary," Raymond Williams, a lifelong resident of the area, told ABC News as he monitored the direction of smoke and flames burning in the hills near his home. "I know a lot of people that live around the area, a lot of families live around here. I hope they can keep structures safe." Despite the growth of the fire, which has prompted numerous evacuations, the more than 2,400 firefighters battling the blaze are making progress, increasing containment to 12% from 8%, according to Cal Fire. The Lake Fire is one of 19 wildfires burning in California on Tuesday, Cal Fire said. The wildland blaze about 40 miles north of the city of Santa Barbara started on Friday afternoon near Zaca Lake in the Los Padres National Forest. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department issued evacuation orders on Saturday night as the blaze grew out of control. The evacuation orders, which remained in place Tuesday, included the 5000 block of Figueroa Mountain Road, where Michael Jackson's former ranch is located, officials said. PHOTO: The Lake Fire burns close to what was Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, Calif., July 6, 2024. (David Swanson/Reuters) Warnings were also issued for residents in the surrounding area to be prepared to evacuate, according to the sheriff's office. As of Tuesday, just one structure was reported destroyed. "The main priority is to prevent the fire from moving toward communities to the south," Cal Fire said in a statement. The wildfire erupted during a heat wave that has enveloped the area and most of California. "An EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING through next week continues to affect the fire with high temperatures, drying vegetation and little relief at night. The National Weather Service has reported that a heat wave this intense, this long, has not been experienced in this region in 20 years," Cal Fire said in a statement. MORE: Evacuation orders issued for latest California wildfire amid scorching heat wave The fire grew rapidly over the last few days as temperatures have soared into the high 90s with a relative humidity of around 11%. "When relative humidity decreases, fire behavior increases because fine fuels like grass and pine needles become drier quickly," according to the Western Fire Chiefs Association (WFCA). The cause of the fire is under investigation. PHOTO: A firefighting helicopter performs a water drop as the Lake Fire burns in Los Padres National Forest with evacuation warnings in the area on July 6, 2024 near Los Olivos, Calif. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) North Fire The North Fire, which broke out Sunday afternoon in Northern California, west of Mt. Shasta near the Oregon border. The North Fire in Modoc County, fueled by dry rangeland grasses, has spread to 4,389 acres and was 50% contained on Tuesday, according to Cal Fire. The Modoc County Sheriff's Office issued mandatory evacuation orders for homes and businesses in the path of the fire, including the communities of West Valley, Wormville and Mill Creek Falls. Shelly Fire Another Northern California wildfire burning out of control Monday was the Shelly Fire in Siskiyou County, also near the Oregon border, according to Cal Fire. The fire, which started on Wednesday in the Klamath National Forest near Lake Shelly and the Pacific Crest Trail, had burned 6,261 acres as of Tuesday and was 0% contained, according to Cal Fire. The Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office issued mandatory evacuation orders to residents in the path of the fire and warned others to be prepared to flee. Thompson Fire in Oroville Fire crews had Thompson Fire, which started on July 2 in the Butte County town of Oroville and caused the evacuations of nearly 30,000 residents, almost completely out on Tuesday. The blaze burned 3,789 acres and destroyed at least 25 structures, including homes. The fire was 98% contained on Monday. MORE: 3 firefighters injured battling Thompson wildfire in California, Cal Fire says Firefighters battled both flames and dangerous temperatures over the weekend in the Oroville area ranging from 110 to 116 degrees, according to Cal Fire. Most of the evacuations caused by the Thompson Fire were lifted on Saturday. PHOTO: An Orange County crew keeps an eye as the Lake Fire burns close to what was Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, Calif., July 6, 2024. (David Swanson/Reuters) Basin Fire in San Joaquin Valley The most stubborn fire in the state, the Basin Fire burning in the foothills east of Fresno in the San Joaquin Valley, was 60% contained on Monday after burning 14,027 acres, according to Cal Fire. The blaze started on June 26 in the Sierra National Forest north of Pine Flat Lake and south of Shaver Lake and Wishon Reservoir. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Temperatures in the area of the Basin Fire are forecast to remain in triple digits throughout the week. French Fire near Yosemite National Park The French Fire near Yosemite National Park in Mariposa County has burned 908 acres since erupting Thursday and was 70% contained as of Tuesday, according to Cal Fire. Three firefighters were injured battling the wildfire, which has destroyed four structures, Cal Fire said. McCain Fire in San Diego County Another significant Southern California fire is the McCain Fire, which started on July 1 in southeast San Diego County. As of Tuesday, firefighters had the fire almost completely extinguished, having achieved 95% containment on the blaze that has burned 1,595 acres. Royal Fire Thirteen hikers stranded in a wildfire zone near the Tahoe National Forest in Northern California's Placer County were rescued on Monday, authorities said. The Placer County Sheriff's Office launched a search for the hikers after finding their vehicles within the area where the Royal Fire ignited around 4 p.m. on Sunday. A search-and-rescue helicopter crew located the group around 7:20 a.m. PT Monday, according to the Placer County Sheriff's Office. A rescue crew was inserted into the area and led the hikers out of harm's way, according to the sheriff's office. The Royal Fire had burned 201 acres as of Tuesday and was 0% contained, according to Cal Fire. California wildfires latest: Santa Barbara County fire grows to 26,176 acres originally appeared on abcnews.go.com LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Ballot initiatives delivered their signatures to the state capitol this week. What issues may or may not be on the ballot this November? Capitol View host Roby Brock met with KARK reporter Samantha Boyd to discuss the range of success and obstacles in those efforts. Roby also spoke with dean emeritus with the Bowen School of Law and constitutional expert John DiPippa to discuss the landmark cases handed down by the US Supreme Court as they finish their summer session, and scrutiny over the courts credibility. Capitol View airs on Sundays at 8:30 a.m. 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 KARK. CHEMUNG COUNTY, N.Y. (WETM) Have you seen a really big tree in Chemung County? If so, the county wants to hear about it. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) maintains the New York State Big Tree Register, a list of some of the biggest trees in the state, and Chemung County isnt on this list. The Chemung County Environmental Management Council (EMC) and Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) are looking to change this by starting Chemung Countys own Big Tree Registry, and thats where you come in. How to stay safe while camping in bear country The EMC and SWCD want you to explore your neighborhood, trails, and scenic roads and keep an eye out for huge trees. If you see a giant tree, you can measure it (with permission from the property owner), fill out a form, and submit it to the EMC and SWCD. The EMC and SWCD are collecting applications until Sept. 30, and then, staff will travel around the county to verify measurements and determine which trees are the largest of the species. If your tree was the biggest one submitted of its species, you and the tree will be listed in the first Chemung County Big Tree Registry. The Big Tree Registry application asks for the trees species, height, circumference, crown spread, and location. Winning trees will be determined based on a point system using the trees measurements. If you arent sure what species the tree you found is, the county recommends downloading the free PlantNet app on your phone to identify it. Alternatively, you can use a reference book or website. New York DEC launches new monthly photo contest Youll need an extra person to help you measure the trees height and crown spread, and Chemung Countys website has directions for how to do this. The circumference needs to be measured 4.5 from the ground and be in inches. The trees GPS coordinates using NAD 83 need to be recorded as well to make it easier for EMC and SWCD staff to locate and remeasure it. The county asks that all portions of the submission form be completed, and if possible, a photo of the tree should be submitted with the form. Phone numbers, email addresses, and private addresses will only be used by county staff for tree measurement verification purposes and will never be released to the public. The Big Tree Registry application can be printed out from Chemung Countys website. The EMC and SWCD will compare all of Chemung Countys biggest trees to the New York State Big Tree Register, and if your tree is bigger than one of the trees on the list, staff will help you register your tree with the DEC. If youd like to see the competition, you can see the list on the DECs website. 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 WETM - MyTwinTiers.com. From the age of 17, Nancy Valverde was repeatedly arrested by the Los Angeles police department for wearing masculine clothing. By the time she died, at age 92, the city had named a square in her honor, its first public monument to a lesbian. Valverde, a proud Chicana butch lesbian, had refused to conform to social norms, even in the 1940s and 50s, when the citys racist and homophobic police force frequently arrested people under anti-masquerading laws that criminalized them for wearing clothes officers judged to be unsuited to their gender. They wanted me to be someone else. I could not be someone else. This is me, Valverde said in a short documentary film about her life. Related: Searching for Silver Lake: the radical neighborhood that changed gay America As states across the US pass laws criminalizing drag performances and banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth, Valverdes battle against police harassment feels deeply relevant, said the director Gregorio Davila, who featured Valverde in his documentary LA: a Queer History, and also created an award-winning documentary short about her. Valverde became a queer Los Angeles icon for her early resistance efforts and her refusal to hide who she was, even at a time when many people were afraid to be gay in public. For decades, butch lesbians and other gender-nonconforming people could be arrested for their clothing choices not only in Los Angeles, but across the country. Frustrated by being repeatedly arrested and jailed under anti-crossdressing laws that dated back to the 19th century, Valverde told the historian Lillian Faderman, she went to the county law library in 1959 and found that the courts had actually decided in 1950 that a woman was not breaking the law simply for wearing masculine clothing. Valverde was able to use this legal precedent to stop the LAPD from arresting her, she recalled, though officers continued to harass her. With LGBTQ+ people in the US facing a renewed wave of political attacks, Los Angeles has made a public monument to Valverdes fight against police harassment. In June 2023, less than a year before Valverdes death, city officials renamed a downtown intersection the Cooper Do-nuts/Nancy Valverde Square. The name pays tribute to both Valverde, who attended school and was arrested there, and the site of a donut shop popular with gay and trans people, which is believed to be the location of a pre-Stonewall battle against police harassment in 1958 or 1959. At the dedication ceremony, the LAPD made a formal apology, with Ruby Flores, the departments first Latina deputy chief, saying: This mistreatment of our citizens was wrong and should never have happened. Valverde was too frail to attend in person, but her reaction to the honor, according to Marisol Sanchez, the resident services coordinator for the LGBTQ+ senior apartments where Valverde lived, was: I never thought I was going to get this, but its about time. Clashes with police People who knew Valverde describe her charm and sense of humor, as well as her fighting spirit. Everybody knew Nancy, Sanchez said. And if you didnt know Nancy, she would make herself known. Even in Valverdes later years, when she had less energy, that didnt take the sass away from her, Sanchez added. While Valverde is sometimes referred to now as an example of an early LGBTQ+ activist, that wasnt how she would describe herself. She wasnt trying to make a political statement, Davila, the documentary director, said. She made a difference just by being who she was. Valverde was born in 1932 in New Mexico and moved with her family to East Los Angeles as a child. She started working at age 11, first picking apricots and cotton, then working for a restaurant, then delivering pastries for a bakery. She experienced discrimination both as a Chicana, during years when the city was razing a Mexican American neighborhood and forcing out families in order to build Dodger Stadium, and also as a lesbian. During the second world war, many women had taken on new roles in the workplace while men were fighting overseas. But after the war, there was a real push to drive women back to the home and back to their normal position, Faderman, the historian, said. Lesbianism became particularly threatening to that drive. The LAPD chief William H Parker, who was well known for his racist views of Black and Latino communities, became a champion of that effort, Faderman said, using police power to raid gay bars and crack down on any public sign of homosexuality. The result was a police department empowered to harass, detain and even arrest people at will, just for the hell of it, said Faderman, one of the authors of Gay LA: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, and Lipstick Lesbians. Being arrested for homosexual behavior could have severe social and professional consequences: women even risked losing custody of their children. Still, within the shelter of gay bars, butches and hard dressers, as they were called in the Black community, tried to find ways to express their identities. In San Francisco, one woman recalled rolling up her trouser cuffs and wearing a long feminine coat, so that on her way to and from the gay bar she would look like she was wearing a skirt, said Kate Redburn, a legal historian at Columbia Law School. Another butch thought she was safe because she sewed lace on her socks, Faderman said. While there were many butch lesbians in the 1950s, most of them were scared to really challenge the police if they were harassed or arrested, Faderman said. Nancy was different. Valverde had known from an early age that she was not exactly like other girls. I just knew I was comfortable in pants, mens attire, she told Davila. She said she had not learned the word lesbian until she went to jail. For years after her first arrest, at age 17, Valverde recalled, she faced harsh treatment in public, in court, and in jail, where she recalled once serving a three-month sentence for masquerading. Throughout it all, she fought back. When police officers used to tell her, I want to see you in a dress, she would tell them: Sit down and wait cause youre gonna get tired, Valverde told Faderman. Officers would bring the clothes she had been wearing to display in court as evidence, and say things like: Better not fuck around with my wife. When she was attending school in downtown Los Angeles to become a barber, Valverde said, the police would arrest her on Friday and not let her out until Monday morning. The head of the school demanded to know why she was always late, and she had to explain that it was not because she was partying, but because she was in jail. At one point, Valverde was put in a mens section of a jail, and a male police officer tried to grope her, she said in Davilas documentary. Valverde started drumming on the bench in her cell and demanding to see a female cop. When the man in the cell next to her complained, she introduced herself as Nancy from East Los Angeles and explained what had happened. The men in the cells around her were also Chicano, she said, and soon they were all drumming on their cells in solidarity. Valverde did not always get this kind of support. The gay community didnt want me around, she told Davila. They said I was too out. Everybody was passing for straight, and the only place they came out was at the bars. On the streets they wouldnt talk with me [afraid] I would make them guilty by association. A potent legacy Valverde, who raised several adopted children, stayed an active member of LAs gay communities throughout her life. She recalls participating in one of the citys early Dyke Marches, when it was only about 75 of us. I thought, At last, justice has arrived, she told Davila, wryly. Some younger gay Angelenos remember her barbershop as a place of refuge. One now elderly man once got his first haircut with Valverde, Sanchez said, and the man recalled: I knew she was different. I knew she was a safe space, when I hadnt even admitted to myself that I was a gay man. In the last decades of her life, Valverde moved into the Triangle Square Apartments, the first affordable housing development for LGBTQ+ seniors in the US. Valverde loved the community and felt very defensive of it, Sanchez said. There, she found love again in her 80s, meeting her partner, Andi, who also moved into the apartment building. Valverde also became an important queer Latina elder for younger generations of artists, writers and film-makers, who have shared her story through documentaries, academic research, essays and even a play, Raquel Gutierrezs The Barber of East LA. Today, Valverdes story is taking on fresh urgency as Republican legislators pass new laws targeting transgender and queer people. In 2023, the year Nancy Valverde Square was dedicated, more than a dozen states introduced laws banning drag performances, and Tennessee, Montana, Florida and Texas passed them. Though the literal legal language of the new drag bans is not the same as the century-old laws banning masquerading, it comes from the same sort of panic over gender and sexuality and other norms being challenged, said Redburn, the legal historian. While many of the drag bans are tied up in legal challenges, the legislation has had a chilling effect, according to Joshua Block, an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, that has left LGBTQ+ people feeling under assault and under surveillance. In her later years, Valverde said she was proud of the youngsters who are working to open up society but was skeptical of big talk and posturing, especially in a fight that was far from over. Her message for people fighting for gay rights today: Put your ass on the fire the way we did risk your ass. A consortium led by David Ellisons Skydance is nearing the finish line on its new deal to acquire Paramount Global. According to sources, Paramounts special committee has signed off on the refreshed deal from Skydance, RedBird Capital and other investors. More from The Hollywood Reporter A month ago, of course, Skydance was close to sealing the deal, but Shari Redstone who controls Paramount through her familys National Amusements holding company nixed the agreement at the last moment before the special committee voted on the deal. With approval of the committee, the deal is likely to move forward (the full board still needs to sign off, one source says, and Redstone could always back away once more). But there is a catch this time around. Unlike the last agreement, a source says that the deal includes a go-shop provision, which would allow NAI or Paramount a set period to see if a better offer emerges. Other potential buyers that have circled Paramount have included a consortium of Sony and the private equity firm Apollo, as well as producer Steven Paul, Barry Diller and his IAC holding company, and Seagrams heir Edgar Bronfman Jr. It is not clear if any of the other bidders will be able to top Skydances offer. Since Skydances last deal fell apart, Paramounts Office of the CEO comprised of Chris McCarthy, Brian Robbins and George Cheeks have told staff that they are already executing on their strategic plan, which consists of changing the companys streaming strategy to speed up its profitability, reducing costs and divesting some noncore businesses. But the trio also warned staff at a town hall late last month that the deal talks were unlikely to subside. Before we begin todays presentation, wed like to take a moment to acknowledge the challenges of all the M&A speculation surrounding our company, Robbins told the audience of employees. We know what a difficult and disruptive period it has been. And while we cannot say that the noise will disappear, we are here today to lay out a go-forward plan that can set us up for success no matter what path the company chooses to go down. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Chinese rockets are often propelled by hazardous fuels that pose lethal risks to those unfortunate enough to come into contact with them - STR/AFP via Getty Images It was supposed to be a moment of triumph for Chinas space industry. The 180ft Long March 3B rocket stood on the launch pad, ready to carry an American-made satellite into orbit on its debut mission. But just seconds after blast-off it was clear something had gone horribly wrong. In grainy video footage, the rocket is seen veering hard to the left, barely clearing the tower and torpedoing off into the night at a right angle. It landed in the nearby village of Mayelin, near Chinas Xichang Launch Centre, creating a huge fireball that flattened buildings and drenched the landscape in rocket fuel. Footage smuggled out by an Israeli engineer shows an apocalyptic landscape. In Chinas official account of the incident, six people died although US defence officials estimated the true number was in the hundreds. The 1996 disaster precipitated a hasty retreat by US space companies from working with China effectively bringing in a regime of strict export controls that exists to this day. Despite the fallout, China has emerged over the last decade as a space superpower launching a rival to the International Space Station, landing a probe on the dark side of the Moon and a satellite constellation to rival GPS. Amid this explosive growth, Chinas space industry has been dogged by a history of near-misses and environmentally damaging missions. Just last week, a private rocket company, Space Pioneer, billed as a domestic rival to Elon Musks SpaceX, was conducting a static fire engine test of its new Tianlong-3 launcher which translates to heavenly dragon. As the name of the test would suggest, the rocket is supposed to remain locked to the launch pad while scientists analyse its thrusters. However, the vehicle broke its moorings, blasting into the sky before its engines shut down and it plummeted back to Earth, crashing into a mountain near the city of Gongyi. The company blamed a structural failure for the mishap. State media reported no casualties. Since then, a growing number of videos have emerged on social media of burning rocket parts debris from Chinas aggressive launch programme plunging to earth perilously close to civilian infrastructure, despite the countrys censorship. The botched launch is not new, says Chris Quilty, founder of space research firm Quilty Analytics. A quick search on YouTube reveals multiple videos of locals standing around scorched rocket parts in paddy fields or near villages. He adds: Whats appalling is they use hazardous solid propellants and they launch from inland rather than from the coast line, like every non-Communist country, so the debris lands in the ocean instead of your populace. Several of Chinas major launch bases, such as Xichang, are deep inland although more modern bases, such as Wenchang, have been built on remote strips of coast. Historically, Chinas rockets have relied on dangerous fuels such as nitrogen tetroxide, liquid hydrazine and red fuming nitric acid. These compounds form a highly effective propellant which is also highly toxic and carcinogenic. The fuels burn with a distinctive dirty reddish brown colour. In part, Chinas rocket fuels date back to the technology it deployed on intercontinental ballistic missiles during the Cold War. The fuel itself is relatively stable and reliable. It can be stored easily and doesnt need to be cooled before launch. Storability is a key advantage, says Jack-James Marlow, head of engineering at Scottish rocket business Skyrora, as it leads to simpler launch vehicles and ground infrastructure. But the byproducts can be deadly. Rob Adlard, of British rocket company Gravitilab, says: The red fuming nitric acid is really bad. We look at those pictures [from China] and think, My God, I cant believe they are doing this. Recently a picture did the rounds of a booster falling near a village and locals taking pictures with it. The fact is, if you were anywhere near nitric acid in the West you would be in a full hazard suit. In Ignition! a colourful history of rocket fuels recommended by SpaceXs Elon Musk John D Clark writes that red fuming nitric acid attacks skin and flesh with the avidity of a school of piranhas. US rocket scientists who experimented with these dangerous chemicals in the 1940s were nicknamed the suicide squad. They included a young scientist who would later spearhead Chinas space programme, the countrys king of rocketry Qian Xuesen. Most Western rocket companies have since leaned towards less toxic kerosene and liquid oxygen, and some are developing more environmentally friendly sources. SpaceX has turned to methane, which produces relatively fewer emissions compared to other fuels, for its latest Raptor engines. But it is not just on the launch pad that Chinas space ambitions live dangerously. In 2007, the countrys military launched a missile that destroyed a weather satellite orbiting 500 miles above the Earth. The anti-satellite missile test created the planets largest field of space debris, creating a hazard for future launches and missions. A US Space Force general warned in December that its satellites were still being forced to dodge the remains of the probe 16 years later. Still Chinas space industry has hardly been held back by its attitude to safety. The country hosted 222 launches in 2023, behind only the US. Even with the failure of its Tianlong-3 test, the country is also moving rapidly towards deploying reusable launch systems similar to those of SpaceX. Its vastly upgraded space programme has US officials worried. A report from the US-China Economic Security Review Commission warned China could try to place nuclear weapons in space, with the potential to threaten the US homeland with a new global strike capability. Officially, China blames the US for being the driving force of space militarisation. While Chinas rocket programme has grown more sophisticated, it is unlikely to halt its current approach to safety and the environment although its most advanced rockets, such as the Long March 5, have swapped to less potent fuels. China wants to enter the competitive commercial space sector and get there fast, says Skyroras Marlow. It can cut corners and accelerate the process. Adlard, of Gravitilab, which is developing a hybrid rocket system that claims to emit 75pc less greenhouse gases, says watching Chinas rocket programme is like seeing a parallel universe. They do things that would just be totally unacceptable, he says. 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. (Bloomberg) -- Chinese scholars are highlighting a period of turbulence in the bilateral relationship with Washington ahead of US presidential elections, with some even skeptical on long-term improvements. Most Read from Bloomberg Panelists at the World Peace Forum in Beijing, organized by Tsinghua University over the weekend, said tensions could also rise over disputes involving Taiwan and the South China Sea. Maybe we have reached a limit on the maximum of the extent that we can stabilize this bilateral relations, said Da Wei, director of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University. We have picked the low hanging fruit already. The fundamental distrust is so high that if we continue our current trajectory, I think we are gradually moving toward another crisis or some kind of confrontation, Da said Sunday. Candidates on both sides of the tight US presidential race are trying to appear tough on China, ramping up threats of trade tariffs that appeal to voters looking to protect American jobs. Relations between the US and China stabilized after President Joe Biden met Chinese President Xi Jinping in November, but Beijings military actions in the South China Sea and a surge in cheap exports from the worlds No. 2 economy have brought fresh tensions. There is greater possibility for bilateral relations to get worse than to improve between now and the first half of 2025, in part due to the election campaign, Yan Xuetong, director of the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University, said at a press conference last week before the forum started. China and the US have continued to clash over issues including geopolitics, technology and trade. Douglas Paal, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, warned the South China Sea could turn into the most dangerous part of the bilateral relationship. The dispute over the Second Thomas Shoal shows that the danger of conflict between the US and China might be higher in the South China Sea, for lack of mechanisms and understanding on how to handle contested positions, he said on a panel on US-China relations on Sunday at the forum. For Wu Xinbo, director at Fudan Universitys Center for American Studies, Taiwan remains the biggest risk. China and the US are making serious mental preparation for some contingency in the Taiwan issue, Wu said in an interview on the sidelines of the forum. Once a conflict occurs whether intended or not, it will be very difficult to deescalate or control. Speakers at the event also put forward recommendations for improving the relationship. Susan Thornton, a former US diplomat with deep experience in Asia and is now at Yale University Law Schools Paul Tsai China Center, urged both sides to stop hyping up supposed threats posed by the other. They should focus on relationships with third-party countries that could have positive spillover effects and work on a white list of areas of cooperation that are less subject to security tensions such as health, education, environmental protection and food security, she said. Xi has called for 50,000 American students to visit China in five years to boost people-to-people exchanges. Beijing has also made efforts to appease the US by cracking down on fentanyl precursors and taking back illegal immigrants. Da of Tsinghua University said the two sides need to drop policies that are inconsistent with their stated goals. He said an example would be allowing Chinese students in American universities to study any subject if the US said its not trying to contain China. Last month, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the US should welcome more Chinese students to study liberal arts rather than sciences to minimize security concerns. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. When I attended the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium in May, it struck me that as I listened to CIOs talking about the latest technology in this case generative AI I was reminded of another time at the same symposium in around 2010 when the talk was all about the cloud. It was notable how similar the concerns over AI were to the ones that I heard about the fledgling cloud all those years ago: Companies were concerned about governance (check), security (check) and responsible use of a new technology (check). But 2010 was just at the edge of the consumerization of IT where workers were looking for the same type of experience they had at home at work. Soon, they would resort to "shadow IT" to find those solutions on their own when IT said no, and no was the default in those days. It was easy enough for employees to go off on their own unless things went into total lockdown. Today, CIOs recognize if they just say no to generative AI, employees are probably going to find a way to use these tools anyway. There are plenty of legitimate concerns when it comes to this technology like hallucinations or who owns the IP but there are also concerns about security, compliance and controls, especially around data, that large organizations demand and require. But CIOs speaking at the conference were much more realistic than they had been 15 years ago, even if they had similar concerns. You know, everything's out there and democratized," said Mathematica CIO Akira Bell, speaking on a panel called "Sustaining Competitive Advantage in the Age of AI." "I think somebody else this morning already said, 'You know, we can't control this moment.' We cannot and don't want to be the agents of no, to tell everybody what they can and cannot do, but what we can do is make sure people understand the responsibility they have as actors and users of these tools. Bell said that today, instead of saying no, shes pushing responsible use of the technology and looking for ways to enhance their customers experience with AI. So one is about governing, making sure our data is ready to be used, making sure our employees understand what best practices exist as they go on and use them. She said that the second piece is really thinking about how they use generative AI to enhance their core capabilities, and how they might use it on behalf of clients to create or amplify or change existing service offerings to their customers. Bell said you must also look at the security component, so all of these things matter. Her organization can offer guidance on how to use these tools in a way that is consistent with the values of the company without shutting down access. Angelica Tritzo, CIO at GE Vernova, a new spinout from GE focused on alternative energy, is taking a deliberate approach to implementing generative AI. We have a number of pilots in different maturity stages. We probably, like many others, do not fully understand the full potential, so the cost and the benefit is not always fully aligned, Tritzo told TechCrunch. We are finding our way with all the pieces of technology, how much to partner with others versus what we need to do ourselves." But the process is helping her learn what works and what doesnt and how to proceed while helping employees get familiar with it. Chris Bedi, who was CDIO (chief digital information officer) at ServiceNow, said that things will change in the coming years as employees start demanding access to AI tools. From a talent standpoint, as organizations look to retain talent, which is a hot topic, it doesn't matter what job function, people want their job talent to stay. I think it'll be unthinkable to ask your company employees to do their jobs without GenAI, Bedi told TechCrunch. Whats more, he believes the talent will start demanding it and question why you would want them to do work manually. (Bedi's title recently changed to chief customer officer.) To that end, Bedi says his company is committed to teaching its employees about AI and how to create an AI-literate workforce because people won't necessarily understand without guidance how to make best use of this technology. We created some learning pathways, so everybody in the company had to take their AI 101," he said. "We created that and selectively [levels] 201 and 301 because we know the future is AI, and so we have to get our whole workforce comfortable with it, he said. All of this suggests that while the concerns may be the same as they were in the last wave of technological change, IT executives have perhaps learned some lessons along the way. They understand now that you cant just lock it down. Instead they have to find ways to help employees use generative AI tools safely and effectively because if they dont, employees will probably start using them anyway. Clay County felon sentenced to over 6 years in federal prison for drug and firearm charges Edward Sherwood Gustafson, IV, of Green Cove Springs, has been sentenced to over six years in federal prison for drug trafficking and firearm possession, despite being a convicted felon. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< Chief United States District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan handed down the sentence after Gustafson, 31, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. The court also ordered the forfeiture of a Smith and Wesson pistol and 15 rounds of ammunition related to the firearm offense. Gustafson was arrested on May 9, 2023, and pleaded guilty on August 31, 2023. The charges stem from an incident on January 21, 2023, when the Clay County Sheriffs Office (CCSO) was searching for Gustafson due to an active felony arrest warrant. A CCSO deputy spotted him driving and initiated a traffic stop. Gustafson immediately exited his truck, leading to a struggle with the deputy, who eventually handcuffed and arrested him. During a search of Gustafsons truck, officers found a loaded Smith and Wesson pistol. They also discovered a travel bag zip-tied to the engine bay containing cocaine, methamphetamine, a drug scale, approximately 50 small baggies, and various pills. The total weight of the methamphetamine was approximately 22 grams. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Gustafson, who has seven prior felony convictions, including felony domestic battery, fleeing and eluding law enforcement, and shooting a deadly missile, is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law. As we fight the scourge of drugs that plague our communities, we are grateful for our partnership with the US Attorneys Office. Together we will continue to hold accountable those who choose to sell this poison in our streets, said Clay County Sheriff Michelle Cook. The case was investigated by the Clay County Sheriffs Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Jacksonville Office, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Frein. This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that unites law enforcement and communities to reduce violent crime and gun violence. The Department launched a strengthened PSN strategy on May 26, 2021, focusing on fostering trust in communities, supporting violence prevention organizations, setting strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. Environmentalist Sarah Finch outside the Supreme Court after it ruled that emissions from burning fossil fuels must be considered when approving new drilling sites - Carl Court/Getty Images Europe Climate campaigners are bombarding the courts with lawsuits against energy companies in a new attempt to end the use of fossil fuels, a report from the London School of Economics (LSE) has found. There are 132 climate cases in the British legal system at present, the LSE found, up from 102 a year ago. It makes this country the third highest centre for climate litigation in the world after the US and Australia. The LSE suggested that this year will set a new record for the number of cases, with a further wave of action expected as environmental lawyers increasingly pioneer new legal concepts such as ecocide. Their aim is to tie up oil and gas company executives with legal action or even trials over accusations that the emissions from their products killed people. The report, authored by Dr Joana Setzer and Cathy Higham of the LSEs Grantham climate research institute, said: Increasingly, we are seeing the physical and mental health impacts of climate change becoming the focus of litigation as both the scientific evidence and peoples lived experience of those impacts develop. The US had the highest number of running climate cases with a total of 1,745. Another 129 cases were filed in America last year. Australia has 132 cases. The report comes on the eve of the biggest environmental case yet taken in the UK, over the 2015 collapse of the Fundao Dam in southeast Brazil, operated by BHP, a UK-based mining conglomerate. The disaster killed 19 people and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. BHP is being sued by 700,000 plaintiffs seeking 36bn in damages. The case, planned for a London High Court hearing in October, is expected to set legal precedents that will open the way for much more climate litigation. The study follows last months Supreme Court ruling on a separate case taken by lone environmentalist Sarah Finch. It ordered that planning authorities considering new drilling sites must in future account for the emissions released by burning the fossil fuels produced. The ruling has left the UK industry in turmoil, uncertain if it can ever develop another oil or gas field, and marks a likely final nail in the prospects for fracking in the UK. The Telegraph sought comments from the UKs two biggest oil and gas companies, Shell and BP, as well as from the industry trade body Offshore Energies UK. They all declined to respond. Emma Montlake of the Environmental Law Foundation, which promotes climate litigation, said she expected cases against energy companies and governments to surge. She said: As climate chaos and sea level rises unfold and other impacts get worse, people will ask in ever-increasing numbers how legal reparations can be made by those who knew about the effects of burning fossil fuels but hid their conclusions. 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. Tino Chrupalla, co-chairman of the Alternative for German (AfD), sits at the beginning of the ARD summer interview on "Bericht aus Berlin". Carsten Koall/dpa Tino Chrupalla, the co-chairman of the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), on Sunday said there would be no "power struggle" between party leaders, as the party prepares for national elections in 2025. Speaking in German public broadcaster ARD's annual summer interview, Chrupalla said his co-chairwoman Alice Weidel would be a "good candidate for chancellor," while maintaining that "a party conference or the grassroots" of the party would make the final decision. Weidel, meanwhile, said she could "think of many candidates" to lead the anti-immigrant party in the national election campaign. The pair were re-elected as party co-leaders for a further two years at a party conference in late June. Party figures showed that almost 83% voted of members voted in favour of Chrupalla, with almost 80% voting in favour of Weidel. Chrupalla said the party would certainly provide its own candidate for chancellor in the elections to Germany's Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, rather than supporting another party's bid. "That is quite clear, because I think that's what the voters expect," he said. The AfD is set to launch a "frontal attack" on Germany's coalition government in the election campaign, Chrupalla said. Whomever the party decides to present as its candidate for chancellor, Chrupalla expects that it will be united heading into the elections. "You can assume that there will be no power struggle and no dispute," he concluded. In a rescue operation Sunday morning, a Coast Guard Station Mayport boat crew saved five people after their 24-foot vessel capsized 11 miles offshore from Mayport. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< According to an official statement, the incident began at 10:15 a.m. when the Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville command center watchstanders received a 911 relay from the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office reporting a capsized vessel with five people in the water. Immediately, watchstanders directed the launch of a Coast Guard Station Mayport boat crew and a Coast Guard Air Station Savannah helicopter crew to assist in the rescue. Upon arrival, the boat crew found the five individuals, all wearing lifejackets, on top of the overturned vessel. The crew safely brought all five aboard the response boat. The rescued individuals were transported to the Mayport Boat Ramp, where they were met by awaiting family members and personnel from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. While on the water, situations can become unpredictable and dangerous in an instant, so its crucial to be prepared, said Commander Nick Barrow, Sector Jacksonville search and rescue mission coordinator. Having life jackets for everyone aboard your vessel can help save lives by providing essential buoyancy and increasing visibility in the water. We appreciate the swift emergency communications relay with the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office enabling a rapid response to the scene. The vessel reportedly remains adrift, with the owner responsible for its salvage. No injuries were reported, and the cause of the capsizing is under investigation. On-scene weather conditions were reported to be 10-knot winds with 3 to 4-foot seas. A @USCG Station #Mayport boat crew rescued five people, Sunday, after their 24-foot vessel capsized 11 miles offshore of Mayport, #Florida. Read more about the rescue: https://t.co/hGo68VjZdB pic.twitter.com/tDsHnOypTk USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) July 7, 2024 [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. A Columbus City Council committee will hold a public hearing this week to address street racing and stunt driving in the city. The meeting, hosted by city council members Emmanuel Remy and Shayla Favor, will be held Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in city council chambers. Remy, Favor and other members of the council's Public Safety & Criminal Justice Committee will discuss potential changes to the city's street racing provision to address stunt driving. Following a rise in street racing and stunt driving during COVID, the city of Columbus started Operation Wheels Down in 2022, an effort to increase enforcement and prosecution of people who recklessly drive ATVs or dirt bikes on city streets. A stunt driver pulls a wheelie on Front Street in Downtown about noon on July 1, 2024. Ohio lawmakers voted recently to increase penalties for people found guilty of stunt driving. The city also announced an increased focus on prosecuting street racers after a large street racing takeover on Indianola Avenue in April 2023 ended with attendees shooting at Columbus police officers attempting to disperse the meetup. Anyone who is using our streets as the backdrop for illegal and reckless behavior will be captured and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther said in May 2023. This type of behavior is unacceptable, plain and simple, and it wont be tolerated. Well continue to coordinate with law enforcement and prosecutors to go after these criminals and keep our neighborhoods safe. Ohio lawmakers are also looking to crack down on illegal street racing. In June, the Ohio Senate voted to increase penalties for stunt driving, street takeovers and fleeing from law enforcement. The senate bill was designed to address "hooning," an illegal stunt driving practice that involves drivers drifting and doing donuts and wheelies on public roadways. Those who wish to provide written or public testimony for Thursday's meeting can email remyscheduling@columbus.gov by 3 p.m. on July 11. NHart@dispatch.com @NathanRHart This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus seeking input this week on street racing and stunt driving Wind turbines spin against the setting sun just north of Watertown along Interstate 29. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) Wind turbines spin against the setting sun just north of Watertown along Interstate 29. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) An energy company has applied to construct another wind farm in northeastern South Dakota. The company is Chicago-based Invenergy. It wants to build up to 68 turbines through its South Dakota subsidiary, Deuel Harvest Wind Energy South. The turbines would be spread across 54 square miles of privately owned land near the small town of Brandt in Deuel County. The projects estimated cost is $621 million. The south in the projects name distinguishes it from the 109-turbine Deuel Harvest Wind Farm, which Invenergy completed in 2021 and sold to Atlanta-based Southern Power. Top wind energy states States with the most installed wind energy capacity, in megawatts: Texas, 37,172 Oklahoma, 11,790 Iowa, 10,014 Kansas, 8,796 Illinois, 7,665 California, 6,194 Colorado, 4,844 Minnesota, 4,184 New Mexico, 4,024 Michigan, 3,768 North Dakota, 3,665 Nebraska, 3,519 South Dakota, 3,462 Source: American Wind Power Association The new project would be located about six miles south of the existing Deuel Harvest wind farm. Another wind farm, Tatanka Ridge, is adjacent to the southwest edge of the proposed project area. If the new project is approved and built, it would raise the number of wind turbines in Deuel County to 233. The new project could deliver up to 250 megawatts of electricity. South Dakota ranks 13th in the nation with 3,462 megawatts of installed wind energy capacity, according to the American Wind Power Association. The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission issued a public notice Wednesday about Invenergys application. People with a direct interest in the project have until Aug. 27 to apply for intervenor status, which would allow them to participate in hearings, file motions, request facts or documents, and engage in other aspects of the permitting process. The new application says Invenergy will not use eminent domain, which is a legal procedure to obtain land from unwilling landowners. South Deuel Wind has entered into long-term, voluntary lease and easement agreements for the placement of Project Facilities with private landowners within the Project Area, the application says. Invenergy estimates the project will generate payments to landowners totaling $78 million over the next 30 years, and property tax revenue generated for local governments will total $38 million during the same period. The project is expected to create 243 jobs during construction and eight long-term operational jobs. While Invenergy was working on its previous project, some local residents challenged special exception permits issued to the company by Deuel County. The permits were ultimately upheld by the state Supreme Court. EDITORS NOTE: The headline of this story has been updated with a correction to reflect the accurate amount of the anticipated project cost. Deuel Harvest Wind Energy South project map The Deuel Harvest Wind Energy South project map. (Courtesy of South Dakota Public Utilities Commission) SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST Dividend growth is a key indicator of a company's financial health and its ability to sustain and increase payouts to shareholders. However, not every stock that offers dividends is an attractive investment, especially if its dividend history shows signs of decline. In this article, we will explore two Australian stocks: one that presents a promising dividend option and another, Vulcan Steel, which has experienced diminishing dividends, signaling potential caution for investors seeking reliable income streams. Top 10 Dividend Stocks In Australia Name Dividend Yield Dividend Rating Nick Scali (ASX:NCK) 5.29% Collins Foods (ASX:CKF) 3.10% Centuria Capital Group (ASX:CNI) 7.34% Eagers Automotive (ASX:APE) 7.23% Fiducian Group (ASX:FID) 4.07% Fortescue (ASX:FMG) 8.81% Charter Hall Group (ASX:CHC) 3.96% Premier Investments (ASX:PMV) 4.59% Diversified United Investment (ASX:DUI) 3.17% Australian United Investment (ASX:AUI) 3.58% Click here to see the full list of 27 stocks from our Top ASX Dividend Stocks screener. Let's dive into one of the prime choices out of the screener and one to possibly skip over. Top Pick Simply Wall St Dividend Rating: Overview: IGO Limited is an Australian exploration and mining company specializing in metals crucial for clean energy, with a market capitalization of approximately A$4.48 billion. Operations: IGO Limited generates revenue primarily through its Nova Operation and Forrestania Operation, totaling approximately A$903.4 million. Dividend Yield: 9.3% IGO Limited, despite a high dividend yield of 9.27%, faces challenges with its sustainability, as the payout ratio stands at 185%, indicating that dividends are not well covered by earnings. Additionally, while IGO's dividend payments have increased over the past decade, they have been volatile and unreliable during this period. On a positive note, the dividends are supported by cash flows with a cash payout ratio of 39.7%. Recent board changes could influence future financial strategies and performance. ASX:IGO Dividend History as at Jul 2024 One To Reconsider Simply Wall St Dividend Rating: Overview: Vulcan Steel Limited operates in New Zealand and Australia, focusing on the sale and distribution of steel and metal products, with a market capitalization of approximately A$847.59 million. Operations: The company generates revenue from two primary segments: Metals, contributing NZ$638.86 million, and Wholesale - Miscellaneous, adding NZ$532.02 million. Story continues Dividend Yield: 6% Vulcan Steel's dividend appeal is limited, with a yield of 6%, below the top quartile in Australia at 6.5%. Despite a low cash payout ratio of 26.8%, suggesting cash flow coverage, its high earnings payout ratio at 93.6% raises concerns about sustainability. Dividend payments have not only decreased but also shown volatility since initiation two years ago, reflecting instability and unreliable growth prospects in payouts. Additionally, Vulcan faces challenges with declining profit margins and high debt levels. ASX:VSL Dividend History as at Jul 2024 Seize The Opportunity Investigate our full lineup of 27 Top ASX Dividend Stocks right here. Already own any of these companies? Link your portfolio to Simply Wall St and get alerts on any new warning signs to your stocks. Invest smarter with the free Simply Wall St app providing detailed insights into every stock market around the globe. Seeking Other Investments? 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. Companies discussed in this article include ASX:IGOASX:VSL. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com View a previous report on the best Ohio metros for nurses in the video player above. Heightened demand made nursing a high-paying profession over the last decade, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. Nationally, registered nurses today earn more than $45 per hour on averageabout $14 more than the average wage across all occupations in the United States. Traveling nurses with the same skills and credentials can earn another $16 more per hour, on average, compared to staff nurses. A typical contract for a traveling nurse is about 13 weeks but can be much shorter or longer. In some states, the pay discrepancy between travel and staff nurses is even more dramatic. Vivian Health leveraged its own proprietary data, along with data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, to analyze pay differences between staff and travel nurses in Ohio as part of a broader national analysis. Data from both sources was last updated in May 2023. BLS data on registered nurses is conflated with staff nursing positions in this analysis, though the numbers would technically include travel nurses, as well. However, travel nurses comprise a small portion of the overall RN workforce, and their wages wont affect the overall averages too much. The pandemic exacerbated existing nursing shortages, driving high demand for RNs who could temporarily fill gaps. While COVID-19-related demand has eased, travel nurses remain a vital solution for ongoing nursing shortages. 1 / 1 Vivian Health How Ohio travel nurse compensation measures up In Ohio, travel nurses earn $2,568 per week, or $64.19 per hour based on a 40-hour work week. That is $23.60 more per hour than registered nurses overallhigher than the difference in pay between travel nurses and all RNs nationally. Across the nation, nurses who take travel contracts in the Midwest earn the most compared to their on-staff counterparts. Travel nurse pay stands out here, as a lower cost of living in this region often translates to lower compensation for residents. Offering high wages for traveling nurses in parts of the Midwest that are in need can help attract more RNs to these states, which are not ranked among the most popular for state-to-state migration. The Midwest enjoys higher ratios of nurses per capita than other areas in the U.S., which translates to less demand for travel nurses overall. Conversely, the smallest differences in pay exist in the states where nurses are paid the most: Hawaii and along the West Coast. These locations also have relatively high costs of living, particularly in urban areas, and strong nursing unions that help nurses demand better pay and benefits. Story continues States on the West Coast are home to top nursing/medical schools and major medical employers, including Kaiser Permanente (California), University of Washington medical centers, University of California hospitals, and other large health care facilities. Nurses in California additionally benefit from legally mandated minimum staffing levels, which help prevent overworking and burnout. Regardless of where they operate, travel nurses typically have the potential to earn much more than their staff counterparts. There are some downsides to these contracts, including a lack of stability, the challenge of learning a new workplace every few months, and less opportunity to build lasting relationships with co-workers and patients. But they also offer a chance to see new places, learn skills associated with various roles, meet many people, and build wealth. Staffing up with temporary contracts, like those of travel nurses, created huge cost burdens for hospitals from 2020 through 2022. Many hospitals are in precarious financial situations to begin with and may need to rework their staffing strategies to be more sustainable. Still, amid nursing shortages and an aging, increasingly care-dependent population, travel nurses will likely continue to be a critical element of the American health care industry. This story features data reporting and writing by Paxtyn Merten and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 51 states. 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. Some anti-abortion organizations call Plan B, which is an emergency contraceptive designed to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex, an abortion drug because it can prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg. (Photo illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Clinic closures in the wake of the Dobbs decision and questions about the legality of emergency contraceptives, including disinformation that some are abortion drugs, may have contributed to a sharp drop in the rate of prescriptions for contraceptives in states with the most restrictive abortion bans, according to a University of Southern California study. The decline was significant in most states with restrictive bans following Dobbs in June 2022 that returned regulation of abortion procedures to the states, the study found. The group of researchers, led by pharmacy professor Dima Qato, used data from national prescription audit databases to estimate the monthly volume of prescriptions dispensed at pharmacies nationwide and state-by-state. It represents estimates from more than 93% of retail pharmacies. Given that abortion would be restricted in many states even more after Dobbs, I wondered whether now more people would get covered through contraception to prevent pregnancy and the need for an abortion, Qato said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Over the past six months, especially in states with near-total abortion bans, lawmakers have discussed proposals that would protect access to contraception, but those efforts have largely failed because of concern over whether that would include emergency contraception. Some anti-abortion organizations call Plan B, which is an emergency contraceptive designed to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex, an abortion drug because it can prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg. The researchers think those conversations have led to confusion among residents who arent sure if emergency contraceptives are still legal in their state. That confusion could also extend to pharmacists. While Plan B is available over the counter at many retail stores and pharmacies, including Amazon, it can also be obtained by prescription, which is the only data point the study captured. According to the research, the rate of obtaining it through prescription between 2021 and 2023 dropped more than 70% in four states with near-total bans Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and Tennessee. It declined by about 60% in Missouri. The increases peaked in July 2022 and then dropped to levels lower than the pre-Dobbs period, Qato said. For patients that are seeking emergency contraception but cant get it prescribed or filled, thats where it matters, Qato said. They want to take it, they know its an option, and now theyre faced with hesitant prescribers and pharmacies. Half of women surveyed in ban states are unsure if Plan B is legal A Kaiser Family Foundation poll released in early 2023 found that more than 30% of adults surveyed were unsure if Plan B was legal in all 50 states and over the counter and half of women living in states with abortion bans were under the impression that emergency contraceptives were illegal or were unsure if they were legal. Conversely, in two states with near-total bans, Idaho and South Dakota, the rate of prescriptions for emergency contraceptives increased by 148% and 182%, respectively. Those numbers were attributed to increases in ulipristal, which is also known as Ella, rather than levonorgestrel, known as Plan B. Ella can be effective at preventing pregnancy up to five days after unprotected sex, while Plan B is most effective within three days and is also less effective in people who weigh more than 165 pounds, while Ella does not have that limitation. We may observe increases in live births from unintended pregnancies in women who were forced to have a child that wasnt planned because the state didnt protect or introduced fear of criminalization or liability for patients, doctors, or pharmacists. Dima Qato, pharmacy professor Between the 12 states with the most restrictive bans, the combined decline of emergency contraceptive prescriptions was 60%, and the decline for oral contraceptives was 24%. Qato said she expected to see lower rates of emergency contraceptive use in the most restrictive states, particularly with the conversations likening them to abortion drugs, but she wasnt expecting to also see a drop in monthly oral contraceptive prescriptions. Among states with the most restrictive bans, the largest decrease of 28% was in Texas, while most other states had decreases of about 20%, including Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama and Tennessee. Qato also theorized that the closure of abortion clinics in those states with bans contributed to the decreases, since most clinics that provided abortions prior to Dobbs also offered prescriptions for oral and emergency contraceptives, IUDs and other family planning services such as screenings for sexually transmitted diseases. The study found no change in the use of IUDs and other forms of contraception such as the patch or vaginal ring. Over-the-counter options only help certain people In her research, Qato noted that two years after Iowa imposed Medicaid coverage restrictions on family planning clinics that provided abortions, the use of contraceptives declined by two-thirds. A report from the Guttmacher Institute released this week showed 42 clinics that provided abortions nationwide closed their doors between 2020 and 2024. The number of abortions have also increased during that time, and more than 80% still take place at brick-and-mortar clinics rather than via telehealth or by mail. While Plan B and Opill an oral contraceptive are available over the counter, Qato said those options are still untenable for some people who need contraceptives the most, including low-income women and women of color. Opill is convenient for those who dont want to go to the doctor and have that discretionary income to purchase it, but low-income women relied on clinics that are now closed, they relied on prescriptions that they now dont have, Qato said. Those options are accessible, but not affordable to women who could really benefit from it. While Qato said there should be a focus on restoring and protecting access to abortion, there should also be efforts to protect contraception in the most restrictive states. She is alarmed to see initial increases after Dobbs and then such steep declines. It suggests that we may observe increases in live births from unintended pregnancies in women who were forced to have a child that wasnt planned because the state didnt protect or introduced fear of criminalization or liability for patients, doctors, or pharmacists, she said. A woman may not feel safe choosing emergency contraception in those states anymore. Editors note: This story has been updated to correctly identify the University of Southern California as the institution that conducted a study that found a sharp drop in the rate of prescriptions for contraceptives in states with the most restrictive abortion bans. DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST With Election Day just around the corner, political divisions feel especially sharp. Partisan hostility in the United States has risen dramatically in recent years with 2022 seeing double-digit increases in the percentages of both parties who say that members of the other party are dishonest, immoral, unintelligent and closed-minded, compared with 2016. One solution to these divisions may lie in a surprising source: places of worship. My research team and I conducted surveys with thousands of people and interviewed hundreds of people over the last 12 years as we studied faith-based community engagement in Little Rock, Arkansas. It turns out congregations may be one of the few places left where people incidentally encounter those who hold different political views essentially forcing them into contact with people from the other party and giving them the opportunity to really see them as people, instead of just political opponents. If congregants know they are worshiping with people they politically disagree with, they may feel some cognitive dissonance: How can this person share my faith and still choose to vote for them? It takes some work to reconcile that dissonance. But they dont have to do the work to overcome those barriers if their congregation is philosophically or politically homogeneous or if they never speak with these people in the first place. Thats just what seems to be happening. Thanks to an increase in geographical partisan sorting, many people may rarely even encounter someone from the opposite political party. Basically, we really dont like people from the other party and we rarely interact with them in our daily lives, giving us few real-life opportunities to contradict and replace our views of these people as dishonest, immoral, unintelligent and close-minded. Religion may be uniquely suited to help solve this pervasive division. That may seem counterintuitive since faith is often perceived to be associated with the Republican Party. But most of what religion does is not overtly political. Instead, places of worship most often focus on the spiritual development of their members, sharing their beliefs with others and caring for those in need. I believe strong churches are the backbone of a community, one religious leader told us. Goodness knows we have a world now where it is too much talk about hate and division and we need a lot of people to stand up and say, No, that aint the way. Love is the way. Although there are certainly examples of encounters like this turning to political division and even tearing congregations apart, congregations with more ideological diversity that is, congregations with both liberals and conservatives at worship services tend to feel more warmly toward each other. It is hard to view someone from the other party as immoral and unintelligent when you work with them to organize the churchs fish fry or you coordinate the annual food drive together. Spurred by their religious associations, many get involved in providing service to their communities, strengthening bonds with each other and with their local community. As one longtime volunteer with her congregations homeless ministry described it to us, You become like a family. He becomes like my dad, working alongside me. She becomes like my sister, passing out clothes. He becomes like my brother, bringing supplies in. So, that develops a bond that cant be broken. In this way and others, the statistics from our research confirm that community-engaged congregations strengthen society and even democracy. When more members of a congregation are engaged in the community, they have higher levels of political efficacy that is, they are more likely to believe that their voice matters and they can make a difference. These are also the kind of people who attend community meetings, participate in neighborhood cleanups and turn out to vote. Overall, by providing congregants with a place to meet, worship, work and engage with people who believe differently from them, churches, mosques, temples and synagogues can help their members create positive bonds, dispel misinformation and strengthen congregational ties. By engaging in the community, people and places of faith not only provide needed service, but also strengthen connections within their organizations and peoples sense that they can contribute to something greater. The end result is good for both places of worship and democracy. Although some may be interested in making religion partisan, faith-based community engagement is a collective good that benefits democracy as a whole. Rebecca A. Glazier is a political science professor in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She is the director of the Little Rock Congregations Study, a long-term, community-based research project on religion and community engagement. She is the author of Faith and Community: How Engagement Strengthens Members, Places of Worship, and Society (Temple University Press, 2024). Political momentum is building to regulate the spread of nonconsensual explicit deepfakes as the issue of the digitally altered images has moved from a potential threat to a reality. Several bipartisan bills introduced in Congress aim to mitigate the spread of nonconsensual explicit images made using artificial intelligence (AI), an issue that has not only plagued public figures and celebrities, but everyday people and even kids. The past year, its really been a new thing where its forced itself where weve got a real big problem, said Ann Olivarius, the founding partner of McAllister Olivarius, a transatlantic law firm specializing in cases of race and gender discrimination. In January, explicit AI-generated images made to look like Taylor Swift circulated online, bringing mass attention to the issue. The outcry inspired lawmakers and the White House to push platforms to enforce their rules and prevent the spread of such images. While the spread of the Swift deepfakes put a spotlight on the rise of nonconsensual AI porn, the issue has become more widespread. Schools have even been forced to grapple with the new form of cyberbullying and harassment as students create and spread deepfakes of their peers in a largely unregulated space. Its impacting tons of everyday people, Olivarius said. Lawmakers have also been victims. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who is one of the lawmakers spearheading a bill to fight explicit deepfakes, spoke about being targeted by nonconsensual explicit deepfakes herself in an April interview with Rolling Stone. The issue is drawing support from lawmakers across the political spectrum. One of the bills, the Defiance Act, is led by Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), while another, the Take It Down Act, is led by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). Olivarius said the support on both ends is striking. Its looking like we might have something here finally that lawmakers can agree upon or enough to actually pass, she said. The two bills aim to tackle the issue from different angles. The Defiance Act, introduced in March, would create a federal civil cause of action that would allow victims to sue individuals who produce, distribute or solicit the deepfakes. The Take It Down Act, introduced last month, would create a federal criminal violation for publishing or threatening to publish nonconsensual digitally altered images online. It would also create a process that would allow victims to force tech platforms to remove nonconsensual explicit deepfakes that depict them. Durbin spokesperson Emily Hampsten said the two bills are complementary and his staff is in discussions with the offices of the other bills sponsors. Although there is bipartisan support for the bills, there still may be an uphill battle to get them passed especially in the months leading up to a contentious election with power of the White House and both chambers at stake. Durbin, the Senate majority whip, brought the Defiance Act up for a unanimous consent vote in June, but it was stopped by Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) a co-sponsor of the Take It Down Act. Lummis spokesperson Stacey Daniels said the senator supports the intent of the Defiance Act but remains concerned that this legislation contains overly broad language that could unintentionally threaten privacy technology and stifle innovation while failing to protect victims. Daniels said Lummiss team is working with Durbins to try and address the issues. Senator Lummis supports the Take It Down Act for its more tailored approach that ensures people who produce or knowingly distribute deepfake pornography are held accountable, Daniels said in an email. Olivarius said the civil remedies built into the Defiance Act are very powerful, because it would give power to individual people impacted to take action. The Take It Down Act, however, is much more narrow. Carrie Goldberg, a victims rights attorney, said the Take It Down Act is an interesting new approach but also highlighted potential obstacles with how it would be enforced as a criminal law. Im pretty skeptical of laws that just put the power back in the government, Goldberg said. It then becomes an issue of whether law enforcement is going to take it seriously, she said. At the same time, Goldberg said, one purpose of a bill like this is to show that this conduct is illegal, and that alone could deter offenders. She also said that tech companies may argue that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act may preempt the notice-and-removal provision of the bill. Section 230 protects platforms from being held liable for content posted by third parties. But since this is a federal law thats kind of clashing a little bit with another federal law, itll be interesting to see how that plays out, Goldberg said. Another bill to combat nonconsensual explicit deepfakes was introduced by Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) in May. The legislation would make it illegal to share deepfake pornographic images and videos without consent and create a criminal offense for sharing such images. The bill would also create a private right of action for victims to file a lawsuit against parties who share the images. Olivarius urged Congress to take action on the issue, underscoring its impact particularly on women and its dire and even potentially fatal effects, citing cases where victims have died by suicide after the spread of the altered images. Society hasnt done a lot to show many people care about women, she said. This [support for the bills is] unusual. I think this is great, and hope we can get it on the books as soon as possible, she said. With the potential roadblocks posed by Section 230, though, Goldberg said Congress should prioritize abolishing the controversial provision in order to help victims. The best way to handle so many harms that are happening on platforms is for the platforms to be themselves sharing in the costs and the liability, Goldberg said. Power needs to transfer to the people, and they need to be able to sue or demand content removal from the platforms, she added. Updated at 3:38 p.m. ET 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. Congress is moving closer to taking action to rein in the long-troubled F-35 program, which has failed to meet its promises and is facing new problems with the latest generation. Two top Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) say they are having conversations about an amendment to the annual defense bill that would reduce the number of aircraft purchased by the Air Force for the next fiscal year. While the amendment was recently blocked by GOP lawmakers, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), ranking member on the HASC, said that was just an initial setback and there is pressure growing on Capitol Hill to finally address the F-35 program. Every single member with a piece of [the F-35] is starting to feel the heat for a program that is not only way over budget, way over schedule, but still hasnt produced the plane that we want, he said. The pressure is building. His amendment aims to tackle the latest problems with the F-35 program, specifically Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3), a hardware and software update for the fighter jets computer system intended for the newest models under a $16.5 billion modernization effort called Block 4. Defense contractor Lockheed Martin has struggled to apply the new update, leading to an undisclosed number of F-35s sitting on the tarmac. The Defense Department in July 2023 canceled new orders of the F-35 while Lockheed works on the issues. Smiths amendment, also backed by Rep. Jen Kiggans, (R-Va.), is included in the House-passed version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) but not in the defense appropriations bill that funds the NDAA priorities. The provision, blocked by the House Rules Committee, would drop the number of aircraft purchased in fiscal 2025 to 58, which is down from the 68 requested by the Biden administration. The defense appropriations bill increases the number to 76. By reducing the number of aircraft, some $850 million could be redirected to Lockheed to fix the software update issues, in effect incentivizing the contractor to invest in the upgrades. Smith, who says he has talked to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) about the amendment, said his provision is a commonsense way to make the contractors spend the money to deliver the planes they have promised the Pentagon. But Smith added that the F-35 program speaks to a larger problem that Congress needs to address: keeping down costs for increasingly sophisticated technology for weapons systems. Books will be written about the F-35 program in terms of the challenges and problems around it, he said. And its very important that we in Congress understand that, try to figure out how to do better going forward. Dan Grazier, senior fellow for the National Security Reform Program at the Stimson Center who has followed the F-35 controversy, said attitudes have shifted dramatically on Capitol Hill recently. For years there were very few people who were willing to say anything even remotely negative about the F-35, he said. Now its actually kind of hard to find people who come out and give really full-throated support for the program. Besides the Smith amendment, Congress is openly debating other ways to fix the F-35 program. At the HASC markup of the NDAA in May, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed grievances with the F-35 program and debated whether to take the drastic step of seizing the intellectual property of the fighter jet from Lockheed. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) said at the markup the F-35 was broken and that it was a fundamental issue that Lockheed has control over the program through the original contract. Taking the intellectual property of the F-35 would address the software issues with TR-3, he argued. Its a shame because we have a lot of extraordinary software developers in America, but we cant allow them to work on this program because Lockheed refuses to give up the intellectual property, he said. The amendment was withdrawn over Congressional Budget Office concerns on how to pay for it. Lawmakers also raised questions about the legality of seizing intellectual property. But during the conversations, even Republicans aired mounting concerns about the program. The F-35 has kind of walked itself into a position where, I dont want to say a dead end, but its in a position that we need competition, we need this software, we need to have the ability to put those assets overhead, and right now thats just not happening, said Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas). I hope Lockheed is listening because we are seriously paying attention to this, he added. In response to a detailed inquiry on whether it supports congressional efforts to address the problem, a Lockheed Martin spokesperson said the company looks forward to continuing to work with the Administration and Congress as the fiscal year 2025 budget process progresses. The movement in Congress is startling, considering the program has long avoided anything more than grumblings in Congress, despite having a history of failure. The troubles have always contrasted with the promises made. In its earliest phase, in 2001, there was glowing coverage of the next-generation fighter jet that the U.S. military vowed would conduct a wide variety of warfighting missions. But the advanced fighter jet, which replaced the fourth-generation F-16, just reached full-rate production this year, meaning it is finally at the highest rate of readiness after more than 23 years. It was expected to reach full production by 2019. The F-35 program also soared from its initial cost estimates, triggering in 2010 a Nunn-McCurdy breach, which forced the Pentagon to conduct a review of whether to continue the program. Then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates opted to restructure the program instead of canceling it. Today, the F-35 is the Pentagons most expensive weapon system. The U.S. operates 630 of the aircraft and plans to purchase 2,500 by the mid-2040s and to continue operating them through the 2080s. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report this year that the total costs to sustain the F-35 fleet through 2088 would be more than $2 trillion. An individual aircraft will cost more than $6 million annually to operate and sustain. At the same time, the Navy, Marines and Air Force have each projected a decrease in flying the F-35, which has not had a single model meet mission goals from fiscal 2019 through 2023. Lockheed also continues to deliver the aircraft late. The GAO also said in the report that around 70 percent of its recommendations have not been addressed by the Pentagon, including creating a new sustainment strategy or reassessing Lockheeds responsibility for sustainment. In 2021, the tides began to turn against the program. Then-acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, who served in the last days of the Trump administration, publicly called it a piece of s, while Smith, then chair of the HASC, referred to the F-35 program as a rathole. Ongoing problems with TR-3 to update and modernize the F-35 were at least partially meant to solve Lockheeds dogged problems with the aircraft but have so far managed to only compound them. Rep. Donald Norcross (D-N.J.), the ranking member on the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, released a scathing joint statement with Smith after the F-35 amendment they both supported to address the software issue was blocked by House appropriators. Norcross told The Hill that the lawmakers who blocked the amendment were representing a minority view and that leadership in the House is aligned on addressing the issue. I believe that coming out of conference we will have a bill that not only addresses some of the deficiencies in [the] planes but invests in areas where we can make it relevant, because it is now sitting down on the tarmac, not doing any good, he said. Norcross also sees pressure growing to tackle the F-35 program. From our end, there is no question. In fact, many, and I will say bipartisan [lawmakers], wanted to go much further than we did, he added. Grazier, from the Stimson Center, said he supports pausing all purchases until the F-35 program is fixed and that he doubts Smiths throwing more money at the problem will fix it. He acknowledged a pause this late in the program would be unpopular and unlikely in Congress. But he argued that Lockheed has struggled to manage its program because of a design flaw baked into the process from the beginning that promised the fighter jet could perform multiple capabilities, including deep strikes, air-to-air combat and attack missions. It was a flawed concept from the very beginning, and then that poor decision was then compounded by the notion of packing every single imaginable gadget into the design, he said. You eventually cross a threshold where your maintainer simply cannot keep up with the workload, just because theres so many potential things that can break, he added, and all of those things need to be maintained to keep that aircraft full mission capable. Its just a matter of mathematics. 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. Friday 2nd May 1997 was a profound moment in my life. The day before, I had voted early before making my way to Wellington barracks to mount the Queens Guard at Buckingham Palace. I remember my hand hovering over both Conservatives and New Labour. My experience in the Army to date under the then Conservative Government had not been great. Constantly falling budgets had meant me and my men had experienced the hollowing out of our forces first hand. Perhaps Labour might do better? But they were also set on joining the Euro and devolution, so I cast my vote for John Major and set off to do my duty. It was a hot, sunny day and by the time I had dismounted guard the next day Labour had swept into power. It was fascinating to watch the comings and goings of the old and the new PM at the Palace, just as the Old Guard I captained handed over to the New Guard. With the Regimental quick march of Highland Laddie ringing in my ears, I hung up my bearskin and headed home. It was a landmark moment in British Politics. Blairs landslide and his determination to abandon dogma seems scarily similar to this election. Change for changes sake was the motto, then as it is now. I remember watching the 10 oclock news that night and feeling that the Conservative Party needed to be fixed. That it had forgotten to support those people, like my soldiers, who despite the odds had bettered themselves. I decided to do something about it. I joined the Party and got stuck in. Before we could get back power, we needed to fix ourselves. For Labour it was all over in 13 years. The once optimistic government was booted out of office leaving debt, broken public services and the echoes of the Iraq war behind it. The hard left that we all believed Tony Blair had expelled crawled from under whatever rock they had been hiding under to capture the Party again. Out went New Labour, in came Corbyn and with him, defeat. But there are also lessons for us in Labours return from the wilderness. Firstly, Governments should remember that from the day they enter Number 10, power starts to drip away. The sheer bureaucracy and process of a modern government sap away momentum, manifestos get duller and more qualified by the Treasury and Government lawyers, and over time reshuffles take their toll. The bright young things become older and wiser, but also grow tired of the daily fight with the machine and seek careers elsewhere. Back benchers get bored and the devil finds work for idle hands. And events divert attention. It is the reality of governance. But for now Labour have at least 4 years. The focus will be on them for the next few months. In the meantime, former colleagues and the Conservative Party must not be pushed by the media into a quick fix. Who cares if the next PMQs has a stand-in? We dont need all the answers immediately. Take the summer, make the conference part of the leadership race and use it not to divide but to bring together. Nor should we panic over Reform. Many of their voters want us to listen to their frustrations. Across Europe voters are worried by the massive scale of illegal immigration. It is no longer good enough for mainstream politicians to make excuses for why they cant deal with it. We absolutely have to find a solution. But it will take time. We need to pause, regenerate, and recuperate. We must work at building a united team, and listen to what the voters are saying. We must dispense with these silly little groups within groups at Westminster. We should remember that our core beliefs and values freedom, enterprise, order, fairness and security are the unifiers of our party. And we have to craft a genuine economic narrative to grow the economy and create wealth. We should take heart, too, that the Country hasnt turned on us in the way it did in 1997. Behind the headlines, Labours vote share is hardly a revolution. Many of us have seen a lot of this before landslide, Referendum Party, disillusioned voters. Wasnt it supposed to be the end of the Labour Party in 2019? The first step in rebuilding must be to pick someone to gel together the Tory tribe. Not just a top team, not just the parliamentary Party but the whole tribe. They dont have to be perfect, but they do have to want to lead a team not a clique. Let us start to rebuild from the bottom. Celebrate what we did right these last 14 years, be confident rather than arrogant, and above all speak to ordinary people and businesses rather than to ourselves. 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. By Nandita Bose, Jeff Mason and Bianca Flowers WASHINGTON (Reuters) -She worries Republican donors, has name recognition, and Democratic Party heavyweights are beginning to line up behind her. Vice President Kamala Harris would be President Joe Biden's natural successor if he bowed to growing pressure and stepped aside as the Democratic candidate in the 2024 election, top Democrats say. Now party donors, activists and officials are asking: Does she have a better chance than Biden of beating Donald Trump? Biden has said repeatedly he is staying in the race. Harris, 59, a former U.S. senator and California attorney general, would be the first woman to be president of the United States if she becomes the party's nominee and prevails in the Nov. 5 election. She is the first African American and Asian person to serve as vice president. Her 3-1/2 year White House tenure has been characterized by a lackluster start, staff turnover, and early policy portfolios including migration from Central America that did not produce major successes. As recently as last year, many inside the White House and the Biden campaign team privately worried Harris was a liability for the campaign. The situation has changed significantly since then, Democratic officials have said, as she stepped forward on abortion rights and courted young voters. She "is proud to be his running mate and looks forward to serving at his side for four more years," the Biden Harris campaign told Reuters. SOME POLLS FAVOR HARRIS Recent polls suggest Harris could do better than Biden against Trump, the Republican candidate, although she would face a tight contest. A CNN poll released on July 2 found voters favor Trump over Biden by six percentage points, or 49% to 43%. Harris also trailed Trump, 47% to 45%, within the margin of error. It also found independents back Harris 43%-40% over Trump, and moderate voters of both parties prefer her 51-39%. A Reuters/Ipsos poll after last week's televised debate between Trump and a faltering Biden found Harris and Trump were nearly tied, with 42% supporting her and 43% backing him. Only former first lady Michelle Obama, who has never expressed any interest in joining the race, polled higher among possible alternatives to Biden. Internal polling shared by the Biden campaign after the debate shows Harris with the same odds as Biden of beating Trump, with 45% of voters saying they would vote for her versus 48% for Trump. Influential Democrats including U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn, who was key to Biden's 2020 win; Rep. Gregory Meeks, a New York congressman and senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus; and Summer Lee, a House Democrat from Pennsylvania have signaled Harris would be the best option to lead the ticket if Biden chooses to step aside. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has also privately signaled the same to lawmakers, a Congressional aide said. Harris is taken so seriously, two Republican donors told Reuters they would prefer for Trump to face Biden than her. "I would prefer Biden to stay in place", rather than be replaced by Harris, said Pauline Lee, a fundraiser for Trump in Nevada after the June 27 debate, who said she thought Biden had proved himself to be "incompetent." And some on Wall Street, an important Democratic fundraising center, are starting to indicate a preference. "Biden is already behind Trump, and is unlikely to be able to overcome that gap given where his campaign is currently. Having VP Harris likely improves Democrats' odds of taking the White House," said Sonu Varghese, global macro strategist at Carson Group, a financial services company, after the debate. "There's potentially more upside for her chances than Biden's at this point." A majority of Americans see Harris in a negative light, as they do both men running for president. Polling outlet Five Thirty Eight said 37.1% of voters approve of Harris and 49.6% disapprove. Those numbers compare to 36.9% and 57.1% for Biden, and 38.6% and 53.6% for Trump. WOMEN, BLACK VOTERS, GAZA Since the Supreme Court repealed women's constitutional right to abortion in 2022, Harris has become the Biden administration's foremost voice on reproductive rights, an issue Democrats are betting on to help them win the 2024 election. Some Democrats believe Harris could energize Democratic-leaning groups whose enthusiasm for Biden has faded, including Black voters, young voters and those who do not approve of Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas war. "She would energize the Black, brown, and Asian Pacific members of our coalition ... she would immediately pull the dispirited youth of our country back into the fold," said Tim Ryan, a former Democratic Congressman from Ohio, in a recent op-ed. Democratic and Republican suburban women may also be more comfortable with her then Trump or Biden, he said. As vice president, Harris's public Israel strategy is identical to Biden's, although she was the first senior leader of the U.S. government to call for a ceasefire in March. "Simply swapping out the candidate does not address the central concern" of the movement, said Abbas Alawieh, a member of the national "Uncommitted" movement that withheld votes for Biden in the primary based on his support of Israel. If Biden were to step aside, there could be a competition between other Democrats to become the nominee. If the party were then to choose another candidate over Harris, some Democrats say it could lose the support of many Black voters who were critical to Biden's election win in 2020. "There is no alternative besides Kamala Harris," said Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of Black voter outreach group BlackPAC. "If the Democratic Party thinks that they have problems now with their base being confused ... Jump over the Black woman, the vice president, and I don't think the Democratic Party actually recovers." LEFT-LEANING, TARGETED ATTACKS However, Harris may struggle to reel in moderate Democrats and the independent voters who like Biden's centrist policies, some Democratic donors said. Both parties seek independents to help pull them over the finishing line in presidential elections. "Her greatest weakness is that her public brand has been associated with the far-left wing of the Democratic Party ... and the left wing of the Democratic party cannot win a national election," said Dmitri Mehlhorn, a fundraiser and adviser to LinkedIn co-founder and Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman. "That is the challenge that she will have to overcome if she is the nominee." Harris would take over money raised by the Biden campaign and inherit campaign infrastructure, a critical advantage with just four months before election day on Nov. 5. But any Democratic campaign still needs to raise hundreds of millions of dollars more before November to be successful, strategists say. And there, Harris could be a liability. "I can tell you we have a really tough time raising money for her" said a source at the Democratic National Committee. As a presidential candidate ahead of the 2020 election, Harris lagged Biden in raising money. She dropped out of the race in December 2019, the same month her campaign reported $39.3 million in total contributions. Biden's campaign reported $60.9 million in the same period. However, Biden's campaign raised a record $48 million in the 24 hours after he named Harris as his running mate in 2020. Harris's prosecutorial background could shine in a head-to-head debate against Trump, some Democrats said. "She is incredibly focused and forceful and smart, and if she prosecutes the case against the criminality of Donald Trump, she will rip him apart," said Mehlhorn. Republican attacks on Harris are ramping up as she has been floated as a possible Biden replacement. Conservative talking heads are re-circulating criticism leveled at her during the 2020 race, including from some Democrats, that Harris laughs too much, that she is untested, and unqualified. On July 6 the New York Post, owned by the conservative News Corp, ran a column headlined "America may soon be subjected to the countrys first DEI president: Kamala Harris," that said her political rise was because of her party's diversity, equity and inclusion "stranglehold." Kelly Dittmar, a political science professor at Rutgers University, said the attacks are part of a long history of objectifying and denigrating women of color in politics. "Unfortunately the reliance on both racist and sexist attacks and tropes against women running for office is historically common and persists to this day," said Dittmar. (Reporting by Jeff Mason, Nandita Bose, Bianca Flowers, Alexandra Ulmer, Saqib Iqbal Ahmed Editing by Heather Timmons, Alistair Bell and David Holmes) When founders realize their dream of a multibillion-dollar acquisition, they usually ride off into the sunset and leave their employees to adjust to a new regime. But Mark OHare, the founder of Preqin, is bringing his staff along for this ride after cashing in his 21-year bet. OHare and his wife Lindy will become billionaires after selling their financial data company to BlackRock for 2.55 billion ($3.2 billion). OHare, 65, founded Preqin in 2002 to source and sell data on the performance of private equity investments. Preqin is one of several private data companies that have enjoyed bumper valuations in recent years. The companys path to an acquisition tracked rivals like PitchBook, which Morningstar acquired for $225 million. Preqin was reportedly the subject of bidding from the likes of Bloomberg and S&P. The Preqin acquisition marks OHares second major company sale after netting a more modest 2.5 million sum from Reuters for his financial information platform Citywatch in 1998. BlackRock is known for excellence in both investment management and financial technology and together we can accelerate our efforts to deliver better private markets data and analytics to all of our clients at scale, OHare said in a statement. I look forward to joining BlackRock and continuing to play a role in the continued growth and success of Preqin and our customers. Mark and Lindys 80% share in Preqin will help them scoop a 2.04 billion ($2.6 billion) payday, putting them among the 100 wealthiest people in the U.K. when the sale goes through. That will make them richer than Alan Sugar and Harry Potter author JK Rowling, not to mention Larry Fink, the co-founder of the asset manager thats acquiring them. The remaining 510 million is to be shared among Preqins management and around 1,500 employees, making several of them fresh millionaires. The OHare couple will have plenty to keep them busy after their golden handshake. Mark OHare is a part-time private pilot and survived a plane crash on a seven-seater Piper Seneca in 1999. Lindy, a former interior designer, renovated Thorington Theatre in 2019, a 350-seater outdoor venue in woodland beside their home in Suffolk. The couple took a 2.3 million loan in 2019 to renovate their home, the Financial Times reported, which looks like pocket change now. Speaking to The Stage magazine last year, Lindy said the couple hoped they could one day host the Royal Shakespeare Companys A Midsummer Nights Dream at their venue, in addition to a local music superstar. "One day, Ed Sheeran will come. He lives at Framlingham, so he's only down the road. That's the dream." This story was originally featured on Fortune.com Crimean Tatar leader reunites with his family and shares thoughts on first days after liberation and future plans photo, video Nariman Dzhelyal, Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, has reunited with his family after being released from Russian captivity. He has communicated with his family in Crimea and shared his plans for the future. Source: Refat Chubarov, Chairman of the Mejlis, stressed that the long-awaited reunion of the activist with his wife and four children took place in Kyiv. His family left temporarily Russian-occupied Crimea for that to happen. Details: "Nariman Dzhelyal's family is reunited again. Although not at home, not in Crimea, but in Kyiv, the capital of our country. Inshallah, we will all be united again in our homeland, Crimea, liberated from Russian barbarians," Chubarov noted (Inshallah is an Arabic-language expression meaning "If God wills" or "God willing" - ed.). The activist's wife posted a photo of the family reunion. This is their second time together in three years. During his imprisonment, Nariman Dzhelyal saw his family only once that meeting took place in the prison walls in the Russian city of Minusinsk in Krasnoyarsk Krai. Nariman has reunited with his family Photo: Leviza Dzhelyalova Upon his release from captivity, Nariman Dzhelyal told Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne that he had managed to communicate with his relatives and friends from Crimea. "When they found out about my release, a huge number of my friends came to our house, to my wife Leviza's, to have a celebratory coffee. And my wife would often call me on the phone so that these people could congratulate me," the activist said. Instagram , QIRIM.News (@qirim.news) He said seeing familiar faces and communicating with his family were among the first pleasant moments after his release from Russian captivity. The former political prisoner stated that he planned to continue raising awareness about the Ukrainian military and civilians who remain imprisoned in Russian torture chambers. "This is extremely important. I have already informed my colleagues that I am ready to contribute wherever it will benefit the common cause," he added. Background: Nariman Dzhelyal and five other Crimean Tatars were detained in early September 2021 on trumped-up charges of sabotage. Nariman's cousins, Asan and Aziz Akhtemov were also taken from temporarily occupied Crimea. In 2022, the Russians sentenced Dzhelyal to 17 years in prison, while his brothers received sentences of 15 and 13 years. Support UP or become our patron! Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) doubled down on her support of President Biden as calls for him to drop out rise, and warned of a second term with former President Trump because he only cares about himself. Crockett joined MSNBCs Katie Phang on Saturday to discuss the fallout from Bidens poor debate performance and the growing number of House Democrats calling on him to step aside. The Texas lawmaker said Democrats who are calling on the president to resign says more about them being scared of Trump than of Bidens character. One thing that I think we all are united in, no matter where you stand, is our fear, she said. Our fear that somehow Donald Trump can get back into the White House, or fear that the Supreme Court will absolutely end up becoming even worse or fear because we know the reality of what they are seeking in Project 2025. And so, the only thing that Im asking everyone to do is to unite around the ticket. The ticket at this point in time is Biden-Harris, Crockett continued. And so long as the president says that he can do this job, then that is our ticket. As of Saturday afternoon, five of Crocketts Democratic colleagues in the House have called on Biden to step aside. They argue that Vice President Harris, or another top Democrat, has a better chance against Trump in the election this fall. Biden and his campaign spent much of the week attempting to regain support from voters. In his first on-camera interview since the debate, Biden insisted Friday that he was in it to win it and would not be stepping down. Either way, Crockett asked Democrats to stay the course. Lets recognize who the real enemy is, she said. Lets not give fodder to the Republicans come November by tearing each other apart. 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. TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) A Dade City man was arrested early Sunday morning after he was accused of driving drunk and crashing into a Florida Highway Patrol car in Wesley Chapel. FHP was investigating a separate crash on I-75 near SR-54 when Elmer Perez Ramirez, 23, sideswiped the patrol vehicle at 2:14 a.m. Two road rangers and two other FHP vehicles at the site of the crash also had their emergency lights activated. Ramirez, who was identified by his Guatemala passport, smelled like alcohol and stumbled around, according to a FHP arrest report. He told troopers he lived in Dade City and was heading to Sarasota at the time of the crash. Troopers reported Ramirez performing poorly on field sobriety tests and his breath samples tested at 0.185 and 0.194, the arrest report stated. He was charged with DUI and driving without a license. 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. The U.S. Supreme Court | Susan J. Demas illustration July 4th hits different when youre confronted by the unescapable reality that the American experiment is over in a fundamental way. And no, that isnt hyperbole if you read the U.S. Supreme court opinion released last week in Trump v. the United States by six right-wing justices, who function more like insular high clerics than thoughtful jurists. The case was brought by Donald Trump, who has the distinction of being the only former president to be found guilty of 34 felonies in a hush money case tied to the 2016 election and faces dozens more in three other criminal cases. But the majority on the high court half of whom were appointed by Trump handed him an astounding victory, ruling that presidents have almost limitless immunity, so long as something can be called an official act. In May, Justice Sonia Sotomayor confessed that there are days that Ive come to my office after an announcement of a case and closed my door and cried. And in reading her scorching, 29-page dissent, I began weeping myself. I've certainly never been an optimist, but I have to be these days because I have kids. I want them to live in a better world than the one they were born into. I think that's worth fighting for. I believe America is worth fighting for. Susan J. Demas The President of the United States is the most powerful person in the country, and possibly the world. When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majoritys reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution. Orders the Navys Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune, she writes. You might be tempted to believe those scenarios are fantastical, although I would argue you have to be hitting the normalcy bias tap pretty hard to convince yourself of that. But as Sotomayor delineates, the court has given a wholesale rewrite to the powers of the presidency which is tremendously significant in and of itself. Even if these nightmare scenarios never play out, and I pray they never do, the damage has been done, she writes. The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law. The fact that this decision dropped just three days before Independence Day quite honestly made it so much harder to comprehend. We literally fought a war to free ourselves from despots. We rejected the temptation of establishing a monarchy of our own to forge a democracy, a bold undertaking few thought would work. And we beat back an empire that sought to throttle our republic in its infancy. And yes, our history is marred by the original sin of slavery and the refusal to extend the rights of citizenship to anyone besides white men. But the ideals of our nation the separation of powers, right to assemble, freedom of the press and so much more have always been worth fighting for. Abolishing slavery, establishing the right to vote for women and African Americans and dismantling Jim Crow have all been part of our journey to make America a more perfect union. Thats why I love America. And no, I wasnt raised in a particularly patriotic household, although my parents did periodically remind me that I was a bicentennial baby. Ive never owned any flag-adorned clothing or cared much for the performative pomp and circumstance of July 4th (I didnt like joining in pep rallies in high school, either, and would usually try to sneak off to the library to read a book). In college, I majored in European history, focusing on the French Revolution, and was known to pedantically opine that its dedication to Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite made it far superior to its American cousin (I was always fun at parties). But as Ive aged, Ive found that binary thinking is, more than not, overly shallow and not particularly constructive. I also find myself cringing when I hear those on the left flippantly bash America, as the underlying premise seems to be that our country is broken beyond repair and not worth saving. Now Ive certainly never been an optimist, but I have to be these days because I have kids. I want them to live in a better world than the one they were born into. I think thats worth fighting for. I believe America is worth fighting for. And I dont care if that sounds corny or MAGA-coded. The GOP has long pretended, particularly post-9/11, that they are the only true patriots. And under Trump, Republicans have become emboldened to declare that theyre fighting for a vision of America that existed before the 1960s or even the 1860s. Vowing to forcibly turn back the clock to darker times in our nations history when Black Americans and other people of color, women and LGBTQ+ people were denied basic rights and often subjected to state-sanctioned violence is an incredibly bleak and disturbing political agenda. But its all outlined, in chilling detail, in Project 2025, the brainchild of the ultraconservative Heritage Foundation thats an authoritarian blueprint for the next Trump administration. And now with the Supreme Court deciding that its fine and dandy for us to have our very own King George III in the White House, its clear that the judicial branch wont serve as a check on his abuses of power. Never in the history of our Republic has a President had reason to believe that he would be immune from criminal prosecution if he used the trappings of his office to violate the criminal law, Sotomayor writes in her dissent. Moving forward, however, all former Presidents will be cloaked in such immunity. If the occupant of that office misuses official power for personal gain, the criminal law that the rest of us must abide will not provide a backstop. With fear for our democracy, I dissent. Our democracy is no longer young at 248 years old, but it isnt withering away its under direct assault from those who reject pluralism and are determined to rule over us. We face a grave test in November. We cannot fail. SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE The post With our democracy under siege, this Independence Day was a somber one appeared first on Michigan Advance. The U.S. Supreme Court (Susan J. Demas illustration) July 4th hits different when youre confronted by the unescapable reality that the American experiment is over in a fundamental way. And no, that isnt hyperbole if you read the U.S. Supreme Court opinion released last week in Trump v. United States by six right-wing justices who function more like insular high clerics than thoughtful jurists. The case was brought by Donald Trump, who has the distinction of being the only former president to be found guilty of 34 felonies in a hush-money case tied to the 2016 election and faces dozens more in three other criminal cases. But the majority on the high court half of whom were appointed by Trump handed him an astounding victory, ruling that presidents have almost limitless immunity, so long as something can be called an official act. In May, Justice Sonia Sotomayor confessed that there are days when Ive come to my office after an announcement of a case and closed my door and cried. And in reading her scorching, 29-page dissent, I began weeping myself. The President of the United States is the most powerful person in the country, and possibly the world. When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majoritys reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution. Orders the Navys Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune, she writes. You might be tempted to believe those scenarios are fantastical, although I would argue you have to be hitting the normalcy bias tap pretty hard to convince yourself of that. But as Sotomayor delineates, the court has given a wholesale rewrite to the powers of the presidency which is tremendously significant in and of itself. Even if these nightmare scenarios never play out, and I pray they never do, the damage has been done, she writes. The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law. The fact that this decision dropped just three days before Independence Day quite honestly made it so much harder to comprehend. Freedom from despots We literally fought a war to free ourselves from despots. We rejected the temptation of establishing a monarchy of our own to forge a democracy, a bold undertaking few thought would work. And we beat back an empire that sought to throttle our republic in its infancy. And yes, our history is marred by the original sin of slavery and the refusal to extend the rights of citizenship to anyone besides white men. But the ideals of our nation the separation of powers, right to assemble, freedom of the press, and so much more have always been worth fighting for. Abolishing slavery, establishing the right to vote for women and African Americans and dismantling Jim Crow have all been part of our journey to make America a more perfect union. Thats why I love America. And no, I wasnt raised in a particularly patriotic household, although my parents did periodically remind me that I was a bicentennial baby. Ive never owned any flag-adorned clothing or cared much for the performative pomp and circumstance of July 4th (I didnt like joining in pep rallies in high school, either, and would usually try to sneak off to the library to read a book). In college, I majored in European history, focusing on the French Revolution, and was known to pedantically opine that its dedication to Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite made it far superior to its American cousin (I was always fun at parties). But as Ive aged, Ive found that binary thinking is, more than not, overly shallow and not particularly constructive. I also find myself cringing when I hear those on the left flippantly bash America, as the underlying premise seems to be that our country is broken beyond repair and not worth saving. Now Ive certainly never been an optimist, but I have to be these days because I have kids. I want them to live in a better world than the one they were born into. I think thats worth fighting for. I believe America is worth fighting for. And I dont care if that sounds corny or MAGA-coded. The GOP has long pretended, particularly post-9/11, that they are the only true patriots. And under Trump, Republicans have become emboldened to declare that theyre fighting for a vision of America that existed before the 1960s or even the 1860s. Turn back the clock Vowing to forcibly turn back the clock to darker times in our nations history when Black Americans and other people of color, women, and LGBTQ+ people were denied basic rights and often subjected to state-sanctioned violence is an incredibly bleak and disturbing political agenda. But its all outlined, in chilling detail, in Project 2025, the brainchild of the ultraconservative Heritage Foundation thats an authoritarian blueprint for the next Trump administration. And now with the Supreme Court deciding that its fine and dandy for us to have our very own King George III in the White House, its clear that the judicial branch wont serve as a check on his abuses of power. Never in the history of our Republic has a President had reason to believe that he would be immune from criminal prosecution if he used the trappings of his office to violate the criminal law, Sotomayor writes in her dissent. Moving forward, however, all former Presidents will be cloaked in such immunity. If the occupant of that office misuses official power for personal gain, the criminal law that the rest of us must abide will not provide a backstop. With fear for our democracy, I dissent. Our democracy is no longer young at 248 years old, but it isnt withering away its under direct assault from those who reject pluralism and are determined to rule over us. We face a grave test in November. We cannot fail. This column first appeared in the Michigan Advance, a member with the Phoenix in the nonprofit States Newsroom network. These Democratic lawmakers, officials have publicly backed Biden since the debate President Biden and his campaign have been in clean-up mode this week after his poor debate performance sparked panic within the Democratic Party and some calls for him to step down. As of Saturday evening, five House Democrats have publicly gone against the party and asked Biden to step aside so a new candidate can take on former President Trump. Many Democratic lawmakers and other public officials, however, are sticking by Biden and urging both their fellow politicians and the American public to do the same ahead of the high-stakes election this fall. Heres who has publicly backed Biden after the debate: Vice President Kamala Harris Directly following the first presidential debate, Vice President Harris defended Biden during an interview with CNN that was occasionally tense. She said Biden had a slow start to the evening but was able to make a strong finish and pointed to Bidens character over Trumps. As calls for Biden to step aside continue, Harris has emerged as one of the top choices for his replacement. Still, she doubled down on her support for the president and said they intend to beat Trump together. Gov. Gavin Newsom Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.), one of Bidens biggest allies, dismissed concerns about the presidents abilities directly following the debate. Newsom, who has also been rumored to be a top choice if Biden steps aside, called all the talk about Bidens performance unhelpful and unnecessary. He urged people to not look at 30 minutes of Bidens presidency, but rather at the last 3 and a half years. Gov. Kathy Hochul Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) was among several Democratic governors who met with Biden this week. During the meeting, the governors pledged their support to Biden, Hochul said. In a post online, she said Biden is in it to win it. The stakes this November could not be higher. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.) also was at the meeting at the White House. In a similar post online, she said Biden is the Democratic Partys nominee and that she will support him. He is in it to win it and I support him, she posted. Like Harris, Whitmer has been rumored as one of the few people that the party could choose if Biden steps aside. Gov. Tim Walz Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) joined the meeting and also voiced his support for Biden. Walz spoke outside the White House after the meeting and said all of them were looking for the path to win. He said Biden had the governors backs during the COVID-19 pandemic and they have his back now. He said Biden is fit for office and last weeks debate was a bad performance. Gov. Wes Moore Gov. Wes Moore (D-Md.) was also in attendance during the governors meeting. The Maryland Governor said the meeting with Biden and Harris was honest and candid. Moore said they were open with Biden about the concerns they have and what they have heard from their constituents. We said we will stand with him, Moore said. The president has always had our backs, were going to have his back as well. Sen. John Fetterman Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) told his fellow Democrats to chill the f out after reports emerged of the party panicking following the debate. He said he refuses to join the Democratic vultures because one bad performance is not the sum total of the person and their record. Just over a week after the debate, Biden participated in an on-camera interview with ABC. Fetterman said anchor George Stephanopoulos should ask the president nine questions, including if hes been impeached or slept with and bribed a porn star, hinting at Trump. Sen. Chris Coons Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said the stakes of this election couldnt be higher and the only Democrat thats beaten Trump is Biden. He is our candidate for November. And he has the best shot to beat him, Coons said. Directly after the debate, an energetic Biden appeared in North Carolina to speak to voters. While his demeanor was much brighter, he still received criticism because he was speaking off of a teleprompter. Coons said he thinks that Biden should have more unscripted and off-the-record moments. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi acknowledged concerns earlier this week, saying its fair to ask if the 81-year-old Biden has a condition or if the debate was just an episode. Still, she defended Biden following the debate and emphasized he is attuned to the issues when she works with him. She also shot down the suggestion that Biden could be replaced by another candidate. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) said Biden has had her district and the countrys backs over the last four years. Hes listened, and most importantly, hes delivered, she wrote on X. He is an honest man running against a serial liar who was a disgrace to the office. She said that Democrats will beat Trump this fall by having Bidens back. Rep. Haley Stevens Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) posted on Instagram at a Michigan Biden-Harris campaign event, where she said Democrats are FIRED UP to go make sure voters know President Biden has their backs. Rep. Jasmine Crockett Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) doubled down on her support of Biden and warned of a second Trump term. She asked for fellow Democrats to unite around the ticket, which is currently Biden and Harris. She said she will support the ticket as it stands so long as the president says that he can do this job. Rep. John Garamendi Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) said he wants his fellow Democrats to slow down and take a deep breath when it comes to their concerns about Biden. He said the panic following the debate was a feeding frenzy and urged them to understand the enormous importance of their actions and what Biden has done for the country. Lets take a look at what this president has done and also what hes managed to do since that debate, Garamendi said. The California Democrat said its not an easy task being the president and running a campaign, but Biden has done both. 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. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. Representative Adam Schiff told NBC News he felt Vice President Kamala Harris could win "overwhelmingly" if she ran against former President Donald Trump, but that President Joe Biden needed to make a decision about his own candidacy. "I think she (Harris) very well could win overwhelmingly, but before we get into a decision about who else it should be, the president needs to make a decision about whether it's him," Schiff told NBC News on Sunday. "Either he (Biden) has to win overwhelmingly, or he has to pass the torch to someone who can." (Reporting by Moira Warburton and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) (PORTLAND TRIBUNE) At least two Democratic legislators say they want to revisit a 2021 law requiring Oregon cities to adopt objectively reasonable standards when they regulate the place, time and manner of camping on public property. The calls by Rep. Paul Evans of Monmouth and Sen. Mark Meek of Gladstone echo those made by the Republican minority leaders in the House and Senate, Rep. Jeff Helfrich of Hood River and Sen. Daniel Bonham of The Dalles. Excessive heat warning prompts two different Oregon, Washington county responses All of them did so after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 28 in favor of Grants Pass in a challenge to a 2018 federal appeals court decision, which held that cities engage in cruel and unusual punishment when they levy criminal penalties on people sleeping outdoors if they offer no alternatives such as shelters. Boise, Idaho, settled that lawsuit out of court in 2019. Among those joining in support of Grants Pass was a combined brief from the League of Oregon Cities, its counterpart organizations in Washington and Idaho, Special Districts Association of Oregon and the city of Portland. The Oregon Law Center represented the defendants, Gloria Johnson and John Logan, and the Oregon Food Bank led several other organizations filed a separate brief on their behalf. In 2021, Oregon lawmakers wrote standards into law in House Bill 3115, whose chief sponsor was Tina Kotek, the Portland Democrat who then was House speaker and now is governor. Evans and Meek the latter was then in the House were two of the three Democrats who voted against it, along with Rep. David Gomberg of Otis. (Rep. Brian Clem of Salem, who resigned in late 2021, was the only Democrat who did not vote. Clem said later he also would have voted against it.) We need to review the law that we passed and provide certainty for local governments, Evans said in a brief interview. Read more at PortlandTribune.com The Portland Tribune and its parent company Pamplin Media Group are KOIN 6 News media partners 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. Whilst it may not be a huge deal, we thought it was good to see that the ZICO Holdings Inc. (Catalist:40W) Group CEO & Executive Director, Hock Ng, recently bought S$77k worth of stock, for S$0.043 per share. That purchase might not be huge but it did increase their holding by 15%. Check out our latest analysis for ZICO Holdings ZICO Holdings Insider Transactions Over The Last Year In fact, the recent purchase by Group CEO & Executive Director Hock Ng was not their only acquisition of ZICO Holdings shares this year. They previously made an even bigger purchase of S$180k worth of shares at a price of S$0.06 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being S$0.05). Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when an insider has purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price. Hock Ng was the only individual insider to buy during the last year. Hock Ng bought a total of 7.13m shares over the year at an average price of S$0.056. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction! 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 Of ZICO Holdings 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. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. ZICO Holdings insiders own about S$9.3m worth of shares (which is 49% of the company). I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders. So What Does This Data Suggest About ZICO Holdings Insiders? It is good to see the recent insider purchase. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. However, we note that the company didn't make a profit over the last twelve months, which makes us cautious. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest ZICO Holdings insiders are well aligned, and quite possibly think the share price is too low. That's what I like to see! 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. Our analysis shows 3 warning signs for ZICO Holdings (2 make us uncomfortable!) and we strongly recommend you look at these before investing. 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 DENVER (KDVR) Denvers weather will cool off Sunday with highs in the middle to upper 70s. This is accompanied by a chance of showers and storms this afternoon. Weather Today: Afternoon storms and clouds It was a cloudy start to a cool and unsettled day in the Denver metro area. Scattered storms will build shortly after noon and will push into the plains. Highs on Sunday will only be in the middle to upper 70s, about 13 degrees below average for this time of the year. The showers and storms could produce gusty winds, heavy downpours and some thunder and lightning. Weather tonight: Rain ends, skies clear out While showers and storms will continue for southeast Colorado through the very early hours of Monday morning, Denver will look to dry out in the metro area by later on Sunday evening. Overnight low temperatures will drop into the upper-middle to lower 50s meaning you can open up those windows and give that A/C a little bit of a break. Looking ahead: Warming back up Monday has small chances for some afternoon showers with more sunshine and highs in the middle 80s. More-seasonal highs are back in the upper 80s on Tuesday with very small storm chances and extra clouds. Wednesday continues the warming trend with highs in the lower 90s and sunny skies. Thursday keeps the mainly sunny skies with hot highs in the low 90s. Friday will get hotter with sunny skies and highs in the upper 90s. Next Saturday is shaping up to be another hot day that could flirt with triple digits as Denver continues to have mainly sunny skies. 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. Forward-thinking change On July 1, the S.C. Dept. of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) became two distinct entities: the Department of Behavioral and Public Health and the Department of Environmental Services (DES). DES will handle environmental regulatory functions from issuing permits to enforcing regulations. Greater efficiency in managing environmental permits, monitoring compliance, and addressing issues like water quality and air pollution is needed; however, it comes at a cost $60 million. A dedicated environmental office provides more focused resource management to effectively address complex issues. The new department streamlines operations, enhances regulatory compliance and improves resources. The intended outcome is potential cost savings. Also, a focused approach ensures that violations are promptly addressed and regulations are effectively enforced. Leadership in the new office is crucial. Myra Reece, a 30-year veteran of DHEC, has been appointed as the first DES director. Her experience and formal training at both Clemson and USC position her well to lead this new department. Though startup costs are high, the forward-thinking move provides a cleaner organization to protect and manage South Carolinas natural resources. Focused expertise, improved efficiency and enhanced public engagement exemplify the value of this significant organizational change. Benjamin Buck, Greer Opportunity awaits Prior to the recent presidential debate, a majority of the voters did not want a rerun between Trump and Biden. Following the debate, these negative feelings have been exasperated. Now is the opportunity for the Democratic Party to take advantage of President Bidens poor performance and replace him on the ballot. A younger, vibrant Democrat could legitimately proclaim President Bidens policies and echo the successes of the past four years. A valid excuse exists for President Bidden to step back, accept the deserved accolades of his many years of service, maintain his legacy and save both the country and his party from disaster. Meanwhile the extremely negative aspects of a Trump presidency would remain front and center. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a proven winner in a purple state, would make an excellent candidate for president. Gov. Wes Moore, as a candidate for vice president, could deflect the Black voters concern about dropping VP Kamala Harris from the ballot. Take this opportunity and be prepared to declare victory in November. Bob Hooper, Sun City Reduce exposure Lawmakers must address the credit card industrys growing Chinese influence, particularly through UnionPay, a state-owned financial corporation. This poses a significant risk by potentially exposing American consumers financial data to the Chinese government. As China remains the top threat to U.S. national security, Congress, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, must reduce Chinese influence in domestic industries. The credit card industrys connection with UnionPay needs reevaluation. Visa and Mastercards integration of UnionPay into U.S. payment systems contradicts national security interests. The Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) offers a solution by requiring the Federal Reserve to list and block payment networks posing security risks, including UnionPay. Additionally, the CCCA would foster competition by allowing merchants to choose from at least two card networks besides Visa and Mastercard. This would pressure Visa and Mastercard to enhance security and reduce fraud, which is currently eight times higher for them compared to alternative networks in the debit space. Passing the CCCA is essential to protect our national security and financial infrastructure from Chinese influence. Kyle Johnson, Georgetown During his presidency, Donald Trump said, Were putting America first were taking care of ourselves for a change, and then declared, Im a nationalist. In another speech, he stated that under his watch, the U.S. had embrace[d] the doctrine of patriotism. Trump is now running for president again. When he announced his candidacy, he stated that he need[s] every patriot on board because this is not just a campaign, this is a quest to save our country. One week later he dined in Mar-a-Lago with Nick Fuentes, a self-described nationalist whos been banned from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and other platforms for using racist and antisemitic language. Afterward, Trump confirmed that meeting but did not denounce Fuentes, despite calls for him to do so. The words nationalism and patriotism are sometimes used as synonyms, such as when Trump and his supporters describe his America First agenda. But many political scientists, including me, dont typically see those two terms as equivalent or even compatible. There is a difference, and its important, not just to scholars but to regular citizens as well. An image from 1950, colorized in 2017, shows Superman a refugee from another planet and a character created by two Jewish immigrants to the U.S. teaching that patriotism should drive out nationalism. DC Comics Devotion to a people To understand what nationalism is, its useful to understand what a nation is and isnt. A nation is a group of people who share a history, culture, language, religion or some combination thereof. A country, which is sometimes called a state in political science terminology, is an area of land that has its own government. A nation-state is a homogeneous political entity mostly comprising a single nation. Nation-states are rare, because nearly every country is home to more than one national group. One example of a nation-state would be North Korea, where almost all residents are ethnic Koreans. The United States is neither a nation nor a nation-state. Rather, it is a country of many different groups of people who have a variety of shared histories, cultures, languages and religions. Some of those groups are formally recognized by the federal government, such as the Navajo Nation and the Cherokee Nation. Similarly, in Canada, the French-speaking Quebecois are recognized as being a distinct nation within a united Canada. Nationalism is, per one dictionary definition, loyalty and devotion to a nation. It is a persons strong affinity for those who share the same history, culture, language or religion. Scholars understand nationalism as exclusive, boosting one identity group over and at times in direct opposition to others. The Oath Keepers and Proud Boys 10 of whom were convicted of seditious conspiracy for their role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol are both examples of white nationalist groups, which believe that immigrants and people of color are a threat to their ideals of civilization. Trump has described the events that took place on Jan. 6, 2021, as having occurred Peacefully & Patrioticly. He has described those who have been imprisoned as great patriots and has said that he would pardon a large portion of them if elected in 2024. There are many other nationalisms beyond white nationalism. The Nation of Islam, for instance, is an example of a Black nationalist group. The Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center have both characterized it as a Black supremacist hate group for its anti-white prejudices. In addition to white and Black racial nationalisms, there are also ethnic and lingustic nationalisms, which typically seek greater autonomy for and the eventual independence of certain national groups. Examples include the Bloc Quebecois, the Scottish Nationalist Party and Plaid Cymru the Party of Wales, which are nationalist political parties that respectively advocate for the Quebecois of Quebec, the Scots of Scotland and the Welsh of Wales. Devotion to a place In contrast to nationalisms loyalty for or devotion to ones nation, patriotism is, per the same dictionary, love for or devotion to ones country. It comes from the word patriot, which itself can be traced back to the Greek word patrios, which means of ones father. In other words, patriotism has historically meant a love for and devotion to ones fatherland, or country of origin. Patriotism encompasses devotion to the country as a whole including all the people who live within it. Nationalism refers to devotion to only one group of people over all others. An example of patriotism would be Martin Luther King Jr.s I Have a Dream speech, in which he recites the first verse of the patriotic song America (My Country Tis of Thee). In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, King describes nationalist groups as being made up of people who have lost faith in America. George Orwell, the author of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, describes patriotism as devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life. He contrasted that with nationalism, which he describes as the habit of identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognizing no other duty than that of advancing its interests. Nationalism vs. patriotism Adolf Hitlers rise in Germany was accomplished by perverting patriotism and embracing nationalism. According to Charles de Gaulle, who led Free France against Nazi Germany during World War II and later became president of France, Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first. The tragedy of the Holocaust was rooted in the nationalistic belief that certain groups of people were inferior. While Hitler is a particularly extreme example, in my own research as a human rights scholar, I have found that even in contemporary times, countries with nationalist leaders are more likely to have bad human rights records. After World War II, President Harry Truman signed the Marshall Plan, which would provide postwar aid to Europe. The intent of the program was to help European countries break away from the self-defeating actions of narrow nationalism. For Truman, putting America first did not mean exiting the global stage and sowing division at home with nationalist actions and rhetoric. Rather, he viewed the principal concern of the people of the United States to be the creation of conditions of enduring peace throughout the world. For him, patriotically putting the interests of his country first meant fighting against nationalism. This view is in line with that of French President Emmanuel Macron, who has stated that patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. Nationalism, he says, is a betrayal of patriotism. 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 Read more: 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. A pantheon of distinguished journalists has worked at the Des Moines Register and its predecessors, not only as leaders in their own profession but often also shaping state and national affairs. The luminaries include Gardner Cowles, owner and publisher for over 40 years starting in 1903, and his sidekick as editor, Harvey Ingham, who also served for 40 years. They built the newspaper into a financial success while steering it away from its partisan roots to become a more independent news source. Or, as a more recent example, Michael Gartner, editor and president of the Register in the 1970s and 1980s, went on to become president of NBC News, won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing while editor and co-owner of the Ames Daily Tribune and helped revitalize cities across Iowa as chairman of the Vision Iowa board. J.N. "Ding" Darling, editorial cartoonist for the Des Moines Register from 1906 to 1949 and winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, works on an editorial cartoon. But my pick for the single most distinguished alumnus over the entire 175-year span of Register history would be editorial cartoonist J.N. Ding Darling, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who stands out for his sheer talent, the prodigious body of his work (he drew cartoons for the Register on and off from 1906 to 1949) and for his impact on the national stage and lasting legacy as a conservationist. Who was 'Ding' Darling? A transplant who sunk deep Iowa roots Darling was born in Michigan in 1876 but moved in 1885 with his family to Sioux City, where his father was a minister. He loved the tall grass fields in South Dakota where he and his brother played, according to the Sioux City Public Museum website, a good place to start learning about him. Darling sat on the banks of the Missouri and Big Sioux rivers listening to the sounds of nature on summer nights. It was in the prairies around Sioux City that Darling discovered his love of nature. After college, Darling became a reporter for the Sioux City Journal and began sketching for fun on the side. The museum describes his first cartoons as generally harmless fun and dates his first political cartoon to 1901, in support of President Theodore Roosevelts campaign to create a forestry service. His cartoons captured attention across the state. The Register lured him away in 1906 and began publishing his cartoons on the front page. At the Register, he began signing his cartoons as "Ding" a contraction of his last name. His cartoons on the 1908 presidential race, when Republican William Howard Taft defeated three-time Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan, skyrocketed him to enormous success, the museum says, and he took a short detour to the New York City Globe before returning to Des Moines and the Register. J.N. "Ding" Darling's front-page cartoon, "In Good Old USA," published May 6, 1923, would win the Des Moines Register its first Pulitzer Prize. He won his first Pulitzer in 1924, for In Good Old USA, a commentary on American life in which he lauds rags to riches success stories while admonishing a cluster of loiterers: But they didnt get there by hanging around the corner drug store. While his subjects were wide-ranging, Darling, an avid hunter and fisherman, often focused on wildlife, soil and water conservation. But he did far more for this cause beyond his advocacy through cartoons. Using $9,000 of his own money, he established the first Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit at Iowa State College, now Iowa State University, to bring more science to bear on managing natural resources. According to an Iowa State history, Darling fought to divorce conservation activities in Iowa from political interference and was named the first chairman of the Iowa Fish and Game Commission, now the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, which spearheaded creation of a 25-year conservation plan for our state. Then in 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him chief of the U.S. Biological Survey, a predecessor to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, where he drew the first Federal Duck Stamp. Stamp sales have since raised over $1.2 billion to conserve 6 million acres of wetlands habitat on national wildlife refuges, according to the service. And then in 1936, he persuaded Roosevelt to invite over 2,000 hunters, fishermen and conservationists to the first North American Wildlife Conference in Washington, D.C., which led to the founding of state wildlife federations and eventually the National Wildlife Federation, with Darling as its first president, according to his Fish & Wildlife biography. He drew fewer cartoons during this period but took up his pen again to decry the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany. Six years before his retirement, in 1943, he won his second Pulitzer, for a cartoon on government waste, "What a Place For a Waste Paper Salvage Campaign." 'Ding' Darling's legacy lives on in Iowa, Florida, nationally Darling was a member of the Des Moines Chapter of The Izaak Walton League of America, and another chapter was named after him. The Des Moines chapter, which declares itself the defenders of soil, air, woods, water & wildlife, has his photo and some of his drawings displayed like a shrine at its chapter house on George Flagg Parkway, according to a chapter director, Michael Delaney. Delaney credits Darling with carrying on the tradition of former U.S. Rep. John F. Lacey of Iowa, known as the Father of Federal Conservation Legislation and other conservation pioneers such as Aldo Leopold and Theodore Roosevelt, by focusing attention on the natural beauty and natural resources of Iowa and the United States. For years, Darling maintained a winter home on Captiva Island, Florida. When developers moved to buy up environmentally sensitive land on nearby Sanibel Island, Darling led neighbors efforts to block the sale and urged President Harry Truman to sign an executive order in 1945 creating the Sanibel National Wildlife Refuge, his Fish & Wildlife biography says. In 1967, it was renamed the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is still recovering from the ravages of Hurricane Ian, but the main visitor and education center reopened in April 2023, six months after Ian's landfall. Ann-Marie Wildman, executive director of the Ding Darling Wildlife Society, said her organization continues to further Darlings conservation ethic by preserving natural spaces in and near the refuge. Just last month, the organization closed on a 21.5-acre parcel that will complete a wildlife corridor. What a proud legacy! (You can peruse thousands of his digitized cartoons and other Darling papers, as well as hear audio clips of him speaking, in a special collection maintained by the University of Iowa Libraries.) Carol Hunter is the Registers executive editor. She wants to hear your questions, story ideas or concerns at 515-284-8545, chunter@registermedia.com, or on Twitter: @carolhunter. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa's 'Ding' Darling won 2 Pulitzers, pushed wildlife conservation Dog saved by state trooper in Colonial Heights claimed by owner, shelter says KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL) A dog that was saved by a Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) state trooper Friday is back home after her owner reclaimed her from an area shelter. According to Petworks Animal Services, the dogs name is Luna and her owner came to get her soon after her rescue, which was caught on video Friday on Fort Henry Drive. Trooper Lance Willis told News Channel 11 that he was driving when he spotted the dog walking slowly in the roadway in the pouring rain. Willis pulled into the center lane, let the German Shepherd hop into his cruiser and pulled into a nearby parking lot to await animal control for transport to a shelter. Petworks provided a heartwarming update to News Channel 11 on Sunday: Luna is home safe with her family. Trooper Willis said Friday that Lunas owner locating her was all he hoped for. A video of Willis act of kindness was posted to TikTok. 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 WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather. Swaths of Jan. 6 rioters could face resentencing or additional proceedings this summer after the Supreme Court ruled that the Department of Justice (DOJ) overreached in its sweeping prosecution of the Capitol attack. The decision has left federal prosecutors scrambling to redefine their use of the newly neutered obstruction charge and maintain their long-held narrative that the riot was a threat to American democracy. More than 350 rioters accused of interrupting Congresss certification of the 2020 electoral vote were charged with obstruction of an official proceeding, about a quarter of those charged for their roles in the attack. Since the Supreme Court issued its decision narrowing that charge, trial-level judges have started to reopen some cases tied to the 2021 Capitol attack. The Justice Department has urged them to slam the brakes. The arguments put forth by federal prosecutors in the aftermath of the high courts decision show the Justice Department has latched onto Justice Ketanji Brown Jacksons concurring opinion, in which she signaled her belief it is possible for Joseph Fischer the rioter who challenged the obstruction charge and other defendants to still be prosecuted under it. Jackson, the high courts newest liberal justice, signed onto the conservative-majority opinion and broke from the other two liberals, who were joined instead by conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett in their dissent. On Monday, federal prosecutors asked the court to push back sentencing for two rioters aligned with the Oath Keepers, the extremist militia group headed by Stewart Rhodes, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy in connection with Jan. 6, in order to assess the Supreme Courts decision and how to proceed. Here, the United States seeks a continuance to assess the impact of the Fischer decision, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Rakoczy wrote in court filings for defendants Thomas Caldwell and Donovan Crowl. A brief continuance of 30-60 days would not prejudice the defendant or the Court; to the contrary, it would help to ensure a uniform and consistent approach before each judge of the District and Circuit. Across court filings in several cases, prosecutors have hinted that the decision should not hinder all prosecution under the provision. Federal prosecutors on Tuesday wrote to the judge who oversaw Guy Reffitts case the first rioter convicted by a jury to suggest that a resentencing was premature. Hours after the high courts decision in Fischer v. United States, the judge ordered the government and Reffitts attorneys to propose a schedule for further proceedings by July 5, signaling a resentencing was imminent. Assistant U.S. Attorney Risa Berkower argued in the filings that the Supreme Court did not reject the application of 1512(c)(2) to January 6 prosecutions. Instead, it explained that the government must prove a defendant impaired the availability or integrity for use in an official proceeding of records, documents, objects, or other things used in the proceeding such as witness testimony or intangible information or attempted to do so, Berkower wrote. Jon Lewis, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at the George Washington University, said that the ruling could bolster a narrative pervasive since Jan. 6 that the rioters were unfairly prosecuted. I think what is perhaps more significant is the rhetorical win this provides to right-wing narratives around a deep state persecution and Jan. 6 political prisoners, Lewis said. This ruling will be twisted and weaponized as validation of every conspiracy and every grievance that has emerged out of this milieu in recent years, and will [be] used to rally another stop the steal coalition in advance of the upcoming election. Though the Supreme Courts decision could apply to all 355 defendants facing the obstruction charge including members of groups like the Oath Keepers and far-right Proud Boys the weakened charge only stands to materially affect a handful of defendants. Among them is Jacob Chansley, known better as the QAnon Shaman for donning a horned fur headdress and spear during the Capitol riot. Chansley pleaded guilty to one charge, obstruction of an official proceeding, and was sentenced to 41 months in prison without a trial. Though hes already served that time, the Justice Department signaled in recent court filings that the Supreme Courts decision may create a situation where evidence must be preserved and Defendant tried, not expanding further on the matter. Klete Keller, the five-time Olympic medal winner for swimming who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, also pleaded guilty to one charge of obstructing an official proceeding. No updates have been filed in Kellers case as of Tuesday. Former President Trump himself faces two charges stemming from the provision in his federal election subversion case, though its unclear whether the ruling will have any notable impact on the former presidents case. Special counsel Jack Smith has argued in court filings that Trumps obstruction charge stemmed from different actions than those who attacked the Capitol namely, his effort to send slates of so-called fake electors to Congress. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the Supreme Courts decision on Trumps presidential immunity challenge that the trial-level court should determine whether Trumps obstruction charges may proceed considering the justices decision in Fischer. Still, Trump and his allies took little time to capitalize on the decision, with the former president hailing the ruling as a BIG WIN! 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. Dont give up on anything: Raleigh family searching for heirlooms after items accidentally donated to charity RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) A local family hopes to reunite with priceless family heirlooms that accidentally got donated to a charity shop. Tammy Nathan and her husband Matthew said it all started when they stopped at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore over the weekend to donate some furniture for a good cause. They just didnt realize they also left something that could never be replaced. The couple said theyve always had hope in humanity, and its that hope thats carried them through some of the hardest times, even after losing nearly everything 20 years ago. The Missing Key: How a chance encounter led to an extraordinary find I know theres good people out there, Tammy said. I think 95% of people are good. While serving in the U.S. Navy, Hurricane Ivan destroyed their home six weeks after moving to Pensacola, Florida. Really the only thing that we had left after that hurricane was the stuff from the top of that drawer, Tammy said. The couplemarried for more than 30 years, and now retired from the militarysays theyve held onto a few special items tucked away in a drawer. (Credit: Tammy Nathan) (Credit: Tammy Nathan) (Credit: Tammy Nathan) (Credit: Tammy Nathan) A jewelry armoire holding everything from family wedding bands over a century old, to old graduation and Navy promotion rings, to even diamond studded earrings. Tammy hoped to give the diamond earrings to her daughter on her wedding day, each with a label and a memory. It was just a collection of things to our past and when we realized we had inadvertently given them away, we thought well, maybe somebody just doesnt know they have them, Matthew said. The couple says they mistakenly gave the heirlooms away on Friday, not realizing they were still inside a four-foot-tall, cherry armoire. Within a day, it was sold. Everyone I was talking to was saying things like, youre probably not going to get it back, theyre not the same, theyre not like they used to be, Tammy said. If you open it up and they see those notes, theyll know, gosh, who would have given this away? For Tammy, its a hard lesson, but one thats driven her to keep searching. I think thats the important message is dont give up on anything if it means something to you, she said. Tammy says having the jewelry returned wouldnt just mean the world, but a reassurance of the hope shes always held onto. Both Tammy and Matthew told CBS 17 that the volunteers who work at the ReStore have been very helpful throughout this whole process. We reached out to Habitat for Humanity, but unfortunately, they dont keep a record of who the items were sold to. The manager says they plan to notify the family if these valuable items are ever returned. Anyone who finds the missing jewelry or knows where it is located is asked to call the Raleigh Habitat For Humanity ReStore at 919-833-6768. 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. From the Dispatch Faith on The Dispatch Happy Sunday! Heres hoping you were able to celebrate Independence Day. For those still in the patriotic spirit and looking for something more to read, the TMD crew had some great recommendations on Thursday. Debate over the right mix of religion and politics, or religion and civic life more generally, has always been fraught. In the U.S. some groups in recent decades have advocated for a naked public square, devoid of religion or religious references. Others have argued for the opposite, a public square and public laws saturated with biblical influence. Those debates continue, but the landscape has changed in important ways over the last decade. For one, groups like the so-called New Atheists dont have quite the mouthpieces they once did (especially since the death of Christopher Hitchens), which the conversion of writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali to Christianity compounds. Conversely, many who advocate for a more overt religious influence on our civic life have broken into a couple of different camps: Catholic integralists (made up primarily of Catholics, as one would guess) and national conservatives (which is theologically broader and includes several notable Catholics, Protestants, and Jews). Intermixed is the Christian nationalist movement, the definition of which can be elusive. Whichever way those groups may splinter internally, generally one side claims a secularized Enlightenment is the true and correct wellspring the American Founders drew from when envisioning the country, while the other insists a more explicit (perhaps coerced) return to a Judeo-Christian ethic is the only way to be faithful to the American founding. In todays Dispatch Faith, Cato Institute scholar Mustafa Akyol has a word for both groups. Mustafa, who himself is Muslim, not only sees hope for America in both encouraging public religious thought and in maintaining healthy boundaries between church and state. He also sees hope for the contemporary Islamic world, if it can follow the example set by Americas Founders. Note: Youre receiving Dispatch Faith because you were formerly a reader of David Frenchs French Press. We hope youre enjoying the new offering and will consider forwarding it to others. And as always, let us know how we can make the newsletter better; we plan to experiment with different formats in the coming weeks and months. Mustafa Akyol: We Dont Have to Choose Between the Enlightenment and Religion In this painting, Father Time flies past the altar on which the privileges of the nobility and clergy are being burned. (Photo by: Photo12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) What is wrong with the West today? This question has become unexpectedly common in recent years. It resonates even among those who used to believe that Western civilization reached the apex of human history with its liberal democracy, only wondering whether other civilizations would ever get there as well. Instead, some now wonder whether liberal democracy will survive in the West itself, as it is boldly challenged by the illiberalism of the far right and the far left, neither of which have much sympathy for free speech, free markets, rule of law, or religious liberty. But what accounts for this turbulence in Western societies? Is the West losing something that used to make it free, reasonable, and prosperous? While answers to these questions vary, two interesting ones tie the rise of illiberalism to religion, though in exactly opposite directions: One of them sees the problem in the rapid decline of religion, in particular Christianity, which has led to loss of meaning in Western societies, only to be replaced with ersatz religions like wokeism and militant nationalism. This is the view of the New Theists, who want to revive Western Christianity, whose social influence they appreciate, even if they may not really believe in its theological doctrines. (I, too, see some merit in their arguments, as I have written before.) On the other side is the opposite camp, the New Atheists and other secularists, who see the problem not in the decline of religion but rather its excess. What the West is dangerously losing, in their view, is not any ancient religion but the modern Enlightenment, which they see as the triumph of secular reason over dogmatic faith. A recent example was writer Matt Johnsons notable piece for Persuasion, The God Divide Within the Heterodox Community. In it he claimed, No, we dont need religion to save the West. Western nations, such as the United States, were made great by robust legal protections for freedom of conscience and expression, he wrote, which only came out of the Enlightenment tradition of resistance to Christian domination. Then he noted certain Enlightenment thinkersVoltaire, Baruch de Spinoza, and David Humeall of whom had challenged the traditional beliefs of Christianity and Judaism, and who could even appear as outright anti-religious. Voltaire, especially, was unabashed in his opposition to Christianity, which he defined as the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion that has ever infected the world. When I read Johnsons piece, I thought he had a point: The Enlightenment is really the foundation of modern Western civilization and many of its pillars, such as freedom of speech and religion, that many of us, including newcomers to the West such as myself, keep enjoying. However, I also thought that Johnson highlighted only the anti-religious strain within the Enlightenment, which was far from being the whole story. It was not even the best side of the story. Because the Enlightenment also had a religion-friendly strain, represented not by Voltaire and Spinoza but by John Locke and Moses Mendelssohn. The latter thinkers were genuine believers who, far from abandoning or attacking their religious convictions, reconciled them with reason and freedom. As historian David Sorkin shows in his remarkable book, The Religious Enlightenment, this much-neglected side of that pivotal epoch included many Protestants, Jews, and Catholics who harmonized their religion with reasonableness, toleration and natural law. Moreover, one could well argue that this religion-friendly side of the Enlightenment had better consequences: In France, the historical homeland of Voltaires anti-religious philosophy, that intellectual movement led to blood-soaked revolution, which produced worse-than-before oppressors like the Jacobins and left a legacy of illiberal secularism that has often restrained religious liberty, by insisting that religion and its symbols should be absent from the public sphere. In contrast, the Anglo-Saxon way has been milder, as the late historian Gertrude Himmelfarb once explained in The Roads to Modernity: The British, French, and American Enlightenments. While the French political tradition has been excessively preoccupied with reason, she argued, the British and American ones focused on individual liberty, while also extolling social virtues promoted by religion: compassion, benevolence, and sympathy. No wonder neither of these nations saw a violent confrontation over religion akin to the French Revolution and allowed higher levels of religious, political, and economic freedom. Fast forward to today. I believe it is the heritage of this religious Enlightenment that the Westespecially the United Statesmay be losing at its own peril. Signs of the times include Catholic integralists who reject the separation of church and state, as well as various other post-liberal Christians who shun classical liberalism and promote a more state-friendly ideology. Among other conservatives, too, there are those who depict a cartoon version of Locke, and a cartoon version of the Enlightenment, who signal The Return of the Anti-Enlightenment. On the other side, advocates of the Enlightenment like Johnson position it against religion, deepening the gap between them and the believers, while unknowingly undermining the very bonds of society. (For men do not live by reason and freedom alone, but also by spirit, hope, family, and community.) Worse, postmodern leftists renounce the Enlightenmentin fact, religions, tooas misdeeds of dead white men, promising little to humanity other than endless deconstruction of all values, except their own permanent anger, resentment, and domination. Therefore, as a Muslim from Turkey who now lives in America, I would call on Americans, and Westerners broadly, to recall and revive their religious Enlightenment. It was a historic step forward that saved Christendom from its millenium-old ills such as religious intolerance, coercion, and violence, and helped its better values shine. It also built pluralistic nations that offered safe homes to peoples of all religious persuasions, from Jews to Muslims, from Hindus to atheists. It is a precious legacy that should not be squandered. Moreover, again as a Muslim, there is something else about the religious Enlightenment that I highly value: It is the best source of inspiration for the Islamic civilization to move forward from its current state of affairs. To be fair and precise, the Islamic civilization is a very complex and diverse part of the world, with varying political, social, and religious structures. Some Muslim-majority nations are doing much better than others, and some, such as Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania, are as free as most other European states. However, doctrinally, many mainstream religious authorities in Islam have not fully embraced freedom of religion and expression, equality under the law, and various human rights as they are defined in the modern world. No wonder quite a few Islamic states criminalize apostasy or blasphemy, silence heresy or infidelity, and use state authority to impose pietythe very problems addressed by Enlightenment thinkers such as Locke and Mendelssohn, or the American theologian Roger Williams, an early advocate of the separation of church and state. That is why the religious Enlightenment could be an example to follow for some Muslims. And it really did, beginning in the 19th century, leading to liberal reforms in the Ottoman Empire and the liberal age in Arabic thought, as demonstrated by the late great historian Albert Hourani. But this promising era was curtailed in the early 20th century, as the inevitable resentment against European colonialism dominated Muslim thinking. Moreover, in Muslim nations that kept their independence, such as Turkey and Iran, a French-style anti-religious Enlightenment gained power, initiating a prolonged culture war with religion. (And no wonder, in both nations, religion came back with a vengeance, although with considerable difference in severity.) Nevertheless, Muslims familiar with the religious Enlightenmentand its most remarkable showcase, the United Stateskeep appreciating their contributions. This example is still sparking intra-Muslim conversations (where I sometimes take a part) on whether the Islamic civilization should follow a similar path of harmonizing religion with freedom. Thus it is crucial that the religious Enlightenment and its historical contributions survive. It would be good for America, and good for the broader West. It would be even good for Islamwhich, with its Abrahamic roots, is not a civilization totally alien to the West, as many wrongly believe. It is rather a similar civilization at a different phase. And it could make use of good examples as well as bad ones. More Sunday Reads To continue the theme of this weeks Dispatch Faith essay, heres a piece from Steven K. Green at The Conversation examining the relationship between and beliefs of two Founders, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, on religious liberty. Religious matters were never far from their minds, Green writes. For instance, in Madison and Jeffersons exchanges discussing the need for a bill of rights, freedom of conscience was invariably at the top of the list. Both were convinced that government should avoid supporting religion, even if no particular religion was given preference. They also insisted that people should have broad religious freedoms. These views were clearly on the vanguard, but other religious rationalists and religious dissenters also advocated a comprehensive understanding of religious freedom. Both men were committed to advancing religious freedom because they saw it as deeply entwined with freedom of inquiry and conscience. A Brooklyn neighborhood has become thick with jazz musicians thanks to Jewish players who, according to this story at Forward from Jon Kalish, began efforts to give kids free music lessons and support musicians who had no gigs to play during the COVID-19 pandemic. I totally believe in tikkun olam, jazz saxophonist Roy Nathanson told me, referring to the Jewish concept of repairing the world. Im very connected to the idea of prayer and religion healing and in this world, its got to be connected to social justice. A Good Word For Religion News Service, Priyadarshini Sen writes about Indian activists who use safehouses and other means to protect couples in interfaithand mixed-castemarriages from honor killings: In many cases, couples are abandoned by their families and communities for years. Rohit, whos from a marginalized Hindu tribe, fell in love with the petite Ashavari from a high-caste Hindu family at a law college in the Satara district of Maharashtra, only to realize that Ashavaris upper-caste family would never accept him. Early last year, they eloped, married at a temple in an adjacent city and pledged loyalties. We dont go out much and have been abandoned by friends and family because of our decision, said Ashavari. My family has even threatened to kill Rohit, but well not cave. Read more at The Dispatch The Dispatch is a new digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles. Sign up for free. The GOP's first new platform since 2016 will also be the first truly defined by former President Donald Trump, Republicans who have served on the platform committee say. In 2016, then-candidate Trump deferred to party operatives to craft the document, according to the platform veterans. In 2020, the GOP declined to introduce a new platform, merely appending an updated introduction to the same platform from Trump's first campaign. Now, several veterans of the platform committee predict that the document to be unveiled at the RNC convention in two weeks will reflect a Republican Party united behind the person and policies of Donald Trump. PHOTO: Balloons drop after Donald Trump accepts the GOP nomination to be President of the United States at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio on July 21, 2016. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images, FILE) MORE: How the Secret Service will mitigate threats at the 2024 presidential conventions: ANALYSIS "I think the dynamic between then and now is totally different," said Tom Schreibel, the Wisconsin Republican Party national committeeman and a platform subcommittee chair in 2016. "The campaign didn't carry as much sway back then," said Schreibel, who serves on the Committee on Arrangements for the 2024 convention, which will take place in his home-state capital of Milwaukee. "We spent weeks working with House and Senate staff to get their insights on what was happening currently." "What were the sensitivities of the House? What were the sensitivities of the Senate? Where were the conferences at at that point? And what was the art of the possible?" said Schreibel, recalling the considerations he had weighed. PHOTO: Former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends his campaign event, in Chesapeake, Va., June 28, 2024. (Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters) James Bopp Jr., an Indiana lawyer who served on every platform committee from 2000 through 2016, called the process that produced the former president's first platform "quite unusual." "The Trump campaign took the explicit and well-circulated position that they were going to be very light-handed in terms of fashioning the 2016 platform," said Bopp, "and leave it to the platform committee and the delegates to do that." While that platform certainly bore Trump's mark, it also contained positions out of step with the former president. On LGBTQ+ issues, it veered to Trump's right, affirming a definition of marriage as strictly a union between a man and a woman, something fought for by religious conservatives. And at the convention, then-Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort successfully pushed to dilute the platform's support for Ukraine -- a change Trump later said he was neither involved in nor aware of. PHOTO: In this June 27, 2019, file photo, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort exits the courtroom after his arraignment in New York Supreme Court in New York. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters, FILE) This year, Trump may not be able to say the same. "I expect this to be Trump's platform," said Jesse Law, a 2016 platform committee member reprising his role this year. "I expect the members of the committees to fall in line." Schreibel concurred, saying, "Trump has gained control of the Republican Party, being the former president." Schreibel, Law, and Bopp each made a version of the same point, though: This platform won't be Trump's because Trump has commandeered the platform process -- this platform will be Trump's because Trump has united the party behind him. "If you have 50 states, and we're averaging 70% of every state party, every county party being pro-Trump in such a way, you're going to see this in the makeup of those who are delegates," said Law, who serves as chairman of the Republican Party in Clark County, Nevada. Law contrasted this dynamic with the 2016 convention, where "you had the Bible Belt, and you had the northeastern folks, and you had the Midwest folks, and you had the West Coast folks." "We didn't have a lot of cohesion," he added. To Law's point, RNC platform committee membership lists reviewed by ABC News show that only 12 members of the 2024 committee also served on the committee in 2016 -- less than 15% of the total. While an ABC News analysis finds that this figure is consistent with the churn from 2012 to 2016, it shows that the 2024 platform will be shaped by a new generation of party leadership. The three leaders of the 2024 platform committee -- who work with policy staff weeks before the convention to decide the drafts on which the broader committee will then deliberate -- also come from Trump's orbit. Two -- Randy Evans and Russ Vought -- served in the Trump administration, as ambassador to Luxembourg and Office of Management and Budget director, respectively. The third platform leader, Ed Martin, did not have a role in the Trump administration, but he marched to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and has become a prominent figure in the "Stop the Steal" movement advancing the false theory that Trump won the 2020 election. Schreibel pointed to a similar dynamic in the congressional considerations that influence the platform, noting that "issues within the House and Senate on X, Y or Z are turned by President Trump and his ideals." And, said Schreibel, because Trump was relatively new to politics in 2016, he had less familiarity with the process, causing him to have "a lot of people at the table" working on plans for transition and the administration. One area where Trump's influence over the party platform may make all the difference is on the polarizing issue of abortion rights. Since the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in 2022, ruling that there is no constitutional right to abortion, nearly two dozen states have banned or severely restricted access to abortion. This tide of state-level restrictions has become politically toxic for national Republicans, as Democrats have made it a signature campaign theme, attacking the GOP as extreme on the issue. PHOTO: People protest in response to the Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images, FILE) As recently as a year ago, Trump -- who appointed the conservative justices that enabled the overturning of Roe -- eagerly took credit for the decision, writing in a post on Truth social, "I was able to kill Roe v. Wade." More recently, however, the former president has adopted a more muted tone, saying that he wouldn't sign a national abortion ban and emphasizing his support for leaving the issue to the states. Trump's circumspection -- along with the news that the 2024 platform will be much shorter than usual -- has fueled speculation that the document might only briefly discuss the issue, drawing criticism from some anti-abortion rights groups. The New York Times has reported that a coalition of advocacy groups sent a letter to Trump, asking he "make clear that you do not intend to weaken the pro-life plank." But the platform committee veterans who spoke with ABC News were largely unconcerned. Bopp, who told ABC News he had played an instrumental role in advocating for anti-abortion rights provisions in the platform since 1980, said of Trump's abortion stance, "I fully embrace it, 100%. I think he's absolutely right that the focus should be on the states." "There is no votes for any national, substantive law on abortion," said Bopp. "We should not be -- nor have I ever been -- confused with Don Quixote." For Law, Trump's line on abortion in the first presidential debate augured the approach the platform would take: "He was very concise with his comments the other day. That's what I would expect." "The majority of the Republican base agrees with that," Law added. During his debate with President Joe Biden, Trump said he would not block access to the mifepristone abortion pill and stressed that the states should decide the extent of abortion rights, with exceptions for rape, incest, and danger to the life of the mother. As much as the 2024 platform may bespeak a party remade in Trump's image, the platform committee veterans interviewed by ABC News stressed that it will remain, at least in part, a document that responds to the needs of the party as a whole. "This is a document that is worked on and thought about quite a bit by many members. Ensuring that all the parts of the Republican Party are heard and that we hear from the leadership -- the elected leadership of the party -- is important," said Arkansas Lt. Gov. Leslie Rutledge, who chaired a platform subcommittee in 2016. "It will be reflective of the Republican Party as a whole." "President Trump is in charge of the Republican Party, and so he's going to have a bigger voice in what is said," echoed Schreibel. "But still, at the end of the day, that document's gonna have to represent House members and also Senate members." Donald Trump will define 2024 RNC platform, committee members say originally appeared on abcnews.go.com It was their dream home until the hoarder next door turned it into a pricey prison Teacher Elena Malone with her husband, Josh Ryan, and kids Ruby, 11, and Amos, 9, and their poodle Zara. Their dream home in the horsey Los Angeles area of Sun Valley has become a nightmare because of their neighbor's hoarding. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) For a pair of schoolteachers crammed into a rental with their children, the house for sale in Sun Valley was a dream come true: a modern hacienda with three bedrooms, fireplaces, exposed beams and an open kitchen on half an acre of lush landscaping, with fountains, an orchard and views of the Verdugo Mountains. It was so beautiful, recalled Elena Malone, a history teacher at the private Campbell Hall School, of visiting the property in the northeast San Fernando Valley in 2021. She and her husband, a math teacher at the Buckley School, could barely afford the $1.2-million price. But when she imagined her son and daughter growing up with plenty of space and abundant natural beauty, it seemed worth it. Malone's children, Ruby and Amos, outside their Sun Valley home. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Three years later, the house they fell in love with has become their prison. A next-door neighbor, described by relatives as a mentally ill hoarder, has turned some six acres of green space into an unlicensed dump with more than a hundred rusting vehicles, mounds of trash and scrap metal, and hazardous waste that has polluted the ground and a nearby streambed. When the property on Wildwood Fire Road became impassable, the neighbor, 50-year-old David Ferrera, took to living in a car in front of Malones house with his girlfriend. Hypodermic needles, bags of marijuana, moldy clothes, human excrement, tires and condoms littered the street, according to neighbors accounts and photos taken by Malone. Strange vehicles blocked her driveway, including on a day last fall when she needed to pick up her husband, Joshua Ryan, from chemotherapy treatments for cancer. Its just not right, said Malone, who said her children, aged 9 and 11, are no longer allowed to play in the front yard. Malone, Ryan and others living nearby have begged elected leaders and nearly a dozen government agencies for help for years with almost nothing to show for it. Earlier this year, after the Los Angeles city attorney's office became involved, an exasperated Superior Court commissioner briefly jailed the landowner the troubled mans elderly mother. But he trained most of his ire on what he described as the mind-boggling failure of government to address the problem. Theyre taxpaying people that are trying to get some help, Commissioner Dennis E. Mulcahy lamented. He suggested neighbors might confront City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto at her office or demand meetings with Mayor Karen Bass and their council member, Monica Rodriguez. I cant understand," he said, "why the city doesnt intervene. In L.A.s crisis of homelessness and untreated mental illness, the afflicted themselves bear the greatest burden. But those living alongside them can pay a steep price too. The situation in Sun Valley illustrates how hard it is for residents to get help even when everyone from the local beat cop to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to Ferrera's own family agrees there is a serious problem. Read more: LA TUNA CANYON : Helicopters, Ground Crews Control Fire The desperation Malone and her neighbors feel has intensified in recent weeks with the approach of fire season. La Tuna Canyon is notoriously susceptible. A 2017 blaze there burned more than 7,000 acres. It was the largest fire within L.A. city limits in half a century. Fires have broken out repeatedly at Ferrera's illicit junkyard, where there are numerous containers of propane and other flammable liquids. A 2021 fire consumed the home, killing his cats. The six-acre property owned by Mary Ferrera, 80, of La Crescenta, and occupied by her son David, 50, is choked with more than 100 vehicles and trash and has been the subject of years of complaints by neighbors. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) There are no side streets for us to escape to, said Scout Raskin, who lives along the narrow lane leading to the property. If the fire surrounds us, we all die. Ferrera did not respond to messages sent through his mother, Mary, or a text to his girlfriend's phone. The piece of land on Wildwood Fire Road a street running south from La Tuna Canyon Road was largely empty before he bought it more than a decade ago. It was real lovely place to walk around, said previous owner James Hooyenga, describing a hiking trail, a natural spring and a stream that made the area almost like a park. Mary Ferrera, a retired high-school math teacher, took over the deed in 2014, according to property records. She said in an interview that her son couldnt make the payments but she wanted him to be able to live there. He used his hands to make the place beautiful, she said, adding landscaping and building rock walls. He was so proud of it. When wildfire tore through the area in 2017, Ferrera refused to evacuate. A TV news helicopter captured his small figure darting among the flames, an ordeal he told the L.A. Daily News at the time was awful, like a war zone. Though his house survived, most of his other possessions burned, including high-end appliances that he had been restoring for sale, according to his mother. He began scavenging metal to survive, which may have triggered or worsened his hoarding, Mary told The Times in an email. The next year, she recalled, slides buried his tools and vehicles in 3 feet of mud. We think that the trauma of all this, and possibly some unresolved past trauma, led to his acquisition of more and more things to replace what was lost. An anonymous tipster in 2020 accused Ferrera of operating an unlicensed junkyard and also dumping chemical drums in the stream, according to Los Angeles Police Department Det. Supervisor Douglas Larkin. An array of agencies, from the EPA to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to the county Fire Departments Health Hazardous Materials Division searched the property the following year. They counted 114 vehicles, including five the California Highway Patrol deemed of interest, suggesting they had been stolen or were suspected of involvement in a crime, according to an EPA report that year. They also found two shipping containers being used as living space, a trailer, dismantled car batteries, leaking high-voltage power equipment and a device that looked like a military-grade bomb. An ordnance disposal team summoned from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton determined the object was a practice munition and destroyed its fuse to render it safe, a Marine spokesman said. Read more: Video: La Tuna Canyon mudslides Tests on soil samples taken from the junkyard and a streambed revealed levels of arsenic, lead, cobalt and other substances that exceeded federal safety standards, according to the EPA report, which concluded that the property contained high levels of hazardous substances. Larkin of the LAPD had walked through Ferreras property an otherworldly landscape that included a tipped-over ambulance, part of a jetliner and a giant forklift but after the discovery of the contamination in 2021, he felt it was unsafe to enter. I have told my bosses that we should not step foot on there until it's been cleaned up, he said. Its horribly dangerous. Malones family moved into their dream home a few months after the search. She said no one warned them of the major problems next door. Ferrera initially seemed nice, even fixing her garage door and refusing payment. From her Sun Valley home, Elena Malone can see trash and vehicles hoarded by her next-door neighbor. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Trash began appearing outside his property on the shared fire road within a few months. At first, it was just fast-food wrappers that Malone tossed in her bins. But the amount of refuse ballooned: inoperable cars, stolen trucks, garbage bags full of marijuana, a sex toy, lubricant. At one point, an injured German shepherd dog was living in the detritus. She was never sure what she would come home to or whether she would be able to get in and out of her drive. On the day last fall when vehicles blocked her from leaving to collect her husband from chemotherapy, she started shouting in frustration, she said. Do you have no soul? ... Do you have no empathy, she remembers calling out. Ferrera eventually moved the cars. (Her husband is now recovering from cancer of the tonsil and lymph nodes.) Seeking official help, she met an administrative morass, according to a log she kept of her contacts with various agencies. The city Department of Building and Safety sent her to the city Department of Transportation, which told her the street a fire road was private property. The LAPD said it could tow stolen vehicles and did on at least two occasions but was not authorized to remove cars and trucks blocking the street. The state water board referred her to the state Department of Toxic Substances Control. That agency said the EPA was in charge. Ferrera was living in one of the cars with his girlfriend, and both were sometimes in a stupor, Malone recalled. I couldnt wake them up. I was worried they were going to die from an overdose. In a tidy ranch home in the hills of La Crescenta, Mary, 80, also worries. She has three gainfully employed adult children in addition to David, whose life sometimes seems controlled by mental illness. Read more: Trash outside L.A. home draws complaints, the producer of 'Hoarders' and now Mayor Bass Nearly every day she drives to the property in Sun Valley. She chats with her son, brings him food and generally reassures herself that he is alive. She knows the neighbors are furious, her land is a sty and her son is living in squalor, but she has not forced him out, cleared away all the trash or sought a court conservatorship. I am an enabler, I will agree that I am, but that is because I love my son, she said in an interview. In her eyes, Ferrera is more than a neighborhood pariah. She sent The Times a memo of his accomplishments with 14 bullet points. Among them were lending her emotional support after the death of his father when he was 5, getting an A+ on a high school auto shop assignment and saving a friend's home from the Station fire in 2009. "David is actually a remarkable human being," she wrote. The city attorney charged her with code violations in 2021, and she pleaded no contest to a single misdemeanor unapproved use of land outside of designated zoning the following year. As part of her probation, she was to clean up the property, but she made little progress. She told The Times she has paid for the removal of 21 dump-truck loads from the site, only to see her son fill up the space with more junk. Its an addiction, she said of his hoarding. Its one of the hardest mental illnesses to help. The owner of the property, Mary Ferrera, an 80-year-old retired teacher, was briefly jailed this year for failing to clean up the property occupied by her son David. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) In January, with no real progress evident, the city attorneys office asked for a jail sentence for Mary. Ferrera did not attend the hearing. His mother told Mulcahy, the court commissioner, that she had tried to sell the property, but that no real estate agent would list it in its current condition. She offered to take $100,000 from her retirement fund to pay for cleanup, but Mulcahy appeared frustrated by years of inaction and scoffed that the amount was not even going to be anywhere what the cost is going to be to clean this place up. As Mary sobbed, the judge sentenced her to 180 days in jail, acknowledging, Thats really not the answer, but thats the only thing I can do. The then-79-year-old was escorted from the courtroom by deputies, chained to other inmates in a holding cell, driven to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown L.A. and made to disrobe in front of guards to put on a jail uniform, she said. After a night in jail, the Sheriffs Department released her because her offense was a nonviolent misdemeanor. Her son continues to haul junk he finds on roadsides and in store dumpsters to the property, she said. The city attorneys office is considering new charges in connection to the property, a spokesman said. The 2021 EPA report called for excavation and disposal of the contaminated soil. Mary said the agency hasnt been in contact with her in three years and dropped us like a hot potato. An EPA spokesman said its investigation remains open, but the responsibility for cleaning up the property and removing the contaminated soil lies with the owner. Asked about the hazardous wastes danger to the surrounding community, EPA spokesman Michael Brogan said in an email that there "is minimal environmental risk presented by the lead contaminated soil as the small, contaminated areas have been isolated and are now considered stable. Read more: Homeless and hoarding in L.A.: The special struggles and anxieties of unhoused people One neighbor, who asked that her name not be used for fear of antagonizing Ferrera, said she lives in terror of a wildfire starting on his property. When a fire abatement officer recently chided her for not having swept up pine needles in her yard, she said, she pointed to the mess on Ferreras land. This guys got flammable crap up there and chemicals, and you do nothing, she said. The officers reply, she said, was, Nobody wants to go up there. Elena Malone and her husband, Josh Ryan, would like move to a neighborhood where their kids, Ruby and Amos, don't have to worry about playing outside, but doubt they could find a buyer until the situation next door is cleaned up. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Sitting in her sunny living room, its windows facing away from Ferreras property, on a recent morning, Malone said she feels trapped. She wants to move, but she cant sell the house with a person living in filth in view of the front yard. She often grapples with how aggrieved to feel. In the classroom, she teaches undeniable horrors like war and genocide and sees herself as fundamentally lucky. I have a house to live in. My kids get to go to school. Were not worried about food insecurity, she said. Still, I just really feel like one person shouldn't be able to sacrifice the safety of the community. Times staff writer Sandra McDonald contributed to this report. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. New Dutch foreign and defense ministers announce more aid during first visit to Ukraine The Netherlands's Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp and Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans met with President Volodymyr Zelensky during their first diplomatic visit to Ukraine, announcing additional aid for Ukraine human rights investigations and missing persons forensics on July 7. "My first working visit as the Netherlands' Foreign Minister, with a crucial purpose: to underline our unwavering support for Ukraine," Veldkamp wrote in a post on X. "This is of existential importance the Russian aggression and destruction knows no limits." During the visit, Veldkamp announced on X his government was providing 2 million euros ($2.2 million) to the International Commission on Missing Persons "to scale up Ukraine's capacity for forensic research, data collection, and analysis." Another 8 million euros over two years ($8.8 million) in support will be directed to the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine for fact-finding activities, Veldkamp added. "Their credible reports on human rights violations in Ukraine, directly from war-torn communities, are crucial for global accountability efforts, led by (the Netherlands)," he said. In April, Ukraine's Chief Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said Ukraine registers almost 37,000 people who are considered missing, including children, other civilians, and military personnel. As of March 2024, Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office had collected pretrial information on over 128,000 victims of war crimes. The visit to Ukraine was part of an event marking Ukraine's Navy Day, in which a delegation of foreign and Ukrainian officials accompanied Zelensky to Odesa to honor sailors who were killed. Brekelmans also described visiting the Trypillia power plant near Kyiv which was destroyed by Russian missiles, laying a wreath at a memorial wall for soldiers in Kyiv, and meeting with Ukrainian Deputy Minister for Strategic Industries Serhiy Boyev. After the Netherlands swore in a new coalition government on July 2, Brekelmans announced that his country's support for Ukraine would continue "for as long as needed." The previous Dutch Defense Minister announced on June 21 that the Netherlands, together with another country, would supply Ukraine with components for a Patriot air defense system. Read also: Netherlands to maintain support for Ukraine, new Dutch defense minister says Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. By Olena Harmash KYIV (Reuters) - The newly appointed Dutch defence and foreign affairs ministers have said the Netherlands' support for Ukraine is "rock solid". The Netherlands has been a key ally to Ukraine since Russia's invasion in February 2022, but a far-right election victory last year cast doubt on its commitment. On their first visit to Kyiv, Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans and Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp held meetings with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other senior Ukrainian officials. "My message to all the officials in the Ukrainian government is that the Netherlands stands by Ukraine and will continue to support Ukraine in political, military, financial and moral ways," Veldkamp told Reuters. Brekelmans said active work was underway to supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine and help further strengthen its air defences. "I wanted to stress that our support for Ukraine is rock-solid. Our support to Ukraine is beyond any doubt," Brekelmans told Reuters as he stood in the center of Kyiv near an open-air exhibition of destroyed Russian military equipment. The Netherlands has been one of the driving forces behind an international coalition to supply Ukraine with F-16s. The outgoing Dutch government has said that the first of 24 promised jets would be supplied soon. Brekelmans declined to give any details or specific dates for security reasons. Zelenskiy said on Friday he wanted to double the air defence capabilities through the summer. The Netherlands would also soon deliver three launchers and one radar system, Brekelmans said, adding he was also in talks with other partners "to use all creativity to create international coalitions to deliver" Patriot systems, which have helped Kyiv defend itself against Russian attacks. The talks would continue at the NATO summit, in Washington, on Wednesday, he said. Veldkamp also pledged financial support to help scale up Ukraine's capacity for forensic research and data collection. The Netherlands would also donate a mobile forensic lab for use in frontline areas, he said. "This will help to do justice to the many, many dead Ukrainians whose bodies are returning from the front," he said. "It will also facilitate the investigation of the missing persons cases and will assist the collective effort to bring the deported children back from Russia and reunite them with their families." (Reporting by Olena Harmash) By Sakshi Dayal and Tanvi Mehta NEW DELHI (Reuters) -The early discharge sought by India of its nationals who were "misled" into serving in the Russian army is expected to be discussed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Moscow next week, his foreign secretary said on Friday. Several cases of Indians who were lured to Russia with the promise of lucrative jobs or education and ended up fighting against Ukraine have emerged over the last few months, and Indian police in May arrested four people linked to a human trafficking network behind the practice. Moscow has so far not responded to repeated requests from Reuters for comment. At least four Indian nationals have been killed in the war so far, prompting Modi's government to call for an immediate stop to such recruitment and quick release of Indians fighting in the army. India estimates anywhere between 30 and 40 of its citizens could be already serving, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra told a media briefing on Friday. "All efforts have been made that Indian nationals return as soon as possible," he said, adding that 10 Indians have already been brought back. Thousands of people have died on both sides since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 but India, which has enjoyed a close relationship with Moscow for decades, has refused to condemn Russia for the war, instead calling for an end to the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy. Other South Asian nations have also warned their citizens against being lured into joining the Russian army. Sri Lanka has tightened controls to stop its citizens being duped, with the government saying dozens who want to return home are already fighting in the war. Nepal, similarly, said in May that several of its citizens have illegally been recruited to join the Russian army, with at least 200 estimated to be serving at the front and about 100 missing. Modi will visit Russia on July 8 and 9 for talks with President Vladimir Putin, both countries said earlier this week. (Reporting by Sakshi Dayal and Tanvi Mehta; editing by Sudipto Ganguly and Tomasz Janowski) EDGAR COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) A couple from Indiana were killed on Saturday when their motorcycle collided with an SUV in Edgar County. Coroner Scott Barrett announced the deaths in a post on his offices Facebook page. The crash happened at 3 p.m. on Illinois Route 133, two miles west of the Village of Redmon. Officials from the Illinois State Police said that a westbound SUV crossed into oncoming traffic to pass another vehicle and was put on a collision course with an eastbound motorcycle. Barrett added that the motorcycle driver tried to avoid the head-on collision by getting onto the roads shoulder, but the motorcycle and SUV collided nonetheless. Barrett said the driver of the motorcycle died instantly while his passenger was treated on the scene by paramedics, but she was unable to be resuscitated. Both were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash; the driver of the SUV was taken to an area hospital. Two dead in Saturday crash near Bement Barrett identified the deceased motorcyclists as Kenneth and Devona Ming, 50 and 54, respectively, of Farmersburg, Ind. The Mings daughter Lauren spoke with WCIAs sister station WTWO in Terre Haute, Ind. She said her father was a longtime paramedic in Sullivan County, Ind. and that her mother loved her family dearly. Lauren added that her parents loved riding their motorcycle together. The Mings family and friends have set up a fundraiser to support the family and pay for funeral expenses. That fundraiser can be found here. Official causes of death for the Mings are pending autopsy examinations that will be performed on Monday. The motorcycle crash remains under investigation by the Illinois State Police, Edgar County Sheriffs Office and the Edgar County Coroner. 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 WCIA.com. Homeless advocates take part in the "Housing Not Handcuffs" rally organized by the National Homelessness Law Center during oral arguments in Grants Pass vs. Johnson at the Supreme Court on April 22 in Washington. (Kevin Wolf / Associated Press) Within hours of the Supreme Court's ruling in Grants Pass vs. Johnson last week allowing cities and counties to criminalize homelessness, Los Angeles City Councilmember Traci Park co-authored a motion asking city officials to examine existing anti-camping restrictions in L.A. and those in the other 87 cities in the county. It's fine to review city laws, but Park revealed the intention behind the hasty request on her council website: If we allow people to camp wherever they want, for as long as they want, regardless of whether they've been offered services or a place to go, we are likely to see other cities, other regions, and other states pushing their homeless problems right into LA. Read more: Will the Grants Pass ruling on homelessness spur smaller cities to shoo people into L.A.? Using that information as a blueprint to ramp up enforcement, as Park seems to want, would take the city down the wrong path. The aftermath of this terrible ruling cant be a race to the bottom as each city puts in place stronger anti-camping laws in a battle to keep one jurisdiction from pushing their homeless residents into another. The ruling in Grants Pass vs. Johnson allows police to fine and jail homeless people living and sleeping outside, even when there is no available shelter for them. But no one should view the outcome of the case as a signal to pass new anti-camping laws or double down on enforcement of existing ones. Fining or jailing people for sleeping on sidewalks when they have nowhere else to go or shooing them from one street to another does not solve homelessness. Only available affordable housing and supportive services can end the crisis. Read more: Editorial: Grants Pass ruling will do nothing to end homelessness That message is not just for members of the Los Angeles City Council, but for every other elected official in the county. Los Angeles officials have already prohibited camping at hundreds of sites in the city. All schools and daycare centers, for example, are considered no-camping sites. And additional locations have been added by individual council members. In many cases, when a sidewalk is being cleared, people are first offered shelter. If they refuse and are still there when the anti-camping designation is enforced, they can be fined and shooed away from those sites. We dont want the city to become one entire anti-camping zone. Thankfully, Mayor Karen Bass, who denounced the Grants Pass decision, has taken the position that we cannot arrest our way out of the homeless crisis. She has made a commitment to increase temporary housing and speed up the construction of affordable housing in L.A., which is desperately lacking. Read more: Editorial: Drop in L.A.'s homeless population shows efforts to house people are paying off The increase in available city-financed permanent housing for homeless people and housing vouchers has paid off in the first drop in the city's homeless population since 2018. The number of homeless people in the city decreased 2.2% since 2023, according to the January 2024 point-in-time count. Bass' Inside Safe program, which temporarily houses people in motels and hotels, along with an increase in shelter beds, contributed to a 10.4% drop in unsheltered homelessness and a dramatic 17.7% increase in the sheltered population. But the city of Los Angeles cant be the lone outpost of rational ideas in Los Angeles County when it comes to housing people who have no housing. The other 87 cities in the county should not see the Grants Pass decision as an opportunity to pass sweeping new laws to ban homelessness and push them into neighboring communities as they have been known to do. Burbank police officers were recently caught on security camera video dropping off a homeless man in North Hollywood, in front of L.A. Council President Paul Krekorians district office. Read more: Editorial: Homeless people are dumped all the time Burbank police just got caught Nor should elected officials in Los Angeles be passing new anti-camping laws as a hedge against other cities passing new laws. What they should be doing is focusing on building more housing for their own homeless residents and working with the county to coordinate homeless services and housing. L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who chairs the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Commission, believes the Board of Supervisors can help. She said she wants to meet with city officials, as she has in the past, and let them know how to access county services for their homeless populations and discuss ways they can increase available housing. When people are frustrated, they look to these short term actions to address the problem, she said of enforcement. Horvath, who called the Supreme Court decision "unconscionable," and the other L.A. supervisors should convene city officials to strategize policies that work and emphasize that enforcement is not one of them. Being homeless is not a crime. For most, it's a result of a lack of affordable housing so severe that thousands of people simply cant afford not to be homeless. If cities really want to solve homelessness, its imperative they make way for more housing for homeless people not simply push them to yet another sidewalk or another city. If its in the news right now, the L.A. Times Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Members of the public address express their disapproval of the Angel Stadium land sale at an Anaheim City Council meeting in 2022. Former Mayor Harry Sidhu pleaded guilty last year to corruption charges tied to the stadium sale. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times) Two years ago, without a single no vote among them, California legislators passed a law to curb the kind of pay-to-play corruption that has tarnished local governments throughout the state. Business groups, campaign donors and local elected officials have been trying to eviscerate the law ever since, and this session they pushed two bills designed to do exactly that. Legislators ought to reject any efforts to gut the law and instead focus on changes that make it clearer and easier for local officials to comply. Read more: Opinion: Is the Los Angeles City Council serious about ethics reform or wasting an opportunity? Senate Bill 1439 by Sen. Steve Glazer (D-Orinda) expanded a 1982 law known as the Levine Act, which banned appointed members of local boards and commissions from voting on a license, permit or other approval that has a direct financial benefit for someone who donated more than $250 to their campaigns for elected office. The 2022 bill extended that prohibition to local elected officials, including members of city councils, school boards, water boards and county boards of supervisors, who had previously been exempt from the Levine Act. The new law required that officials recuse themselves from voting on matters involving donors for a year after their campaign contributions were accepted. They would also have to refuse political contributions from any person or organization for a year after taking a vote to benefit that donor. Read more: A corruption cloud hangs over Oakland City Hall. It comes at a terrible time for the struggling city The purpose is to reduce conflicts of interest and pay-to-play politics. The exchange of money between those seeking approval for building projects or public contracts and the people granting approval creates the perception of quid pro quo, which undermines public confidence in the decisions. Narrow, time-specific restrictions on accepting campaign contributions and voting on behalf of donors help reduce the perception of favoritism. And its not a new idea. The Los Angeles City Council reeling from a series of corruption scandals involving real estate interests voted in 2019 to ban campaign contributions from developers with projects needing city approval. The city also bans contributions from registered lobbyists and bidders for city contracts. Read more: Editorial: Tired of pay-to-play corruption? Take L.A. politicians out of development decisions Which is why the vehement opposition to the provisions in SB 1439 is surprising and frustrating. Business groups sued to overturn the law , arguing it would discourage their members from making political contributions and infringed on constitutional free speech protections. A Sacramento Superior Court judge upheld the law , noting that the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that preventing quid pro quo corruption or its appearance is a compelling state interest. Business groups and some local officials then turned to the Legislature to undermine the law. Governments organizations, including the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the League of California Cities, complained the law is too broad and the contribution limit too low, and that it has been difficult to comply with. Read more: Editorial: Give voters a chance to fix L.A. County's broken government Glazer and the good-government groups that back the law acknowledge some fine-tuning is in order. This year, Glazer introduced Senate Bill 1181 to address implementation issues without undermining the purpose of the original law. He also said hes considering raising the $250 contribution threshold for recusal. Supporters, including the California Clean Money Campaign, have suggested $500 would be reasonable. Senate Bill 1243 by Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) would narrow the recusal time frame and raise the threshold to $1,000. Thats too high. It would make the law practically moot in many cities that already cap campaign contributions at levels well below $1,000, so no single donation would trigger the pay-to-play protection. A bill by Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Hawthorne ) would have raised the threshold to $1,500 but it, thankfully, died in committee last week. Opponents of the pay-to-play restrictions argue that the law makes it harder for candidates with less financial means to raise money for their campaigns. But the law doesnt restrict all donors, just those with a permit, contract or other decision pending before the local elected body. And if critics of the law are saying the only way to fund a city council campaign is to squeeze donations from people doing business with the city, well, thats an argument for public campaign financing, not for scrapping safeguards against corruption. Trust is essential for a functioning government and is easily lost when elected leaders get caught putting their own interests above the public's. Legislators made the right decision two years ago to fight pay-to-play corruption among local officials. They shouldn't reverse course now. If its in the news right now, the L.A. Times Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Efforts to intensify countermeasures against Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups underway in Kharkiv Oblast Efforts to intensify countermeasures against Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups (SRGs) are underway in Kharkiv Oblast. Source: Ukraine's Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko on Telegram following his visit to Kharkiv Oblast Quote: "I have convened a meeting in [the settlement of] Zolochiv with the oblast and local authorities and heads of departments of the Interior Ministry system. There are a lot of issues: evacuation from border villages, fortifications, emergency power supply to critical infrastructure and communication stations. Special attention is paid to countering enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups. Our units are constantly detecting and repelling Russian saboteurs. To strengthen control, border guards are setting up additional observation posts and increasing the number of response teams." Details: Klymenko noted that he visited border areas in Kharkiv Oblast, which suffer from Russian attacks. "The enemy is targeting settlements to intimidate civilians. However, neither artillery strikes nor saboteur attacks will force us to retreat," he stressed. Support UP or become our patron! GREENVILLE, S.C. (WSPA) The escaped Tennessee inmate who was apprehended on July 4 by Greenville County Sheriffs Deputies was denied bond on Friday and extradited back to Carter County, Tennessee to face new charges, according to South Carolina officials. Billy Fletcher, 43, stood before Greenville County Judge James Hudson for less than five minutes at his bond hearing. Youve been charged with a Fugitive From Justice Warrant, said Judge Hudson during the bond hearing. Now this particular charge isnt something that you have to return to South Carolina to address. For all practical purposes, this leaves once you leave. Fletcher, an inmate at the Carter County Detention Center was on work detail when he escaped on June 20. What ensued was a 14-day multi-state manhunt that saw at least a $1,000 reward for Fletchers eventual capture. Its my understanding that the state of Tennessee has representatives here who are going to be taking you out as soon as you sign the waiver and youre dealt with by the court, said Judge Hudson to Fletcher shortly before Fletcher signed the waiver. According to the Carter County Sheriffs Office, Fletcher was originally housed for a probation violation. He was spotted in Greenville County on film entering a gas station conveinance store on White Horse Road on June 24 before his eventual capture. Connections to another Tennessee case of a missing person are unclear at this time but the missing mans daughter told 7NEWS Fletcher was wearing articles from her father in that security camera footage. 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. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks with Essence CEO Caroline Wanga during the 30th annual Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (Matthew Perschall/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP) NEW ORLEANS (AP) As President Joe Biden tries to revive his embattled reelection bid, Vice President Kamala Harris led a parade of Black Democrats who warned Saturday that the threat of another Donald Trump presidency remains the most important calculation ahead of November. Yet in more than 20 minutes on stage at the Essence Festival of Culture, Harris did not acknowledge Bidens dismal debate performance or calls for the 81-year-old president to end his reelection bid. In fact, she barely mentioned Biden at all a stark contrast to the Congressional Black Caucus members who forcefully and repeatedly defended the president by name. This is probably the most significant election of our lifetime, Harris said, before riffing on Trump musing about being a dictator, pushing the Supreme Court rightward and promising retribution on political enemies. In 122 days, we each have the power to decide what kind of country we want to live in. Harriss appearance at the nations largest annual celebration of Black culture underscores what a difficult task it is for the White House and campaign to navigate questions about the presidents aptitude. The dynamics are especially fraught for Harris, the first Black woman and person of south Asian descent to be elected vice president, and for the Black Democrats who were so instrumental in electing Biden and her in 2020. On one hand, Harris fills the traditional role of loyal lieutenant, a job she did enthusiastically and on the fly in television appearances immediately after Bidens lackluster debate ended. Yet should Biden ultimately decide to step aside as presumptive nominee, she would be among the favorites, if not the favorite, to carry the Democratic banner against Trump. Black leaders and voters who gathered in New Orleans, meanwhile, walked the line Saturday between backing Biden and insisting that, if he does end his campaign, the party should elevate the barrier-breaking vice president rather than consider governors like Gavin Newsom of California or Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, both of whom are white. The purpose of a vice president is to be a No. 2, to be able to step in, said Glynda Carr, who leads the Higher Heights political action organization that works to elect more Black women. If this was an all-white male ticket, would we be talking about other people who have less experience, less qualifications? Antjuan Seawright, a Black Democratic consultant who is close to House Rep. Jim Clyburn, a Biden ally, put it more plainly. Joe Biden isnt going anywhere, he said. But if he does, anyone other than Kamala would be malpractice and it would tear the party apart. Seawright argued that the pressure on Biden to step aside is coming from white Democrats or non-white minorities other than Black Democrats so far, at least publicly. He said that divide is mostly about Black voters trust in Biden and their recognition of his record. But he said its also about whats good for the party as a whole, including Black politicians. Risking a contested convention, even one that nominates Harris, could ensure widespread losses, and in turn, make it less likely than ever to see Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries become Speaker or Harris or another Black woman sit in the Oval Office. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and her colleagues echoed some of those sentiments. People say Joe Bidens too old. Hell, Im older than Biden! said the 85-year-old congresswoman. It aint gonna be no other Democratic candidate, and we better know it. Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, played up the power Harris already holds. We got a Black vice president of the United States of America, a sister who came here to be with us today, she said. So, lets not get it twisted. I know who Im voting for. Im with the Biden-Harris team, because were still going to have a sister in the White House fighting for us and making a difference. Waters said Bidens support of Black communities and the contrast with Trump should be enough. She called the former president a no-good, lying, despicable human being with a white nationalist agenda. Who the hell do you think hes going to come after? Waters asked, noting Trumps support from groups like the Proud Boys. You know he means business. In more than a dozen interviews with Essence attendees, opinions varied on Bidens strength as a candidate and his abilities to serve another four years. But there was a clear consensus on several points: Only Biden can decide his fate; if he does step away, he should back Harris; and defeating Trump is the top priority. Im with him, absolutely, said Erica Peterson of New Orleans. Hes delivered, and one debate is not going to change my mind. ... And if its not Joe Biden, Im with her. Star Robert, a 37-year-old nurse in New York City, said if theres a shift, then Biden and Democrats could not credibly choose anyone other than Harris, given that the president, party and voters already chose her as second-in-line. Still, she was skeptical about Harriss prospects. Im not sure that shes done enough to generate the trust of enough voters, Robert said. I dont know if thats all her fault, I just havent seen enough of her, we havent. I dont know what her angle is. Regardless, Robert added, Im not sure the country is ready for another Black president, and if we were ready for a woman, Hillary Clinton would have beaten the clown (Trump) the first time he ran. Harris, for her part, answered that kind of skepticism even as she studiously avoided the immediate campaign drama. Ambition is a good thing. We do not need to step quietly, she said of being a woman of color in powerful circles. People in your life will tell you its not your time. Its not your turn. Nobody like you has done it before. ... I like to say that I eat no for breakfast. The Estonian government has examined commercial difficulties on its border with the Russian Federation and resolved to strengthen control over the transit of commodities subject to sanctions. Source: press service of the Estonian government, as reported by European Pravda Details: According to Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, despite the restrictions, attempts are being made at the border to evade sanctions, and the European Union's latest sanctions package has exacerbated the threats. Quote: "We need to be sure that the goods crossing our borders are not subject to EU sanctions," Kallas said. She stated that replacing the present risk-based spot inspections with a complete inspection of cargo and vehicles would increase authorities' confidence that commodities "which would feed the Russian war machine, do not cross the Estonian border." Kallas went on to say that Estonia would continue to negotiate with Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland on border action and standard rules. The government directed the Ministry of Finance, in collaboration with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other agencies, to develop an action plan for implementing complete customs control at the European Union's external borders with the goal of leaving Estonia. Estonian customs authorities in Narva are always on the lookout for incidents when travellers to Russia are attempting to conceal sanctioned products and currencies. At the end of June, within a few days, massive queues formed at the Narva checkpoint leaving for Russia. Because of this, Estonia blocked the departure checkpoint for two days. Border guards justified the situation as being due to the Russian side's delayed work. Following that, there were long queues at the remaining two automobile border crossing sites. The waiting time might reach up to five days. Support UP or become our patron! EU distances itself from Orban after he attends Organization of Turkic States meeting The EU stated that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's attendance at the informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in the city of Shusha, Azerbaijan, was solely based on bilateral relations between Hungary and the organisation. Source: a statement by Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, as reported by European Pravda Details: Borrell stressed that Hungary commenced its rotating presidency of the EU Council on 1 July, which will last until 31 December. However, the EU's chief diplomat emphasised that this presidency does not entail responsibilities for the EU's external representation, which is the responsibility of the president of the European Council at the level of head of state or government and the high representative for foreign affairs and security policy at the ministerial level. "Hungary has not received any mandate from the EU Council to advance the relations with the Organisation of Turkic States," Borrell stated. He further added that the EU rejects the attempts of the OTS to legitimise the Turkish Cypriot separatist entity, the so-called internationally unrecognised "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus", as an observer in the organisation. "This decision, pending ratification of Organisations members, is regrettable and is contradicting the fact that several members of the Organisation expressed strong support to the principle of territorial integrity and the UN Charter," Borrell said. The EU has repeatedly made it clear, including at the highest political level, that it recognises only the Republic of Cyprus as a subject of international law in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, he concluded. Established in 2009, the OTS brings together Turkic-speaking states. Hungary has been an observer in the organisation since 2018. Background: On Friday, Viktor Orban arrived in Moscow as part of his "peacekeeping mission". His visit to Russia took place just a few days after his visit to Kyiv on 2 July. At the time, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell stressed that the Hungarian prime minister's visit was solely in the framework of bilateral relations between Hungary and Russia and not the presidency of the Council of the European Union. Support UP or become our patron! Trekking through the wilderness, coring trees, looking for animal droppings; the Summer Forestry Immersion program put the "forest" in forestry. The program, put on by local nonprofit Forests Today & Forever in partnership with Eugene School District 4J, brought 14 high schoolers on an educational retreat where they learned about all things forestry. The program lasts five days out on Bauman Tree Farm, where students learn from volunteer professionals about identifying trees and plants, fish and wildlife, and restoring trees after harvest. Forests Today & Forever director Beth Krisko said the idea is to take the students through the life of a timber tree from seedling to sawmill. The students went on other field trips to a Cottage Grove tree nursery, a lumber mill and Oregon State University, where they tested out a logging equipment simulator. "Every day is a new step in the process of sustainable forestry," Krisko said. "We're trying to offer the students, just the breadth of opportunities available in the forest sector, from students that will go on to college to pursue a four-year college degree, to students that will leave high school and be ready for employment. Along the way, at every step of the way, we're trying to highlight job opportunities." Dayton Ricks, who works for Oregon Department of Forestry's woodland fire suppression unit, demonstrates how to wrap up a fire hose during the Summer Forestry Immersion program at the Bauman Tree Farm on June 27. This is the first year Forests Today & Forever is offering this summer program. The nonprofit has been working at the middle school level since 1994. Over the years, it has expanded with more older elementary school courses and some high school courses, but their middle school "Forest Field Days" was their initial claim to fame. The multi-week program partners with local schools and brings students out to the Bauman Tree Farm where they act like they have just inherited land and must figure out how to sustain it. Krisko said that while some students aren't invested at first, she can see a switch flip when a student learns something new or takes a special interest. "So many students just are unaware of the breadth of opportunities in our local communities, and there's so much available to them," Krisko said. Getting the program started Each day of the summer program, the students meet at Sheldon High School, where Sheldon High's Forestry and Natural Resources Management CTE instructor Elsa Arias Ninan and South Eugene High science teacher Julia Harvey get them started for the day. The students and teachers then load up on a bus and make their way to the Bauman Tree Farm off Territorial Highway. The students spend some time learning from guest speakers and taking notes in their daily journals and workbooks, but much of the day is hands-on learning. On Thursday, the students split up into groups and used socks filled with chalk to mark trees that would be good candidates for harvesting. Embden Nelson, student at South Eugene High, marks a tree that is eligible to cut down as part of the five-day Summer Forestry Immersion program, which was put on by Eugene School District 4J and local nonprofit Forests Today and Forever at the Bauman Tree Farm on June 27. Seven of the students were from Sheldon, six were from South and one was from Churchill High. In addition to the unique experience, the students also earn 0.5 science credits for completing the program. Arias Ninan said it took over a year to develop the summer program and get it off the ground. Her forestry CTE series at Sheldon has been a huge hit after three years of running. She said she's looking to expand it even further in the coming years. Arias Ninan said she was grateful to the professionals who partnered with the program to work with the students. Notably, every professional at Thursday's program was a woman. Arias Ninan agreed it was rare to see in a predominantly male career, but things have been changing over time and she has seen more women join the industry. "For me, it's exciting because when I worked in my home country (Peru), I was the only woman," Arias Ninan said. "That's changed because I think we all participate in our ability to conserve, and preserve and work in the forest." Inspiring career paths On Thursday afternoon, representatives from the Oregon Department of Forestry stopped by to talk to the students about wildland firefighting and other career paths at ODF. This was a highly anticipated talk for several of the students, including to-be Sheldon High senior Jillian Whitney, who wants to become a firefighter. Once she heard they would be meeting wildland firefighters, it was all she could think about. "If I'm not a firefighter, then I want to do it in my summer, help with the wildfires," Whitney said. Jillian Whitney, rising senior at Sheldon High School, listens to Department of Forestry officer AJ Corwin at the Summer Forestry Immersion program on June 27. Whitney wants to go into the wildland firefighting field. Last year, Whitney participated in the Eugene Springfield Fire's Young Womens Fire Camp. She said it was inspiring to come to the Summer Forestry Immersion where there were so many women to look up to. "It's really empowering," Whitney said. "I really like how it makes me feel like I actually have a chance (in the industry)." Whitney had already taken some of Arias Ninan's CTE courses at Sheldon and hopes to take more during her senior year if her schedule allows for it. Whitney said she was eager to join the summer program. "I've been asking (Arias Ninan) about it ever since it was an idea," Whitney said. "I really, really wanted to be a part of it to support her program ... Getting to come out here on my summer break, get away, it sounds like a good idea. It really is a positive program." John Perales, a to-be senior at Sheldon High, has taken all six of Arias Ninan's CTE courses. Arias Ninan said that Perales naturally became an informal leader among the students in the summer program. John Perales, rising senior at Sheldon High School, presents to his peers as part of the five-day Summer Forestry Immersion program, which was put on by Eugene School District 4J and local nonprofit Forests Today and Forever at the Bauman Tree Farm on June 27. When ODF led students through a relay to roll out firehoses, Perales was at the front of the pack, racing to help. While Perales is passionate about forestry now and wants to go into the field, the interest is fairly recent. Perales said he transferred to Sheldon his sophomore year and was automatically put into the Intro to Forestry course. Other students throughout the day said Arias Ninan's courses can be challenging, but Perales disagreed. "All you have to do is just pay attention, you can talk to the teacher and she'll give you anything you need," Perales said. "It's easy to take notes and ask questions." Perales said in his future career, he's interested in working to raise trees like at the nursery that students visited, or working as an arborist. He is considering a degree through Idaho State University. Miranda Cyr reports on education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on Twitter @mirandabcyr. This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Future of forestry: Eugene high schoolers join new summer forestry program Even short trips to space can change an astronauts biology a new set of studies offers the most comprehensive look at spaceflight health since NASAs Twins Study Even short trips to space can change an astronauts biology a new set of studies offers the most comprehensive look at spaceflight health since NASAs Twins Study Editors note: Video above is about a NASA astronaut discussing an extended stay in space. (THE CONVERSATION) Only about 600 people have ever traveled to space. The vast majority of astronauts over the past six decades have been middle-aged men on short-duration missions of fewer than 20 days. Today, with private, commercial and multinational spaceflight providers and flyers entering the market, we are witnessing a new era of human spaceflight. Missions have ranged from minutes, hours and days to months. As humanity looks ahead to returning to the Moon over the coming decade, space exploration missions will be much longer, with many more space travelers and even space tourists. This also means that a wider diversity of people will experience the extreme environment of space more women and people of different ethnicities, ages and health status. Since people respond differently to the unique stressors and exposures of space, researchers in space health, like me, seek to better understand the human health effects of spaceflight. With such information, we can figure out how to help astronauts stay healthy both while theyre in space and once they return to Earth. Trader Joes recalls candles with unexpected issue As part of the historic NASA Twins Study, in 2019, my colleagues and I published groundbreaking research on how one year on board the International Space Station affects the human body. I am a radiation cancer biologist in Colorado State Universitys Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences. Ive spent the past few years continuing to build on that earlier research in a series of papers recently published across the portfolio of Nature journals. These papers are part of the Space Omics and Medical Atlas package of manuscripts, data, protocols and repositories that represent the largest collection ever assembled for aerospace medicine and space biology. Over 100 institutions from 25 countries contributed to the coordinated release of a wide range of spaceflight data. The NASA Twins Study NASAs Twins Study seized on a unique research opportunity. NASA selected astronaut Scott Kelly for the agencys first one-year mission, during which he spent a year on board the International Space Station from 2015 into 2016. Over the same time period, his identical twin brother, Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and current U.S. senator representing Arizona, remained on Earth. My team and I examined blood samples collected from the twin in space and his genetically matched twin back on Earth before, during and after spaceflight. We found that Scotts telomeres the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes, much like the plastic tip that keeps a shoelace from fraying lengthened, quite unexpectedly, during his year in space. When Scott returned to Earth, however, his telomeres quickly shortened. Over the following months, his telomeres recovered but were still shorter after his journey than they had been before he went to space. As you get older, your telomeres shorten because of a variety of factors, including stress. The length of your telomeres can serve as a biological indicator of your risk for developing age-related conditions such as dementia, cardiovascular disease and cancer. In a separate study, my team studied a cohort of 10 astronauts on six-month missions on board the International Space Station. We also had a control group of age- and sex-matched participants who stayed on the ground. We measured telomere length before, during and after spaceflight and again found that telomeres were longer during spaceflight and then shortened upon return to Earth. Overall, the astronauts had many more short telomeres after spaceflight than they had before. One of the other Twins Study investigators, Christopher Mason, and I conducted another telomere study this time with twin high-altitude mountain climbers a somewhat similar extreme environment on Earth. We found that while climbing Mount Everest, the climbers telomeres were longer, and after they descended, their telomeres shortened. Their twins who remained at low altitude didnt experience the same changes in telomere length. These results indicate that its not the space stations microgravity that led to the telomere length changes we observed in the astronauts other culprits, such as increased radiation exposure, are more likely. Civilians in space In our latest study, we studied telomeres from the crew on board SpaceXs 2021 Inspiration4 mission. This mission had the first all-civilian crew, whose ages spanned four decades. All of the crew members telomeres lengthened during the mission, and three of the four astronauts also exhibited telomere shortening once they were back on Earth. Whats particularly interesting about these findings is that the Inspiration4 mission lasted only three days. So, not only do scientists now have consistent and reproducible data on telomeres response to spaceflight, but we also know it happens quickly. These results suggest that even short trips, like a weekend getaway to space, will be associated with changes in telomere length. Scientists still dont totally understand the health impacts of such changes in telomere length. Well need more research to figure out how both long and short telomeres might affect an astronauts long-term health. Telomeric RNA In another paper, we showed that the Inspiration4 crew as well as Scott Kelly and the high-altitude mountain climbers exhibited increased levels of telomeric RNA, termed TERRA. Telomeres consist of lots of repetitive DNA sequences. These are transcribed into TERRA, which contributes to telomere structure and helps them do their job. Together with laboratory studies, these findings tell us that telomeres are being damaged during spaceflight. While there is still a lot we dont know, we do know that telomeres are especially sensitive to oxidative stress. So, the chronic oxidative damage that astronauts experience when exposed to space radiation around the clock likely contributes to the telomeric responses we observe. We also wrote a review article with a more futuristic perspective of how better understanding telomeres and aging might begin to inform the ability of humans to not only survive long-duration space travel but also to thrive and even colonize other planets. Doing so would require humans to reproduce in space and future generations to grow up in space. We dont know if thats even possible yet. Plant telomeres in space My colleagues and I contributed other work to the Space Omics and Medical Atlas package, as well, including a paper published in Nature Communications. The study team, led by Texas A&M biologist Dorothy Shippen and Ohio University biologist Sarah Wyatt, found that, unlike people, plants flown in space did not have longer telomeres during their time on board the International Space Station. The plants did, however, ramp up their production of telomerase, the enzyme that helps maintain telomere length. As anyone whos seen The Martian knows, plants will play an essential role in long-term human survival in space. This finding suggests that plants are perhaps more naturally suited to withstand the stressors of space than humans. 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. The security situation is constantly evolving but there is nothing credible in terms of direct threats heading into the Republican and Democratic national conventions this summer, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said Sunday. According to Cheatle, the Secret Service is coordinating with the Milwaukee Police Department and Chicago Police Department, as well as the FBI and other intelligence agencies, to prepare for and mitigate potential threats including both domestic and foreign terrorism. The Republican National Convention in Milwaukee is to be held July 15-18, and the Democratic National Convention in Chicago will take place Aug. 19-22. Cheatle told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's This Week that her agency has been planning for both conventions for the past year and a half. The environment that were dealing with today is certainly different than it was four years ago, Cheatle said, responding to a question about whether current political polarization factors into threats. Im sure well see an evolution in the next four years as well. But it is definitely something that we take into consideration. In regard to protests, Cheatle said the Secret Service and cities police departments respect individuals First Amendment rights. Convention officials for the RNC said the Secret Service agreed to make a nearby Milwaukee park off limits to protesters. A coalition of pro-Palestinian groups also plan to protest the DNC, whether or not the city of Chicago grants them a permit. In April, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said people would be allowed to protest as long as it remained safe for convention-goers. Where we have concerns is if those potential demonstrations turn violent, and then appropriate action would be taken. But we certainly welcome people to come out and be able to express their First Amendment rights, Cheatle said. While Cheatle does not anticipate different potential threats facing the RNC and DNC, she said each city and venue requires specialized assets and resources. She added she is absolutely confident in the Secret Services plans to secure the conventions in Milwaukee and Chicago. All registered voters are strongly encouraged to vote in the Primary Election on Tuesday, August 20, since some races will be decided at the Primary level. Naples Better Government (NBG), Collier Countys only nonpartisan political committee, met recently with School Board and Constitutional Officer candidates whose names will appear on the Primary Election ballot. Candidates were asked questions relevant to their previously submitted platform statements and positions on key issues discussed in recent forums. An endorsement requires 60 percent approval by a quorum of the NBG Board of Directors. Sally Tiffany Board of County Commissioner (BCC) Candidates running for seats in Districts 3 and 5 were interviewed in May with the results withheld until after the close of filing. District 3 Commissioner Burt Saunders earned our endorsement because of his vast experience in county government and his commitment to serving the public. In District 5 Commissioner Bill McDaniels earned our endorsement, also based on his experience. Both candidates have been responsible for a number of improvements within their own districts, have proven records of service to the electorate and are independent thinkers who put service to their constituents before ego or self-interest. The Naples Better Government Board did not endorse in the District 1 County Commission race. Board policy is "no endorsements without interviewing the candidates." In District 1, Commissioner Rick LoCastro was not opposed by a credible candidate, thus no interviews were held. Board policy prohibits NBG from endorsing without interviews; however, this does and should not reflect on Commissioner LoCastro's ability or character as a County Commission candidate. June was the month for interviewing School Board candidates and elected Constitutional Officers Property Appraiser and Supervisor of Elections. Given that just two years ago three brand new School Board members were seated, NBG feels it is more important than ever that we have School Board members with a firm grasp of how the Florida school finance program works and the ability to carry out the board priorities laid out at that time, including implementation of a new phonics program and other imperative academic initiatives with the goal of increasing student performance. School Board members Stephanie Lucarelli and Erick Carter were both deemed worthy of endorsement based upon their performance serving on the Board for the past 8 years. The two elected county officer races drew what might be a record number of candidates three filed and one write-in for Supervisor of Elections and four filed and one write-in for Property Appraiser. The final decision in both races was based upon experience and lack of need for on-the-job training. Current Supervisor of Elections Melissa Blazier and current Chief Deputy Vickie Downs in the Property Appraisers office both received the endorsement from Naples Better Government. NBG has been interviewing and endorsing candidates since 1991 and is a nonpartisan political committee registered with the State of Florida. For information on joining, call Mary Waller at 239-269-1365. Sally Tiffany is president of Naples Better Government. This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Experience counts in Naples Better Government endorsements House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has found himself at the center of the storm as Democrats weigh the wisdom of keeping President Biden at the top of the ticket following his disastrous debate performance in Atlanta last month. The Democratic leader is being squeezed between two powerful but opposing forces. On one side is the predilection to rally behind his White House ally for the sake of party unity. On the other is the growing panic within his caucus that the president would be a drag on Democrats up and down the ballot, sinking the partys chances of flipping control of the House in this years elections. Only five House Democrats have come out publicly so far to urge Biden to bow out and make room for another candidate to challenge former President Trump, the GOPs presumptive nominee, in November. But that number is expected to grow in the days and weeks ahead especially if polls continue to show that public confidence in Bidens capacity to hold the office is waning in the wake of the debate. The converging dynamics are thrusting Jeffries into a high-stakes decision, with all eyes in the House Democratic Caucus and at the White House waiting to see how the leader traverses the tricky path ahead. Hakeem is very thoughtful and very deliberate, Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), a front-line lawmaker, told The Hill. He takes his time and that has served him well throughout this term in that hes been able to get, with others, a deal to avoid default, a budget agreement and the national security and global aid package. These arent small things, and they didnt happen without his very deliberate, thoughtful leadership, Landsman continued. Thats how he approaches things, its how hes approaching this, which is he takes time to listen to people. In the aftermath of the debate, alarmed Democrats voiced private reservations with keeping Biden at the top of the ticket, but most have held their tongues publicly a reflection of their deference to, and respect for, Jeffries as he weighs the path forward. Some said the goal of winning the presidency should outweigh any allegiances to any one person. Our mission is to win the White House and to prevent Donald Trump from getting there, said one lawmaker, who spoke anonymously to discuss a delicate topic. We have to have a family conversation, basically. Many factors will go into that decision not only the fitness concerns raised by Bidens performance, but the effects of that performance on donors, voters and the front-line Democrats facing tough reelections in battleground districts that will decide which party controls the House next year. You might start having guys that are like, Man, weve got to put some distance between us and him, said another Democratic lawmaker. For the realpolitik. Jeffries, for his part, has kept his cards close to the vest, fueling questions about how he will handle the sensitive situation. The day after the debate, the top Democrat told reporters that Biden should not step aside. But when asked hours later if the president is the most effective communicator for the party, he appeared to leave the door open to replacing the president. Until he articulates a way forward in terms of his vision for America at this moment, Im gonna reserve comment about anything relative to where we are at this moment other than to say I stand behind the ticket, Jeffries said. Jeffries tried to clean up the comments last weekend, telling MSNBCs The Weekend that conversations are taking place with various parts of the House Democratic Caucus. Thats ongoing, that will continue, he added. Jeffries has spoken directly with Biden since the debate, a source familiar with the matter told The Hill, and he held a call with House Democratic leadership last week. His office did not respond to requests for comment Friday. The decision is easily the most consequential of Jeffriess young tenure as the leader of House Democrats a perch he assumed just last year with the potential to determine whether the party will keep the White House and flip control of the House, where Jeffries would be poised to become the first Black Speaker in the nations history. Yet its not the first major nor highly unusual decision of Jeffriess leadership tenure. Already, hes guided Democrats through two historic votes to remove a Speaker from power. In the first, he opted not to rescue former-Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from a conservative coup, which sealed McCarthys fate as the first Speaker ever to be ousted. In the second, he joined most Democrats in protecting Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from a similar revolt, ensuring that the Louisiana Republican would keep the gavel. In both cases, Jeffries approached the decision discreetly, withholding any final determinations at least publicly until he had a chance to huddle, in person, with House Democrats to gauge the temperature of his caucus. Thats led to speculation that Jeffries will follow the same playbook regarding Bidens future, as well, as Democrats prepare to meet behind closed doors Tuesday morning in the Capitol their first gathering since Bidens debate debacle. The speculation swirling around Bidens future is the biggest story in the country, and Landsman said it will be a focus of Tuesdays meeting for sure. How its set up, Im not entirely sure how hell do that, Landsman said, referring to Jeffries. But as time goes on, pressure from both sides of the highly charged debate is continuing to mount around the top Democrat. Biden, his campaign and the White House, on one hand, have been defiant that the president plans to remain in the race, swatting away at any notion that the incumbent is not up for another four years on the job. Im not going anywhere, Biden told attendees at the White Houses Fourth of July barbecue. And a number of Bidens congressional allies are firmly behind him in that decision. Im not in panic mode at this point. Very bad night on Thursday, I think everybody has universally acknowledged that already, including the president. But I dont really feel that hes incapable of governing, or anything along those lines, Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) said last week by phone. He still is the leader of the free world, and hes doing a good job of it. At the same time, however, the chorus of Democrats calling on Biden to step aside is growing. Five sitting House Democrats Reps. Lloyd Doggett (Texas), Raul Grijalva (Ariz.), Seth Moulton (Mass.), Mike Quigley (Ill.) and Angie Craig (Minn.) have publicly called on Biden to withdraw from the race, speaking for what sources tell The Hill is scores of lawmakers behind the scenes who feel the same way. This is the worst decision that the American people have had to make, probably in my lifetime, Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) said, referencing a distaste for both Biden and Trump. You cant think about the top of the ticket. Im running to represent my constituents. Its about me, Golden continued. Could it have an effect on me? Sure. But Ive already shown that I do my own thing. And no ones voted against Biden more than I have. As House Democrats wait to hear from Jeffries, meanwhile, some are closely watching Biden to see if he can catapult back after his lackluster debate performance, a result that could make the Democratic leaders decision easier. With that in mind, some are wondering why Biden has had so few public appearances since the debate. It is time for Biden to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that he can prosecute this case against Trump, who is unfit to be president and who will upend our democracy in our lives, Landsman said. Asked if he has seen that since the debate, the Ohio Democrat responded: No. Has anyone? Has he tried? he asked. There were 40 million people watching the debate. Its more than a rally and an interview. 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. Factbox-Thirty-six Democrats in US Congress have called on Biden to drop out By Moira Warburton WASHINGTON(Reuters) -Thirty-six congressional Democrats have publicly called on Democratic President Joe Biden to end his re-election bid after the 81-year-old incumbent's halting debate performance against Republican rival Donald Trump. They represent more than one in eight Democrats in Congress, where Biden's party controls 213 seats in the House of Representatives and 51 in the Senate. Here is a list of the Democratic U.S. lawmakers who have publicly and directly called for Biden to not run again. SENATORS Sherrod Brown (Ohio) Martin Heinrich (New Mexico) Jon Tester (Montana) Peter Welch (Vermont) REPRESENTATIVES Dean Phillips (Minnesota's 3rd district) Mark Takano (California's 39th district) Earl Blumenauer (Oregon's 3rd district) Ed Case (Hawaii's 1st district) Sean Casten (Illinois' 6th district) Jim Costa (California's 21st district) Angie Craig (Minnesota's 2nd district) Lloyd Doggett (Texas' 37th district) Jesus "Chuy" Garcia (Illinois' 4th district) Raul Grijalva (Arizona's 7th district) Jim Himes (Connecticut's 4th district) Jared Huffman (California's 2nd district) Greg Landsman (Ohio's 1st district) Mike Levin (California's 49th district) Zoe Lofgren (California's 18th district) Seth Moulton (Massachusetts' 6th district) Betty McCollum (Minnesota's 4th district) Morgan McGarvey (Kentucky's 3rd district) Scott Peters (California's 50th district) Brittany Pettersen (Colorado's 7th district) Mark Pocan (Wisconsin's 2nd district) Mike Quigley (Illinois' 5th district) Pat Ryan (New York's 18th district) Adam Schiff (California's 30th district) Brad Schneider (Illinois' 10th district) Hillary Scholten (Michigan's 3rd district) Mikie Sherrill (New Jersey's 11th district) Adam Smith (Washington's 9th district) Eric Sorensen (Illinois' 17th district) Greg Stanton (Arizona's 4th district) Gabe Vasquez (New Mexico's 2nd district) Marc Veasey (Texas' 33rd district) (Reporting by Moira Warburton, Bo Erickson, David Morgan, Kanishka Singh, Makini Brice and Patricia Zengerle in Washington, and Costas Pitas in Los Angeles; additional reporting by Dan Trotta, Katharine Jackson, Susan Heavey and Ismail Shakil; Editing by Scott Malone, Lisa Shumaker, Matthew Lewis, Marguerita Choy, Rod Nickel and Aurora Ellis) Who might be the French left's next prime minister? (Reuters) -France's left-wing New Popular Front (NFP), a hastily assembled alliance, has emerged as the leading bloc in the next parliament - but without a working majority. Political custom dictates that President Emmanuel Macron names a prime minister from among the ranks of the largest political force or coalition in parliament. The NFP, made up of the Communist Party, the hard left France Unbowed, the Greens, and the Socialist Party, has not said who would be its pick for prime minister. Its parties appeared unable to agree on who would hold cross-party appeal. Following are some of the bloc's best-known figures: JEAN-LUC MELENCHON, HARD LEFT FRANCE UNBOWED PARTY Melenchon, 72, is a pugnacious veteran of left-wing politics in France. He held ministerial posts in past governments, when he was a member of the Socialist Party. He ran for president in 2012, 2017 and 2022, improving his score each time. He came third in 2022, just behind far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Macron won that election. A fiery orator, Melenchon is one of the most divisive figures in French politics, enthusing some voters while horrifying others with his unbridled tax-and-spend proposals, class war rhetoric and controversial foreign policy positions, especially on Gaza. Critics accuse him of antisemitism, which he denies. MARINE TONDELIER, LEADER OF THE GREENS Tondelier, 37, grew up in Henin-Beaumont, a town in northern France that is well-known as a bastion of the far-right National Rally (RN) and its leader Le Pen. Tondelier has a long record of opposing the RN. She was elected as an opposition member of the town's municipal council in 2014. She documented her experiences working under an RN mayor and what she described as the oppressive atmosphere generated by the far-right administration in a 2017 book entitled "News from the Front". Tondelier was also elected to a northern regional council in 2021, and she became leader of France's best-known ecologist party, the Greens, the following year. FRANCOIS RUFFIN Ruffin, 48, is an author and filmmaker who turned to politics when he ran for parliament in the 2017 election. He stood as the sole candidate for a regional political party he created -- Arise Picardy -- before joining Melenchon's France Unbowed party once elected. Ruffin often found himself at odds with the core of France Unbowed and fell out with Melenchon over the NFP's strategy during the 2024 election campaign. "My disagreements with Jean-Luc Melenchon are well known, they are profound on democracy, on (the use of) sound and fury rather than quiet force and therefore my place will not be in the France Unbowed group, if ever I am elected," Ruffin said days ahead of the second round. He retained his seat in parliament with a wafer-thin margin over his local far-right rival. RAPHAEL GLUCKSMANN, SOCIALIST PARTY Glucksmann, 44, headed the Socialist list of candidates in the European elections in early June. It obtained nearly 14% of the vote, just behind Macron's Together group. This was considered a sign of revival for a party that governed France in past decades but had recently fallen into electoral oblivion. Glucksmann attended prestigious schools and had a career in journalism and broadcasting before branching out in a variety of directions, including being an adviser to then Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. He advocates strong European support for Ukraine in its resistance against Russia's invasion. LAURENT BERGER, FORMER CFDT TRADE UNION LEADER Berger, 55, is a former head of one of France's main trade unions, the moderate CFDT. He has a track record of strong opposition to the RN. Berger has said he does not want to be prime minister, but others on the left have put his name forward, saying he could be a unifying figure and a popular alternative to Melenchon. FABIEN ROUSSEL, LEADER OF THE FRENCH COMMUNIST PARTY A lifelong communist, Roussel joined the French Communist Party's youth movement at the age of 16 and was active in anti-apartheid protests, which he has said shaped his political thinking. Aged 55, he is a staunch defender of French nuclear energy, has denounced the rising anti-hunting sentiment in France and has defined French gastronomy as "good wine, good meat, good cheese." Roussel's first real break in politics came aged 28 when he became an adviser to Michelle Demissine, a tourism minister under prime minister Lionel Jospin. (Writing by Estelle Shirbon and Richard LoughEditing by Keith Weir) France votes in the second round of the 2024 snap legislative elections France votes in the second round of the 2024 snap legislative elections CONFLANS SAINTE-HONORINE/TOURS/CHANTILLY, France (Reuters) -Following are some views of some voters as France voted in a parliamentary election on Sunday that could see the far-right National Rally(RN) emerge as the dominant political force. Centrist President Emmanuel Macron called a snap election after his ticket was trounced by the RN in European Parliament elections last month, a move apparently aimed at wrong-footing the party. "I'm mad at the government and in particular at the president that they have taken this irresponsible risk," said Frederic Maillard, a doctor from the central town of Tours. "The country is facing three radically opposed views of society", said Olivier Grisal, a retiree, as he walked towards his polling site in the middle-class town of Conflans Sainte-Honorine, west of Paris, with his wife. Ranaivoatisan Voahirana, who works in the medical sector, said she voted for the government's candidate but was "almost certain" the National Rally would win. "People won't bother to hide their racism any more", she said. A longtime pariah for many due to its history of racism and antisemitism, the RN has sought to clean up its image and denies accusations of racism. Its platform taps into voter anger at Macron over straitened household budgets, security, and immigration worries. "We need to reset the clocks," said Dorian Garro, 21, who works as a cook, adding that his vote was mostly motivated by a desire for more law and order. "Macron has done nothing to improve security." Garro declined to say who he had voted for. Youssef Mahmoud, 33, who works in a bank in Paris, also declined to say which party he chose, but added he was against the far right's anti-immigration views: "Just because you're an immigrant doesn't mean you're necessarily taking money out of the state's coffers. If they want to restrict immigration, let them, but don't complain afterwards." In Chantilly, a town north of Paris, voter Jean-Charles Grasset said: "We're in a democracy. And if the voters pick a party from the far right or the far left then that has to be respected. The president saw the extremes rising and decided to give the people the chance to express themselves." Frederic Wallet, a construction worker, said he would submit an empty ballot as he couldn't identify with any of the choices on offer. "Good luck France, it will be a mess," he said. (Reporting by Tassilo Hummel, Ingrid Melander, Imad Creidi; Editing by Frances Kerry and Emelia Sithole-Matarise) Alice Weidel, Federal Chairwoman of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, attends the second day of the party's congress at the Grugahalle Arena. Weidel hopes that Trump will win the US presidential elections. Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa One of the leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has come out in favour of a victory by Donald Trump in the US presidential elections in November, citing his opposition to the war in Ukraine. "I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed for Donald Trump," Alice Weidel told national public broadcaster ZDF. Incumbent President Joe Biden was "obviously not in control of his intellectual powers" and should leave office, the AfD co-leader said. Weidel noted that Trump had pledged to withhold US financial support from Kiev. "And I believe he will keep his word," she said. But she also described the entire US election campaign as a disaster. "I would have wished for completely different candidates to stand, if possible," she said. Prominent anti-abortion, evangelical and social conservative groups are pressuring the Republican National Committee (RNC) not to moderate its stance on abortion, ahead of a meeting to draft a new GOP platform next week. New efforts from groups including Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Students for Life, and a coalition led by the Family Research Council are aimed at ensuring Republicans dont make former President Trumps leave-abortion-to-the states approach the official position of the party. Anti-abortion leaders have been expressing concern about Trumps approach throughout the campaign, as he has tried to avoid taking a firm stance and wading into the political minefield of abortion. Yet as the RNC closes ranks around Trump ahead of their nominating convention in Milwaukee, those groups are growing increasingly worried. They argue weakening the platform would be abandoning all the progress the movement has made at limiting access to the procedure and would risk a divide among the party when they should be united. The campaign and the RNC have seemingly rebuffed those entreaties. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said the anti-abortion movement has sought assurances from the Trump campaign for more than a month that it will not gut the pro-life plank of the platform but hasnt heard anything. Every indication is that the campaign will muscle through changes behind closed doors, Dannenfelser said in a statement. If the Trump campaign decides to remove national protections for the unborn in the GOP platform, it would be a miscalculation that would hurt party unity and destroy pro-life enthusiasm between now and the election. Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins hosted a webcast Monday night with Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) where she urged young anti-abortion activists to contact their state and local GOP leaders. Hawkins said shes had multiple conversations with the Trump campaign since February about what the platform should reflect. During the webcast, Hawkins and Lankford criticized the idea that abortion is a states-only issue. Im keenly aware we dont have the 60 votes in the Senate. But the worst thing we can do is not talk about it at all, and somehow make people presume this is no longer a value the way you win the argument is to keep talking about it, not to talk about it less. So as Republicans weve got to have this national focus, talk about it, Lankford said. The Republican Partys platform has long condemned abortion and expressed support for a national ban. In 2016, the platform backed a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendments protections apply to children before birth. It also included language opposing any public funding to perform or promote abortion or to fund organizations like Planned Parenthood. Yet the platform hasnt been updated since, as the RNC, citing COVID-19, passed a stopgap measure in 2020. This year is especially significant, as its the first time the party will meet to make changes since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Anti-abortion advocates, including RNC members, are eager to make their mark. But the Trump campaign is pushing back to avoid any vulnerabilities. Trump has a history of avoiding taking a direct stance on controversial issues, often leaving himself room to change his position or backtrack when politically expedient. The campaign wants to present a streamlined platform, and there will reportedly be no media or spectators in the room when the platform is presented and voted on, though it may be open to other RNC members. Trump campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said the platform committee has yet to convene to discuss what language should be in the final document, so any speculation is premature. But the campaign is also making sure the platform committee involves members loyal to the campaign who are not necessarily anti-abortion hard-liners. I am a little concerned about some of the hardball tactics that were used in trying to get some people on the platform committee, and also making sure that certain people couldnt serve in the platform committee, one RNC member said. The platform committee hopefuls didnt want to do anything to take away from Trump getting elected, but they dont want it watered down to where its nothing but vanilla mush. If the platform doesnt stand for anything, why have anything at all? the member said. In an effort to boost transparency of the platform meetings, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, who is a member of the platform committee, launched a new initiative to track and score the individual votes of platform delegates. But Arizona state Rep. Alex Kolodin, who is also a member of the platform committee, said he thinks the anti-abortion leaders are reacting to the perception of a change, rather than concrete evidence that something will happen. Im sure there will be some moderate attempts to water down the very strong pro-life position that weve taken in our platform, and we absolutely have to be vigilant about it. I mean, the establishment is a real thing, Kolodin said. He acknowledged that people may be suspicious of holding the meeting behind closed doors. But I would simply say that before we start pointing fingers this way, or that way, maybe we ought to have some real direct one-on-one conversations I havent seen any sort of evidence that the campaign has weighed in on this. And thats something I think people should be skeptical of. 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 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. Fears for leading anti-Kremlin activist after family says he was moved to a prison hospital Fears for leading anti-Kremlin activist after family says he was moved to a prison hospital The family of prominent jailed Russian pro-democracy activist Vladimir Kara-Murza is sounding the alarm after he was moved to a prison hospital and his lawyers said they were being denied access to him. Kara-Murza, whose family lives in the United States, is a veteran anti-Kremlin campaigner who was arrested in 2022 after he criticized President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine. He has campaigned against Putin for years and was nearly fatally poisoned twice, first in 2015 and again in 2017. Last year, Kara-Murza, 42, was moved to a Siberian prison camp, where he is serving a 25-year sentence. Kara-Murza was convicted in 2023 on charges of allegedly spreading "false information" about the Russian army and being affiliated with an "undesirable organization" in a case widely condemned as a show trial. There have been heightened fears for Kara-Murza's safety following the death of Russia's best-known opposition leader Alexei Navalny in prison in February. PHOTO: Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza sits on a bench inside a defendants' cage during a hearing at the Basmanny court in Moscow on Oct. 10, 2022. (Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images, FILE) Kara-Murza's wife said his lawyers tried to visit him on Friday at the camp in Omsk but were told he had been moved to another prison hospital. At the hospital, his lawyers were told they could not see Kara-Murza, Yevgenia Kara-Murza wrote Friday on X. She has warned that Kara-Murza's health is fragile following the two poisoning attempts that, at the time, caused multiple organ failures and left him suffering from a neurological condition. She also wrote that Russian officials refused to say what condition Kara-Murza is in. Top Putin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, who survived 2 poisonings, jailed for 25 years Some U.S. senators, as well as European officials and human rights campaigners, have expressed concern for Kara-Murza, demanding Russia immediately provide access to him. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., chair of the Senate Relations Committee, wrote in a statement on X that he was "disturbed" by the reports that Kara-Murza has been moved to a hospital. "Jail is no place for a man recovering from two poisonings. Russian authorities should know the world is watching," Cardin said. A dual British-Russian citizen, Kara-Murza -- like Navalny -- chose to return to Russia despite the two poisoning attempts on him. Timeline of Alexei Navalnys life and activism The two assassination attempts on Kara-Murza were later linked by independent researchers to the same team of poisoners from Russia's FSB intelligence service that nearly killed Navalny in 2018. The United Kingdom has sanctioned two FSB agents accused of involvement in Kara-Murza's poisoning. The State Department has previously called Kara-Murza "yet another target of the Russian government's escalating campaign of repression." Virtually all of Russia's leading anti-Putin activists have been jailed or driven into exile, as the Kremlin has moved to crush any opposition following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Supporters have warned of increased fears for the safety of opposition leaders in prisons in Russia, such as Kara-Murza and another high-profile leader Ilya Yashin, following Navalny's death. Fears for leading anti-Kremlin activist after family says he was moved to a prison hospital originally appeared on abcnews.go.com For parents of children at fee paying schools, this is a worrying time. Labour has secured a huge Commons majority and it seems only a matter of time until it introduces its commitment to apply VAT on private school fees. The vast majority of parents make major sacrifices to give their children the advantages of a private education and an additional 20pc on fees will be too much for some. In my past live Q&A sessions, Telegraph readers have been asking what, if anything, can be done to reduce the impact of the fee increases. One possibility is that the VAT charge may not apply to all fees. For example, if it is only applied to the educational content then boarding fees, school trips and other extracurricular activities may remain VAT free. In addition, some school expenditure may be on items that carry VAT, such as construction works. If fees become VAT standard rated, the school should be able to recover that VAT element involved. In addition, a few schools may be able to absorb some of the additional costs or possibly phase in fee increases by stages. However, the main question that readers are asking is whether VAT could be saved by paying fees in advance of the next election. The key here is the application of the VAT tax point rules. That is the point at which businesses have to enter the transaction in its VAT records and on which they account to HMRC for any tax due. With goods, the tax point is the earlier of the date of the transfer of the goods or the date of payment, although this can be up to 14 days later if an invoice is then issued. The rule for services is more complicated because the provision of services can apply over a long period of time. In the case of education, this is typically over a complete academic year. Nevertheless, the tax point is again the earlier of the supply of the services and the date of payment. This is the way the legislation is phrased for continuous services and it is supported by the HMRC guidance here and here. The issue is how to define the service being provided. This will come down to the specific terms of the agreement between the parents and the school. In theory, this could apply to more than one academic year but that is likely to be complicated by changes in the curriculum and perhaps choices made by the children or parents over this period. The school would have to agree to this arrangement and legal advice would be essential. There is also the risk of falling foul of anti-forestalling legislation, which Labour has said it would introduce. This would backdate the application of the VAT charge to the time of the announcement rather than the time the policy comes into effect, much as George Osborne did in 2010 when he announced an increase in the VAT rate. Also possible but far less likely I suspect, given Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said the tax would not apply retrospectively would be the use of legislation to apply the change to an earlier date. I say this notwithstanding the use of such retrospective legislation over the so-called loan charge. It may, therefore, be possible to reach a formal agreement with the school to pay fees in advance and thereby avoid the VAT charge in part. This is not without complications. The school should have unfettered use of the money. Many schools will suffer financially and could fail. In these circumstances the parents would be at risk of losing the benefit of the payments made. There is also the question of how parents raise the additional money. If bank loans are required, the cost will offset some of the planned benefits. But schools may decide to agree a discount on the fees for the early payment. As with any complicated issue like this, it is best to have a discussion with the school and plan well in advance. The Labour party says that the measure will raise 1.51bn a year that they can spend on improving standards in the state school system, but this can only be a very broad estimate. Schools will do what they can to absorb the additional costs but there will be limits and they will also be concerned that pupil numbers will fall. I know that parents will do all they can to avoid disrupting their childrens education but many will move them to the state system. This will put additional costs on the public sector education budget. Some studies have played down the impact of this, but nobody really knows. I also question whether there will be the additional places available in the state system to absorb this additional demand. My guess is that it will not be so much a sudden drop in pupil numbers but of parents deciding not to enter the private system at all. There may also be a drop off when pupils would otherwise be moving into the sixth form. It is possible that nobody will benefit from this essentially political move. Mike Warburton was previously a tax director with accountants Grant Thornton and is now retired. His columns should not be taken as advice, or as a personal recommendation, but as a starting point for readers to undertake their own further research. 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. A malfunction with a thermal heating oil tank prompted a large fire response at a food processing facility in Versailles Sunday afternoon, according to Versailles Fire Chief Brian Pearson. As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, fire crews responded to Kings Command Food Inc. on N. Center Street around noon on Sunday. Upon arrival, crews learned a thermal heating oil tank had malfunctioned causing heavy, dense smoke to spread through the facility. >> Deputies investigating reports of motorcycle crash in Champaign County A valve broke, and then when that was hitting atmospheric conditions it was creating a reaction in here, Pearson said. Crews on scene upgraded the response to a second alarm and called for mutual aid. We had a lot of water flow, sprinkler heads going off, and initially we were just taking a lot of precautionary measures to whatever we were going to come across, Pearson said. At the time of the incident, one contractor was inside the facility, but they were able to evacuate with no problem. This thermal oil, its 550 degrees inside the building so when that valve faulted, theres that temperature release and thats what was giving us the high heat alarms in a few of the adjacent rooms and additional activations, Pearson said. The facility had very little damage from this incident, according to Pearson. >> 2 dead, 19 injured after mass shooting at block party Detroit He believes employees can return to work on Monday with normal operations. No one was injured during this response. The Versailles Fire Department was assisted on scene by the Russia Community Fire Company, Osgood Community Fire Company, Gettysburg Rural Fire Department, Bradford Fire Department, Greenville Fire Department, and Burkettsville Community Fire Department. We had great help with dispatch, getting us some help here, great response times from all of our mutual aid today. Everything just went as it should, Pearson said. Firefighters extinguish commercial structure fire in Dayton; cause under investigation UPDATE @ 11:26 a.m.: Firefighters battled a commercial structure fire in Dayton early Sunday morning. Around 3:20 a.m. crews were dispatched to the 330 block of Vermont Ave on reports of a commercial structure fire. >> 4-year-old, 3 adults injured in shooting at Ohio home When firefighters got to the scene, smoke was seen coming from a one-story commercial building, according to Dayton Fire Department Assistant Chief Brad French. Crews worked quickly to get into the building and put out the fire. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation. The fires at Russian oil depots in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, are the result of the work of the drones of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU). Source: Ukrainska Pravda sources in the SSU , pic.twitter.com/atxNeqZrVZ (@ukrpravda_news) July 7, 2024 Details: Sources say that SSU drones are the cause of the fire at the LUKOIL-Yugnefteprodukt oil depot near the village of Pavlovskaya, Krasnodar Krai, where a large-scale fire could not be extinguished throughout the day on Saturday. The fire at two oil tanks started after two explosions. The SSU drones also managed to cause a series of explosions on the territory of the Rosneft-Kubannefteprodukt oil depot in the village of Leningradskaya. Satellite imagery showed that at least three fuel tanks were damaged. Background: It took two days for Russian firefighters to put out a fire at an oil depot in the village of Leningradskaya on Sunday after a drone attack on Kuban. The Russians also reported a drone attack in the village of Pavlovskaya, where a fuel storage tank burst into flames. A major explosion occurred at a field ammunition storage point near the Russian village of Sergeyevka, Voronezh Oblast, on the night of 6-7 July, caused by drones operated by the SSU. Support UP or become our patron! First Alert Meteorologist Corey Simma is keeping an eye on a few showers and storms have popped this afternoon and evening. But like the last few weeks, the rain isnt widespread and everywhere. A few showers will continue up until around sunset, then we dry out tonight. This week ahead looks pretty wet. Simma is tracking widespread showers and storms each day. Rain coverage seems to diminish a bit by next weekend. Rain totals look hefty, on the order of 2-3 for the I-95 & Hwy 301 corridors. Some neighborhoods will get that 2-3 in just one day. In the tropics, Beryl is gathering strength in the Western Gulf of Mexico. Its located ~150 miles off the Gulf Coast of Texas. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Landfall is forecast to occur southwest of Houston before sunrise on Monday. High surf, dangerous rip currents, storm surge, tropical storm force winds, and flooding rain will be impacting Texas. There are no other areas of concern. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Heres a look at your 7-day forecast: TONIGHT: Showers Early Inland, Partly Cloudy. Low: 76 TOMORROW: Partly Sunny, Scattered Showers & Storms. High: 95 TUE: Scattered Showers & Storms. 75/93 WED: Scattered Showers & Storms. 74/92 THU: Partly Cloudy, Scattered Storms. 74/92 FRI: Partly Sunny, Scattered Storms. 75/90 SAT: Partly Sunny, A Few Storms. 75/94 SUN: Partly Sunny, A Few Storms. 76/95 Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig on Saturday became the first battleground House Democrat to call for President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race in the wake of a disastrous debate performance and scramble to assuage members of his own party. 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 said in a statement Saturday morning. 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 added, arguing that the party had only a small window left to find the best candidate. She is the fifth House Democrat to call for Biden to step aside after his debate with Donald Trump, which sparked an avalanche of questions and concerns about Bidens age and mental acuity. And she is the first to do so after the presidents interview with ABCs George Stephanopoulos, which the campaign had hoped would help shift the tide. Craigs call for Biden to bow out is particularly striking because she is running for reelection in a swing seat that voted for Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020. The other four House Democrats have been from safely blue congressional districts: Reps. Mike Quigley, (D-Ill.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) Craigs statement comes as theres growing panic that Bidens debate performance, and the ensuing fallout, could spill over into congressional fights. Democrats are likely to lose their Senate majority come November, and Biden has fallen even further behind in the polls since the debate, making winning control of the House a potential key bulwark against GOP power. National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Mike Marinella hit Craig minutes later in a statement for a transparent election-year ploy to try to cling to her seat. The growing list of House Democrats calling on Biden to step aside comes even as the president has been adamant that he will stay in the race. His efforts to quell concerns included a rally in Wisconsin on Friday, followed by his first televised sit down interview since the debate. If the Lord Almighty came down and said, Joe, get out of the race, Id get out of the race, Biden said during the interview. The Lord Almightys not coming down. But House Democrats told POLITICO after the ABC News interview that even though the president was more energetic and forceful, it wasnt enough to tame the panic. Members were also struck by the presidents denial about his standing in the race and his dismissal of his partys widespread concerns. Both the House and Senate return from recess to Washington, D.C., on Monday evening. And Democrats from both chambers are expected to speak privately over the next few days conversations that will likely be a forum to air their grievances about the fallout over Bidens debate performance and try to hammer out a path forward. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) will speak with Democratic ranking committee members on Sunday where a discussion about Biden is likely to come up. Meanwhile on the Senate side, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) has approached Senate Democrats to organize a discussion on Bidens path forward, according to a source familiar. And Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) will separately hold a routine leadership meeting on Monday night, which will let him meet face-to-face with several members of the Senate Democratic caucus. A new electric vehicle charger will be piloted in Tumwaters Pioneer Park. The Tumwater City Council unanimously voted last Tuesday to approve the purchase and installation of the two-port Level-2 charger, which will be off-grid, solar-powered, battery-backed-up, ADA-accessible and free for all to use. This charger is used in California and New York, but it will be the first of its kind in Washington, said Alyssa Wood, City of Tumwater sustainability coordinator. It provides about 300 miles of charge per day, works during outages and powers bikes and wheelchairs in addition to vehicles. This is a pilot to see if this kind of charger will work well in Tumwater, Wood said. If it does, the charger may scale up with similar chargers installed in city parks and facilities across the Pacific Northwest where trenching and limited electrical capacity make it hard to deploy charging. Pierce County has already expressed interest in following our pilot, Wood said. The charger is part of Tumwaters commitment to the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan and will increase the capacity of the citys EV charging resources and aid in its efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. To fund the charger, the Washington State Department of Commerce awarded Tumwater an $87,052 grant, including pre-pay for six years of operation, maintenance and warranty. The city matched that grant with $12,742 from its General Fund allocation for Sustainability Initiatives. Tumwater may charge for use after the six years are up. This is an outstanding accomplishment, council member Joan Cathey said. It makes me very proud, and proud of Tumwater. Rev. Fidel Butch Montoya served as Denvers public safety director 1994-2000 and as deputy mayor 1996-2000 during the administration of Mayor Wellington Webb. He now is a pastor and executive director of the para-church organization, National Latino Faith Initiative, whose mission is to help faith leaders confront and resolve issues and problems in a rapidly changing society. First Lady of the United States Dr. Jill Biden is on the campaign trail for her husband, President Joe Biden, and making a stop in Georgia on Monday. The first lady will travel to Columbus on Monday evening to speak at a political event. She and President Biden were both in the Peach State just over a week ago as he debated former President Donald Trump in Atlanta for the first time this election cycle. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] After the debate, the Bidens went to a campaign and made a late-night stop at Waffle House before heading to North Carolina in preparation for another campaign rally. Since then, Pres. Bidens health and ability to run the country for another four years have been major questions on voters minds, with some questioning if he should be the Democratic nominee come November. The president and first lady have been adamant since then that he is more than capable and that he will remain on the ballot. TRENDING STORIES: Exact details of Dr. Bidens visit have not been released at this time. But before coming to Georgia, shell spend the day campaigning in Wilmington, North Carolina and Tampa, Florida. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Native Vote 2024. MIDDLEVILLE, Mich. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden made a visit to YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin on Wednesday morning as the first stop on her mini-tour of Michigan. Michigan is a battleground state in this years presidential election, but Dr. Biden came to participate in an event that highlighted the U.S. Department of Agriculture's summer nutrition programs for kids. Held at the same location, Dr. Biden also spent time with campers at Camp Corral, an overnight camp for military-connected children. Dr. Biden was joined with Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) for both events. Bob Peters, chairman of Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians (Gun Lake Tribe), attended the first event and gave First Lady Biden a black ash basket. 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. Speaking about the nutrition program adopted by the Biden administration, Sen. Stabenow expressed her belief that families should not have to be concerned with food insecurity. We want kids to have a hunger for learning, not a hunger for food, she said. In her introductory remarks, Dr. Biden reflected on being a teacher for over 30 years and how summers are often care-free and meant as a vacation. Unfortunately, for too many children, their summers are stolen by hunger, she spoke on behalf of President Joe Biden. This summer, the Biden administration is giving parents whose children receive free and reduced price lunch a little extra help to buy groceries. This will be through the Sun Meals program and is $120 for each one of their kids Joe believes that parents shouldn't have to worry about how they'll feed their children, and we know that while grocery chains are making record profits, they're still raising their prices. Thats why the Biden-Harris administration is fighting to lower grocery bills for families, Dr. Biden said. After giving her remarks at the nutrition event, Dr. Biden was ushered into the facilitys cafeteria where excited Hidden Helpers campers and counselors were all singing a camp song. As part of her Joining Forces initiative she's visiting to show her support for "military-connected children of wounded, ill or injured service members or veterans," according to her office. Stabenow introduced the First Lady, thanking her and the president for the work theyve done on behalf of military families. Dr. Biden talked of her fathers service in World War II, and that her son Beau had served in Iraq for a year. You kids are, really, ordinary kids doing extraordinary things, Dr. Biden said. Its great that you have a chance to come up here to camp and meet other kids who are in the same situation that youre in that you can talk about some of the challenges, some of the joys. The camp is 170 acres of wooded forest located on Lake Barlow. By the time Dr. Biden arrived, camp goers were already enjoying breakfast before another big day of swimming, canoeing, and other recreational camp activities. First Lady Jill Biden hearing from camp goer talk about his experience as an autistic camper who was welcomed in by other campers.(Photo/Neely Bardwell) Dr. Biden then asked the children to raise their hands and tell her what they liked best about camp. She walked around with her microphone so the kids could share her answers. The first camper told her he liked the siesta time. Is that when you take a nap? No, I cant believe you kids take naps! she replied. Thats when the camp counselors get a break? Very smart, camp counselors! Before stopping to take pictures with every table group of kids, Dr. Biden heard from one more kid about his experience at the camp. I love this camp because it has helped me overcome the hardships of being autistic. a teen-aged boy said.After the events in Middleville, Dr. Biden flew to Traverse City to help open a Biden Harris campaign office. She told reporters her husband was not dropping out of the presidential race. At the campaign office opening, Dr. Biden addressed the speculation that President Biden may pull out of the race. Because there's a lot of talk out there, let me repeat what my husband has said plainly and clearly: Joe is the Democratic nominee and he is going to beat Donald Trump, just like he did in 2020," she said. "Are you ready to help me?" The crowd cheered. Wednesdays visit was Dr. Bidens second visit to the state of Michigan this year. in May when she visited two tribes in Michigans Upper Peninsula, the Bay Mills Indian Community and Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. Levi Rickert contributed to this article. About the Author: "Neely Bardwell (descendant of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indian) is a staff reporter for Native News Online. Bardwell is also a student at Michigan State University where she is majoring in policy and minoring in Native American studies. " Contact: neely@nativenewsonline.net WILMINGTON, N.C. (WNCN) First Lady Jill Biden will be making a stop in Wilmington on Monday, according to the White House. Jill Biden is scheduled to arrive at Wilmington International Airport around 11:30 a.m. Monday and will deliver remarks at a political event in the city around 12:15 p.m. She will then travel to Tampa, FL and Columbus, GA to make similar campaign stops. This is the First Ladys third visit to North Carolina in less than two weeks. On June 28, the morning after the debate between President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump in Atlanta, the Bidens flew into Raleigh for a campaign event. Earlier that week, on June 25, Jill Biden was in Charlotte to speak at a political finance event. The visit comes as many Democrats have begun calling for Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race following the debate in Atlanta. Just last week, however, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper was among those who expressed their continued support for the incumbent. He is our nominee: Gov. Cooper, other Democratic governors express support for Biden after White House meeting President Biden told us he is definitely running for re-election, Cooper said in a statement following a meeting between the president and other Democratic governors on Wednesday. He is our nominee and well continue doing everything we can to deliver North Carolina to him. 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 CBS17.com. WILMINGTON, N.C. (WNCN) First Lady Jill Biden will be making a stop in Wilmington on Monday, according to the White House. Jill Biden is scheduled to arrive at Wilmington International Airport around 11:30 a.m. Monday and will deliver remarks at a political event in the city around 12:15 p.m. She will then travel to Tampa, FL and Columbus, GA to make similar campaign stops. This is the First Ladys third visit to North Carolina in less than two weeks. On June 28, the morning after the debate between President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump in Atlanta, the Bidens flew into Raleigh for a campaign event. Earlier that week, on June 25, Jill Biden was in Charlotte to speak at a political finance event. The visit comes as many Democrats have begun calling for Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race following the debate in Atlanta. Just last week, however, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper was among those who expressed their continued support for the incumbent. He is our nominee: Gov. Cooper, other Democratic governors express support for Biden after White House meeting President Biden told us he is definitely running for re-election, Cooper said in a statement following a meeting between the president and other Democratic governors on Wednesday. He is our nominee and well continue doing everything we can to deliver North Carolina to him. 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. 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 Get the latest news about North Carolina politics from The News & Observer's award-winning team. Get the free digest sent to your inbox by signing up here. 18-year-old drowns while swimming at Haverhill pond, police say An 18-year-old drowned while swimming at a pond in Haverhill Sunday, police say. Members of the Haverhill Police and Fire Departments were called to Plug Pond around 1:31 p.m. Sunday after someone reported the swimming teen had gone missing in the water. The body of the 18-year-old man was recovered by water search and rescue teams shortly after 3:00 p.m., Haverhill police say. Police Chief Robert Pistone said he believes the teen didnt know how to swim and accidentally crossed into water about 20 feet deep. Theres an area thats roped off thats considered deemed safe to swim in and to wade in, however there are signs that say swim at your own risk, Pistone said. Unfortunately this individual was outside of that area. The teens family was at the pond with him, according to police. There was a lifeguard on duty at the pond. It is the second deadly drowning at the recreational pond this summer and the third reported drowning. We had one fatal drowning of a toddler last month, we had a second toddler who drowned, both those in pools, that toddler is still in a boston hospital, Pistone detailed. The drowning victim was not immediately identified. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Fistfight outside Bensalem apartment building ends in death. What police say happened A 31-year-old Bensalem man is facing homicide charges after a fistfight turned deadly outside a Knights Road apartment complex. Bensalem police allege that Abel Mendoza-Ramirez and 40-year-old Jose Miguel Tenorio-Ruiz were involved in a fistfight around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday outside the Bucks Meadows Apartment where they both lived. The men knew each other, police said. Mendoza-Ramirez, who police believe lost the fight, then retrieved a semi-automatic handgun from the car. He approached Tenorio-Ruiz and the two men argued, again in the rear parking lot outside Building &, police said. Bensalem police have charged a 31-year-old man with homicide after a fist-fight turned deadly on Saturday July 6, 2024. Why judge dismissed wrongful death suit No proof of pervasive drug smuggling at Bucks County jail: judge rules in death lawsuit Mendoza-Ramirez then pulled the gun from his waistband and fired two rounds into the ground near Tenorio-Ruiz, who then attempted to grab the gun away from Mendoza-Ramirez, police said. During the struggle the gun fired, striking Tenorio-Ruiz in the torso, fatally wounding him, police said. He was transported to Jefferson-Torresdale Hospital where he was pronounced dead. After shooting the victim, witnesses told police that Mendoza-Ramirez fled the scene in his vehicle, a Ford van, according to the release. About an hour later, a Newtown Township police officer stopped the van in the 600 block of Newtown-Yardley Road in front of the Newtown Cemetery, and took Mendoza-Ramirez into custody, police said. Bensalem Director of Public Safety William McVey credited Newtown Township Police Chief John Hearn with initially spotting the van, whose description and registration had been entered into the National Crime Information Center as a felony vehicle with an armed and dangerous suspect. Hearn then notified his patrol of the location. Mendoza-Ramirez was arraigned on charges of homicide, first and third degree murder and possessing an instrument of a crime and sent to Bucks County Correctional Center without bail. According to the U.S. Homeland Security, Mendoza-Ramirez is a Mexican citizen in the United States illegally, McVey said. He was arrested for illegally entering the U.S in 2016, incarcerated briefly then released, McVey said, but he did not know if Mendoza-Ramirez was released in Mexico or the U.S. Tenorio-Ruizs immigration status is under investigation, McVey said. Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Argument at Bucks Meadows apartment complex turns violent, then deadly (KRON) Despite being an initial traffic stop for speeding, the California Highway Patrol in Marin said they arrested four suspects on Highway 101 for possessing a large cache of drugs on Friday. CHP said the drugs recovered reportedly thrown out of the car window and onto the highway equated to over 4,000 fatal overdoses. Two armed men arrested in Bay Bridge traffic stop: CHP Early Friday morning, two CHP Marin officers patrolling US-101 attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a car for speeding. While being pulled over, the occupants thought it would be a good idea to start throwing bags out of the window, hoping officers wouldnt notice, CHP said. Once the suspects pulled over, CHP said they retraced the cars route and found the following: 8.3 grams of fentanyl 1.9 grams of methamphetamine 7.9 grams of heroin 45.9 grams of cocaine 2.5 grams of psilocybin Three Xanax pills The four occupants in the car were arrested for possession of drugs with the intent to sell. CHP commented the following: Looking at the bags of fentanyl may cause people to think its not that much, but when just two milligrams of the drug can be fatal to an adult, these small bags pack enough potency to lead to over 4,100 overdoses. 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. The News Foreign reporters witnessed widespread devastation in the Gazan town of Rafah, two months after the Israeli military launched a ground offensive there. The city was described as a flattened wasteland, a maze of rubble, and unrecognizable. It was the first time international media had been allowed into Rafah since Israel began what it called a limited operation. But the level of destruction called Israels characterization into question, the reports said; the military said many of the destroyed buildings were either booby trapped or used by Hamas to fire on Israeli forces. The convoy visit came days after Hamas softened its position on a ceasefire deal, with the group saying Sunday that it is waiting for Israels response to its latest proposal. 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. When Elizabeth Fire Chief T.J. Steck first entered the fire service more than 30 years ago, he was one of more than 2,000 applicants for just six full-time positions with Denver Fire. Competition was intense. Thats not the case now, Steck told members of the Colorado Wildfire Matters Review Committee on Tuesday. Now, fire departments across the Front Range are actually fighting each other for applicants and trying to poach from each other because we dont have the number of applicants anymore, he said. Somewhere near 50% of the graduates from Elizabeths own fire academy already have job offers from other fire districts before graduation. Crippling recruiting and retention problems, a rapidly aging population and increased demand for emergency medical services, particularly in rural areas, are forcing some of Colorados smaller fire departments to sound some very loud alarms. After Sept. 11, fire departments across the nation saw an influx of applicants, as did law enforcement and the military, all wanting to become first responders. Steck, who chairs the Colorado Fire Commissions Recruiting and Retention Committee, said those numbers have dropped drastically over the last 10 years. We determined over the last two years, career (firefighter) departments, on average, have lost seven to nine personnel in a two-year period, he said. And combination (career and volunteer) departments have lost four to six personnel or firefighters during that same time. A November 2023 survey conducted by the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control identified work-life balance, compensation, and benefits as one of the primary drivers behind the troubling trend in firefighter retention. Simply put, part-time and full-time firefighters (in rural areas) were making equivalent salaries to some of the fast food chains, Steck said. Firefighters in my district can step across the county line to the west and get a pay bump of close to $20,000 per year. Volunteer firefighters have it even worse, officials said, noting many have other jobs and must coordinate time off to respond to events, as well as keep their training current. Elizabeth Fire serves a current population of 12,100, a 23% increase from the 2010 census, and the clock is ticking. Studies show that firefighters and the residents they serve are aging, especially in rural fire departments, where there is a higher percentage of volunteers. This is what were running into in Elbert County, Steck said. There are very few agencies in Elbert County that can provide advanced life support or paramedic ambulance services. So, when we talked with the legislators yesterday, it was about fires, right? But 80% of our call load is for emergency medical service, he said. In the last three to four years, Elizabeth, the countys most populous town, has seen a 75% increase in Medicare users. Featured Local Savings That tells us a couple of things, Steck said. First of all, our communitys aging, obviously, but we thought our aging community might retire and go somewhere else because of the cost of living, but theyre not. Theyre staying here and so demands for service are increasing. But while older volunteers are dedicated, Steck said rural fire departments are losing them because theyre starting to retire or simply just cant do the job anymore. The challenge is to find replacements. Historically, in rural areas, retirees would be replaced by their children, but younger generations tend to move on and not stay. Theyre leaving, and theyre not taking over the roles of their parents. Theyre not taking over the family farms or the family ranches, Steck said. And so theres no younger generation to replace volunteers as they retire. So, were seeing this significant drop in the number of available resources for volunteer fire departments. I will be honest with you, the fire chief said, a three- to five-year outlook in our area where fires are burning right now is pretty bleak. Steck said he believes the situation is reaching a tipping point. The problem with areas out in the eastern Colorado area is theyre not growing, he said. So, theyre not getting the additional tax revenue that would allow them to look at maybe hiring people or having full-time staff to make sure that they have a minimal response, but they dont have the money to do it. Most rural areas are primarily taxed as agriculture, and so the money just isnt there. And somethings going to happen, Steck warned. When theres no one there to respond, people arent going to stop calling 911, he said. Fire departments arent like the local bakery that can close their door for a day if somebodys not there to work. They have to keep their doors open. A needs assessment released in April 2023 by the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control estimates that the state needs an additional 1,085 career firefighters and 1,300 volunteer firefighters just to return to adequate staffing. Were really starting to see a crisis in rural areas, Steck said, along with trouble in the mid-Denver and Colorado Springs metro areas, where theyre having trouble getting people to apply for these jobs in a career mode. Some say smaller fire departments should consolidate, but that brings problems, too, he said. It (consolidation) doesnt help the revenue if the revenue streams dont change, Steck said. So, if you have four agriculturally-based fire volunteer fire departments in eastern Colorado that decided to consolidate their services, it might get a few more people to respond, but their agricultural property tax revenue stays the same. And as our as the state ages, our community ages, baby boomers require more services, and the call load is only going to go up, while their revenues stay the same or go down. There are no clear answers, Steck said. But we certainly need to be thinking creatively, he said. Former Pres. Jimmy Carter marks first wedding anniversary since Rosalynn Carters passing Sunday, July 7 would have marked former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carters 78th wedding anniversary. The former first lady passed away on November 19, 2023, at age 96, making this the first wedding anniversary since her passing. Growing up close by in their hometown of Plains, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter knew each for most of their lives. A then-Rosalynn Smith was close friends with Jimmys younger sister Ruth. [Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter: an enduring love story] Georgias favorite couple had their first date at the movies. For 102 years, the Rylander Theatre has proudly stood along West Lamar Street in downtown Americus and hosted many a first date. One night in the summer of 1945, 20-year-old Jimmy Carter from nearby Plains had his first date with 17-year-old Eleanor Rosalynn Smith. He told his mother after that date that Rosalynn was the woman he was going to marry. [PHOTOS: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter through the years] But Rosalynn didnt accept his proposal at first. She said no because she told Jimmy that she wanted to graduate from college first, as she had promised her father on his deathbed a few years earlier. But he was persistent, she said. The couple would eventually exchange vows on July 7, 1946, in their hometown of Plains. On his 75th birthday in 1999, Jimmy Carter said the most important decision he ever made in his life was marrying Rosalynn. MORE ON THE CARTERS: KANSAS (KSNW) The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says foul play is suspected in a missing Kansas mans disappearance. Driver in Kansas ticketed for exceeding 100 MPH On Saturday morning, the Marshall County Sheriffs Office asked the KBI for help in investigating the disappearance of 36-year-old Camoran Shoptese from Blue Rapids. According to the KBI, he was last seen around 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 4, at 709 Chestnut St. in Blue Rapids. This embedded content is not available in your region. Shoptese is Native American. He is 6 foot 1 inch tall and weighs around 200 pounds. He has short black hair, brown eyes and black tattoos covering his neck and chest. Investigators suspect foul play connected to his disappearance, says the KBI. A 2008 black Chevy Colorado may be associated with the case. Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to call the KBI at 1-800-KS-CRIME. Anonymous tips can also be submitted online at https://www.kbi.ks.gov/sar. Rural property owners in the area are also being asked to check for and report any suspicious activity they might notice on their land. An investigation is ongoing. KSN will provide more information as it 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 KSN-TV. An Ohio man who founded and served as the superintendent of two Columbus charter schools pleaded guilty this week to conspiring to commit bank fraud. Abdirizak Y. Farah, 59, admitted in U.S. District Court to fraudulently using school funds to help buy his home in New Albany, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office, Southern District of Ohio. >> 4-year-old, 3 adults injured in shooting at Ohio home Farah founded Focus Learning Academy of Northern Columbus in 2007 and Focus Learning Academy of Central Columbus in 2020. In Aug. 2020, Farah purchased a $900,000 home in New Albany. Two days before his original closing date, he requested a $265,000 wire from a Focus Learning bank account to another person, stating the purpose was for learning materials, according to court records. That same day, he submitted a letter to the bank handling his real estate closing. The letter stated he received $260,000 in gifted funds that were unrelated to the real estate transaction. The person who received the wired funds then wired $260,000 to the title company handling the closing the next day. >> Neighbors concerned after witnessing crash involving RTA bus in Dayton In the days that followed, several vendors or Focus Learning made payments totaling $265,000 to the person who helped Farah and that money was returned to the school. As part of Farahs plea agreement, he will forfeit $265,000 to the United States. Farah could face up to 30 years in prison. The state is denying responsibility for the death of a 52-year-old Navajo woman whose family says she lost her life because of a massive Medicaid fraud scandal that Arizona officials failed to prevent and negligently prolonged. Tammy Notah died as a result of an infection July 22, 2023, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in Maricopa County Superior Court. It names Arizona's Medicaid agency, the Arizona Department of Health Services and various providers as defendants. On May 16, 2023, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, along with tribal leaders and representatives of multiple state agencies, announced sweeping Medicaid fraud that is estimated to have fleeced taxpayers of up to $2.5 billion over a period of approximately four years between 2019 and 2023. During the news conference when the fraud was announced, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes characterized what had occurred as a "stunning failure of government." Officials said the fraud was also a human tragedy that targeted a small coverage option within the Medicaid agency called the American Indian Health Program, or AIHP. Fraudsters disproportionately preyed on Indigenous people seeking help in recovering from drug and alcohol dependence, investigators said. Notah's husband, Dennis Keith, and her three sons say she got the infection while trying to get sober from alcohol dependence, but she was mistreated by bogus providers who were registered with Arizona's Medicaid program. That program is called the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, known as AHCCCS (pronounced access). Tammy Notah, 52, was a member of the Navajo Nation who died July 22, 2023. Her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the state of Arizona in 2024 that says Notah died as a result of Medicaid fraud schemes that state officials could have prevented. Notah was enrolled in the American Indian Health Program, which is managed within AHCCCS, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit blames Notah's death on the state's lack of oversight and failure to stop the Medicaid fraud earlier. State officials recently filed a response to the lawsuit that denies culpability. When allegations about fraudulent billing and patient safety came to the attention of "appropriate state agencies," they were "reviewed and/or investigated, and appropriate action was taken based on the information obtained," the state response said. Notah's family said she developed an open wound under her left big toe while using the shower in a "filthy" and "crowded" sober living home in Litchfield Park, according to the lawsuit. The wound got infected and later turned into sepsis, which took Notah's life, the lawsuit said. The sober living home was affiliated with outpatient treatment providers in the Phoenix area who the lawsuit said overbilled AHCCCS for "treatment" that consisted of video-conferenced Zoom classes that were "nothing more than a billing opportunity." AHCCCS does not reimburse sober living homes, but sober living homes were critical to the fraudulent billing. Investigators have said the schemes typically worked by sober living homes forming liaisons with outpatient behavioral health providers who were registered with AHCCCS, got reimbursed by AHCCCS, and who were licensed by the Arizona Department of Health Services. Fraud and schemes: 4 Arizonans bilked Medicare of $600M, feds say Sober living home employees recruited and sometimes lured Indigenous people into the facilities with promises of free housing, food and other incentives, prosecutors have said. The lawsuit said the sober living home where Notah, her husband and son were staying was affiliated with providers who incentivized patients by paying them $100 per week if they signed in for "treatment" every day. The lawsuit said state health officials awarded licenses to drug and alcohol rehab providers without requiring them to prove that they were covered by liability insurance, "which was a loophole that allowed treatment centers to pop up overnight." The lawsuit accused AHCCCS of poor oversight and said the state, via a memo dropped off at the Arizona Attorney General's Office by a private citizen Feb. 7, 2022, knew about the fraud schemes and how they were working. In its response, attorneys for the state said the various entities alleged to have preyed on Notah as described in the lawsuit "were comparatively at fault, thus reducing or eliminating damages, if any, owed by defendants (the state)." Lawyers for the state are requesting the lawsuit be dismissed. The civil case filed by Notah's family is the fourth wrongful death lawsuit filed against Arizona over the Medicaid fraud crisis. All have been filed by lawyers from the Phoenix-based BrewerWood Law Firm. The other cases focus on the deaths of three Indigenous men from 32 to 44 years old. One was from the Crow Tribe of Montana and two were from the Navajo Nation, which extends into the states of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. The state faces other legal action over the fraud. A group of Arizona behavioral health providers and clients said they've put the state on notice of an intent to file multiple lawsuits related to the fraud. Leaders of the effort said on June 14 that they had filed 60 notices of claim precursors to lawsuits with the Arizona Attorney General's Office. The notices of claim collectively add up to $2.3 billion, group organizer Andre Miller told The Arizona Republic in June. The Arizona Republic on June 5 published a story about evidence that AHCCCS officials failed to take action on warning signs of the fraud dating back to 2021. Reach health care reporter Stephanie Innes at stephanie.innes@gannett.com or at 480-313-3775. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @stephanieinnes. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Tammy Notah's family sues state, blames Medicaid scandal for death France election 2024: Everything you need to know The Right's Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella seen on billboards in a street - Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Shutterstock France goes to the polls on Sunday for the second round of its most crucial election in decades. The hard-Right National Rally (RN) topped the first round of voting last month with 33 per cent, while the Left-wing New Popular Front alliance came second with 28 per cent. Together, Emmanuel Macrons centrist coalition, came a distant third with around 20 per cent. Mr Macron called the election after being trounced by Marine Le Pens National Rally in European elections in June shocking France and taking some of his closest allies by surprise, according to reports. The French president had hoped the vote would see the electorate reject the hard-Right. However, critics warned that it would prove a reckless gamble which could propel extremists into government. When is the French election and how will it work? The first round of legislative elections to choose deputes (MPs) for Frances National Assembly took place on June 30. Emmanuel Macron's election call may prove to be a reckless gamble - Aurelien Morissard/Reuters More than 60 candidates who received more than 50 per cent of the vote in their constituency were automatically elected. Ballots will be cast in the remaining 501 seats in a run-off vote on July 7. Any candidate who secured the support of more than 12.5 per cent of registered voters in the first round will progress to the second. Whoever gets the most votes in the second round wins the seat. In an attempt to erect a firewall against RN, the Left-wing bloc and Mr Macrons alliance have pulled 224 candidates out of three-way races. Polling suggests the manoeuvre may have paid off. While voters tend to pick candidates who best reflect their values in the first round, the process becomes more tactical by the second round. A weaker candidate may step aside so it becomes a two-horse race for example, between a mainstream candidate and hard-Right candidate. This can allow voters of various views to band together to block a rival. The party which manages to secure a majority in the lower house of parliament then forms a government to serve under the president. When will the results be announced? The second round of voting is taking place on Sunday. Voting ends at 8pm local time (7pm BST), when pollsters publish nationwide projections based on a partial vote count. These are usually reliable, with official results trickling in from 8pm. Vote counting is usually fast and efficient and the winners of all, or nearly all, seats will be known by the end of the evening. Who is in the running? The frontrunner in this race is the hard-Right National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen in parliament and nationally by Jordan Bardella, who could become Frances youngest prime minister at the age of 28. Marine Le Pen arrives at Rassemblement National (RN) party headquaters in Paris - Yoan Valat/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock In second place is a Left-wing alliance, the Popular Front, formed from centre-Left, hard-Left and Green parties. Trailing them both in third place is Mr Macrons centrist alliance Ensemble, which has been on the ropes since losing its absolute majority in parliament in 2022. The latest polls indicate that the RNs hope of scoring an absolute majority is further from grasp in the run-off vote. The most optimistic projections from French broadcaster BFM TV give the RN 200-230 seats, while others forecast between 185 and 215 seats. All of them are well below the 289 seats that would be required for Ms Le Pens party to take an absolute majority in parliament. Mr Macron has said publicly that he will not resign, but Elysees insiders have suggested to French media that he has become unpredictable. Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the far-Left party France Unbowed (LFI) has called on the president to step down if the election produces a hung parliament. Why did Emmanuel Macron call an election? Critics of Mr Macron believe his move was an act of hubris that will doom his presidency and propel the hard-Right into power. Ms Le Pen has spent years working to sanitise her partys image and position herself as the co-leader of a new party of government. Now that goal is tantalisingly close, thanks in large part to Mr Macrons decision. However, the French president was already under immense pressure from the National Rally given its soaring popularity over the course of his presidency. In calling the election, he had an opportunity to take the initiative and fight on his own terms. Initially, the tactic seemed effective, throwing the French Right into total disarray as they argued over the shape of their anti-Macron alliance. Nevertheless, it has since taken pole position in the election. The presidents move did not catch the French Left off-guard in the same way, who formed an alliance that has pushed ahead of Mr Macron. Who will become prime minister? When the president fails to secure a majority, they must appoint a prime minister from the winning alliance. This process known as cohabitation has only happened only three times in modern French history. In 1997, for example, Jacques Chirac, a conservative president, appointed Lionel Jospin, the socialist prime minister. When the prime minister is appointed, they are accountable to parliament, lead the government and introduce bills. The president retains some authority over foreign policy, such as holding the nuclear codes, and can veto the prime ministers laws, though parliament can overrule this with its majority. If the National Rally secures an absolute majority, Mr Macron will be left as a lame duck. What are the possible outcomes? RN minority An RN minority government looks the most likely outcome from the state of the polls. However, Mr Bardella says he will refuse to become prime minister without being backed up by an absolute majority, since his government could be overthrown by a no-confidence vote. I tell the French people that to act, I need an absolute majority, the 28-year-old has said. A prime minister ... with a relative majority cannot change things, I would not be able to act in the daily lives of French people, on the countrys policies. However, if the polls are wrong and RN comes just below the 289-seat threshold, it will seek an alliance with Right-wing deputies for an absolute majority. Left, mainstream alliance The president could try to build a grand coalition or plural assembly by selecting a centre-Left prime minister propped up with support from the Greens, Socialists and Republicans. Gabriel Attal, the prime minister, has said he hopes to have enough centrist lawmakers to build a majority of projects and ideas with other Republican forces. This may include those from the centre-Left and the centre-Right. However, assembling a coalition will be a significant challenge given the political differences it will have to contain. One alliance that is off the table is a pact between Mr Macrons centrist party and the far-Left France Unbowed, which both sides have ruled out. Paralysis Another option is for Mr Macron to appoint a government of experts such as economists and senior civil servants, to form a technical government until the next election. Their responsibilities would be limited to day-to-day affairs rather than major reforms. Experts predict that this form of government would not last long. The National Assembly cannot be dissolved before June 9 2025. 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. A man enters a booth to cast his vote at a polling station during the second round of the French parliamentary elections. On July 7, 2024, France is holding parliamentary elections that will be decisive for the country's political future and in which the far right could become the largest party in parliament for the first time. Hannes P. Albert/dpa There was a high turnout in Sunday's decisive second round of France's parliamentary elections, with Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally hoping to achieve an absolute majority in the National Assembly, although surveys suggest it will fall short. Voter turnout was 59.71% at 5 pm (1500 GMT), according to the Interior Ministry in Paris, up from 38.11% at the same time of the last election in 2022. In the first round a week ago the overall turnout was 66.71%. According to the television channel BFMTV, this could be the highest voter turnout since 1997. Polling stations for the run-off elections are set to close at 8 pm, with first projections based off early vote counts expected soon afterwards. According to the broadcaster FranceInfo, several shops on the famous upmarket Champs-Elysees boulevard in Paris have already been barricaded in anticipation of riots. The security forces have prepared for possible unrest, with 30,000 police officers mobilized and 5,000 officers deployed in Paris and its suburbs alone, as previously announced by Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin. An outright victory for the anti-immigration National Rally, which won the first round of elections last Sunday with 33% of the vote, would mark a turning point in France's history and have major implications for European politics. The latest opinion polls forecast Le Pen's party and its allies securing 205 to 240 representatives in the 577-seat National Assembly, short of the 289 required for an absolute majority in the lower house. Second place is expected to go to the New Popular Front (NFP), a new alliance that has brought together Jean-Luc Melenchons hard-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), the Socialist Party, the Communist Party, The Ecologists and several smaller left-leaning groups. President Emmanuel Macron, who called the snap vote in the wake of the far-right's victory in June's European Parliament elections, saw his centrist camp slip to just 20% in the first round, well behind the NFP on 28%. Just 76 of the 577 seats were allocated in the first round, meaning the top candidates in the remaining constituencies now face a run-off. Macron's Ensemble (Together) alliance and their leftist rivals have scrambled to block Le Pen from attaining an absolute majority, with more than 200 candidates standing down to avoid splitting the vote in Sunday's second round. A far-right government? For the first time in its post-war history, France faces the prospect of a far-right majority in the National Assembly, which is heavily involved in legislation and can topple the government with a vote of no confidence. Should the National Rally secure the necessary 289 seats to win outright, Macron will be under overwhelming pressure to nominate the party's parliamentary leader Jordan Bardella as prime minister. This could usher in France's first cohabitation - a term used for periods when the president and prime minister are in political opposition - since 1997. If Le Pen's party narrowly fails to secure an absolute majority, it could turn to the conservative Republicans, the party of disgraced former President Nicolas Sarkozy. The centre-right party could prove to be a kingmaker, with polls putting the group on around 10%. The most likely scenario heading into Sunday's vote is a hung parliament, with no party or alliance attracting enough support to govern. Macron's centrist camp was the biggest force in the National Assembly but is unlikely to end up close to the 245 seats it had before the snap elections. The NFP, meanwhile, has said it does not want to rule in a national coalition. This could leave France at a political standstill under a possible caretaker administration led by current Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, with more than two years to go until the next round of presidential elections in 2027, which Le Pen is favoured to win. Macron cannot run again. The rebranded National Rally The eurosceptic National Rally has softened its image in recent years in an effort to widen its appeal, even changing its name from the National Front. Its leader Marine Le Pen, the daughter of the partys founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, has twice reached the final round of presidential elections, losing to Macron but making major gains with centre-right voters. Plagued by concerns surrounding Le Pens sympathies for Russia, the party has distanced itself from other far-right European parties like the Alternative for Germany (AfD), some members of which have been accused of links to Moscow. Le Pen also criticized the AfD earlier this year, after a secret meeting attended by members of the party was revealed to have included plans to deport migrants on a large scale. Boosted by general dissatisfaction with the Macron administration, National Rally topped the European Parliament elections in June with 31.36% of the vote, leading Macron to call the snap parliamentary polls. Le Pen responded with a call for the electorate to support the party, saying that the National Rally is ready to exercise power. Yet despite the partys rebranding in recent years, its ideology remains hard-right, with a particular focus on opposing migration. Bardella, who could soon be the countrys prime minister, has railed against the supremacy of EU law over France, especially in migration cases, and pushed for referendums on migration so that France can regain "control of its destiny." A woman casts her vote at a polling station during the second round of the French parliamentary elections. On July 7, 2024, France is holding parliamentary elections that will be decisive for the country's political future and in which the far right could become the largest party in parliament for the first time. Ludovic Marin/AFP/dpa France returned to the polls on Sunday in the second round of parliamentary elections, with all eyes on whether Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party can win an unprecedented absolute majority in the National Assembly. Polling stations for the run-off elections opened across mainland France at 8 am (0600 GMT), after voting began on Saturday in the country's overseas territories. Results are expected in the evening. An outright victory for the anti-immigration National Rally, which won the first round of elections a week ago, would mark a turning point in France's history and have major implications for European politics. The latest opinion polls forecast Le Pen's party and its allies securing 205 to 240 representatives in the 577-seat National Assembly, short of the 289 required for an absolute majority in the lower house. Second place is expected to go to the New Popular Front (NFP), a new alliance that has brought together Jean-Luc Melenchons hard-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), the Socialist Party, the Communist Party and The Ecologists. President Emmanuel Macron, who called the snap vote in the wake of the far-right's victory in June's European Parliament elections, has seen his centrist camp slip to third in the polls. Just 76 of the 577 seats were allocated in the first round, meaning the top candidates in the remaining constituencies now face off in a run-off. Macron's Ensemble (Together) alliance and their leftist rivals have scrambled to block Le Pen from attaining an absolute majority, with more than 200 candidates standing down to avoid splitting the vote in Sunday's run-off. A far-right government? France faces the prospect of a far-right majority in parliament for the first time in its post-war history. Should the National Rally secure the necessary 289 seats to win outright, Macron will be under overwhelming pressure to nominate the party's parliamentary leader Jordan Bardella as prime minister. This could usher in France's first cohabitation - a term used for periods when the president and prime minister are in political opposition - since 1997. If Le Pen's party narrowly fails to secure an absolute majority, it could turn to the conservative Republicans, the party of disgraced former President Nicolas Sarkozy. The centre-right party could prove to be a kingmaker, with polls putting the group on around 10%. The most likely scenario heading into Sunday's vote is a hung parliament, with no party or alliance attracting enough support to govern. Macron's centrist camp was the biggest force in the National Assembly but is unlikely to end up close to the 245 seats it had before the snap elections. The NFP, meanwhile, has said it does not want to rule in a national coalition. This could leave France at a political standstill under a possible caretaker administration led by current Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, with more than two years to go until the next round of presidential elections in 2027, which Le Pen is favoured to win. Macron cannot run again. A man enters a booth to cast his vote at a polling station during the second round of the French parliamentary elections. On July 7, 2024, France is holding parliamentary elections that will be decisive for the country's political future and in which the far right could become the largest party in parliament for the first time. Hannes P. Albert/dpa France returned to the polls on Sunday in the second round of parliamentary elections, with all eyes on whether Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party can win an unprecedented absolute majority in the National Assembly. Polling stations for the run-off elections opened across mainland France at 8 am (0600 GMT), after voting began on Saturday in the country's overseas territories. Results are expected in the evening. An outright victory for the anti-immigration National Rally, which won the first round of elections a week ago with 33% of the vote, would mark a turning point in France's history and have major implications for European politics. The latest opinion polls forecast Le Pen's party and its allies securing 205 to 240 representatives in the 577-seat National Assembly, short of the 289 required for an absolute majority in the lower house. Second place is expected to go to the New Popular Front (NFP), a new alliance that has brought together Jean-Luc Melenchons hard-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), the Socialist Party, the Communist Party and The Ecologists. President Emmanuel Macron, who called the snap vote in the wake of the far-right's victory in June's European Parliament elections, saw his centrist camp slip to just 20% in the first round, well behind the NFP on 28%. Just 76 of the 577 seats were allocated in the first round, meaning the top candidates in the remaining constituencies now face a run-off. Macron's Ensemble (Together) alliance and their leftist rivals have scrambled to block Le Pen from attaining an absolute majority, with more than 200 candidates standing down to avoid splitting the vote in Sunday's vote. A far-right government? For the first time in its post-war history, France faces the prospect of a far-right majority in the National Assembly, which is heavily involved in legislation and can topple the government with a vote of no confidence. Should the National Rally secure the necessary 289 seats to win outright, Macron will be under overwhelming pressure to nominate the party's parliamentary leader Jordan Bardella as prime minister. This could usher in France's first cohabitation - a term used for periods when the president and prime minister are in political opposition - since 1997. If Le Pen's party narrowly fails to secure an absolute majority, it could turn to the conservative Republicans, the party of disgraced former President Nicolas Sarkozy. The centre-right party could prove to be a kingmaker, with polls putting the group on around 10%. The most likely scenario heading into Sunday's vote is a hung parliament, with no party or alliance attracting enough support to govern. Macron's centrist camp was the biggest force in the National Assembly but is unlikely to end up close to the 245 seats it had before the snap elections. The NFP, meanwhile, has said it does not want to rule in a national coalition. This could leave France at a political standstill under a possible caretaker administration led by current Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, with more than two years to go until the next round of presidential elections in 2027, which Le Pen is favoured to win. Macron cannot run again. The rebranded National Rally The eurosceptic National Rally has softened its image in recent years in an effort to widen its appeal, even changing its name from the National Front. Its leader Marine Le Pen, the daughter of the partys founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, has twice reached the final round of presidential elections, losing to Macron but making major gains with centre-right voters. Plagued by concerns surrounding Le Pens sympathies for Russia, the party has distanced itself from other far-right European parties like the Alternative for Germany (AfD), some members of which have been accused of dodgy links to Moscow. Le Pen also criticized the AfD earlier this year, after a secret meeting attended by members of the party was revealed to have included plans to deport migrants on a large scale. Boosted by general dissatisfaction with the Macron administration, the National Rally topped the European Parliament elections in June with 31.36% of the vote, leading Macron to call the snap parliamentary polls. Le Pen responded with a call for the electorate to support the party, saying that the National Rally is ready to exercise power. Yet despite the partys rebranding in recent years, its ideology remains hard-right, with a particular focus on opposing migration. Bardella, who could soon be the countrys prime minister, has railed against the supremacy of EU law over France, especially in migration cases, and pushed for referendums on migration so that France can regain "control of its destiny." Left-wing leaders have repeatedly warned against allowing the National Rally into government, but Macrons gamble has opened the door for the party. French voters have the chance to decide the country's fate on Sunday. A woman casts her vote at a polling station during the second round of the French parliamentary elections. On July 7, 2024, France is holding parliamentary elections that will be decisive for the country's political future and in which the far right could become the largest party in parliament for the first time. Ludovic Marin/AFP/dpa Following the surprise victory of the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance in the parliamentary election in France, the leader of the Socialists, Olivier Faure, has spoken out against a government alliance with President Emmanuel Macron's centrist camp. There should be no "coalition of opposites" that continues Macron's policies, said Faure. Faure called for France to be modernized, including massive investment in climate action. The rich should also be taxed more heavily, he said. According to initial projections, the NFP is surprisingly ahead after the second round of the parliamentary elections in France and is projected to gain 172-215 of the 577 seats in the lower house, or National Assembly. The far-right National Rally fell to third place after topping the polls in the first round, now ending up behind Macron's centrist camp. No camp is likely to achieve an absolute majority of 289 seats. Leading social democratic politician Raphael Glucksmann, who was the French Socialists' lead candidate in the European elections, said that there could be majorities for individual projects in the future. This strategy has proved difficult for Macron's forces over the past two years. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) A French Bulldog that was stolen last Saturday was reunited with his owner, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) announced. MPDs Violent Crimes Suppression Division recovered the 2-year-old French Bulldog, Yurman, a week after he was stolen while on a walk with his owner. On Saturday at about 8 a.m., MPD conducted an operation near Pennsylvania Ave and Alabama Ave in Southeast and recovered Yurman. He is literally my everything: Womans 2-year-old French Bulldog stolen while on walk in Southeast DC Yurmans owner, Jaineen Brown, said she was contacted by someone who claimed they had her dog and would be willing to sell him back to her. Brown then went to the police with the information. On June 29 at about 8:20 p.m., Brown was walking Yurman in the 1700 block of Fort Davis Street SE when someone approached her with a gun. The suspect took her dog and fled the scene in what Brown described as a black Honda Accord. He is my emotional support dog. Im from Akron, Ohio dont have very much family here at all, so he is literally my everything, she said in an interview with DC News Now last Saturday. On Sunday, MPD said they arrested and charged 27-year-old Raphael Lambert Loundermon II and 27-year-old Khaliah Johnson, both of Southeast D.C., with Extortion and Receiving Stolen Property. MPD is still working to identify the robbery suspect. A photo of the suspect car can be seen below: Courtesy of the Metropolitan Police Department. Burglars have targeted French Bulldogs in recent months throughout the District. In late March, a 4-year-old French Bulldog named Recardito was in his owners car when someone took him. He was reunited with his owner the next day something Brown was hopeful for even in the hours after Yurman was taken. 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. Colorado Springs fire investigators are working to determine the cause of a residential blaze that displaced nine people including a child and killed three pets on Saturday, fire department officials said. At about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, CSFD crews responded to reports of a fire at 1332 W. Kiowa St. The Victorian-style house had been converted into six apartments, and the first crews on scene saw smoke coming from a basement unit, officials said. Firefighters extinguished the blaze in under an hour, according to CSFD. One person was taken to a hospital and treated for minor smoke inhalation, and two other people were examined but refused treatment. Three cats were found dead at the scene. Red Cross was on scene to assist the displaced residents, according to a social media post from the department. The cause of the fire is unknown, investigators are on scene, the post stated. French Elections: Left Wing Bloc Triumphs In Knife Edge Parliamentary Elections; Far Right National Rally Comes Third Exit Polls The left wing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance triumphed in the second round of Frances snap parliamentary elections on Sunday, with the far right National Rally (RN) party coming in third, according to first exit polls released immediately after voting closed. Per the preliminary results, the NFP bloc has won between 170 to 190 seats in the 577-seat lower house, while RN has taken between 135 to 155 seats, behind President Emmanuel Macrons centrist Ensemble bloc which looks set to take 150 to 170 seats. More from Deadline The result was unexpected with polls ahead of the vote predicting that RN was on course to clinch between 200 to 230 seats, even if looked set to miss out on an absolute majority. Early exit polls published by media in neighboring Belgium in the final hour of voting had also suggested RN was on track to come out on top. As the news of the NFP alliances victory broke at 8pm local time, thousands of people descended on Paris Place de la Republique to celebrate. Racists, fascists, youre one the ones who are terrorists, chanted the crowd, referring to the RNs populist rhetoric of recent weeks. According to interior ministry figures released before booths closed, the participation rate was 67.10%, which is higher than the first round of voting on June 30, and the highest level since 1997. The polls was one of the most decisive elections in France since WW2, pitting an anti-immigrant, law and order right wing bloc led by RN against the hastily assembled left-wing NFP alliance consisting of the La France Insoumise, the Socialist Party, Les Ecologistes, the French Communist Party, Generation.s, and Place Publique parties. The Ensemble bloc gathers Macrons Renaissance as well as the Democratic Movement (MoDem), Horizons, En commun and the Progressive Federation. Under Frances election protocol, in seats where there is no clear majority in the first round, candidates with at least 12.5% of the vote can stand in the second round. Not natural political bedfellows, the NFP and Ensemble blocs worked together to ensure their candidates did not split the vote in constituencies where RN, NFP and Ensemble candidates had made it through. This resulted in 134 NFP candidates and 82 Ensemble candidates standing down. RN leader Jordan Bardella, who had looked on the cusp of becoming prime minister, told his supporters on Sunday evening that the tactic was an alliance of dishonour. France has been thrown into the arms of the extreme left of Jean-Luc Melenchon, he added, referring to the hard-left leader of NFP alliance member party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed). The fact that no party has come out with an absolute majority means France is set for days, weeks even, of political uncertainty. As the exit polls hit the wires, Melenchon immediately demanded that Macron-appointed Prime Minister Gabriel Attal step down and that the president invite the NFP to form a government. The will of the people must be strictly respected, he said. The president must bow down and admit this defeat without circumventing it. The prime minister must go! The president has the power, the president has the duty to call on the New Popular Front to govern. It is ready for it. Macron called the snap election on June 9 in response to hefty gains by RN in European elections, in which 373 million citizens from 27 countries belonging to the European Union bloc voted on its 720-seat European parliament. The French turnout for that poll was less than 50% of the electorate but Macron said the result posed a danger to France. Regardless of which bloc won the second round, Macron had vowed to stay in place as president until the end of this current mandate in May 2027, although it is not clear how much power he will wield without a majority in parliament. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. A left-wing alliance has won the most seats in the French parliament after tactical voting in Sundays second round election thwarted Marine Le Pens far-right party, but France will be left in political limbo after no party came close to winning an absolute majority. In a surprise result, the New Popular Front (NFP) a cluster of several parties ranging from the far-left France Unbowed party to the more moderate Socialists and the Ecologists won 182 seats in the National Assembly, making it the largest group but short of the 289 required for an absolute majority, according to the French Interior Ministry. President Emmanuel Macrons centrist Ensemble alliance, which had slumped to a dismal third in the first round of voting last Sunday, mounted a strong recovery to win 163 seats. Despite leading after the first round of votes, Marine Le Pens far-right National Rally (RN) party and its allies won 143 seats. The RNs strong showing in the first round stirred fears that France could be on the cusp of electing its first far-right government since the collaborationist Vichy regime of World War II. But Sundays results come as a huge upset and show French voters overwhelming desire to keep the far right from gaining power even at the cost of a hung parliament. After the first round, an unprecedented number of seats over 300 went to a three-way runoff between Ensemble, the NFP and the RN. By Tuesday, more than 200 centrist and left-wing candidates withdrew from the second round, in a bid to avoid splitting the vote. Cheers rang out on the streets of Paris as the projection was published. Speaking to a crowd of his ecstatic supporters near Stalingrad square, Jean-Luc Melenchon, the firebrand leader of France Unbowed, said the results came as a huge relief for the overwhelming majority of people in our country. Our people have clearly rejected the worst-case scenario, Melenchon said. A magnificent surge of civic mobilization has taken hold! Gabriel Attal, Macrons protege, announced he would resign as prime minister Monday morning. He seemed to take a swipe at Macrons decision to call the snap vote, saying he didnt choose for Frances parliament to be dissolved. Elsewhere in Paris, the buoyant atmosphere at a RN campaign event in Bois de Vincennes took a nosedive an hour before the polls closed. After the projection was announced, Jordan Bardella, the partys 28-year-old leader, said France had been thrown into uncertainty and instability. Handpicked as leader by Marine Le Pen in an effort to purge the party of its racist and antisemitic roots, Bardella had taken the party closer to the gates of power than ever before. Visibly disappointed by the results, he slammed the NFP as an alliance of dishonor. As from tomorrow, our deputies will take up their places to make sure we counter the migration policies and other policies of the far left. We will not enter into any kind of coalition or compromise, we will be the side of the French people, he said. Supporters of the far-left France Unbowed party cheers the results near Stalingrad square in Paris. - Yara Nardi/Reuters A hastily assembled coalition In a brief statement, the Elysee said Macron is awaiting the full results of all 577 constituencies before taking the necessary decisions. In his role as guarantor of our institutions, the president will ensure that the sovereign choice of the French people is respected, it said. After parliamentary elections, the French president appoints a prime minister from the party that won the most seats. Ordinarily, this means a candidate from the presidents own party. However, Sundays results mean Macron faces the prospect of having to appoint a figure from the left-wing coalition, in a rare arrangement known as a cohabitation. Speaking to supporters near Stalingrad square, Melenchon said Macron has the duty to call the New Popular Front to govern. A giant French flag reads "France is born out of migration," at an event in Republique Square in Paris. - Geoffroy van der Hasselt/AFP/Getty Images But it is not clear from which party within the coalition that Macron will appoint a prime minister. France Unbowed won 74 seats, making it the largest single party within the NFP, ahead of the Socialists with 59. But Macron and his allies had repeatedly stressed that they would refuse to enter into coalition with Melenchon. Speaking after last Sundays first round, outgoing Prime Minister Gabriel Attal Macrons protege, said France Unbowed was preventing the formation of a credible alternative to the far right. The NFP formed less than a month ago, after Macron called the snap vote following his partys disastrous loss to the RN in last months European Parliament election. The capacious and potentially fractious coalition chose its name in an attempt to resurrect the original Popular Front that blocked the far right from gaining power in 1936. Sundays results mean the NFP has managed to do this again. It campaigned on a platform to raise the minimum monthly wage to 1,600 euros (more than $1,700), to cap the price of essential foods, electricity, fuel and gas, and to scrap Macrons deeply unpopular pension reform, which raised the French retirement age already one of the lowest in the Western world from 62 to 64. Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of France Unbowed, delivers an election night speech at the party headquarters in Paris. - Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP/Getty Images A mess of Macrons making? Sundays vote represents a victory for the French cordon sanitaire, the principle that mainstream parties must unite to block the far right from taking office. But the RNs success should not be underestimated. In the 2017 elections, when Macron swept to power, the RN won just eight seats. In 2022, it surged to 89 seats. In Sundays vote, it won 125 making it the largest individual party in parliament. While the risk of a far-right government has been avoided for now, these elections have plunged France into political uncertainty. Macron called the election three years earlier than necessary, just minutes after his party was trounced by the far right in the EU election. Although EU election results need have no bearing on domestic politics, Macron said he could not ignore the message sent to him by voters and wanted to clarify the situation. But Sundays results may further muddy the French political picture. Unable to call a new election for at least another year, and with three years left on his presidential term, Macron looks set to preside over an unruly parliament, as problems mount at home and abroad. Edouard Philippe, Frances former prime minister and an ally of Macron, said Macrons gamble had further complicated the situation. The truth is that none of the political blocs in the assembly has a majority on its own to govern. The dissolution of the assembly, which was intended as a clarification, has instead led to great vagueness, he said Sunday evening. The central political forces therefore have a responsibility to stay. They must, without compromise, promote the creation of an agreement that will stabilize the political situation. CNNs Joseph Ataman and Melissa Bell contributed reporting. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced his resignation after the left-wing alliance secured a surprise victory in the French parliamentary elections on Sunday and his centrist camp failed to win a majority. Attal, who belongs to President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party, said after the first projections were published on Sunday evening that the Ensemble (Together) alliance led by Renaissance had no majority to govern and he would be submitting his resignation to Macron on Monday morning. Attal's governing camp is likely to slip from 245 seats to between 150 and 180 of the 577 seats in the lower house of parliament, or National Assembly, making it the second largest force behind the NFP, which is projected to have between 172 and 215 seats. Macron can ask Attal and the government to remain in office on a temporary basis until a majority for a new government is in place. In view of the Olympic Games, which are due to begin in Paris on July 26, it is also possible that Attal's government will remain in office for a few more weeks. Macron appointed Attal as prime minister in January. At the age of 34, he became the youngest prime minister in recent French history. Attal was considered quite popular and had a reputation for being able to discuss issues with representatives of other political camps. Nevertheless, he was unable to free the French government from its problems in parliament. Attal also led the campaign for the parliamentary elections. Macron had set himself the goal of achieving a clear majority for his centrist forces in the National Assembly with the snap parliamentary election, but his gamble failed. Nevertheless, his camp did better than expected after it came third in the first round a week ago. French New Yorkers line up to vote in run-off election as right-wing National Rally tries to take majority French citizens in New York turned out in droves on Saturday for the second round of voting in Frances parliamentary run-off election. Voters showed up at the consulate as well at the tony private school Lycee Francais de New York on East 75th Street and the networking and arts space Villa Albertine on Fifth Avenue, French officials told The Post. Voting is also taking place online, consulate officials said. In addition, citizens also were allowed to apply for someone they trust to vote for them by proxy at sites in the Big Apple. French nationals que to vote at the Centre Mont Royal during the second round of French legislative elections in Montreal, Canada. AFP via Getty Images A man walks past election posters in France. AFP via Getty Images Marine Le Pens right-wing nationalist party National Rally came out on top of first-round voting last Sunday, followed by a coalition of center-left, left-wing and Greens parties and President Emmanuel Macrons centrist alliance in a distant third. The party has seen its support climb steadily over the past decade and is hoping to obtain an absolute majority in the second round. That would allow National Rally leader Jordan Bardella to become prime minister and form a government that would be at odds with Macrons policies on Ukraine, police powers and other issues. Preelection polls suggest that the party may win the most seats in the National Assembly but fall short of an absolute majority of 289 seats. That could result in a hung parliament. A win for Le Pen would mean France would be helmed by a far right majority for the first time since World War II. French President Emmanuel Macron leaves the voting booth before voting in the early French parliamentary election. AP A woman walks past campaign posters on an election board prior to the second round of the early French parliamentary elections. REUTERS In New York, more than 12,000 French citizens voted in the first round last week, out of the 32,600 who are living in the Big Apple and registered to vote, according to Victoire Caroly, a spokesperson for the French consulate in New York. Thats a substantial uptick from the 4,700 who voted in the 2022 French legislative elections, when there were 25,700 French voters in the city. We had an amazing turnout, Caroly said. The results of the vote are expected late Sunday. With wire reports NEW HYDE PARK, NY (PIX11) Friends and family said their final farewell to NYPD Officer Emilia Rennhack at her funeral Saturday. She was killed in a tragic car crash on her day off last Friday. Police said a man was driving while intoxicated and crashed a minivan into a Long Island nail salon while Rennhack was inside. Three other people were also killed, and nine people were injured, according to police. Loved ones mourn NYPD officers death in fatal Long Island car crash In a final act of honor and remembrance, a sea of blue lined Lakeville Road as loved ones paid their respects to Officer Rennhack at the New Hyde Park Funeral Home. Angie Colon formed a close bond with Rennhack, who worked alongside her at the 102nd precinct. She was full of life, Colon said. She was just as big as her smile. She has a very beautiful smile. Beautiful person inside and out. Everybody just adored her. Rennhack was a six-year veteran of the NYPD. The driver of the minivan, Steven Schwally, has since been charged with a DWI but has pleaded not guilty. Schwally was also arrested and charged with a DWI back in 2014. PBA President Patrick Hendry is now calling for justice to be served. The justice system failed in this case, said Hendry. This individual shouldnt have been out driving a car. Had many, many drinks and took a persons life, and took many peoples lives that day and injured others. Mayor Eric Adams said Rennhacks dedication to serving the community will never be forgotten while also speaking about her Polish background. Every corner of the globe is wearing that blue uniform because those countries come here, said Adams. They know the prerequisite to our prosperity is public safety and theyre willing to put their lives on the line here, and I wanted to come here and show my respect. As the service came to an end, the solemn sound of bagpipes filled the air. Rennhacks casket draped in the NYPD flag as her comrades in blue gently placed it into the hearse. As a procession carried her body to its final resting place, those who cherished her most are remembering Rennhack as a loving and dedicated officer gone too soon. Its sad, but its nice to see everybody come together for such a beautiful girl, and were always going to remember her, Colon said. Shes never going to be forgotten. 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. In what is shaping up to be a competitive race, four candidates have qualified to appear on the ballot for Florida House District 22 primaries. The position was previously held by Chuck Clemons, a prominent local Republican and creator of HB-1645, the bill that created the Gov. Ron DeSantis-appointed Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority. Clemons was first elected to the Florida House in 2016, but is leaving office because of term limits. Read a breakdown of all the Florida House District 22 candidates with The Gainesville Suns 2024 voter guide. Gainesville voters will vote to decide three seats on the Gainesville City Commission on Aug. 20. More: 2024 Voter Guide: Gainesville City Commission. See how the candidates stack up More: 2024 Voter Guide: School Board of Alachua County. See how the candidates stack up Florida House District 22 - Republicans There are two Republicans facing off in the primary, Raemi Eagle-Glenn and Chad "Cracker" Johnson. Eagle-Glenn is the Alachua County Republican state committeewoman and was appointed by DeSantis to the Alachua County Commission before she was defeated by Commissioner Mary Alford in the 2022 election. Her first priority is limiting the size of government in order to create a flourishing economy, according to her campaign website. Other priorities include supporting law enforcement, advocating for farmers and protecting the states natural resources. Eagle-Glenn has raised $83,710 for her run, according to campaign finance data. Notable contributions include $20 from Alachua County Supervisor of Elections candidate Judith Jenson and $100 from State Attorney Brian Kramer. Competing against Eagle-Glenn is Johnson, a former Levy County commissioner and former president of the Levy County Farm Bureau. Johnson, a former Democrat, is endorsed by Clemons and the Associated Industries of Florida. He is prioritizing sustainable agriculture, lowering taxes, and parental rights in schools, according to his website. Johnson has raised $132,460 for his run, according to campaign finance data. Notable contributions include $250 from Alachua County Sheriff Emery Gainey, $500 from Allen Law Firm, and $500 from local real estate developer Nathan Collier. Florida House District 22 - Democrats There are two qualifying Democrats running for Florida House District 22 David Arreola and Amy Trask. In 2017, Arreola became the youngest person ever elected to the Gainesville City Commission and was selected as mayor pro tempore twice. He also works for 21st Century Communications, a rural internet service. His priorities include improving gun safety, increasing housing affordability and fighting for access to reproductive freedom, according to his campaign website. Arreola is endorsed by the North Central Florida Labor Council, Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward, numerous Gainesville commissioners and state Rep. Yvonne Hayes-Hinson. Arreola has raised $66,842 for his run, according to campaign finance data. Notable contributions include $500 from Brandon Peters who was the Democratic nominee for the same seat in 2022, $50 from former Gainesville Commissioner Adrian Hayes-Santos, $25 from Commissioner Casey Willits, $100 from Commissioner Bryan Eastman, $50 from Alachua County School Board member Sarah Rockwell and $500 from James Coats, a previous member and DeSantis-appointee of the GRU Authority board. Arreola will face Trask in the August primary. Trask describes herself as a parent and public servant and works as a landscape analyst for Harvard Safra Center for Ethics, according to her campaign website. Trasks priorities include supporting public education, eliminating censorship in public education and protecting womens rights. Trask has raised $7,389 for her run, according to campaign finance data. Notable contributions include $50 from Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward, $100 from Rockwell and $100 from Alford. Voters can find their precinct ahead of the August election by visiting the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections website. This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: 2024 Voter Guide: Florida House of Representatives District 22 An explosion at a gas distribution hub near Alushta in Russian-occupied Crimea on the evening of July 6 caused a large fire, the Telegram channel Crimean Wind reported. Rescue teams and forestry workers on-site had been working to prevent the spread of the fire. The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify these reports. It is unclear what has caused the explosion. Russian-installed Mayor of Alushta Galina Ogneva said that gas supply to 14 settlements in the Alushta area has been halted due to the fire. She expressed concern that the incident could result in a complete gas shutdown. Social media reports suggest a powerful explosion took place between the villages of Maly Mayak and Vynohradny in the Alushta district, sparking a fire likely originating from a gas main. Ukraine has carried out several successful attacks against Russian targets in occupied Crimea and its vicinity, heavily degrading the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Ukrainian forces struck around 15 Russian air defense systems in occupied Crimea over the past two months, Ukrainian military reported on June 17. Over 15 radar stations and more than 10 control centers stationed on the peninsula were also reportedly hit. Read also: Ukraine hit ammunition depot in Russian-occupied Crimea, Air Force confirms Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Numerous police officers stand together for a meeting. After a fire with a "threatening situation", the police surrounded a wooded area in Altdorf near Nuremberg in the search for an armed man. Pia Bayer/dpa German police have found the body of a man linked to a fire and a threat with a firearm in Altdorf near Nuremberg in Bavaria, They sounded the all-clear and lifted a block on the nearby A3 motorway. No one else was reported injured in the incident that began with a call-out to a fire in a house and in nearby woodland. Police had earlier cordoned off a section of woodland in their search for the man, who had earlier threatened a firefighter with a firearm. A firearm was found near his body, which showed signs of burns. The police are on a major operation in Altdorf near Nuremberg. After a fire with a "threatening situation", the police surrounded a wooded area in Altdorf near Nuremberg in the search for an armed man. Pia Bayer/dpa Travis Chiotti puts a brass tag bearing his name on a hook on the in board before heading 1,400 feet down-shaft. Its a pair the other tag goes in his pocket. Just in case. Helmet, headlamp, heavy steel-toed rubber boots, emergency respirator. Check. Mining is hard work. Simply moving around is taxing. In these wet tunnels, the slopes are steep and slippery. The mud clings, and calf-deep pools of water can trap a boot. Underground miners are a special breed. Absent the cacophony of pumps, ventilation air blasting at 140,000 cubic feet per minute, drilling, blasting and moving rock with diesel skip loaders, the absolute silence is deafening. And if ones headlamp battery fails, theres only total darkness. The miners dont mind. They like it down there, they told The Gazette one day in May. Chiotti, a superintendent at the mine owned by a Colorado company, and his crew are at the front lines in the battle over uranium mining near the Grand Canyon. The outcome of that battle offers all kinds of implications for Americans jobs, energy, the environment, the economy, national security. Uranium fuels nuclear power, which, to many supporters, is the only real path to a sustainable, efficient, plentiful and practically carbon-free energy. To critics, its risks, including vulnerable plants and radioactive waste, far outweigh the benefits. Uranium mining is also caught in the crossfire between environmentalists and their allies in government seeking to transition away from fossil energy, and the oil and gas industry and its supporters, who argue that a balanced energy portfolio is the more practicable and reasonable path. At the Grand Canyon, the layers of this battle are more localized. Native Americans, including the Havasupi, Navajo and Hopi tribes, and environmental organizations, such as the Grand Canyon Trust, vehemently object to uranium mining. They want the Pinyon Plain mine and every other uranium mine in the region closed permanently. They claim that this mine, in particular, threatens to contaminate underground water sources with radioactive materials and arsenic. They are particularly concerned about the deep Redwall-Muav aquifer that feeds Havasu Creek and its spectacular travertine pools on the Havasupi Reservation. The tribes have good reason to be fearful of uranium mining, said Jody Pasternak, author of the acclaimed 2010 book, Yellow Dirt A Poisoned Land and the Betrayal of the Navajo, which documents the history and effects of the uranium boom on the Navajo Nation. In her book, Pasternak said that for more than 70 years, Native Americans in the region have borne the terrible consequences of careless, dangerous and dismissive government policies and practices around uranium mining and of a near-total lack of cleanup and remediation of radioactive mine waste going back to the 1940s. Curtis Moore, senior vice president of marketing and corporate development at Energy Fuels Resources Inc., said the mining practices of decades past are no longer applicable or legal. He said the underground uranium lode can today be safely extracted to provide reliable, low-carbon nuclear energy, serving the needs of millions and millions of American households. When mining is completed, Moore said, the only evidence it ever existed would be a monitoring well. He also said that the company, which is based in Lakewood, has made repeated unsuccessful overtures to the Navajo Nation to assist in cleaning up abandoned radioactive mine waste by hauling it off the reservation to be processed for residual uranium at no cost. And Moore said fears of contaminating the Redwall-Muav aquifer are groundless. He pointed to a 35-year record of research, permitting and lawsuits over the mine, in which every decision has been in the companys favor. Moores point is that mining uranium today, under current federal mining and environmental regulations, is nothing like it was in the past. A clean release Pinyon Plain assistant mine superintendent Matthew Germansen told The Gazette that the company has mined out and reclaimed eight or nine uranium ore sources in the region and theyve all had a clean release, which means they meet or exceed EPA standards for remediation. Safety is the overriding concern for the company, Germansen said. And its not just the safety of the personnel at the mine thats a priority. It extends to the public, as well, he said. Were a family, Germansen said. Were going to make sure that yes, theyve got the safety practices in place underground, but we also know that theyre people and were people, too. We all got to work together to make sure were working as a team. Were going to do it right because we want to prove to the public that we can do it safely and that we have done it safely and were going to do it safely this time, he added. Energy Fuels wants to do it so that we have healthy miners and healthy equipment and healthy production, and the regulators want us to do it so that we can also have that health go beyond the fence line to the greater public. The Pinyon Plain mine is not the first or the only source of uranium or other minerals like copper around the Grand Canyon, some of which have been mined since the 1950s, when the uranium mining boom, precipitated by the World War II Manhattan Project to create the first nuclear weapon, exploded in the uranium-rich Southwest. First approved by Arizona and federal agencies in 1986, the Canyon mine, now known as the Pinyon Plain mine, has been at the center of controversy since 2013. It contains perhaps 3 to 5 million pounds of marketable refined uranium oxide. Battle lines were drawn back in 2008, when then-Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano urged the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to stop the staking of new mining claims around the Grand Canyon, citing concerns about contamination of the Colorado River. Ken Salazar, then U.S. Secretary of the Interior and a former Colorado U.S. senator, finalized the withdrawal on Jan. 9, 2012, prohibiting new mining claims for 20 years, while preserving existing mines and valid mining claims, one of which was the Pinyon Plain mine. A withdrawal is the right approach for this priceless American landscape, said Salazar, who is now the American ambassador to Mexico. Numerous American Indian tribes regard this magnificent icon as a sacred place and millions of people in the Colorado River Basin depend on the river for drinking water, irrigation, industrial and environmental use. Last year, President Joe Biden invoked the Antiquities Act for the fifth time as part of his America the Beautiful initiative, which seeks to conserve and restore 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. Biden signed a proclamation establishing the Baaj Nwaavjo Itah KukveniAncestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument on August 8, 2023. The monument expands on and makes permanent the 2012 withdrawal and encompasses almost all of the known or suspected uranium lodes scattered around the Grand Canyon. It comprises 917,618 acres of public lands managed by the Interior Departments Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Agricultures U.S. Forest Service. The proclamation continues the Biden-Harris Administrations unprecedented engagement with Tribal Nations around traditional homelands and sacred sites, the White House said in a fact sheet. But the proclamation also said existing mineral rights and mines would be respected and may continue. In 2012, the Bureau of Land Management said that up to 11 mines could still be developed under the withdrawal, including four already approved, which included the Pinyon Plain mine. Whether the designation of a national monument changes the potential for further mining is today an unanswered question. Ore and culture In addition to worries about contamination, the tribes said the mine, located on public lands on the Kaibab National Forest, interferes with their traditional religious practices and uses of their ancestral lands. Featured Local Savings There are also cultural issues with the mine because it sits within traditional cultural property, said Amber Reimondo, energy director for the Grand Canyon Trust. Its an area thats highly significant to several tribes and especially the Havasupai Tribe. Red Butte, which is just a couple of miles away from that mine, is incredibly significant in Havasupai origin stories. They conduct ceremonies there. They collect medicinal plants. Talia Boyd, a coordinator with the Indigenous Environmental Network told The Denver Gazette that the Grand Canyon is a very significant cultural landscape to the Dine, (and) to many other tribes within the greater Grand Canyon region. The sacred landscape of Red Butte is being desecrated by the contamination coming off of the Pinyon Plain mine. The Pinyon Plain mine is at the base of Red Butte. Its a cultural landscape for the Havasupai Tribe. So, theyre not able to access their sacred landscape because this mine is basically right in the front of it. And in order to get to their site, they have to pass by this mine, Boyd added. Energy Fuels Resources Inc. maintains that the mine located about 12 miles due south of Grand Canyon Village and about 40 miles southeast of the Havasupi Reservation, and 4.5 miles north of Red Butte has never been cited for any violations of radiation regulations, including off-premises pollution. Radiation monitoring occurs underground, on the surface and surrounding the mine site, Germansen said. Uranium, war and realpolitik Uranium mining in the U.S. has realpolitik implications. To critics like Reimondo, the location of the mine is worrisome because it extracts what she characterized as a minor amount of refined uranium oxide, known as yellowcake. To supporters, domestic enrichment for power plant use in the U.S., something the Biden administration is pushing hard and funding, doesnt eliminate the need for domestic sources of refined uranium oxide. Yellowcake is only 0.3% fissile U235 and 97.7% non-fissile U238. To be usable for nuclear power it must be enriched to between 3% and 20% U235, depending on the reactor technology being used. And thats not to mention the elephant in the room Russia. The United States uses about 40 million pounds (of refined uranium oxide) every year. And so that would be two years to supply 1.57 million pounds of uranium, Reimondo said. And then that really changes the cost-benefit analysis when youre thinking about the risk that a mine creates compared to the very little amount of uranium that they can contribute to the overall supply. She argued mining uranium ore in the United States is unnecessary because it can be obtained from other sources, including Canada and Australia. But not from Russia. Biden signed an act on May 13 barring importation of enriched uranium from Russia beginning in August. Russia previously supplied 14% of imported uranium and 28% of enrichment services in 2021, according to government records. Our problem from the federal governments perspective is enriching and converting uranium into the nuclear fuel from its ore status, Reimondo said. So, the idea that we need to mine more uranium is just an argument of convenience from the mining industry. We dont need to mine more uranium in the United States. Mark Chalmers, president and CEO of Energy Fuels Resources, disagrees. He said theres enough mineable uranium in the U.S. to power the nation for a century or more, and that domestic enrichment doesnt eliminate the need for domestic sources of refined uranium oxide. We are the largest producer of uranium in the United States. We have been for the last several years, Chalmers told The Gazette. We have assets all over the Western U.S. that can come back into production when the markets support that. Chalmers said 50% to 60% of the uranium used in nuclear power plants in the United States comes from or through Russia. To supporters of uranium mining in the U.S., thats a problem on multiple levels. They argue that Americas domestic supply is more than capable of delivering the countrys need for the mineral, while also eliminating those entanglements with Russia. Chalmers said nuclear power companies are trying to turn away from getting supplies of uranium from Russia following the latters invasion of Ukraine. They dont want to be a part of funding a war effort, and we know that the Russian state-owned nuclear company Rosatom (came) out recently that they are directly funding the war effort, and Russia is using Rosatom to actually circumvent sanctions, Chalmers added. And so we as a company do stand ready to help supply those utilities and provide a good, secure source of domestic uranium for domestic nuclear power plants. Uranium in the Grand Canyon Critics have long raised worries about uranium mining contaminating the waters of the Grand Canyon, but the canyon already has naturally occurring uranium in the waters that is being constantly washed out of the soils, rocks and aquifers of the region, according to reports from the Arizona Geological Survey and others. A 2011 report by the Arizona Geological Survey examining the impacts of uranium mining on waters of the canyon stated that Colorado River water contains about 4 parts per billion of uranium, and that natural sources deposit approximately 60 metric tons of dissolved uranium into the river each year. The seemingly large amount of naturally occurring uranium in the Colorado River (tens of tonnes per year) reflects the large water flux in the river, not unusually high uranium concentration, the report said. Colorado River water is consumed by millions of people in Arizona, California, and Nevada. Uranium concentration in river water, at about 4 ppb, has been consistently well below the EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 30 ppb for drinking water. Another report from 1988, just as the Pinyon Plain mine was starting up, noted that radium and uranium levels in the Colorado River and all but one of its tributaries, including Havasu Creek, were below EPA standards for drinking water. A third 2020 study added, Uranium concentrations in water samples from Havasu Creek ranged from 0.6 to 3.9 g/L, with a median of 3.2 g/L. Only dissolved arsenic concentrations at Havasu Creek, with median and 75th percentiles of concentrations of 11.3 and 12.1 g/L, respectively, were regularly above MCL benchmarks. The maximum concentration level (MCL) allowed by the EPA for uranium in drinking water is 30 g/L. Parts per billion is equal to g/L (micrograms per liter), meaning the EPA maximum is 7.5 times higher than the 4 ppb in the Colorado River as reported by the Arizona Geological Society in 2011. Moore pointed out that even if uranium from the mine were to get to the aquifer directly feeding Havasu Creek by percolating through permeable rock and bypassing fault zones, the amount of uranium arriving 40 miles away, and perhaps tens of thousands of years from now, would be diluted so much it would be indistinguishable from normal background radiation. Reimondo insisted percolation might go much faster through undiscovered fissures and fractures in the strata between the mine and the Havasu Reservation, and that risk is too great to take. Energy Fuels Resources Inc. said it plans to mine the ore deposit for two to seven years and will move over 70,000 tons of rock in the process. Closure of the mine, according to the plan approved by the state, includes backfilling the shaft with non-uranium bearing rubble and sealing off the upper aquifer using bentonite, a clay that is nearly impermeable to water. After removal of all surface structures and contaminated soils, the 14-acre site would be replanted with native vegetation. The only things that will remain are two monitoring wells, one belonging to the federal government and the other to EFRI that will be monitored for the next 30 years. To miners, the potential is staring them right in the face. Germansen, the assistant mine superintendent, said the breccia pipe uranium has vast amounts of energy in a compact package. Theres enough uranium in this breccia pipe to power the entire state of Arizona for a year in a 14-acre parcel, he said. Coal mining would be a train that would reach from coast to coast, L.A. to New York. I mean, he added, the scale is incredible of the efficiency of this mine relative to the efficiency of coal strip mining. There are so many hazards that we know about from coal that dont exist with uranium. The police are on a major operation in Altdorf near Nuremberg. After a fire with a "threatening situation", the police surrounded a wooded area in Altdorf near Nuremberg in the search for an armed man. Pia Bayer/dpa Police have cordoned off a section of woodland in Altdorf near Nuremberg in the southern German state of Bavaria as they search for an armed man who earlier threatened a firefighter. They called on local residents of the town of some 17,000 inhabitants to avoid the area adjacent to the A3 motorway, which has been closed to traffic in both directions. A special police unit had been deployed a police spokeswoman said. No casualties had been reported, she said. Two fires, one in a house and the other in the woodland, had been reported earlier. Numerous police officers stand together for a meeting. After a fire with a "threatening situation", the police surrounded a wooded area in Altdorf near Nuremberg in the search for an armed man. Pia Bayer/dpa After giving Egypt 7.4bn, Brussels must abide by its own rules and insist on human rights reforms After giving Egypt 7.4bn, Brussels must abide by its own rules and insist on human rights reforms As EU leaders are giving a further 7.4 billion in aid and loans to Egyptian President Abdelfattah al-Sisi, they should ask themselves a question: what do the owner of Egypts largest dairy products and juice producer, Egypts former top auditor and anti-corruption official and a dozen peaceful protesters holding up a sign saying you made us hungry, Sisi, have in common? The answer is that all have been imprisoned merely for disagreeing with the Egyptian governments economic policies. Egypt is once again going through a severe economic crisis and, for the third time in the last 11 years, is seeking aid from the international community. Yet despite receiving about 140bn since 2013, the lives of most Egyptians have continued to deteriorate, with more loans and bailouts needed to keep the country afloat. Egyptians instead got to witness tens of billions being squandered on vanity projects. But who is there to hold the government accountable? The authorities have brutally and systematically silenced peaceful dissent, nearly wiped out independent media and civil society, repressed political opposition, adopted and enacted repressive legislation, jailed tens of thousands of actual or perceived critics and severely undermined the independence of the judiciary and of the legal profession. Funding pledge rubberstamps 'golden age' In turn, this has contributed to the governments failure to respect, protect and fulfil peoples social and economic rights. As millions are increasingly experiencing hunger and impoverishment, the fight (nationwide protests) or flight (migration) options are kept in check by an extremely repressive security apparatus. In a Europe where recent elections have been dominated by anxiety over migration, there is every reason to be worried about Egypt. The country, with a population of over 110 million, is at the heart of a deeply unstable area, bordering Libya, Sudan, Israel and Palestine. However, Egyptian authorities have long pointed to its stability and ability to control irregular migration towards Europe. Vehicles enter the gate of Egypt's New Administrative Capital, May 2024 - AP Photo/Amr Nabil When the Egyptian economy seemed on the verge of collapse last May, it was no wonder that the EU felt obliged to jump in to help. A new "golden age" of relations between Egypt and the EU has just been rubberstamped by President Ursula von der Leyens announcement of 7.4bn in EU loans and funding as part of a new strategic partnership. In principle, the EU recognises that human rights and the rule of law are key to economic prosperity. EU regulations on granting financial assistance to third states explicitly list respect of human rights and effective democratic mechanisms ... and rule of law among their preconditions. However, in the case of Egypt, the council decision governing the financial aid adopted softer requirements, merely that Egypt demonstrates that it continues to make concrete and credible steps towards ... effective democratic mechanisms, including rule of law ... and guaranteeing respect for human rights. No respect for human rights without pressure While the UN, human rights organisations and even the US government disagree with the claim that Egypt has actually made concrete or credible reforms, Amnesty International, along with 15 leading Egyptian and international human rights organisations, wrote to the EU and its member states laying out how the EU-Egypt deal should respect EU law and in so doing positively contribute to addressing the root causes of economic instability. First, the memorandum of understanding governing the transfer of funds must lay out a roadmap for structural reforms, with public, clear, specific and timebound indicators, targets and benchmarks for Egypt to meet its human rights obligations. Without real pressure, the Egyptian authorities will not undertake any reforms. As long as the government imprisons those who disagree with its policies, it will forge ahead with the very same policies that led to its current economic crisis. This needs to change. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi delivers a speech at the 10th ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum in Beijing, May 2024 - Tingshu Wang/AP Second, EU leaders must insist that Egyptian authorities immediately and unconditionally release all those detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their human rights. As long as the government imprisons those who disagree with its policies, it will forge ahead with the very same policies that led to its current economic crisis. This needs to change. Third, the EU must ensure that Egyptian authorities open civic and political space by respecting the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, including in the lead-up to and aftermath of the 2025 parliamentary elections. If this is not addressed, then the government will continue to adopt repressive laws and operate without any scrutiny, with similar devastating results. Spending the money in line with EU law Finally, the European Parliament also has a role to play, regardless of where members sit in the chamber. First and foremost, it must safeguard its oversight role. The European Council and Commission decided to bypass parliament's approval for 1bn, citing "urgent" financial needs by Egypt per article 213 of the EU treaty, irrespective of the fact that the deal was announced after the UAE committed 30bn to Egypt. Secondly, as the EU is about to hand over billions to a neighbouring country, members of parliament have a responsibility to their voters to ensure that this money is spent in line with EU law. The EU has the responsibility and opportunity to help Egypt change course. If it fails to do so, we will continue to have the same conversation, and Egyptians will continue to suffer. Hussein Baoumi is Foreign Policy Advocate at Amnesty International's European Institutions Office (EIO). At Euronews, we believe all views matter. Contact us at view@euronews.com to send pitches or submissions and be part of the conversation. Its an election-year battle that has U.S. Sen. Rick Scott touting himself in new ads as a grandpa who supports in vitro fertilization and Democrats traveling the state with a 20-foot-tall inflatable IUD. In the post-Roe era, Florida voters are likely to hear a lot more about birth control and fertility treatments, the latest fronts in a fierce fight over abortion and reproductive rights. Even anti-abortion politicians like Scott are anxious to distance themselves from the less popular stances some abortion opponents are taking, while Democrats raise the specter that IVF and contraception could indeed be targeted if Republicans win in November. Hes basically doing what is politically convenient for him right now and not what Floridians values represent, said Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Democrat running to unseat Scott. Hes trying to win his reelection. He understands he is facing a real threat. Scotts campaign is accusing Democrats of engaging in fear-mongering through a series of polarizing show votes like recent IVF-protecting legislation in Congress that most Republicans opposed as an unnecessary overreach ahead of the November election. Sen. Scott has been perfectly clear that he fully supports contraception and IVF and will aggressively oppose any effort to ban or limit access to either, said Will Hampson, a campaign spokesman. Scott supports a separate Republican-sponsored IVF protection bill that was blocked by Democrats, Hampson said. IVF protections blocked A day after he voted against the legislation protecting IVF, Scott unveiled an ad titled Grandpa proclaiming his support for the treatment. The video clip, part of a seven-figure statewide ad buy, featured Scott frolicking with his grandchildren and whimsically falling into a swimming pool fully clothed. With those scenes as a backdrop, Scott said his youngest daughter was undergoing IVF treatments and that sometimes families need help. She and I both agree IVF must be protected for our family, for every family, Scott said. Mucarsel-Powell said Scott had an opportunity to do that with the Right To IVF Act, but he and all but two of his Republican colleagues voted to block it from moving forward. The legislation would have established a federal right to access fertility treatments and make decisions on the donation, testing, use, storage, or disposition of reproductive genetic material, such as a frozen embryo. Scott said he supports a bill sponsored by GOP Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Katie Britt of Alabama. Their bill would have made states that ban IVF ineligible for Medicaid funding. Scott also joined Senate Republicans in blocking a measure called the Right to Contraception Act. Opponents said that measure, too, was a show vote because access to birth control is not in jeopardy. Meanwhile, Democrats in Florida toured the state with an inflatable model of an IUD, a birth control device that is implanted in the uterus, to show support for birth control protections. Is IVF really under threat? The Alabama Supreme Court ruling in February that frozen embryos are children under state law put Republicans on the defensive and complicated their messaging on abortion. Many Republicans had spent years saying that they think life begins at conception, yet IVF, which can create more embryos than a couple can use, has widespread bipartisan support. As the court ruling halted IVF treatments in Alabama, the Senate GOPs campaign arm urged candidates to publicly express their support of IVF and fertility-related services as blessings for those seeking to have children. When responding to the Alabama Supreme Court ruling, it is imperative that our candidates align with the publics overwhelming support for IVF and fertility treatments, National Republican Senatorial Committee Executive Director Jason Thielman wrote in a memo obtained by CBS News. Facing a backlash, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed protections for IVF clinics into law in March. Nationwide, an April survey by the Pew Research Center found overwhelming support for IVF with just 8% saying they view it as a bad thing. Democratic concerns are not baseless, although the political will to ban IVF now is lacking, said Mary Ziegler, a University of California, Davis law professor who studies the legal history of reproduction. There are a lot of people in the anti-abortion movement who think IVF involves abortion, she said. Republicans cant ignore those people because some are wealthy donors, some are base voters. In June, the politically powerful Southern Baptist Convention, a bastion of evangelical GOP support, adopted a resolution declaring that IVF most often participates in the destruction of embryonic human life. The measure called on couples to only utilize infertility treatments and reproductive technologies in ways consistent with the dignity of the human embryo. On the other side of the issue are voters like Gail M. Murphy, a Brevard County mother who gave birth to one of Central Floridas first IVF babies in 1987. Her daughter, Robin, is now 36 years old. Twin sons were born through IVF in 1991. She said her children are thriving, and she cant imagine how different her life would have been without IVF. I cannot even fathom the mindset that is trying to do away or outlaw in vitro, Murphy said. It just makes no sense. Scotts record under fire Scott has praised the U.S. Supreme Courts 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which established a constitutional right to an abortion. That ruling paved the way for Florida state lawmakers to pass a six-week abortion ban, which DeSantis signed into law in 2023. I firmly believe that life begins at conception and that every child deserves to be welcomed into this world with open and loving arms, Scott said in a statement on the Roe v. Wade reversal. In an April 2023 social media post, Scott wrote he would have signed the six-week abortion ban if he were governor. Earlier this year, he told The Washington Post he will vote against a November ballot initiative protecting abortion rights in Florida. As Election Day nears, Democrats will work to remind voters of Scotts record in hopes that they can put a dent in the GOPs dominance in Florida, said Michael Binder, a political scientist at the University of North Florida. Democrats will face an uphill battle, but IVF is one issue that could resonate with voters across the political spectrum, he said. That is a winning issue for them, Binder said. _____ When the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling on anti-camping laws last month, Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo was one of the local political leaders who welcomed it. The high court concluded that laws penalizing homeless people for sleeping or pitching tents in public spaces do not constitute cruel and unusual punishment. That means cities can clear homeless encampments from parks, sidewalks and other areas even when they lack sufficient shelter beds. Gordo said his city intends to toughen enforcement, but in a compassionate way by offering shelter and other services while also regulating its parks and sidewalks. "Individuals will be offered the assistance they need," he said. "But we cannot allow people to simply take over public spaces and parks while they refuse the assistance that is being offered." Workers with Mayor Karen Bass' Inside Safe initiative speak with homeless residents during an encampment operation at 86th and Broadway last month. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times) Gordo said the ruling gives his city renewed flexibility to respond to the crisis and "takes away the excuse that we're prevented from doing it. Now the responsibility is on all of us to take action. In Pasadena, that's what we intend to do." In Eagle Rock, a neighborhood of Los Angeles that borders Pasadena, City Councilmember Kevin de Leon sounded less enthusiastic about the court decision. De Leon said he fears the ruling will spur the smaller cities that abut his Eastside district to force their homeless populations out. "If you're an unhoused person, and you're feeling harassed constantly, you're just going to self-evict and relocate to the city limits of L.A.," he said. Read more: For the first time since 2018, homeless count finds fewer people living on L.A. streets Political leaders across Southern California have offered an array of reactions to the Supreme Court ruling, with some voicing relief and others sounding anxious. Some have expressed gratitude that the justices clarified the legal standard for enforcement, which they say had been muddled by lower court rulings. Others are openly worried that neighboring cities will take a punitive approach, sending police to encampments to hand out citations while failing to build sufficient shelter and permanent housing. The issue is particularly sensitive in L.A., where enforcement of the city's anti-camping law varies widely from neighborhood to neighborhood. That law, known as 41.18, targets key locations, such as schools and day-care centers, and is not a citywide ban. Several city leaders pointed to a recently released video that showed Burbank police leaving a homeless man with no shoes on the sidewalk outside the North Hollywood office of L.A. Council President Paul Krekorian. The video, which captured the man as he crumpled to the pavement, drew demands for a criminal investigation. "I'm very, very concerned that exactly what you saw in Burbank could happen more and more," Mayor Karen Bass said on the day the ruling was issued. "If it's OK for cities to ticket and to shoo people away, I'll be very concerned that the numbers of people moved into L.A. from other cities will increase." In other parts of the region, some expressed the same fear but in reverse that L.A. would push its massive homeless population into their communities. "Most of the people I talk to locally are concerned that LAPD will be chasing their homeless people to their cities," said Redondo Beach City Atty. Mike Webb, whose city runs an outdoor homeless court that uses misdemeanor prosecution as a pathway to shelter and housing. Webb said he is hopeful that cities have moved away from harsh enforcement policies in the six years since the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the 8th Amendment's cruel and unusual punishment clause prohibits criminal penalties for "sitting, sleeping, or lying outside on public property for homeless individuals who cannot obtain shelter. Read more: Are L.A.'s anti-camping laws failing? We went to 25 sites to find the truth Since the Supreme Court's ruling, Webb said, he has begun speaking with officials from other South Bay cities about establishing a "good neighbor pledge." "It would be good to have a good neighbors commitment pledge that theyre not going to try to displace people experiencing homelessness in their area, and instead make people experiencing homelessness aware of the resources available to them," Webb said. "I think thats a fantastic idea," said Shayla Myers, a Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles attorney who has sued L.A. repeatedly over its treatment of its homeless population. "The reality is, criminalizing homelessness does not solve homelessness. It simply pushes people from one place to another." Myers said she hopes city attorneys will view the decision narrowly, taking into account protections in other parts of the U.S. Constitution, the California Constitution and the "necessity" defense against prosecution for violation of anti-camping laws. "The Supreme Court tells us sometimes what jurisdictions can do, but they dont tell us what jurisdictions should do," she said. "For a place like Los Angeles, with 89 jurisdictions, it would be disastrous for cities in this county to engage in a race to the bottom." Tanaka Richardson gathers up her belongings at 86th and Broadway in South Los Angeles the site of a recent Inside Safe encampment operation. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Anti-camping laws have been contested legal terrain since at least 2018, when the 9th Circuit blocked Boise, Idaho, from clearing away encampments on the grounds that it lacked adequate shelter beds for its homeless population. The Supreme Court declined to review that decision, but this year it took up a similar case focusing on Grants Pass, Ore. In that case, the 9th Circuit had overturned a set of local ordinances that barred homeless people from sleeping in certain public areas when there was an insufficient number of shelter beds. In a 6-3 decision, the high court reversed the appeals court decision. The ruling clears the way for cities to resume enforcing laws idled by the 9th Circuit or to toughen laws that were watered down in an effort to comply with it. In Southern California, several city officials contacted by The Times said it was too soon to say how the ruling would affect their policies. Torrance Mayor George K. Chen said his city would conduct a review of its ordinances in the wake of the Grants Pass decision. Monrovia City Manager Dylan Feik said his city is awaiting a legal advice letter. Santa Monica officials said they will continue implementing a "robust, wide-ranging and innovative strategy for addressing homelessness." Armando Darnas enters his tent at the Urban Alchemy Safe Sleep Village in Culver City in August 2023. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) Jeff Kraus, a spokesperson for San Bernardino, said the ruling provided "much-needed clarity." It confirms that cities like San Bernardino have the legal authority to maintain and clean public property and can make that public property available to all residents, not just those who are unhoused." The Grants Pass case has carved a deep philosophical divide among California's politicians, even among Democrats. Gov. Gavin Newsom, San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Los Angeles City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto had called for the Supreme Court to take up the issue of anti-camping laws and the 9th Circuit's ruling in Grants Pass. On Instagram, Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said last month's decision provided new tools for cities that had been "constrained by legal ambiguities limiting our ability to implement common-sense measures to protect our residents well-being." Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath offered a scathing response, calling the ruling "unconscionable." Bass, appearing with Horvath at an event marking the region's progress on homelessness, said the decision would "usher in a new wave of criminalization." "This is a rehash of the 1990s, when we couldn't figure out how to deal with a social problem like addiction and gang violence. We just decided we were going to lock everybody up. That's what I'm far more concerned about, [more] than buses of homeless people being sent to Los Angeles," she said. Bass made her remarks on the day that officials reported that the number of unsheltered homeless people those living in tents, makeshift encampments, cars and other vehicles had declined by 5.1% in L.A. County and by 10.4% in the city. The mayor used those numbers to argue that punitive approaches are ineffective. "Giving people tickets and punishing them how are they supposed to pay for their ticket? And what happens when they don't pay? Does it go into a warrant and now it gives us an excuse to incarcerate somebody? These are failed responses. We know for a fact that it will not work," she said. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, pictured in San Francisco last month, said she fears the Grants Pass ruling will spur some cities to push their homeless residents into L.A. (Josh Edelson / For The Times) Los Angeles' anti-encampment law is narrowly focused. Encampments are prohibited within 500 feet of schools and day-care centers. The City Council also can designate "sensitive" areas libraries, freeway overpasses, homeless shelters and other locations as off-limits. Bass has focused much of her energy on her Inside Safe initiative, which has moved more than 2,800 unhoused residents into hotels, motels and other forms of temporary housing. So far, 539 of those have entered permanent housing, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Los Angeles City Councilmember Traci Park, who teamed up with Bass on Inside Safe operations in Venice, Mar Vista and Del Rey, praised the mayor for securing more interim homeless housing. But she had a sharply different take on Grants Pass, saying the court reached "the legally correct decision." Tatayana Noles gathers up belongings at 86th and Broadway during an encampment operation carried out by Mayor Karen Bass' Inside Safe program. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Park said her coastal district had been seeing an influx of homeless people well before the Supreme Court decision, with some moving from other parts of the U.S. The number of new arrivals will increase, she said, if the city fails to enforce its laws on outdoor camping, RV parking and other "quality of life" issues. "If the city of Los Angeles doesn't course-correct, we're going to end up having to absorb what is a regional, statewide and national crisis," she said. Seven council members, including Park, have called for the city's legal team to review outdoor camping laws enacted by Los Angeles County's 87 other cities. A vote on that review is expected sometime after the council's summer recess. Parks district borders a portion of Culver City, which voted last year to prohibit camping on its sidewalks and other public areas. Nevertheless, Culver City Councilmember Dan OBrien voiced similar concerns, saying his city lacks the resources to serve every homeless person who arrives from L.A. O'Brien said Culver City a community surrounded by L.A. on multiple sides has worked hard to move its unhoused residents into hotel rooms, a converted motel, its new "Safe Sleep" wellness village and other locations. "We know where our homeless are from, and provide care and housing, and need L.A. to do the same for theirs," he said. "Sometimes it's a challenge with the second part." Times staff writer Jasmine Mendez contributed to this report. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. GRAND LAKE Grand River Dam Authority has released more information about a second drowning victim on Grand Lake. GRDA officers recovered the body of an 18-year-old Oklahoma City man in about 31 feet of water on Saturday. GRDA Police have not released the teens name but did say he had been swimming with friends in the Locust Cove area of Grand Lake when he jumped from the roof of a dock into the lake but did not resurface. His body was recovered around 7:45 p.m. and taken to the Medical Examiners office in Tulsa. This is the fourth water-related incident in the area. The body of Levi Gibson, 39, Afton, was recovered near the Patricia Island area on Friday. GRDA police said Gibson drowned after jumping into the lake on Thursday from a boat, to assist a child who had fallen off a towed water device. The second drowning occurred near the Flint Creek Waterpark, west of Siloam Springs, Arkansas on Thursday. Authorities recovered the body of a 26-year-old man from Mexico. His name has not been released. On Thursday, a third water-related incident occurred on the Illinois River near the Edmondson Access Area. A person was underwater for a few minutes and rescued and aided by bystanders, GRDA police 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 KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com. Hamas says senior government official in Gaza killed in airstrike An Israeli airstrike in Gaza City killed a senior official in the Hamas-run government Sunday, according to the organization. Hamas said that Ehab al-Ghussein, the Deputy Minister of Labor, was among four people killed by an Israeli airstrike on the Holy Family School in Gaza City. Civil Defense crews in Gaza Governorate were able to retrieve four martyrs and a number of injured individuals after Israeli occupation aircraft targeted the Holy Family school, which houses a large number of displaced persons west of Gaza City, the Civil Defense Directorate said. Al-Ghussein was 45 and had been the Deputy Minister of Labor in Gaza since 2020, as well as the Head of the Emergency Committee for the Civil Service of the Northern Gaza Strip. In May, his sister Muna Jamal and wife Amani Sakeek were killed in an Israeli airstrike, according to reports at the time. The Israeli military has said it carried out strikes in the area, saying it targeted a complex inside of which terrorists were operating and hiding in the area of a school building in Gaza City. Its not clear whether the strikes were those in which a senior Hamas official was killed. It added that numerous steps were taken in order to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise aerial surveillance and additional intelligence. This comes as another Israeli attack on a school in Gaza has killed at least 16 Palestinians and injured 50 others, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. CNN cannot independently verify the ministrys numbers. The strike took place at UNRWAs Al-Jaouni school in al-Nuseirat camp in central Gaza on Saturday. The school was sheltering displaced people, according to the health ministry. The Israeli military said in a statement on Saturday militants were operating in structures located in the school area. CNN cannot independently verify the Israeli militarys claim. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Maayan Lubell and Dawoud Abu Alkas CAIRO/JERUSALEM/GAZA (Reuters) -Any Gaza ceasefire deal must allow Israel to resume fighting until its objectives are met, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, as talks over a U.S. plan aimed at ending the nine-month-old war were expected to restart. Five days after Hamas accepted a key part of the plan, two officials from the Palestinian militant group said the group was awaiting Israel's response to its latest proposal. Netanyahu was scheduled to hold consultations late on Sunday on the next steps in negotiating the three-phase plan that was presented in May by U.S. President Joe Biden and is being mediated by Qatar and Egypt. It aims to end the war and free around 120 Israeli hostages being held in Gaza. Hamas has dropped a key demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before it would sign an agreement. Instead, it said it would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout the six-week first phase, a Hamas source told Reuters on Saturday on condition of anonymity. But Netanyahu said he insisted the deal must not prevent Israel from resuming fighting until its war objectives are met. Those goals were defined at the start of the war as dismantling Hamas' military and governing capabilities, as well as returning the hostages. "The plan that has been agreed to by Israel and which has been welcomed by President Biden will allow Israel to return hostages without infringing on the other objectives of the war," Netanyahu said. The deal, he said, must also prohibit weapons smuggling to Hamas via the Gaza-Egypt border and should not allow for thousands of armed militants to return to northern Gaza. U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns is to meet with the Qatari prime minister and the Israeli and Egyptian intelligence chiefs on Wednesday in Doha, said a source familiar with the issue who asked not to be further identified. Burns is also expected to visit Cairo this week, along with an Israeli delegation, Egypt's Al Qahera News TV reported on Sunday, citing a high-ranking source. There was no letup in fighting inside Gaza, where late on Sunday the Israeli military renewed orders for residents and displaced families in several districts in Gaza City to leave their homes. Some residents said they were surprised by the sounds of tank shells and gunfire from Israeli drones, as some managed to flee and others were trapped at home. "This is the sixth time we have been displaced, we dont know where we should go. To be honest, I dont know. I have a three-storey building and now it was hit, I just got the news," a displaced woman who asked not to be identified told Reuters in Gaza City. "My husband is an amputee and he is stuck in Shejaiya. We have heard no news about him," she said. Palestinian health officials later said an Israeli air strike on a house in Jabalia on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip had killed at least 10 people, with many wounded and others still missing. The new talks follow months of failed attempts to reach a ceasefire in stop-start negotiations that several times led nowhere after Washington said a deal was close. A Palestinian official close to the talks said the proposal could lead to a framework agreement if embraced by Israel and would end the war. "We have left our response with the mediators and are waiting to hear the occupation's response," one of the two Hamas officials told Reuters, asking not to be identified. Another Palestinian official with knowledge of the ceasefire deliberations said Israel was in talks with the Qataris and that a response was expected within days. PROTESTS IN ISRAEL In Israel, protesters took to the streets across the country to press the government to agree to the Gaza ceasefire deal, which would bring back hostages still being held in Gaza. They blocked rush-hour traffic at major intersections across the country, picketed politicians' houses and briefly set fire to tyres on the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway before police cleared the way. In Gaza, Palestinian health officials said at least 15 people were killed in Israeli strikes. Among them were Ehab Al-Ghussein, the Hamas-appointed deputy minister of labour whose wife and children were killed in May, and three other people killed in a strike at a church-run school in western Gaza City sheltering families, Hamas media and the Civil Emergency Service said. The Israeli military said that after it took steps to minimise the risk of civilians being harmed there, it struck militants hiding in the school and a nearby weapon-making facility. In central and northern areas of Rafah, on the southern Gaza border with Egypt, Israeli tanks deepened their raids. Health officials there said they had recovered three bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire. The Israeli military said its forces had killed 30 Palestinian gunmen in Rafah in the past day, and that one of its soldiers was killed in combat. In Shejaia, an eastern suburb of Gaza City, the military said its forces had killed several gunmen and located weapons and explosives. It published a drone video showing gunmen, some appearing to be wounded or dead, in a house. Reuters could not immediately verify the video. The conflict was triggered on Oct. 7 when fighters led by Hamas, which controlled Gaza, attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. More than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's military onslaught, according to Gaza health officials, and the coastal enclave has largely been reduced to rubble. (Additional reporting by Hatem Maher and Jonathan Landay; Editing by Sharon Singleton, Frances Kerry, Peter Graff and Jan Harvey) Hamas says its waiting on response from Israel on Gaza cease-fire proposal Hamas officials said Sunday that the group is waiting for a response from Israel to its most recent cease-fire proposal, Reuters reported. Hamas said last week that it would accept a key part of a three-phase cease-fire deal held up by President Biden, rekindling negotiations with Israel over a cease-fire deal as progress had slowed in recent weeks. Israeli officials described the most recent Hamas offer as constructive, Axios reported Wednesday. The group is reportedly willing to drop its demand that any cease-fire deal be permanent in nature, according to The Associated Press. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said Friday that there are still gaps between the sides, though negotiations continue. The pending cease-fire deal would see a six-week pause in fighting, withdrawal of the Israeli military from Gaza, increase in humanitarian aid shipments and release of Israeli hostages. During that pause, the two sides would negotiate a second-phase, longer-term deal. A third phase of the deal would focus on funding and support for Gazas reconstruction. CIA Director William Burns will again travel to the Middle East this week to assist in negotiations, Reuters reported. Circumstances in Gaza remain dire for civilians, with poor access to medical supplies, food and water. More than 38,000 Palestinians in the territory have been killed by the Israeli military since October when Hamas militants killed about 1,200 Israelis in a surprise attack on civilians. Hamas said it still has about 120 Israeli hostages in its possession. Border clashes between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon have also increased in recent weeks, raising fears that Israel could soon enter a two-front war. Hezbollah leaders have demanded that Israel come to a cease-fire agreement with Hamas, promising to halt their aggression if a deal is made. 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. It was another Sunday morning of sometimes heated but always civil political debate on Hancock and Kelley for Sunday, July 7, 2024. Republican consultant John Hancock and Democratic consultant Michael Kelley discuss the following topics: Violence and chaos reached a new low on the Fourth of July in Downtown St. Louis, with seven people shot or wounded by gunfire, property damage to downtown buildings, and rampant fighting using fireworks as weapons. Frightened visitors noted a glaring lack of police presence. As of this episodes recording, no arrests had been made. They have no information yet on arrests/citations for fireworks offenses. The state of Missouri is pulling nearly 600 jobs out of downtown St. Louis and selling its two downtown office buildings, including the historic Wainwright Building. Even with historic budget surpluses in the billions of dollars, Missouri Governor Mike Parson cut $1 billion from the state legislatures approved budget. St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones endorsed Congresswoman Cori Bush in Bushs campaign for a third term. National pundits say Bush, a member of the so-called far left progressive Squad, is in danger of losing the August 6 primary to fellow progressive Democrat, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell. In his first interview since his awful debate performance, President Joe Biden says only the Lord Almighty can get him to drop his re-election bid, as more Democrats call for him to get out of the race. Our quote of the week was from Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who decried the recent 6-3 ruling that U.S. presidents are largely immune from criminal prosecution for official acts while in office. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is suing New York to get the partial gag order against former President Donald Trump lifted. Bailey faces a stiff challenge in another hot primary race. Trump attorney Will Scharf is looking to unseat Bailey, who was appointed to the position by Governor Parson, after former Attorney General Eric Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate. The primary is now 30 days away. 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. I want her to worry about whos waiting on the corner: How one man uses Facebook to frighten his childrens mother and why police do nothing Shortly before Christmas 2022, Dominique Ward made an unplanned stop at Target to do some last-minute shopping with her 3-year-old daughters. She was miles from her home, in a neighborhood where she didnt know a single person. She assumed no one there knew her or her girls, either until the following day when someone sent her a screenshot of a Facebook page belonging to the girls father. He had posted an open letter to his daughters, identical twins he had been barred from contacting without court supervision after multiple allegations of abusive behavior toward their mother. I got to see you the other day, the note stated. You were in a target shopping cart wearing matching cute outfits. You were (sic) absolutely gorgeous, the most beautiful little babies I have ever seen. You were sitting next to each other playing with each other as your mom pushed you around. Your smiles were infectious and silliness was so familiar. What you dont know (is) that there is a community of love surrounding you, sending Daddy pictures and videos keeping me updated on your progress. The post stopped Ward cold. She had been locked in a custody and child support battle for years with her ex-partner, a computer whiz with a sizable social media following and a well-documented disregard for court orders. Since moving to Florida in 2021, he had been offering money on Facebook for information regarding his children, including: $25 per photo of the girls. $50 for videos. $100 for the address of a mother-child yoga class Ward was organizing. $10,000 for anyone who can bring the girls to him for a peaceful, arranged meeting. The Target post was a reminder that people usually complete strangers were taking him up on the various offers and tracking her whereabouts. And it was proof, yet again, that no one in authority cared enough to stop it. Records show that in the year leading up to the shopping trip, Ward and her attorney Lindsay Nathan had sought help from the Chicago police, Cook County prosecutors and Facebook employees. They all listened to her story and then explained why they couldnt do anything about the posts, a reflection of the complex and, often, apathetic response to electronic harassment in towns across Illinois. A Tribune analysis of crime data shows Chicago police made arrests in only 2% of the domestic-related electronic harassment and cyberstalking complaints received in the past 10 years. And since 2021 the year Ward first went to authorities with her concerns the arrest rate has been about 1%. How do I protect my children if I cant even go to the store without someone following us or stalking my girls? asked Ward, now 39. We have targets on our backs every time we leave the house, but no one is taking it seriously. In a telephone interview with the Tribune, the childrens father, Micah Berkley, confirmed he wrote the posts soliciting pictures of his daughters on social media. He said he also seeks photographs through targeted Facebook ads that appear in the feeds of people who live within a -mile radius of Wards house and the childrens school. Berkley, 41, considers his actions which continue to this day to be technological warfare, a social media-driven, 21st-century way to fight back against custody and child support rulings that havent gone his way. He estimates he has paid about $6,000 for images and other information since he and Ward broke up in late 2020, though the Tribune could not independently verify that. No one has been able to claim the $10,000 reward for arranging a peaceful meeting with the girls, he said. I hear shes scared, he told the Tribune. She should be scared. She should be terrified. I want her to worry about whos waiting on the corner whenever she walks outside. An analysis of data from nearly two dozen Illinois police departments found police rarely arrest people for electronic harassment, even as complaints increase. And though state laws have kept up with this very modern intimidation method, the laws enforcers police, prosecutors, judges have not, experts say. We have great laws on the books, but the problem is that they arent implemented, said Vickie Smith, former CEO of the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Nobody thinks it is a big deal because they dont understand how this kind of non-physical domestic violence can harm someone on a daily basis. Public records show Ward has gone to the Chicago Police Department at least twice to file a report since 2021, explaining the situation just as her father a retired CPD officer instructed. Each time, she says, officers told her it would be difficult to prove her former boyfriend was behind the keyboard when the messages were posted and that prosecutors would be reluctant to charge the case. Berkley, who readily acknowledges he wrote and published the messages, says he has never been contacted by law enforcement in regards to his social media accounts. A Tribune analysis found the Chicago Police Department receives thousands of electronic harassment and cyberstalking complaints each year, more than a third of which are categorized as domestic-related. In 2023, for example, more than 2,400 people reported being electronically harassed or cyberstalked in Chicago with more than 800 of them saying the abuse was perpetrated by someone with whom they have a familial or intimate relationship. Of those 824 domestic-related complaints last year, only nine 1% resulted in an arrest. Its an arrest rate more than 15 times lower than other domestic crimes in 2023, including battery and order of protection violations. Of more commonly reported crimes, only those involving deception such as pickpocketing, unauthorized credit card use and confidence games have lower arrest rates. A deeper look into the data offers a hint at how Chicago police handle these cases. In a review of those 824 cases from last year, while most were suspended unless more evidence developed, police outright closed more than a fourth of them, almost always using a category of disposition that describes when police are confident they know who did it but for some reason decide they cant make an arrest. https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/PzvkS/1/ Even the number of arrests can be deceiving. A look at arrests over the past decade found many came only after allegations of more serious crimes committed at the same time as the alleged harassment from arson to strangulation and home invasion. The lack of arrests isnt exclusive to Chicago. An examination of Illinois State Police and suburban department data shows police outside Chicago rarely make arrests. There are also very few people charged with cyberstalking on the federal level. A 2023 Rand study found there were 412 cases charged by the U.S. Justice Department between 2010 and 2020. Though the number of cases has grown steadily since 2014 reaching a peak of 80 new cases in 2019 researchers found the legal system is largely unprepared to handle electronic harassment. The big hurdles that we found, as far as law enforcement goes, relate to the capabilities to investigate electronic crimes, said Sasha Romanosky, a senior policy researcher at Rand and co-author of the study. Theres a lot of variation across the police departments in their skills and capabilities. Electronic harassment and cyberstalking can be difficult for law enforcement because they often involve tech-savvy offenders who are deft at hiding their tracks and it is sometimes hard to prove the suspect actually wrote the offending message, experts said. As a result, law enforcement seldom allocates substantial resources or prioritizes investigating these crimes. In its findings, the Rand study recommended increased training on emerging technologies and investigative strategies for law enforcement. It also suggested police officers and prosecutors be taught the complicated nature of working with victims, including recognizing that electronic harassment is a form of abuse. There is a need for training for both police and prosecutors in regards to dealing with these kinds of intimate crimes to begin with so they can build that trust with the victim, Romanosky said. Theres also a similar story about training for police and prosecutors when it comes to understanding digital evidence. The Chicago Police Department did not respond to questions about the handling of Wards complaints or electronic harassment cases in general. A February 2021 police report involving Berkleys social media behavior states the case was closed because Ward did not want to press charges. Both Ward and her attorney dispute the CPD report, insisting she always wanted the electronic harassment to be investigated. Their recollection is bolstered by a July 2021 email to the Cook County states attorneys office in which Nathan expresses frustration with the lack of police response. My client has made multiple police reports and at this point we just dont know what to do, she wrote to a supervisor in the Cook County states attorneys Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence division. No charges were ever filed. The Cook County states attorneys office did not respond to questions. Frustrated by the lack of help from local law enforcement, Nathan reached out to the FBI last year. Nathan shared Berkleys Facebook posts, court records and Wards order of protection against Berkley with at least two federal agents, who expressed concern for Wards safety in emails reviewed by the Tribune. In the emails, the agents also said they were consulting with federal prosecutors, but nothing came of those conversations. She doesnt know how far his social media followers might go. Its like no one is going to care about this until Im dead, Ward said. And by then it will be too late. The FBI declined to answer the Tribunes questions. Berkley contends he has a First Amendment right to his social media messages, including one post that published part of her cellphone number and another that revealed the name of Wards therapist and intimated without proof that the counseling centers staff was providing him with information. He repeatedly said he does not want to physically harm Ward nor has he instructed any of his social media followers to do so. He also stated he did nothing improper when he created a video in May 2023, using artificial intelligence, that purports to be an NBC Nightly News broadcast and proclaims Ward to be Americas most despicable mother. With an AI-generated voice nearly identical to anchorman Lester Holts delivery, the piece accuses Ward of using every dirty trick in the book to ensure these girls are cruelly ripped away from their loving fathers embrace. It took me about an hour to make, Berkley said. Its not that hard for me. This is what happens when you make a nerd mad. Berkley and Ward agree about the basic facts of their shared history: They began dating in 2015 and moved in together in July 2018. They broke up a few months later, around the same time Ward learned she was pregnant. Both wanted their children to be raised in a two-parent household similar to their own upbringings, so they reconciled. When the girls were born in May 2019, the couple was thrilled and, for a brief time, happy with their new life. Berkley soon began posting pictures of their twins on social media, drawing positive responses and significant traffic to his account. On his way to becoming an influencer, he started his own line of clothing aimed at Black parents, he said. The girls are part of my brand, Berkley said. Everyone loved seeing a Black dad being so involved with his children. He lost access to his so-called brand, however, after Ward broke up with him and went back to her parents home. Police records state Berkley showed up at the house on April 5, 2020, armed with what turned out to be a pellet gun, and threatened to harm himself and Wards family. Berkley was charged with violating an order of protection and aggravated battery. Ward said she later asked for the charges to be dropped so Berkley could work and help support the children. A few months after the case was dismissed, Berkley began his social media campaign against Ward and started offering money for photographs of the girls. Berkley said most of his online support and photographs of the twins come from women. Nathan, Wards lawyer, used the Facebook posts to successfully extend an order of protection that, so far, has not been served on Berkley and as such makes it harder to enforce. The attorney has been told authorities cant find Berkley, even though he frequently shows up for court hearings via Zoom and his photograph appeared on the front page of the Miami Herald late last year as part of a glowing feature on his AI business. A Cook County judge recently issued a body attachment for Berkley, allowing for his detainment in light of more than $50,000 in unpaid child support. Such orders are similar to bench warrants, though they are rarely executed in civil cases where the subjects live out of state. Berkley has been representing himself in family court, using AI programs he designed to write his own motions and memorandums. He often lashes out during the Zoom hearings, accusing Ward of kidnapping his children and ignoring the judges order to stop posting photographs of the children on social media. Dominiques case is an extreme example, but this is an issue that many, many women are struggling with every day, said Nathan, director of family law for Ascend Justice, which helps victims of gender-based violence with legal matters at no cost. I cannot accept that there is nothing that can be done about it. Law enforcement, however, isnt the only obstacle to preventing online harassment. Facebook also failed to address Wards concerns, despite numerous reportings and at least five letters or memorandums from Nathan since 2022. The social media network only took action after political consultant Joanna Klonsky learned about Wards struggles in late 2023 and asked Gov. J.B. Pritzkers office to help. Public records show that Emily Miller, one of the governors senior advisers, reached out to a Meta lobbyist and requested Berkleys account be deactivated. The page was removed almost immediately, raising questions about equal access and the social networks efforts to protect users without political connections. Miller told Meta officials that the company had to do better and requested a meeting to discuss ways to make it easier for people to seek account suspensions, according to emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. It is troubling to us that a woman who was being so clearly harassed, and whose abusive partner was offering money to strangers to stalk her children, tried for so long to have the content removed but was unsuccessful, Miller wrote. When the Governors office stepped in to escalate on her behalf, the content was quickly found to violate community standards and the content was removed. This woman and her attorney had written communication with five Meta employees, none of whom could or would help them. The governors office declined to comment. A Meta spokesman said the company could not discuss specific cases. Berkley reacted to the suspension by posting his offers for photographs and videos on other Facebook accounts he managed. After he thanked followers for sending him a video of his daughters at a party this past April, Miller sent another scathing email to Meta officials. The Governors office does not have time to keep people safe on Metas platform, she wrote. Meta has to figure out how to prevent people from offering money for videos of children that show their location either directly with tagging or indirectly through context clues. Meta must make this stop. Meta has, quite literally, all of the data it needs to fix this. Meta responded by suspending all accounts connected to Berkley, which he says has hurt his business. After the pages were removed, a website called americasworstmother.com popped up, featuring a computer-generated image of Ward wearing an orange prison uniform, as well as her personal cellphone number and her business email address. It is unclear who owns or manages the site, as most of that information has been redacted from its registration. Ward, for her part, says she is grateful to the Pritzker administration for intervening, but she worries about the women who dont have a way to reach the governors staff. Advocates share those concerns, saying people with access even through a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of Wards attorney shouldnt be the only ones to have protection. It sounds odd to say given everything she has been through, but Dominique is one of the lucky ones, said Smith, former CEO of the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She has an attorney who is providing legal assistance for free and who is fighting for her. She had a way to reach the governors office. Most women arent so lucky. Theyre suffering alone. Despite the support, Ward doesnt know how this situation will end and it frightens her. Shes not sure if shell ever feel safe again or when shell be able to stop looking over her shoulder in public. One thing I wont do? I wont be silent about this, she said. I will keep talking. I will keep telling my story. She shared her story recently at a breakfast to raise awareness for domestic violence. Before Ward spoke, the moderator asked the audience not to take pictures or post about her speech on social media. Outside the banquet room, a police officer sat watching the entrance because Berkley had made reference to the event on Facebook a few days earlier. He never showed, but he clearly had someone there taking notes. In an interview with the Tribune, he quoted parts of Wards presentation verbatim and wove details of her talk into the conversation. He lost his Facebook accounts on the same day of the speech, but he says the banishment will not stop him. He vows to keep his so-called technological war going, with plans to branch out to other platforms and rebuild his audience. This ends, he says, with me getting my kids back. Theres no other option. Ward also feels like she has no other options. She will keep pushing police and prosecutors to treat electronic harassment more seriously. People tell me just figure out a way to live with it. No, no, no, I wont do that, she said. I refuse to live with it. I refuse to let my daughters live with it. This has to stop now. Unlike strip mines, the Pinyon Plain mines surface impact is only 14 acres. The geological formation containing the uranium ore body, called a breccia pipe, is about 250 feet in diameter and extends vertically down some 3,000 feet. To mine the ore, a vertical shaft was drilled and blasted down into the rock to the side of the formation containing uranium. It extends down 1,470 feet. Horizontal tunnels called "drifts" are being drilled and blasted into the breccia pipe to access the high-grade uranium ore. The ore is brought to the surface using a elevator suspended by a cable that is lifted and lowered by a winch on the surface. At the surface, the ore is dumped and moved to stockpiles until its transported by truck to the company's White Mesa uranium mill, the last remaining uranium mill in the United States, some 260 miles northeast, near Blanding, Utah, where it is processed into uranium oxide, also known as yellowcake for its bright yellow color. Energy Fuels Resources Inc, the Colorado company mining this area, is at the frontlines in the battle over uranium mining near the Grand Canyon. The outcome of that battle offers also kinds of implications for Americans jobs, energy, the environment, the economy, national security. According to geologists, some of these vertical breccia pipes contain uranium at the highest concentrations in the U.S. in a very small footprint. Other breccia pipes contain different minerals, including silver, arsenic, barium, cadmium, cobalt, copper, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, lead, antimony, strontium, vanadium, and zinc. Many of these elements, including uranium, also occur naturally in surface soils and in rock layers, but at much lower concentrations. The Arizona Geological Survey estimates that there are approximately 1,300 breccia pipes that have been identified in the Grand Canyon region. Only a few contain uranium. One contains 75% pure copper ore, an astonishing concentration, according to geologists. Some contain other minerals, and some contain no concentrated minerals. The uranium ore zone in this mine extends from 1,200 to 1,900 feet below the surface. The current plan is to mine only the top 250 feet of the ore body down to about 1,450 feet. The state mining permit limits mining to no deeper than 1,997 feet to ensure there is at least 500 feet of impermeable rock between the bottom of the mine and the Redwall limestone aquifer, which lies nearly 3,000 feet below the surface. Featured Local Savings These pipes are formed from layers of stone deposited over more than 300 million years, when the Grand Canyon didn't exist and the whole central part of the U.S. was a shallow sea. Some of these layers contain uranium. Ancient sandstone and limestone rock layers, as well as some eroded breccia pipes, can be seen in the walls of the Grand Canyon, which was created by the Colorado River as the area was uplifted by geological processes over the last 10 million years or so. Voids created by acidic water dissolving deep limestone layers in the past caused breccia pipes to form. As the voids formed over millions of years, the layers above collapsed sequentially into the pockets, creating sinkholes that in some cases extend to the surface. Over geologic time the collapsed rubble was cemented into impermeable rock through deposition of minerals like calcite between rocks and particles by mineral-laden water flowing through the sinkhole. This cemented broken rubble is called breccia, which gives the formation its name. The collapsed layers create a depression in overlying aquifers, such that water flows into the pipe as it does in a sink drain. Natural dissolved uranium traveling through permeable sandstone aquifers over the eons is pulled into the pipe, and when it reaches strata within the broken rock containing oxides like iron pyrite, a chemical trap called a reduction zone causes the uranium atoms precipitate out of the water. This is what creates the concentrated ore body. The mineralization of the broken rock over millions of years eventually seals the pipe, preventing further vertical water flow and leaving the uranium trapped. It is this cemented breccia that today prevents water from flowing into and through the pipe and carrying away the water-soluble uranium, according to Moore. Curtis Moore, senior vice president of marketing and corporate development at Denver-based Energy Fuels Resources Inc, said that the part of the Redwall-Muav aquifer under the mine is not hydrologically connected to the part that creates Havasu Creek, nearly 40 miles distant. Proof of this isolation, Moore added, is that the aquifer under the mine is under nearly 150 psi of hydraulic pressure and is at least 500 feet below the bottom of the mine. The company insists that if the cemented breccia between the Redwall-Muav aquifer and the bottom of the mine was fractured, that pressure could not be maintained. Hawaii governor says Biden could decide within days whether to remain in the presidential race FILE - President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden walk with Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, second from left, and his wife Jaime Green as they pass the massive Banyan tree while visiting areas devastated by the Maui wildfires, Aug. 21, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. Green, on Saturday, July 6, 2024, said Biden could decide within days whether to remain a candidate for re-election and that if the president drops out, he expects Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him at the top of the ticket. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) President Joe Biden could make a decision within days whether to remain a candidate for reelection, said Hawaiis governor who participated in a recent meeting with Biden and other Democratic governors and whose family has known the president for years. And if Biden decides not to run, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green told The Associated Press on Saturday that he believes the president will designate Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him on the ticket. I think the president stays in this race unless he feels that it is not winnable, or he feels that he has to hear other voices in his inner circle that he shouldnt run, Green said. If the president felt that he wasnt up to it and truly not up to it, he would step down. Well probably know in the next couple of days how the president feels about all this, he said. Biden has repeatedly insisted that he will remain in the race against his likely Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump. But questions about Biden's mental acuity have swirled since his disastrous debate performance last month. As some of his fellow Democrats have encouraged Biden to exit the campaign, the president has pointed to support from other elected officials in the party, particularly governors. Green, who was a physician on Hawaii's Big Island before he was elected governor, said everyone has parents or grandparents who have moments that arent that great or pauses in their ability to express themselves clearly. But, he added, they arent discarded because of their experience, wisdom and their role in the family. Thats why Im standing by the president until he tells me otherwise, said Green. Green said the timeline of a few days for a decision anticipates pressure that might be placed on Biden after members of Congress return this week to Capitol Hill. I really, honestly think that he has to make the decision. And it should not come from another governor. It should not come from anyone but the closest, closest advisers to him and his own heart, Green said. Green was quick to point out that Trump is only three years younger than Biden and both will have bad days going forward. But he argued that temperament is more important than age. For Gods sake, these two guys have to hold the nuclear codes," Green said. I dont want someone who tweets in the middle of the night and rages at other countries. That is not good. Thats not the problem we have with President Biden. If Biden were to leave the campaign, Green said the president should be allowed to say who he thinks should replace him on the ticket. I think its very clear that the Democratic Party would be ecstatic overall to have the president designate his vice president if it came to that, Green said. Harris is a powerful person, she is also a thought-leading woman, shes an African American who was (Californias) attorney general, Green said. There are no credentials that are better than what the current vice president has. Green, whose wifes uncle was Bidens college roommate, also provided insight into last weeks meeting that governors had with the president. During the meeting, Green asked Biden about his health. Biden responded by saying everything was fine except for his brain. Green told the AP that the president was joking, and that context was lost when leaked by other people. It was absolutely a joke, and in order to make a self-deprecating joke, you have to have intact cognitive function, period, Green said. He also discounted any assertion that advisers crafted the meeting to have governors supportive of Biden speak first to quell any dissent. Instead, he said it was a very candid, unscripted conversation with 25 governors with differing opinions. That call had just like youd expect in a coffee shop, a few people mouthed off, a few people, you know, probably excessively praised the president, but almost everybody was just trying to see, Are we OK? Green said. ___ Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska. A cooling fan emits mist as people go through a security check at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Saturday - Frederic J Brown/AFP A long-running heat wave that has broken or tied records in parts of the United States was expected to affect about 130 million people in coming days, forecasters said. Las Vegas tied the record of 46 Celsius (115 Fahrenheit), last reached in 2007, and Phoenix topped out at 45C (114F), just shy of the record of 46.7 C (116F) dating to 1942. Ukiah, north of San Francisco, hit 47C (117F) on Saturday, breaking the citys record for the date and tying its all-time high. Livermore, east of San Francisco, hit 43.8C (111F), breaking the daily maximum temperature record of 42.7C (109F) set more than a century ago in 1905, In more humid parts of the country, temperatures could spike above 38C (100F) in parts of the Pacific Northwest, the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, said Jacob Asherman, a weather service meteorologist. The US National Weather Service said it was extending the excessive heat warning for much of the Southwest through to 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, according to the Associated Press. Meteorologists predicted that temperatures would be near daily records in the Southwest through most, if not all, of the coming week, with lower desert highs reaching 46.1C to 48.8C (115F to 120F). 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 deaths suspected of being related to heat that are still under investigation, according to a recent report. That does not include the death of a 10-year-old boy last week in Phoenix who suffered a heat-related medical event while hiking with family at South Mountain Park and Preserve, according to police. A firefighting helicopter does a water drop as the Lake Fire burns in Los Padres National Forest in California on Saturday - Mario Tama/Getty Images Firefighters sent aircraft and helicopters to drop water or retardant on a series of wildfires in California. In Santa Barbara County, northwest of Los Angeles, the Lake Fire has scorched more than 19 square miles (49 square km) of grass, brush and timber. Firefighters said the blaze was displaying extreme fire behaviour and had the potential for large growth with high temperatures and low humidity. People watch as the Lake Fire burns - Mario Tama/Getty Images Rare heat advisories were extended even into higher elevations including around Lake Tahoe, on the border of California and Nevada, with the National Weather Service in Reno, Nevada, warning of major heat risk impacts, even in the mountains. How hot are we talking? Well, high temperatures across (western Nevada and northeastern California) wont get below 37.8C (100F) until next weekend, the service posted online. And unfortunately, there wont be much relief overnight either. Indeed, Reno hit a high of 40C (104F) on Saturday, smashing the old record of 38.3C (101F). More extreme highs are in the near forecast, including 53.8 C (129F) for Sunday at Furnace Creek, California, in Death Valley National Park, and then around 54.4C (130F) through to Wednesday. The hottest temperature ever officially recorded on Earth was 56.67C (134F) in July 1913 in Death Valley, eastern California, though some experts dispute that measurement and say the real record was 54.4C (130F), recorded there in July 2021. The worst is yet to come across the US West and Mid-Atlantic. Triple-digit temperatures are likely in the West, between 8C and 16C (15F and 30F) 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 (110F), forecasters said. Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbours, read a National Weather Service advisory for the Baltimore area. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. 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. More than 35 congressional Democrats have now called on Biden to end his reelection bid A wave of congressional Democrats have called on President Biden to drop his 2024 campaign. They add to the pressure he faces as he seeks to reassure his party that he is ready to take on former President Donald Trump in November. More than 35 congressional Democrats have now called for Biden to step aside in what would be an unprecedented decision, while a number of other party leaders have voiced various concerns about his candidacy. Biden, meanwhile, has shown no signs of backing down after a highly criticized debate performance last month reinforced questions about his age and fitness for office. The president said he simply had a "bad night," and he has since held rallies and a series of media interviews in an attempt to showcase his viability on the campaign trail. Here are the Democrats who have spoken out. Check back here, as this article will be continually updated. Rep. Joe Manchin, July 21 The Democratic-turned-Independent Senator from West Virginia, and chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said on ABC's This Week it was time for Biden to "pass the torch to a new generation." Rep. Mark Takano, July 20 While Takano acknowledged Biden's accomplishments in a statement shared on X, the Democratic Congressman from California called on the president to "pass the torch" to Kamala Harris. Rep. Betty McCollum, July 19 The Democratic lawmaker from Minnesota released a statement Friday calling on Biden to "release his delegates and empower Vice President Harris to step forward to become the Democratic nominee for president." Sen. Sherrod Brown, July 19 In a statement released Friday evening, Brown of Ohio became the latest Senator to come out in favor of Biden exiting the race. "I think the President should end his campaign," he said. Rep. Morgan McGarvey, July 19 McGarvey, a Democratic representative from Kentucky, emphasized the need to "defeat Donald Trump, flip the House, and protect the Senate" in a statement shared on X. "There is no joy in the recognition he should not be our nominee in November," McGarvey wrote. "But the stakes of this election are too high." Rep. Gabe Vasquez, July 19 The New Mexico representative shared a statement complimenting Biden's career but ultimately called for the president to "step aside to give Democrats the best opportunity to win this November." Regardless of who our nominee is, my number one job will be to take care of the people of my district and continue bringing results home to New Mexico. pic.twitter.com/NKDGsa2mEt Gabe Vasquez (@Gabe_NM) July 19, 2024 Rep. Greg Landsman, July 19 Landsman, a representative from Ohio, posted a thread on X partly inspired by former President Donald Trump's speech at the Republican National Convention the night before. "To allow Trump to become president and control all three branches of government puts our democracy and freedoms at great risk," Landsman wrote. "It is time for President Biden to step aside and allow us to nominate a new leader who can reliably and consistently make the case against Donald Trump." Reps. Jared Huffman, Marc Veasey, Mark Pocan and Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, July 19 In a joint statement, the four representatives from California, Texas, Wisconsin and Illinois, respectively wrote, "We must face the reality that widespread public concerns about your age and fitness are jeopardizing what should be a winning campaign." "We believe the most responsible and patriotic thing you can do in this moment is to step aside as our nominee while continuing to lead our party from the White House," the letter concluded. Rep. Sean Casten, July 19 In an op-ed for the Chicago Tribune, the Illinois representative wrote that "with a heavy heart" he is calling on Biden to leave the race and "pass the torch to a new generation." Sen. Martin Heinrich, July 19 Heinrich, of New Mexico, became the third Democratic Senator to ask Biden to step aside, issuing a statement the morning after the final day of the Republican National Convention. "While the decision to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden's alone, I believe it is in the best interests of our country for him to step aside," Heinrich wrote. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, July 18 Lofgren, a representative from California and one of the members of the Jan. 6 select committee, issued a statement praising Biden's achievements as president but also asking him to step aside. "As I am aware that you have been provided data indicating that you in all likelihood will lose the race for President, I will not go through it," she wrote. "Your candidacy is on a trajectory to lose the White House and potentially impact crucial House and Senate races down the ballot." Lofgren added that, should Biden ultimately be confirmed as the Democratic nominee, she would "do everything I can to promote your candidacy." Rep. Jim Costa, July 18 The day after Rep. Adam Schiff called Biden to exit the race, Costa, a fellow California Democrat, said in a statement he thought "it is time for the President to pass the torch to the next generation to carry on the legacy he started." Sen. Jon Tester, July 18 Jon Tester, Montana's senior senator, has asked Biden to drop out of the race in a statement given to the Daily Montanan. Montanans have put their trust in me to do what is right, and it is a responsibility I take seriously. I have worked with President Biden when it has made Montana stronger, and Ive never been afraid to stand up to him when he is wrong, Tester said. And while I appreciate his commitment to public service and our country, I believe President Biden should not seek reelection to another term. Rep. Adam Schiff, July 17 The California Democrat told the Los Angeles Times that the "choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden's alone," but Biden should "pass the torch" and "secure his legacy of leadership" by allowing another Democrat to step forward to challenge Trump. Schiff is running for the Senate seat that was long held by Dianne Feinstein. Rep. Mike Levin, July 12 Levin released a statement that he was "concerned about President Biden's performance in the recent debate." "It is time to move forward. With a new leader. Together," he concluded. Democrat Rep. Mike Levin (CA-49) flips stance, joins fellow San Diego Dem congressman Rep. Scott Peters, calling for President Biden to pull out of the 2024 Presidential race. @10News #capolitics pic.twitter.com/rHr1hH2r3t Spencer Soicher ABC 10News (@spencersoicher) July 12, 2024 Rep. Brittany Pettersen, July 12 The Colorado congresswoman said that she is "joining the growing number of people" to ask Biden to "pass the torch to one of our many capable Democratic leaders." Rep. Eric Sorensen, July 11 Sorensen, an Illinois congressman, was the third House Democrat to speak out shortly after the president's NATO news conference. My statement on the presidential race. pic.twitter.com/bmjlp06psd Eric Sorensen (@ERICSORENSEN) July 12, 2024 Rep. Scott Peters, July 11 The California lawmaker also issued his statement after Biden's press conference. Today I ask President Biden to withdraw from the presidential campaign. The stakes are high, and we are on a losing course. My conscience requires me to speak up and put loyalty to the country and to democracy ahead of my great affection for, and loyalty to, the President and those around him, Peters said in a statement. We must find a candidate from our deep bench of talent who can defeat Donald Trump. Rep. Jim Himes, July 11 Himes, a Connecticut Democrat, called on Biden to exit the race as the president was wrapping up his highly anticipated NATO news conference Thursday. Joe Bidens record of public service is unrivaled. His accomplishments are immense. His legacy as a great president is secure. He must not risk that legacy, those accomplishments and American democracy to soldier on in the face of the horrors promised by Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/FMMrTK8pb8 Jim Himes (@jahimes) July 12, 2024 Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, July 11 In an email to a local Oregon outlet, Gluesenkamp Perez, a Washington state representative, wrote, "Like most people I represent in Southwest Washington, I doubt the President's judgement about his health, his fitness to do the job, and whether he is the one making important decisions about our country, rather than unelected advisors. "The crisis of confidence in the Presidents leadership needs to come to an end," she added. "The President should do what he knows is right for the country and put the national interest first." Rep. Greg Stanton, July 11 The Arizona congressman reiterated themes from other representatives asking Biden to step down some extremely similar to what Rep. Brad Schneider said earlier in the day including that "the stakes in this election could not be higher" and "it is time for the President to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders." "The Democratic Party must have a nominee who can effectively make the case against Trump," Stanton wrote. "For the sake of American democracy, ... I believe it is time for the President to step aside as our nominee." I was one of President Biden's earliest supporters in 2020, and I'm proud of the progress we've made for Arizona. However the stakes in this election could not be higher. For our country's sake, it is time for the President to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders. pic.twitter.com/KSX1jd0O6m Greg Stanton (@gregstantonaz) July 11, 2024 Rep. Ed Case, July 11 "My guidepost is what is the best way forward for our country," the Hawaii congressman said in a statement. "I do not believe President Biden should continue his candidacy for re-election as President." Rep. Brad Schneider, July 11 Schneider's statement described how Biden "has the opportunity to secure his legacy" by leaving the race. "The stakes in this election could not be higher," the Illinois Democrat wrote. "I love President Biden. I am forever grateful for his leadership and service to our nation. The time has come, however, for President Biden to heroically pass the torch to a new generation of leadership." Just in: Illinois Democrat Rep. Brad Schneider issues a lengthy statement calling for Joe Biden to step aside for a new generation of leadership. pic.twitter.com/woFeil6mct Ben Szalinski (@BenSzalinski) July 11, 2024 Rep. Hillary Scholten, July 11 Scholten, who flipped her district in Michigan in 2022, issued a statement on X that Biden should step aside from the presidential race and allow a new leader to step up. However, she added that should Biden stay in the race, she would "respect" the decision and will still vote for him, as a clear and necessary alternative to Donald Trump." President Biden has served his country well, but for the sake of our democracy, he must pass the torch to a new candidate for the 2024 election. pic.twitter.com/derEO1kl3f Hillary Scholten (@HillaryScholten) July 11, 2024 Sen. Peter Welch, July 10 In an op-ed in the Washington Post, Welch, of Vermont, became the first U.S. senator to call for Biden to withdraw from the 2024 race. I understand why President Biden wants to run. He saved us from Donald Trump once and wants to do it again. But he needs to reassess whether he is the best candidate to do so. In my view, he is not," Welch wrote. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, July 10 Blumenauer, of Oregon, became the ninth House Democrat to call for Biden to exit the presidential race. "It is a painful and difficult conclusion but there is no question in my mind that we will all be better served if the president steps aside as the Democratic nominee and manages a transition under his terms," Blumenauer said in a statement, according to Politico. "He has earned that right." Rep. Pat Ryan, July 10 Ryan told the New York Times that he felt Biden should step aside "for the good of the country." "I'd be doing a grave disservice if I said he was the best candidate to serve this fall," the New York Democrat said. "For the good of our country, for my two young kids, I'm asking Joe Biden to step aside in the upcoming election and deliver on the promise to be a bridge to a new generation of leaders." Rep. Mikie Sherrill, July 9 In a statement posted on X, Sherrill shared that because she knows "Biden cares deeply about the future of our country," he should "declare he won't run for reelection" and "help us through a process toward a new nominee." Sherrill added that her concerns lie with the "threat" of Trump returning to the White House. "The stakes are too high," the New Jersey Democrat wrote. "I realize this is hard, but we have done hard things in pursuit of democracy since the founding of this nation. It is time to do so again." I know President Biden cares deeply about the future of our country. That's why I am asking that he declare that he won't run for reelection. My full statement: pic.twitter.com/rR2rmZ1ewN Mikie Sherrill (@MikieSherrill) July 9, 2024 Rep. Adam Smith, July 8 Smith, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, told CNN on July 8 that he agreed Biden should end his candidacy and that Vice President Kamala Harris "would be a much better, stronger candidate." He also issued a similar statement on his official site. "The president's performance in the debate was alarming to watch and the American people have made it clear they no longer see him as a credible candidate to serve four more years as president," Smith said. "Since the debate, the president has not seriously addressed these concerns. "This is unacceptable. The stakes are simply too high. Donald Trump and MAGA extremism pose an existential threat to our nation, and we need to be in the strongest possible position to win in this election." Smith did add that if Biden stays in the race, he will support him. "If he gets the nomination, I'm all in," Smith said. Rep. Angie Craig, July 6 Craig, a Democrat who represents Minnesota's second congressional district, issued a statement hours after the ABC interview, for Biden to step aside in the 2024 race. While noting her respect for Biden's "decades of service," Craig said "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. "This is not a decision I've come to lightly, but there is simply too much at stake to risk a second Donald Trump presidency," she added, before calling on Biden to drop out of the race and "allow for a new generation of leaders to step forward." "There is only a small window left to make sure we have a candidate best equipped to make the case and win," Craig said. Rep. Mike Quigley, July 5 Quigley, an Illinois Democrat, became the fourth House Democrat to call on Biden to exit the presidential race. "Mr. President, your legacy is set," he said on MSNBC. "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 affirmed his decision in comments following Biden's ABC News interview Friday. The Illinois representative had previously publicly expressed reservations about Biden continuing his campaign, urging the president to "appreciate at this time just how much it impacts not just his race, but all the other races that are coming in November." Rep. Seth Moulton, July 4 Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat and Iraq war vet, became the third House Democrat to call on Biden to step aside. He did so in an interview with Boston radio station WBUR. "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 WBUR. Moulton said the mechanism for choosing a new candidate was "yet to be determined" and could include "some sort of primary process" or that Vice President Kamala Harris could emerge as the presidential nominee. On Wednesday, Moulton had released a statement that had stopped short of calling for Biden to exit, but had recommended "all viable options" be on the table. Rep. Raul Grijalva, July 3 Grijalva became the second House Democrat to call on Biden to drop out. In an interview, he said, "If hes the candidate, Im going to support him, but I think that this is an opportunity to look elsewhere." "What he needs to do is shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat," the Arizona Democrat continued, "and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, July 2 Doggett was the first Democrat in office to directly call for Biden to drop out. In a statement, which circulated on X, Doggett, of Texas, said Bidens debate performance did not reassure voters and Biden failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trumps lies. Following Biden's ABC News interview Friday, Doggett said the "need" for Biden to step aside was growing more urgent every day. Stoughton Public Schools have announced that two of its students were the victims of a double shooting in Bostons Mattapan neighborhood on Friday. One of the students, a rising senior, was killed in the shooting. The other student, a female, was wounded. We are deeply saddened to inform you that a Stoughton High student was killed on Friday, according to the statement from the school department. Christian Cousins, SHS class of 2025, was fatally shot on July 5th while in Mattapan with another SHS student. Stoughton schools superintendent Dr. Joseph Baeta told Boston 25 he spoke with Christians father on Saturday morning. To be quite honest, I spoke with him more like a dad than a superintendent, said Baeta. I have a student who just graduated and his son was a rising senior. I cant imagine the loss he is going through. Christian was set to graduate next year a from school thats become too familiar with tragedy. We recently lost four students in a car accident a few years back, said Baeta. Losing five students in different situations is a horrible thing for a community to have to deal with. The second student was also shot but sustained non-life-threatening injuries. according to the statement. For the time being, the second students identity is not being released. It is never easy to deal with the loss of a student, especially under these circumstances, said the school department. 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. The shooting in Mattapan on Friday was the latest in a deadly string of four shootings in Boston on Friday. Cousins was among two killed in the violence. Five other people, including the wounded SHS student, were wounded. The other Boston shootings were reported in Roxbury, Dorchester, and Jamaica Plain. Boston violence: Two people dead, five others injured after several Friday shootings No arrests have been announced in any of the shootings. Boston Police Superintendent Felipe Colon confirmed during a Friday afternoon news conference that the Mattapan shooting was not a random act. The superintendent also acknowledged that it had been an active 24 hours in the city and police were already targeting specific areas to combat any potential violence over the July 4th holiday weekend. My heart is with those who are recovering and those who are grieving today, said Mayor Wu on Friday. We have seen some tremendous progress and trending in the right direction in terms of violence across the city this year and this week and this weekend is always one that we are on high alert on because there are so many people out and about and unfortunately, we still have a lot more work to do. Stoughton school leaders will meet Monday morning to begin the too-familiar task of making crisis counselors available to students affected by the tragedy. A loss is a loss. This is a young man with a future and hes no longer with us and friends and family are taken back, said Beata. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday during the NATO summit in Washington, according to Johnson's schedule. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Support for Ukraine is expected to be a focus at the summit in Washington this week. There are concerns about the future of U.S. support for Kyiv should Donald Trump win the Nov. 5 presidential election. Johnson in April spearheaded a $95 billion bipartisan aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan that was opposed by allies of former President Trump in Congress. CONTEXT Republican presidential candidate Trump has indicated he would quickly move to cut aid to Kyiv if elected. While Trump in April declined to lobby against passage of the aid package, he made waves in February when he suggested the U.S. should not defend NATO countries that do not meet their obligations to contribute to their national defense. Reuters reported last month that two key advisers to Trump have presented him with a plan to end Russia's war in Ukraine - if he wins the Nov. 5 presidential election - that involves telling Ukraine it will only get more U.S. weapons if it enters peace talks. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has killed or wounded tens of thousands and reduced cities to rubble. The United States has provided Ukraine with more than $50 billion worth of military aid since 2022. (Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis) Hundreds of mourning NYPD officers pay final respects at funeral for cop killed by alleged drunk driver who plowed through LI nail salon Police Officer Emilia Rennhack's casket at her last rite's with Mayor Adams and the officer's husband, a detective, and other mourners. Hundreds of police officers converged on a Long Island funeral home Saturday morning to pay their teary final respects to a fallen sister. Emilia Rennhack was mourned by loved ones and coworkers at New Hyde Park Funeral Home a week after she and three other people were killed by a suspected drunk driver who plowed through a Suffolk County nail salon. Mayor Adams addressed the crowds at the funeral and talked about how the officer came from Poland with her family to pursue the American dream, joined the force and met her husband, Det. Carl Rennhack, at the 102 Precinct in Queens where they both worked. Det. Carl Rennhack at his dead wifes funeral after she was killed when an alleged drunken driver drove into a Long Island nail salon. James Keivom She wore the uniform to protect the people of this city, Adams said. She found her love in Carl, who is also a detective in the New York City Police Department. They were married together, but they have a love affair with our city. The 30-year-old was getting her nails done at Hawaii Nail Spa in Deer Park on June 28 in preparation for a wedding later that day when accused drunk driver Steven Schwally rammed through the glass window out front, killing four people and injuring 10 others. Police Officer Emilia Rennhacks funeral was held in Long Island Saturday. NYPD News/ X Mothers and fathers should not bury their children, Adams said. You lost your daughter, but she is a part of a larger family of the NYPD and we are going to pray for you and we are going to be here with you. Mayor Adams at the funeral of Police Officer Emilia Rennhack. James Keivom The grieving husband made his first public comments at his wifes last rites. Emilia held a lot of titles wife, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, godmother, friend, police officer, Rennhack said, as he appeared to hold back tears. She was always so happy, he said. Her laugh and smile were contagious. Det. Carl Rennhack receives the flag that had been draped over his wifes casket at funeral. James Keivom He talked about how the two went for a bite to eat when their shifts finished at the same time one night and the relationship flourished. After that date, I knew I had to see her again, he said. Our relationship progressed quickly. The two traveled the world together building beautiful memories and stories and she even brought him back to Poland and introduced him to her family, he said. Det. Carl Rennhack, of the 102 Precinct, walks out of funeral home behind wifes casket. James Keivom We became inseparable, he said. Our lives intertwined. The two married in September and online wedding photos show her in an elegant white dress. My beautiful wife, I love you, he said. I know well meet again. I miss you. The NYPD Ceremonial Unit places the officers casket in a hearse. James Keivom Carls mothers best friend, Anna Dragone, said the couple put a downpayment on a home in Farmingdale just a few days before her death. The felled officers parents are now contemplating moving back to Poland, she said. The police officer and the detective married last year. Carl Rennhack / Facebook This drunk driver is horrible, she said. He ruined everybodys life for nothing. A cop who worked in the 102 precinct with Rennhack said she will be missed. Its a very sad day for the 102 precinct, the police officer said. We lost a good one. She was loved. DENVER (KDVR) South Metro Fire Rescue said illegal fireworks sparked a three-acre fire in a park in Centennial early Sunday morning. The fire came close to a neighborhood but was extinguished before any structures were threatened. The fire happened in the Willow Spring Open Space near East Arapahoe Road and South Holly Street just after midnight. This embedded content is not available in your region. Fire crews worked to quickly extinguish the fire and the fires spread was stopped within 20 minutes. However, an extensive mop-up was needed to fully extinguish all the hot spots in the burn area. Only 1 state in the US completely bans consumer fireworks Crews used thermal imaging cameras on the ground and in the air with the use of a drone. Fireworks had been reported in the open space before the fire started. Investigators found the remnants of a mortar-style firework at South Homestead Parkway and South Niagra Court near the fire, as well as a park trash can full of illegal fireworks. (Credit: South Metro Fire Rescue) (Credit: South Metro Fire Rescue) (Credit: South Metro Fire Rescue) Crews extinguished a fire in an open space near a Centennial neighborhood Sunday morning (Credit: South Metro Fire Rescue) However, no suspects were identified on the scene. No injuries were reported and no residential property damage occurred. In total, 35 personnel from SMFR responded to the incident. The scene was cleared just before 2 a.m. 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. Palestinians harvest olives in the West Bank city of Bethlehem in October 2019. Olive is not only an important agricultural product, but the olive tree also symbolizes its association with the land. File Photo by Abed Al Hashlamoun/EPA-EFE July 7 (UPI) -- Illegal Israeli immigrants to Palestine have begun construction of a road west of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank as they continue to set fires to Palestinian crops under the protection of the Israeli army. The illegal immigrants, coming from Israel, are building the road on Palestinian-owned land in the village of Husan, the Palestinian News and Information Agency reported. Also known as WAFA, it is the official state-run news agency of the Palestinian National Authority. Rami Hamamreh, the director of the Husan village council, told the news agency that illegal Israeli immigrants also began excavation of land near the Sidi Bo'az colony where settlers have been killing Palestinian farmers since at least 2017. The issue of Israeli settlers in the West Bank is deemed illegal under international law, violating the Fourth Geneva Convention. These settlements lead to the displacement of Palestinian communities, the expropriation of land, and frequent conflicts. The presence of settlers complicates peace efforts and contributes to a cycle of violence caused by the Israelis. The Israeli government's support for settlements exacerbates tensions and undermines the prospects for a two-state solution. In the Dhahr Al-Abed village, west of Jenin, illegal Israeli immigrants set fire to a farmhouse and an olive tree grove, WAFA reported. And near Ramallah, illegal Israeli immigrants cut down a grove of olive trees on Palestinian farmland. Last month, a group of illegal Israeli immigrants burned crops on land near the town of Asira al-Qibliya, south of Nablus, the head of the village council Hafez Saleh has said. The settlers raised the Israeli flag after taking the land. The practice of burning Palestinian crops has long been criticized by observers of the decades-long conflict, well before Hamas' attack on Oct. 7. In 2018, Israeli newspaper Haaretz dubbed the practice "farm warfare." The destruction of the land has also been occurring in Palestine's Gaza, where 57% of agricultural land has been reported to have been destroyed by Israeli forces. The practice leaves Palestinians with little economic stability or reprieve, beholden to Israel's mercy or help from aid groups. In 2022, Gaza exported $44.6 million worth of produce -- mainly to the West Bank and Israel. The 19-year-old stepdaughter of UFC fighter Walt Harris was kidnapped and murdered in October 2019 and her suspected killer has yet to stand trial Auburn Police Department Aniah Blanchard On Oct. 23, 2019, Aniah Blanchard messaged her roommate just before midnight saying she would be home soon. That was the last time anyone would ever hear from the 19-year-old college student and stepdaughter of UFC fighter Walt Harris, he told PEOPLE in 2019. After not coming home the next day and her loved ones not being able to reach her, Harris said the family called police. According to police, Blanchard was last seen on surveillance video that night inside a convenience store in Auburn, Ala., before getting into her black 2017 Honda CR-V and driving southbound. Two days after Blanchard, a student at Southern Union Community College, was reported missing, police found her car nearly 60 miles away at an apartment complex in Montgomery, Ala., PEOPLE previously reported. Police said at the time that the CR-V had visible dents and scratches to the right bumper that it didnt have when she went missing. According to a police affidavit previously obtained by CBS News, undisclosed evidence recovered from the abandoned car led Auburn police to believe Blanchard suffered a "life-threatening injury." Related: UFC Star's Missing Stepdaughter, 19, Was 'Victim of Foul Play,' Ala. Police Believe As the investigation progressed, authorities identified Ibraheem Yazeed as a person of interest in the case after video surveillance showed him inside the convenience store where Blanchard was last seen. Court records cited by the Associated Press state a witness allegedly saw Yazeed force Blanchard into her car outside the store. Yazeed was then arrested on suspicion of first-degree kidnapping in Florida on Nov. 8, 2019, after a warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with Blanchards disappearance, the Montgomery Advertiser reported. About two weeks later, two additional suspects were arrested and charged in the case. Related: Third Man Arrested in Connection with Disappearance of UFC Fighter's Stepdaughter Aniah Blanchard According to the Montgomery Advertiser, WVTM-TV, and WSFA, Antwain Squirmy Fisher was charged with first-degree kidnapping while David Johnson Jr. was charged with hindering prosecution, authorities said. Its unclear if the two additional suspects have entered pleas or retained attorney's to speak on their behalf. Due to a gag order issued by the judge, it's also unclear what police believe their involvement is in the case. On Nov. 25, 2019, about a month after she was reported missing, Blanchards remains were recovered in a wooded area in Macon County, Ga., according to a press release from the Alabama Attorney Generals Office. Her cause of death was determined to be a gunshot wound. courtesy Walt Harris From left: Walt Harris, Aniah Blanchard, and her mother, Angela Harris. A grand jury indicted Yazeed in November 2022 on one count of capital murder during a kidnapping, one count of capital murder during robbery, and one count of capital murder involving a victim in a vehicle, per the release. According to the AP, Yazeed, then 33, pleaded not guilty to all charges in March 2023. He was reportedly being held in the Lee County Detention Center in Alabama without bond. Yazeeds lawyer, William Whatley told PEOPLE, I cannot comment on this case at this time. There is not a trial date set in Macon County Circuit Court at this time. Related: UFC Fighter Shares Heartbreak After Missing Stepdaughter Is Found Dead: 'The Pain Is Unbearable' An indictment cited by the attorney generals office alleges Yazeed did intentionally cause the death of Blanchard by shooting her with a gun during the course of abducting her and robbing her of a vehicle and cell phone, according to the release. Authorities suspect Yazeed killed Blanchard while she was inside her car. Auburn Police Division Ibraheem Yazeed According to the Montgomery Advertiser, Yazeed was out on bond on unrelated kidnapping and attempted murder charges at the time of Blanchards death. PEOPLE couldnt immediately confirm the current status of those charges. The outlet also reported that Aniahs Law, which allows a judge to deny bail to violent offenders, was passed in Alabama in November 2022. Blanchards case was recently the focus of CBS 48 Hours. In a clip shared to TikTok of the June 29 episode titled Fighting for Aniah, Blanchards roommate, Sarah O'Brien, revealed that one of Blanchards biggest fears was being kidnapped or murdered. 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. Like as soon as she walked in, she would check every room, OBrien says in the clip. She would tell me multiple times, like, she had nightmares about it happening to her. Following Aniahs death, her mother, Angela Harris, made it her mission to help other families search for their missing loved ones, PEOPLE previously reported. She has since founded Aniahs Heart, a non-profit organization that provides resources to assist families searching for a missing loved one, as well as sharing important education to help prevent future violent acts. According to the attorney generals office, Yazeed faces the death penalty or a sentence of life in prison without parole for each of the three charges of capital murder, if convicted. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Christina Sanchez started her career in public service as a legal intern for the El Paso County Attorney's Office 16 years later, she is living her dream of running the office. "This is an honor of a lifetime," Sanchez said. "It does not get lost on me that the people of El Paso elected me to do this job. It is my intent to do the best job that I can. I am born and raised here in El Paso County. My entire legal career has been in the county attorney's office providing public service. This is really a dream job. A dream come true and I will not let this community down." Sanchez was officially sworn in as the new El Paso County Attorney in mid-June at the El Paso County Ceremonial Courtroom at the Enrique Moreno County Courthouse in Downtown El Paso. El Paso County Attorney Christina Sanchez stands for a portrait outside the El Paso County Court House on Tuesday, June 25, 2023. The swearing-in ceremony was held hours after the El Paso County Commissioners Court voted 5-0 to appoint her to the position to immediately take over for Jo Anne Bernal, who retired from the seat. Sanchez was already elected in the March Democratic Party primary election with more than 69% of the votes and is facing no Republican challenger in the November General Election. She was set to take over the office in January, but the Commissioners Court vote allowed Sanchez to begin her work early. "There are big shoes to fill with Jo Anne's departure, but I know that you are up to the challenge and to the task," El Paso County Commissioner David Stout said before the Commissioners Court's vote. "I know you will lead us into the future in a fierce and fearless manner. I'm just so happy that we're able to get you in even earlier. The voters spoke quite effusively and elected you by a very, very big margin." More: Texas runoff results: Ugarte wins Sheriff, Montoya takes DA, Gonzales secures GOP nomination The County Attorney's Office oversees various legal services, including juvenile crime, child and elder abuse, mental health, protective orders and family violence. It also enforces state and county environmental and health laws. The office oversees both civil and criminal litigation. The office also provides civil legal defense for El Paso County government officials. The office has a budget of more than $11 million, according to the 2024 El Paso County Annual Operating Budget. Sanchez will oversee a staff of about 100 people. The county attorney was paid $226,534 in the 2024 fiscal year. However, Sanchez's salary has not been released. The county attorney serves four-year terms. El Pasoan dedicated to serving her hometown The passion for El Paso was visible as Sanchez talked about her desire to serve her hometown. "I love El Paso and I am just grateful I have been able to serve my community throughout my career in the County Attorney's Office," she said, " And now I am going to work hard to be a county attorney that El Paso can be proud of." El Paso County Attorney Christina Sanchez stands for a portrait at the El Paso County Attorney's Office on Tuesday, June 25, 2023. Sanchez graduated from Burges High School in 1997. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in political science from George Washington University in 2001 and her law degree from Texas Tech University School of Law in 2007. She began her career with the El Paso County Attorney's Office as a legal intern in 2007. After graduating from Texas Tech School of Law, she was hired as an assistant county attorney. "At that time, the county and a lot of our governmental entities were in turmoil over widespread public corruption issues that were going on throughout county government, city government and at our school districts," Sanchez said. "When I started as a legal intern, one of the first jobs was jumping right in and doing the legal research on those issues and what it meant for the county." Seeing firsthand what corruption had done to her city and the distrust of elected officials, Sanchez knew what she wanted to do with her career. She decided to take action to hold elected officials accountable and ensure the citizens of El Paso were represented with honor and integrity. "It has always sparked my interest because for me it was always about ensuring that our elected officials had the community's interest in mind and then it was just, 'how did we get here?'" Sanchez said about the corruption scandals. "It wasn't about sitting out and complaining and just being a bystander. It was 'how was I going to make a difference to that?' That had always stuck with me and I knew that I could build a career in the county's attorney's office to ensure the county government continued on a good path and good representation for the constituents of this community." More: Democrat James Montoya declares victory in quest to become next El Paso DA She worked in various departments in the county attorney's office to learn as much as possible about each unit. She has worked in multiple positions for the County Attorney's Office, including division chief for the Commissioners Court Unit. Sanchez became senior division chief for the El Paso County Commissioners Court and the Public Works Unit, her last position before taking over the office from her mentor. "She's ready to lead," said Bernal, who served as county attorney for 15 years. "She was ready to lead on day one. I, along with the rest of the community, look forward to watching her to see what her plan is and how she executes her vision." "I know that first and foremost for Christina and her team will be focused on the protection, safety and wellbeing of the El Paso community. It's important for El Pasoans to know they're in very good hands." Future of El Paso County Attorney's Office Sanchez is the first of several new law enforcement leaders who have or will take over their office from a longtime incumbent leaving office. The El Paso County Sheriff's Office will have a new sheriff as two candidates vie for the seat in the November General Election. The El Paso District Attorney's Office, which has already seen a change of leadership before the elections, could have a new district attorney as incumbent Bill Hicks, a Republican, is facing off against James Montoya, a Democrat, in the Nov. 5 election. Christina Sanchez (right) is sworn as the new El Paso County Attorney by 41st District Court Judge Annabell Perez June 10, 2024, at the El Paso County Ceremonial Courtroom at the Enrique Moreno County Courthouse in Downtown El Paso. The El Paso Police Department, FBI El Paso and DEA El Paso have leaders in charge for less than two years. "That is one of the reasons I am happy to be appointed early," Sanchez said. "Our office will be prepared to meet with all the new leaders and discuss how we can work together to better serve your community. It is important to have cooperation between agencies and I look forward to working with all our partners." The County Attorney's Office has been one of the most efficient and well-respected offices in El Paso government for more than two decades. Sanchez's goal is to keep it that way. "County Attorney Bernal had been with the County Attorney's Office for over 30 years," Sanchez said. "She has really built a legacy of ensuring that individuals that needed our services were treated with dignity and compassion. She left a very impressionable mark not only in the County Attorney's Office and county government, but in this entire community." "My job is to ensure that we are equipped and ready to handle those new issues that come our way. Right now, it is making sure that there is continuity in the office. That the legal services stay the same, that we do not miss the step. More: Key takeaways from first 2024 presidential debate: Biden, Trump spar over border, economy One significant objective Sanchez plans to undertake is making it easier for victims of family violence to find all the help they need through the County Attorney's Office. "A long-term project that I am so interested in doing for the County Attorney's Office would be to build a one-stop shop for victims of family violence," Sanchez said. "Right now, we do provide protective order services for individuals that come in and that do qualify. But what we've also learned is those individuals need further assistance, whether it's in seeking how they can be financially independent from the household that they are in that causes them to stay in that type of relationship, either for themselves or for their family." "So, building a social network, if you will, around that for those individuals that are coming so they're not having to be referred to five or six different areas. That's a huge project. We've seen models in other communities throughout Texas but that's something that I'd like to hopefully start and implement within this first term." Sanchez is grateful for the confidence voters showed in her by overwhelmingly voting for her to be the new county attorney. My message to the community is, thank you very much for entrusting me with your vote, Sanchez said. I look forward to meeting and working with you. I will be out in the community making myself known and making the services in our office known. We have a good office with good people with public service in mind. I'm just very excited to meet everybody out in the El Paso community. Aaron Martinez may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT. This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Dedication to El Paso leads Christina Sanchez to County Attorney seat Rafah, southern Gaza Strip A CBS News team was among the first group of foreign journalists allowed to visit the decimated southern Gaza city of Rafah since Israel launched its military ground assault there against Hamas in early May. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the operation despite warnings from the U.S. and other Israeli allies, which voiced serious concern about the risks to civilians who'd taken refuge in the city over the preceding seven months of war. By the end of May, at least two weeks into Israel's ground operations in the city, the United Nations said about 1 million Palestinians had fled from Rafah many of whom had already been displaced at least once previously. CBS News journalists in Gaza, led by producer Marwan al-Ghoul, have reported on the war since it started bringing the world images and stories of the devastating effects on civilians. But the visit on Wednesday was the first look for foreign television news crews at the operation in Rafah, and its consequences. CBS News was driven into southern Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces in a convoy of open-top IDF Humvees. IDF says underground "terror ecosystem" uncovered The IDF wanted to show the foreign media what it had accomplished in Rafah, including the discovery of what it called a "terror ecosystem" an underground labyrinth of tunnels it said had been constructed by the militants under the city. Military officials said some of the tunnels had connected Hamas militants' territory in Gaza with Egypt, across the Palestinian enclave's southern border. Smuggling via that route has long been pointed to by Israel as a vital survival line for Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., Israel and the European Union for years. The IDF said it had found hundreds of houses in the city boobytrapped by the militants, and that during its operations, it had killed more than 900 militants in Rafah. The city was said to be the last major stronghold of Hamas, which ruled over Gaza for almost 20 years before it sparked the ongoing war by launching its unprecedented Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel. That attack saw the militants kill some 1,200 people and take about 240 more hostage, roughly 80 of whom are still believed to be alive, held hostage in Gaza. Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry says Israel's retaliatory war has killed almost 38,000 people, most of them women and children. It has also destroyed most of the infrastructure in the Palestinian territory, which, before the war, was believed to be home to about 2.3 million people. An Israeli Defense Forces soldier stands in front of military vehicles in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, during ongoing IDF operations against Hamas in the city, July 3, 2024. / Credit: CBS News From what CBS News witnessed in Rafah, virtually nobody remains in the city, which, only a month and a half ago, was packed with internally displaced Palestinians. Destruction on an indescribable scale It is impossible to put into words the scale of the destruction in Rafah. The pictures captured by CBS News' camera speak for themselves. It has been made a wasteland. Apart from a line of empty aid trucks and their drivers, the only people seen in Rafah were IDF forces. A few stray cats and an emaciated dog roamed around the rubble looking sorry for themselves. CBS News heard significant small arms fire during the visit, most of it seemingly from IDF troops still operating in the city. The annihilation of infrastructure in Rafah was worse even than what CBS News witnessed in 2017 in the decimated Syrian cities of Mosul and Raqqa during the war against ISIS. Israel's Netanyahu doubles down on "destruction of Hamas" Chief IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari spoke with the journalists in the ruins of Rafah as gunfire rang out. He said the military's work in the city was far from over. Israel launched its operations in Gaza just hours after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. In the days immediately after, Netanyahu spoke unequivocally about his aims, vowing in televised remarks to destroy Hamas and warning that every member of the group was "a dead man." But after nearly nine months of fighting and the destruction of huge swathes of Gaza, many Hamas leaders remain at large, including its top commander in the enclave, Yahya Sinwar. Many people, including some Israelis, believe destroying Hamas, or even its capability to govern and launch its own military operations, could take years to achieve, or may in fact be impossible. Hagari himself said on Israeli TV just a couple weeks ago that, "whoever thinks we can eliminate Hamas is wrong," adding that anyone leading the Israeli people to believe that was an achievable mission was, "simply throwing sand in the eyes of the public." Amid the signs of a disconnect between Netanyahu and the Israeli military on the objectives of the war and planning for what comes after it in Gaza, The New York Times, cited anonymous Israeli commanders on Tuesday as saying they want a truce. The newspaper quoted Israeli generals as saying they're running low on ammunition and concerned they could be stretched too thin if the war escalates into a tandem conflict with Hamas' ally Hezbollah, based across Israel's northern border in Lebanon. The Times said the generals believe a cease-fire is the best way to get the remaining Israeli hostages home and that a truce should be sought regardless of the government's stated objectives being met. Netanyahu shot back at the claims on Tuesday, saying he didn't "know who these anonymous sources are, but I am here to make it unequivocally clear: This will not happen. The war will end once Israel has achieved all of its objectives, including the destruction of Hamas and the release of all of our hostages." There have been many reports of Hamas fighters fleeing the ruins of Rafah along with the exodus of Palestinian civilians in recent weeks. What has been destroyed in Rafah, like every other major population center that existed in Gaza before Oct. 7, is the city itself. Sen. Lindsey Graham says if Biden steps aside, it's "a dramatically different race" for Trump Havana Syndrome evidence suggests who may be responsible for mysterious brain injuries Hoppin' clams! "SpongeBob SquarePants" turns 25 A child is seen within the rubble of a destroyed building after an Israeli air strike on Al-Nusairat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Saturday. Photo by Mohammed Saber/EPA-EFE July 7 (UPI) -- Israel has imprisoned nearly 10,000 people from Palestine after arresting 15 people overnight Saturday amid the war in Gaza. The Palestinian Commission for the Affairs of Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners said in a statement Sunday that more than 9,550 people have been detained by Israel. That number is up from just shy of 9,300 about two weeks ago. The news came after Rami Abu Mustafa, a Palestinian prisoner recently released from Israeli detention, died in Gaza in recent days -- earning the ire of the commission which noted that he had been "subjected to torture, unprecedented in its level and intensity." The commission called Mustafa a victim of "medical crimes" and the "crime of starvation" with the thousands of other Palestinians who are often held indefinitely without charges in Israel prisons. Mustafa, 45, suffered from "mental problems" after an accident in his childhood but was shot an unspecified number of times by Israeli forces before he was detained. "He lost the ability to see as a result, and the effects of torture were evident on him," the commission said. At least two women who have been detained by Israel are pregnant as conditions, including sexual harassment by their Israeli guards, continue to worsen for Palestinian prisoners. "The policy of abuse and punishments against female detainees is not needed, but it increased in its intensity since October 7, 2023," the commission previously said. The agency named the two pregnant women detained as Jihad Nakhlah and Aysha Ghidan. There are currently 78 women prisoners at the Damon prison. More than 3,400 Palestinians are currently under "administrative detention," which allows Israeli officials to hold them without charge or trial. The human rights group Amnesty International has said the practice has "dramatically increased" since the war. Palestinians and their supporters often equate this practice to kidnapping. Amnesty International has documented cases of Israeli soldiers torturing Palestinian detainees, including "severe beatings" and "humiliation." The human rights group said that such torture had been occurring "for decades" before Hamas' attack Oct. 7. And, Israeli forces have continued to detain dozens of journalists and healthcare workers in Gaza. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) tried to distract from his past praise for former President Barack Obama by comparing Obamas skills as a family man to those of Donald Trumps. During an appearance on Meet the Press on Sunday, host Kristen Welker pressed the senator to say if he still thinks of Obama as an admirable man, quoting from a 2017 opinion piece Vance wrote for The New York Times. While Vance, who is reportedly one of the main contenders in the race to be Trumps running mate, admitted to Welker that Obama was a good husband and father, he said that the same is true for Trump. I grew up in a broken family, Kristen, and I just wanted to be a good husband and dad, he said. And certainly Barack Obama, despite my many political disagreements with him, hes clearly a good husband and a father. By the way, Id say the same thing about Donald Trump, whose children love him. JD Vance on his praise for Obama in 2017: "Barack Obama, despite my many political disagreements with him, he's clearly a good husband and father. By the way, I'd say the same thing about Donald Trump." pic.twitter.com/D74bxtTTng Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 7, 2024 I think this is one of the things the media often misses about Trump, Vance continued. Is how genuinely devoted he is to his family, to his grandchildren, and how part of his pro-life messaging, his fundamental pro-life view, is that we ought to make it easier for more American families to have those thriving children and thriving families. Although Trumps children have spoken favorably of him in the past, with some of them even supporting him during his hush money case, Trumps marriage history isnt as complimentary. He is the only U.S. president to have been married three times and divorced twice. Vance then returned his focus to Obama, saying to Welker, Was Barack Obama a good president? No. Was he a good husband and father? Yes. In his 2017 piece, Vance called the Republican Partys failure to disconnect legitimate political disagreements from the fact that [Obama] himself is an admirable man one of the great failures of recent political history. For at a pivotal time in my life, Barack Obama gave me hope that a boy who grew up like me could still achieve the most important of my dreams, he wrote. For that, Ill miss him, and the example he set. Related... On Saturday, 6 July, Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoko Kamikawa announced a joint project with Cambodia on sharing mine-clearance knowledge and technology with countries worldwide, including Ukraine. Source: The Associated Press, citing Kamikawas statement Details: Kamikawa made this statement during her visit to the Cambodian Mine Action Centre, established in the 1990s at the end of decades of civil war in the country. The centre is involved in clearing between 4 and 6 million landmines and other unexploded ordnance scattered throughout the country. Quote from Kamikawa: "Cambodia, which has steadily advanced mine removal within its own country, is now a leader in mine action around the world." Details: Cambodian bomb disposal experts are among the most experienced in the world, and over the past decade, several thousand of them have been deployed under the auspices of the UN to work in Africa and the Middle East. The publication notes that in 2022, Cambodia began training bomb disposal experts from Ukraine, which also suffers from a high density of landmines and unexploded ordnance due to prolonged Russian aggression. Quote from Kamikawa: "As a concrete cooperation under the Japan Cambodia Landmine Initiative, Japan will provide full-scale assistance to humanitarian mine action in Ukraine. 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." Details: In its 2022 report, the Landmine Monitor NGO listed Cambodia and Ukraine among nine countries with "massive" mine contamination, highlighting their challenge of dealing with over 100 square kilometres of uncleared fields and unexploded ordnance. Background: Cambodia began training Ukrainian bomb disposal experts in Poland and Cambodia after former PM Hun Sen, in an unusual move for a country that typically aligns with Russia and China, condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, stating that "Cambodia is always against any country invading another country." Cambodia was one of nearly 100 UN member states co-sponsoring a resolution condemning Russia's invasion. Several other countries, including the USA and Germany, have already provided assistance to Ukraine for mine clearance efforts. Support UP or become our patron! Japans foreign minister announced a collaborative initiative with Cambodia on July 6 to share land mine removal knowledge and technology with countries worldwide, including Ukraine. During a visit to the Cambodian Mine Action Center, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa highlighted the center's origins in the 1990s, following Cambodias prolonged civil war, and its mission to address an estimated four to six million land mines and unexploded ordnance scattered across the country. "Cambodia, which has steadily advanced mine removal within its own country, is now a leader in mine action around the world," Kamikawa remarked, according to the Associated Press. Cambodian deminers, recognized as some of the worlds most experienced, have been deployed over the past decade under U.N. auspices to Africa and the Middle East. In 2022, Cambodia began training Ukrainian deminers, as Ukraine faces a high density of land mines and unexploded munitions due to the ongoing Russian aggression. In its 2022 report, the NGO Landmine Monitor identified both Cambodia and Ukraine as being among nine countries with "massive" mine contamination, each having over 100 square kilometers (38.6 square miles) of uncleared land. Since 2022, approximately 174,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian land have been contaminated with explosives, making 144,000 square kilometers potentially dangerous. Ukraine's Defense Ministry specialists have cleared 30,000 square kilometers of Ukraine over the past two years - an area comparable to the size of Belgium or Moldova. Several countries, including Cambodia, Colombia, Sweden, and Denmark have extended their support to Ukraine by assisting in demining efforts, offering training, and providing essential equipment. Read also: Lithuania to send 14 M113 armored personnel carriers for Ukraines demining efforts Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. It was a homecoming of sorts for Mits Yamamoto, but not to a home that his family had wanted. A caravan of four buses was carrying him and other survivors last month to the sites of the Jerome and Rowher incarceration camps, built during World War II to hold thousands of Japanese Americans who lived on the West Coast. It was a two-hour drive from Little Rock, Arkansas, and the 20 survivors were joined by 185 of their descendants on the pilgrimage. In December 1941 Everything turned upside down, said Yamamoto, a 98-year-old Sacramento resident who was sharing his memories with the younger generation. I didnt even know about it until that night because theres no TV I just happened to turn the radio on and found out. Jerome and Rowher, just 26 miles apart, were two of the 10 camps administered by the War Relocation Authority that held 120,000 Japanese Americans, two-thirds of which were American citizens. Soon after Japans attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on Feb. 19, 1942, which authorized the forced removal of Japanese Americans from the West Coast to inland relocation centers. The Arkansas camps held over 16,000 people, many from Sacramento communities like Florin and Elk Grove. Others were from places like Stockton, Fresno and Los Angeles. San Jose resident Roy Matsuzaki celebrated his 91st birthday on the warm, humid day when he returned with his daughters to the Jerome incarceration camp. Thats where I lived for about three years, he said pointing to the green farm field bordered with trees. I havent been here since 1942. Matsuzaki was nine years old when he left his Elk Grove home for the Jerome incarceration camp in 1942 with one suitcase. When the camp closed, he moved down the road to the Rohwer camp. San Jose resident Roy Matsuzaki, 91, visits the site of the Jerome incarceration camp in Arkansas with his daughter, Doreen Kasson, on June 6. Matsuzaki was taken from his home in Elk Grove during World War II to be held at the site. It brings backs 80 years of memories. We thought what the heck kind of place is this? he said. You were put into barracks. We had two barracks for my two sisters, my brother and my mother and father. Walking with small, fast steps and assisted with a cane, Matsuzaki explores with his daughters the farm fields that now occupy the site of the camp. The only reminder of its existence is a smoke stack. I remember a grocery store across the street, the owner didnt care how we went in but we were restricted to that area. But the guards were along each corner. You cant realize what the government spent on building these things. The Jerome camp held 8,497 Japanese Americans at its peak. It was a one-mile square camp set in swampy woods that were prone to flooding. Summers were rainy, hot and humid, with mosquitoes and poisonous snakes. The winters were cold with temperatures that could drop to zero. The tar paper-covered barracks offered little protection from the elements. Yamamoto, walking with his daughter Ginny Yamamoto Syphx, recalled that the last time he visited the Rohwer site it was raining and he could not walk the ground he experienced in 1942. My mission was to see where it was. Its just a big old field now, he said. Theres no barracks no towers or no barbed wires or nothing, you know? When Ginny asked her father why he wanted come back, he said because this was my home. Sacramento resident Mits Yamamoto, 98, walks with his daughter Ginny Syphx on the site of the the Jerome Incarceration camp in June in Arkansas. He lived there during the duration of World War II. Twin brothers Tad and Yukio Yoshikawa, 89, grew up in Stockton, where their parents had a barbershop and owned their own home. All we see is monuments, said brother Tad as they walked the site for the first time since 1945. It would have been nice if they kept one block intact to show what it looked like. Its so long ago and we were so young I dont remember a lot, except we had to go to school and study, said his brother Yukio. Their family was able to rent their Stockton home, and when they returned home after the war they had a place to live unlike many. For the first couple of months, my father put up a mattress against the window in case somebody threw rocks at our house. Now San Jose residents, the brothers became engineers and worked in the aerospace industry: Yukio on the Hubble space telescope, and Tad on the Gemini mission to put a man in space. Nobody would talk about (the incarceration) after the war, Tad said. As Denise Hayashi and Doreen Kasson walked the Jerome site with their father Roy Matsuzaki, he talked about how attitudes have changed about talking about the experience. You see something: more friendship and more talking together, he said. During a quiet moment of reflection after visiting the two sites, Yamamoto sat back in seat in the bus as the setting sun reflected on his face. Like many of his generation, he didnt talk about his experiences in the camp after returning home. Some people say it was shameful but I dont feel that way. Sacramento resident Mits Yamamoto, 98, reflects on the three years he spent at the Jerome Incarceration Camp during WWII during a pilgrimage June 6 in Jerome, Arkansas. The Jerome Incarceration Camp held over 8,497 Japanese Americans from Oct. 6, 1942, until June 30, 1944, it was the last American concentration camp to open and the first to close. Japanese American survivors and their descendants tour the 10,054-acre site of the Jerome incarceration camp during a pilgrimage June 6 in Arkansas. The camp held more than 8,000 Japanese Americans from Oct. 6, 1942, until June 30, 1944. Juhu Thukra takes a photograph of Jackson, Scott and Jeffrey Yamaguchi on their first visit to the Jerome incarceration camp on June 6 in Arkansas. Their family members were incarcerated at the nearby Rowher incarceration camp during World War II. Japanese survivors and their descendants made a pilgrimage on June 6 to the Arkansas site of the Rohwer incarceration camp, visiting the memorial cemetery of those who died there during World War II. A memorial statue of an armored tank, constructed by the incarcerated honor Japanese Americans who died fighting in Europe during World War II in the U.S. Armys 100th Battalion 442nd Company Regiment, stands at the memorial cemetery at the Rohwer incarceration camp in Arkansas during a visit by a group of Japanese survivors and their descendants last month. Just Askin': Which region of Cincinnati eats at Skyline Chili the most? The Enquirer's Just Askin' series aims to answer the questions that no one seems to have an answer for, not even Google. From the East Side to the West Side, to the northern suburbs to Northern Kentucky, we all have our differences. But we at least have one thing in common. Our area has a lot of Skyline Chili restaurants, and a lot of us choose to dine there. Skyline Chili has more than 150 locations throughout Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Florida. Skyline has more than 150 locations throughout Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and even Florida, where locals can get their three-way and coney fix while on vacation. (There are only six locations in Florida, though. Most are here in the Tristate area.) While soupy chili on spaghetti and hot dogs may not be everyone's cup of tea, for many in the Queen City, Cincinnati chili might as well be considered another food group. It's hard to find a community that doesn't have one within it, or at least nearby. Which region eats there the most? More: Skyline Chili to start serving breakfast daily at 5 parlors. Here's where Which region of Cincinnati eats at Skyline Chili the most often? Whether or not you believe the West Side is the best side, West Siders are certainly some of Skyline's best customers. According to a spokesperson with the chain, the restaurants on West Side see the highest volume of customers. There are 23 locations in what Skyline considers its western region in Ohio. To name a few on the West Side: Glenway Avenue in Westwood, North Bend Road in Monfort Heights, Colerain Avenue in Groesbeck. Do you have a question for Just Askin'? Send it to us at localnews@enquirer.com. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Which region of Cincinnati dines at Skyline most often? Kamala Harris attended the 30th annual Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans on Saturday, speaking about economic opportunity, threats to reproductive health, maternal mortality, and the dangers of a second Trump term. But there was one topic she didn't get into that much . . . Biden. This is probably the most significant election of our lifetime. We have said it every four years, but this one here is it," Harris said. "In 122 days, we each have the power to decide what kind of country we want to live in." During her 30-minute Q&A with Essence Ventures CEO Caroline Wanga, Harris barely mentioned Biden. Wanga didnt seem to press the matter either, even though, less than 24 hours ago, the president gave yet another underwhelming performance in an ABC interview that only added fuel to the call for him to step down from the race. When Harris addressed a standing-room-only crowd in a room that can seat over 500 people at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, she was introduced as a woman doing the heavy lifting who is a proven fighter for the backbone of this country. She entered and exited the stage to the tune of Beyonce and Kendrick Lamars song "Freedom," in which Beyonce sings the lyrics, Singin, freedom, freedom, Where are you?... Hey! Ima keep running. Reminding the audience of the work the Biden-Harris Administration has accomplished over the last four years, Harris spoke about curbing the price of insulin paid by Medicare users, expanding access to public health insurance for low and moderate-income women, and billions in student loan debt forgiven. She asked the room, by a show of hands, if anyone had reaped the benefits of student loan forgiveness, and hundreds of hands shot up. "You got that because you voted in 2020, Harris told the audience, according to reporting by the Guardian. One of the attendees, who introduced herself as a nurse practitioner from Cleveland, said she is working double-time to pay off hundreds of thousands in student loans since none of it had been forgiven. She was attending to hear the VP talk about second-term plans and by the end of the event she said, I liked what I heard. I did, but want to hear more. Adding, Honestly, I think what we heard tonight is the next president of the United States. Isnt that something? Vice President Kamala Harris didnt directly address the fallout from President Joe Bidens poor performance during his live CNN Presidential Debate with former president Donald Trump over a week ago when she spoke during an interview at the 30th Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans Saturday evening. Nor did she address Bidens sit-down conversation with ABC News George Stephanopoulos, who also served as a senior advisor to President Clinton, to dissuade the questions about his age and ability to continue as president the night before. Instead, Harris played it safe, sticking to key talking points emphasizing womens reproductive health as well as Black maternal wellbeing and reiterating Biden-Harris policies such as student loan relief and bringing the price of insulin down to a flat rate of $35. The exchange between the VP and Essence President/CEO Caroline Wanga began more conversationally, with the latter asking Who is Kamala Harris and being answered the Vice President of the United States to thunderous applause. As Harris ran down a list of other things she was, including a wife and good cook, she added, And I am a fighter for the people; I care about the people. More from The Hollywood Reporter From there, the HBCU alum from Howard University spoke nostalgically about her parents meeting through their civil rights activities and growing up in a nurturing Oakland community where she was encouraged to have no personal boundaries and limitations as well as expected to continue the responsibility to give and to serve just as those who raised them had. When Wanga asked Harris to tell us a little bit about what consequential means at this time and why this consequential is very different than any other one weve had in recent history, Harris snapped out of her trip down memory lane and got really serious about why this election was important, directly addressing what a second Donald Trump term would mean for the country and specifically those in the room. Caroline and to everybody here, this is probably the most significant election of our lifetime, Harris said. We have said it every four years, but this here one is it. We are looking at an election that will take place in 122 days (122, Wanga interjected for greater emphasis) where on one side you have the former president who is running to become president again who has openly talked about his admiration of dictators and his intention to be a dictator on day one, who has openly talked about his intention to weaponize the Department of Justice against his political enemies, who has talked about being proud of taking from the women of America a most fundamental right to make decisions about your own body. And then last week, understand she continued, sadly the press has not been covering as much as they should in proportion to the seriousness of what just happened when the United States Supreme Court essentially told this individual who has been convicted of 34 felonies that he will be immune from essentially the activity he has told us hes prepared to engage in if he gets back into the White House. Understand what we all know, in 122 days, we each have the power to decide what kind of country we want to live in. Understand what we know when there has been a full-on intentional attack against hard-fought, hard-won freedom and rights. Trumps appointment of Supreme Court justices, shared Harris, was how Roe v. Wade was intentionally dismantled and reminded the crowd that a reelected Trump could continue to appoint such justices. One of the reasons she became a prosecutor she shared was highly personal and stemmed from learning that her best friend in high school was being molested by her stepfather and her family offering her refuge from that abuse. Although she never used the word abortion, Harris reminded the audience that the former president is proud of the fact that our daughters will have fewer rights than their grandmothers. Harris genteel tone was in direct contrast to that of Congresswoman Maxine Waters whose panel with Congressional Black Caucus colleagues Chairman Steven Horsford, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty and Congressman Troy Carter, moderated by former CNN host and Louisiana native Don Lemon, preceded the VPs conversation. During that panel, Waters dismissed concerns about Bidens age by referencing her own age. We are now at a point and time where people are talking about Biden is too old; hell Im older than Biden, to thunderous applause, prompting the entire panel and the audience to stand. While still on her feet, the long-serving Los Angeles congresswoman didnt mince words about the character of the former president. Trump has told you who he is. He defined himself, she said. He is a no-good, deplorable, lying despicable human being. She also added that his talk of an impending civil war should not be taken as an idle threat: You know he means business because he is the one that led the invasion of the Capitol Jan. 6. Do we have to talk about the difference between these two? There aint gonna be no other Democratic candidate. Its going to be Biden and you better know it, she said before later adding, He should have done better in the debate, but hell, hes already starting to do better. Did you see the latest interview? And he gets stronger and hes going to do better every day. At some point, Lemon even went into the audience to give the mic to Black-ish actress Jenifer Lewis, who also encouraged everyone present to vote. Throughout the conversation, the other CBC members offered ample reasons why Black voters should continue their support of the Biden-Harris administration. As Waters vowed not to protect big banks and corporations as others in Congress had done, she vouched for Biden again. I want you to know that for the rest of my years, and me and Biden gone live a long time, she said, as she made a point about standing up for the Black community. We are going to win, she said, confidently ending the session. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Kamala Harris won't save Democrats unless the party unites behind her, says historian who correctly predicted 9 of the last 10 elections President Joe Biden withdrew his candidacy, endoring Vice President Kamala Harris. Allan Lichtman, who predicted nine out of 10 elections since 1984, said it could be a bad idea. Biden checked off more of the 13 key questions than Kamala Harris, Lichtman told the WSJ. A professor and historian who successfully predicted the last nine out of 10 elections since 1984 believes Vice President Kamala Harris could secure the presidency if Democrats unite behind her. Since Biden's poor debate performance against Donald Trump, the president has fielded calls from voters, donors, and congressional colleagues to drop out of the race to make way for a new nominee. On Sunday, Biden announced that he is withdrawing from the race, endorsing his running mate for the presidency. Business Insider previously reported that Harris was the most obvious and viable option for Democrats, given the immediate war chest she would get from Biden's campaign and the boost from intraparty support. But Allan Lichtman, a presidential historian at American University, previously told The Wall Street Journal that based on his prediction model, "Keys to the White House," Harris couldn't save the Democrats. Lichtman's model consists of 13 true-or-false questions to determine the performance of the party holding the White House. If six or more of the 13 keys are false, then the holding party, in this case, the Democrats, will lose. Lichtman told the Journal that Biden had provided Democrats with seven keys: the incumbency, no significant primary contest, no recession during the election, a strong long-term economy based on real per capita economic growth compared to the average of the previous two terms, major policy changes, no major scandal directly pertaining to the president, and an uncharismatic challenger. If Harris were to become the new nominee, which is likely but not guaranteed, Democrats risk losing two of those keys Biden secured: the incumbency and the primary contest. "Biden steps aside, they lose obviously the incumbency," Lichtman told the Journal. "And it's not at all clear that there wouldn't be a big party fight." Lichtman said at the time that the only scenario in which Harris could maintain the same keys Biden has is if Biden steps down from the presidency now and hands over the White House to the VP a few months before the election. He said Harris would obtain the incumbency key, and Biden could then release his delegates to his VP to secure the contest key. But in a social media post following Biden's announcement on Sunday, Lichtman said that Harris may be able to secure the presidency as long as Democrats unite behind her. "They could still preserve the contest key if the Democrats follow Biden's advice and unite behind Harris," Lichtman said on TikTok, adding that Harris and Biden at least have "an equal chance if they preserve the contest key." Lichtman has predicted election outcomes since Ronald Reagan secured his second term against Democratic challenger Walter Mondale in 1984. The only election he missed was in 2000 when he predicted Al Gore would secure the presidency. However, the historian argued that he correctly predicted that Gore would win the popular vote. In 2021, Lichtman told the Miami Herald that he believed Trump would not make a successful political comeback in 2024. He cited some of the former president's flailing businesses, his financial troubles at the time, and the fact that Trump would not be the incumbent. Read the original article on Business Insider Kansas City comedian who used humor to help fellow veterans heal trauma dies at 49 Tarik Hopkins grew up believing his superpower was his ability to make a person smile. As a kid, Hopkins used humor to entertain his large family at gatherings. That love of hearing laughter evolved into a career on stage as a stand-up comedian. His sister, Tamika Hopkins, remembers how her brother could bring happiness to anyone, even on their worst days. Even if you were going through a rough time he was the type of person to make you laugh at a funeral, she said. Hopkins, who performed comedy under the name Tai Fu Panda died May 22 from health complications from ongoing issues with sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease that affects the immune system. He was 49. A Kansas City native and graduate of Raytown High School, Hopkins was diagnosed with sarcoidosis in his early teens, according to his sister. She said he never let his illness slow him down. Hopkins enlisted in the Army after graduating high school and traveled the world for several years, becoming familiar with martial arts like kung fu and capoeria. I will miss not hearing his voice and being able to hear his laugh, said the younger Hopkins. He was the person who would always push me to follow my dreams and my heart. A legend in the comedy scene Ten years ago, when Janell Banks was just starting out her career as a stand up comic, getting on stage was hard for her. Hopkins made it easier. Though he was also just starting out, Hopkins was able to help Banks find the courage she needed to step in front of people and be unapologetically hilarious. He taught me confidence and never be afraid to be funny, said Banks. He was a very helpful person and supported a lot of comics on their journeys. Though many people close to Hopkins knew about his health condition, he never let his health prevent him from getting on stage. Even though he faced his health problems he believed in living life to the fullest and I never saw him miss a show because he wasnt feeling well, Banks said. Those who had the honor to know Hopkins will remember him as a part of the connective tissue that made up the KC comedy community. Never limiting himself to one group of people or certain types of venues, Hopkins was known to show up at open mics all over the city and loved networking and making connections. Banks, who recently headlined Kansas Citys first Black comedy festival and is doing shows around the country, credits Hopkins support for the success she has had. He will be remembered as a legend in the comedy scene here in town, Banks said. A lot of people learned a lot from him while he was here, and we will all miss that person who brought us all together. Healing with humor As a veteran, Hopkins had wanted to combine his love of comedy and supporting veterans, especially those affected by post traumatic stress disorder. He met William Clifton who started a comedy group called the Veterans of Comedy that performed at events put on by the Department of Veteran Affairs or the American Legion. Essentally we wanted to heal others while healing ourselves, because there is a certain amount of vulnerability that comes with getting on stage and exposing yourself, Clifton said of the group. Hopkins joined the group in 2016, and Clifton said the two became best friends. Tarik Hopkins (right) and friend and fellow comedian William Clifton (left) after performing together at a comedy show. He was one of the funniest people I knew, said Clifton. He was naturally funny, I will miss watching that guy step on stage, win the crowd over and the laughter he inspired. Vernon Longhorn Davis, another member of the Veterans of Comedy, said the Kansas City comedy scene has lost one of its most important figures. First meeting Hopkins over a decade ago at an open mic, the two bonded over their military service. As the years went on they continued to perform alongside each other. He was a great guy and a great comic, said Davis. He was really outgoing and had a great personality that people loved. The last Veterans of Comedy show where the group performed together was on May 4, just a few weeks before Hopkins died. Neither Davis nor Clifton imagined that show would be the last time they got to see their friend do what he loved. Though uncertain about the future, Clifton said he hopes to continue Veterans of Comics because its what Hopkins would want. Davis said he hopes the comedy community of Kansas City will band together in the spirit of his late friend, supporting comics who may be struggling to find their rhythm in the craft. Other Remembrances Mertha Daniels, mother and retired communications worker, died May 16. She was 74. Mertha Daniels Mertha Daniels, mother and retired communications worker, died May 16. She was 74. Daniels was born on Jan. 1, 1949 in Morrilton, Arkansas, to Elliot and Althaline Blackmon. She and her family moved to Kansas City, Kansas, in 1953, and she graduated from Sumner High School in 1967. Daniels later attended Kansas City, Kansas, Community College, where she received an associate degree in liberal arts. Daniels married Joseph Daniels on Dec. 20, 1975. The couple had four children together. She worked for Southwestern Bell (now AT&T) for 30 years in the communication control office. She is remembered by her children, Deirdre Daniels, Arza Daniels and Lamont Daniels; siblings Prentice Blackmon, Johnique Love, Earl Blackmon and Rev. Janice Blackmon; along with a host of grandchildren, cousins and friends. Isaac Netters, father and retired mechanic, died June 11. He was 84. Isaac Netters Isaac Netters, father and retired mechanic, died June 11. He was 84. Netters was born in Belzoni, Mississippi, on July 16, 1939, to Issac and Vernice Netters. He moved to Kansas City in 1962, where he began working for Mobile-Teria as a mechanic. He worked for the company for 40 years and retired in 2003 but continued to help friends and family with his mechanical services. In 1956 Nettles married Leola Wiggins. The couple remained married for the next 45 years until her death. He is remembered by his children Shirley Baity, Frankie Netters, Dorothy Netters and Debra Thompson; along with a host of grandchildren, great grandchildren, relatives and friends. The Kansas Supreme Court issued an opinion Friday declaring a state law passed in 2015 banning a second-trimester abortion procedure to be a violation of the Kansas Constitution's Bill of Rights, which was interpreted in 2019 by the state Supreme Court to contain a right to bodily autonomy extending to the right to end a pregnancy. (Submitted) The Kansas Supreme Court affirmed Friday the fundamental constitutional right of women to terminate a pregnancy and struck down a state law banning a second-trimester abortion method. In a separate decision issued simultaneously by the state Supreme Court, the majority declared unconstitutional a state law imposing a wide range of regulations on abortion providers and clinics that far exceeded requirements adopted for medical professionals engaged in comparable health services. Justice Eric Rosen, an appointee of Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, wrote for the majority in the abortion procedure case that Senate Bill 95 outlawing termination of pregnancies through a method that could involve dismemberment of a fetus violated the Kansas Constitutions Bill of Rights. Alice Wang, a Center for Reproductive Rights attorney representing abortion providers, had argued the law impaired the right of bodily autonomy woven into the states Bill of Rights. The courts majority agreed and concluded the Kansas attorney generals office failed to prove the impairment could be justified because it was narrowly tailored or served a compelling state interest. In short, S.B. 95 does not further patient safety. It compromises patient safety, Rosen wrote in the opinion. As the district court found and the state did not contest, SB 95 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. Anthony Powell, the state solicitor general under Attorney General Kris Kobach, unsuccessfully argued the 2015 law ought to be upheld because it promoted respect for the dignity of human life, shielded interests of innocent third parties and offered fundamental regulation of medical care in Kansas. Rosen noted Powell urged the state Supreme Court to reverse its 2019 decision that the right to personal autonomy was embedded in the Kansas Constitution and granted Kansans the ability to control ones own body, to assert bodily integrity and to exercise self-determination. That decision, despite the U.S. Supreme Courts reversal of Roe v. Wade, meant women in Kansas had the right to decide whether to continue a pregnancy. The state devoted much of its brief to inviting us to reverse our earlier ruling in this case that the Kansas Constitution protects a right to abortion. We decline the invitation, Rosen said. 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. The 2015 Kansas Legislature passed 98-26 in the House, 31-9 in the Senate and Republican Gov. Sam Brownback signed into law the Kansas Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act. It targed the second-trimester abortion method of abortion, often referred to as dilation and evacuation or D&E. The law included an exemption to save the life of a pregnant woman facing substantial and irreversible medical impairment. Before it took effect in 2015, physicians Herbert Hodes and Traci Lynn Nauser, who performed the procedure, filed a lawsuit. A Shawnee County District Court judge issued an order in 2021 in support of the plaintiffs plea to permanently enjoin enforcement of the law, but the state appealed. Judges on the Kansas Court of Appeals judges evenly split on the question of whether the Kansas Constitution protected a right to abortion, so the temporary injunction remained in place. The case migrated to the state Supreme Court, which ultimately upheld the district court. As the case crawled through the Kansas judicial system, the U.S. Supreme Court declared in June 2022 the U.S. Constitution didnt protect abortion rights and states could impose abortion bans. In August 2022, Kansas voters rejected 59% to 41% a proposed state constitutional amendment that would have nullified the state Supreme Court decision in 2019 and established there was no right to abortion in Kansas. Kansas voters made it loud and clear in 2022: The right to abortion must be protected, said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights. 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. We will continue our fight to ensure Kansans can access the essential health care they need in their home state. Justice K.J. Wall, who was appointed by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, recused himself from the D&E abortion case. The 5-1 decision didnt alter state law allowing most abortions until the 22nd week of a pregnancy. Justice Evelyn Wilson, also appointed by Kelly, wrote a concurring opinion in the dismemberment abortion case. She said SB 95 was unconstitutional because it was written by the Legislature in a vague manner. It improperly left physicians vulnerable to criminal prosecution and the view of juries that could weigh evidence based on standards other than reasonable medical judgment, she said. In my view, the Legislatures omission of any discernable standard means the physicians expert decision will inevitably be second-guessed by prosecutors, judges and juries applying a personal and ultimately mysterious standard to the physicians conduct, Wilson wrote. In the lone dissent, Justice Caleb Stegall said the 2019 decision affirming a right to abortion in Kansas as well as the majoritys latest opinion bears no resemblance at all in either law or history to the actual text and original public meaning of Section 1 of the state constitutions Bill of Rights. Stegall, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by Brownback, said the majoritys decisions on abortion were consequential because they altered structure of state government. The abortion cases magnified state power and used that authority to grant a regulatory reprieve to the judicially privileged act of abortion. It is noteworthy that the majority cannot bring itself to acknowledge the governments compelling interest in unborn human life, Stegall wrote. Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com. Follow Oklahoma Voice on Facebook and X. Seaman Robert Egli has discovered that certain skills and values he learned in Kent are important to success in the Navy. Growing up, my hometown was always very quiet, which taught me how to enjoy the small things, said Egli. That has helped me mentally in the Navy as a way to calm down. Egli joined the Navy two years ago after graduating from Theodore Roosevelt High School in 2021, according to a media release from the Navy Office of Community Outreach. He is now assigned to Trident Training Facility Bangor at Naval Base Kitsap, homeport of West Coast ballistic-missile and guided-missile submarines. He serves as an electronics technician, submarine, navigation. I joined because I wanted the opportunities that the Navy provided, said Egli. I wanted to work on the technical side and I knew I could do that in the Navy. Known as Americas Apex Predators, the Navys submarine force operates a large fleet of technically advanced vessels. These submarines are capable of conducting rapid defensive and offensive operations around the world, in furtherance of U.S. national security. A major component of that maritime security is homeported at Naval Base Kitsap, in Washington state. As a member of the submarine force, Egli is part of a rich 124-year history of the U.S. Navys most versatile weapons platform, capable of taking the fight to the enemy in the defense of America and its allies. Egli has many opportunities to achieve accomplishments during military service. I am most proud of passing submarine school, always being one of the top students and consistently scoring high, said Egli. The submarine navigation electronics technician course was a lot and required high standards. My class in particular was also one of the highest-scoring classes theyve ever had. Egli said he is grateful to others for helping make a Navy career possible. I want to thank my mom, Tasha Appel, who is always there to make sure I know what Im doing," he said. I also want to thank my best friend, Joseph Tilley. Hes the entire reason I joined the Navy. It was his idea initially that we should join together, but he ended up breaking his finger and didnt get in. Im also thankful for my older sister, Paige Egli. She has given me a lot of good life advice and helped me learn how to drive a car, so Im able to do things while Im in the military. This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Kent native serving with Navy's 'Apex Predators' submarine force This story previously aired on Nov. 18. 2017. It was updated on July 6, 2024. Produced by Joshua Yager and Martin Zied During the winter of 2002, the quiet Cape Cod community of Truro was rocked, when a former New York City fashion writer was found murdered inside her home. As correspondent Susan Spencer reports, almost everyone in the town became a suspect, when police decided to take a look at the entire male population. A MURDER ON THE CAPE In the wintertime, Cape Cod can feel like the end of the world and it's the only world 56-year-old fishing warden Tony Jackett ever really has known. "It's a real challenge being out on the water, you know...mentally and physically...really. A real independent way of life," he said. "I feel fortunate and blessed that I was born and raised here." And that, according to reporter Eric Williams, is pretty much how everybody in the town of Truro saw him. "He's a great guy. Gregarious, smart, ah, you know, really a pleasant fellow, you know, who likes the ladies, the ladies you know!" Williams said. In 1997, a new lady came to town a glamorous former fashion writer from New York named Christa Worthington. And Tony Jackett, married, with six kids, nonetheless went for her, hook, line and sinker. "She was someone very different from the people that I knew," Jackett remembered. "She was mysterious, enigmatic, somewhat of a loner." Christa Worthington / Credit: Polaris Worthington, a 40-year-old Vassar grad, had lived what seemed a life in the fast lane, covering the runways of New York, London and Paris for top fashion magazines, scoring an interview with fashion superstar Yves St. Laurent when she was just 26 years old. But Steve Radlauer, who dated Christa for two years in New York, says she never felt part of the glamorous world she covered. In 1997, she moved to Truro, where her prominent New England family owned a slew of properties. It seemed like the perfect retreat, and the perfect place to have a child. "She had this having a baby thing in mind, and I think she felt like this would be a good place to do that," said Radlauer. "The complication was that she was not married and didn't have a boyfriend." "I could tell that there was an attraction. You know ultimately I ended up over her house having a cup of tea ... and one thing leads to another," said Jackett. For about a year, off and on, they had an affair and for the beautiful writer, who desperately wanted a child and the local fisherman who already had six, one thing did lead to another. Jackett says Christa's pregnancy came as a total surprise. It was surprise he didn't share with his wife of 26 years, even when Christa gave birth to a daughter, Ava, in May 1999. Friends insist Christa had been told she couldn't have a baby, but Jackett always has felt she set him up. "How do I explain this? I'm like, all of a sudden I realize I'm, uh, in deep s---!" In fact, Christa had gone on the "Leeza" talk show the year before to talk about women who choose to be single parents. Ava became the center of Christa's universe, said Linda Schlecter, who babysat a few times a week. "A very devoted mother and she would always have Ava on her lap and they would always be playing and laughing," Linda recalled. "Now, I'm just still in a lot of disbelief about what's happened. It seems so unreal." Unreal indeed. "I walked into the newsroom here in Cape Cod and we just had gotten word from police that there'd been a murder," remembers reporter Eric Williams. It was the first homicide in Truro in 30 years and it sent Williams into high gear, finding sources, working the phones. It was Sunday, Jan. 6, 2002. "Surprisingly, you know, I knew the guy who found the body. And next thing I know I'm calling him and talking to him about it," Williams recalled. Williams was calling Tim Arnold, another former boyfriend of Christa's, who lived just through the woods from her house. Arnold's story was that he had simply dropped by the house at 4:30 that afternoon to return a flashlight and instead got the shock of his life. "He sees Christa lying on the floor in a sort of a kitchen hallway area and he sees Ava near her mother's body," Williams explained. Arnold later told police little Ava was trying to nurse. He said he'd scooped her up and ran outside. He then called 911: Operator: 911, this call is recorded. What is your emergency? Tim Arnold: Please send somebody to 50 Depot Road. Operator: OK. What's the problem? Tim Arnold: It's Christa Worthington. I don't know what happened to her. I think she fell down or something. I'm sure she's dead. Christa was dead, lying in a hallway off the kitchen. "She was bruised up, looked like there had been some sort of altercation that she had been in," said Williams. She was half naked, and stabbed once through the left lung. "The blade went through the body and into the kitchen floor beneath her body," Williams told Spencer. The front door was smashed there were drag marks on the ground outside and several personal items scattered in the drive. The disarray continued inside. Shocked EMTs carelessly grabbed a blanket from the house to cover Christa's body. Soon, all of Truro knew what had happened. "We got a phone call that Christa had been murdered," said Tony Jackett. His reaction? Jackett says he felt just disbelief and that the crime just seemed so senseless. With all the elements of a classic mystery, sensational reports of the murder on Cape Cod topped the news around the country, leaving Christa's nervous neighbors with no reason to suspect that it would take police literally years to solve this crime, not that they didn't have plenty of suspects. "It became some sort, some kind of awful parlor game, you know, in living rooms on the outer cape. You'd sit around and once again go through it, trying to figure out, could it have been Tim? Could it have been Tony? How did it go down?" Williams remembered. By the spring of 2005, townspeople were starting to think police never would figure out who killed Christa Worthington. NO SHORTAGE OF SUSPECTS Christa's savage murder in January of 2002 left 2-year-old Ava without a mother, and it left the townspeople of Truro edgy, nervous and silently wondering if the killer might be one of them. "Who else would come down to the end of the world in January and do this?" Williams wondered. "You think, 'It's gotta be someone who is here, 'cause no one comes here in January.'" The best potential lead to the murderer's identity was DNA found on Christa's body. "It's DNA of an unknown male that's consistent with someone having had sexual relations and it's that DNA we seek to match," explained District Attorney Michael O'Keefe. According to him, investigators first zeroed in on her immediate circle, especially past boyfriends. All the while waiting for the crime lab to find a DNA match, first there was the neighbor and former boyfriend Tim Arnold. Not only had he found the body, but his semen would turn up on the blanket thrown over Christa; then again, they had lived together for a time in the house. "Tim Arnold was one of the few men under the age of, you know, 70 or whatever, in Truro year-round," said Christa's friend, Steve Radlauer. Radlauer said her relationship with Arnold, at times contentious, apparently was over. "I don't think that she ever entertained the idea that this was going to develop into a long-term relationship, that they were going to get married or anything like that." But Radlauer acknowledged Arnold may have had that idea. "From what I understand, he was more serious about that as a long-term possibility than she was." Arnold emphatically denied to police that he had anything to do with the crime. Otherwise he refused to discuss Christa Worthington. These days, Arnold struggles with health problems, mainly affecting his vision. He says memories of what happened in 2002 are never far from his thoughts. "I think about it a lot .. .I think about it just about every day," he acknowledged. And he sometimes writes about Christa. "The Christa I knew was a person of contradiction. She was by turns bright, talented and ambitious, and then a homebody who wanted nothing more than to spend time with her child," he said. While Arnold may have been at the top of the suspect list, early on, Ava's father, Tony Jackett, wasn't far behind. According to Christa's friends, Jackett had little time for the baby at first and eventually, Christa demanded that he at least pay child support. She also demanded that he tell his wife, Susan. Susan Jackett says she didn't have a clue her husband had fathered Ava. "He said he was in trouble. And I said with the IRS? And he said 'No worse.' With the police? 'No worse than that.' And I said what could be worse than that?" she remembered. What was she thinking at this point? "I was sort of frightened. I couldn't, he was very uncomfortable. I couldn't imagine that it was and he said I had an affair and there's a child. He hesitated and he said there's a child, and I said 'You're kidding,'" she recalled. Then, to Tony Jackett's total shock, she forgave him. "It's been too many years and he's a nice man, you know, and people make mistakes, he's only human. I don't want this anger in me. I just want to make this all work," she told Spencer. And by the time of the murder, the Jacketts claim, it was more or less working. The three of them had a relationship of sorts, with Ava at its center. Tony, they say, had no reason to kill Christa. "We had her over for dinner. And it was a little uncomfortable the first time. But the more I got to know her, I liked her. I thought she was a nice person. And the baby was very enchanting," said Susan Jackett. Susan says Tony was home with her when Christa was killed. Tony took a lie detector test and says he "clearly passed." But police refused to rule anyone out, and the suspect list was expanding to Agatha Christie-size proportions, at times even including Tony Jackett's then son-in-law, Keith Amato, who had taken an outside shower or two at Christa's house near the beach. Even Christa's elderly father was drawn into the investigation, though his 29-year-old girlfriend a former heroin addict upon whom Christa thought he was spending far too much money. Meanwhile, the state crime lab was hopelessly backed up. Months passed with no word on the DNA taken from Christa's body. The police went to the FBI for a profile of the killer, but nobody seemed a fit. Then finally, a year after the murder, the crime lab at last produced results. The results were disappointing to police, because the DNA from Christa didn't match Tim Arnold or Tony Jackett, or any other suspect the police had. Police widened their circle. The widened circle brought in DNA from repairmen, trash men and deliverymen. With pressure mounting, District Attorney O'Keefe took an unprecedented step, asking for DNA from single every man in Truro. "Somebody killed Christa. So if we sample everybody, we'll find who it was," O'Keefe argued. "We're still taking DNA from people, dozens of people." But reporter Eric Williams has an opinion on this move. "These guys are throwing darts at an elephant, you know. I mean, they've got no chance. It's just crazy." But chance is strange thing. A STUNNING BREAK In the three years police were searching for Christa Worthington's killer, an uneasy peace settled over Cape Cod, as the investigation dragged on. Only the random DNA round-up got much public attention. "It's just needle in a haystack kind of stuff. It did seem to smack of some desperation," Williams remarked. Meanwhile, whole books were being written about this unsolved murder; investigators, under intense pressure, still would rule no one out, including Tony Jackett. Little Ava, his daughter with Christa, was sent to live with a friend, Amira Chase, whom Christa had named as a guardian in her will. Jackett was allowed to see his daughter only one afternoon a week. Jackett decided to fight for custody but lost to Christa's friend. And Tony thinks he knows why. "Well, being a suspect definitely cost me custody, more than anything else, custody of my daughter," he said. Jackett was also getting used to another reality. "We were just going to have to live with the fact that the perception of my being a suspect is going to stay." But then, on April 7, investigators caught a stunning break, when the crime lab had a hit a match for DNA found outside and inside Christa's body. "It was just a bombshell. A huge bombshell," Williams remembered. "We were just like electrified. Couldn't believe they'd come up with a match." Suddenly, there was a match, a suspect and an arrest, all announced to the world by District Attorney Michael O'Keefe, three and a half years after the crime. "Last night at approximately 7:15 p.m. detectives from the Massachusetts State Police arrested Christopher A. McCowen for the 2002 murder of Christa A. Worthington," the D.A. announced. A lot of people had no idea who McCowen was. Christopher McCowen had been Christa Worthington's garbage man. Truro was astonished and relieved and it seemed like a done deal. Police picked up a docile McCowen at his rooming house, lying on the bed, watching cartoons; marijuana and an open bottle of prescription pain killers were on the table nearby. Incredibly, he'd been right under their noses from the start. Interviewed twice, both times he had denied knowing Christa Worthington. Also, he had given police his DNA, voluntarily, more than a year earlier. When detectives took him in for questioning, McCowen waived his right to a lawyer. Detectives say he again denied knowing Christa. "And then he's presented with a fairly strong piece of evidence that he's lying," O'Keefe said, referring to the DNA evidence. Police say that's when his story changed. "He admits that, yes, he went there on Friday night, yes, he had sex with her and yes, he beat her. But he doesn't want to bring himself to admit that he killed her. So he blames the worst part of it on someone else," said O'Keefe. According to McCowen, that somebody else was his friend Jeremy Frazier, who had been with him the night of the murder. But Frazier's DNA wasn't found anywhere on Christa's body. "Was there an operating assumption that the last person who'd had sex with Christa Worthington had killed her?" Spencer asked. "Yes," O'Keefe said, stating he still believes that's the case. Christopher McCowen's interview at the police barracks lasted about six hours and for whatever reason, he declined to have it recorded, so the only record of this crucial interview is a report some 20 pages long that the detectives wrote, from their notes, about a week later. In it, McCowen is sometimes confused and comes up with at least half a dozen different versions of what really happened the night police say Christa died. Attorney Bob George took McCowen's case after the police interrogation and says they jumped to conclusions from the start, noting that their Web site listed this murder as "solved" almost from the moment of McCowen's arrest. "A person of Chris McCowen's race, class and limited capacities was an easy target," George argued. An especially easy target, he says, because Christopher McCowen literally wasn't smart enough to defend himself. "This is a person with a 76 to a 78 IQ on his best day, meaning on a day where he's not using drugs and alcohol, not under pressure," George said. "He was using Percocet that day, he was using marijuana that day," George said. The attorney says his client was putty in the hands of police. "This is a false confession," George argued. "And I don't accept it. I don't know how much of it is actually coming from Chris McCowen's mouth or how much of it is coming from the police investigation. I don't' know." Police bungled that investigation, he charges, from the moment they arrived at the crime scene. "There were leads that weren't followed, and there were things that weren't done," said George. As for the DNA, the lynchpin of the prosecution's case, the significance of that, George says, is all in how you look at this crime. "There was no evidence of the indications of rape," he says. And the police, he's about to tell the jury, are looking at it all wrong. "That person that killed Christa Worthington was white! They had footprints that were unidentified, they had palm prints that were unidentified, and they had unknown male DNA from three individuals under her fingernails!" George argued in court. CHRISTOPHER MCCOWEN ON TRIAL Prosecutors go into Christopher McCowen's trial confident the jury will accept their simple theory of Christa Worthington's murder. "That he went to this location for the purpose of having sex with this person, that was denied to him, and in a rage, he raped and killed her," explained District Attorney Michael O'Keefe. The case against Christa's alleged killer, O'Keefe concedes, depends on two vital pieces of evidence. "The DNA and the statement together were the two major pillars of the case," he acknowledged. As far as the DNA is concerned, the state's expert says it proves beyond doubt that McCowen had sex with Christa Worthington. As for the statement, Trooper Christopher Mason tells the court that although McCowen didn't actually confess, he did admit to police that he beat Christa and watched her die. "Mr. McCowen stated, 'I never meant for that lady to get killed. It's a nightmare after nightmare. And not a day goes by that I don't think of it,'" Mason testified. In the prosecution's scenario, McCowen was drinking heavily that night. He joined friends at a local club, where they were videotaped by an onlooker, while taking part in a "Rap" contest. "This person, wanted the company of a woman, after partying and drinking all night," O'Keefe argues. "So, O'Keefe continues, at around 1:30 a.m., McCowan drove to Christa's house in Truro, where he killed her," the D.A. argued. The district attorney believes McCowen was alone and didn't have a prior relationship with Christa. "Other than his familiarity with who she was, where she lived and the fact she lived alone," he told Spencer. That is where McCowan's attorney, Bob George, insists prosecutors have it all wrong. "Now when they found the DNA, for 39 months you will hear they were looking to speak to Christa's last lover," George said in court. George wants to convince the jury there is reasonable doubt about everything in this case. For starters, he claims, his client and Christa may have been involved. "Chris McCowan could have reasonably had a consensual sexual relationship with Christa Worthington and anybody who doesn't believe it is someone who just can't accept it," George told jurors. And that's the defense's explanation for the damning DNA evidence: that Christa Worthington voluntarily had sex with McCowan, probably that Thursday, his day for picking up the trash, and that later, someone else came along and killed her. But George says, getting the jury to believe that could be a problem, because his client is being tried in lily white Cape Cod. "If you had the same body of evidence and Johnny Whitebread was home for the holidays from college and was from an affluent family on the Cape and he was not black, the same body of evidence, he wouldn't have been charged," George argued. But miles away, in New York, Christa Worthington's former boyfriend Steve Radlauer says race has nothing at all to do with his doubts. "Let's hear about the consensual relationship. How long had that been going on? I saw Christa two weeks before she was murdered, roughly. It wasn't going on then, 'cause we would have heard about it. That would have been her top story, top of the Christa news would have been 'I'm having an affair with my local trash man,'" he said. Back in court, the defense also must deal with its other big problem: that statement. So police intimidated him, George argues, in a six-hour interrogation, much as they'd done with other suspects, like Tim Arnold. Another one-time suspect, Keith Amato, described a similar experience. "Trooper Mawn slammed his hand down on the table and said, 'This is a murder investigation. And if we so chose we will turn your life inside out,'" Amato testified. "They did exactly the same thing to them that they did to McCowen, except they were smart enough and they had the wherewithal and the background to know when to say stop, cut it out, I'm not doing this anymore, I want a lawyer," said George. George's witness, forensic psychologist Eric Brown, claimed that with an IQ of about 76, Christopher McCowen simply couldn't understand the police's questions. But the prosecution says that's rubbish. McCowen seemed smart enough, when Brown gave him an intelligence test, linking "relativity" with Einstein, labeling Gandhi as the "spiritual leader of India." And he was clever enough, the state argues, to concoct a story blaming someone else, his friend Jeremy Frazier, who appeared uncomfortable the moment he took the stand. On the stand, Frazier insisted he didn't drive to Christa's house with McCowen and that he had nothing to do with her death. But Bob George wants the jury to believe Frazier could have. Frazier told jurors he did have a few beers at the party. Certainly Frazier and McCowen were together that night. The videotaped rap contest shows Frazier listening to music with McCowen nearby. But Frazier supplied an alibi. He later was seen at another party, and then slept at a friend's house. And his DNA doesn't show up anywhere at the crime scene. "He was a convenient patsy for the defendant to blame," D.A. O'Keefe argues, saying Frazier had nothing to do with the murder. Bob George also argues that police bungled the whole investigation. There were fibers, hairs and DNA that never made it to a lab, and a crime scene contaminated by careless EMTs. Christopher McCowen never testifies, betting that his attorney has created enough doubt to set him free. "I just think it's a case about reasonable doubt. The case has too many holes in it," said George. During closing arguments, he said, "It's based on an assumption a false assumption that a Vassar-educated, 46-year-old world-traveling wealthy heiress could not possibly have had consensual sex with a black, uneducated, troubled, garbage man." THE VERDICT While the jury in the Christa Worthington murder trial deliberated, the case was still being tried in the court of public opinion. And everyone in town's had an opinion. "I think the preponderance of the evidence indicates that he's guilty," one person said. "He deserves every bit of reasonable doubt if it's there," another said. Days went by and the clock ticked on without a verdict. Christopher McCowen's lawyer Bob George is taking an optimistic view, insisting that time, and the evidence, are on his side. "If you can't trust what you find at the crime scene because the scene has been corrupted, if you can't trust the statement because it's unreliable, and if the DNA doesn't mean anything 'cause the defendant could have been involved in a consensual relationship with the victim, then what happened?" For five agonizing days, the jury, including two African Americans debated that very question. Then, on day six, there was a shocker, when the judge announced he was throwing one juror off the panel a white woman whose boyfriend was arrested in an unrelated crime. In a phone call with him, she was taped criticizing the police and there's concern about bias. Two days after a new juror was seated, the logjam was broken and the jury rendered its verdict. Christopher McCowen reacts as the jury's verdict is read in court finding him guilty of the 2002 rape and murder of fashion writer Christa Worthington in Barnstable, Mass., on Nov. 16, 2006. / Credit: AP Photo/Steve Heaslip Christopher McCowen was found guilty of first-degree murder. "He was was devastated by the verdict. Anyone with eyes could see that he was terribly hurt by what happened," McCowan's attorney, Bob George said. Hours later, before he was sentenced, he addressed the court for the first time. "This case here, is a very horrendous case. I feel sorry for the victim's family, her daughter, and her. I have never meant for this to ever take place," McCowan said. But he still claims he had nothing to do with Christa Worthington's death. "But, your honor, all I can say is that I am an innocent man in this case .. and that's all I got to say." But the court didn't buy it and sentenced McCowen to life in prison, without the possibility of parole. "Did I want a not guilty? Of course I wanted a not guilty ... you know, my belief in McCowan's innocence is what drove me. I believed he was innocent and still believe he's innocent and will believe he's not guilty until the day I die," said his attorney. Even after the verdict, Bob George refuses to give up. He's a little suspicious about what really happened to get that juror removed. "You've got a juror receiving phone calls from her cellphone from someone who's incarcerated in a deliberating deadlocked jury, in a major murder case, from the jail!" said George. "You don't have to be Oliver Wendell Holmes to figure out there's something strange about that! We'll find out what happened." Eric Williams, who has covered the case from day one, says while replacing the juror confused things, in the end he's confident in the jury's decision. "There was enough evidence, it seemed, to push them, to unanimously agree. And for most Cape Codders, that's good enough," he said. Tony Jackett, Ava's father, says this case has changed his life dramatically. "Kind of like being in a dark tunnel and wondering if you'll ever see the light again." Now finally cleared as a suspect in Christa's murder, Tony Jackett is relieved at the verdict, although remarkably, he isn't sure the jury got it right. "I felt there was reasonable doubt all over the place," he tells Spencer. Tim Arnold is happy it's finally over, but to this day he is haunted by what happened. "Sometimes the weight of events forces you to look back. Whether you want to or not. It's just something that's always there," he says. Ava still lives with her legal guardians and by all accounts is doing well. Ava never will remember those happy times, but Christa's friends are determined that one day she will know how much her mother loved her. "How would you want to tell her about the past?" Spencer asks Jackett. "A little bit at a time," he says. "Ava won't have her. That's the enduring tragedy of the whole thing," Arnold adds. EPILOGUE Since 2006, "48 Hours" has covered the aftermath of Christa Worthington's murder and Christopher McCowen's trial. Soon after his convicton, the verdict was called into question when several jurors made allegations of racial bias during their deliberations. That prompted the trial judge to take the unusual step of calling all 12 jurors back to court to be questioned. Their testimony revealed there was racial tension in the jury room. And McCowen's attorney, Bob George, thought it was sufficient grounds for a retrial. "It's enough to establish that the statements were made, the bias statements were made, now it's up to the judge to decide if there's gonna be a new trial," George told WBZ at the time. But the judge ruled against McCowan, upholding his conviction. In 2010, the State Supreme Judicial Court agreed. McCowen, from the moment he was sentenced, has refused to give up the fight. "All I can say is I'm an innocent man " he tells the court at his sentencing. He now has a new legal team, and they have filed another motion for a new trial. But for those closest to Christa Worthington, life has moved on. Tony Jackett maintains a warm relationship with his daughter Ava, who now is in college and continues to thrive. Ava graduated from college in 2022. She keeps in touch with Tony Jackett, now harbormaster in Truro. Christopher McCowen's defense continues to explore legal options. He has filed four motions for a new trial since his conviction. All have been denied. How soldiers use this fast, cheap solution to quickly cool down in intense heat Job market cools but remains resilient, report shows Jon Landau, Oscar-winning producer of "Titanic," dies at 63 Kitsap Transit, transporting passengers through Kitsap Fast Ferries and its bus system, has long asked the government for a grant so that it can build a new facility and purchase new zero-emission buses. Now, just as the Fourth of July holiday was celebrated across the state, the transit agency was awarded $17 million in federal funds from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). Executive Director John Clauson said the money will be used to build a full-service maintenance facility and procure five double-decker routed battery electric buses. This new facility will add five additional bays in the north Kitsap area, Clauson told KIRO Newsradio. And not only will it add to the capacity, but will also allow us to work on increasing our fleet of zero-emission buses, for example. The grant will give Kitsap better working facilities to work on a battery-powered electric bus. As an example, for a lot of these electric buses, a number of their batteries are on the roof, Clauson said. So, being able to get up on scaffolding and be able to work there is going to be a huge advantage. The current Kitsap Transit facility was created in the 1940s, and has become increasingly overcrowded and is inadequately equipped to handle the evolving needs of Kitsap Transits expanding fleet, according to the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance. Clauson said double-capacity electric buses will be a great addition to the fleet, which will, in turn, help increase the capacity on the route from Poulsbo to the Bainbridge Island Ferry dock. This is a big deal, Rep. Derek Kilmer said in a prepared statement. These investments in projects across Washington state will help move people and freight better. Thats important for our local economies, for quality of life and for helping community connectivity. Having the federal government provide this grant funding means we will see improvements without the cost being borne entirely by taxpayers in our neck of the woods. Thats a huge win for our region. We are so excited, Clauson added. This project will not only save taxpayers millions of dollars in spent fuel, labor costs and vehicle miles traveled over the next three decades, but it will significantly cut agency emissions and reduce traffic congestion on some of our busiest roads. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) awarded $1.3 million to the Makah Tribe. Contributing: Micki Gamez, KIRO Newsradio Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here and you can email him here. What to know about Frank Milstead, Maricopa County sheriff candidate and former DPS director Frank Milstead is running for sheriff of Maricopa County on his career experience in Arizona law enforcement, but his tenure left behind scars that are still apparent in a recent lawsuit. Milstead started as a police officer and later a commander at the Phoenix Police Department before serving five years as Mesa police chief. He was appointed in 2015 by then-Gov. Doug Ducey to lead the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Milstead's DPS career was marked by his and his department's handling of the 2015 Interstate 10 freeway shootings in Phoenix. Here's what we know about Milstead and his run for sheriff. Who is Frank Milstead? Frank Milstead was born and raised in Phoenix and worked in Arizona law enforcement for nearly 40 years. He worked as the director of DPS for five years, with a rank of colonel, until his retirement in 2020. Republican candidate Frank Milstead speaks during the Maricopa County Sheriff Primary Clean Elections Debate at BitFire Studios in Phoenix on June 26, 2024. Why is he running for Maricopa County sheriff? Throughout his campaign, Milstead has spotlighted his policies of being tough on crime and rebuilding community relationships. On his campaign website, he states he will focus on issues Maricopa County faces including "migrant crime, fentanyl, and human trafficking." Milstead has echoed the tough-on-crime sentiment of former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who has endorsed Milstead. His campaign centers on six focal points: community engagement, diversifying the Sheriff's Office and focusing on de-escalation, establishing a citizen review board, strengthening border security, expanding resource officer training for schools, and collaborating with businesses to address theft protection. During Arizona's Clean Elections Debate on June 26, Milstead also said he would work to end the federal court oversight of the Sheriff's Office, which began as a consequence of the 2008 Melendres racial profiling lawsuit, when Arpaio was in office. A U.S. District Court judge ruled in favor of the Latino drivers who accused the Sheriff's Office of racial profiling, and court oversight of the office was mandated beginning in 2013. Milstead said the oversight was a "negative influence on morale." Former Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone cited the federal oversight as a reason why he stepped down earlier this year. The Sheriff's Office, with more than 3,000 employees, is responsible for patrolling unincorporated areas of the county and municipalities without a designated police force. It also serves Superior Court orders and warrants, collects delinquent taxes, coordinates search and rescue missions and oversees the county's five jails. The Arizona Department of Public Safety director, Col. Frank Milstead, speaks at a news conference outside of DPS headquarters in Phoenix on Jan. 1, 2019, about Gov. Doug Ducey's effort to give DPS and other law enforcement agencies raises. What did Milstead do as director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety? When Milstead retired in 2020, former Gov. Doug Ducey praised him for reducing "use of force" incidents, eliminating court delays caused by late DPS reports, increasing efficiency in clearing traffic collisions, and improving diversity in hiring. Milstead's leadership was called into question after the 2015 arrest of Leslie Allen Merritt Jr., a man accused in a series of 11 high-profile Phoenix freeway shootings. DPS investigators were accused of rushing to judgment and using slapdash police work under intense public pressure to build a case against whoever shot vehicles on Interstate 10 and other Valley freeways. A ballistics expert challenged the evidence that led to Merritts arrest. The challenge led to Merritt's release from custody. Merritt later filed and settled a lawsuit against the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in 2016. Milstead also received a warning from a Yavapai County deputy in 2019 when he drove down Interstate 17 at more than 90 mph in his personal vehicle while off-duty. He stated his regret for his actions in a series of social media posts afterward, saying he would "reflect and learn." Large legacy: Arpaio's shadow looms over Republican candidates for Maricopa County sheriff Why is he the subject of a new lawsuit? A lawyer for Leslie Merritt Jr., the man exonerated in the 2015 Interstate 10 freeway shootings, filed a legal complaint on July 2 against Milstead for making false accusations against him. On June 23, former DPS Director Milstead appeared on 12 News' "Sunday Square Off" for an interview about his 2024 campaign for Maricopa County sheriff. Prompted about the freeway shootings, Milstead said, "Leslie Merritt, in my opinion, is still the freeway shooter. We had the right guy in custody." Merritt attorney Jason Lamm alleged in the claim that Milstead intentionally made false statements in the interview that perpetuated false allegations and caused Merritt further emotional distress. Milstead acknowledged in the televised interview that ballistics tests related to Merritt's investigation were performed incorrectly and the investigation's first interviews could have been handled better. "We have a good basis to file a claim," said Lamm on July 4. Fallout: Man cleared of charges in 2015 shooting spree along I-10 files complaint against ex-DPS chief Lamm was Merritt's attorney in the original legal proceedings. The case was dismissed by a Maricopa County judge in 2016. The July 2 complaint emphasized that Merritt never was recharged after a judge's August 2020 ruling that Merritt was factually innocent in the shootings. Merritt was the only person arrested in the shootings, which occurred almost nine years ago. What did Milstead do before he was DPS director? Milstead started his career at Phoenix police in 1985, serving there for 25 years, according to his LinkedIn account. In March 2010, Milstead joined the Mesa Police Department as chief and stayed there for five years until he was appointed head of DPS by then-Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey in 2015. The year before, Milstead had been a candidate for Seattle police chief but stayed in Mesa when Seattle went with someone else. Milstead's father also was prominent in Arizona law enforcement. What did he do? Col. Ralph Milstead, Frank Milstead's father, also served as DPS director and with the Phoenix Police Department. Milstead's father, who served as DPS director in the 1980s, was known for his clash with controversial then-Gov. Evan Mecham, according to Republic reports. Ralph Milstead testified at the governor's impeachment hearing in 1988 as the key witness against Mecham on an obstruction of justice charge. Ralph Milstead died in 1996. Why did Milstead's former domestic partner file an order of protection? In June 2022, a woman who had lived with Milstead as his domestic partner filed and was granted an order of protection against Milstead, citing fears for her and her children. The woman alleged he had assaulted, threatened, harassed and stalked her after their relationship ended earlier that year, according to court documents. Milstead was accused of grabbing her arms and violently shaking her in July 2021, causing significant bruising, according to court documents. "This incident, and several others, caused (the woman) to fear Mr. Milstead to the point that she sought professional psychological counseling and support," court documents stated. Milstead was accused of making threats against the woman through about 200 calls, texts, emails, and in-person visits between April and June 2022, according to the woman's statements in court documents. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Who is Frank Milstead, candidate for Maricopa County sheriff? Kyiv restored two-thirds of its generating capacities after Russian missile attacks, official says Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, has restored two-thirds of its own generating capacities lost due to recent Russian attacks, Deputy Head of the Kyiv City State Administration Petro Pantelieiev said on July 6. The Russian strikes damaged more than half of the city's generating capacity, Pantelieiev added. In recent months, Russia has intensified its attacks against Ukraine's critical infrastructure in a renewed assault against the country's energy grid. The Trypillia Thermal Power Plant was completely destroyed in a Russian strike on Ukrainian energy infrastructure on April 11. The plant is less than 30 kilometers south of Kyiv and was the main power supplier for Kyiv, Zhytomyr, and Cherkasy oblasts. "We are planning to decentralize the electricity and heat production system by building small and medium-sized thermal power plants," Pantelieiev said. Read also: Russian attacks pushing Ukraines energy system toward worst-case scenario, largest private energy company says Local authorities are also developing a cluster of autonomous facilities to cope with a possible power outage, according to the official. "For example, all the city's hospitals are equipped with generators, more than a hundred boiler houses of the district heating system have generators, and 175 pump rooms can also be quickly connected to autonomous power sources," he added. 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 may 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. Read also: The Counteroffensive: Meet the energy workers keeping Kyiv from darkness Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. They did their best to hide it, but there was no mistaking the air of quiet satisfaction (some might say smug complacency) which has infused BBC output these past few weeks. As usual, the Corporations weapon of choice was story selection; during the campaign, it selected for greatest prominence those stories which did the Tories (and Reform) most damage. And, having done their bit, BBC people feel that at long last the era of Tory terror is ending; in New Broadcasting House it will have been trebles all round when the votes were counted. In one way, you cannot blame them; the relationship between the BBC and recent Conservative administrations has been an uneasy one. The quite obvious anti-Conservative bias provoked a reaction though not an especially effective one from the Tories. The BBC was kept on short rations, the licence fee was squeezed and complaints about a lack of impartiality were loud and many. But here we are, entering a new political era and the Corporation is still standing, its prerogatives and prejudices intact, looking forward to what it hopes will be a mutually supportive relationship with a new Labour government. The BBC will be expecting to be enfolded in a warm embrace, and history suggests its confidence is justified. After Labours 1997 landslide, the BBC was one of the first beneficiaries. At that point it was operating under a five-year plan agreed by John Majors administration which kept downward pressure on the licence fee. One of Gordon Browns first decisions as chancellor was to rip up that agreement and take the financial pressure off. And why not? As a loyal Labour ally, it was payback time. So maybe in the next few weeks, history will repeat itself and if so senior BBC management will heave a sigh of relief. But even if the new Government is feeling generous, financial largesse will not, of itself, be a permanent solution to the BBCs troubles. Because the licence fee is running out of time; as the BBC begins a second century of existence, finding some alternative funding mechanism is becoming an urgent priority. Before the election was called, there was a working party within the Department for Media Culture and Sport (DCMS) which had been meeting for some months and was halfway through its deliberations. That work stopped immediately the election was announced, and whether it begins again will be entirely up to the new Secretary of State. If theyre wise, they should recall the committee because the BBC needs a fresh approach. However sympathetic the new Government is towards the BBC, theres widespread agreement in the media that something will have to change. And there is a deadline: the Royal Charter, under which the BBC operates, is due for renewal in 2027, and by then there is an expectation that decisions will have been made about the future. Even those who would like to see the licence fee simply extended for another 10 years fear that it is not the long-term solution, for three big reasons. Firstly, the licence fee is highly unpopular. John Curtice, the BBCs favoured polling guru, has tracked public attitudes and found there is a large and consistent majority in favour of scrapping the licence fee. Curtice points out that when the pollster Public First asked people, in 2021, to name the most unfair taxes, the licence fee was nominated by 33 per cent (only inheritance tax, at 34 per cent, was viewed less favourably). Secondly, because of its unpopularity, raising the licence fee is politically difficult for Labour. It is a regressive tax and, at 169.50, weighs heavily on the poor. Simply increasing the fee will not be popular with the new Governments voters. And thirdly, the licence fee is no longer even providing a stable and rising revenue stream which the BBC says it needs to compete; for several years now, increasing numbers of people have refused to pay. Some of these refuseniks say the BBC is politically biased against them; others, largely younger people, dont use the BBC much and object to what they see as an arbitrary tax. Taken together, these factors underline the need for a new method of funding one which will give the Corporation the money it needs without arousing the ire of those forced to pay it. What are the options? One is to copy the Germans, who have a rundfunkbeitrag, which is a broadcasting tax levied on every household and business. Peter Bazalgette, co-chairman of the Creative Industries Council, recently wrote that because German businesses and other organisations contribute, it is a way of getting civil society to support public service media. By this means the household licence fee could actually be reduced without damaging the BBC. Theres an obvious problem though: throughout the election campaign, Labour promised not to increase taxes, and a new broadcasting tax, even if it was made more progressive by making business and the rich pay more, would be a highly visible way of breaking that promise. If the BBC were doing its job properly, the licence fee wouldn't have become controversial - georgeclerk Many industry insiders want the BBC to embrace the subscription model; they argue that the Corporation should emulate the success of streaming services such as Netflix. David Elstein, former chief executive of Channel 5, who was a member of the DCMS panel, says the problem is persuading the BBC hierarchy: As long as the licence fee survives, you cannot. The BBC sees subscription as an existential threat to the licence fee. If it were found to be successful as a top-up, the pressure to replace the licence fee would be irresistible. Elstein believes that to bring the BBC to a point where it accepts subscription, the Government should offer a system of split financing under which public service output should be free to all and funded by a public broadcasting authority. Other output drama, sport, etc would be available only to those who paid a subscription. Labour will be tempted to stick with the licence fee, but Elstein believes this would be a strategic error, and would risk killing the BBC with kindness. The Corporation believes that it should be available to all, and there has been a refusal to trade in the certainties of the licence fee for anything else. But the moment may now be approaching where this line cannot be held. Of course, if the BBC were doing its job properly, were truly our national broadcaster, the licence fee would never have become controversial in the first place. Imagine a situation in which all shades of political opinion and all sectors of society felt they were given a fair hearing. If that were so, would there be any pressure now to replace the licence fee? At its current level its not an excessive price, certainly compared with the other streaming services. And you get a lot for your money all the radio services as well as some high-quality non-news programming. The trouble is that, even if the Corporation now has friends in government, it has many enemies out in the country; people who believe it has betrayed its central mission by becoming ideologically aligned with elite opinion. The right way for the BBC to secure its long-term future would be by making real the impartiality it so loudly proclaims if that could be done, maybe the clamour to replace the licence fee would subside because a properly impartial BBC would be in everybodys interest. The Tory governments of the past decade promised to sort out the BBC but failed to do so (thus adding another to the long list of things left undone). A Labour government will probably take the pressure off the BBC for now, but the Corporation should understand that its long-term security relies on it regaining the trust of the whole country: its a long way from that right now. 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. Labour Will Try to Head Off Threat From Farage, Reynolds Says (Bloomberg) -- Labour will seek to head off the threat from Reform UK after the breakout performance by Nigel Farages right-wing populist party at the general election on Thursday, Britains new Business Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, said. Most Read from Bloomberg In an interview with Sky News on Sunday, Reynolds said that immigration has to come down after a warning from former Prime Minister Tony Blair on the risk posed by Reform, which sought to make Thursdays vote the immigration election. Immigration has been historically high at a time when public services were under strain and I think its right to recognize public concern around that, Reynolds told Sky. He later told the BBC that Labour will come for Farages party throwing back the same threat to Reform that its leader made to Labour when winning his seat. Reform threatens to be a disruptive force in the new Parliament following last weeks election in which they won five seats after taking more than 14% of the vote. While that support ate into the Conservative vote total, Reform also performed well in many of Labours traditional strongholds with their anti-immigrant message. A party like Reform, now it has members of Parliament, will come under the kind of scrutiny which they maybe always should have come under, and they will find that very difficult, Reynolds said. We will come for them. We will tell people what their agenda would mean for their economic security, for their national security, and well relish that argument. Reynolds remarks came after Blair said Labour needs a plan to control immigration to help repel Farages populists. If we dont have rules, we get prejudices, he said in an article for the Sunday Times. While Blair said Labours landslide victory is a massive opportunity to transform the country, he warned that Reform poses a threat to Labour, pointing to populists running riot in France and Italy. Cultural issues, as much if not more than economic issues, are at the heart of it, he said. Reform has pillaged the Tory vote in this election, true. But it poses a challenge for Labour too. Blair said the introduction of a digital identity could help bring down immigration, though this was later dismissed by Reynolds. I can rule out ID cards for you. Thats not something which is part of our plans, he said in an interview with Times Radio. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. The strip of land sandwiched between the Sanitary and Ship Canal and Illinois 53 just west of Lockport never was good for much. For a while, cattle owned by Stateville Prison across the street grazed on the grass and clover that had found purchase in the thin topsoil at the bottom of the bluff, but crops couldnt grow there, and river water often turned the little dirt that was there into squishy mud. In truth, the shallow bedrock sheltered an ecosystem now considered globally rare, but for a long time, its likely nobody would have cared. Just across the river, the wheels of commerce were rolling early. Lockport was established in 1837 as the headquarters of the Illinois & Michigan Canal, where officials directed the construction of the first waterway linking the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River system, putting Chicago on the world map. Business was booming. A larger canal eventually superseded the I&M, and Lockports fortunes ebbed and flowed over the decades, becoming a Chicago suburb and attracting the usual suburban accouterments of development. Only the spit of unusable land southeast of the busy corner of Illinois Routes 7 and 53 remained largely untouched until the early 1970s, when it was eyed as a dump site. Instead, federal officials joined representatives from Will County six years ago to announce millions of dollars would be poured into the property. Long owned by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, administrator of the adjacent Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal that reversed the Chicago River at the turn of the 20th Century, the land, now called Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve, was acquired by the Forest Preserve District of Will County in 2015. And May 31, county, state and federal officials gathered at the site to cut a ceremonial ribbon for Lockport Prairie and nearby Prairie Bluff preserves, where the 6-year, $8.3 million major ecosystem restoration project had just wrapped up, marking the completion of a plan that had been in discussions since the 1990s. The Army Corps of Engineers invested $5.5 million in federal aquatic ecosystem restoration funds, while the Forest Preserve District contributed $2.8 million in land value, according to a Will County news release. That money went toward removal of invasive species and restoration of natural underground flow processes from Prairie Bluff down to Lockport Prairie, home to two plant species and a dragonfly listed as federally endangered, as well as several others deemed rare and at risk. Its a really high-quality remnant, said Julianne Mason, a botanist and project manager with the Forest Preserve District. Both why its special and why it got spared are two in the same. The shallow soils over dolomite bedrock werent farmable or usable in a lot of the normal ways. The Army Corps first took notice of the property in 1971, when it was under consideration as a dumping ground for spoil material as part of potential work on a new lock and channel along the Sanitary and Ship Canal at Lockport. The Army enlisted biologists Floyd Swink and Ray Schulenberg from the Morton Arboretum to assist one of their own, Gerould Wilhelm, as they considered sites to despoil. Most of the 50 sites under consideration were full of weeds and of little natural value, Wilhelm recounted in an essay printed in the 2017 botanical tome Flora of the Chicago Region. No matter what the corps did at the sites, the plants would grow back. That wasnt the case at Spoil Site L2 at the end of Division Street in Lockport, which Wilhelm visited with Schulenberg. Dont spoil here, Jerry, for this is America, and it will not grow back, Schulenberg said, as reported in Wilhelms essay. In the end, the Army Corps decided against the new lock project, and Lockport Prairie was saved from being a dumping ground for excavated limestone and silt. Lockport Prairie was dedicated as an Illinois Nature Preserve in 1983. Among its inhabitants, besides muskrats and voles, frogs and Blandings turtles, are the federally endangered plants leafy prairie clover and lakeside daisy, and the Hines emerald dragonfly. When it was cataloged at Lockport, the leafy prairie clover had last been spotted in Illinois 70 years prior, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The prairie clover is incredibly rare, said Jason Zylka, an ecologist with the Army Corps of Engineers who grew up in Tinley Park. Among other rare plants at the site are varieties of prairie dropseed grass, calamint, sandwort and horsemint. The Forest Preserve District and other agencies worked to keep it pristine. But invasive species care little for such designations. Common buckthorn formed thickets. Hybrid cattails advanced everywhere it could gain a foothold. Zylka, who initially experienced Lockport Prairie in previous employment stints with Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in Wilmington and with the Forest Preserve District of Will County, said cattails posed a serious threat both to the native plants at the site and to those who wanted to enjoy the scenery there. You would start walking across Lockport Prairie and rapidly be over your head in cattails until you could pop out onto a higher ridge somewhere and get your bearings and understand where you were at, he said. Now I can stand out in the middle of the site and see everything around me, see whats going on. I can look halfway across the prairie and see something in bloom over there. Before, I would see a wall of cattails staring back at me. Zylka said the project has been in the works for a long time. Protecting federally listed species is a priority for us, he said, noting the work in Lockport was an opportunity to do the most good with the project funding we have. The Prairie Bluff element of the project on the west side of Illinois 53 involved removing drainage tile in an area that was once a prison farm worked by Stateville inmates, said Mason, the Will County botanist. That will allow natural groundwater processes to resume, feeding the wetlands with water that sinks through the site, picking up nutrients and then seeping out at the base of the bluff into Lockport Prairie. One reason Lockport Prairie has such rare and unusual plants and animals is because of the way the groundwater moves through the site, she said. Mason called the area unique. There are only a few places in the world where these plants live, and it turns out Lockport Prairie is one of those places, she said. Its kind of mind-blowing to me because I work there. Walking around, Im stepping on things most people on this planet have never had the opportunity to even see. Zylka noted there are a few biologically similar areas, spots in Tennessee and Alabama where glades open amid forested regions where limestone outcrops cause thin soil coverage. But dolomite prairies are only found in the Des Plaines River valley, where geologists believe a massive outflow of water during ice age glaciation drained ancient Lake Chicago and scoured the land down to bedrock as it flowed to the Illinois River. A few other dolomite prairies exist along the outlet, including areas near the Lemont quarries, in Romeoville and in Midewin, where plants such as prickly pear cactus take advantage of the specialized conditions. Lockport Prairies position along a major transportation route also creates another occasionally startling scene. Sometimes you can see barges going by 20 feet up, Mason said, pointing toward the walls of the Sanitary and Ship Canal beyond the preserves eastern edge. Its really bizarre. The canal runs really high because of the lock and dam system. And besides allowing their cows to graze the prairie land at one point, neighboring Stateville Prison also played a role in keeping invasive species away. In the 80s we worked with the prison to have their crews come over and do some management, Mason said. They would have folks come and the Forest Preserve District people would meet them and do buckthorn control. These days the security hurdles are a little higher than they used to be. There hasnt been any talk of resuming that program and having ecologists wandering around Lockport Prairie with a bunch of prisoners. Thanks to the recent multimillion dollar project, such arrangements will likely be postponed indefinitely, but Mason said Lockport Prairie wont ever be completely safe, at least from the natural invaders. The Army Corps work is finished, but the work is never done, she said. As long as there is buckthorn and other invasives all around, there will always be pressure, so we have to keep going. But for now shes reveling in the restored prairie in the wake of the project. I love the native response, Mason said. To go from buckthorn thicket or solid stand of cattails, and let the native diversity recover. Then there are hundreds of species, turtles and frogs, birds, just all of it. Its so rewarding. Landmarks is a weekly column by Paul Eisenberg exploring the people, places and things that have left an indelible mark on the Southland. He can be reached at peisenberg@tribpub.com. LAPD searching for mother who abducted her 3 children in Los Angeles The Los Angeles Police Department is asking the public for help in locating three children who were kidnapped by their mother. A media release issued by the LAPD indicates that the children, Mar-Naiya Shelton, 14; Major Shelton, 12, and Jeneral Wellace-Peterson, 6, were all last seen in the 2000 block of West Florence Avenue in South L.A. at 9 a.m. Saturday morning. The children were taken by their mother, who does not have custodial rights of the children, LAPD said. Descriptions of the children can be found below: Mar-Naiya Shelton: 14-year-old Black female who stands 5 feet, 6 inches tall, weighs approximately 180 pounds and has black hair with brown eyes Major Shelton: 12-year-old Black male who stands 5 feet, 2 inches tall, weighs approximately 175 pounds and has black hair with brown eyes Jeneral Wellace-Peterson: 6-year-old Black male who stands 3 feet tall, weighs approximately 50 pounds and has black hair with brown eyes The mother, identified by police as Timberly White, 31, is said to be driving a burgundy 2024 Nissan Sentra SV with the California license plate #9LYA880 She is described as standing 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighing approximately 120 pounds. Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of the three children and/or their mother is urged to contact detectives with the LAPDs 77th Street Division by calling 323-786-5490. On weekends and during non-business hours, calls should be directed to 1-877-527-3247. To submit an anonymous tip, call L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or visit www.lacrimestoppers.org or www.lapdonline.org 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. Information about the donors behind big-spending campaigns is now available for the public to view. At least for some campaigns. It comes after The Arizona Republic on Monday noted the absence of information on the Arizona Secretary of State's "See the Money" website from independent expenditure committees. Until this campaign cycle, these groups could keep their funding sources private. But because voters in 2022 approved Proposition 211, a law that requires disclosure from these so-called dark money groups, they now must name names. The disclosure applies to any donor who gives $5,000 or more to any campaign that has spent at least $50,000 on a legislative or statewide campaign, including ballot measures. For local elections, those amounts are cut in half. As of Friday, eight committees have reports posted on the secretarys See the Money website. Secretary of State Adrian Fontes last week said heavy turnover of technology staffers, coupled with outdated programs and insufficient funding, hamstrung his offices ability to post the reports. His office said improvements to the site will be added in the coming weeks. The public can find the reports on the See the Money website look in the upper right-hand corner for the Prop. 211/Voters Right to Know reports. Reports are in, but who's giving? Many of the committee reports lack details about their big-dollar donors. That could be because no one has yet hit the trigger for disclosure. That appeared to be the case with Chispa AZ, a climate-focused political action committee. The organization listed $150,000 in total donations from two PACs. But those PACsdid not have any subdonations that met the $2,500.00 threshold for reporting, Chispa stated in its filing. Responsible Leadership for Arizona, a committee backing both Republicans and Democrats in this months legislative primaries, reported $974,683 in contributions. Funding came from the Realtors of Arizona PAC, but there was no detail on whether any donor hit the $5,000 trigger for a legislative race. Reports naming big-dollar donors to campaigns are now available after found missing from the Secretary of State's "See the Money" website. Some reports name names The Open Society Action Fund, financed by billionaire George Soros' Open Society Action Foundations, gave $500,000 to the Arizona for Abortion Access campaign, according to the foundations public report on the See The Money website. Soros has funded numerous progressive causes nationally and internationally, and is a major donor to the Democratic Party. The $500,000 donation is credited to the organizations treasurer and chief financial officer, Maija Arbolino. Arizona Taxpayers for a Secure Border, a political action committee formed in March, lists $205,000 in contributions. Donors include Tatnall Hillman, a Colorado oil-and-gas heir who gave $10,000 on June 22, according to the filing. John Bailey of Little Rock, Arkansas, gave $70,000 across two donations. GatorPAC, a political action committee based in Gulfport, Mississippi, donated $50,000 to the secure border committee. But its report does not break out any individual contributor who might have given more than $5,000 to the PAC. More reports are expected as campaigns ramp up. Who's not filing? Still an open question is who is donating to a PAC called Make Liberty Win Arizona, which is funding an independent expenditure committee backing several Republican candidates. It has paid for ads supportive of a trio of Republican incumbents in Tucson's Legislative District 17: Sen. Justine Wadsack and representatives Rachel Jones and Cory McGarr. It's also promoting Rob Hudelson, a Republican running for the Arizona House in Legislative District 16 in northern Pinal County. The PAC states on its literature that 100% of its funding is from donors who live outside of Arizona. No reports have been filed under the Voter's Right to Know law. A call to the group's Alexandria, Virginia, headquarters went unanswered. The Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission is tasked with enforcing Proposition 211's provisions. The agency, which last week had no access to the reports, said it's seeing progress with making the reports available to the commission and the public. Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com or at 602-228-7566 and follow her on Threads as well as on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @maryjpitzl. Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona's Secretary of State site shows updated donor info reports EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) A 51-year-old man who is believed to be responsible for a fatal stabbing that happened early Saturday morning, July 6 in Las Cruces has been arrested and charged with murder, the Las Cruces Police Department (LCPD) announced via its Facebook page. LCPD said William Clyde Turner, 51, is charged with one felony count of murder. Las Cruces Police and Fire responded to a stabbing shortly after 3:30 a.m. Saturday on the 800 block of Avenida de Mesilla, according to LCPD. The victim, later identified as Carlos Joseph Lakemper, 30, was found to have at least one stab wound to his back, according to LCPD. LCPD said Lakemper was initially transported to MountainView Regional Medical Center and then to University Medical Center (UMC) of El Paso. Lakemper died from his injuries shortly before 10 a.m. at UMC, according to LCPD. LCPD said a witness identified the suspect who was charged by police. Turner was booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center where he is initially being held without bond. 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. (Bloomberg) -- French voters were heading to the polls on Sunday at the fastest pace in more than 40 years in what will likely be an unprecedented election in the European Unions second-biggest economy. Most Read from Bloomberg Marine Le Pens anti-migrant National Rally is projected to win the most seats in the lower house of parliament, which could make it the first far-right party to serve in government since the Vichy administration collaborated with the Nazis in WWII. The main question is whether the party will win enough seats to get an absolute majority. This would not only pave the way for its president, Jordan Bardella, to become prime minister, but would also give it a strong enough hand in the National Assembly to easily push through legislation and remake Frances domestic agenda. President Emmanuel Macron called the snap vote four weeks ago in an effort to shore up support after his centrist alliance got trounced in an election for the European Parliament. This decision appears to have backfired, with his Ensemble coalition now slated to win between 95 and 162 seats in the 577-seat parliament, down from 250. The verbose president who rarely goes more than a few of days without a speech, an interview or some sort of public event hasnt been seen in public for nearly a week. Over the past four weeks of a frenzied campaign, the National Rally has watered down some of its more contentious proposals. But its still focused on dramatically cutting migration, stepping back from EU rules including reducing how much it pays into the blocs budget and undoing some of Macrons pension reforms. Here are the main things to watch: Winners and Losers As of Friday the last day polling companies are allowed to publish projections ahead of the vote the National Rally and its allies were on course to finish first with 170 to 250 of the 577 seats in the National Assembly, according to six surveys released at the end of the week. That would be significantly below the 289 it needs to get an absolute majority. The left-wing New Popular Front alliance is projected to win 140 to 198 seats, according to the surveys, while Macrons group is on track for between 115 and 162. Power Sharing Any party or coalition that is able to get an absolute majority of 289 or more seats will control the lower house of parliament. That means it will be able to easily pass laws and a government backed by that group would be safe from the threat of no-confidence votes. If the group that gets a majority is from a different party than the president, which has happened three times since Frances current form of republic came into effect in 1958, it results in a type of power-sharing arrangement called cohabitation. The president generally selects the leader of the party that obtained the majority as prime minister. But a combination involving the National Rally would be the first time its involved a party thats never governed before. In this scenario, the president would be expected to focus on defense and foreign policy, while the opposition prime minister would be in charge of domestic and economic affairs. The delineation of powers between the two offices isnt clear and this scenario would likely lead to clashes if not legal proceedings over who has the right to make certain decisions. Hung Parliament If a group gets the most seats but is short of an absolute majority, then it could form a minority government like Macrons current situation. But that also depends on the president, who has sole authority to appoint a prime minister. National Rallys Bardella has said he would refuse the job if his party and its allies dont get an outright majority in the National Assembly. The risk in this scenario is that no party has the leverage to govern, leading to governmental paralysis. Macron could tap an apolitical technical figure for the job, but even if such a person were available, they would struggle to command authority in parliament where avowed anti-elite forces would be in the ascendancy. A more political figure perhaps a moderate from the center-left would still be vulnerable to no-confidence votes and the splitting of an ad-hoc centrist alliance. Turnout Turnout is a crucial element to watch, and as of Sunday afternoon there was record voter participation going back to 1981. That may provide an early indicator of whether centrist voters are sticking to the time-honored tactic of casting a ballot for a candidate they may dislike to try to block the far-right from victory. The first round a week ago saw a surge in turnout to 66.7%, the highest since 1997. As of 5 p.m. in Paris Sunday, 59.7% of registered voters had cast a ballot, up from 38.1% in the second round of voting in the 2022 legislative election at the same time. Polling companies now project final turnout will be between 67% and 67.5%, a new peak since 1997. The first round a week ago was 66.7%. The so-called Republican front the electoral maneuver of rallying around the highest-placed candidate to block the far right in the runoff has come under increasing pressure as many voters say they are sick of casting a ballot against rather than for a candidate. The contours of the front have also shifted after Macron slammed the far-left as extreme and some of his team called against voting for them, even to block the National Rally. Market Reaction Frances CAC 40 Index has been the worst performer among major European stock indexes since Macron called the snap election last month, while at the peak of the selloff a metric of bond-market risk soared to its highest since the sovereign debt crisis. Stocks rallied this week after the first-round vote eased worries about a far-right government, and overall market stress has receded. Still, the CAC 40 remains roughly 4% below levels seen before the June 9 snap election call. The premium that investors demand to hold French government bonds over German ones stands at less than 70 basis points, below the peak of 86 basis points in the wake of the election call but well above the level of 50 basis points from early June. Policies The three leading groups in the elections are proposing radically different paths for France. Macrons party stands for continuity, with more pro-business tax cuts and reforms, along with a commitment to curb spending. Responding to concerns of voters, his group has added pledges to improve the incomes of low earners by tweaking taxation, and measures to help home-buyers and the retired. The National Rally has promised to reduce immigration, toughen Frances stance on law and order with more prison places and minimum sentencing, and cut value-added taxes on energy and fuel. Following a selloff in French assets, the party has delayed some of its more costly measures potentially indefinitely, depending on a review of public finances. The New Popular Front has the most radical economic program. In the short run, it says it would freeze prices of consumer staples, abolish Macrons pension reform and raise the minimum wage 14% and public sector salaries 10%. The extra annual spending, which is forecast to reach 150 billion ($163 billion) in 2027, would be entirely financed with new taxes on businesses, finance and the wealthiest. --With assistance from Ania Nussbaum, Samy Adghirni and William Horobin. (Updates with turnout figures in 18th paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Marine Le Pen endured a shock defeat at the hands of the hard-Left and Emmanuel Macron on Sunday night after French voters turned out in force to keep her party from power. In disappointing results for the National Rally (RN) leader, the New Popular Front, an uneasy alliance of centre-Left, green and far-Left parties, claimed the most seats in the snap parliamentary election, winning 182 in the 577-seat Assembly. Ms Le Pen said her victory had only been deferred. Meanwhile, Jordan Bardella, her 28-year-old party leader, blamed an alliance of dishonour between the Left and Mr Macron for blocking him from taking power as prime minister. A high turnout suggested tactical voting for and anti-Le Pen voting pacts in more than 200 constituencies paid off for the Left and Mr Macron. Mr Bardella said the results had plunged France into the arms of Jean-Luc Melenchon, the hard-Left leader of France Unbowed, the dominant force in the victorious New Popular Front. Mr Macrons Ensemble (Together) alliance won 168 seats, confounding predictions of wipeout to come second after coming third in the first round. RN won 143 seats and finished third, despite being the clear winner in the first round of the snap vote called by Mr Macron. The French President was trounced by Ms Le Pen in Junes European elections. Ms Le Pen had declared her party had practically wiped out Mr Macron after winning the first round of voting on June 30. Power will now likely move away from the Elysee Palace to the French parliament as Mr Macron enters a period of cohabitation with a prime minister from the Left, which will leave him confined to a far lesser role, in charge of foreign and defence affairs. Gabriel Attal, Mr Macrons prime minister, said he would resign on Monday because he had no majority. We were able to hold on. And were still standing with three times as many members of parliament, as was initially believed by the first estimates, Mr Attal said. We have to be ready to rebuild the country, because we are France, and nothing resists the French. Mr Melenchon hailed a result which was claimed to be impossible and ruled out any alliance with Mr Macron. Parisiens celebrate in Republique Square in Paris following the second round of the election - GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP Commentators suggested that was a warning to his centre-Left allies, the Socialist Party, not to strike any deal with Mr Macron, who enraged the Left by raising the retirement age to 64. Mr Macron will hope to split the Socialists from France Unbowed and build a new majority but that is by no means certain. New Popular Front had vowed a total break with Mr Macrons unpopular pensions and welfare reforms before a victory, which leaves France facing a hung parliament three weeks before the Paris Olympics. Turnout was the highest since 1981, reaching 60 per cent by 5pm when Francois Mitterrand was elected president. Some hailed this as a return of the Republican Front first forged when Ms Le Pens father Jean-Marie faced Jacques Chirac in the run-off of the 2002 presidential elections and lost. The IPSOS-Talon projections suggest that a concerted bid by Left-wing and pro-Macron centrists to forge tactical anti-RN voting pacts in more than 200 constituencies paid off. Mr Bardella said, In spite of it all this has been a major breakthrough for the National Rally. He said improbable alliances and unnatural arrangements between the Left and Mr Macron had plunged France into the arms of Mr Melenchon. While many remain flummoxed as to why Mr Macron chose to call snap elections after losing to the RN in European elections, he insisted afterwards that his aim was to clarify French politics, which they say he hopes will eventually leave three clear camps of hard Right, centre and hard Left. Against all expectations, it appears his gamble ultimately paid off, although he has been left a lame duck in deadlocked France for the final three years of his term. Despite the risk, it appears calling a snap election has paid off for Emmanuel Macron - Christian Hartmann/REUTERS Mr Macron cannot dissolve parliament for another year. Tensions were high before the exit polls were released. From Paris to Nantes, Lyon and Marseille, shopkeepers in major cities on Sunday boarded up shop windows in anticipation of protests and riots following the results. In Paris, police warned local businesses along the busy retail strip of Rue de Rivoli to board up their windows in the event of election unrest and outbreaks of violence. Some shopkeepers had boarded up their windows ahead of the first round of voting on June 30 and never took them down. Interior minister Gerald Darmanin mobilised 30,000 police and gendarmes across France, including 5,000 in Paris alone for the runoff vote. Authorities said they feared violent outbreaks from both far-Left and far-Right extremists. The Elysee Palace said Mr Macron would wait for the structuring of the new Assembly before taking the necessary decisions, including over the next prime minister. 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. Between 462,000 and 728,000 Russian soldiers were killed, injured, or captured by mid-June, The Economist reported on July 5, citing leaked documents from the U.S. Defense Department. These numbers exceed the number of Russian troops who were preparing for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia's losses in Ukraine since 2022 exceed the number of cumulative casualties the country faced in military conflicts since the Second World War. On July 5, Russian media outlets Meduza and Mediazona published a report indicating that approximately 120,000 Russian troops have been killed since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine's General Staff estimates that the Russian military's personnel losses surpassed 500,000 in late May. This number includes both killed and injured. For every Russian killed in action, there are about three to four wounded, according to The Economist. Among those who suffered the most significant losses were Russians aged 35 to 39. During the entire period of the invasion, up to 27,000 people from this age group were killed, according to The Economist's calculations. Regarding the percentage ratio, the most serious losses were among the Russian male population aged 45 to 49. "The latest estimates suggest that roughly 2% of all Russian men aged between 20 and 50 may have been either killed or severely wounded in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war," the article said. Around 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the war, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Feb. 25. The announcement is the first time Zelensky has publicly stated a figure on the death toll of Ukrainian soldiers since the start of the full-scale invasion. Russia continues to recruit 25,000 to 30,000 new soldiers a month, the New York Times (NYT) reported, citing U.S. officials. This amount is enough to replenish troops and allows the Russian army to continue to carry out human wave-style attacks, the NYT said. Read also: Mediazona confirms identities of over 58,200 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Learn more about project to create 75-mile trail in El Paso County EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) The public can learn more about a project to construct a 75-mile countywide trail. The Paso del Norte Trail is a community-driven, collaborative effort initiated by the Paso Norte Health Foundation to create a countywide trail, according to a news release sent out by organizers. During the Paving the Way meetings, community members can learn about trail segments that are being constructed, being designed or have been completed. Currently, 20 miles of trail have already been completed, according to the news release. The Rio Grande Riverpark Trail is 10.9 miles from Vinton to Country Club Road in the Upper Valley. The Playa Drain Trail is 6.85 miles from Ascarate Park to Capistrano Park in the Lower Valley. The goal is to create a regionally significant landmark that promotes active transportation, preserves the history and culture of our region, highlights the Rio Grande River, supports economic development and ecotourism, provides educational and volunteer opportunities, and makes healthy living the easy choice for our unique, binational community, according to the news release. Here is a schedule of the Paving the Way: Community Meetings: 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday, July 11, El Paso Community College, Northwest Campus, cafeteria, 6701 S. Desert Blvd. 6 to 7 p.m. Monday, July 22, Valle Bajo Community Center and Library, Leisure Room, 7380 Alameda Ave. 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday, July 25, San Juan Recreation Center, Multipurpose Room, 701 N. Glenwood St. Parking for the July 11 meeting at El Paso Community College will be in the parking lot closest to the cafeteria. 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. At least 16 killed and dozens injured in Israeli air strike on Gaza school, Palestinian officials say At least 16 people were killed and dozens of others injured after Israel struck a school in central Gaza on Saturday, Palestinian officials said. The air strike targeted a school that was sheltering displaced Palestinians, said officials from Gazas ministry of health. However, Israel said their strike was targeting Hamas militants who were using the area as a hideout to plan and carry out attacks against its soldiers. It also said it took precautions to minimise damage to civilians before launching the air strike. Hamas denied its fighters were there. Many of the dead were children, according to eyewitnesses. We came here running to see the targeted area, we saw bodies of children, in pieces, this is a playground, there was a trampoline here, there were swing-sets, and vendors, Ayman al-Atouneh, a resident, told Reuters news agency. Several dozen people were also severely injured and officials in Gaza fear the death toll could rise further. Many of the wounded were in critical condition, Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson of the Gaza civil emergency service, said in a statement. The attack meant no place in the enclave was safe for families who leave their houses to seek shelter, he said. Earlier, Al-Nuseirat, one of the Gaza Strips eight historic refugee camps, was bombarded by Israel on Saturday. Palestinians displaced by the Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip walk next to sewage flowing into the streets of the southern town of Khan Younis, Gaza Strip (AP) An air strike on a house in the camp also killed at least 10 people and wounded many others, according to medics. Israeli air strikes have killed at least 29 Palestinians in the past 24 hours and wounded 100 others, the Gaza health ministry said in its daily update. Among the dead were also five journalists, raising the toll of journalists killed since 7 October to 158, according to the Gaza government media office. Gaza health authorities say more than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israels offensive. Israel has lost 323 soldiers in Gaza and says at least a third of the Palestinian dead are fighters. Israels air and ground assault on Gaza has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, a majority of whom were women and children, according to Gazas ministry of health. Most of the territorys homes, schools, hospitals and places of worship have been reduced to rubble, and a majority of the 2.3 million population have been left homeless, and without adequate food supplies amid warnings of potential famine. About 90 per cent of the population of Gaza has been displaced at least once since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, according to a UN humanitarian agency. About 1.9 million people are believed to be displaced in Gaza, Andrea De Domenico, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Palestinian territories, said. Sea level rise will affect West Bay Drive I hope that planners for the City of Olympia and Thurston County are not climate change deniers. Individuals can disagree on the causes but the reality is affecting thousands of people daily. The insurance industry is a master of statistics. Insurance premiums are based on probability of risks. Over the previous several years, the frequency and intensity of natural disasters has increased dramatically. Consequently, it should be of no surprise that insurance rates, especially for high risk areas, has increased considerably, and in some locations is no longer available. So I find it quite disturbing that decision makers for the City of Olympia are even considering allowing development along West Bay Drive or, for that matter, any shoreline. Apart from the usual negative issues related to pouring more concrete and asphalt, the shoreline is unstable and constantly changing due to increasingly intense weather events. In the case of West Bay shore, I strongly believe that a long-term solution to preserve the integrity of the shoreline, while providing a high quality of life for residents, would be to create a buffer zone populated with native plants extending from West Bay Drive to the shoreline. There are numerous nonprofits and agencies that could collaborate to manage the West Bay shoreline in an environmental sustainable manner. Please consider options other than pouring more concrete and asphalt along our beautiful Washington shorelines. Joseph Digranes, Olympia Social media is mental fentanyl Our youth are being besieged by a plague that is destroying their lives. But its not the usual suspects of guns, drugs or alcohol, its social media. Tik-Tok, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, whatever are simply rotting their brains, destroying their self-esteem and disabling their ability to interact with people face-to-face. And as the adults in the room, its our job to stop it. Almost every day some new research reveals unequivocally that the more time teenagers spend on social media the worse off their lives become. Depression, anxiety, poor grades, social awkwardness and such all increase massively in direct proportion to the amount of time kids spend on social media. And as I am sure everyone knows, most teenagers spend many hours a day using such platforms to absorb text, audio and videos. The current average is over 4 hours, which is a lot of brain rot per kid. Look, we ban teenagers from cigarettes, alcohol, THC, tattoos and pornography because these things have been proven harmful to them. So why wouldnt we do the same thing with social media? Why wouldnt we protect them from something that makes our youth, especially middle school girls and young LGBTQ+ people, increase their suicide rates? Are we really that heartless/spineless? Banning cell phones in schools should just be the beginning. Caring parents should also restrict their childs access to any social media at home as well. At what age to allow teenagers access to this contagion is a burden all parents must now bear. Steve Shanewise, Olympia Upthegrove for State Public Lands Commissioner I am excited about Dave Upthegroves candidacy for Washington State Public Lands Commissioner because he will protect public lands critical to conserving our quality of life and combating climate change. He would promote sustainable practices to protect our states forests, tidelands and aquatic lands. He also intends to increase recreational opportunities by creating more campgrounds, trails and other facilities. Upthegrove is an environmental scientist who understands the implications of policies and their long term impacts on issues such as wildfire management and clear-cutting mature forests. He has experienced the pressures that politicians face from different points of view in his roles as a state legislator and as an elected member of the King County Council. The Sierra Club and Washington Conservation Action have endorsed him. I urge you to consider a Yes vote for Upthegrove on Aug. 6. Edie Harding, Olympia Letters to the Editor: How L.A. schools banning cellphones might go too far L.A. Unified board member Nick Melvoin makes comments prior to the board's vote on a resolution he sponsored to create cellphone-free school days across the district. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) To the editor: I am a rising senior in the Los Angeles Unified School District, which just decided to ban cellphones. As a high school student, I am constantly surrounded by phones. We use our phones so much, it has almost come to feel like a constitutional right. At the same time, a multitude of research says social media is terrible for students. Addiction, depression and body image issues result from or are worsened by apps such as Instagram. Although it will be an extreme inconvenience, I am receptive to the ban because I can see firsthand how phones are detrimental to students physical, mental and social health. However, there are some problems that need to be addressed. For one, cases of sexual harassment, bullying, gun violence and other issues can be more easily addressed if students are able to film and subsequently report them. Another problem is students who need phones for translational purposes or special needs. The district must be cautious to provide those students enough access to the tools they rely on to learn. LAUSDs decision is good-spirited, but the district needs to make sure it is ready to handle the complete revolution theyre about to bring for students. Neel J. Thakkar, Los Angeles .. To the editor: It is unfortunate that the LAUSD board found it necessary to ban cellphones from schools. The annual report of the Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury states: Use of cell phones is a persistent problem in many secondary schools. However, one high school the team visited has dealt with this problem very effectively. They have installed cellphone lockers in all of their classrooms. Before a class hour begins, students can place their phone in a locker and take the key. At the end of the class hour, they use the keys to retrieve their phones. Use of the lockers is optional, but students understand that their phones must be silent and out of sight of the teacher throughout class time. Thus the Civil Grand Jury found this approach had been effective at eliminating cellphone use during classes. Norman H. Green, Los Angeles This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. To the editor: With regard to the Grants Pass decision by the Supreme Court, no one wants to see homeless people arrested for sleeping on public property. That said, the spread of homeless encampments in California is an unsustainable travesty. These mass encampments affect everyone. People are afraid to walk down the street. Cities need to have the power to control what goes on within their boundaries. This issue is being addressed from the wrong end. If people are camping on public property due to mental illness or addiction, then they should be taken to a place where they can receive treatment. Housing that is supervised by mental health professionals with addiction services is a good investment. Nathan Post, Santa Barbara .. To the editor: Who are you kidding? If the numbers are correct, the 2.2% drop noted from 2023 to 2024 amounted to exactly 1,008 fewer unhoused individuals, leaving 45,252 living on Los Angeles City streets not to mention the tens of thousands in the rest of Los Angeles County. At this rate it will take more than 45 years to provide our unhoused residents, and our affected communities, with relief. It's time for our advocates and government officials to take more practical and multifaceted strategies and not rely so much on the very slow process of building more, costly, permanent affordable housing. Los Angeles needs smarter strategies for preventing and ending homelessness. We need to acknowledge how much of the unhoused population has serious health, mental health and substance abuse conditions that prevent them from holding employment or caring for themselves independently. Housing alone is not a realistic strategy to serve this population successfully. Many will need lifelong treatment and supportive housing to maintain stability. We need to bring compassion for both the unhoused population and the impacted communities together with public health expertise to adopt more realistic strategies. Mary M. Emmons, Los Angeles This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. This life is really temporary: From Muslim to Buddhist, how Sacramento cares for the dead Historic cemeteries abound from neighborhood to neighborhood, headstones rising out of dry clean-cut grass. One, however, sits about 15 minutes outside of city limits, at the intersection of Jackson Road and Eagles Nest Road just south of Mather. Here, we find the areas only Muslim cemetery. The Greater Sacramento Muslim Cemetery, which held its first burial in 2000, serves a growing faith community in which it is a religious requirement to be buried among other Muslim believers. The next closest Muslim cemetery is located about 40 minutes away in Lodi. Many built within the last few decades, religious interment sites and spaces for remembering the deceased have become invaluable to expanding communities beyond the predominantly Protestant and Catholic population of Sacramento. Though they may not be as numerous as the dozens of Christian and multifaith cemeteries scattered throughout the county, these spaces are critical for honoring a key part of human existence passing on from this world. It gives me an opportunity to comfort people who have been disheartened, who are grieving, Salem Ammar, cemetery manager at GSMC, said about his role. I enjoy it. I try my best to comfort them, to remind them that this life is really temporary. So when the Excelsior Fire was moving fast through the same dry grasslands where the cemetery is located in mid-June, caretakers and firefighters moved fast to protect the site. Bebe Nooristani visits at the site where her sister Maryam Nooristani is buried at the Greater Sacramento Muslim Cemetery on June 27. Protecting the cemetery at all costs Crowds of people clustered between rows of grave plaques at the Greater Sacramento Muslim Cemetery on June 16, the same day as Eid al-Adha, one of the most important Islamic holidays of the year. Its a day when many Muslims take time to visit loved ones, including those who have passed. But that same day, the Excelsior was eating up building structures and charring hundreds of acres of earth a sooty black. I was speaking with a tractor operator and then I started seeing that the fire started approaching us rapidly, very fast, said Salem Ammar, the cemetery manager. So I told him, My friend, get down and lets go, lets evacuate. I started telling people to go away. At around the same time, Ammar saw a police cruiser enter the cemetery parking lot. The officer who got out of the car also began telling visitors to evacuate. Firefighters worked to curb the fire before it could overtake the cemetery, eventually containing it fully by the next morning. In total, the fire had covered nearly 900 acres, blazing through the fields surrounding the cemetery but leaving the site untouched. We want to express our gratitude to the first responders, as a manager of the cemetery, but also on behalf of the Muslim community, Ammar said. Victor Trujillo, the gravedigger at the Greater Sacramento Muslim Cemetery, prepares a site on June 27. Buried among believers Though some contemporary institutions of Islamic law view it permissible to bury Muslims in Muslim sections or even among other faiths in non-Muslim graveyards, these instances only occur as a matter of necessity. This was an idea that was a brainchild of several senior community members that had seen a gap where they really wanted to have a cemetery exclusively for the Muslims of the greater Sacramento area, said Farrukh Saeed, chairman of the board of trustees for GSMC. However, Ammar noted that if a family comes to GSMC with a request for burial, the cemetery managers do not take pains to verify they are Muslim and instead will take family members at their word. At GSMC and other Muslim cemeteries, the bodies of the deceased are first washed and then prayed over in preparation for the burial. Afterwards, they are wrapped in a simple white sheet before being laid to rest in the earth. Space usage at the cemetery has been on the rise throughout the years, both Saeed and Ammar said. The Muslim community in Sacramento has expanded due to influxes of refugees and asylum seekers from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Sacramento County, one of the most diverse counties in California and even across the U.S., was home to an estimated 37,000 Muslims as of 2020, according to the Association of Religion Data Archives. The number is likely higher now, years after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. In 2021, about 9,700 Afghan people lived in Sacramento County more than anywhere else in the country. Another 2,000 lived nearby in Yolo, Sutter, Placer, and El Dorado counties. An additional 1,700 Afghan refugees were expected to settle in the Sacramento area by the end of year. The cemetery plays such a vital role in Sacramentos Muslim community, Ammar said, that people began to recognize the main gravedigger outside of the cemetery in public. He became a fixture, Ammar said. People know him, like (a) celebrity. About 250 people on average are now buried in the cemetery every year. Cemeteries offer sacred spaces Matt Hamasaki is a reverend at the Buddhist Church of Sacramento, a temple belonging to a Japanese branch of Buddhism called Jodo Shinshu. While many of the temples members are interred at the East Lawn Memorial Park in Elk Grove or Sacramento Memorial Lawn, Hamasaki said some members are choosing a relatively new option to be interred at the church. When the temple began offering the option to purchase niches in 2014, it had to use a lottery system to apportion space because the number of people who applied was greater than the number of niches available. The previous generations had a lot of foresight for their own deaths and helping out their children when that time came, and so they would purchase plots to be buried in well before they were on their deathbed, Hamasaki said. So the places that they bought were not at the temple, whereas perhaps, had they known that that was going to happen, they would have waited or purchased it there. He said temple leaders are starting to see interment at the temple become more popular now that it has become an option. Hamasaki also pointed to Obon, an annual Japanese Buddhist holiday coming up in mid-July or August that commemorates the dead, as a cultural example of honoring deceased loved ones that is not necessarily tied to a physical place, such as burial grounds. One of the largest Obon festivals in the U.S. is held in San Jose, drawing tens of thousands of participants. The Buddhist Church of Sacramento will also be hosting events to celebrate Obon. Supposedly, the spirits come back, and its more of a celebration rather than a somber thing, Hamasaki said. Some of GSMCs caretakers and stewards have been involved in the cemetery for decades. And as far as space goes, GSMCs current acreage will likely allow an entire generation to be buried on the grounds within the next several decades to come. Ammar said he and other cemetery caretakers have considered visiting the fire and police departments with dozens of donuts and flowers or writing letters of gratitude for their work in saving the cemetery. We express our deepest appreciation to the first responders, he said. The one who does not thank people does not thank God. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. A captain with the Little Rock Fire Department was killed in a crash early Sunday morning. According to fire officials, Captain Robert Hild was killed in a vehicular crash on Highway 365 in Maumelle at 12:30 a.m. Officials said the vehicle was also occupied by his wife, but there is no word on if she sustained injuries. Arkansas first responder task force working Fourth of July week in New Mexico The cause of the crash is being investigated by the Arkansas State Police. Hild was a 25-year veteran of the Little Rock Fire Department and was assigned to Fire Station #9. He is survived by his wife and five children. 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 KARK. BEAVER, Utah (ABC4) The Little Twist Fire, which has been burning for several weeks southeast of Beaver Utah, saw minimal change on Friday, according to officials. The wildfire which was estimated to be at about 4,307 acres on Saturday did not see many changes, but warnings and closures were still in effect. The fire was still about 35% contained as of Saturday. WATCH NEXT: Fireworks launch into crowd at Stadium of Fire, 6 taken to the hospital Crews are continuing their work along the perimeter securing and improving existing line and preventing spot fires, Utah Fire Info said in its Saturday update. An image of the Little Twist Fire released by officials on July 6, 2024. (Courtesy: Utah Fire Info) A map of the Little Twist fire and associated closures. (Courtesy: Utah Fire Info) Officials said smoke will still be visible in the area because interior pockets were continuing to burn. Crews were also working to clean up areas with higher concentrations of dead and down fuels within the perimeter. Utah Fire Info said a Red Flag Warning was expected to remain in effect until Sunday evening. Fire behavior is expected to be active the next few days with hot, dry and windy conditions, Utah Fire Info said. READ NEXT: Extreme heat targets southern Utah for the weekend, fire danger increases through the state As of Saturday, 247 personnel had been assigned to help fight the Little Twist Fire. Area closures were still in effect, but some recreational areas were still open to the public. Little Reservoir, Tushar Lakeside and Kents Lake Campgrounds remain open to the public for camping and recreational day use activities, officials said. The Little Twist Fire began as a prescribed burn, but has continued to burn for several weeks as a wildfire. Prescribed burns are often used because some ecosystems need periodic fire, or else they become unhealthy, the U.S. Forest Service 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 ABC4 Utah. President Biden said he would only step down "if the Lord Almighty" told him to. President Biden spent his Sunday on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania, a critical battleground state, days after he insisted he would not be dropping out of the 2024 presidential race against Donald Trump. Biden spoke first at a church in Philadelphia before heading to a campaign event in Harrisburg. Pa. The president, 81, was originally supposed to speak at the National Education Association's annual conference, but canceled after the teachers union's staff announced a strike on Friday. Outside of Pennsylvania, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, held a call with House Democrats Sunday during which a number of party leaders, including Rep. Jerry Nadler, or New York, reportedly expressed support for Biden bowing out of the 2024 presidential race. As of Sunday, five House Democrats have publicly called on Biden to step aside as the party's nominee. Biden on Friday sat down with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos for a high-stakes interview in which he said his highly criticized debate performance was a result of being "sick" and added he would only step down as the Democratic nominee "if the Lord Almighty came down" and told him to. LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER 25 updates After call with Jeffries, Dem. lawmaker reportedly says 'dozens' of colleagues want to replace Biden as nominee Multiple reports have revealed the names of Democratic leaders who called on Biden to step down as the partys presidential nominee during a private call with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Sunday. According to CNN, one senior House Democrat spoke to dozens of colleagues following the call who said that Biden should be replaced. Another source familiar with the nearly two-hour call also reportedly told CNN that the number of lawmakers who said that Biden should not be the Democratic nominee outnumbered those who spoke up for him to stay. According to multiple reports across outlets, those who opposed Biden as the nominee on the call include Rep. Susan Wild from Pennsylvania, Jim Himes from Connecticut, Jamie Raskin from Maryland, Jerry Nadler from New York, Adam Smith from Washington, Don Beyer from Virginia, Mark Takano from California and Joseph Morelle from New York. Reps. Maxine Waters from California and Bobby Scott from Virginia reportedly spoke in support of Biden on the call, according to CNN. None of the lawmakers cited have publicly called for the president to withdraw from the race. That may change on Tuesday, per CNN, when members will hold a planned caucus meeting with Jeffries. Biden: 'Im the most pro-union president in American history.' Rep. Madeleine Dean speaks as President Biden listens at a campaign rally in Harrisburg, Pa. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) President Biden spoke to a crowd of volunteers and organizers at the Biden-Harris campaign headquarters in Harrisburg, Pa., on Sunday. I make no apologies. Im the most pro-union president in American history. Unions build the middle class," he said, according to the White House press pool. He compared himself to former President Donald Trump who, Biden said, has the largest debt of any president in U.S. history. Biden then handed the microphone to Pennsylvania Rep. Madeleine Dean, who expressed her support for the president, telling the crowd: This man knows exactly what hes doing and we cannot risk going back." 2 more major Democrat leaders are reportedly doubtful of Biden's electoral chances According to CBS News White House Correspondent Ed O'Keefe, two Democratic leaders have expressed skepticism about President Biden's chances of beating Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Reps. Jim Himes, of Connecticut, and Jamie Raskin, of Maryland, reportedly said on a private call today with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries that they're doubtful of Biden's chances. Multiple news outlets have reported the names of other Democratic leaders on the same call who, according to an anonymous source on the call, endorsed Biden stepping down as the party's nominee for the White House. Those lawmakers reportedly include Reps. Jerry Nadler and Joseph Morelle from New York, Adam Smith of Washington, Don Beyer of Virginia and Mark Takano of California. None of the lawmakers cited have publicly called for the president to withdraw from the race. Only five Democratic leaders thus far Reps. Angie Craig of Minnesota, Lloyd Doggett of Texas, Raul Grijalva of Arizona, Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Mike Quigley of Illinois have publicly called for Biden to bow out of the 2024 presidential campaign. Biden will make several campaign stops in tandem with Republican National Convention According to CNN, President Biden will be hosting several campaign events in Texas and Las Vegas next week, at the same time the Republican National Convention will be taking place in Milwaukee from July 15 to July 18. July 15 in Austin, Texas : Biden will deliver remarks commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act July 16 in Las Vegas : Biden will deliver remarks at the NAACP National Convention July 17 in Las Vegas: Biden will deliver remarks at the UnidosUS Annual Conference 5 more Democratic leaders reportedly in favor of Biden stepping out of the 2024 race According to multiple reports, Democratic leaders expressed strong support for Biden to step down as the partys nominee during a private call this afternoon with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. An anonymous source who was on the call reportedly told the Washington Post that Reps. Jerry Nadler from New York, and the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, was the first to call for Bidens exit. Rep. Adam Smith from Washington also reportedly spoke in favor of the idea. Meanwhile, journalists from Punchbowl News reported that Reps. Don Beyer from Virginia and Mark Takano from California have also expressed support, with most Democrats on the call saying that Vice President Kamala Harris should replace Biden as the nominee. The New York Times also reported that Joseph Morelle from New York, the top Democrat on the Committee on House Administration, also supported Biden stepping down. None of the five lawmakers cited have publicly called for the president to withdraw from the race. To date, only five Democratic leaders Reps. Angie Craig of Minnesota, Lloyd Doggett of Texas, Raul Grijalva of Arizona, Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Mike Quigley of Illinois have publicly called for Biden to bow out of the 2024 presidential campaign. Biden and the first lady have arrived in Harrisburg, Pa. President Biden and first lady Jill Biden disembark from Air Force One at Harrisburg International Airport. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) President Biden and first lady Jill Biden are now in Harrisburg, Pa., continuing the Sunday campaign blitz at an ice cream social at the Biden campaign's headquarters in the statecapital city. According to PennLive, the invitation-only event will be Biden's first visit to the area since Labor Day 2020. Radio station says it has parted ways with host who accepted pre-written questions from Biden camp WURD Radio, which aired the first postdebate interview with President Biden, says it has parted ways with the host who conducted the interview, after confirming that she had accepted pre-written questions from the Biden campaign. A statement from the radio station's president and CEO, Sara Lomax, said that the Biden interview was "arranged and negotiated independently by WURD Radio host Andrea Lawful-Sanders without knowledge, consultation or collaboration with WURD management," and the decision to feature questions provided by the White House in advance "violates our practice of remaining an independent media outlet accountable to our listeners." "As a result, Ms. Lawful-Sanders and WURD Radio have mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately," the statement read. In an interview with CNN on Saturday, Lawful-Sanders revealed that Biden's team provided her with prewritten questions ahead of their July 3 interview. James Comer requests an interview with Biden's doctor Rep. James Comer. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images) On Sunday, House Oversight Chairman James Comer sent a letter to President Biden's physician, Dr. Kevin OConnor, requesting an interview amid concerns from both parties about the presidents mental acuity. Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, alleged that OConnors medical assessment of Biden was influenced by private business endeavors with the Biden family, according to CNN. In the request, Comer pointed to a story published by Politico in February claiming that O'Connor introduced Biden's brother, James Biden, to Americore Health, a firm that reportedly paid James Biden for consulting services during the time Joe Biden was vice president. Comer requested for OConnor to provide documents related to James Biden and Americore Health. Some Republicans have accused James Biden of benefiting from his deal with Americore Health simply because he was the vice president's brother, though prior investigations showed no evidence that Joe Biden was involved with any transactions or business that benefited his brother, according to CNN. Americore Health filed for bankruptcy in 2019. Biden references viral meme: 'Dark Brandon is coming back' While campaigning in Pennsylvania on Sunday, President Biden made reference to the viral Dark Brandon meme, an image that began circulating in 2022 showing a tough image of the president, with glowing red eyes or in aviator sunglasses. Biden was shaking hands with supporters during a visit to the Roxborough Democratic Coordinated Campaign Office in Philadelphia when a woman said to him, "We need dark Brandon back," according to the White House press pool. "Dark Brandon is coming back," Biden reportedly said in response. Initially created to poke fun at right-wing conspiracy theories, the Biden campaign leaned hard into the "Dark Brandon" meme earlier this year. The phrase began trending on X when a broadcaster mistook chants of F*** Joe Biden to be Lets Go Brandon in 2022, according to TechCrunch. Fetterman: Biden 'kicked Trumps ass' and 'he's going to do it twice' Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania speaks in support of President Biden during a campaign stop at the Roxborough Democratic Coordinated Campaign Office in Philadelphia. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) During Biden's visit to the Roxborough Democratic Coordinated Campaign Office in Philadelphia, Sen. John Fetterman emphasized his support for the president while addressing the crowd. Theres only one person in this country who has kicked Trumps ass in an election, and that is your president, the Pennsylvania Democrat said before acknowledging Bidens debate performance on June 27. I know what its like to have a rough debate and Im standing here as your senator," said Fetterman, who went on to be elected to the Senate following his own poor debate showing in 2022. "We already knew this was going to be close. We knew it was going to be close in 2016, [and] it's gonna be close in 2024. Nothing has changed." Fetterman continued, saying, There is only one guy that has ever beaten Trump. And he is going to do it twice and put him down for good. Biden makes a pit stop at Philly campaign office President Biden speaks during a visit to the Roxborough Democratic Coordinated Campaign Office in Philadelphia. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) Between campaign stops in Pennsylvania, President Biden visited the Roxborough Democratic Coordinated Campaign Office in Philadelphia, where he greeted supporters and volunteers before they set out to canvass for him and other Democratic candidates in the state. Pennsylvania is a critically important state, he said, according to the White House press pool. This election is going to be about block and tackle and simple, basic politics. Were going to build this economy from the middle out and the bottom up. Pennsylvania Democrats greeted Biden as he arrived in Philly President Biden is greeted at Philadelphia International Airport by Democratic Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, foreground, as Rep. Brendan Boyle and Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker look on. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) President Biden was greeted by a number of Democratic leaders upon his arrival at Philadelphia International Airport this morning. .Those present included Pennsylvania Sens. John Fetterman and Bob Casey, according to the New York Times. Others reportedly included Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, Reps. Brendan Boyle and Madeleine Dean, and former Reps. Patrick Murphy and Bob Brady. Lindsey Graham wants Biden and Trump to take 'neurological exams' President Biden, former President Trump and all future presidential nominees should have "neurological exams as part of an overall physical exam," Sen. @LindseyGrahamSC says. "People in the line of succession should have a neurological exam," he adds. pic.twitter.com/YvbGVOe22Q Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) July 7, 2024 During an appearance on CBSs Face the Nation, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said hes very concerned about President Bidens mental fitness and suggested that both Biden and former President Donald Trump should take neurological tests. All nominees for president, going into the future, should have neurological exams as part of the overall physical exam, said Graham, a supporter of Trump. "We need to make sure that people who are going to be in the line of succession are capable of being commander in chief in dire circumstances," he added. "Im offended by the idea that he shouldnt take a competency test, given all the evidence in front of us. He is not only in denial, this is a dangerous time for the American people to have somebody leading the ship ... who seems to be compromised." Biden ends speech with no mentions of debate or presidential future. Next stop: Harrisburg. President Biden ended a nearly 10-minute speech at Mount Airy Church of God in Christ in Philadelphia on Sunday with no mention of his debate performance on June 27 or the growing calls from within his party to step down from the 2024 presidential race. Biden's next stop will be at an ice cream social at Pennsylvania's capital city of Harrisburg. According to PennLive, the invitation-only event will be Biden's first visit to the area since Labor Day 2020. Biden pokes fun at his age: 'I've been around a bit' Biden ended his speech at Mount Airy Church of God in Christ in Philadelphia on Sunday by making a joke about his age. "I dont look like Im 40 years old, but Ive been around a little bit," he said, eliciting some laughter from the crowd. Biden speaks to Black churchgoers: 'Black history is American history' While speaking to attendees at Mou Airy Church of God in Christ in Philadelphia on Sunday, President Biden spoke about his faith and his administration's record on supporting Black and brown communities. "In life and as your president, Ive tried to walk my faith to get us through the [COVID-19] pandemic that claimed a million loved ones and left 8 million people with an empty chair at dinner or breakfast because of someone they lost," he said from the podium. "To ensure that the economy has the lowest Black unemployment and more Black small businesses in decades." "While there are those who want to erase history, Kamala and I want to make it because Black history is American history," he added. President Biden speaks at a church in Philadelphia: 'It's good to be home' President Biden has taken the stage at Mount Airy Church of God in Christ in Philadelphia. After greeting attendees to mounting applause, he paused before saying, "It's good to be home." Sanders weighs in on Biden criticism: 'What we have got to focus on is policy.' In an appearance on CBS's Face the Nation, Sen. Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, defended President Biden against growing criticism from Democratic leaders calling on him to step down. What we are talking about now is not a Grammy Award contest for best singer," he said. "Biden is old. He is not as articulate as he once was. I wish he could jump up the steps on Air Force One. He cant. What we have got to focus on is policy whose policies have and will benefit the vast majority of the people in this country. Bernie Sanders on Face the Nation: "What we are talking about now is not a Grammy award contest for best singer. Biden is old. He's not as articulate as he once was. I wish he could jump up the steps on Air Force One. He can't. What we have got to focus on is policy." pic.twitter.com/cHb35DMEhK Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 7, 2024 Rep. Debbie Dingell urges the media to 'stop talking' about Biden's age During an appearance on CNN's State of the Union Sunday, Rep. Debbie Dingell, of Michigan, implored the media to "stop talking" about Biden's age and the growing number of Democrats who are questioning his presidential future. "We need to get back to talking about Donald Trump and his performance and all the issues that are at stake and the contrast," the Democrat told the panel, which also included GOP strategists Scott Jennings and Shermichael Singleton. "How he wants to be a dictator and how he thinks Roe was the greatest thing he ever did, how he wants to give your billionaire tax friends a tax cut and how he thinks January 6 was a great thing." Rep. Debbie Dingell: "We need to get back to talking about Donald Trump and his performance and all the issues that are at stake and the contrast ... how he wants to be a dictator and how he thinks Roe was the greatest thing he ever did ... he thinks January 6 was a great thing." pic.twitter.com/rQ16UtzDJW Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 7, 2024 Kamala Harris doesn't address Biden at a recent appearance in front of Black Democrats Vice President Kamala Harris at the 30th annual Essence Festival of Culture. (Michael DeMocker/Getty Images) Vice President Kamala Harris didnt address President Bidens political future during an appearance at the 30th annual Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans on Saturday, according to the Associated Press. This is probably the most significant election of our lifetime, she said at the event, before rebuking former President Donald Trumps rhetoric about making the Supreme Court more conservative and promising to punish his political opponents. In 122 days, we each have the power to decide what kind of country we want to live in. It was a slight shift in tone from the vice presidents statements in the last few days, in which shes fiercely defended Biden against growing concerns from Democrats about his future following his debate performance on June 27. For his part, Biden has publicly remained committed to being the Democratic presidential nominee. Schiff says Kamala Harris would be an 'extraordinary president.' He's not alone. During an interview on NBCs Meet the Press Sunday, Rep. Adam Schiff of California said Vice President Kamala Harris could overwhelmingly beat former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race but its up to President Biden to decide if he wants to cede the nomination. I think she has the experience, the judgment, the leadership ability to be an extraordinary president, Schiff told moderator Kristen Welker, before stressing, Before we get into a decision about who else it should be, the president needs to make a decision whether its him. WATCH: President Biden should be mopping the floor with Donald Trump. Joe Bidens running against a criminal. It should not be even close, @RepAdamSchiff (D-Calif.) tells #MTP. Theres only one reason it is close. And thats the presidents age. pic.twitter.com/kvGSrsiRcy Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) July 7, 2024 Schiff isn't the only Democrat to suggest that Harris would be the best option to replace Biden, should he decide to drop out of the 2024 race for the White House. Reps. James Clyburn of South Carolina, Gregory Meeks of New York and senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Maxine Waters of California and Summer Lee of Pennsylvania have expressed similar support for Harris, according to Reuters. Biden has thus far indicated that he has no plans to suspend his campaign. Former Ohio congressman Tim Ryan also made the case for Harris in an op-ed for the New York Times. Hakeem Jeffries will meet with senior House Democrats about Biden's future House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York has scheduled a virtual meeting this morning with senior House Democrats to discuss President Bidens candidacy for a second term. Since Bidens shaky presidential debate performance on June 27, Jeffries has taken a neutral approach in publicly acknowledging Bidens presidential future, reports the New York Times. To date, five House Democrats Reps. Angie Craig of Minnesota, Lloyd Doggett of Texas, Raul Grijalva of Arizona, Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Mike Quigley of Illinois have called for Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. Meanwhile, Democratic governors Gavin Newsom of California and Wes Moore of Maryland, as well as Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman and others, have vowed to stand behind Biden. Gavin Newsom doubles down on his support for Biden California Gov. Gavin Newsom (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images) California Gov. Gavin Newsom reiterated his support for President Biden during a rally in Bucks County, Pa., on Saturday, saying, If Donald Trump succeeds, God help us, we will roll back the last half century. The Democratic governor who has been floated as a possible replacement for Biden as the party's 2024 presidential nominee has publicly stood behind the president since the June 27 debate, when he promised to "never turn my back" on Biden. When pressed about the growing number of Democrats calling for Biden to step down, Newsom told reporters, Look, theres a handful of folks that may have different opinions, adding, "the vast majority of the caucus remains solidly behind the president. Radio hosts who interviewed Biden say campaign aides provided questions in advance Two radio hosts say President Biden's team provided them with questions ahead of their respective interviews with the president. Andrea Lawful-Sanders, host of The Source on WURD in Philadelphia, and Earl Ingram of The Earl Ingram Show in Waukesha, Wis., told CNNs Victor Blackwell on Saturday that the questions were given to them by Biden's campaign aides. The questions were sent to me for approval; I approved of them, Lawful-Sanders said of her July 3 interview with Biden. I chose questions that were most important to the Black and brown communities we serve in Philadelphia. Ingram, who appeared in the same CNN interview with Lawful-Sanders, nodded his head and seemed to not dispute Lawful-Sanderss experience of how the questions were sent for his own Biden interview on July 4. Soon after the CNN segment was aired, Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt told the New York Times that its not uncommon for campaign aides to send over preselected questions to interviewers, stressing that officials do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions by the interviewer and that hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners. Rep. Angie Craig becomes 5th Dem House rep. to call on Biden to drop out of 2024 presidential race Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images) On Saturday, Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota called on President Joe Biden to end his campaign after his shaky debate on June 27 against former President Donald Trump. "There is simply too much at stake to risk a second Donald Trump presidency," Craig said in a statement on X. That's 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 added, "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 is the fifth House Democrat to call on Biden to step aside from the presidential race. Reps. Lloyd Doggett of Texas, Raul Grijalva of Arizona, Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Mike Quigley of Illinois have taken similar stances in the wake of the first presidential debate. Read more: Here are the Democrats who are calling for Biden to step down or voicing concerns about his candidacy When Lloyd Doggett called on Biden to stand down, it was one old pro talking to another U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett says he didn't seek approval from congressional leaders in his party when became the first major Democrat to call on President Joe Biden to end his bid for reelection, but if the Democratic hierarchy had been looking for someone to put that message on the table, the veteran Austin lawmaker would have been a very logical choice. For one, Doggett is not some newcomer eager to become the face of the next generation of Democrats. In fact, he and Biden have been in politics for nearly the same amount of time, which is 50-plus years. Biden entered the U.S. Senate in January 1973 at 30, the minimum age to serve in the upper chamber of Congress. Doggett won a special election in August of that year to win his seat in the Texas Senate. He was about six weeks shy of his 27th birthday. Also, Doggett has considerable standing in Congress, where he has served since 1995. Only 18 of the U.S. House's 435 members have more seniority, and among Democrats he's tied for 15th among the longest-serving members. U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett And finally, Doggett has no need to worry about being primaried, at least in this election cycle, since he was easily renominated in March. And he has no need to worry that his outspokenness will cost him in the Nov. 5 election. His district is about as blue as any in the red state of Texas, and he won it with nearly 77% of the vote in 2022. But having said that, there's still a bit of pot-kettle dynamic associated with Doggett expressing concern about Biden's vigor and acuity at age 81. Doggett himself will turn 78 just under a month before the election, a fact he acknowledged in media interviews after his announcement Tuesday. And in those interviews, Doggett said Democrats need to look to someone younger to lead them in what is shaping up as a pitched battle with Donald Trump heading into fall. More: How much did debate hurt Biden's re-election bid? New poll offers insight. One of the problems, however, is that the field of well-known younger Democrats is thin. Two of Biden's most durable opponents for the 2020 nomination were Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Warren just turned 75. Sanders will be 83 in September. An exception, of course, would be Vice President Kamala Harris, whose 60th birthday comes about two weeks before the election. California Gov. Gavin Newsom at 56 might be another, but his approval ratings are upside down in his bright-blue home state. It's fair to point out that at 78, Trump is not exactly the epitome of youth, even when compared with Biden. Just two weeks before the debate, several business leaders noted that in a meeting with them, the former president was "remarkably meandering," and one noted that Trump doesnt know what hes talking about." That private event, however, was not televised and those who spoke about it with reporters did so under the cover of anonymity. It wouldn't be too difficult for anyone who might be inclined to point out the ironic component of Doggett's call for a younger Democratic presidential nominee. After all, he is in his 15th campaign for reelection to Congress. Before that, he served 12 years in the Texas Senate. While the Democratic bench nationally might not be overcrowded with up-and-comers with broad name recognition, the party's slate in Austin is wide and deep. Travis County boasts no fewer than four Democratic members of the state House and one state senator. Austin's mayor is a Democratic former state senator and has been a fixture in local politics since the 1990s and is still more than a decade younger than Doggett. More: Kamala Harris on standby as Democrats plunge into panic mode Were Doggett to step aside, any one of them would immediately be seen as a worthy and capable successor, as would a handful of City Council members, the Travis County judge and probably a few others. But Doggett is a political survivor. As a young state senator in 1979, he joined the group of liberal Democrats called "the Killer Bees" who broke quorum by hiding out in a West Austin garage to kill a bill favored by conservative Democrats, which was designed to help former Gov. John Connally win the 1980 Republican presidential primary in Texas. After losing a race for the U.S. Senate to Phil Gramm in 1984, Doggett rebooted his career by getting elected to the Texas Supreme Court four years later. In 1994, a wave election for Texas Republicans, he forsook the state's highest civil court and decide to run for an open and safely Democratic congressional seat anchored by Austin. Members of the "Killer Bees" playfully restrain state Sen. Gene Jones in a secluded West Austin garage apartment the day they went into hiding to break quorum in the Legislature in 1979. At lower left in the first row is then-state Sen. Lloyd Doggett. At least three times, Republicans tried to bury his congressional career by slicing and dicing his district to make it less hospitable to Democrats, and each time Doggett outfoxed, and has outlasted, many of those same GOP antagonists who'd thought they had him cornered. More: Democratic governors to President Biden: 'Path to victory is the No. 1 priority' In the survivor sense, Doggett has something else in common with the sitting Democratic president. Recall that Biden's campaign for the White House in 1988 and in 2008 both ended in faceplants. And when he finally won, he did it the hard way. Biden came in a dismal fourth in the Iowa caucus to kick off the 2020 campaign for the Democratic nomination. In what was thought the make-or-break New Hampshire primary one week later, Biden came in fifth. He rebounded in miraculous style once the 2020 primary race moved to South Carolina, which he won and did not look back. Since the disastrous presidential debate June 27, which surfaced the Democratic fears that Doggett articulated, Biden and his team have been scrambling to recreate the formula that resurrected his 2020 campaign and propelled him to the presidency. Doggett, and the handful of other prominent Democrats who have since echoed the Austin congressman's call, have little faith that another miracle will materialize in Biden's favor. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Why Lloyd Doggett will face little blowback for his remarks about Biden Local Jewish Community Alliance secures almost $14 million to expand The David A. Stein Jewish Community Alliance secured $13.9 million in funding for its Building Our Future Together campaign. Starting Monday, the community center will begin to renovate and expand. Pickleball courts are at the top of the list to be added to the center. Additionally, the expansion project will add a new two-story building, which means more than 15,000 square feet of additional space. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Security enhancements will be made in the J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver Welcome Area and throughout the JCA campus. The project also includes a state-of-the-art splash pad for all ages. The Selevan Family Aquatics Center will expand to include a lifeguard breakroom, a heated outdoor pool, a parent viewing area, a splash pad, and more. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] A 27-foot interactive wall will be built to showcase Jewish history. The JCA has a final goal of $18.4 million for the campaign. Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. CHILLICOTHE For over 70 years the Ohio General Assembly has passed legislation that has designated portions of state highways as memorial highways. So far over 200 memorial highways have been designated in the state, 13 of which are located in Ross County. These designations are marked by Ohio Department of Transportation signs along the roadway. Often those memorialized are military personnel but designations can be given to any person or group that is considered significant to the area. The Great Seal Memorial Highway is marked on two roads, U.S. Route 35 and U.S. Route 23, the roads were dedicated on Sept. 28, 1973, and are some of the oldest sections dedicated in Ross County. The name comes from the view in Ross County that helped inspire the Great Seal of the State of Ohio. Other sections of roads dedicated at the same time include the United Spanish War Veterans Memorial Highway, George Washington Highway, General Duncan McArthur Highway and the Old Zane Trace Memorial Highway. The most recent section of road memorialized is the SGT Michael Keith Hamner Memorial Highway along U.S. Route 23 which was dedicated in June of 2020. Hamner was a Ross County veteran who fought and was killed in the Vietnam War. While serving he earned the Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, Parachutist Badge and more. The remaining dedicated road portions in Ross County include the Camp Sherman Memorial Highway, Deputy Lawrence Barnes Memorial Bridge, Lance Cpl. Aaron Reed Memorial Highway, Army Specialist Gavin Colburn Memorial Highway, Air Force Master Sergeant Brad Clemmons Memorial Highway and the Staff Sergeant Joshua Gire Memorial Highway. Shelby Reeves is a reporter for the Chillicothe Gazette. You can email her at SReeves@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @Shelby_Reeves_ This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Learn more about the dedicated highways in Ross County Colorado Springs Councilman Dave Donelson listens to discussion in chambers before a vote censuring him Tuesday. The council also voted to remove Donelson from various boards. HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) Its been nearly a month since 66-year-old nurse Sandra Sandy Schultz-Peters was struck and killed by an Horry County Police Department full-sized pickup as she was enjoying an afternoon at the beach. The Myrtle Beach womans death quickly led to calls for reform by state lawmakers, and had Grand Strand public safety agencies reviewing their own protocols to ensure such a tragedy never happens again. Schultz-Peters was killed by Schultz-Peters was killed by Lance Cpl. Julian Duke Brown after he pulled onto the Nash Street Public Beach Access at about 1 p.m. on June 13 in a full-sized 2020 Ford Ranger beach patrol truck. Lake Norman swimmer found dead Saturday night: Cornelius FD News13s reporters this week fanned out to beaches across the region, speaking with visitors, law enforcement and elected officials to get an idea of how Peters death has affected change. Our investigation comes at the height of summer tourism season which drives the areas roughly 19 million annual visitors and $11.5 billion economic impact. Heres what we found. Myrtle Beach reevaluating vehicle policies on city beaches In response to the incident, city officials said they plan to add exterior cameras and object detection sensors to the front of trucks, complimenting devices already installed on their back ends. Within city limits, officials said that the beaches will remain having UTVs, four-wheelers and compacted pick up trucks (Ford Rangers, Chevrolet Colorados and Nissan Frontiers) during the daytime and congested hours. Officials said beach pickup trucks are an important and lifesaving asset to beach public safety crews with having lifesaving equipment required by the United States Lifesaving Association that can only fit on trucks. Safety at work on the sands of North Myrtle Beach means full-sized vehicles are part of the job Monty Reed, manager of the citys beach patrol unit, said his team is responsible for a nine-mile radius thats covered in two-person shifts. Over the course of 12-hour workdays, they look for swimmers in danger, animals in the water and other hazards, driving Ford F-150s and Toyota Tacomas. Reed said ATVs are used often, but the full-sized vehicles give crews enough space to store lifesaving equipment in what he dubs a mobile command center. The citys vehicles are now required to ride with their emergency lights on, while on the beach, and officials are also looking into other camera options. Beachgoers happy to see fewer trucks on Horry County beaches after womans death In Horry County, many beachgoers all shared the same concerns when it comes to trucks driving along the shores. They said changes are necessary following Shultz-Peters death. You have people that are here relaxing and probably taking a nap and not paying attention to their surroundings, Myrtle Beach resident Darrell Banks said. If anything, they should turn their lights on or use some kind of horn to let people know they are accessing the beach. Many people said they were happy to see fewer trucks on the beach, however, they did notice more cones set up. When I first came in and saw the cones, I figured it was a safety precaution, which is great, vacationer Audrey Heath said. Thats really great, especially given that when youre riding the truck, Im assuming theyre paying more attention to the people. So, you know, it gives them a guide to be cautious about their surroundings. Surfside Beach reviewing patrol guidelines after Peters death Over the next couple of weeks, Surfside Beach officials said theyll be looking at their protocols for patrolling the beach to see if there are areas to improve. One Surfside Beach family said beach safety rules are important, but so is reminding yourself or your child of them every day. Theres a sand road to the left of the Surfside Beach pier specifically for emergency vehicles to gain access. Along the access, there are cones, metals signs, and paint on each side of the piers pillars to alert beachgoers to keep clear. Surfside Beach rarely uses a pickup truck on the beach, Mayor Robert Krouse said. We use the side-by-side ATVs for our routine patrols. Pickup trucks are used only when theyre needed for a specific job. Krouse said their ocean rescue team monitors the beach throughout the day, riding from the Holiday Inn on 16th Avenue North to Melody Lane. Wrongful death suit filed in weeks after Schultz-Peters death A wrongful death complaint filed June 28 in Horry County Common Pleas Court depicts the harrowing final moments of Peters life. Her estate is suing the countys police department on grounds of negligence and lax supervision. The lawsuit also includes allegations that Brown previously ran over beach chairs and other personal belongings on the beach multiple times before the June 13 incident. Peters-lawsuit-2Download The Horry County Police Departments Beach Patrols tolerance for its officers running over beachgoers with full-sized motor vehicles should be exactly 0.00%, W. Coleman Lawrimore, an attorney with Conway-based Derrick Law Firm, wrote. an infinite array of solutions existed that would completely eliminate the possibility that an Horry County beachgoer would experience a greater than 0.00% chance of a Beach Patrol officer running them over with a full-sized motor vehicle. 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. Eric Adams holding a vial containing a joint surrounded by Sheriff Anthony Miranda and Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella, jars of cannabis in boxes at Nitecap Megastore, the exterior of Nitecap Megastore Authorities raided a pair of illegal Staten Island pot shops this week, including one with a secret stairway that led cops right to an illicit basement stash and The Post was there to witness the takedown. In the dingy subterranean room at Richmond Discount & Accessories in New Springville, New York City sheriffs deputies and cops found hundreds of neatly organized packages of cannabis products, including individual wrapped buds, jars of THC concentrate, 1000 milligram Sour Beltz edibles pouches, and Pack Man-branded vape pens. This is a machine, Sgt. Craig McCosker of the city Sheriffs Office said about the operation, which was slapped with $33,800 in fines following the Wednesday raid, and padlocked. Law enforcement discovered a secret passageway hidden behind a deceptive shelving system J.C. Rice Theyre selling volume. The joint task force, comprising the city sheriffs office, NYPD and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, also cracked down on the Nitecap Megastore, a sprawling complex stocked with vials containing pre-rolled joints, colorful jars stuffed with cannabis flower, and weed-infused cookies. We have to stay on top of these guys, said Mayor Adams, who attended the Nitecap raid. We are going to stay committed to closing down these illegal shops. Following the Nitecap bust, official seized $19,000 in cannabis products, along with unlicensed tobacco products, before padlocking the store and issuing $25,000 in fines, according to the mayors office. The stores owner, retired NYPD officer Michael Rizzi, 52, was also arrested for criminal weapon possession over dozens of brass knuckles that were uncovered during the raid, an NYPD spokesperson said. Nitecap, an unlicensed smoke shop, was stocked with a slew of cannabis products, including jars of flower and pre-rolled joints. J.C. Rice Were finding guns and other drugs and mushrooms and the hallucinogenics, Sheriff Anthony Miranda said. Rizzi, who sat in the store stone-faced during the raid, declined to speak to The Post. With just 57 licensed dispensaries operating in the Big Apple, law enforcement have continued their uphill battle to snuff out roughly 3,400 illicit dank dens that have sprouted up since New York legalized recreational marijuana in 2021. Albany empowered authorities earlier this year with new tools to whack illicit weed sellers, including the ability to padlock illegal smoke shops for up to a year immediately after an inspection. Since then, the task force has shuttered 535 illicit shops, seizing $17.5 million in illegal cannabis product and doling out over $43 million in civil penalties, the mayors office said. Authorities have padlocked 535 illegal smoke shops since May and issued over $43 million in civil penalties. J.C. Rice Authorities were empowered by Albany to issue stronger penalties against unlicensed smoke shops, including the ability to shut down shops for a year. J.C. Rice Now we have more authority andthe impacts already been seen citywide, Miranda said. You have locations closing down on their own. You have landlords taking action on their own. After inspecting the storefronts, authorities will do more investigations, poring over shipment paperwork or false licenses to uncover potential connections to other illegal shops, Miranda said. Theres always a follow up investigation, financial investigations, on whos behind the locations and how much their involvement is in the cannabis business, he said. Locals cheered on this weeks busts, which marked all of the 173 illegal smoke shops on Staten Island as having been inspected by authorities, including 32 padlocked so far, Miranda said. People are trying to make a dollar, but they have to do it legally, retired waitress Ella Cucurillo, 72, told The Post outside of Richmond Discount & Accessories. On Friday afternoon, Nitecap announced it had been raided on its Instagram page, but vowed it will re-open soon. Judicial elections differ from other elections; and one Magistrate Court nomination race apparently has some of my favorite political folks misbehaving. Local lawyer Rosenda Chavez-Lara and full-blooded Chickasaw Jannette Mondragon both seek the judicial nomination. Our Governor appointed Mondragon to fill the vacancy from April 27 to the end of the year. Democratic Central Committee members vote July 10 through July 12 on the nomination for Novembers election to a four-year term. The Rules require a judicial candidate to act with the highest integrity and not misrepresent the candidate's or the candidate's opponent's identity, qualifications, present position or other material fact. And to try to keep supporters avoiding misrepresentations. Peter Goodman I think some Mondragon supporters have tried to mislead voters. She and supporters have claimed that Rosendas election would present a conflict of interest because her husband, Robert Lara, is a district judge. Both the presiding judge and the state have said theres no such problem. Mondragon herself ceased making such statements after being advised. But supporters reportedly accused Rosenda and Robert of trying to build a judicial empire. Nonsense! More reasonably, one strong Mondragon supporter argues that since the district courts chief judge supervises magistrate court, Robert would vote on whod be Rosendas boss. Thats a fact. Different folks could give it different weight. One supporters Facebook post (The New Mexico Observer) dismissively called Chavea-Lara a judges spouse, naming her only in the third paragraph. The post portrayed Rosenda as an outsider whod handled just 50 cases in several years. Living in El Paso during her childhood, Rosenda spent much time in our county, visiting paternal and maternal cousins and helping her father, who opened a tax office to serve folks in Sunland Park. She hung our her shingle here in 2015. Mondragon is the relative stranger. She was appointed two months ago. The Bar Directory still lists her office in El Paso, though shes litigated cases here the past few years. Chavez-Lara has handled hundreds of cases; but because she mostly represented the children in abuse and neglect cases, we dont get the details. Ex-Judge Marci Beyers presided over many of those cases and has endorsed Rosenda, praising her professionalism, compassion, and ability to do a hard job well. Jannette says her campaign had nothing to do with that post. I believe her. One local lawyer who strongly supports Mondragon invited folks to like it. But hes not part of her campaign. My first reaction to Mondragons appointment was that I questioned an out-of-area appointment but liked the idea of a fully Native American judge. But inaccurate personal attacks shouldnt be part of a judicial campaign. One central committee member complained, Team Mondragon is really upset, and trying to stifle the democratic process. Theyre acting as if Rosenda is coming after something thats rightfully Jeannettes. Powerful friends calling committee members for Mondragon cant be doing it because they know a lot about her judicial performance. Shes been a judge two months. They prefer her politically. If they feel that the Governors preference deserves some deference from Democrats, I agree; but central committee members should do what seems right to them. I lunched recently with each candidate. Both are serious, compassionate women. Rosenda has demonstrated she cares about our county, particularly our poor; and Im convinced Jannette would exhibit those same qualities. Both are tough. Both seem to be truth-tellers. I hope Central Committee consider all the facts and make an independent judgment. This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Keep an eye on the race for Magistrate Court judge Stay on board I dont understand why some Joe Biden supporters are so weak and disloyal. Most Republicans will stand by Donald Trump no matter what he does, even as a convicted criminal. The minute Biden has a poor debate performance, some of his supporters are ready to jump ship. Sure Biden could have done better, however, on policy and substance he beat the socks off of Trump. I will not jump ship! Voters who support Biden must stay on board and show their resolve to not let Trump step one toenail into the Oval Office. The alternative Trump is scary and quite frankly an affront to democracy. Robin Oden, Stallings Test Biden Despite President Bidens very concerning debate performance, I hear voices saying there is no need for him to step aside as the Democratic presidential nominee. Their argument is political that Trump is worse and Biden can still beat him. Im afraid that argument wont cut it. The stakes are too high. I do not trust supportive statements from Bidens family, friends and political hangers-on. Follow-up teleprompter-aided speeches dont address the fundamental concern with his mental acuity. If the president wants to be reelected, he should undergo cognitive testing and examination by medical experts and make the results public. Anything less is simply political spin. Steven P. Nesbit, Charlotte Not convinced I saw this coming as early as 2021 and Im sure others did. Ive long wondered whether the elderly President Biden would make it through a second term. Democratic donors, supporters, U.S senators, members of Congress, governors, local elected officials, and most importantly the voters, all have deep concerns. No matter the opinions of Congressman Jim Clyburn, former President Barack Obama, DNC Chair Jaime Harrison and Vice President Kamala Harris, voters have the right to a healthy candidate and not to be assuaged with untruths. Is the candidate able to sit down any day, any time with world leaders to discuss the wars we are facing without confusing each one? Or, would there be blank stares, mumbled words or just not remembering where he is? Priscilla D. Johnson, Charlotte Trump immunity The Supreme Court rejected Donald Trumps broad claim of immunity, meaning the charges related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results will not be dismissed. But the court also ruled that some actions closely related to his core duties as president are off-limits to prosecutors. So is inciting a coup a core presidential duty? I think not. But we will have to see how Trump avoids prosecution for acts leading to a rebellion designed to block certification of the 2020 presidential election. Why is it taking so long to put this man in jail? Albert Guy Dancy, Charlotte Dividing the court The Supreme Court decision holding that certain official acts taken by Donald Trump provide him immunity from prosecution should be viewed by President Biden as a good thing. Without this decision Biden could be subject to prosecution for failing to enforce immigration laws. It should also be noted that Justice Sonia Sotomayors dissenting opinion will further divide the court in that she totally misrepresented Chief Justice John Roberts majority opinion. She wrote that a president could order the Navys Seal 6 team to assassinate a political rival or organize a military coup to retain power and successfully claim immunity. That is far-fetched and she knows it, yet she decided to place her political agenda above respect for her fellow justices. So much for collegiality on the court. Craig Reutlinger, Charlotte Corporate taxes The Democratic Party wants to apply higher taxes to big corporations. If this occurs the cost will be passed on to employees in the form of fewer job openings, lower pay and reduced benefits. Consumers will also pay higher prices. The American public needs to realize there is no such thing as a free lunch. Someone pays, somehow. Businesses will do what they have to do to maintain profit margins. Patrick W. Reynolds, Mooresville Members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front marched through the streets of Nashville on Saturday, carrying confederate flags and a Reclaim America banner while wearing masks to cover their faces. But Utah Sen. Mike Lee suggested without proof that the event was a false flag. Without the iron-clad resolve of our ancestors, there would be no America. We are heirs to an expansive and continental homeland purchased with immeasurable sacrifice Nationalism is natural. Patriotism is inevitable, the groups leader, Thomas Rousseau, chanted into a bullhorn during the weekend march. More than 100 Patriot Front members appeared to participate in the Nashville event. The group reportedly vandalized a bridge by spray painting it with their logo and, according to the Tenn Matt Kriner, a senior research scholar at Middlebury Universitys Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism, told Rolling Stone in 2022 that the group is deeply fascistic, deeply anti-Semitic, very racist, and they dont hide it. But Republican Sen. Mike Lee claimed he has never heard of Patriot Front. The Trump loyalist posted video of the march on Saturday and wrote, Ive never heard of this group[.] Any chance this is a false flag operation? So much uniformity, Lee continued. It hardly has the feel of a grassroots, patriotic group. I dont think Ive never seen one that looks or acts like this. Lees claim that he has never heard of Patriot Front almost defies belief. The group participated in the 2017 Unite the Right rally on the University of Virginias campus in Charlottesville, Va., and Rousseau was charged earlier this year for burning a tiki torch with the intent to intimidate at that event. Uniformity is part of the groups brand. Members are often seen wearing khaki cargo pants, blue t-shirts, and face masks to hide their identities. The group, which advocates for a white ethnostate, per the Southern Poverty Law Center, was in the news last summer when law enforcement, aided by the FBI, arrested 31 members for allegedly plotting a riot at an LGBTQ Pride event in Coeur dAlene, Idaho. Six of those arrested hailed from Utah, the state Lee represents, as Bloomberg reporter Steven Dennis noted on X. Utah is one of a few states where Patriot Front was most active in 2022, according to a report from the Anti-Defamation Leagues Center on Extremism. The charges against Rousseau related to that event were dropped in November. Theyre basically just trying to get notoriety. Thats what this is all about, Greg Rogers, a retired FBI agent who went undercover with militia groups, told the Deseret News of Patriot Front. These kinds of groups get a lot of street cred by showing theyre actually doing something. Just two days after celebrating the independence of our nation, white supremacists have taken to the streets of Nashville carrying Confederate flags and chanting deportation saves the nation and Seig Heil,' the Tennessee Democratic Party said in a statement. This is what were fighting against in Tennessee. This is what were fighting against in America, Tennessee Democratic Party Chair Hendrell Remus said in a statement responding to the Nashville march. While our Republican State leaders sit quietly by, we refuse to let hate-filled racists terrorize our community. Lee has had an interesting weekend on X, formerly Twitter. Before denying he had ever heard of the white nationalist hate group, he circulated a false report that President Biden experienced a medical emergency aboard Air Force One. The untrue rumor was initially posted by far-right influencers first by Laura Loomer and later by Monica Crowley and Dinesh DSouza. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone FORT MOORE, Ga. (WRBL) A two-star Army general leaves his post as commanding general of the Maneuver Center of Excellence on July 12. The thought that keeps Maj. Gen. Curtis A. Buzzard up at night: Have I done everything? Everything to prepare the 60,000 young men and women who train at Fort Moore each year. Everything to keep up with the ever-changing character of war. Everything to keep the country safe. Buzzard said, God forbid something happens, I want to be able to look back at the end of the day and go, We did everything to make sure they were ready.' Often in his talks to soldiers on post and civilians off post, Buzzard will throw out a caveat, speaking to what he sees as troubled times. We are one miscalculation from combat, Buzzard has said time and again. As he sat in the National Infantry Museum for an exit interview just days before he leaves his Fort Moore post, concern was clear in the major generals eyes. Buzzard will relinquish command of Fort Moore in a ceremony on Friday. Maj. Gen. Colin Tuley will assume the role. Over a 32-year career in the Army, Buzzard, 54, has been privy to significant changes in the ways wars are fought and conflicts managed. During his time at the Maneuver Center of Excellence, he has overseen a transition toward increased robotics use in military endeavors. What were going to expect our young people to manage and understand continues to get more complicated, Buzzard said. MCoE Commander Maj. Gen. Curtis A. Buzzard gives opening remarks at the 2023 Warfighter Conference. (U.S. Army / Patrick Albright) Buzzard is a 1992 U.S. Military Academy at West Point graduate. Prior to coming to Fort Moore he was the commandant at his alma mater. He is positioned to continue his career, but the Army has not announced his next assignment. The exiting commanding general has been in charge of the Armys largest training post since July 14, 2022. His emphasis has been on training and innovation. On-post and Army-wide competitions, some international, highlight the effectiveness of that training. Within the past year, Fort Moore hosted the first-ever small unmanned aircraft system (commonly known as drones) competition within the U.S. Army. It also paired with local institution Columbus State University for all-new robotics courses on post, which will offer training for both soldiers and students. At the 2023 Manuever Warfighter Conference, then-U.S. Army Vice Chief of Staff, now U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George commented on future unmanned systems use. I see every formation that we have, not just Infantry and Armor formations, but every formation is going to have to use unmanned systems for reconnaissance, for targeting you name it, George said. Buzzard says he sees future warfare which he called a brutal contest of wills changing in that regard. The first contact with the enemy may no longer include bloodshed as close-combat forces are assisted by unmanned systems. Buzzard acknowledged increasing pressure within the military community to prepare soldiers for a different sort of fight. The U.S. military is experiencing what the major general called a concerning shift from counter insurgency efforts to large-scale combat operations reminiscent of what we did in the 90s, with drastic technological advancement. I think were in an inflection point in warfare, but also a miscalculation away from combat, Buzzard said, echoing nearly word-for-word his statement at the Warfighter Conference last September. He pointed to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as modernization in China as evidence. Buzzard recently visited U.S. Army Pacific to get a handle on concerns in that area and make sure Fort Moores instruction and training will appropriately prepare soldiers. Buzzard has two goals in mind: First, to deter any adversary from doing anything and, secondly, to be able to fight and win if we have to. He added, The nature of war remains the same At the end of the day, theres two, you know. You and the enemy staring at each other. 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. Major delays at Atlanta airport after international flights diverted for weather Customs and Border Protection says there was some major delays late Friday night at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. They say eight international flights initially heading to Atlanta had to be diverted to other airports because of severe weather and a ground stop at the Atlanta airport. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] When conditions got better, the flights were able to land in Atlanta. Because they all landed around the same time, there was a heavy influx of passengers trying to get through Customs at the same time. TRENDING STORIES: Officers still had to properly inspect what passengers were bringing into the country. All of the delayed passengers finally made it through after 1 a.m. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) A man was killed and a teenager injured after dozens of shots were fired in the Buckman Neighborhood early Sunday morning, according to Portland police. Just after 1 a.m., officers responded to a report of a shooting in the 100 block of Southeast 9th Avenue. On arrival, they found a man and a 17-year-old boy injured. Vikings rookie, former Oregon Duck Khyree Jackson dies in car crash Officers also found evidence suggesting dozens of shots had been fired, as well as multiple parked cars and other objects in the area struck by bullets. Both the man and the teen were taken to the hospital, but the man soon died from his injuries. Authorities say the teen is expected to survive. Police say they believe the suspect or suspects fired shots from a moving vehicle towards a group of people on a nearby sidewalk. 2 teens injured after shots fired through car in North Portland Several blocks around Southeast 9th Avenue and Southeast Ankeny Street were closed for the duration of the investigation. No arrests have been made, police say. However, PPB said there were potential witnesses who left the scene before officers arrived and are encouraging anyone with information to come forward. 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. Man drowned in north Georgia lake over Fourth of July weekend A north Georgia man celebrating the Fourth of July holiday drowned in Lake Rabun, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. DNR game wardens say they were called to a possible drowning on the lake at 6:45 p.m. on Saturday. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] They were told no one had seen 39-year-old Robert Clinkscales, of Dillard, since 10:30 p.m. the night before. On Saturday morning, his shoes and phone were found at the entrance of the boathouse on the property. Shortly after they got there, they found his body in 40 to 50 feet of water about 30 feet from the boathouse. TRENDING STORIES: His body was turned over to the Rabun County Coroner for an autopsy. There is no word on what led to his death. Clinkscales is one of at least two people to drown in Georgia over the holiday weekend. Laquavis McCray, 16, drowned after being swept away by the current at Tybee Island. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: TREMONT TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WHTM) A New Jersey man was flown to the hospital after a tractor-trailer rollover closed a link between Lebanon and Schuylkill Counties Friday. State Police at Schuylkill Haven said the crash happened around 9:40 a.m. on Gold Mine Road in Tremont Township. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now WHTM Daily Digest The winding rural road is a key link between Tower City and the Fort Indiantown Gap area. Troopers said Rene Fernandez Rivera, 46, of New Brunswick, was headed north on Gold Mine Road in a tractor-trailer. They said he was driving at a high rate of speed and rolled the truck in a left-hand corner. The truck slid off the roadway, striking a utility pole and a tree. Firefighters from Wiconisco, Muir, Orwin, and Sheridan responded and rescued the man, who was then flown to Hershey. Troopers said he will be cited for careless driving. 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 ABC27. The 12th World Peace Forum, themed "Improving Global Security Governance: Justice, Unity, and Cooperation," opened Saturday in Beijing, drawing more than 400 attendees from over 80 countries. Former foreign dignitaries, senior diplomats, experts, and scholars gathered to discuss finding common ground, promoting cooperation, restoring stability in the international order, and safeguarding world peace amid de-globalization. The 12th World Peace Forum opens in Beijing on July 6, 2024. [Photo/World Peace Forum] Chinese Vice President Han Zheng delivered a keynote speech, urging countries to work together to enhance global security governance, safeguard fairness and justice, and promote 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 U.N. 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: adhering to peaceful coexistence, advocating common security, and promoting openness and inclusiveness. Han emphasized that the Chinese nation loves peace and that China has always been a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of the international order. He expressed the hope that all participants would exchange in open dialogue, build consensus, and contribute their insights and efforts to improving global security governance. Li Luming, president of Tsinghua University and chairman of the World Peace Forum, welcomed guests and highlighted the forum's role as a key annual event for global strategic security experts, promoting international security exchange and cooperation. Amid the current international situation, he stressed that an increasingly turbulent world needs greater unity and cooperation, and dialogue and exchange are essential to deal with escalating tensions and confrontations among countries. Li also reaffirmed Tsinghua University's commitment to working with global peers to address challenges and advance global security cooperation, contributing to a global community of shared future. During a plenary session themed "Towards Peaceful Coexistence and Common Security," former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama criticized the Japanese government's alignment with the U.S. and confrontational approach toward China. Hatoyama emphasized that Japan is well-positioned to act as a bridge between the U.S. and China, a role that aligns with Japan's national interests. He acknowledged the recent improvements in Japan-China communication but stressed the necessity for sustained dialogue. Reflecting China's vision of building a global community of shared future, Hatoyama proposed the creation of an East Asian community based on mutual respect, understanding, and assistance. He also called on Japan, China, South Korea, and Southeast Asian countries to establish a mechanism for dialogue and consensus-building despite differences in values and systems. Dominique de Villepin, former prime minister of France, addressed the significant historical transition and the unprecedented threats facing the world today, emphasizing the "double threat of escalation and deconstruction." He also addressed "de-Westernization" and "de-globalization," and warned against technological disruption. He called for adherence to the principles of the U.N., the "spirit of San Francisco" and the "Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence," stressing that "peace can be rooted in our common humanity." De Villepin concluded by highlighting the need to reform the U.N. to "restore its full legitimacy and effectiveness" and to promote respectful and efficient multilateralism to create a better world. The forum, which comprises four major plenary sessions and 18 panel discussions, will touch on topics such as the role of middle powers in preserving world peace, equity and justice, major power responsibility for peace and security, and the Global South's role in maintaining peace. The World Peace Forum, founded in 2012, is an annual non-governmental forum on international security organized by Tsinghua University in collaboration with the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs. Sean Durns is a senior research analyst for CAMERA, the 65,000-member, Boston-based Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis. Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty. WASHINGTON PARISH, La. (WGNO) A former person of interest in the investigation of a July 5 Washington Parish homicide was arrested and charged with murder on Saturday, July 6. According to the Washington Parish Sheriffs Office, the man, 35-year-old Clois Clifton Blackledge III, was identified as a person of interest after police responded to reports of a man who had been found dead behind his home on South Choctaw Road near Bogalusa. The victim was later identified as 62-year-old Lark Starnes. At the investigations outset, Blackledge had last been seen riding a Honda motorcycle which was later found around 6:30 p.m. on Friday at Pooles Bluff boat launch in Bogalusa. Investigators searched the area late into the evening but werent able to find Blackledge that night. On Saturday morning, however, investigators returned to Pooles Bluff alongside a member of the Louisiana State Police Unmanned Aircraft Systems team. Their search concluded shortly after reports were received of a man, matching Blackledges description, walking down Highway 21. The UAS team member was able to locate and speak with the man at the intersection of Highway 21 and Mitchell Road, south of Bogalusa, and confirm his identity. Washington Parish deputies then took Blackledge in for questioning. Blackledge has been arrested and is being charged with two felonies, those being one count of second-degree murder and one count of obstruction of justice. The investigation remains ongoing and the WPSO asks that anyone with additional information about the incident contact them at 985-839-3434 or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111. Stay up to date with the latest news, weather and sports by downloading the WGNO app on the Apple or Google Play stores and by subscribing to the WGNO newsletter. Latest Posts 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 WGNO. Man walked into Atlanta gas station, pistol-whipped someone and walked out Police are searching for a man who walked into an Atlanta convenience store, assaulted someone moments later and left. Officers were called to a gas station on Conley Road on Tuesday where a man had been hit in the head. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The victim was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital to be treated, but police didnt comment on how bad his injury was. Investigators say the suspect, who hasnt been identified, walked into the store and made contact with the victim. Moments later, the man pulled out a gun and pistol-whipped the victim before leaving the store. TRENDING STORIES: Police are sharing surveillance photos of the suspect in the hopes someone will be able to help identify him. Anyone who knows who he is or anything else that may help investigators could be eligible for a $2,000 reward. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: As the Calusa Waterkeeper, it is my duty and that of our organization to protect and restore our local waterways and ensure they remain safe for public health and the enjoyment of all. Calusa Waterkeeper aims to work collaboratively with local and state authorities such as the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and city and county governments on water quality issues, but will fight for clean water, enforcement of regulations and policy change when necessary. Our trained rangers currently collect monthly water samples from 30-plus locations throughout Lee County. Since the beginning of our independent monitoring efforts 6-7 years ago, Fecal Indicator Bacteria (FIB) has been at alarmingly high levels in several locations, especially Billys Creek and Manuels Branch, which meanders westward from U.S. 41 along the southern boundary of Fort Myers High School and Edison Park before it reaches the Caloosahatchee River. Codty Pierce This alarming trend of bacterial contamination poses a significant threat to public health, and it is imperative that the issue is addressed with urgency and determination. Manuels Branch runs along vital community landmarks where children and families gather and play. The risks associated with drinking, swimming, or fishing in these waters are serious. Fecal contamination in recreational waters is associated with an increased risk of gastrointestinal (GI) illness and less often identified respiratory illness. Human and non-human fecal pollution presents various risks from several bacteria and viruses. This is a situation that no community should have to endure, and it is our authorities responsibility to act swiftly to mitigate these risks. Sadly, local waters such as Billys Creek and Manuels Branch have long suffered from fecal indicator bacteria and other impairments. The public data goes back as far as 2001, if not further. FDEP was preparing to assess Billys Creek for bacterial TMDL back in 2008, and should have been prioritizing Manuels Branch too, but never did. Over the years, the City of Fort Myers has had a series of minor and major sewage spills. In early 2021, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection brought the most recent consent order against the City of Fort Myers, meant to address these problems. In the consent order, both parties agreed on many wastewater violations, the likely human source(s) of surface water contamination, and corrective actions to be taken by the City of Fort Myers. Now into the fourth year of their increased monitoring plan, little change in bacteria levels has been recorded as seen in the citys own data and Calusa Waterkeepers independent sampling. Despite the in-kind projects and proposed infrastructure improvements proposed by the city as part of the consent order, no real change or improvement has been shown within Manuels Branch. The City of Fort Myers own E. coli data, gathered from 2017-2023 at the Manuels Branch Neighborhood Park, shows an average count of 1,667 MPN and an upwards trend in that timeframe. Florida state statute sets the regulatory thresholds at a one-day limit of 800 MPN and a ten percent total value (TPTV) of 410. Calusa Waterkeepers enterococci data for Manuels Branch from 2021-2024 has always come back well above the Florida Department of Health and EPAs Beach Action Value of 70 MPN and the FDEPs regulatory threshold of 130 MPN. The average value over the last year of our independent sampling along Manuels Branch has been 2,579 MPN, with the highest reading of 15,531 just recorded in April of 2024. Calusa Waterkeeper has engaged the FDEP and City of Fort Myers to work together and ensure accountability in addressing this pollution threatening public health. In the meantime, it is essential for residents to take precautionary measures to protect themselves and their families, as there are no consistent laws or efforts in how officials should post and notify the public about these risks. Here are some guidelines to follow: 1. Avoid contact with the water: Do not drink, swim, or fish in Manuels Branch until the water has been declared safe by authorities. 2. Stay informed: Follow updates from Calusa Waterkeeper and local health officials regarding the status of water quality in Manuels Branch. 3. Report Symptoms: If you or your family experience any symptoms of illness after coming into contact with the water, seek medical attention immediately and report your condition to local health authorities. Our objective at Calusa Waterkeeper is to continue working diligently to compel source tracing of this pollution and ensure that authorities implement effective solutions to reduce it. We are committed to protecting our communitys health and ensuring that our waters are safe for all to enjoy. It is time for the City of Fort Myers to take responsibility and act decisively to address this crisis. We call on the community to support our efforts and to remain vigilant as we navigate this challenge together. The health and safety of our residents depend on our collective action and unwavering commitment to resolving this issue. Capt. Codty Pierce is a Calusa Waterkeeper. You can learn more about our Fecal Indicator Bacteria sampling program at calusawaterkeeper.org/issues/bacteria-monitoring/ This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Manuel's Branch plagued by alarming contamination levels Knowing how many bubbles are floating in champagne is the kind of random knowledge that will help you win Trivia Night. Though the exact number has gone through deliberation, scientists have taken it upon themselves to determine the precise amount so we don't have to -- so we can enjoy popping open another bottle, instead. Gerard Liger-Belair published his findings in a scientific journal in 2014, much to the surprise of those who had been estimating the number of bubbles beforehand. Before Liger-Belair opened the cork to his research, scientists and lovers of Champagne were guessing around 15 million bubbles could rise in a single glass. With rigorous research, however, Liger-Belair determined the number to be closer to one million, insisting that previous estimates failed to consider the factor of carbon dioxide seeping out of glasses without creating any bubbles in the process. While we were sipping glasses of bubbles and toasting to the good life, Liger-Belair was measuring the temperature of glasses, angles of champagne flutes, and exploring the complicated world of bubble dynamics. "I've always had a fascination with observing natural phenomena," Liger-Belair told Le Cordon Bleu. "The bubbles form and move according to often complex equations, which allows us to anticipate a certain number of elements that influence the drinking experience, such as the number of bubbles that will be produced, their size, the speed with which they will rise to the surface, and the way in which they will burst and disperse the wine's aroma." Read more: 15 Popular Hard Seltzer Brands, Ranked Worst To Best When Beverage Bubbles And Science Collide pouring champagne into glasses - barmalini/Shutterstock Before Liger-Belair stomped on the previous estimates of effervescence, champagne was assumed to hold around 15 millions bubbles in a flute glass. His research stomped a dent -- or popped some bubbles -- in the world of champagne science. Researchers in 2023 took up a similar fascination with champagne bubbles, setting out to concretely explain why bubbles in champagne travel upwards, in a straight direction, unlike bubbles found in other kinds of fizzy and carbonated drinks. Champagne has been known to contain surfactant-like molecules that can disperse tension between the fizzy drink and the floating bubbles. Not only do these molecules build flavor and create that unmistakable texture of Champagne, the molecules are responsible for that one-directional journey of bubbles from the bottom of the glass to the surface. If you want to step on the pedal of champagne bubbles and try to get even more poured into your glass, serve champagne at a warmer temperature -- not chilled -- and pour the drink into a tilted flute glass. For those who simply want to enjoy a fresh pour of a chilled glass of champagne, we can't blame you. Pour away and enjoy without thinking about any science. Read the original article on Tasting Table. Former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson is putting pressure on President Biden to withdraw from the race, arguing that the Democratic Party needs to recalibrate quickly ahead of the election. Williamson joined Fox News Channels Neil Cavuto on Saturday to discuss her reasoning for why the president should step aside even if he already won primaries across the country and earned delegates. He did get those delegates but the people who voted for him voted for him before last Thursdays debate, Williamson said. This is an emergency for the Democratic Party and we need to handle this and we need to handle it quickly. In a series of posts on social media platform X, Williamson said Democrats need to recalibrate quickly because the American people need to know their government can handle an emergency. We need a mini primary not a decision made by party elites but by the delegates themselves, she posted. We need a truly democratic process and an open convention. Williamson, the onetime spiritual adviser to Oprah Winfrey, launched a long-shot presidential campaign in March 2023, and ended her bid in February. Just weeks later, she said she was unsuspending her campaign but ended the second run last month after the primaries concluded. Now, after Bidens poor debate performance, the progressive Democrat threw her hat into the ring for the third time. Earlier this week, Williamson declared she would replace Biden because the time is now for a new Democratic candidate. She told Cavuto that she calls on Biden to step aside with respect and compassion. The president has insisted he will stay the course despite growing calls from his base and fellow Democratic lawmakers. Williamson argued that the Democratic Party needs to be having these conversations to counter the hotbed of grievances offered by former President Trump. We need to be having a conversation over the next two months that we should have been having over the last year and a half, she 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 The Hill. Marine Le Pen speaks to journalists after partial results are announced in the first round of the French parliamentary elections - Reuters/Yves Herman After Marine Le Pens National Rally walloped Emmanuel Macron in the first round of voting in the French elections, there is a real chance France could be governed by a hard-Right party for the first time since the Second World War. Then, Frances collaborationist Vichy regime claimed authority over the country in an armistice deal with Nazi Germany. Ms Le Pen has spent more than a decade trying to detoxify her National Rally party and turning it from a movement that once celebrated Nazi collaboration to a genuine electoral force. On 30 June, the National Rally was seen winning around 34 per cent of the vote, according to early exit polls from Ipsos, Ifop, OpinionWay and Elabe. Although the final result will depend on days of horse-trading before todays run-off, its evident her message is resonating with voters. She is predicted to win the largest number of seats in Frances National Assembly. If that happens, here is a look at what to expect from a National Rally-led government. Immigration At the centre of Ms Le Pens policy platform is a promise to toughen Frances immigration policy. First, the National Rally has vowed to end birthright citizenship, under which children born to two foreign parents in France automatically obtain French citizenship at the age of 18. To be eligible they must also be living in the country at the time they turn 18 and have lived in the country for a minimum of five years since the age of 11. The automatic acquisition of French nationality is no longer justified in a world of eight-billion people, when daily evidence of our inability to integrate and assimilate is multiplying on our soil, said Jordan Bardella, 28, the man vying to be National Rallys prime minister. National Rally would also slap restrictions on family reunifications by introducing additional conditions on employment and income. It has separately unveiled plans to reduce access to medical services for illegal immigrants to emergencies only, and limit access to welfare benefits to French citizens only. Supporters fly French flags during the results evening organised by the National Rally party - FRANCOIS LO PRESTI/AFP Security National Rally has attempted to position itself as the party of law and order, promising to slash welfare allowances and social assistance for families of repeat juvenile offenders. Under the plans, teenagers aged 16 and above would be tried as adults. Frances police forces, known for their violent crackdown on protests, would be granted an automatic presumption of self-defence in cases that involve violence. But one of the most contentious issues to emerge from the National Rallys security manifesto is barring dual-nationals from holding jobs in sensitive strategic posts like defence. These would be reserved for the French. Political opponents were quick to slam the proposal calling it discriminatory and hypocritical. The message you are sending is that when we are bi-national, we are half-national, we are in fact not real French and we would not be trusted to occupy positions of responsibility, Gabriel Attal, the prime minister said during a TV debate. Gerald Darmanin, the interior minister, added that such a policy would divide the nation and discriminate against the three-million French-Americans, French-Algerians, French-Portuguese, French-Moroccans living in France. He also pointed out that candidates who apply to highly sensitive government positions already undergo thorough security screenings. I dont like this way of filtering the French, Mr Darmanin said. Foreign policy On the international front, National Rally has promised to cut funding to the European Union by up to 3 billion a year to fund cuts to VAT at home. The movement has pledged to continue supporting Ukraine, but Mr Bardella has signalled Frances military assistance could be significantly watered down. The prime ministerial candidate has said he draws a red line at sending missiles, military equipment or French troops to the war-torn nation, because it is escalatory in the eyes of Moscow. Ms Le Pen has often struggled to shed her reputation as a Putin apologist, especially after a picture of her and the Russian president has been used as a beating stick by her opponents. And with a separate war raging in the Middle East, National Rally has said it opposes recognising a Palestinian state. Jordan Bardella, president of National Rally, reacts after partial results in the first round of voting come in - SARAH MEYSSONNIER/REUTERS Social benefits National Rally has promised to scrap Emmanuel Macrons pension reforms that controversially raised the retirement age. It would reinstate the traditional retirement age of 62. For those who started working before the age of 20 and worked for 40 years, they would be allowed to retire at 60. Mr Macrons unemployment benefit changes would also be repealed. The current policy cuts access to unemployment benefits and shortens the length of benefit entitlement from 18 to 15 months. But social benefits would also be restricted to French nationals, or those who have worked in France for at least five years. 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. Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland has been one of Biden's strongest gubernatorial allies. But Moore said he wouldn't "sugarcoat" the president's lackluster debate performance. Moore told BI he's leaning in to help Biden. "I don't do disloyalty," he said. Last week, the nation's Democratic governors met with President Joe Biden as he sought to reassure them that his candidacy remained viable after a debate that has imperiled his reelection bid. It was one of the most critical moments in Biden's decades-long political career, as he rallied support for a campaign that several Democratic lawmakers and a sizable bloc of voters believe he should forgo in favor of another candidate. But for Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who was at the White House meeting, his decision is clear. He told Business Insider that he's standing with Biden. However, Moore was also blunt in assessing his view of Biden's debate performance against former President Donald Trump. "It was a terrible performance and I don't think you can sugarcoat it," the first-term governor said. "The problem is it was hard to watch." Moore, a former US Army paratrooper who often relies on his military training in tough situations, said the next step was to "move on" and figure out how to help Biden. "I remember when in the military, there's only three answers for something. Yes, no, or no excuse," he continued. "Everything else is a waste of time. And I think the answer to this is no excuse." The governor, who was first elected in 2022, said that Biden has been a strong partner for Maryland. So he's returning the favor. Moore said he doesn't do 'disloyalty' Gov. Wes Moore said he has worked closely with the Biden administration following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images At the governor's meeting, Moore said Biden laid out a strategy for the final months of his campaign. "The thing that we left with was that there's not only the plan, but also that there's the focus and the commitment and the energy," Moore said of the sentiment among the governors. "And I was clear, I don't do disloyalty," he continued. "This is an administration that has been with us when we were knocked down, which I saw when I received a call from them when we were mobilizing units to respond to the Key Bridge crisis. Moore is referencing the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in March, which occurred after the container vessel Dali struck the bridge and sent it into the Patapsco River. Tragically, six construction workers lost their lives as they worked to repair potholes on the bridge. The governor has worked with the Biden administration extensively following the bridge's collapse. And it's a relationship that he deeply values as the administration works to secure full federal funding for the bridge's replacement. However, regarding the presidential race, there is no consensus regarding Biden's candidacy among the Democratic base. Among the Democratic voters who put Biden in office four years ago and overwhelmingly supported him during the most recent Democratic presidential primaries, a significant share of them harbor reservations about him running for a second term. In Moore's eyes, Biden has to be visible and present to reassure them. "I think he's got to be out there," the governor said. "I think he's got to keep doing what he's doing right now. He's got to show people in unscripted moments that the agility that this job requires and the stability that this job requires that he's best prepared to do that." "One thing I know about elections is nothing is given and everything is earned," he continued. "You've got to win by being the most aggressive, thoughtful, and visionary campaigner out there, and you need to have people who buy your vision. So I think the president cannot take anything for granted." Read the original article on Business Insider Sicily, Italy, is in a state of emergency over the worst drought the country has seen in 20 years. Water rations are so strict that hotel and inn owners are turning tourists away. As a tourism-driven economy, the drought is threatening the financial stability of the region. An extreme drought in Sicily is the worst the Italian island has seen in 20 years, and it's so bad it's threatening the region's economy. The drought in Sicily has caused the local climate to mirror that of Ethiopia, UK outlet Sky News reported, causing a state of emergency, drying up lakes, and prompting officials to implement strict water rations. The rations are so strict with some residents being asked to cut their water use by as much as 45% it's prompting some hotel and inn owners to turn guests away because they cannot guarantee showers will run or toilets will flush, CNN reported. "Rightly, people ask us for reassurances before coming, but we don't know what to say," Giovanni Lopez, who owns the Le Cinque Novelle bed and breakfast (B&B) in central Agrigento, told CNN. "The situation is quickly impacting the entire tourist accommodation sector, which risks serious economic consequences, given that tourism is a sector almost everyone in this part of Sicily relies on." The economic impact is impossible to ignore between empty reservoirs and livestock that have died due to the drought, CNN reported the region has lost more than a billion Euros, or nearly 1.1 billion USD. Representatives for Italy's Ministry of Tourism did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. However, CNN reported that Italy's tourism minister, Daniela Santanche, suggested in April that Sicily should attempt to expand its tourism beyond summer to address the region's worsening water crisis. In addition to the drought, numerous regions of Italy, including Sicily, are also facing population destabilization, prompting officials to offer incentives to relocate to its rural regions in hopes that new residents will help stabilize the population levels. Read the original article on Business Insider Ukrainian billionaire Hennadii Boholiubov, who formerly owned Ukrainian bank PrivatBank alongside oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, recently left Ukraine under forged documents, anonymous sources at the Prosecutor General's Office told the Ukrainska Pravda media outlet. According to the outlet, Boholiubov, 62, allegedly left Ukraine on June 24 after Ukraine's Bureau of Economic Security (BEB) prepared charges against him. Boholiubov left Ukraine by train from Kyiv to the Polish border town of Chelm with forged documents and entered Poland with his own, the outlet reported. He is currently residing in Austria, according to the report. The border guard who let Boholiubov out of the country was reportedly detained on June 6. The financial and industrial group Privat, of which Boholiubov and Kolomoisky are the co-owners, operated the PrivatBank from its founding in 1992 until 2016. In 2016, the bank was nationalized when it was found to have an over $5.5 billion hole in its ledger, allegedly moved out by its former owners Kolomoisky and Boholiubov via fraudulent schemes. The former owners appealed to the Supreme Court against the government's decision but lost their case in July 2022. Kolomoisky, one of Ukraine's most infamous business tycoons, was arrested on Sept. 2, 2023, for alleged fraud and money laundering related to his oil and gas holdings. His bail was initially set at Hr 509 million (now $13.2 million). Read also: Oligarch Kolomoisky is behind bars. How did he get there and can he find a way out? Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Through open-source research, Mediazona, a Russian independent media outlet, together with BBC Russia, confirmed the names of 58,207 Russian soldiers who had been killed since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since Mediazona's last update at the end of June, the names of 1,349 Russian soldiers have been added to the list of casualties. The journalists note that the actual figures are likely significantly higher, as their verified information comes from public sources such as obituaries, posts by relatives, regional media reports, and statements from local authorities. Sign up for our newsletter WTF is wrong with Russia? Sign up Russian army casualties have risen sharply in recent months, averaging around 120 deaths per day in 2023, and now increasing to 200-250 per day, the journalists note. Since Russia began its all-out war against Ukraine, over 3,700 officers, with 430 holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel or higher have been killed in combat in Ukraine. The analysts note that at least 11,758 Russian inmates have been killed on Ukraine's eastern front. On July 5, Russian media outlets Meduza and Mediazona published a report indicating that approximately 120,000 Russian troops have been killed since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine's General Staff estimates that the Russian military's personnel losses surpassed 500,000 in late May. Read also: As Russian losses in Ukraine hit 500,000, Putin buries future demographic risks at home Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. 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. 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. 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. Note: State contracts involve eligibility systems for Medicaid benefits and may include other safety-net programs. Contract figures could not be confirmed for Illinois, Nevada, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Source: KFF Health News reporting, state agencies, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Credit: Lydia Zuraw, Samantha Liss, Rachana Pradhan/KFF Health News 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 then 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. KFF Health News senior correspondent Renuka Rayasam and correspondents Daniel Chang, Bram Sable-Smith, and Katheryn Houghton contributed to this report. Subscribe to KFF Health News free Morning Briefing. SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE The post Medicaid for millions in America hinges on Deloitte-run systems plagued by errors appeared first on Rhode Island Current. Memorial service planned for Cleveland officer killed in line of duty Details about a memorial service for a Cleveland police officer shot and killed in the line of duty last week have been released. A memorial service for Officer Jamieson Ritter, 27, will be held Monday at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist, according to WOIO in Cleveland. >> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Police identify officer killed in line of duty in Ohio Ritters burial will be held outside of Ohio. As previously reported, Ritter was shot early Thursday morning while serving a warrant to a man wanted for felonious assault. >> RELATED: Deepest condolences; Tributes paid to Ohio officer shot, killed in line of duty The suspect, later identified as Delawnte Hardy, was leaving his home on a bicycle when officers arrived and began firing shots, hitting Ritter. Hardy has been charged with aggravated murder and is in custody at the Cuyahoga County Justice Center. MEMPHIS, Tenn. A juvenile allegedly involved in an armed carjacking incident at Poke World in Olive Branch, Mississippi, has been extradited back to DeSoto County. According to the DAs Office, on May 12 around 8 p.m., two juveniles (aged 16 and younger) and an 18-year-old from Memphis, wore ski masks and used pepper spray to subdue a DoorDash driver. They also allegedly stole the victims vehicle at gunpoint. MPD: Man steals chairs, A/C units from Ollies Bargain Outlet Last week, the 16-year-old involved was extradited back to DeSoto County through a joint law enforcement effort led by investigators from the DAs office and the Olive Branch Police Department. The DAs office says the suspect will be prosecuted as an adult, facing serious felony charges. To those in Memphis considering criminal acts in our community, think again, District Attorney Matthew Barton said. We will pursue those who threaten the safety and security of our communities, relentlessly. MPD searching for suspect involved in apartment shooting The 18-year-old suspect, identified as Courtney Fleming, is still at large and is also facing felony charges for his involvement. Another 13-year-old juvenile will be charged in youth court in connection with the incident. Mississippi state laws prevent the names and other details about the juveniles involved in this case from being disclosed. 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 WREG.com. Met never spoke to me about fatal crash, says Wimbledon prep school headmistress Selena Lau (left) and Nuria Sajjad were the victims of crash Study Preparatory School in Wimbledon, south-west London The former headmistress of a Wimbledon school where two young pupils were killed in a fatal car crash has said the Metropolitan Police never spoke to her about the incident. Helen Lowe, who was head of The Study, an all-girls preparatory school in south-west London, revealed she has yet to speak to police about the Land Rover which crashed into the schools playground one year ago and killed Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau. The Land Rover Defender inside the grounds of The Study Preparatory School in Camp Road, Wimbledon - Yui Mok/PA Her comments come after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced last week that following a lengthy and detailed police investigation Claire Freemantle, who was driving the vehicle, suffered an epileptic seizure at the time of the crash and would not face charges. The Met has now launched a review of its investigation into the deaths of the eight year olds. Ms Lowe told The Sunday Times that she had offered her contact details to the police but they never asked her to provide a statement. She said: I sort of assumed we would be [contacted] and we havent. After the announcement by the CPS, the families and the school arranged a meeting with the Metropolitan Police to raise queries about the investigation. Flowers are left in tribute to the two girls outside their school - Yui Mok/PA However Ms Lowe and Sharon Maher, the schools new headmistress, told the newspaper that there were fundamental questions they couldnt answer. Ms Lowe said: Weve been told that it was a very detailed and thorough investigation. We have waited almost a year to the day to hear the outcome. Ill be honest, on Thursday I was genuinely hoping to turn up at the police station and hear an explanation for the outcome. I understand there are questions around the evidence that the police are unable to answer for legal reasons. But I was hoping to come away with a feeling that no stone had been left unturned. And, for a number of reasons, I didnt. In a joint statement released after the CPS announcement, Nuria and Selenas parents said: We have already expressed, publicly, our dissatisfaction with the pace of the investigative process. It is now clear to us that the depth of the process is questionable too. In the absence of any concrete evidence to the contrary, we can only surmise that the investigation has been equally poor. A Met spokesman said: Having listened to concerns from the families of both Nuria and Selena and other parties affected, we are committed to addressing their questions, and the specialist crime review group will therefore be carrying out a review of the investigation. 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. This is the fourth part of a five-part series on the history of World War II POW camps in Michigan. Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 are available to read here. The final story will be published next Sunday. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Depending on who you ask, war is either a black and white, good vs. evil concept, or there is a wide spectrum of gray. Ask any soldier on one side of the battle, and they may villainize the other. Or maybe theyd see someone who looks just like them, simply wearing different colors or flying a different flag. Someone who, just like them, would rather be back home living their life free from the constant threat of attack. Something drew them to the fight. Some volunteered and some were forced. Some were fighting for their beliefs and some fought because there was no viable alternative. Wherever any one soldier falls on that spectrum, the sacrifices made in battle command a respect that crosses those boundaries, insignia, flags and all. POW camps kept Michigans farms, factories afloat during World War II That respect is reflected in three stories involving the German prisoners of war and the Michigan communities that served as their homes. A panoramic view of the 26 grave markers at Fort Custer National Cemetery to remember the German prisoners of war who died while being held in the U.S. during World War II. (Matt Jaworowski/WOOD TV8) TWENTY-SIX Fort Custer National Cemetery is the final resting place for tens of thousands of American servicemen and servicewomen, but there are 26 graves that dont honor the stars and stripes. Twenty-six German prisoners of war are also buried there after dying while being held at one of Michigans 32 POW camps. A handful died from natural causes or from workplace injuries, but 16 of the 26 were lost in one swift tragedy. It happened on Halloween in 1945. After a hard day working on a sugar beet farm, a crew of 24 POWs and their guard were heading back to their camp in Lenawee County when their truck was struck by a train. We were in paradise: Were German prisoners coddled in World War II POW camps? The scene was grisly. Eleven prisoners were pronounced dead at the crash site, with three bodies stuck to the locomotive. Five more died later from their injuries, along with the crews guard: 20-year-old Edward Loughrin from Cadillac. Immediately, staff from Fort Custer got to work notifying the proper authorities and preparing services for the slain men. They even gathered Nazi flags so the men could be honored with the banner that they fought under. A plaque inside Fort Custer National Cemetery in Augusta honors the 26 German prisoners of war who died while held in U.S. POW camps. (Matt Jaworowski/WOOD TV8) The camp ended up securing seven German republic flags from an army quartermaster depot in Philadelphia. It was enough to honor each POW according to their beliefs. There were three services: one for the six Catholic soldiers, one for the six POWs identified as Protestant and one for four others who had not proclaimed a faith. To this day, groups gather at Fort Custer National Cemetery every year on Volkstrauertag, the German equivalent of Memorial Day, to honor the 26 POWs who never made it home. And its not just Germans or German Americans. Ernsts story: How a German POW became a proud American In 2015, Korean War veteran Frank Warren told the Battle Creek Enquirer that he had attended the service for several years. The 82-year-old from Kalamazoo didnt have a direct tie to any of the men, but he could see what they sacrificed. These are veterans as well as Im a veteran, he said. And they fought for what they thought was right in their country like we fought for (what) we felt was right for our side. Johann Schecks casket is draped with a flag representing the Third Reich during his funeral at Fort Custer. (Courtesy Fort Custer Historical Society) German POWs carry the casket of one of their brethren, Johann Scheck, who died following an accident in June 1944. POWs who died in American camps were given full military funerals, including a 21-gun salute and a bugle call of Taps. American camps even worked to get flags of the Third Reich shipped to the camp to honor the dead. (Courtesy Fort Custer Historical Society) Both Catholic and Protestant masses were held at POW camps for German and Italian soldiers. (Courtesy Fort Custer Historical Society) Connie Seiser, the director of the Blissfield Historical Society and Museum, told the Daily Telegram in 2020 that she always seems to struggle with the date. The war was over when the crash happened. The POWs were simply waiting on the red tape of an unwinding war so they could be sent home. That is the most tragic thing about this accident, she said. The war was over. They had a life and a home waiting for them back in Germany. THE LAMOREAUX BROTHERS Countless families lost loved ones in the war. But few lost more than Alice Lamoreaux. During the war, Lamoreaux lived on Martindale Street, a stones throw from the temporary POW camp set up in Sparta. Three blue stars hung in her window: one for each of her sons on the other side of the world fighting for freedom. 20: Lamoreaux Memorial Park is named after the three Lamoreaux brothers who died serving their country during World War II. (Matt Jaworowski/WOOD TV8) A memorial in Sparta features busts of the Lamoreaux brothers Howard, Al and Don who died serving their country during World War II. (Matt Jaworowski/WOOD TV8) A memorial in Sparta honors the Lamoreaux brothers Howard, Al and Don who died serving their country during World War II. (Matt Jaworowski/WOOD TV8) The devastating news crept in slowly; stars shifting from blue to gold. The first to go was Donald. He was killed in action in January 1944 while fighting in Italy. Howard was next, killed while fighting Japanese forces in the Philippines that November. Then in February 1945, just a few short months from the end of the fighting in Europe, the oldest son, Al, was killed in Germany. Remembering D-Day: How Greenvilles Fighting Falcon led the way into Normandy Within the course of 13 months, all three stars turned color. All while a camp of prisoners the enemy lived safely down the street. In his book Michigan POW Camps in World War II, historian Gregory Sumner spoke to one of Lamoreauxs neighbors, who admitted they worried about the woman. It was something we didnt want to think about but couldnt help thinking about, they told Sumner. A few of us were worried about what a German war camp, practically in her own back yard, would do to her. After 20 years of debate, Huyser House finally set for demolition Lamoreauxs daughter and only child not to die in the war, Barbara, told Sumner that her mother was a very strong person and never displayed even a trace of bitterness or animosity toward the enemy soldiers she watched every day through her window. Like many people close to the war effort, she could see beyond the black and white of battle. So, too, did some of the POWs across the street. One afternoon, as they were dropped off at the gate of the camp, a group of prisoners instead took a turn and headed for Lamoreauxs home. Alice Lamoreaux and her family lived on Martindale Street, within a stones throw of the temporary POW camp in Sparta. (Matt Jaworowski/WOOD TV8) Having heard that yet another Regret to Inform telegram had been received at the residence, a detail of men marched across the street in solemn, orderly ranks, stopping at attention just below the porch. There they offered a long, silent salute, executed an about-face and returned, wordlessly, to their compound, Sumner wrote. A pilots fateful flight under the Mackinac Bridge A nearby farmer who had worked with and was friendly with many of the POWs asked them about it. One soldier, named Roland Detshel, responded. In broken English and a thick German accent, Detshel told him: Weve got mothers, too, who lost boys, two, three maybe. We respect everybody who, how you say, make sacrifice. Today, Lamoreaux Brothers Veterans Memorial Park in Sparta stands to honor the three brothers, including a monument with the busts of all three men. TO MAKE AMENDS There were a lot of obstacles following the end of the war. POWs couldnt just be cut loose. For one, prisoners were not paid in cash but rather scrip that could be used to be goods from the camps store. But with the camps preparing to shut down, that scrip would become useless. So the government devised a way to convert it to cash. Sign up for the News 8 daily newsletter Much of that money helped the prisoners families rebuild in war-torn Europe, but some of it stayed stateside. Another part of the process for sending prisoners home involved efforts to purge Germany of the remnants of Nazi rule and force the POWs to face the atrocities committed at the hands of the Third Reich. Before being discharged, many American and British POW camps showed the inmates film reels and images from inside concentration camps, including piles of dead, malnourished bodies. Before Fort Custers prisoners were sent home, a group of them worked together to pool some of their savings to give to the International Red Cross. According to a report from the Battle Creek Enquirer and News, the Fort Custer POWs donated $10,147.58. Of the roughly 2,200 POWs who funneled through Fort Custer, about 80% made a donation. A stack of 1,800 checks ranging from $2 to $20 and all drawn by individual German war prisoners from their personal trust funds held by the federal government in Washington was presented Tuesday afternoon by Fritz Blume, the spokesman for the (POW) camp, the report stated. The Aftermath: The 1911 furniture worker strikes impact on Furniture City Blume said the donations were to help make amends for what unscrupulous despots have done. (On) behalf of all German prisoners of war who followed our appeal to provide assistance for inmates of German concentration camps, we present to you this contribution, Blume said during the ceremony. In this way, we hope to decrease somewhat the misery and anguish of those peoples who have suffered innocently under cruelties of the National Socialistic government. This is the fourth part of a five-part series on the history of World War II POW camps in Michigan. The final story will be published next Sunday. 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 WOODTV.com. A partnership involving the SPCA of Brevard and Brevard County's public safety agencies will help reunite lost dogs and cats with their owners. The SPCA aided by donations from the community is deploying microchip scanners to fire stations throughout the county. Residents who find a stray household dog or cat can bring the animal to the fire station, where it can be scanned to see if it has a microchip inserted to identify the pet's owner. Then, fire department personnel will work to contact the pet's owner. Additionally, if the pet does not have a microchip or the owner cannot be located, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office and its Animal Services division will work to place the pet at a shelter or in a foster care situation. "It's a great collaboration involving a public and private partnership," Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said. "We want to get the pets back to their rightful owners." Ivey and BCSO bloodhound Junny were at Brevard County Fire Rescue Station 48 in Viera to help demonstrate the technology, joined by SPCA and Brevard County Fire Rescue officials. Levi, a Shetland sheepdog rescued by Mid-Florida Sheltie Rescue, participates with Robyn Copeland, foster program manager at the SPCA of Brevard. in a demonstration of microchip scanners in Cocoa. Staff members and their pets: In honor of National Pet Day, FLORIDA TODAY staffers share tales of their fur babies Where scanners were deployed So far, the scanners have been deployed to all 32 BCFR fire station, plus four Titusville Fire Department stations, three Cocoa Fire Department stations and two Titusville Police Department facilities. The Palm Bay Fire Department is next on the deployment list, with five locations planned. Tom Neidert, BCFR's district chief of special operations, said the expansion of the program comes at a crucial time. The days after Independence Day are extremely busy for animal shelters, because of dogs who get scared of fireworks and run away from home. "We are truly amazed at how this program has grown," said Susan Naylor, executive director of the Titusville-based SPCA of Brevard. "What started as a small project, with just a few scanners, has now reached the entire countyand is continuing to expand to other departments. Our community has been so supportive of this program,and we are excited to see it make such a positive impact." Left to right, BCFR Chief Tom Neidert, BCFR Chief Patrick Voltaire, Edna Corney, president of Brevard Kennel Club, Susan Naylor of SPCA of Brevard, Sheriff Wayne Ivey, and Robyn Copeland of the SPCA of Brevard at Brevard County Fire Rescue Station 48 in Viera, which was presented with 22 pet microchip scanners to be distributed to their stations, thanks to a community program by the SPCA of Brevard, and a sponsorship by the Brevard Kennel Club. The scanners, which will help crews when finding stray animals, and for the public who find animals to bring them to any of the 32 BCFR stations to be scanned, cost about $200 each, and were paid for by a number of sponsors to get 32 so far. The SPCA has a program to provide scanners for many of the city and county fire and police stations. How to contribute People interested in donating to the program can find a link with more information at www.SPCABrevard.com. It costs $200 to sponsor one scanner or $100 to sponsor 15 microchips. The Brevard Kennel Club has been the biggest donor to date, sponsoring 22 scanners. Naylor said several pets already been successfully reunited with their families after being scanned at fire stations. Dave Berman is business editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Berman at dberman@floridatoday.com, on X at @bydaveberman and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dave.berman.54 This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard fire departments get pet microchip scanners in SPCA initiative (Bloomberg) -- Javier Mileis efforts to forge alliances with right-wing allies across Europe reveal a hard truth about his presidency: Back in a Latin America dominated by leftists, the libertarian Argentine is all alone. Most Read from Bloomberg This weekend, he visited Brazil with designs on sparking a far-right resurgence that will give him friends closer to home. Milei headlined a conservative rally in southern Brazil on Sunday alongside right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro, the biggest gamble yet on an unorthodox foreign policy approach thats already blown up Argentinas relations with Spain. The trip threatened to turn his feud with leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva into a full-blown crisis, and any fallout with Brazil Argentinas top trade parter would risk spilling over to the already-battered economy Milei is attempting to resuscitate. But Milei decided not to take risks. For fewer than 20 minutes he read a speech in which, as usual, he contrasted socialism with capitalism. He made no mention of Lula and quoted Brazil in just two moments: When he said that censorship and oppression are beginning to happen in the country and during a defense of Bolsonaro. Look at the judicial persecution suffered by our friend Jair Bolsonaro here in Brazil, he told a euphoric audience at a convention center in Balneario Camboriu. The visit was also the latest sign that Milei is betting on a total reorientation of global politics. With sluggish economies taking a toll on leaders like Lula and Chiles Gabriel Boric, the Argentine is positioning himself at the vanguard of a movement aiming to swing Latin America back to the right. Milei received a heros welcome at CPAC Brazil an offshoot of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in the US where Bolsonaros allies and supporters see him as an inspiration for their battle against Lula. Mileis speech on Sunday set an attendance record at the convention center, but there were still empty chairs. At the entrance, booths sold books by conservative authors along with Bolsonaro-themed merchandise that ranged from mugs to shirts, notebooks and even wine. Anti-abortion stickers were handed out and a Brazilian Milei lookalike posed for photos with attendees. During his speech Saturday, Bolsonaro said the right-wing must walk together to get stronger. Speakers repeated Mileis motto long live freedom, dammit! to the delight of the audience, which shouted Bolsonaro back! and applauded every time Lula was criticized. Brazils next presidential election isnt until 2026, but the right is targeting October municipal contests for a show of strength. Still recovering from Bolsonaros defeat and subsequent eight-year ban from seeking office, the movement has begun to hitch itself to Milei, seeing his self-described anarcho-capitalist efforts to rebuild the Argentine economy as fuel for their own arguments against Lulas leftist approach. Milei is a serious threat to Lulas power project, since Argentinas positive economic results, even obtained at high social costs, can be used as political-ideological propaganda by Lulas main opponents in Brazil, said Uria Fancelli, a Brazilian international relations specialist and expert on populism. Jose Antonio Kast, a far-right former lawmaker in Chile who lost to Boric three years ago, also spoke at CPAC Brazil. With Borics popularity slipping and Chilean voters swinging sharply back to the right last year, Kast is now angling for a rematch with the young leftist in 2025. Rallying with rivals of his global counterparts has become a regular occurrence for Milei, who endorsed Donald Trump during a February US trip that included no scheduled meetings with US President Joe Biden or other White House officials. In May, he provoked the ire of socialist Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez by attending an event for the far-right Vox party just ahead of European parliamentary elections. That strategy carries substantial risk, as Lula can attest. The dispute between the neighboring leaders kicked off during the Argentine election, when Lula sent a team of campaign veterans to work for Mileis opponent. Relations with Milei who called the Brazilian a communist during the race have only soured further since. Mercosur No-Show So far, that hasnt dented long-standing trade and economic ties. Brazil sent an emergency shipment of natural gas to Argentina amid a winter shortage. Talks between the governments over the construction of pipelines to import gas from Argentinas resource-rich Vaca Muerta region have also continued amid the spat. But Brazils patience appears to be wearing thin. Milei canceled plans to attend Mondays summit of Mercosur leaders in Paraguay, the latest signal that the customs bloc of which Argentina and Brazil are the two largest members has fallen down his list of priorities. This absence doesnt change the summit, but politically its regrettable, Ambassador Gisela Padovan, secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean at Brazils foreign ministry, told reporters last week. Lula, meanwhile, was keeping a close eye on Mileis foray into his backyard. The Argentines criticism of Sanchez during his May trip to Madrid led Spain to yank its ambassador from Buenos Aires, a diplomatic crisis that still hasnt been resolved. Brazilian officials have discussed the possibility of summoning the countrys ambassador to Argentina back to Brasilia for consultations as a potential response to any speech or actions it deems offensive, according to two people familiar with the situation who requested anonymity to discuss internal matters. Such a move remains unlikely, the people said. But that it is even under consideration is a sign that the continued provocations could soon pose real threats to relations between South Americas two largest economies. The last thing you want is to fight with your main trade partner, said Lucas Romero, the director of Synopsis, a political consultancy firm in Buenos Aires. Thats whats so incomprehensible about this conflict. --With assistance from Simone Iglesias. (Updated with details of Mileis visit, speech in Brazil) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Ukrainian forces have shot down yet another Russian Su-25 fighter jet in the embattled Donetsk Oblast, the Khortytsia group of forces reported on July 7. The Russian jet was downed in the Porkovsk sector by the anti-aircraft gunners of the separate mechanized brigade named after General Lieutenant Mark Bezruchko and is now burning in the steppes of Ukrainian Donbas, the military reported. The Soviet-designed Su-25, nicknamed "Frogfoot" by NATO, is a heavily armored ground-attack aircraft that provides close air support for Russian ground troops. Russia is carrying out intense attacks in multiple sections of the eastern front, including in Donetsk Oblast, after it captured the city of Avdiivka in February. Last month, Ukraine downed at least two Su-25 jets on June 10 and June 28. In May, Ukraine claimed that it destroyed Su-25s on May 25, May 23, May 4, May 11, May 13, and May 18. The General Staff of Ukraines Armed Forces reported on July 7 that Russia has lost 360 airplanes and 326 helicopters in its war against Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. The General Staff's figure could not be independently verified. Read also: Russias Su-57 hype vs. reality Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A series of changes to Missouri's child care subsidy program have created a major headache for day care providers, who say they've been forced to make difficult budget decisions as they wait on money owed to them by the state. This spring, the state of Missouri owed Kimberly Luong Nichols $5,000 in backlogged payments for children at her Kansas City daycare who were part of a state subsidy program. For four years, shes operated a licensed daycare inside her home, where she currently serves 10 children. Luong Nichols stopped drawing a salary last summer to pay for improvements to her center and two new hires, expecting to draw down a salary again this year. When the full subsidy she was owed stopped arriving, she laid off those staff. And as theyve done for the past year, her family of six relies solely on her husbands $53,000 salary. Theyve given up little luxuries like going out to dinner and buying fancier shampoo. And theyve given up bigger luxuries, like vacations. When bill collectors started calling, her husband considered getting a second job. On several occasions, she considered doing away with the daycare entirely. But she didnt, not wanting to leave the families many of whom have children with developmental disabilities, or who are in the foster care system with the stress of searching for a new day care. Kimberly Luong Nichols, who operates a licensed daycare inside her Kansas City home, said shes nearly closed several times over the past year after the state was late on payments it owed to her. Luong Nichols is among thousands of child care providers across Missouri who rely on a state child care subsidy program to keep their daycares afloat. The subsidy, part of a federal block grant program that is state-administered, helps cover the cost of serving low-income and foster children. But since late last year, a series of changes created a major headache for many providers and families, as parents were unable to register their children and providers in the most dire circumstances were left without money to pay their staff. The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which oversees the program, has largely blamed a contracted vendor for the months-long backlogs. The system, which launched in December, is still not fully operational. There have been a number of unforeseen challenges during the transition, which involves loading family and provider data from the existing state systems into the new (Child Care Data System), Mallory McGowin, a spokesperson with the department of education said in a statement Wednesday. The (Office of Childhood) is working hard to mitigate these issues and sincerely apologizes to the child care providers and families affected. But similar backlogs plagued the system three years ago, as parents struggled to enroll children and providers had to make serious budget cuts. The latest problems have forced some daycares to close. Others have shifted from serving vulnerable children who qualify for the state subsidy to only admitting families who can afford to pay on their own. Many providers, like Luong Nichols, have weeks where theyre barely hanging on. Payment backlogs not new In Missouri, child care providers can be registered to get a government stipend for every child on subsidy, meaning they receive a partial amount of tuition directly from families, and then the government covers the rest after care has been provided. The child care subsidy is a federal program administered by states through the Child Care and Development Block Grant. Families apply for the state to directly pay a child care provider for part of the cost of care. Only very low-income families qualify in Missouri, along with foster kids and children with special needs. The maximum income a family can make to qualify is 150% of the federal poverty line, or $46,800 for a family of four. The average cost of full-time, center-based care for an infant in Missouri was $11,059 as of 2022, according to Child Care Aware. There were about 21,000 children receiving the state subsidy as of November, the last publicly available state data. The program shifted from being administered by Missouris Department of Social Services to the education department in December. McGowin said the current number is closer to 23,000 children. Roughly 1,800 of Missouris 2,800 licensed and license-exempt providers, including school districts, are contracted to take children on subsidy, Pam Thomas, assistant commissioner for Missouris Office of Childhood, said at a State Board of Education meeting last month. We do continue to struggle a bit with our vendor and meeting what our expectations are for an efficient and effective system and making clear whats needed, Thomas told the board. And quite frankly the vendor is not delivering on those results to what I would say are our expectations as a department. The vendor contracted to develop and implement the new system for the subsidy program is World Wide Technology, McGowin said, a large technology services provider headquartered in St. Louis. Board members expressed concerns with how to move forward as Thomas reassured them that her department was working around the clock to urge the vendor to fix the bugs in the system, which spans about nine steps between a familys application for subsidy and payment to the provider. We have to be cautious about how many more changes we add into the system right now, she said. We can bend it, but we certainly cant break it, and I think were on the verge of that right now. More: Springfield Police Department offers new hiring incentives, explores subsidized child care Yet this isnt the first time the states handling of the subsidy program has caused widespread problems for providers and families. In 2021, the state blamed the COVID-19 pandemic and the rollout of a new system used to track attendance, called KinderConnect, for a backlog of thousands of payments. In spring 2023, parents reported waiting several months to be approved for the state assistance, leaving them struggling to juggle work and child care. State Sen. Lauren Arthur, a Democrat from Kansas City, said she was notified of the current spate of issues a few months ago by legislative staff whod started hearing concerns from constituents. It feels like way too much time has passed, Arthur said. I suspect that child care providers across the state have already closed as a result of these mistakes and its totally unacceptable when already providers are struggling. There are already not enough seats available for children who need them. Asked last month if she was looking at alternative vendors ahead of the current multi-million dollar contract running out in December, Thomas, with the education department, said she wasnt opposed. However, on Wednesday, McGowin, said the department is not currently planning on finding a new vendor. The subsidy payment issues 60% of which came from technical issues, according to the state are expected to be resolved by the end of July. Missouri pays providers for services after theyre performed, rather than in advance. This, coupled with the fact that providers are paid based on attendance rather than enrollment for children in the subsidy program, makes budgeting nearly impossible for providers who take low-income and foster children. Were really relying on the state and DESE to really prioritize solving these system challenges so providers can be paid quickly, said Casey Hanson, director of outreach and engagement at the child advocacy nonprofit Kids Win Missouri. Hanson has spent hundreds of hours with child care providers over the past several years. She knows whats at stake. Theyre some of the most resilient people, she said. They care about children, they care about the future of our state more than almost anyone. Our own personal pandemic Tina Mosley was among the providers who made the difficult decision to stop taking children on subsidy. For 28 years, she has owned and operated Our Daycare and Learning Center in St. Louis, which is licensed for 10 children. It sits in the Normandy school district where the median household income is less than $39,000, and more than 56% of students in public school have SNAP benefits, according to 2021 data from the National Center for Education Statistics. Every other provider she knows in the area accepts children on subsidy. And theyre all in the same predicament. Every one of my colleagues and friends, the state is behind on paying them, Mosley said. To the right of me, to the left of me, across the street from me, behind me. Tina Mosley, owner and operator of Our Daycare and Learning Center in north St. Louis, said she knows of several providers in her area who were forced to close after state subsidy payment were delayed. By only taking private paying families, and by ceasing to collect a salary, Mosley said shes been able to continue employing her two staff, both of whom are young mothers. And while they no longer take children on subsidy, they still service lower income families, she said. As a result, shes not left waiting on payments from the state. A handful of home and center-based providers she knows in the St. Louis area already closed because of the lag. Several months ago, when most of her children were from the subsidy program, she was helping parents sign up for state benefits as the system transitioned over. She recalls parents sharing screenshots of hold times on the phone with the state surpassing an hour before they had to hang up and return to work, unable to get the immediate help they needed. Early child care right now, we feel like were in our own personal pandemic, Mosley said. More: Woman sentenced to 24 years for child's death at unlicensed Springfield day care But unlike during the COVID-19 pandemic, when government bodies and communities showed up in stride to keep child care providers in business, Mosley said it feels like most people have now turned their backs. Luong Nichols, in Kansas City, has considered doing what Mosley has done: stop opening her services to families on subsidy. In an April email to a staffer in Arthurs office, she lamented her situation. The system had two of her kids on subsidy listed as private pay. A glitch wouldnt let her submit attendance. She hadnt heard back on her help ticket. I am due to renew child care subsidy next month and really considering not doing it, she wrote in an email she shared with The Independent. Payments are still not correct, they owe me all of February and past corrections. Now we are about to end March and that will be added. After sending this email, Luong Nichols went on to interview at a local school district. She ultimately turned down the job offer, unable to part with the children in her care, including foster children, kids with behavioral difficulties and low-income children. I have single moms and foster children that have been kicked out of other daycares or gone through many placements before they landed on my door. And the kids that I take care of, theyre like family. Instead she continued to spend hours on the phone during nap time begging anyone to make her business whole again. She called the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the governors office. She even called the White House. Ive had to take on an extra load of work just to fight for something that Im entitled to, she said. As of Wednesday, she said her payments were caught up through May. She credited her persistence, and assistance from Arthurs staff, for speeding up the payment. At the same time, Luong Nichols has seen three area centers and four private daycares shutter. She directs most of the blame at the department of education. DESE has pushed the industry to the point of no return right now, she said. Were not going to have enough child care providers in the state of Missouri by the end of this year to take care of subsidy children. She said it will move to private paying families only. Hanson, with Kids Win Missouri, said there isnt currently enough data to know the reality of the child care landscape. In response to a Sunshine request submitted by The Independent last month, the education agency said they do not currently track the number of backlogged payment resolution requests. The reality is, yeah, there are providers that will close, Hanson said. Thats why we continue to advocate that we need more state level funding in this space to really maintain a supply. This story was first published at missouriindependent.com. This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Late payments by state endanger Missouri child care providers In the international plot to kill Haitis president, his political rivals enlisted a Miami-area security firm to hire a squad of ex-Colombian soldiers to carry out the assassination and replace him with a hand-picked successor, according to federal authorities. But in the days leading up to President Jovenel Moises July 7, 2021 assassination, his plotters realized they were missing the support of a critical constituency: Haitian gangs, court records show. The political rivals met with several gang leaders and asked for their support in the run-up to the assassination of the president at his suburban home in the hills above Port-au-Prince, according to a document filed in an unrelated federal weapons-smuggling case. One of the rivals suspected of being present was an ex-senator who aspired to be the countrys next prime minister but who would later admit to making contact with gang members as part of his guilty plea in Miami federal court to conspiring to kill Moise. One of the gang leaders present would later become one of the FBIs most wanted fugitives with a $2 million award for information leading to his arrest in connection with the kidnapping of 17 missionaries, all but one of them U.S. citizens, court records show. The records reveal for the first time that Moises political rivals met with a handful of gang leaders to solicit their help in the deadly assault plan on Haitis president three years ago. But in the end, the support of key members of Haitis ruthless armed gangs didnt really materialize in the shocking slaying of Haitis leader. Moises death did create a power vacuum that allowed hundreds of gangs to terrorize Haitians in one of the nations most violent and destabilizing periods. Three years after the brazen assault, Haitians are no closer to learning the full extent of the complicated web of plots driving the killing of Haitis president and all who may have played a role. Two parallel investigations have provided substantial details, but a recent gang raid on Haitis National Penitentiary has led to the escape of a number of suspects, including the head of the security unit charged with protecting Moises life. Still, as U.S. prosecutors prepare to try five of the 11 defendants in U.S. custody who have not been condemned after pleading guilty, additional details have emerged in federal court records. The latest is about the armed criminal gangs, and the efforts to include them in the deadly overthrow. Gang leaders connection to assassination plot The gang members knowledge of the coup plan was mentioned by a confidential witness in a 47-page sentencing memo by prosecutors in the federal weapons-smuggling case against Germine Yonyon Joly, the self-described king of Haitis notorious 400 Mawozo gang. Prosecutors do not say who the witness was, noting only that he was someone familiar with Joly, 31, and identified him and other gang members as participating in the pre-assassination meeting from photos. Nor do prosecutors identify Moises rivals by name. They also dont specify the date of the meeting, though it took place close to the assassination. The political rivals told the gang members about the planned assassination of President Moise and asked for their support and silence, according to the confidential witness, who provided his recollection of the meeting to the FBI. The gangs were made promises in order to obtain their support. These promises were not kept. Joly, according to the memo, was chosen as the gangs representative at the meeting and participated by phone from a Haitian prison, where he not only controlled the gangs hostage-taking operations but directed arms purchases and deadly attacks. Extradited in May 2022 to the United States in connection with the kidnapping of 16 U.S. citizen missionaries on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, Joly was sentenced last month to 35 years in prison for his role in the purchasing and trafficking of firearms from Florida to Haiti to benefit his gangs criminal activities. The guns, prosecutors said, were bought using the ransom payments extorted from kidnapped Americans. READ MORE: Plots, subplots and betrayal engulfed Haitis president before his assassination In seeking life in a U.S. federal prison for Joly, prosecutors sought to show his control of the high-profile gang, 400 Mawozo, since before July 2021. Prosecutors also mentioned the meeting as proof of his control of the gang and its involvement in the abduction of the missionaries as they passed through the gangs territory after visiting an orphanage. The majority of the hostages, whom Joly also saw as the ticket for him to be released from jail, were kept in captivity for two months and freed only after an unspecified ransom was paid. The FBIs witness said he heard statements by Joly that he intended to keep the missionaries captive as a consequence to the politicians not keeping their promise to gang leaders. Prosecutors say Joly agreed with Vitelhomme Innocent, another gang leader, to commit kidnappings, including that of the missionaries and split the profits. Innocent is the leader of the powerful Kraze Barye gang, which is among the armed groups currently plunging Haiti into lawlessness. According to the FBIs witness in Jolys weapons-smuggling case, Innocent attended the pre-assassination meeting with the presidents political rivals. Last November, Innocent was added to the FBIs Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. Three years after killing, Haitians no closer to answers Three years after Moise, 53, was shot 12 times and violently beaten in the middle of the middle-of-the night while his wife was injured, questions remain about who may have known about the plot to kill himand may have been in on it. The investigation in Miami and the other in Haiti, have so far failed to yield a motive or definitively say who fired the fatal shots. In Miami, a half-dozen men have pleaded guilty in the assassination case in federal court, which is built upon a violation of the U.S. Neutrality Act and a conspiracy to kill a foreign leader. Prosecutors say the plot pivoted on planning in South Florida and Haiti, with the initial goal of replacing Moise with a Haitian physician and South Florida pastor, Christian Emmanuel Sanon, and deploying the former Colombian soldiers to carry out the presidents murder. READ MORE: Who was involved in killing of Haiti president Jovenel Moise? Among the six defendants convicted is Joseph Joel John, a former Haitian senator. John admitted in his factual statement as part of his guilty plea that between April 2021 and July 7, 2021, he conspired with nearly a dozen other Haitians, Haitian Americans, Colombians and South Florida business associates to prepare for and carry out the forcible removal of Haitian President Jovenel Moise by kidnapping and/or assassination. The former lawmaker, who is known in Haiti as John Joel Joseph, admitted that he helped secure rental vehicles and procure weapons for the coup operation. He also admitted providing advice to his fellow plotters, with whom he met with in both Haiti and in South Florida, and making introductions to gang members because he and his co-conspirators wanted their support. An opponent of Moise, Johns role first emerged in the Haitian police investigation of the killing. Police say he went to rent five vehicles on June 21, 2021, for three days, according to a report first obtained by the Miami Herald. Among the four people who had accompanied him was Innocent, the gang leader and ally of Jollys who would later rise to prominence and power in his absence. Wanted by Haitian authorities for his alleged role in the plot, Innocent has never presented himself for questioning. In a May 2022 interview with journalists, he spoke of having ties with several political rivals, some of whom were part of the new government put in place after Moises death. Without offering details, Innocent spoke of having taken certain engagements with the presidents rivals, some of whom would later sign a political agreement to consolidate the power of Ariel Henry, a neurologist who was chosen by Moise to run the government but would later face a power struggle after the president died before he could be sworn-in. I speak to several political parties, several political leaders. But that doesnt mean I have a link or a relationship with John Joel Joseph and what he was doing, Innocent said in the interview published online. He admitted to having a relationship with John but went on to say that he can have a relationship with someone without knowing whats going on outside of their relationship, and the same goes for the political parties. Jovenel Moise, president of Haiti, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly General Debate at the United Nations in New York City, New York on September 27, 2018 (Photo by Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA) The remaining defendants in the U.S. case who have admitted to involvement in Moises assassination, which began as a coup to remove the president, are: Joseph Vincent, a Haitian American who worked as an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration; German Alejandro Rivera Garcia, aka Colonel Mike, a former Colombian military officer who ran the commando squad; and Mario Antonio Palacios Palacios, a former Colombian soldier recruited by Rivera. Along with John, they were sentenced to life in prison, but they are cooperating with federal prosecutors and the FBI in the hope of receiving lesser time. In May, a sixth defendant, Frederick Bergmann, was sentenced to nine years in prison for breaking federal laws meant to keep the U.S. out of overseas conflicts. A resident of Tampa, he was sentenced to a year less than the maximum for shipping ballistic vests to Haiti that were used by the Colombian commandos who carried out the deadly attack on the president. READ MORE: How a Miami plot to oust a president led to a murder in Haiti Bergmann had no idea the vests were going to be used in the conspiracy to kill Haitis president, according to federal prosecutors and his defense attorney. Thats why he wasnt charged with the conspiracy targeting Moise . The remaining five defendants who will stand trial, including Sanon, are charged with conspiring in South Florida to kill Haitis leader. The conspiracy charge carries up to life in prison. The defendants facing trial are: Antonio Tony Intriago, the head of a Miami-area security firm, Counter Terrorist Unit Security or CTU; Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, who was a former FBI informant when he joined Intriago at CTU; Walter Veintemilla, a Broward County financier; James Solages, a Haitian American; and Sanon, who was initially seen by the group as a successor to Moise as Haitis president. Dozens indicted in Haiti inquiry In Haiti, dozens of people including the presidents widow, Martine Moise, former Prime Minister Claude Joseph and ex-Haiti National Police Chief, Leon Charles, have been indicted by an investigative judge, Walther Wesser Voltaire. All have denied the charges while Joseph, defending himself and Martine, accused Henry of weaponizing the Haitian justice system. Henry, who had come under scrutiny due to a phone call he had received from one of the indicted suspects, Joseph Felix Badio, after the killing, was cleared of any wrongdoing in the 122-page indictment report. Badio had claimed to be a plant, sent by those close to Moise to gather intel on those seeking to rid the country of him. A source familiar with the investigation said the issue of gangs came up during Voltaires inquiry. The conclusion reached by the limited inquiry was that Haitis gangs, despite the outreach by Moises rivals, were divided over what his fate should be. Some were for assassination and others were for arrest, the source said. During his inquiry, Voltaire also tried to explore the accusations made by Innocent and his possible ties to those in power during Henrys unpopular tenure as prime minister. He resigned in April as gang violence threw the country into chaos. Asked about claims Badio and Innocent somehow had a hand in his accession to power and he had not honored commitments to them, Henry, according to a brief transcript the judge providing in his ruling, replied: Anyone can spread any information, true or false, virally and anonymously. I had a hard time imagining that the President, in proposing me to be his prime minister, made his decision on the advice of a wanted criminal and a person suspected of having plotted at the same time to assassinate him, Henry said. These are nonsense and fabrications. Henry, who had denied any involvement in the plot, was cleared by Voltaires inquiry. At the time of the planning, Moise was growing in unpopularity and questions about when his presidential term ended dominated the political landscape. While most Haitian constitutional experts said the presidents term ended on Feb. 7, 2021, due to when his predecessor Michel Martelly had left power, the United States and others said he still had a year, citing his delay in taking office due to fraud allegations that led to the races rerun. The disagreement, along Moises one-man rule following his dismissal of parliament the year prior, would fuel the growing opposition and street protests against him. In seeking Moises overthrow, the plotters sought several avenues. They ranged from encouraging protests as a pretext, to grabbing him and putting him on a plane after he returned from an overseas visit to Turkey in June to utilizing the gangs, who werent as powerful as they were today but nevertheless menacing. In the end, the group settled for having the Colombian commandos storm the presidents compound accompanied by Haitian police and two Haitian Americans pretending to be carrying out a raid by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The fallout of that act continues until today. Haitis crisis of lawlessness continues Innocent and other gang bosses control more than 80% of the capital and have spread their tyranny to the rice-growing Artibonite Valley. Their violence, which has included armed attacks in the well-to-do suburbs of Port-au-Prince and massacres in working class neighborhoods, led to the State Department ordering the departure of non-emergency U.S. embassy staff and U.S. citizens, and a suspension in its visa operations. Presently, nearly 5 million Haitians are going hungry due to the violence and nearly 580,000 are homeless after being forced out of their home. The latest upsurge in violence, which began on Feb. 29, helped fueled the forced resignation of Henry and the installation of a new political transition in Haiti where the power is now being shared by one-time supporters of Moise and those who opposed his rule. Approximately 200 Kenyan police officers and support staff arrive in Haiti on Tuesday, June 25, 2024 as part of the first contingent of a United Nations-backed Multinational Security Support mission. Last month, the first contingent of an armed international force, led by Kenya, arrived in the country after the new transitional presidential council selected a former United Nations civil servant, Garry Conille, to replace Henry and form a new cabinet. During a visit to Washington last week, Conille was asked by the Biden administration to prioritize the staging of elections so that a new president and parliament can take office by February 2026. Fate of Haitis Investigation remains murky The fate of Haitis investigation remains murky. Several of those charged have vowed to fight and are appealing the charges, leaving no room for further investigation. Law enforcement sources who were involved in the investigation said they cannot shed light on the role gangs may or may not have played in the run-up-to the killing because U.S. officials have not given them to either John or two other suspects, Palacios and Jaar, who like John were brought to the U.S. after being picked up in Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, respectively. Earlier this month, the government prosecutor Edler Guillaume who had overseen the investigation and recommended that Voltaire indict 70 people including Innocent, was removed from his role. Meanwhile, dozens of suspects are among the thousands of prisoners who escaped from Haitian prisons during the gang raid. With the exception of 17 currently jailed Colombians, who have insisted on their innocence, and Badio, most of the high-profile suspects jailed in the killing in Haiti escaped in the March 2 and 3 raid on Haitis two largest prisons. Among those whose whereabouts remain unknown: Dimitri Herard, the head of Moises presidential security, who is also under investigation in a separate U.S. arms trafficking case. Pierre Esperance, a human rights defender who has closely followed the Haiti case, says he doubts Haitians will ever get the answers they seek, including who among them today is walking freely and had some hand in the presidents killing. The reasons, he said, isnt just due to the lack of access to suspects by U.S. authorities but because of Haiti itself. The investigation on the assassination both by [the judicial police] and the investigative judge doesnt permit for us to know the motive or the intellectual authors of the crime, Esperance said. They never identified the person who paid for the assassination of Jovenel Moise. Esperance said if the investigation had identified where the money came from, it would help to know the motive behind the crime and the intellectual author of the crime. In order to achieve this, Esperance said, one would need to know who paid for the assassination. None of the investigative reports by the judicial police and provided to the Haitian judge offer up this information. When the police went in search of it, on the judges order, Esperance said the Haitian banks never collaborated and the Haitian government did not force them to collaborate. FBI agents in the U.S. investigation have scoured the banking transactions and wire transfers of the 11 suspects in custody in U.S. prisons. But while the transactions show payments to some of the ex-Colombian soldiers in custody and the purchase of certain gear the Miami security firm used in order to try and make the attack look like an U.S. government raid on Moise, they do not show large payments suggesting an individual or individuals in Haiti financed the murder. WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 21: (L-R) Rev. Pat Mahoney, Peggy Nienaber of Faith and Liberty and Mark Lee Dickson of Right to Life East Texas pray in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on April 21, 2023 in Washington, DC. Organized by The Stanton Public Policy Center/Purple Sash Revolution, the small group of demonstrators called on the Supreme Court to affirm Federal District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk's ruling that suspends the Food and Drug Administration's approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Mark Lee Dickson says hes been home maybe once in the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court vanished federal abortion rights in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization. The 38-year-old director of Right to Life of East Texas in Longview has been on an endless road trip trying to set legal traps for people who are driving someone out of state to get an abortion. The native Texan said he drives from town to town attending pregnancy-center banquets, mens prayer breakfasts, Republican womens club meetings, Catholic fish fries and the rodeo, trying to convince local lawmakers and potential citizen petitioners to make their cities and counties so-called sanctuaries for the unborn, stretching local law to restrict abortion in as many ways as possible such as restricting travel and medical waste disposal to potentially provoke an eventual lawsuit. I find myself in a variety of different places, wherever the Lord takes me, Dickson told States Newsroom. Many of the pregnant residents in the rural areas Dickson goes to struggle with lack of access to maternal care, but Dickson likens himself to Batman on a vigilante quest to save embryos and fetuses from abortion. Reproductive justice organizers and attorneys whove spent the last two years fighting to restore reproductive health care access throughout the U.S. liken Dickson to a reincarnated version of 19th century anti-vice crusader Anthony Comstock, whose eponymous anti-obscenity law Dickson has been wielding as one of many tools to fast-track a national abortion ban. Two years since Roe v. Wade was overturned and four months away from a presidential election, one of the biggest threats to abortion rights is a federal administration willing to enforce and reinterpret the dormant Comstock Act to criminalize the mailing of abortion-related drugs, medical equipment and information. But abortion providers and advocates say that even without Comstock, monitoring and policing of pregnant women and information is already here, thanks to activists like Dickson, whose proposed city ordinances allow residents to sue anyone suspected of helping someone get an abortion. I have a whole lot of friends that spend time on the sidewalks of abortion facilities throughout America, Dickson said. And Ive told these friends, if you ever meet someone from Abilene, Texas, that is seeking out an abortion in New Mexico, use the sanctuary city ordinance as a deterrent as much as you can. Rising Comstocks Dicksons partner in the endeavor to broadly criminalize abortion in every state, one city at a time, is Jonathan F. Mitchell, the onetime solicitor general of Texas, who is also counsel for former President Donald Trump. Along with these sanctuary cities ordinances, together they helped draft Senate Bill 8, a blueprint for largely banning abortion in Texas in 2021 by authorizing citizens to sue those suspected of providing or assisting with an abortion. And since Roe fell, they have been pushing a version of the Comstock Act that historians and legal scholars say never existed. Legal scholars Reva Siegel and Mary Ziegler in their forthcoming article about the old law write that Anthony Comstock was focused on preventing illicit sex and pornography, not on preserving fetal life. The religious zealot was known for bringing dildos, contraceptives, and pornography to testify before state and local lawmakers about the need for anti-obscenity laws. The statute is a ban on obscenity, not criminalization of health care, Siegel, a professor at Yale Law School, told States Newsroom. And when you listen to the revivalists, they just talk about Comstock as an absolute ban as if it has no exceptions. Thats just not true in light of the text or the history. But that doesnt really matter to Dickson and Mitchell. Through their Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn project, Dickson and Mitchell have helped pass approximately 80 ordinances in cities and counties in seven states, mostly in Texas, but also in strategically located cities in abortion-access states, like New Mexico, where a challenge to ordinances that cite the Comstock Act currently awaits a ruling from the state supreme court and could eventually make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Where Anthony Comstock had the financial backing of the YMCA and was elevated to power as a special agent of the U.S. Post Office, the influential conservative think tank Heritage Foundation is pushing Mitchell and Dicksons version of Comstock in its plan for a potential future Trump administration to go after providers and distributors of abortion pills. Mitchell has received some financial support in 2023 and 2022 from the Christian right law firm Alliance Defending Freedom, which brought the recent abortion pill case before the Supreme Court. Dickson said he wants these ordinances to go even further, such as opening up lawsuits to rideshare companies. But immediately on the agenda, he said, is to try to use Comstock to challenge state abortion-rights ballot initiatives. There are many ways the Comstock Act can be used to help inoculate pro-abortion ballot initiatives in states like Arizona and Nebraska, Dickson said. A lot is planned between now and November, I can say that. Mitchell, who did not respond to an interview request, is currently defending the right of Texas professors to penalize students who miss class to obtain an abortion. That new lawsuit will be heard by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, whose opinion last year advanced a challenge to an abortion pill and cited Comstock as a valid argument. Though the U.S. Supreme Court recently rejected the mifepristone case, new challenges to the abortion pill continue, as does increased support for anti-abortion Comstock arguments from federal judges like 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge James Ho and Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas. Meanwhile, longtime anti-abortion groups like Operation Rescue, which led clinic blockades in the 1980s and 1990s, continue to apply old-school surveillance and monitoring tactics. Based in Wichita, Kansas, president Troy Newman said his group maintains a sidewalk presence at abortion clinics in Wichita, and regularly files public records requests for 911 calls, which they post online. They also publish detailed reports on thousands of abortion providers in the U.S., referring to them as the abortion cartel. Newman told States Newsroom that the goal is not to target women getting abortions, but to report potential abortion-clinic violations in order to shut down clinics that since Dobbs have relocated to states without abortion bans. I dont think we can keep track of them all, but we have people feeding us information on a daily basis, Newman said. Siegel and Ziegler argue comstockery is a threat to democracy, as it depends on suppressing freedom and promoting government censorship. Comstock famously helped imprison women who disseminated information about birth control and abortion, some who later died by suicide. Revivalists hope to chill the exercise of rights already recognized in positive law, including state constitutional protections and the right to travel, Siegel and Ziegler write. Further, by disparaging reproductive rights and intimidating those who seek to exercise them, Comstock revivalists seek to short circuit an ongoing process of popular constitutional meaning-making that has unfolded in state ballot initiatives, state courts, and grassroots movements. Resisting Comstocks Many legal experts argue that Comstock would be a difficult law to defend even with a partially willing U.S. Supreme Court; however, the effects of even temporary enforcement could rock reproductive health care throughout the U.S. even more than it has since Dobbs. After initial discouragement from national reproductive rights groups, Democrats in Congress this month finally introduced a bill to repeal Comstock, though it is unlikely to advance before the election. New Republic staff writer Melissa Gira Grant and Harvard Law lecturer Kendra Albert last month coalesced historians, attorneys, organizers, and journalists at a one-day summit at Harvard Law School called ComstockCon to unite against modern-day Comstocks from further constricting abortion rights. Grant said the criminalization of sex and pregnancy has long been borne by more marginalized groups, including people of color, sex workers and people who are trans or living in poverty. She said that the reproductive justice movement now more than ever needs solidarity. We know that those eager rising modern-day Comstocks, the Jonathan Mitchells of the world and others, theyre in this fight for the long term, Grant said. We know that they regard so many of us as obscene for who we are, how we are, and how we want to be. If they see the suppression of all of us as one fight, then that should be a point of solidarity for us. And many called for resistance to the dead letter and legally dubious anti-abortion deterrent laws. You have to keep pushing now, said one of the panelists, Renee Bracey Sherman, founder of We Testify, which lifts up peoples abortion stories. There will always be another ban. Its not going to stop us from talking, from sending pills. Ban by deterrence To date, no civil lawsuit has been filed under SB 8 or a sanctuary city ordinance, Dickson said. But, as the Texas Tribune has reported, Mitchell has filed petitions (under a little-known state rule) to depose abortion funds, providers, researchers and despite assurances that these laws wont punish women having abortions women who left the state to get an abortion. These past few months, Dickson has been in Amarillo mobilizing anti-abortion activists to make their high-trafficked roads illegal for the purposes of interstate abortion-related travel. Embedded in the Amarillo ordinance is a reference to the Comstock Act. Petitioners gathered enough signatures to force the city council to vote on the measure, but abortion-rights advocates fiercely campaigned against the ordinance. After the council rejected the proposal earlier this month, Amarillo Mayor Cole Stanley said the city doesnt have the authority to enforce the ordinance a point with which Dickson vehemently agrees and said he spent hours explaining to the mayor. The whole point of these ordinances, Dickson said, is that they allow for citizen lawsuits, not government enforcement. He admits that they function largely as deterrents, to chill abortion-related activity even in states where its legal. And its working, he said, noting that in the year before Dobbs, most doctors stopped providing abortions in Texas after the 2021 so-called vigilante law. One who didnt was Dr. Alan Braid, and though he was sued, those lawsuits were dismissed. After Dobbs, however, Braid relocated his abortion practice to New Mexico and told NPR earlier this year that his Albuquerque clinic had higher no-show rates, which he partially attributed to people scared to drive through Lubbock because of its abortion-travel ban. These ordinances are doing exactly what theyre intended to do, Dickson said. I liken it to an armed security officer at the bank who serves as a deterrent. He doesnt have to fire his gun in order for him to be viewed as an effective method of protecting the interest of the bank. But theres another purpose to these ordinances, too, particularly Amarillos, which anti-abortion petitioners are still trying to get on the November ballot. Amarillo is the home of Kacsmaryks court, where anti-abortion attorneys have been filing their strategic lawsuits since Dobbs. Dickson said he and Mitchell are eager to make it a so-called sanctuary city as a way of arguing for legal standing in the cases to come. Lindsay London, a nurse who co-founded the Amarillo Reproductive Freedom Alliance, which has been fighting the ordinance, said she resents having her native city used as a strategic chess piece. She said her coalition includes Amarillo Republicans skeptical of government overreach and is confident that, if given the opportunity, her fellow residents will vote down this law, which she said would be harmful to the community. It creates a culture of fear and mistrust, London said. The last thing that people need to be concerned about when theyre moving through a difficult situation is, is someone that they trust or a neighbor or anything like that going to use that vulnerable situation to try and sue them? Positing neighbor upon neighbor is not how we create healthy communities. Elisha Brown contributed to this report. The post Modern-day Comstocks look to police travel, information as another strategy to end abortion appeared first on Michigan Advance. Several months ago, The New York Times issued a published an opinion piece on the state of housing insecurity in America. A Life Without a Home: Voices from the Tents, Shelters, Cars, Motels, and Couches of America addressed the issue by listening to and photographing families and individuals who were homeless. It shocked many by reporting that they were not just people we see sleeping on the streets or in parks. Most of us are unaware of who might be homeless where we live, because it appears that they have a home. Not so! Often the first step when one loses their own home is to live with friends or family. It is called doubling up when two families live together in space intended for one. If this is for a short period of time, it may not seem to be that bad. In fact, when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development conducts their annual housing insecurity survey, it does not consider a family or person to be homeless if they are in a doubled-up living situation. However, when Congress passed the McKinney-Vento Act in 1987, it recognized youth and children as homeless if they live in doubled-up housing. This legislation enables more than 1.2 million students in public schools to access benefits like free lunch, transportation and dedicated social workers. Despite having a roof over their heads, these children face stressors which affect learning, mental health and emotional well-being. We have to do more than place NJ residents in motels. We have to solve homelessness Paul Shackford, President of the Board of Trustees of Family Promise of Bergen County, wheels cart of food for those in need. Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021 As president of the board of Family Promise of Bergen County, I have often heard people say, Well, at least they have a place to stay, and they should be thankful for that. True. They may have a roof over their heads. But we should not be blind to the fact that we know there are serious short- and long-term consequences to couch surfing and living doubled-up. A couch is not a home. A motel is also not a home. Im not talking about staying for a week or so at a motel at the Jersey Shore or in the Poconos. Im talking about living 24/7 in motels on Route 46 . . . and Route 4 . . . and Route 17. I used to wonder, Who actually lives in these motels? I never really considered that these motels are another last resort, providing rooms for homeless families and individuals. This became an eye-opener for me when COVID-19 struck in 2020, when the residents of the county shelter in Hackensack where our nonprofit serves free meals to more than 200 people daily, 365 days a year were relocated to motels for health reasons. Instead of serving dinner to them at the shelter each night, we packed their meals into to-go trays and delivered them to all who had been relocated. As I met some of the individuals and families confined to those motel rooms, I began to understand that most of them were in search of some type of affordable housing. Oh, once again and unfortunately, HUD does not consider people living in motel rooms as to be homeless. Therefore, they are denied the services HUD is supposed to provide to those experiencing homelessness. By simply excluding this whole group from their definition of homelessness, our government is simply turning its back on them. Another eye-opener for me came when we served lunches for 27 weeks in Englewood shortly after COVID struck. A woman came to get her meal every day, driving a fairly new car, and she always looked well-dressed.A volunteer commented: Why does she need a free meal? The only thing we knew about her was the outward appearance of her car and clothes. It soon became clear that she was living in her car. In the years since then, I have noticed many, many cars filled with clothing and other items. Look a bit more closely. You may notice cars like these parked in the corners of store and office parking lots at night. It is a fact of life right under our noses. Open your eyes in Bergen County to our neighbors living in their cars or in tents Most of us dont see this as a major issue where we live. But, as with the cars, look around. When you see a tent in odd sections of our county, chances are it is not someone on a camping trip. A car or a tent is not a home. A shelter is also not a home. Just ask the residents of the Hackensack county shelter if they think where they live is home to them. Over the years, I have spoken with hundreds of people who have lived there. Not surprisingly, almost none of them has ever referred to the shelter as home the way you or I talk about our home. Clearly, a couch or motel or car or tent or shelter is NOT a home. All of us, including our government and politicians, need to face this. The fact is, most of us are in denial regarding the extent of homelessness in the county where we live. Last year our organization alone helped shelter and mentor more than 130 families in Bergen County. Thats 175 parents with 245 children.We all need to open our eyes, see that families facing homelessness are all around us, and acknowledge that this is a real problem that needs to be addressed.The first step is to see. Then we might have the ability, and the will, to act. For more info, join or support our work at Family Promise at bergenfamilypromise.org. Paul Shackford is board president of Family Promise of Bergen County. This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Why we need more affordable housing in Bergen County More and More Supporters Are Turning Their Backs on Biden The holiday weekend has done little to quell concerns within Joe Bidens camp about his participation in the 2024 race, with numerous reports indicating Biden has just days to turn the storyline around. On Saturday, The New York Times revealed it had spoken to at least 50 Democrats in the last week, with the consensus from officials, lawmakers and strategists that Bidens presence in the race had become unsustainable, the newspaper reported. President Biden, who was pictured attending church services at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Roman Catholic Church in Wilmington, Delaware, on Saturday, has been on the defensive since his disastrous debate with rival Donald Trump last month, repeatedly insisting he will not back down. An ABC News interview with George Stephanopoulos on Friday night, however, did little to assuage fears about his candidacy. Dem Fundraiser Mocks Biden Interview: Davy Crockett at Alamo Vice President Kamala Harrissaid to be the favorite to take over should Biden step downhas stayed defiant against Biden critics, remaining loyal in appearances after the debate. On Saturday, at the Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans, though she barely mentioned Biden at all, according to the Associated Press, Harris did make an impassioned plea to the crowd at the nations largest annual celebration of Black culture. In 122 days, we each have the power to decide what kind of country we want to live in, she said. Others, however, seem less convinced. I have less and less confidence in this campaigns ability to win this race, Representative Scott Peters, Democrat of California, told The Times in an interview. If we know were going to lose, we would be foolish not to look at another course. A similar sentiment was echoed to The Times by Rep. Angie Craig, Democrat of Minnesota, who said a statement, I do not believe that the president can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump. Craig became the fifth House Democrat to publicly call for Biden to drop out of the race Saturday, saying in a post on X that, there is simply too much at stake. Craig joins Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL), Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) in calling for Biden to step down. The drip drip is about to be more than that, one unidentified lawmaker earlier told Axios. U.S. President Joe Biden arrives at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Roman Catholic Church for a mass on July 6, 2024 in Wilmington, Delaware. President Biden spent his weekend in Wilmington amid mounting pressure on calling him to drop out from running for his re-election bid. Alex Wong/Getty Images Virginia Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly meanwhile, in an appearance on CNN, said Biden was a man that I revere, but claimed Biden might not be the man to beat Trump, saying Bidens debate performance was more than a bad night. Mark LaChey, the former first vice chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, was more pointed to The Times: It would be good for him to realize that no one is irreplaceable, LaChey said, adding, a lot of people would be very enthused with someone else running on the Democratic ticket as president. And I think theres an enthusiasm gap presently, and I think that gap is getting worse. I do believe that what happened at the debate was more than a bad night and that's why that image is so indelible on so many minds." Rep. @GerryConnolly tells me he's hopeful Biden is the "best foot forward" for the Dem. party, but he's "open to the fact" that he might not be. pic.twitter.com/kFzAhMSLxc Pamela Brown (@PamelaBrownCNN) July 6, 2024 This came hot on the heels of Hawaiis Democratic governor Josh Green who was in attendance at Wednesdays meeting with Bidenand a host of other Democratic governors telling the Associated Press Saturday that a decision on whether Biden remains in the race could be made within days. If Biden chooses to opt out, Green said, it will be Harris who replaces him. I think the president stays in this race unless he feels that it is not winnable, or he feels that he has to hear other voices in his inner circle that he shouldnt run, Green told the Associated Press. If the president felt that he wasnt up to it and truly not up to it, he would step down. Well probably know in the next couple of days how the president feels about all this. Those few days will give Biden precious time to win back his doubters, who are hoping to give him space to do this on his own, reports Axios. According to The Times, a Democratic member of Congress, a former high-ranking Obama administration official and a senior aide to a prominent Democratic governor described Bidens future with the same one word: untenable. Why Bidens Debate Catastrophe Was Months in the Making Biden appears to be listening. Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, a campaign co-chair, told CNN that the president asked campaign co-chairs for honest input in a call Saturday morning. The Biden campaign co-chairs had a constructive, wide-open positive call today with the president that lasted more than an hour where he was asking for honest input and advice on the best path forward, Coons said. The exact outcome of the call is unclear. However, all is not lost for the Biden campaign. Most members in the Democratic National Committee were still in favor of a Biden presidency, The Times noted, despite fissures emerging. Coons also shared footage of the Biden interview on X, writing, I cant wait to help him continue to take the fight to Trump and win in November. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has also been a vocal supporter of Biden in the days since the debate and ABC News interview, telling CNN that voters should focus on Trumps record rather than Bidens cognitive ability. I dont know why were not talking more about Donald Trump, he quipped. Michigan Dem Rep. Haley Stevens and Texas Sheila Jackson Lee have also expressed their support. Trump Had His Own Brain Freeze Moment Like Biden This Week Ohio Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, who was the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus from 2021 to 2023, urged the audience at the Essence Festival Saturday to stick with it. Weve all had a bad day, Beatty told the audience, according to CNN. One of the things were doing is sticking with him. For his part, Trump mocked support for Biden on Saturday, clearly impressed by the backlash against the president. Crooked Joe Biden should ignore his many critics and move forward, with alacrity and strength, with his powerful and far reaching campaign. He should be sharp, precise, and energetic, just like he was in The Debate Trump wrote on Truth Social. Yes, Sleepy Joe should continue his campaign of American Destruction and, MAKE CHINA GREAT AGAIN! Biden is not set to speak publicly until Thursday, at the conclusion of the NATO summit, where he is scheduled to hold his first official press conference since the debate. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Motorcyclist flown to hospital after crash in southern Ohio A motorcyclist was flown to the hospital after a crash in southern Ohio on Saturday. Just after 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 6, Ohio State Highway Patrol Troopers with the Batavia Post were dispatched to State Route 32 in Clermont County. The preliminary investigation shows a motorcycle operated by 21-year-old Seth Wright of Batavia was traveling eastbound on SR 32. Wright rear-ended a car driven by 36-year-old Madeline Purvis of Batavia. The motorcycle overturned in the median after the crash. >> Police investigating fight that led to possible shots fired in Dayton Wright was taken to Clermont Mercy Hospital with serious injuries. He was later flown by University Air Care to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Purvis was uninjured. Wright was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. The crash remains under investigation. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said it has arrested a man in connection to a Northwest D.C. shooting that happened on Friday night. MPD said that at about 11:40 p.m., a man pulled out a gun during an argument with the victim inside a business in the 3500 block of 14th Street. The man then fired the gun, hitting the victim and injuring himself. When officers arrived they found the man and the victim injured. Six-year-old boy dies days after being injured in Fourth of July shooting in Prince Georges County Both had non-life-threatening injuries. The man was placed under arrest. Police recovered a gun during the investigation. Police arrested and charged 24-year-old Santos Duarte-Euceda, of Northwest with Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, Carrying a Pistol without a License Prior Felon and Possession of Unregistered Firearm. 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. Sejal2002 exact Quote: Many scholars deride sociology as a "soft science," because its subject matter is not as susceptible to scientific truths as the subject matter of the "hard sciences": chemistry, physics, and biology. However, sociology is science just as much as chemistry, biology, and physics because it follows the scientific method of using controlled experiments to test falsifiable hypotheses. many scholars "soft science" "hard science." however sociology is science just as much as Because it follows the scientific method science Quote: A. If the subject matter of a field of study is not susceptible to scientific proof it is not a "hard" science . Red light Quote: B. All fields of study that follow the scientific method are justifiably described as science . all an example sociology is science follows the scientific method Green light Quote: C. Any field of study that does not follow the scientific method is properly deemed a "soft science" . "soft science," any field... scientific method should NOT be deemed science Red light Quote: D. Because sociology uses the scientific method, it follows that its subject matter is susceptible to scientific truths . Red light Quote: E. Since sociology uses controlled experiments to test falsifiable hypotheses it is a "hard science." science Red light I am no longer contributing to GMAT Club. Please request an active Expert or a peer review if you have questions. Signature Read More Hello,and others. Remember that no matter what type of CR question you encounter, you want to read the question stem and passage carefully and view the answer choices through thephrasing of the passage. This question is simple enough, asking us to find the assumption that the conclusion is dependent upon. Many people prefer the negation technique for such questions, a method that I will not go into detail about here. I, however, prefer to find a missing link that fills the logical gap between A, a premise, and C, a conclusion or argument.The opening line provides us a criterion thatuse to separatefromWe can refer back to this line as needed.The second line provides the argument, beginning with the transition,. The argument is thatthe "hard sciences" listed earlier. Why?, which is then defined. I italicizedabove because this will be important in our assessment of the answer choices.These double "not"s run contrary to the argument that sociology should be considered a science. That is, we do not want a negated premise as our necessary assumption, since the argument is not based on that negation.Read carefully. Althoughmight seem extreme at first, notice that the passage only holds sociology up anof a discipline that has been maligned as "soft science." Also, the argument is thatbecause it, not that it need be considered a "hard science." This information fits in perfectly to connect A to C as I outlined earlier.Notice that a specific type of science,has entered the picture again when the argument makes no such distinction. We would want to see something to the effect thatto give us a reason to pause, but, of course, you have to go by what you see on the screen.This diverts attention from the argument and points back to the first line, filling in another conclusion instead of providing an assumption that would lead to the argument given at the end of the passage. We want a missing link, not a separate conclusion.Every word has to count, and even though we might logically fill in this gap, the argument given only defines sociology as a. Stick to the basics. If the passage says science, go with science, not "hard science."In short, you want to refer back to the passage in CR to avoid making associative mistakes. Sure, the passage discusses "hard science" and "soft science," but then the argument drops that distinction altogether and simply makes a case for why sociology should be called a science. Choice (B) presents the least debatable answer, so that is why we should choose it.I hope that helps. I would be happy to answer any follow-up questions. As always, good luck with your studies.- Andrew_________________ MTA board member wants to strip Staten Island of new trains in retaliation for opposing congestion pricing The Staten Island Railway should be stripped of promised new trains over the boroughs vocal opposition to the now-paused congestion-pricing program, an MTA board member suggested. Plans call for testing to start in August on the state-of-the-art train cars, known as R211Ss, with manufacturer Kawasaki set to deliver 75, agency officials told the MTA capital committee last week. During the discussion, Norman Brown, a nonvoting board member, suggested the MTA install the cars on the citys subways instead of the forgotten borough in retaliation over the bitter fight Staten Island pols put up against the $15 congestion toll to enter Manhattan. Gov. Hochul put the plan on an indefinite pause earlier this month. Brown, center, justified stripping Staten Island of its new trains with the fact the boroughs lawmakers fought against congestion pricing, which would have funded the MTAs capital plan. Erik Thomas/NY Post Since the representatives from Staten Island on the state, local and federal level do not support the capital plan, since they dont really care, could we run them on the A line? asked Brown, a Metro-North labor rep. MTA officials explained the cars would need some modifications before they could operate on the other four boroughs subway lines the Staten Island Railway is entirely above ground and MTA Construction and Development president Jamie Torres-Springer quickly shot down any railway revenge dreams. The R44s on Staten Island are really very old, Torres-Springer said, referring to the railways current rolling stock, which dates back to the Nixon administration. The SIR is an important part of the mass transit system in the region and were working to protect safe and reliable service across the entire MTA system. MTA board member Norman Brown suggested the transit authority use new trains intended from the Staten Island Railway on the citys subway lines instead. Reddit bluecew The new SIR cars will replace the current rolling stock that dates back to the Nixon administration. Paul Martinka Browns proposal to force SIR riders to continue relying on ancient, failure-prone train cars incensed Staten Islanders. Rather than asking questions about how we can improve the commute for people on Staten Island . . . their mindset is, How are we gonna punish them and make it worse?' Borough President Vito Fossella, who filed a lawsuit to hit the brakes on the $15 tolling program, told The Post. Albert, 34, one of nearly 7,000 daily weekday SIR riders, slammed Brown for the cheap shot, noting how Democratic lawmakers in the board members own borough of Brooklyn, as well as Queens, opposed the tolling program. Should the subway lines that run through those [lawmakers] neighborhoods not get new cars, too? said the irate lawyer, who uses the Staten Island Railway to get from the St. George ferry terminal to his home on the South Shore. Last week, MTA board members voted 10-1 to approve Hochuls delay for the first-in-the-nation tolling program, effectively gutting the agencys capital budget. The decision will force the MTA to put off several major projects, including the Second Avenue Subway extension and signal upgrades, officials said. Brown insisted to The Post he wasnt looking to punish Staten Islanders, but was simply suggesting the MTA put new cars on its more populated subways lines. When it comes down to efficiency, giving [Staten Island] the brand new cars doesnt make sense to me, he said. The confluence of the South and North Santiam rivers in fall 2023 show the extremely muddy water of the South Santiam due to the drawdown of Green Peter Reservoir. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is proposing changes to the way it draws down Green Peter Reservoir, hoping to improve conditions for imperiled salmon while avoiding major impacts to city drinking water systems on the South Santiam River. The federal agency was required to almost empty the reservoir last fall after a court order mandated allowing spring chinook smolts to migrate downstream through Green Peter Dam, with the goal of establishing a wild salmon population above the reservoir. The move led to masses of built-up sediment being flushed downstream, where it caused millions in damage to the drinking water systems in Sweet Home and Lebanon, harmed tourism and led to the mass die-off of the kokanee population. The turbid and warm water was also bad for salmon, Corps biologists said. The incident became a flashpoint, with federal, state and local lawmakers including Gov. Tina Kotek demanding changes. The Corps is now taking feedback on its plan from federal and state agencies, along with impacted cities such as Sweet Home, Lebanon and Albany. Then, they'll take the plan to U.S. District Court Judge Marco Hernandez, who ordered the drawdowns in 2021, among a series of actions meant to prevent extinction of Upper Willamette spring Chinook salmon and winter steelhead. Hernandez could rule to allow or deny the modifications, but the Corps is hoping to have the changes in place by this fall. What is the Corps proposing to do differently? Green Peter Reservoir during deep drawdown of 2023 at Quartzville Creek. In a nutshell, the Corps is proposing to delay the time period when it draws the reservoir down and do it faster than a year ago. Last year, the Corps starting emptying the reservoir in August and reached low pool where the reservoir has essentially been transformed back into a river in early November. The river stayed there for 30 days to allow spring chinook smolts born in Quartzville Creek, above the reservoir, to migrate downstream to the ocean, in an effort to reestablish a wild salmon population. This year, the Corps is proposing to empty the reservoir beginning in mid-October and reach low pool in mid-November or early December. It will stay empty for 30 days before being refilled in January. Tweaked reservoir drawdown better for fish? The Corps says the later and faster drawdown is good for fish and people. For fish, the move is better because last years drawdown led to high water temperatures in the South Santiam River that likely impacted salmon spawning in the lower river. The muddy water was also likely a problem. The Corps recorded temperatures in the lower river that reached 60 degrees, which can result in mortality to salmon eggs. We saw temperatures spike, and thats a real problem for salmon spawning in the lower river, said Greg Taylor, lead fish biologist for the Corps. We want to safely pass fish through the reservoir, but we dont want to destroy fish production downstream in doing it. We have to do better with water temperatures. Doing the drawdown later, when the water has cooled more in the reservoir, should help with that. Why would the tweaked reservoir drawdown be good for people? A container on the left shows water coming from Foster Lake and a container on the right shows water treated by the Sweet Home Water Treatment Plant on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023 in Sweet Home, Ore. Last years drawdown was impactful for numerous reasons in Sweet Home, Lebanon and Albany. Most notably, the extremely muddy river wreaked havoc on drinking water systems in Sweet Home and Lebanon, causing millions in damage to filters but also requiring adding extra chemicals and having workers going 24/7 to keep the water safe enough for consumption. The faster drawdown wouldnt eliminate muddy water, but it would bring it for a shorter period of time, the Corps said. The later and faster drawdown would also preserve some of the tourism season at Green Peter and Foster lakes, by keeping the lakes full throughout summer and early autumn, which allows for more boating and fishing. What do local cities think of the plan? Sweet Home mayor Susan Coleman said she's "grateful" for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed modifications to reservoir drawdowns but is still concerned about the impact on Sweet Home's drinking water. Sweet Home mayor Susan Coleman said she was grateful to the Corps for crafting a new plan. I am pleased to hear that the drawdown (would) begin later, allowing our community and visitors access to Foster and Green Peter reservoirs throughout the whole summer, Coleman said in an email. I appreciate the Corps plan to work on keeping the turbidity lower and their commitment to increased communication and coordination with our community." However, she said muddy water would still impact city drinking water and leave the empty reservoir open to the elements during heavy winter rains. Last year, that led to bank sloughing and further impacted water quality, she said. So, although I appreciate the Corps adjustments, I am still troubled by the potential of the court mandated drawdown impacting our drinking water, she said. What do environmental groups think about the plan? Three environmental groups brought the lawsuit, under the Federal Endangered Species Act, that led to Judge Hernandez ordering the drawdowns. The groups were the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, WildEarth Guardians and the Native Fish Society. Taylor said theyll likely need agreement from the groups to make the modifications. Its not clear if the groups will agree to the modified drawdown. Mark Sherwood, executive director of the Native Fish Society, said he couldnt comment on the Corps plan. He previously defended the drawdowns and said issues like turbidity would lessen with time. If we get fish passage right, we really can restore wild spring chinook in the Willamette this iconic Oregon fish. That would be a boon for every community in the Willamette Valley, Sherwood previously told the Statesman Journal. What happens next? The Corps will take comments from various groups until July 26. In August, it will submit the modification request to Judge Hernandez. Then, there would likely be a hearing before the request is approved or denied. What about Lookout Point Reservoir? Last year, similar issues of muddy water and even dried up wells plagued communities such as Dexter and Lowell downstream of Lookout Point Reservoir during its drawdown. However, no modifications are proposed for that reservoir due to concerns over landslides that will keep the drawdown moving very slowly. Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 16 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. Urness is the author of Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon and Hiking Southern Oregon. He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors. This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Corps proposes tweaks to drawdown of Green Peter Reservoir The 26-year-old man accused of fatally shooting two small children and a man at a car wash in far southwest Fort Worth late Thursday told police he intentionally fired his assault-style rifle at a place where several people were gathered for a 4th of July party, according to court records. Kanard Trent Murphy faces a charge of capital murder of multiple persons. According to Murphys arrest warrant affidavit, he was trying to shoot a man who confronted him about some alleged domestic violence incidents. In the process, investigators say, he wounded two people and killed 1-year-old Wynter Thouston, her 4-year-old sister Ivy Pierce, and 42-year-old Terrell Winn. A large group gathered at the Crystal Clean Car Wash at 7524 W. Cleburne Road on Thursday night. Murphy came to see his 11-month-old daughter, the affidavit states. The infants mother told police that some of her relatives dont like Murphy due to prior domestic violence issues. When Murphy arrived at the party, one of the relatives confronted him. Murphy and the other man took off their shirts and appeared to be getting ready for a fist fight, according to the affidavit. (Murphy) put the baby in his vehicle and when he stood back up he was holding a rifle in his hands, the affidavit states. Murphy immediately started firing at the man, who was unarmed, according to the affidavit. The man turned and ran, but Murphy followed him and continued to fire his weapon, police said. A bullet struck Winn, a bystander, in the leg. He died at John Peter Smith Hospital at 12:20 a.m. The man Murphy was pursuing ran toward a vehicle parked in the car-wash parking lot, the affidavit states. Four-year-old Ivy and 1-year-old Wynter were in the backseat. Gunfire from Murphys rifle struck the back of the vehicle and hit the two girls and their older sister. Ivy and Wynter died a short time later in the emergency room at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest Fort Worth. The cause of death for both children was a gunshot wound to the chest, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiners Office. Their older sister was wounded in the hand and is expected to survive. Four-year-old Ivy Pierce and her 1-year-old sister Wynter Thouston were killed in a shooting the night of July 4, 2024, in Fort Worth. Their older sister was wounded. A GoFundMe account has been started to help the girls family. Unfortunately on July 4th we lost two angels tragically Ivy (4) and Wynter (1) due to gun violence, the GoFundMe description says. Our family is asking for support from friends and family to lighten the financial burden while going through this extremely tough time. We are all devastated and want to honor their lives and give them the memorial they deserve. The man who confronted Murphy was also injured but expected to survive, according to police. Murphy finally dropped his rifle when an unknown person shot him in the upper back, police said. A bystander quickly picked up the weapon so Murphy couldnt continue shooting, the affidavit states. The rifle is a .300 Blackout and matches the shell casings police found at the location, investigators said. 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 [Get our breaking news alerts.] Officers responded to the scene around 11:40 p.m. after a 911 caller reported a man was lying wounded on the ground. The Fort Worth police detective assigned to the case spoke with Murphy about the shooting. Kanard stated that he understood firearms were dangerous and that pointing a firearm at a person and pulling the trigger could cause death and/or serious bodily injury, the affidavit states. Kanard stated that he was shooting his rifle intentionally at (the man who confronted him) and attempting to shoot him. Murphy was booked into the Fort Worth City Jail on Friday after undergoing medical evaluation at a hospital. My heart breaks for the families who are waking up after the 4th of July, a day meant for celebration, to grieve the loss of young lives taken from senseless crime, Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes said in a statement. We share in their grief and remain committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of our community. Neighbors say the car wash is a hangout spot where people gather every night, not just on holidays, and they arent surprised by the bloodshed. One resident, who asked not to be identified, said a tragedy at that location was inevitable. The man told the Star-Telegram that hes lived in the area with his family since 1988. It used to be a peaceful area, he said, but in recent years the crowds that gather at the car wash every night and blast loud music have drastically affected the quality of life. Muslim Community Center distributes food to refugees in celebration of Eid ul-Adha Muslim Community Center distributes food to refugees in celebration of Eid ul-Adha CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) The Muslim Community Center of Charlotte (MCC) distributed food to refugees ahead of Eid ul-Adha on Saturday. Eid ul-Adha, also known as the Festival of Sacrifice, is a time of giving. At the event, organizers distributed lamb meat from sacrificial animals to refugee families. This act of kindness embodies the true spirit of Eid ul-Adha, promoting compassion and solidarity within the community, Shadab Siddiqui, MCC Team Compassion Manager said. The celebration of Eid ul-Adha officially starts at sundown on June 16. 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. Shadow Paymaster General Jonathan Ashworth is one of numerous Labour members toppled by a independent candidate in their constituency - Tayfun Salci/Shutterstock When the circus finally arrived, it offered the usual attractions. The old rituals were a comfort. John Curtice, the swing-o-meter, Laura Kuenssberg and Jeremy Vine performed the familiar motions, not to mention the irrepressible Count Binface. But while the Labour celebrations and the Tory misery felt routine even after we had grown used to them in opposite roles under cover of darkness, a shocking new act crept into the tent. An insurgent force has entered British politics. The Muslim Vote had no rosette and advanced no meaningful manifesto beyond a set of deeply sectarian principles. It stood candidates tactically, and owed their allegiances purely to religious and ethnic interests. It had a single set of demands, all related to Gaza. This was a non-party. Yet in numbers, its victory was equal to Reform. On the day of the election, Jeremy Corbyn proclaimed: Today, Palestine is on the ballot. If victorious in Islington North, he added, he would stand up for the people of Gaza and campaign tirelessly for an end to the occupation of Palestine. This was the kind of single-issue politics we have come to expect from the former Labour leader. But he is now a prophet of the new sectarianism in our politics. In Corbyns constituency, about 13 per cent of residents are Muslim. The result matched the trend: in seats where that number pushed above 10 per cent, Labours results were down by 11 points. Across the country, Sir Keirs party was enjoying a famous victory, but a powerful counter-current flowed from a single cause, rooted in a single demographic group. Across the country, comfortable Labour majorities swung to razor-thin margins or outright losses, as Muslim voters turned their backs on the party. In constituencies where in the 2021 census at least 40 per cent of people described their religion as Muslim, the Labour vote share suffered an average drop of 33.9 percentage-points. These areas were typically in Bradford, London and Birmingham. In Bradford West, where the highest share of adults say they are Muslim at 59 per cent, the Labour candidate Naz Shah only barely managed to eke out a majority. Shah has spent several years as a Labour shadow front-bencher and campaigned on putting pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to end arms sales to Israel if elected. Her vote share plunged by 44.6 percentage points from the last election, to 31.6 per cent. She only had 707 more votes than independent candidate Muhammed Ali Islam who had pledged that Bradford shall not turn a blind eye to the suffering of Gazans and vowed to fight apartheid and genocide in Palestine. The pattern that saw Labour struggling in areas that had higher than average shares of Muslim voters held firm when zooming much farther out. As the party secured the largest British landslide victory of the modern era, it even suffered significant setbacks in areas where Muslims made up 10 to 20 per cent of the population. Here, its vote share on average fell by 6.8 per cent. In contrast, where Muslims accounted for less than 10 per cent of the population, Labour gained an average 3.3 percentage points of vote share. The Gaza vote even toppled one shadow cabinet member. Shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth was ousted in Leicester South by independent candidate Shockat Adam, who had a 979 vote majority. He had not supported the grassroots campaign to suspend arms sales to Israel, or to endorse the International Criminal Court case against Benjamin Netanyahu. Victorious Adam reacted with the cry: This is for Gaza. Rachel Reevess special advisor, Heather Iqbal, also failed to gain a majority in the new constituency of Dewsbury and Batley. The West Yorkshire seat instead swung to an independent candidate. Iqbal Mohamed, who campaigned on support for Palestine, won by a sizeable majority of 6,934 votes. This gave him a vote share of 41.1 per cent against Iqbals 22.9 per cent. The collapse in Muslim support also made a sizable dent in Labours national vote share. In areas where more than 10 per cent of the population were Muslim, more than half a million votes although no seats went to George Galloways Workers Party of Britain or independent candidates. This translates to 1.8 per cent of the entire national vote share. Galloways pro-Palestine party secured 75 per cent of its votes in the 103 seats with Muslim populations of at least 10 per cent. Labour overall lost four seats to independents in areas with an above-average share of Muslim voters. Khalid Mahmood in Birmingham Perry Barr and Kate Hollern in Blackburn were also among the candidates beaten by Gaza independents. It was nearly much worse for Labour. Senior figures in the party only narrowly managed to secure a majority. The first British Bangladeshi to be elected to parliament, Rushanara Ali, held Bethnal Green and Stepney by only 1,689 votes against independent Ajmal Masroor. Her seat was one of the safest in the previous election. In Ilford North, the new Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, won by a margin of only 528 against independent Leanne Mohamad. He described the campaign against him as the ugliest he had ever seen, including fabricated recordings in which he appeared to say I f------ dont care about innocent Palestinians being killed. His vote share had dropped by 20.7 per cent from 2019 to 33.4 per cent. The new Secretary of State for Justice, Shabana Mahmood, won Birmingham Ladywood despite suffering a 40.5 per cent drop in her vote share. Her constituency is nearly half Muslim. She was almost unseated by the independent TikTok lawyer Akhmed Yakoob, whose campaign posters exhorted residents to lend Gaza your vote. Last month, Yakoob apologised after he suggested on a podcast that 70 per cent of hell will be women, in a discussion about female empowerment. He came within a hairs breadth of winning, eroding the Labour incumbents majority by more than 32,000. Jess Phillips, who has served as the MP for Birmingham Yardley since 2015 and has held frontbench roles, only narrowly held on to her seat too with a majority of only 693 votes. Both she and Mahmood used their victory speeches to lament the intimidation and harassment they had faced during the campaign. Phillipss speech was almost derailed by heckling from pro-Palestine thugs and had to be paused several times. This election has been the worst election I have ever stood in, she said. Her campaign had been forced to make regular calls to the police, she revealed, speaking of party volunteers being filmed in the street and having their tyres slashed. Mahmood, meanwhile, described masked men disrupting a community meeting, terrifying those attending. This was an assault on democracy itself, she concluded. Another party veteran, Liam Byrne, nearly lost his majority in Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North where 37.5 per cent of the population is Muslim. He received only 1,556 more votes than James Giles from the Workers Party of Britain. Several such narrow victories could turn to losses in future elections if Labour cannot reverse the trend in the next five years. In large part, this tectonic upheaval was the work of a group called The Muslim Vote, which launched online last year. An alliance of 23 activist organisations, it funnels votes towards tactical objectives, aiming to unseat those MPs not sufficiently hostile to the Jewish homeland, particular those hailing from Labour. The Muslim Vote shadows a political party without having to conform to the requirements of being one. On Thursday, it aped the customary rubric by celebrating its scalps. The goal from the very start has been to empower the Muslim vote and send the main political parties a message, it tweeted, a funhouse-mirror version of Nigel Farages insurgent rhetoric. Muslims are united, in Muslim-heavy areas your majorities will be under threat, and there may even be an upset. Tonight, we did that in spades. Unlike a normal party, however, The Muslim Vote draws its agenda from a myopic preoccupation with one war above all others. The Muslim Vote lost no time in taking credit for ousting Ashworth, as well as for other results, including Corbyns. Five brilliant independents including removal of Jon Ashworth, the group boasted online. Greens, Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru, Workers Party and other smaller parties became the natural recipients of Muslim votes because of their better record on key issues the Muslim community cares about in particular peace in Palestine. The Greens in particular, who won a record four seats, have also been outspoken on Gaza. Even its deputy leader, Zack Polanski, who is Jewish, said the Board of Deputies of British Jews founded to represent Anglo-Jewry in 1760 should be renamed the Board of Deputies for the Israeli Government. They unseated Shadow Culture Secretary Thangam Debbonaire in Bristol Central, a hotbed of anger over the conflict. Harnessing this anger has proved an irresistible weapon for some of the men behind The Muslim Vote. On October 9 last year, several of its key players signed a pledge that reaffirm(ed) the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to resist Israeli military occupation, including the right to armed struggle. One of the signatories, Anas Altikriti, is a co-founder of the group. Also head of the Muslim Association of Britain, he has posted pictures of himself meeting Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza in 2012. Another signatory was Azhar Qauyum, the chief executive of the pressure group Muslim Engagement and Development (Mend), an official partner of The Muslim Vote. In 2014, Qauyum wrote on Facebook that Israels generosity in pulling out of Gaza in 2005 was like the generosity of Hitler. In March, Michael Gove named Mend as one of several viewed as a cause for concern under a new government definition of extremism. Qayum said his group was not at all extremist and would challenge the government in court if it ends up listed as such. Other independent candidates who campaigned monomaniacally on Gaza emerged victorious in Dewsbury and Batley where a teacher who showed his students a cartoon of Mohammed in 2021 remains in hiding and Blackburn, both of which previously had hefty Labour majorities. Gaza politics did not succeed everywhere, however. Among the new cohort of Labour MPs is Luke Akehurst, a moderate activist who has made no secret of his staunch support for the Jewish state. For years, he was director of the education and advocacy organisation We Believe in Israel. He took North Durham 5,873 votes ahead of the nearest challenger, Reform UK, ensuring that the Labour Party has at least one unflinchingly sound voice on matters relating to Israel. Even more deliciously, Gaza George Galloway lost his seat at the hands of the belatedly sound-minded people of Rochdale. They turned to Labour candidate Paul Waugh, a former newspaper journalist. When Galloway won the constituency in a March by-election, it was a consequence of the Labour campaign implosion. It emerged at the last minute that its candidate, Azhar Ali, had been recorded claiming that Israel had deliberately allowed Hamas to attack as a pretext for invading Gaza. Freed from such catastrophes, the seat went Labour under a majority of 1,440. George Galloway, leader of the Workers Party of Britain, lost his Rochdale seat to Labour's Paul Waugh - Phil Noble/Reuters Against a backdrop of widespread insurgency by The Muslim Vote, these wins for moderation feel like a small consolation. But the outcome could have been worse. In a parallel universe, Streeting, Jess Phillips, Shabana Mahmood, Paul Waugh and others were all successfully defenestrated by the Gaza independents. In that world, Parliament and the British Jewish community would face a far steeper set of challenges. Speaking on the steps of Downing Street on Friday morning, Sir Keir Starmer pledged to eschew ideology in favour of pragmatism. From now on, you have a government unburdened by doctrine, guided only by the determination to serve your interest, he said. This non-partisan point may have been made with one eye on the vote share, only a third of which was captured by Labour. But it contrasted sharply with the intensely doctrinal approach of The Muslim Vote. There can be little doubt that obsessive campaigning on emotive wedge issues like Gaza, with the energy of unvarnished tribalism, can produce a more potent electoral force than Sir Keirs inclusive pragmatism ever could. As The Muslim Vote grows in power and confidence, will Labour have the guts to resist? In May, a leaked video of Labours deputy leader, Angela Rayner, showed her pleading for votes with a group of Muslim men. If me resigning as an MP now would bring a ceasefire, I would do it. I would do it, she begged. Having tasted so much blood this week, it seems likely that The Muslim Vote can expect further examples of such contemptible appeasement for mercy in the future. It is a striking irony that it was mostly Labour candidates who found themselves in the crosshairs of sectarianism this week. After all, in the short time since the election, Sir Keirs party has shown signs of far more hostility to Israel than the Conservatives ever displayed. Pushing the party to yield to The Muslim Vote the Labour MP for Coventry South, Zarah Sultana described her partys position on Gaza as a stain on its record; the new foreign secretary, David Lammy, told the BBC that Labour would work with partners to seek Palestinian recognition. What about the hostages? What about the continued menace from Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran? These things seemed not to matter so much. Yet even this position was not enough for The Muslim Vote. It wanted to radicalise Labour foreign policy from the grassroots and was furious when the leadership had other ideas. Perhaps this should not be a surprise. Sojourn deep enough into the far-left and you always find factions that are more preoccupied with enforcing purity among the moderates on their own side than joining forces to attack the right. This time, however, the old dynamic has an Islamist lens. In the eyes of The Muslim Vote, these five seats are only the beginning. Disclosing its ambitions on Twitter, it vowed that Labour would suffer greater losses at its hands in 2029. In Muslim-heavy seats, the seeds of our communitys future have been sown, the group wrote. It will not be a landslide in the coming elections and that is when the message sent today will really resonate. Anas Altikriti, a co-founder of The Muslim Vote, speaking at a pro-Palestinian protest held outside No 10 in December - Jeff Gilbert While the rise of The Muslim Vote is the most disturbing expression of the sectarianism that is disfiguring the face of our politics, it is not the only example. Britains Indian community has proven firmly Tory, carrying popular Conservative MP Bob Blackman to victory in Harrow East after he appealed directly to Hindu voters and endorsed Indian leader Narendra Modi. Leicester East, with its almost 40 per cent Hindu population, switched from red to blue in a countercultural victory for Tory candidate Shivani Raja, who romped home 4,426 votes ahead of her closest rival. All of this lies downstream from the record immigration that various governments have brought upon us in recent decades. Consider, for example, Britains Jews, the countrys oldest and best-integrated minority. Even after the collective trauma of the Corbyn years, the community did not vote as a bloc but as individuals informed by their own consciences, as is the way with everybody else. Two weeks before the election, a Survation poll for the Jewish Chronicle placed the Tories nine points ahead among Jews, suggesting residual distrust of Labour. The following week, a larger study conducted by Jewish Policy Research found Labour in front by 16 points. Jewish voters went on to deliver a Labour victory in almost every seat in which they had a significant presence, aside from outliers like Hertsmere, which was held by the popular Oliver Dowden with a large majority. The problem, therefore, is not immigration itself. It is not ethnic or religious minorities. It is scale. It is the saturation of societys capacity to absorb newcomers into the dominant culture. The Enlightenment gave us the separation of church and state and the freedom to pursue our lives as private individuals. It also lifted any ethnic component of cultural belonging. This made our society predisposed to welcoming people from abroad; but this can only be a success when the scale allows newcomers to adapt to our foundational culture of freedom, tolerance and neighbourliness, law-abidingness and open contracts. When this is overwhelmed, all freedoms are lost. As Sir Roger Scruton put it: We, like everyone else, depend upon a shared culture for our security, our prosperity and our freedom to be. We dont require everyone to have the same faith, to lead the same kind of family life or to participate in the same festivals. But we have a shared civil culture, a shared language and a shared public sphere We can welcome immigrants only if we welcome them into our culture, and not beside or against it. The rise of political sectarianism, as exemplified most damningly by The Muslim Vote this week, is a red flag showing where we have been going wrong. For a subset of British citizens to set aside all domestic concerns in favour of a foreign war 3,000 miles distant, and to organise behind it along ethnic lines, is a profound indictment of our fraying social cohesion. To make matters worse, with Labour back in power, immigration is unlikely to come down. The problems we face may be downstream from the immigration explosion of previous decades, but we are very much upstream from where the country will find itself in five years time. We must face facts. Due to the woeful mismanagement of immigration that began with Tony Blair and was eagerly continued by the Conservatives if that is what they were the future of our towns and cities can only lie in segregation, parallel institutions and internecine friction. Meanwhile, the future of our elections will be increasingly dominated by hostile sectarianism. Data analysis by Eir Nolsoe and Ben Butcher 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. This visualization shows C-shaped and reverse-C-shaped plasma bubbles appearing close together in the ionosphere on Oct. 12, 2020, and Dec. 26, 2021, as observed by NASAs GOLD mission. | Credit: NASAs Scientific Visualization Studio A NASA satellite has spotted unexpected X- and C-shaped structures in Earths ionosphere, the layer of electrified gas in the planets atmosphere that allows radio signals to travel over long distances. The ionosphere is an electrified region of Earth's atmosphere that exists because radiation from the sun strikes the atmosphere. Its density increases during the day as its molecules become electrically charged. That's because sunlight causes electrons to break off of atoms and molecules, creating plasma that enables radio signals to travel over long distances. The ionospheres density then falls at night and that's where GOLD comes in. NASA's Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission is a geostationary satellite that has been measuring densities and temperatures in Earth's ionosphere since its launch in October 2018. From its geostationary orbit above the western hemisphere, GOLD was recently studying two dense crests of particles in the ionosphere, located north and south of the equator. As night falls, low-density bubbles appear within these crests that can interfere with radio and GPS signals. However, it's not just the wax and wane of sunshine that affects the ionosphere the atmospheric layer is also sensitive to solar storms and huge volcanic eruptions, after which the crests can merge to form an X shape. In its new observations, GOLD found some of these familiar X shapes in the ionosphere even though there weren't any kinds of solar or volcanic disturbances to create them. Related: Oops! US Space Force may have accidentally punched a hole in the upper atmosphere "Earlier reports of merging were only during geomagnetically disturbed conditions," Fazlul Laskar , a research scientist at the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), said in a statement . Laskar is the lead author of a paper published in April in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics that described these unexpected observations. A second view of the X-shapes in the ionosphere "It is an unexpected feature during geomagnetic quiet conditions," he said. This suggests that what happens in the lower atmosphere actually affects the ionosphere more than extreme solar or volcanic events. In addition to the odd X's, GOLD also saw curved C-shaped bubbles appear in the plasma surprisingly close together. Scientists think they are shaped and orientated according to the direction of winds, but GOLD imaged C-shape and reverse-C-shaped bubbles as close as about 400 miles (643 kilometers) apart. To have wind patterns change so drastically over such short distances is quite unusual, according to the researchers. RELATED STORIES What is the ionosphere? (And who is Steve?) Falling metal space junk is changing Earth's upper atmosphere in ways we don't fully understand 'Alien' life could exist high in earth's atmosphere "It's really important to find out why this is happening," LASP research scientist Deepak Karan , lead author of a separate paper published in November in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics , said in the statement. "If a vortex or a very strong shear in the plasma has happened, this will completely distort the plasma over that region. Signals will be lost completely with a strong disturbance like this." This is not the first time NASA has sought to understand more about the ionosphere. Most recently, a project called Atmospheric Perturbations Around The Eclipse Path (APEP) investigated how a drop in sunlight and temperature affects Earth's upper atmosphere. During October 14's annular solar eclipse across the southwest U.S. and again during April 8's total solar eclipse across North America, NASA launched three suborbital sounding rockets into the eclipse path to measure changes in electric and magnetic fields, density and temperature within the ionosphere. The results of the mission are still forthcoming. A woman casts her vote at a polling station during the second round of the French parliamentary elections. On July 7, 2024, France is holding parliamentary elections that will be decisive for the country's political future and in which the far right could become the largest party in parliament for the first time. Ludovic Marin/AFP/dpa The leader of the French far-right-wing nationalist National Rally (RN), Jordan Bardella, has lashed out at his political opponents following the surprising victory of the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance in the parliamentary elections. He described the centrist camp of President Emmanuel Macron and the left-wing alliance as a "single party" and an "alliance of dishonour." Bardella railed against "electoral agreements" that "have plunged France into the arms of Jean-Luc Melenchon," the hard-left leader. The left-wing camp and Macron's centrist forces had formed an alliance of convenience before the second round. In order not to take votes away from each other in constituencies where three candidates made it to the second round, numerous candidates withdrew. "The momentum carried by the RN, which put it well ahead in the first round and enabled it to double its number of deputies, are essential elements of tomorrow's victory," Bardella said. According to initial projections, the left-wing NFP alliance is ahead in the parliamentary elections and could win 172 to 215 of the 577 seats. National Rally could end up in third place with 120 to 152 seats, behind Macron's centrist camp with 150 to 180 seats. The shift to the right in France is therefore less pronounced than expected after the first round where it gained 33% of the votes cast, but the far-right nationalists look set to expand significantly their parliamentary group of 88 deputies. WASHINGTON In addition to articles already covered by Native News Online, here is a roundup of other news released from Washington, D.C. that impacts Indian Country recently. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland Meets with New York Tribal Leaders Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland traveled to New York durng the lastweek of June to meet with Tribal leaders and community members to highlight the Interior Departments progress in strengthening Indian Country. Her visit underscored the transformational investments in Indian Country made possible by President Bidens Investing in America agenda and the Biden-Harris administrations historic progress to empower Tribal sovereignty, self-determination and prosperity. Secretary Haaland met with Tribal leaders from the Cayuga Nation, Oneida Indian Nation, Seneca Nation of Indians, Shinnecock Nation, Tonawanda Band of Seneca and Tuscarora Nation. 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. Throughout her visits, Secretary Haaland underscored the Departments commitment to strengthening Indian Country. The Presidents Investing in America agenda is deploying record investments to provide affordable high-speed internet, safer roads and bridges, modern wastewater and sanitations systems, clean drinking water, reliable and affordable electricity, good paying jobs and economic development in every Tribal community. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law alone invests more than $13 billion directly in Tribal communities across the country. OASH Announces Tribal Consultation on the Syphilis and Congenital Syphilis Outbreak The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) will hold a Tribal consultation on August 5 to discuss the syphilis and congenital syphilis outbreak impacting Indian country. OASH is soliciting feedback and recommendations from Tribal leaders and Tribal health professionals about actions HHS can take to support Tribal efforts to reduce the number of syphilis and congenital syphilis cases among American Indian and Alaska Native populations. The consultation will also discuss the work of the National Syphilis and Congenital Syphilis Syndemic Federal Task Force, a cross-agency collaborative effort that includes the participation of HHS, the Indian Health Service, and other Departments and offices. The virtual consultation will take place on August 5 from 1:00 - 2:30pm ET and requires prior registration via Zoom (accessible here). OASH invites Tribal comment broadly and, to facilitate discussion, has prepared a series of questions for specific feedback. Please see this Dear Tribal Leader Letter for full details. Written comments will be accepted through September 5 to STI@hhs.gov using the subject line, "Tribal Consultation." Please contact the OASH Sexually Transmitted Infections team at STI@hhs.gov with any questions related to the consultation. IHS Outlines its Approach to Contract Support Costs (CSC) Following the Becerra v. San Carlos Apache Decision As reported recently, the U.S. Supreme Court held in this case that the IHS must pay eligible CSC incurred by Tribes and Tribal organizations that expend program income (third-party reimbursements) under their Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act contracts and compacts, Pub. L. 93-638. In this Dear Tribal Leader Letter and enclosure , the IHS outlines its approach to responding to the decision, including interim guidance and information regarding implementation pathways. The agency plans to hold a Tribal consultation on this critical topic next month. About the Author: "Native News Online is one of the most-read publications covering Indian Country and the news that matters to American Indians, Alaska Natives and other Indigenous people. Reach out to us at editor@nativenewsonline.net. " Contact: news@nativenewsonline.net Diplomats and world leaders preparing for next week's NATO summit are privately expressing acute concern about the age, health and ability of President Joe Biden to win the 2024 presidential election. Source: Politico Details: These foreign officials are overwhelmingly in support of Biden's re-election and fear that Donald Trump's return to power will harm the NATO alliance and hinder the military effort in Ukraine. They have, however, expressed dismay at Biden's recent debate performance, fearing that he is too feeble to overcome Trump and lead a global superpower. Politico reports that numerous allies had quietly expressed doubts about putting their trust in Biden prior to the debate. Now, Biden must persuade his counterparts that he is not just ready for the fight, but that he will overcome a political crisis to remain in it. Politico quotes one of the officials of the European NATO country: "It doesnt take a genius to see that the president is old. Were not sure that, even if he wins, he can survive four years more." Another EU official remarked: "We all want Biden to have a second term to avoid dealing with Trump again, but this isnt really reassuring." The journal states that Biden will have to publicly display his leadership qualities and endurance at the summit in Washington, which will begin on Tuesday morning and extend until Thursday in sweltering weather that is expected to be intolerable. As a host, he will not be able to miss a single event. NATO allies are concerned about how long Biden will be able to maintain American support for Europe's defence, especially given Trump's scepticism about supporting partners abroad. "Were having more conversations about our own defences since it looks like Trump is coming back," an official from one NATO country said after the debate. Furthermore, several NATO countries are dissatisfied with Biden's leadership, claiming that he has been too sluggish in sending weaponry and granting Kyiv permission to strike Russia. Nonetheless, the three diplomats said, allies are content for Biden to remain in office but concerned about his age. They aren't very unhappy about him occasionally missing gala meals at certain summits or leaving early. Diplomats reportedly say that Biden began using notebooks, speaking more slowly and quietly, and moving with an unmistakable stiffness. They say they are more concerned about his political situation and chances of re-election, given his age. "It seems to me thats going to be very tough for him to pursue his campaign and to stay on," said one senior EU diplomat, adding that while it was up to the Democratic Party to replace Biden, they should be "considering all options." Background: The findings of two more opinion polls in the United States showed that former president Donald Trump had boosted his lead over the incumbent president Joe Biden to six percentage points, his greatest margin in both polls. According to media reports, Biden has purportedly indicated in private that he might retire from the US presidential campaign if he did not persuade the people in the coming days that he was ready to serve another term following an unsuccessful debate with Donald Trump. Unofficially, hundreds of Democrats in the US House of Representatives are considering signing a letter urging that President Joe Biden withdraw from the race. Biden stated that following the debate, he had undergone a medical examination and was doing well. On Wednesday, Biden stated that he would not withdraw from the contest. Support UP or become our patron! DECATUR Police say they are making progress in their hunt for a gunman who fired his weapon before pistol-whipping a Decatur man and leaving him with a broken nose and other facial injuries. Sgt. Steve Hagemeyer with the Decatur Police Department, speaking Sunday, said the man told officers he had been knocked unconscious during the assault, which happened around 12 a.m. Thursday in the 900 block of North Illinois Street. The victim said he had woken up about a half hour later, Hagemeyer said, explaining that officers had interviewed the 48-year-old man at Decatur Memorial Hospital where he was being treated for his bloody wounds. Officers reported he had a contusion on the right side of his eye that appeared to be a U-shape and consistent with the base (gun butt) of a firearm, Hagemeyer added. He told the Herald & Review that investigating officers had developed some strong leads in identifying the gunman and were pursuing them. Mystery, however, still surrounds a motive for the attack. Hagemeyer said the gunman had approached on a bicycle while the victim was checking out a property on the street that the victim used to live in. The victim said the suspect pointed a handgun at him before riding away and then firing a shot, Hagemeyer said. The victim didnt think he was shooting directly at him but thought it was in his general direction as a kind of warning shot. But the gunman then rode back again and the victim got into a fight with him after being attacked, which is when he sustained his injuries from the pistol-whipping. As to a motive for all this, its not clear, Hagemeyer said. Violent crime is up and also down, according to new federal data Violent crime is up and also down, according to new federal data Federal reports show similar long-term trends in violent crime, but diverge significantly on year-over-year changes Despite the long-term trends, the two reports differ more than ever before on the year-over-year change in violent crime. Property crime went up in 2022 One undeniable trend: Violent crimes against young people doubled Still, most crimes are not reported to the police NATO needs to look toward Pacific because of current realities, Jens Stoltenberg says NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Sunday the presence of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea at this week's NATO summit demonstrates the world is getting more complex. Speaking on CBS' "Face the Nation," he said, "The war in Ukraine demonstrates how closely aligned Russia and China and North Korea and Iran are. China is the main enabler of Russia's war aggression against Ukraine." Referencing Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Stoltenberg added: "They all want NATO, the United States to fail in Ukraine, and if Putin wins in Ukraine, it will not only embolden President Putin, it also would embolden President Xi. As the Japanese prime minister said: What happens in Ukraine today can happen in Asia tomorrow." NATO, which was born in 1949 as a Western answer to Soviet domination in Eastern Europe, will mark its 75th anniversary with a summit in Washington from Tuesday to Thursday. The alliance now has 32 members, having added Finland and Sweden since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war. Ukraine has yet to be formally invited by NATO, and it's not clear when that might occur. Regardless, Stoltenberg said that supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia remains a priority. "Were making important decisions," Stoltenberg said of the summit, "on stepping up our support to Ukraine, and NATO will take over the provision and the coordination of security assistance to Ukraine." Stoltenberg said he was not disturbed by the recent visit by Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban to Moscow, where he met with Putin on what he dubbed a "peace mission." Hungary, formerly part of the Soviet bloc during the Cold War, has been a NATO country since 1999. "What matters for me is that all allies have agreed that we need to do more for for Ukraine," Stoltenberg said, saying the alliance was not interested in a peace that would allow for the continued occupation of Ukraine's territory by Russian forces. This will be the last such summit under the leadership of Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister who is to be succeeded by former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in the fall. Stoltenberg declined to answer questions from host Robert Costa on President Joe Biden's fitness for office or anything else to do with the 2024 American elections. "I think it is important for NATO to stay out of that kind of domestic discussion. Theyre of course, important in the United States, but NATO should not be part of it," he said. North Dakota Superintendent Kirsten Baesler speaks during a meeting of the state's Teacher Retention and Recruitment Task Force held in Bismarck on Feb. 22, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) North Dakota lawmakers will gather in Bismarck on Monday and Tuesday to attend a retreat on education issues hosted by the Hunt Institute. The two-day event was organized in partnership with the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction and will be held at the Bismarck State College National Energy Center of Excellence. Kirsten Baesler, superintendent of North Dakotas Department of Public Instruction and Hunt-Kean Leadership Fellow with the Hunt Institute, said the retreat is designed to gather input from legislators on education issues they see in their districts and to introduce them to educational experts and ideas that have worked well in other states. The issues are decided from what legislators want to learn more about and then I work with the Hunt Institute and their team and we bring in both national, local and regional experts to provide information on those issues, Baesler said. One issue planned for discussion during the retreat will be students continuing to struggle with mathematics. Baesler said some students have been moved through math courses without mastering the underlying skills, which can cause difficulties in later courses. She also said lawmakers are interested in getting away from the pay and pray method of education spending and learning about how to get better, measurable results for students with the states tax dollars. Its where they pay local school districts the foundation aid and pray that it works, Baesler said. There was some significant interest from our legislators on how they might be able to ensure that the money they are investing in K-12 education is getting the movement and the progress that they need. She added there are also some social events on the agenda to network lawmakers and education professionals. No per diems will be allocated to the lawmakers for attending the retreat, Baesler said, and the cost of the event will be covered by the Hunt Institute. All 141 members of the North Dakota Legislature were invited to the retreat and nearly 50 members said they are planning to attend, according to the state Department of Public Instruction. Javaid Siddiqi, president and CEO of the Hunt Institute, said the retreat is designed to give lawmakers the knowledge they need to be able to make more informed decisions on the states education system. Anytime we can have conversations with lawmakers outside the confines of the legislative session, or the committee structure, it allows us to really put on our learner hats and really grapple with these heavy policy matters , Siddiqi said. The retreat is closed to the public and members of the media, according to event organizers. Siddiqi said he expects the event to be more workshop-like and hopes lawmakers bring their education questions. He also said the Hunt Institute will hold eight of these educational retreats in different states and each of the state co-chairs craft their agenda for the event in their state, so each retreat may be different. They are the ones really setting the agenda and we just help with leveraging our network and bringing our network to bear, Siddiqi said. Were conveners. Siddiqi said the organization is not lobbying the lawmakers for any specific piece of legislation, but instead trying to create a learning experience for them to get answers to difficult questions. DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX NJ teacher accused of sexually assaulting teen student multiple times including in his car A New Jersey high school teacher is accused of sexually assaulting a student on multiple times earlier this year including in his car. Julie Rizzitello, who resigned from her position as a teacher at Wall High School, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with two counts of second-degree sexual assault, three counts of criminal sexual contact and witness tampering, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago and Wall Township Police Chief Sean OHalloran said in a joint statement. Former Wall High School teacher Julie Rizzitello, 36, was arrested Wednesday and charged with sexually assaulting a student. wallpublicschools.org Rizzitello allegedly had multiple sexual encounters with the student across three townships in New Jersey. Google Maps Rizzitello, 36, and the student, who was 18, had multiple sexual encounters between April and June 14, according to an affidavit of probable cause obtained by NJ.com. The pair allegedly engaged in sexual acts in his car in Brick on May 14, and she later sent him nude photos, according to authorities. Rizzitello and the teen also allegedly had sexual contact in Belmar and Wall, and shared numerous sexual communications with each other, according to the court document and prosecutors. Rizzitello, of Brick, taught ninth grade English and SAT prep at Wall High, according to her now-deleted school profile page. She was hired by the Wall Township Public Schools in 2013, and earned a salary of $62,000, state pension records show. The former teacher is currently being held in Monmouth County Jail in Freehold Township while awaiting her detention hearing Wednesday. Rizzitello allegedly had sex with the student in his car and later sent him nude photos. Emmanuel Cancer Foundation/Facebook Rizzitellos arrest came a week after another Monmouth County teacher was charged with sexually assaulting a student. Allison Havemann-Niedrach, 43, a special education teacher at Freehold Intermediate School, was arrested last week and charged with aggravated sexual assault and child welfare endangerment. There is no indication that Ukraine's infrastructure agency has misused foreign funds, the EU Delegation to Ukraine told the Kyiv Independent on July 7. Ukraine's Finance Ministry accused the State Agency for Reconstruction and Development of Infrastructure of misusing Western funds in a comment to the Ukrainian online newspaper Ekonomichna Pravda, which was published earlier on July 5. The ministry claimed that the EU Delegation to Ukraine was unhappy with the agency failing to use 150 million euros allocated by the European Commission. Mustafa Nayyem, who previously headed a state infrastructure agency, on July 5 denied the accusations that the agency had misused foreign partners' funds. "The Ministry of Finance went public with a number of strange comments," Nayyem told Ekonomichna Pravda. "Since this is the official position of the state body, which has manipulated facts and figures and called into question the work of the agency's entire team, I consider it necessary to provide an explanation." According to Nayyem, the Finance Ministry said the agency had received UAH 7.8 billion ($192.3 million) but was yet to spend any of the money. Nayyem said, however, that there was a mistake in the figures, and the total amount of money being discussed was actually UAH 7.6 billion ($187.4 million). "I am a bit surprised by the Finance Ministry's mistake of Hr 200 million in the official communication regarding the funds of international financial institutions," he said. "The EU Delegation to Ukraine confirms that in 2023, it has allocated 250 million euros of budget support for Fast Recovery Needs in a variety of sectors. The first disbursement of 150 million euros was made in December 2023, on the basis of Ukraine meeting all conditions linked to this payment," the EU Delegation said in a comment to the Kyiv Independent on July 7. "Thereafter, the EU Delegation has highlighted on several occasions the importance of a prompt use of these funds for fast recovery projects. Given Ukraines massive financial need for recovery assistance, the EU Delegation can only re-iterate the need to swiftly finalize the ongoing internal procedures, thus allowing for the use of the funds of the first payment and the release of the second." Nayyem resigned as head of the Agency for the Restoration and Development of Infrastructure on June 10 after being prevented from attending the upcoming Ukraine Recovery Conference on June 11-12 in Berlin. In a lengthy post on Facebook, Nayyem named a series of complaints about the "systemic obstacles" that had limited his ability to do his job, ultimately leading to his decision to resign. The Financial Times (FT) reported on June 10, citing unnamed Ukrainian and Western officials, that Nayyem's resignation from the agency and other firings and reshuffles strained relations between Kyiv and Western allies and raised concerns about how Ukraine can deal with fixing the country's energy infrastructure as it comes under repeated attacks by Russia. Former investigative journalist, Nayyem, became a reformist MP and anti-corruption activist in 2014. He was a deputy infrastructure minister from 2021 to 2024 and head of the Agency for the Restoration and Development of Infrastructure from 2023 to 2024. The agency was created to spend Western donors' funds on rebuilding infrastructure destroyed as a result of the war. Read also: Ex-infrastructure agency head denies accusations of misusing Western funds Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. ASHEVILLE - It's the end of the road for North Asheville neighborhood restaurant and bar, Avenue M. On July 6, Avenue M permanently closed at 791 Merrimon Ave., according to a post on the business's social media page. Avenue M in North Asheville. The announcement of the closure, published on the same day and signed by its owners Ralph Lonow and Tony Creed, reads in part: "Tonight will be our final last call at Avenue M. It is time for us to write a new chapter. We are forever grateful for all of the support we have received from this amazing community and we genuinely cherish so many of the moments we have shared. It has been our pleasure to celebrate your special moments, share your lives, and to honor our friends we have lost along the way ... All we can say, as many local folks have this past year, is to remember to continue to support our local 828 business community. It's been a difficult year for so many and your support means everything to them. Be kind to one another and take care of each other." Rachel Gordon pours wine into a glass for a customer to try before serving it to the table at Avenue M, February 7, 2024. In 2010, Avenue M was founded by Greg and Teri Siegel at the address of the former neighborhood bar, Usual Suspects. In 2019, Creed and Lonow became the new owners of Avenue M, serving American classics and Appalachian cuisine. Last month, Avenue M was vandalized with a large red swastika and an upside-down pitchfork painted on the business's front windows. Community members came to the restaurant's aid by removing painted marks considered hate symbols and flying the flag of Israel outside the restaurant. Avenue M received facade and front patio enhancements in the past year to improve curb appeal. Also, in June, Wine Spectator media company awarded Avenue M's wine program, overseen by Lonow, the wine director, with the Award of Excellence. The award is designated for wine programs having "at least 90 selections, feature a well-chosen assortment of quality producers, along with a thematic match to the menu in both price and style. Avenue M has received the honor since 2021. This story has been updated to list Ralph Lonow as Avenue M's wine director. Stories you may have missed: Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow her on Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please support this type of journalism with asubscription to the Citizen Times. This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: North Asheville restaurant abruptly closes after 15 years North Korean troops could be sent to Ukraine due to their sheer numbers, not their effectiveness, experts say North Korean troops could be sent to Ukraine due to their sheer numbers, not their effectiveness, experts say North Korea deepened its defense ties with Russia through a new security pact last month. The Pentagon said it would "keep an eye" on North Korea potentially sending forces to Russia. If troops were sent it would be due to their numbers, not their effectiveness, experts told BI. Speculation has been growing that North Korea could send troops to Ukraine. Last month, Russia and North Korea signed a pact agreeing to give each other military assistance if the other is attacked. As part of the pact, South Korea's TV Chosun reported, citing an unnamed South Korean government official, North Korea plans to send construction and engineering forces to occupied Ukraine later this month for rebuilding efforts. No official confirmation has been made so far, but speculation heightened during a Pentagon press briefing late last month when a journalist said that North Korea's Central Military Commission had announced that North Korea would join forces with the Russian military. (The Institute for the Study of War questioned the reporter's claim, saying that it had found no such statement made by North Korea.) In response, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder described North Korea potentially sending military forces to Russia as "certainly something to keep an eye on." As of now, the prospect of North Korean soldiers being deployed to Ukraine is speculative and unlikely, experts told Business Insider. But if it did happen, the main advantage Russia would take from it would be North Korea's sheer number of soldiers not their effectiveness, they said. "North Korea has a large military of 1.3 million," Edward Howell, Korea Foundation Fellow with Chatham House's Asia-Pacific Programme, told BI. "Yet, the quality of North Korean conventional weapons, arms, and the soldiers themselves is far weaker," he said. John Hardie, deputy director of the Russia program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that even if the reports were true, he doubted the deployment of North Korean troops would have a "significant" impact on the battlefield in Ukraine. One of the largest militaries but not the most effective North Korea has the world's fourth-largest army, with estimates putting its troop numbers at about 1.2 million personnel. But while it is "well trained" and "highly motivated," the Korean People's Army has not had any real-world combat experience in decades, said Evans Revere, senior advisor with the global advisory firm Albright Stonebridge Group. The last time they really fought was during the Korean War, where fighting ended in 1953. Revere, who served as the acting assistant secretary for East Asia and Pacific affairs during the George W. Bush administration, said this raised questions about how its troops would perform in combat against the "agile, determined, experienced, and tough Ukrainian military." The Korean army's military exercises focus on fighting two adversaries, the US and South Korea, he said, adding that its weapons include "a lot of what the US military calls 'legacy systems,' particularly their aircraft, tanks, and artillery." "This could be a problem on the battlefields of Ukraine," he said. While North Korea is estimated to have 50 nuclear warheads as of January 2024, its stockpile of weapons is seen as outdated and unreliable, experts said. This means it would take a while for North Korean soldiers to adjust to newer weaponry, Bruce Bennett, a defense researcher at RAND, told BI. This would likely prompt Kim Jong Un, the country's leader, to only send "politically reliable" troops to support Russia, he said. "What is uncertain is whether the Russians would provide the North Koreans with needed advanced weaponry better tanks and artillery, communications and electronic warfare," Bennett said, adding that Kim would likely insist on that. Wallace Gregson, a former US Marine Corps officer and former assistant defense secretary for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, said that North Korean troops' effectiveness would also depend on how they are supported with food, fuel, and medical care, and their command relationships with the Russians. "Given what we know about nutrition in North Korea, even in the army, they might have issues," he told BI. Howell from Chatham House was more blunt. "If North Korea were to send troops to aid Russia's war, then they would merely be there due to their sheer numbers and not their military effectiveness," he said. Deployment should not be completely ruled out According to Benjamin Young, assistant professor of homeland security and emergency preparedness at Virginia Commonwealth University, Kim would not send troops "thousands of miles to Europe in order to die meaningless deaths on the front lines for a different country." Young, the author of "Guns, Guerillas, & the Great Leader: North Korea and the Third World," said that, if they were sent, "the North Korean troops will most likely play an auxiliary role in terms of building fortifications and structures." "They may also help repair tanks, weapons systems, and other armaments," he added. Hardie, from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said we should "wait and see" if the report is true and an actual deployment takes place. But if it does, he added that North Korean soldiers may "simply" be helping rebuild a destroyed city like Mariupol. Other experts, however, had a different view. Bennett, from RAND, said he thinks it is "fairly likely" that North Korea will send troops to Ukraine, without elaborating further. Howell, meanwhile, said we should not rule out the possibility of some transfer of individuals whether troops or support personnel given the recent increase in defense ties between Russia and North Korea. But we "must remember that, at present, these rumors are merely speculative," he added. Read the original article on Business Insider AFP UK Top EU officials took turns assailing Hungary's Viktor Orban Wednesday over democratic backsliding and his Russia-friendly stance on Ukraine, as the nationalist leader delivered a defiant address to the bloc's parliament.As President Vladimir Putin's closest ally within the European Union, Orban's government is at loggerheads with its partners on a host of issues -- from stalling aid for Kyiv, to what the bloc sees as weakening the rule of law at home.In Strasbourg to present the "priorities" of Hungary's norm-defying EU presidency, Orban opened by depicting a continent in turmoil. With the Ukraine war on its doorstep and an acute "migration crisis", he argued "the European Union needs to change".Lawmakers listened respectfully at first -- with occasional applause from sympathetic members -- but a rowdy rendition of the anti-fascist anthem "Bella Ciao" rang out as Orban finished. Parliament president Roberta Metsola called them to order. "This is not Eurovision," she told them.From then on the three-and-a-half hour session became a standoff between the bulk of EU lawmakers denouncing Orban's "autocratic rule" -- and a hard-right minority who joined him in rejecting the accusations as "absurd".One by one Orban's critics let fly at the Hungarian leader. The message from Green co-leader Terry Reintke summed it up: "You are not welcome here," she told him.Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, speaking right after the Hungarian premier, denounced Budapest's hampering of Western efforts to arm Ukraine against Moscow's offensive."There is only one path to achieve a just peace for Ukraine and for Europe, we must continue to empower Ukraine's resistance with political, financial and military support," she said.- 'Propaganda show' -When Hungary assumed the EU's rotating six-month presidency in July, Orban went off script: embarking on an unsanctioned Ukraine "peace mission" to Kyiv, Moscow and Beijing that sparked fury in Brussels.Von der Leyen targeted Orban's eagerness to push for an early peace deal with Russia -- assailing those "who blame this war... not on Putin's lust for power, but on Ukraine's thirst for freedom".Speaking next, the leader of the conservative European People's Party Manfred Weber slammed Orban's trips as "a big propaganda show for the autocrats."Orban's rogue diplomacy prompted von der Leyen to order a de facto boycott of a string of meetings organised by Hungary's presidency, and his parliament address was twice delayed.The commission chief skewered Orban's tough talk on migration -- accusing his government of "throwing problems over your neighbour's fence". She described a Hungarian visa scheme for Russian nationals as "a back door for foreign interference".Dutch lawmaker Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy of the centrist Renew party depicted Orban as a character in a "bad movie" -- a "Mini-Me" to Putin, or former US president Donald Trump -- "who looks, talks and acts exactly like Dr Evil, but just sits on his lap".Hungarian opposition-leader-turned-MEP Peter Magyar lamented that Hungary under Orban's rule "has gone from a bright star to what is officially the poorest and most corrupt country in the European Union".- 'Political weapon' -Given a right of reply, Orban accused the EU chief of using the commission's power as a "political weapon" to attack Budapest. A Hungarian-led new group in the EU parliament, the Patriots for Europe, was being unfairly denied positions of authority, he said."We are never going to accept that European unity means that you tell us what to do and that we should keep quiet," he said.Patriots member Jorge Buxade Villalba rallied to Orban's defence, calling his speech "a breath of fresh air in this parliament".Since returning to lead his country in 2010, Orban has moved to curb civil rights and tighten his grip on power, repeatedly clashing with Brussels over rule-of-law concerns that led to the freezing of billions of euros of EU funds.But Orban has argued that hard-right electoral gains from Italy to the Netherlands and Austria -- and the rising influence of his Patriots -- show the political climate in Europe is slowly but surely shifting in his favour.And he may take comfort from the closing scene in the parliament -- where boos dominated, but Orban also received a standing ovation from the quarter of the hemicycle that has been controlled by the far right since June's EU elections.ec/raz/jj This thread is almost entirely copied from a thread that Blake Harms wrote. Some of you may have missed it over a holiday weekend. Clare Co. is the county north of Isabella Co. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) National Weather Service meteorologists confirmed it was a tornado that caused substantial damage in one Central Michigan community Friday. The tornado was rated by the NWS as an EF1 with maximum wind speeds of 95 mph, a path of 12 miles and a lifespan of 34 minutes. Parts of the Lake George community, southwest of Harrison, sustained the most damage. Clare County Emergency Management Director Jerry Becker told News 8 there were downed trees, power lines and flipped or sunken boats. Several cabins, outbuildings and garages also sustained damage from falling trees. In its report, the NWS said hundreds of trees were downed. Becker confirmed there were no reports of injuries or fatalities. Storm damage in Lake George on July 5, 2024. Courtesy Dean Bevacqua Storm damage in Lake George on July 5, 2024. Courtesy Alexis Weibel Storm damage in Lake George / Lincoln Township. Courtesy Clare County Emergency Management Storm damage in Lake George on July 5, 2024. Courtesy Dean Bevacqua Storm damage in Lake George on July 5, 2024. Courtesy Alexis Weibel Storm damage in Lake George on July 5, 2024. Courtesy Alexis Weibel Storm damage in Lake George on July 5, 2024. Courtesy Dean Bevacqua Storm damage in Lake George / Lincoln Township. Courtesy Clare County Emergency Management Storm damage in Lake George on July 5, 2024. Courtesy Dean Bevacqua Storm damage in Lake George / Lincoln Township. Courtesy Clare County Emergency Management Storm damage in Lake George on July 5, 2024. Courtesy Dean Bevacqua Storm damage in Lake George / Lincoln Township. Courtesy Clare County Emergency Management Storm damage in Lake George on July 5, 2024. Courtesy Dean Bevacqua Storm damage in Lake George / Lincoln Township. Courtesy Clare County Emergency Management Hundreds in the area lost power, though it had been restored by Saturday evening. Inside woodtv.com: Consumers Energy power outage map The storm prompted the NWS to issue a tornado warning based on radar-indicated rotation for east-central Clare County, including Lake George. That followed a severe thunderstorm warning that had been issued for the same area about a half hour earlier. The NWS survey determined it was a tornado after spending the afternoon investigating the damage. Heres the official National Weather Service summary on the tornado: The twister traveled through the county at an average speed of 21.1 mph. Also Friday PM thunderstorm wind damage was reported in Lucas (Wexford Co.) and in Gladwin. One-inch diameter hail was reported at Gladwin and at Red Oak in Ogemaw County. Elmira received 2 of rain. 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 WOODTV.com. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) National Weather Service meteorologists confirmed it was a tornado that caused substantial damage in one Central Michigan community Friday. The tornado was rated by the NWS as an EF1 with maximum wind speeds of 95 mph, a path of 12 miles and a lifespan of 34 minutes. Parts of the Lake George community, southwest of Harrison, sustained the most damage. Clare County Emergency Management Director Jerry Becker told News 8 there were downed trees, power lines and flipped or sunken boats. Several cabins, outbuildings and garages also sustained damage from falling trees. In its report, the NWS said hundreds of trees were downed. Becker confirmed there were no reports of injuries or fatalities. Storm damage in Lake George on July 5, 2024. Courtesy Dean Bevacqua Storm damage in Lake George on July 5, 2024. Courtesy Alexis Weibel Storm damage in Lake George / Lincoln Township. Courtesy Clare County Emergency Management Storm damage in Lake George on July 5, 2024. Courtesy Dean Bevacqua Storm damage in Lake George on July 5, 2024. Courtesy Alexis Weibel Storm damage in Lake George on July 5, 2024. Courtesy Alexis Weibel Storm damage in Lake George on July 5, 2024. Courtesy Dean Bevacqua Storm damage in Lake George / Lincoln Township. Courtesy Clare County Emergency Management Storm damage in Lake George on July 5, 2024. Courtesy Dean Bevacqua Storm damage in Lake George / Lincoln Township. Courtesy Clare County Emergency Management Storm damage in Lake George on July 5, 2024. Courtesy Dean Bevacqua Storm damage in Lake George / Lincoln Township. Courtesy Clare County Emergency Management Storm damage in Lake George on July 5, 2024. Courtesy Dean Bevacqua Storm damage in Lake George / Lincoln Township. Courtesy Clare County Emergency Management Hundreds in the area lost power, though it had been restored by Saturday evening. Inside woodtv.com: Consumers Energy power outage map The storm prompted the NWS to issue a tornado warning based on radar-indicated rotation for east-central Clare County, including Lake George. That followed a severe thunderstorm warning that had been issued for the same area about a half hour earlier. This embedded content is not available in your region. The NWS survey determined it was a tornado after spending the afternoon investigating the damage. 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 WOODTV.com. NYC hotels that converted into migrant shelters set to rake in over $1B in taxpayer funds: internal docs Hotels are set to easily rake in well over a billion dollars in taxpayer funds for turning their buildings into migrant shelters. Of the 193 migrant shelters being used by the city to house 65,300 individuals, 153 or nearly 80% are hotels, motels or inns, according to an internal document obtained by The Post. New York City is spending, on average, $160 per hotel room to house migrants, officials said, although some operators reportedly have banked more than $300 a night per room since migrants first began being bussed up from the southern border in spring 2022. The taxpayer tab for daily migrant shelter costs overall is $352 per household, according to the city. Through May 31, of the estimated $4.88 billion spent toward the migrant crisis, $1.98 billion went toward housing. Michael Nagle Through May 31, of the estimated $4.88 billion spent on the migrant crisis, $1.98 billion went toward housing, which includes the costs for hotels but also other shelters such as the sprawling tent cities at Floyd Bennett Field and Randalls Island, according to the Office of Management and Budget. Among the more staggering migrant shelter contracts is a $5.13 million-a-month deal between the 1,331-room Row NYC hotel in Midtown Manhattan and the citys Health + Hospitals agency, according to its June board of directors report. The Crowne Plaza JFK in South Jamaica, Queens, meanwhile, landed a $2 million a month deal for use of its 335 rooms, the report noted. William Shandler, a manager at Iron Bar located across from the Row hotel, said he and other businesses in the neighborhood were getting hit at both ends by the citys decision to house migrants in luxury hotels, which previously had been filled with customers. Our taxes are being used to pay for the migrants, and where are we supposed to make revenue? said Shandler. How as a business could we function? Of the 193 migrant shelters currently being used by the city to house 65,300 individuals, 153 or nearly 80% are hotels, motels or inns New York Post Hotels have taken more than 16,000 rooms off the market to house migrants, according to a November report by CoStar. And thats a problem, according to Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens), who said hotels were built for tourism not for sheltering the masses of people pouring over our borders every day. These locations were meant to boost the economy of this city, but instead theyve become a net drain and are costing us enormously, she added. The influx of city cash has propped up the hotel industry, which saw 21,000 new rooms alone come online in the four years prior to the pandemic, according to the citys Department of Planning. When travelers shunned New York City in 2020 during the pandemic, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio threw many hotel operators a financial lifeline by contracting shuttered commercial buildings to put up the citys homeless in individual rooms, versus crowded shelters. More than 16,000 hotel rooms have been taken offline to house migrants Robert Miller Mayor Eric Adams has continued this trend. The Post reported in September that the city extended a contract with the Hotel Association of New York City for three years with a stunning $1.3 billion price tag nearly five times the original amount of $275 million just for rental fees for housing migrants. The deal, however, can be cut short if the city finds it suddenly no longer needs the space. In January, the city inked a $76.69 million emergency contract with HANYC to provide migrant families last resort shelter at 15 hotels in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx through July. The groups president and CEO, Vijay Dandapani, insisted hes working with the city to ensure that the costs and commitments of housing migrants in its members hotels were as low as possible. Were proud of the work weve done as an industry to aid the city in its mission to care for asylum seekers who arrive in NYC, he said. Ken Girardin, research director at the watchdog Empire Center for Public Policy, said housing migrants is walloping taxpayers. The migrant crisis is a gash on state and local finances, and housing is where taxpayers are bleeding most, he said. Some of the Big Apples poorest ZIP codes are being forced to bear the greatest brunt of the citys migrant crisis including a Queens neighborhood saddled with more shelters than any other part of the five boroughs, internal data kept from the public but obtained by The Post reveal. Long Island City is home to a staggering 23 government-run migrant shelters 12% of the 193 operating in New York City, according to data tallied off a confidential list of shelter sites used by city agencies. The city dropped a bomb on us, said Queensbridge Houses resident Danny Beauford, whose 11101 ZIP code includes a 24th shelter in neighboring Astoria. The [migrants] are taking over. Theyre taking over all the parking with their 8,000 scooters. Theyre disrespectful peeing in front of everybody. We do that one time, and were going to jail for a long time. Hundreds of newly arrived migrants waiting outside Manhattans Roosevelt Hotel for assistance in July 2023. Getty Images Three of the top five most shelter-saturated ZIP codes which cover parts of the Jamaica, Queens and East New York, Brooklyn are among the poorest areas in New York City, with median incomes below $37,300, according to Data Commons. A Post analysis of an internal list of active shelters used by city agencies as of June 25 also found: Queens is home to 70 or 36% of the 193 shelters that currently host 65,300 migrants under city care. Another 49 shelters are in Manhattan, 44 in Brooklyn, 25 in The Bronx and five are on Staten Island. Jamaica is not too far behind LIC. Theres 13 shelters in the 11435 ZIP code that includes Jamaica and neighboring Briarwood; and another seven in the 11434 section of Jamaica. Manhattans 10036 ZIP code, which covers Midtown West, is home to eight shelters. 11207 in East New York has six. The 10467 (Williamsbridge, Bronx), 12206 (parts of Bushwick and Williamsburg, Brooklyn) and 11212 (Brownsville, Brooklyn) each have five. Mayor Eric Adams office on Saturday told The Post the number of city shelters is now up to 217, but declined to reveal the additional locations. None of the citys 193 migrant shelters reviewed by The Post are located in the top five ZIPs by median income in New York City, which covers Tribeca, Battery Park City and other parts of Lower Manhattan, as well as Lincoln Square, records show. Danny Beauford of the Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City, Queens said his community is bearing the brunt of NYCs migrant crisis more than any neighborhood in the five boroughs. They dropped a bomb on us, he said. Stephen Yang In LIC, the divide is especially stark, where the nearly two dozen shelters are clustered around two public housing projects. Yet the adjacent 11109 ZIP code in LIC a skyscraper-filled community that offers spectacular waterfront views of Manhattans skyline and has among the NYCs priciest real estate doesnt have a single shelter. Long Island City, Queens is home to a staggering 23 migrant shelters. Nearly all of them are clustered near two public housing projects. The 11101 ZIP code that includes this section of LIC has 24 shelters, tops in NYC. New York Post Theres 24 migrants shelters in the 11101 ZIP code that includes most of LIC. Two ZIP codes that include Jamaica, Queens are home to 20 shelters combined. New York Post Why are yall sending them here? wondered Shawarn Shields, one of 7,000 residents at Queensbridge, North Americas largest housing project. Send them to Fifth Avenue! Send them to Park Avenue, but they wont do that. Why are you sending where everyone is already living check to check? said Shields, 56. They aint living check to check in Manhattan. Theres 6 migrant shelters in 11207 ZIP code in East New York, Brooklyn. New York Post Theres eight migrant shelters in the 10036 ZIP code in the Midtown West and Clinton sections of Manhattan. New York Post Besides Queensbridge, this part of LIC is home to another 4,000 public-housing tenants at the nearby Ravenswood Houses. Residents at both New York City Housing Authority developments say theyre located so close to LICs mega-cluster of shelters that low-income NYCHA tenants typically find themselves competing with migrants for crucial services provided by the city and nonprofits. Long Island City is home to a staggering 23 government-run migrant shelters in the Big Apple. Helayne Seidman Beauford, 36, of Queensbridge, said lines at local food pantries to pick up healthy meals are now longer than historically long lines to collect welfare checks. People from the projects dont even get food, he said. [The migrants] come early and tie their little carts up to a gate to hold their spot; then people from the projects show up and are like whose carts are these?' Councilwoman Julie Won (D-Queens), who represents the neighborhood, attributed the long lines at the pantries to contracted city vendors supplying rotten and inedible food at some shelters. Councilwoman Julie Won (D-Queens), who represents LIC, said Mayor Eric Adams needs to do a better job providing resources to the neighborhood to deal with its influx of migrants. Ron Adar / M10s / MEGA Migrants outside a hotel-turned-migrant shelter at 37-10 10th St. in Long Island City. Helayne Seidman Local public schools are also exhausting resources trying to educate young migrants, who are far behind in their studies compared to other students of similar ages, and requests by Wons office for more resources from City Hall to help handle the new arrivals are routinely ignored, the councilwoman added. These shelters are being placed in the poorest part of communities, she said. [The Adams administration] needs to spread them out, so youre not hurting communities especially low-income communities. Nearly 80%, or 153, of the shelters documented in the confidential list are former hotels and other lodging establishments like The Roosevelt in Midtown that are being subsidized by taxpayer dollars. The others include houses of worship, recreation centers as well as controversial pop-up tent city complexes erected to house 3,000 migrants on Randalls Island; nearly 2,000 at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn; and another 1,000 outside Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens. The city had at least another 84 sites throughout the five boroughs operating as migrant shelters over the past two years that were closed as of two weeks ago, records show. At least three others, including the NYPDs former police academy building in Manhattan, serve as overflow sites to house migrants only when needed. Migrants awaiting service outside the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan. Robert Miller Migrants from Venezuela board a bus to New York City after being released from U.S. border patrol custody in El Paso, Texas. REUTERS Last year, Mayor Eric Adams attempted to curb the ballooning taxpayer costs to house migrants now roughly $2 billion of the nearly $5 billion total by capping how long newcomers could stay in public shelters. Migrant families now have 60 days to find permanent housing and single adults 30 days, but all can reapply to remain in shelters if unsuccessful. The Adams administration has routinely denied media requests for the locations of its migrant shelters, citing privacy concerns instead only revealing addresses for 15 designated as Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers that provide asylum seekers various social services, and leaving the public to figure out the rest on their own. Locations are prioritized based on how quickly they can be readied to house migrants, City Hall spokesperson Liz Garcia said, adding the city closed some shelters after contracts with providers expired and continues to open new locations as needed. As we continue to try to find safe, viable sites across all five boroughs, we are grateful for every community that has stepped up and welcomed temporary emergency sites, she said. And it is clear that our efforts are working, as we have already helped more than 65 percent of asylum seekers who have come into our care take the next steps in their journeys and move out of our shelter system as they seek to be self-sufficient. Councilwoman Joann Ariola, a Republican whose district in southern Queens is a hotspot for migrant moms who illegally hawk food and roads on highways, blamed the migrant mess on the Biden administration. The illegal migrant crisis should have never reached this point where we are stuffing people into any space we can, said Ariola. This is a result of massive mismanagement at the federal level, and now working-class people in Queens and Manhattan are shouldering the burden. Additional reporting by Matthew Sedacca and Claire Samstag New Yorkers sweltered through torrid temperatures and unbearable humidity for a third straight day on Sunday, capping off a weekend heat wave that set off searches for any breath of cool air during the Big Apples second sweaty spell this summer. Temperatures soared into the low 90s Sunday, with heat indexes rising into the mid-90s due to the oppressive humidity, according to the National Weather Service. Though humidity got stuck between 40% and 60% during the day, it was a far cry from Saturdays suffocating 90% humidity, which barely dropped below 60% leaving sweat-soaked city dwellers who stuck around for the Fourth of July weekend to endure a hazy sun beatdown in Union Square Park Sunday. The weather has been brutal the past few days and days going forward, groused 76-year-old chess player Tyrone William, who then shared his secret to serenity: I just have a ton of water and cool off on the buses with air conditioner. The city opened 44 public schools as cooling centers on Sunday, inviting residents tired of roasting in a heat wave to enjoy air conditioning from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The city also offered permanent cooling centers, such as libraries and community centers. As temperatures hit 90 degrees in Central Park on Sunday after two straight days of similarly blistering heat, the city notched its second official heat wave of the year. The swelter comes just over two weeks after the first hot spell this summer, which smothered the city in sweat from June 20 to 23 and again on June 25 and 26. Forecasters expected Monday to be even hotter, with heat indexes possibly reaching 95 across the region, according to the National Weather Service. Humidity was expected to remain in the uncomfortable 50% to 60% range, with temperatures sizzling in the high 80s and low 90s. Dont count on Tuesday for much relief either, with temperatures in the 80s and humidity again possibly hitting a swampy 90%; rain is possible in the late afternoon and into the night. Even as temperatures remained uncomfortabley sticky, the heat had little chance of breaking the the record high for July 7, which hit a scorching 100 degrees in 2010. City officials urged people throughout the five boroughs and nearby communities to check on those vulnerable to the heat. Last year, 350 New York residents died prematurely from preventable heat-related conditions, according to city statistics. But heat didnt stop resilient New Yorkers at Union Square. Its hot but [Im] having lots of water, lots of Gatorade, lots of electrolytes, said 67-year-old artist Scott Machens. The key is dont be a wimp. Its hard to be out here [but you] just have to toughen up a little bit. Also braving the heat was entrepreneur Saadiq Bliss, who was in the park promoting his photo booth rental service. Im just using my mind, keeping shade and staying hydrated, said Bliss, 52. The weather is just elements. You just got to adjust to whatever happens. The heat grief wasnt only felt in New York. An excessive heat warning from the National Weather Service covered 36 million people across the country on Sunday, about 10% of the entire U.S. population. Parts of Northern California also topped 100 degrees and the city of Redding set a new record with a temperature of 119 degrees. Intense, widespread and long-duration heat wave across the West is extremely dangerous and deadly if not taken seriously, the NWS warned in an online update. The multi-day length and record warm overnight temperatures will continue to cause heat stress to build in people without adequate cooling access. 'The Ohio runs red with blood!' The not-so-pretty tale of how Cincinnati became Porkopolis Cincinnati has long been called the Queen City, befitting its reputation for arts and culture. For a time, though, it was known by a less flattering nickname Porkopolis. The reason: Cincinnati was the nations busiest meatpacking city for several decades in the 19th century. Pigs ran through the streets. Slaughterhouses emitted offensive odors and streams of blood. Yet, most importantly, there were streams of profits. By 1850 Cincinnati was the principal hog market in the world, boasted the book They Built a City: 150 Years of Industrial Cincinnati, written by federal writers for the Works Progress Administration in 1938. Its no coincidence that in 1850 Cincinnati was the sixth largest city in the nation prosperity built on pork packing. Cincinnati is the city of pigs Cincinnati came by the sobriquet Porkopolis honestly. Richard Fosdick, the citys first meatpacker, discovered a curing process for pork using rock salt and opened a slaughterhouse on Deer Creek (now Eggleston Avenue) in 1810. The rock-salt curing became the cornerstone of the meatpacking business here. More farmers began using their land to raise pigs. Steamboats carried the cured meat all the way down to New Orleans. Soon canal boats were bringing in natural ice cut from rivers and lakes to be used for refrigeration. Yet the citizens were not so happy about the whole meatpacking process. They complained that drivers herded pigs through the streets. The hogs devoured garbage in the gutter and trampled peoples property. Then there were the ghastly realities of the slaughterhouses. An illustration of the Journey to the Slaughterhouse, depicting pigs being herded through the streets of Cincinnati, was published in Harpers Weekly, Feb. 4, 1860. As They Built a City put it: Deer Creek, often running red with slaughter, was a stinking cesspool. Citizens complained so vigorously that, with the opening of the Miami & Erie Canal, many of the abattoirs were removed to Brighton and the Mill Creek Valley, ostensibly to be closer to the canal and the stockyards, actually to avoid recurring complaints to city officials about slaughter-house odors. Another vivid description comes from Isabella Lucy Bird, who wrote in her 1856 travelogue, The Englishwoman in America: I must not close this chapter without stating that the Queen City bears the less elegant name of Porkopolis; that swine, lean, gaunt, and vicious-looking, riot through her streets; and that, on coming out of the most splendid stores, one stumbles over these disgusting intruders. Cincinnati is the city of pigs Huge quantities of these useful animals are reared after harvest in the corn-fields of Ohio, and on the beech-mast and acorns of its gigantic forests. At a particular time of year they arrive by thousands brought in droves and steamers to the number of 500,000 to meet their doom, when it is said that the Ohio runs red with blood! There are huge slaughterhouses behind the town, something on the plan of the abattoirs of Paris large wooden buildings, with numerous pens, from whence the pigs march in single file along a narrow passage, to an apartment where each, on his entrance, receives a blow with a hammer, which deprives him of consciousness, and in a short time, by means of numerous hands, and a well-managed caldron system, he is cut up ready for pickling. An illustration of the pork-packing industry in Cincinnati, by Henry Farny, 1873. The pork-packing process was not pretty. An 1873 lithograph illustration by Cincinnati artist Henry Farny depicts scenes of pigs being bled, washed and then hung and cut to be processed and salted. All parts of the animal were used, including rendering pig fat into lard. That byproduct spawned prosperous soap- and candle-making businesses, notably Procter & Gamble in 1837 and Emery in 1840. (Emery began with lard oil, then pivoted to real estate, such as building Carew Tower.) Our History: What if we had a subway? What if the Bengals moved? Alternate scenarios for Cincinnati Courthouse in a pork house The Hamilton County Courthouse at Court and Main streets was surrounded by slaughterhouses before they moved to Brighton. Gorham A. Worth, in his 1851 memoir, Recollections of Cincinnati, joked that the pigs were totally unfit to be used either as witnesses or jurors, and that their close connection with the court was peculiar, but the lawyers dont mind that, they are not a very scrupulous people. In 1849, the courthouse was destroyed in a fire. While a new building was constructed, an old pork house was used as a temporary courthouse. In his 1880 book, The Old Court House, Judge A.G.W. Carter wrote: The accommodations ... in the pork house court house were very commodious and convenient, bating their high elevation and the continued and continuous smell of pork about and around, which sometimes disturbed the olfactory nerves of the judges and the lawyers and the juries. The end of Porkopolis Cincinnatis reign as Porkopolis was ended by the railroads. With the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, the frontier expanded further west. The Great Plains were ample for farming livestock, and Chicago and Kansas City were more accessible by rail, thus more affordable options than transporting hogs to Cincinnati for processing. By 1885, Chicago had surpassed Cincinnati as the meatpacking capital. The flying pigs at the entrance of Bicentennial Park at Sawyer Point honor Cincinnatis past as Porkopolis. The memory of Cincinnatis porcine past was honored with bronze statues of pigs with wings placed at Bicentennial Commons at Sawyer Point in 1988. Sculptor Andrew Leicesters intent was a celebration of the role of hogs in the citys Porkopolis history, but many folks thought the figures were in poor taste. Over the years, Cincinnatians have grown to embrace the flying pig as a fun symbol of the city. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why is Cincinnati called Porkopolis? A history of 'the city of pigs' A new federal program provides families with school-age children up to $120 per child to help cover summer-time grocery costs. The assistance is not available statewide after Gov. Kevin Stitt rejected the aid. But families in parts of eastern and southern Oklahoma can still receive the aid after several Oklahoma tribes agreed to roll out the program on their reservations. A new summer food program helped feed at least one in six Oklahoma children in its first month, after several tribal nations stepped in to distribute federal aid rejected by the governor. The program pays families up to $120 per child to cover groceries while school is out of session. At least 160,000 school-age children were signed up for the assistance by June, according to numbers from three of the tribes involved. The U.S. Department of Agricultures Summer EBT program is a new effort to combat childhood hunger, which has become a growing issue in Oklahoma and elsewhere as food costs rise faster than paychecks. An estimated 16% to 23% of Oklahoma children experience food insecurity. But Gov. Kevin Stitt joined several Republican governors in declining to sign the state up to roll out the new Summer EBT assistance. His decision drew pushback and prompted Oklahomas largest tribes to distribute the benefits instead. How many children in Oklahoma are receiving free meals? The tribes involvement made the aid available to tens of thousands of children living across the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee and Seminole reservations, which cover Tulsa, Ardmore, Durant and most of eastern Oklahoma. Children who live in those areas and receive free and reduced lunch are eligible, regardless of whether or not they are tribal citizens. Their families can use the money to buy milk, cereal, eggs and other healthy foods. The Cherokee and Chickasaw nations are taking the lead on administering the benefits, with help from the three other tribes involved in the program and Hunger Free Oklahoma. The total number of children being served is likely higher than 160,000. That tally does not include any children living on the Chickasaw and Seminole reservations, for instance. Tony Choate, a spokesman for the Chickasaw Nation in Ada, said tribal officials planned to disclose that data at a later time. More: Tribe joins summer food program, expanding eligibility for thousands of Oklahoma kids The Osage Nation had also planned to distribute the Summer EBT aid throughout Osage County. But a technical issue made it impossible to offer the benefits this year, and Osage officials hope to launch next year instead, Teresa Bledsoe, the tribes secretary of social services, said in late May. When Stitt opted Oklahoma out of the program in January, he questioned how it would be administered and said the state had other resources to help families facing hunger. United for Oklahoma, a tribal advocacy group, has touted how tribes stepped in to take Oklahomas place. A 15-second commercial produced by the group features Bryan Warner, the deputy principal chief of the Cherokee Nation in Tahlequah. When the state decided to not reach out for certain types of funding, the tribes started to notice the void that we had, Warner says in the ad. Summer EBT is one of those ways that we can fill that gap, amongst many other things that the tribe does. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: After Oklahoma's governor rejects summer food aid, tribes step in FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) An Oklahoma woman was killed in a motorcycle crash on Friday morning in Franklin County, according to a crash report. A 2006 Harley Davidson was traveling southbound around 1:12 a.m. on State Highway 23 near Spirit Mountain Loop when it failed to negotiate a curve and left the roadway, hitting a ditch. Skateboarder dies after falling into traffic in Franklin County The passenger, Linda Bennett, 73, of Ninnekah, Okla., was killed in the crash. The driver was injured in the crash and taken to a hospital in Northwest Arkansas. Conditions were clear and dry at the time of the crash, according to the report. 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. One dead and two injured in shooting at downtown Columbus parking garage One person is dead and two are injured after a shooting early Sunday in downtown Columbus, according to authorities. Columbus police said they were dispatched around 12:16 a.m. to a parking garage in the 1000 block of Broadway where they found a man lying in the parking garage with gunshot wounds. The victim has been identified as 21-year-old Quentin Scott Jr., who was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:57 a.m., according to Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan. Police said two other people were shot during the incident and were transported to a local hospital for treatment. Both were listed in stable condition Sunday, according to police. Warrants were issued for Brandon Day, 21, for his involvement in Scotts death, according to police. Day is now in custody, according to police. Police said more arrests are expected. Police ask anyone with information about the shooting to contact Cpl. B. Jackson at 706-225-4409 or bobbyjackson@columbusga.org. One person was injured as a result of a shooting incident in Galesburg. According to a press release, on July 6 at approximately 11:48 p.m., the Galesburg Police Department responded to a report of a shooting on S. Cherry St. Upon arrival, officers found a victim of a gunshot wound in the street. Officers provided lifesaving treatment until medical personnel could arrive. The victim was identified as Mario Washington, 45. Washington was transported to St. Marys ER and then to St. Francis in Peoria. He remains in the hospital receiving treatment. An investigation indicates that the incident was the result of a dispute between Washington and another person. There is no evidence of an ongoing threat to the public. The investigation is ongoing, and charges are pending. The Galesburg Police Department was assisted by the Knox County Sheriffs Office, Warren County Sheriffs Office and Illinois State Police. Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact the Galesburg Police Department at (309) 343-9151 or the Galesburg Area Crime Stoppers at (309) 344-0044. 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 WHBF - OurQuadCities.com. One man killed, three others injured after two water vessels smash into each other in NYC One man was killed and three people were injured in a boating crash in Brooklyn, police said. One man was killed and three people were injured after two water vessels smashed into each other in Brooklyn sending the occupants flying, police said. The deadly incident happened after 11:50 a.m. near Plumb Beach, in the Gerritsen Creek waters, police said. A 58-year-old man, a 56-year-old man and a 45-year-old woman were on one craft and a 68-year-old man was on the second, the NYPD said. The 58-year-old man who had CPR administered at the scene was brought in critical condition to NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health, but later died, an NYPD spokesman told The Post. The deadly collision between two water vessels happened shortly after 11:50 a.m. near Plumb Beach, in the Gerritsen Creek waters, police said. ZUMAPRESS.com The 56-year-old man and 45-year-old woman were brought to Coney Island Hospital in stable condition, police said. The 68-year-old was treated at the scene for minor injuries, authorities said. The NYPD did not immediately say what caused the crash. Kevin C Downs forThe New York Post A 58-year-old man who had CPR administered at the scene was transported in critical condition to NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health, but succumbed to his injuries, an NYPD spokesman told The Post. ZUMAPRESS.com EMS transported a 56-year-old man and 45-year-old woman to Coney Island Hospital in stable condition, police said Kevin C Downs forThe New York Post The NYPD did not immediately indicate what caused the crash. There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing, the department spokesman said. TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) It has been two years since a Tampa Bay mom lost her 27-year-old son to a fentanyl overdose. Shes now raising awareness about the deadly dangers in her community. Willis returned to Siesta Beach on Saturday in memory of her son, Zachary. That was our last Mothers Day together, we hung out, we talked, it was really nice. We had Wawa hoagies and thats what I did today, said Willis. May of 2022 was the last time she saw her son. Zachary then moved to Colorado for a job. Seven weeks later we got the call that he had died from fentanyl poisoning, said Willis. Willis said Zachary purchased two oxycodone pills. He was only 27-years-old. His toxicology was off fentanyl and that one to kill 20 people, said Willis. Through Willis pain, shes determined to ensure no other mom has to go through this tragedy. Zacharys photo is now up on a South Tampa billboard to raise awareness of the dangers of fentanyl because she said one pill will kill. My heart just sank because I never thought that I would have to look at my son on a billboard about fentanyl, she said. Willis is tragically not the only grieving mother whos lost a child to fentanyl. Shes part of Rachels Angels, an organization that discourages kids and people from experimenting with drugs through education and awareness. We hand out free Narcan and try to pass awareness of the danger, she said. Even though two years have passed since Zacharys death, she still holds him close. I also wear his thumbprint here close to my heart, she said. Willis plans to head to Washington D.C. next week for the Lost Voices of Fentanyl rally. She will be marching in front of the White House to save lives in memory of her son. 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. Maj Gen Roddis is the most senior officer to be charged with sexual assault in centuries - DPA PICTURE ALLIANCE/ALAMY STOCK A special operations general has become the most senior officer in centuries to be charged with sexual assault. Maj Gen James Roddis, who recently left the British Army, is due to attend Bulford Military Court Centre late this month to enter a plea. Maj Gen Roddis, who was one of the pallbearers who helped carry Prince Philips coffin in 2021, has received a number of accolades over his military career. They include a Distinguished Service Order which is given for highly successful command and leadership during active operations. He was made an MBE and also earned two Queens Commendations for Valuable Service in 2008 and 2017. Until recently Maj Gen Roddis, who has been charged under Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, was the director of strategy for Strategic Command an organisation comprised of special forces and intelligence units with a focus on the cyber and electromagnetic domains. Maj Gen Roddis was one of the pallbearers at Prince Phillip's funeral in 2021 - LINKEDIN In 2014, Maj Gen Roddis was the commanding officer of The Highlanders, which consisted of troops from the 4th Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland, who were then the last Scottish battalion to serve in a combat role in Afghanistan. The last time a Major General faced court-martial was in 2021 when Maj Gen Nick Welch was convicted of fraud regarding school fees. Welch, who left the military in 2018, was convicted of a single fraud charge in March 2021 and was jailed for 21 months for falsely claiming more than 48,000 in allowances to pay for his childrens boarding school fees. It is unusual for an officer of Roddis rank to face court martial. In 1815 Sir John Murray, a Lieutenant General, was convicted of abandoning his siege guns without due cause in the Napoleonic wars. He was cautioned and denied permission to become a member of the Order of the Bath. Roddis case is expected to go to trial later this year before a jury of military officers, according to the Mail on Sunday. The 52-year-old married father of three was charged after the Service Prosecuting Authority, the military equivalent of the Crown Prosecution Service, reviewed his case. The Telegraph contacted Maj Gen Roddis for comment. An army spokesman said: We expect very high standards of behaviour from all our personnel and take any allegations of misconduct extremely seriously. Ex-Major General James Roddis will appear at Bulford Military Court Centre on 17th July 2024 charged with Sexual Assault contrary to Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. We will not offer further comment while legal proceedings are ongoing. 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. One seriously injured in Key West personal watercraft accident, fire department says One person was seriously injured in a personal watercraft crash off Key West on Saturday afternoon, according to Monroe County Fire Rescue. The crash happened around 12 p.m., according to dispatch records. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the police agency that investigates serious boat accidents, did not immediately respond to the Miami Heralds request for details about the crash. Kristen Livegood, spokeswoman for Monroe County Fire Rescue, said the departments Trauma Star helicopter ambulance transported the patient to a hospital on the mainland. Personal watercraft are small tandem boats more commonly referred to as Jet Skis, which is the brand name of a the version made by Kawasaki. This story will be updated as more information becomes available. One of Ukraine's wealthiest oligarchs left Ukraine using forged documents Ukrainska Pravda sources It has emerged that Hennadii Boholiubov, an associate of Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoiskyi and former co-owner of Ukrainian bank PrivatBank, left Ukraine illegally using forged documents. Source: Ukrainska Pravda sources in the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office and business circles Details: Boholiubov is known to have left Ukraine by the Kyiv-Chem train on the night of 23-24 June. This information had previously appeared on social media. Boholiubov fled because Ukraine's Economic Security Bureau had intended to serve him with a notice of suspicion in the PrivatBank case. [The PrivatBank case concerns allegations of financial misconduct and mismanagement at Ukraine's largest commercial bank which led to its nationalisation in 2016 due to significant financial losses ed.] Boholiubov left the country using forged documents, though he entered Poland using his personal ones. The businessman is now in Austria. Additionally, sources report that a Ukrainian border guard who assisted the businessman in fleeing to Poland was taken into custody on 6 July. For reference: Boholiubov is a Ukrainian businessman and billionaire. He is a co-founder and co-owner of the Privat group. The businessman is 62, which means he is not subject to mobilisation and therefore is not restricted by the travel ban. Background: In November 2020, the Commercial Court of Kyiv opened another case brought by former PrivatBank shareholder Hennadii Boholiubov in which he sought to reclaim the shares he held at the time of the bank's nationalisation. Boholiubov had previously filed numerous claims attempting to recover the shares in PrivatBank that he owned before it was nationalised. On 4 December 2018, a court in the UK issued a worldwide freezing order over assets owned by Kolomoiskyi and Boholiubov. Support UP or become our patron! While the debate over Joe Bidens future has raised many questions, it has made one thing much clearer. It is time for Americans to get used to the idea of President Kamala Harris. Democrats who believe that their party should stay the course with Biden as candidate frequently make the argument that if it became impossible for him to continue with the campaign or as president, Harris would be ready to assume the reins of power. A widely circulated Google document, entitled Unburdened by What Has Been: The Case for Kamala, has caused quite a stir among Democrats and on social media. The buzz around Kamala may only increase given the distinctly lukewarm-to-negative response to Bidens ABC News interview Friday night, which, far from reassuring his supporters, has done little to silence calls for him to withdraw from the race. Anonymous Case for Kamala Harris Memo Goes Viral Among Democrats For her part, Harris has loyally reinforced the image of the strengths of the team by offering strong support for the president, both in public and in private, as on last weeks White House staff call to ease fears, and firm up a common message concerning the current controversy. For those who think it is time to move on from Biden, once again, Harris is the leading answer. A recent CNN poll suggested that a substantial majority of Americans believe Democrats would have a better chance of beating Trump without Biden, while Harris performed slightly better than Biden in a hypothetical matchup with Trump. Other polls have shown similar results. Harris has notable advantages over other candidates: She is already vice president and offers continuity with the current administration, so it would be easier for her to maintain access to funds raised for the Biden-Harris campaign; she has strong and growing support from party leaders; and she is already the acknowledged leader within the administration on issues likely to be decisive in the campaign, such as womens reproductive freedom. Indeed, while Harris got off to a low-key start as vice presidentin part because some close to Biden made the mistake of too tightly limiting her responsibilities during the first years of the administrationin the past year, she has enjoyed great success with a much higher profile role. For those, like me, who have followed her tenure as vice president closely, this came as little surprise. She has already distinguished herself on a wide range of issues: Harris has opened up important dialogue with countries at our southern border to reduce immigration flows at the source; she has been a leading voice for creating a plan for the day after in Gaza; she has helped to maintain support among our allies for the administrations Ukraine policy; she has engaged actively on next-generation technology issues; and she has supported tougher gun control laws while serving as an exceptionally effective champion on womens issues and on issues pertaining to communities of color. I have watched the vice president take wide-ranging questions in small group settings, and it has long been clear to me that she has not only mastered her brief but that she has grown more comfortable expressing herself in her own voice, becoming a powerful communicator. She can also do one thing that many politicians do not do welllistenwhile at the same time drawing on the skills she developed as a prosecutor and a senator to serve as an advocate. U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris raise their hands as they stand on a White House balcony with first lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff during an Independence Day celebration in Washington, U.S., July 4, 2024. Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters For all the above reasons, it should be obvious that if Biden remains in the race, Harris will have to play a bigger role in the campaign. If he drops out, she is by far his most likely successor. In fact, right now, of the 333 million people in the United States, she is one of just three with a good chance of becoming the next president. This is partly, of course, because she is the next in line to the presidency. The current debate about Bidens age and health have brought an uncomfortable issue more into open conversation. America has never had a president as old as Biden, and he is facing a next term that would continue until he was 86 years of age. It is not unreasonable to assume, therefore, that Harris might be called on to assume the presidency at some point temporarily or permanently. For all these reasons, supporters of Biden and the Democrats are not the only ones who find themselves seriously weighing Harris ability to serve as president. Donald Trump is also now taking shots at her, a clear sign that he sees her candidacy as a threat. In a leaked video, he is seen attacking her. He also went after her on social media with one of the juvenile nicknames he gives those with the temerity to challenge him, and with a snide crack about a relationship she had with a California politician. Harris is in many ways Trumps worst nightmare as a rival candidate. He knows that ever since the Dobbs decision, election after election has gone to the Democrats, even in red states. The fact that his administration stripped away fundamental freedoms from women, Americas majority population, is bad enough. Were he to have to run against a woman who is one of the countrys most effective communicators on womens issues, it would surely give her an edge at the ballot box. Further, it does not help that Trump is not only the man behind the end of Roe v. Wade, but he is also an adjudged rapist and serial sex abuser who has recently been implicated in more horrors by the release of records associated with the case against his one-time friend, the pervert, pedophile, and sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. In short, Trump is a disgusting pig with the most anti-woman record of any major politician in U.S. history. Running against a woman now would be a disaster for him. While there are those who may argue against Harris candidacy because of the historical misogyny of American voters, that case seems to have faded in recent years. While Trump did beat Hillary Clinton in 2016, it is important to remember she won the popular vote. Further, of course, America finally did elect a woman on a national ticket in 2020Harris. Then there are all those races post Dobbs that have mobilized women nationwide as an even more effective voting block. And there is, as noted, the fact that since being elected in 2016, Trump has lost a legal case in which a jury concluded, in the view of the judge in that case, that Trump was a rapist. Perceptions about Harris have been evolving, and appreciation for her has been growing for some time now. But the post-debate debate about Bidens future has dramatically accelerated those reassessments. If Biden remains in the race, Vice President Harris will have to play a much bigger role in the campaign. Inevitably, given that discussions about his age will remain central from now until election day, consideration of her role as a potential successor will over the next few months grow even more intense. If he drops out, of course, she is the one most likely to be the Democratic nominee for president. If Biden wins, given his age, there will be a sense of fragility that will give her vice presidency unusual weight. If Harris runs, given Trumps grotesque defects and her strengths, she has a very good chance of winning. Even if Biden does not win, Harris will remain atop the very short list of potential Democratic candidates for president in 2028. (Since Truman, every Democratic vice president but one has ultimately become the partys presidential candidate.) Which means that the prospect and promise of a Kamala Harris presidency is likely to be with us for a very long time. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher. Professor Stephen J. Ducat, author of the Substack Minding Politics, joins The New Abnormal podcast to talk about how critical group identification is in the MAGA belief system, which he explores in his new book Hatreds We Love: The Psychology of Political Tribalism in Post-Truth America. Ducat tells The New Abnormals co-host Andy Levy that he was compelled to write the book so he could better understand why people voted against their own self-interest and elected Donald Trump in 2016. I was just plagued as a professor, a writer, a thinker, a psychoanalyst, how it was that people could act against their own material self-interest and then it kind of dawned on me watching Donald Trump and watching the delirious adoration with which he was greeted. It just occurred to me that there is this drive that is in some ways so powerful that people will kill and die for it, which is to preserve our status in the group, he said. Epistemology is about truth, but the post-truth moment that we are part of and that is characteristic of the MAGA cult, and I might add Putins Russia, is that you cant really know whats true. That experts cant be trusted. That facts cant be disentangled from fiction. And that ultimately the only thing that you can hang onto is what the leader says. That the leader tells us what is really true and he or she defines reality. Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. I looked at Trump and I saw a charmless moron who didnt understand the world and who was kind of a treasonous con man. Yet thats not how half the country saw him, Ducat said. Understanding the tribe and understanding right-wing tribes means understanding an autocratic leader because right-wing tribalism is so much tied in with the role of an authoritarian or autocratic leader. So the very things that you and I might find repellent his corruption, for example, is part of what his followers adore about him, because his brand is impunity. You know, the fact that hes been openly corrupt, hes a liar, racist, sadistic, and has never until relatively recently been held to account or pay a significant price and it still remains to be determined if that is actually gonna happen. Those qualities of impunity, his followers find powerfully seductive and admirable. Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has revealed his impressions of his trip to Moscow to meet with Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin, promising future "surprise meetings". Source: Orban in an interview with Roger Koppel, editor-in-chief of the Swiss website and weekly Die Weltwoche, known for its pro-Russian stance, as reported by European Pravda Details: Orban described his meeting with Putin as "special" because "you can imagine behind him what he is ruling". Quote from Orban: "You mentioned the warheads, but you know, the territory, the people, the whole enormous geographic treasury, what they have. So its a real empire. A man who rules a real empire." According to Orban, the trip to meet Putin was planned in strictest secrecy. The Hungarian Prime Minister said he had kept it a secret as long as possible. Orban added that more "surprise meetings" could take place next week, but did not specify who he would be meeting. Russian ruler Vladimir Putin hosted Orban in the Kremlin on 5 July for talks and discussions on Ukraine, among other things. He started the meeting by mentioning an ultimatum for Kyiv. Orban said that after his visits to Moscow and Kyiv, he realised that the positions of both sides regarding the war of aggression unleashed by Russia "are very far apart". Support UP or become our patron! Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is seeking to shift the West's attention towards possible peace talks, contrary to statements by Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, in order to undermine European support for Ukraine, writes the Institute for the Study of War. Source: ISW Details: Analysts observe that Orban is continuing to present himself as a potential mediator to settle the war in Ukraine, despite the fact that Putin has rejected mediation and meaningful negotiations. The report suggests that Orban is likely attempting to redirect Western attention to potential peace negotiations as part of his efforts to erode European support for Ukraine. In an article published in Newsweek, Orban accused NATO of prioritising fighting above peace, claiming that NATO was founded to safeguard peace. Orban's article was published following his visits to Kyiv and Moscow, when he urged Russia and Ukraine to begin negotiations. Experts believe Orban's steps to move the negotiations along are part of his continuous efforts to divert Europe's focus away from discussions about military backing for Ukraine and towards peace talks. Experts recall that Orban has consistently opposed and undermined the European Union's efforts to offer military support to Ukraine, and Europe's turn away from military assistance contributes to this broader purpose now that Hungary holds the EU Council chair. "Orbans and others' calls for negotiations and Ukraine's peace formula are distinct efforts with different aims, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has demonstrated that he is not interested in any negotiated agreements short of Ukraine's capitulation," the report says. Analysts also emphasise that Ukraine's capacity to continue its own peace process is dependent on its ability to liberate the key territories outlined in the operational plan. Ukraine cannot conduct successful counter-offensive actions in support of this goal without the West's military assistance in the near and medium term. To quote the ISWs Key Takeaways on 6 July: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban continues to posture himself as a potential mediator to end the war in Ukraine despite Putin's rejection of mediation or serious negotiations. Orban is likely aiming to shift Western focus towards possible peace negotiations as part of his overarching effort to undermine European support for Ukraine. Orban and others' calls for negotiations and Ukraine's peace formula, are distinct efforts with different aims, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has demonstrated he is not interested in any negotiated agreements short of Ukraine's capitulation. Ukrainian forces struck energy infrastructure in Krasnodar Krai with drones on the night of 5 to 6 July. Iran announced on 6 July that Iran and Russia signed a bank agreement on 4 July enabling Russia and Iran to trade in the Russian rouble and Iranian rial. The Russian government continues efforts to isolate the Russian people from material it considers antithetical to state interests and ideology. Russian forces recently advanced near Kupyansk, Siversk, Toretsk, and Avdiivka. Russian federal subjects (regions) continue to increase monetary incentives to recruit contract soldiers (kontraktniki). Support UP or become our patron! I was a student in the late 2000s when I had my first brush with cancel culture. A campus group had invited Nick Griffin a racist Holocaust denier and leader of a fascist British political party to speak. Many shocked students, including me, called Griffins views vile and warned that violent extremists might come to support him. Eventually, the group rethought the invitation and canceled the event. Thank heavens. No ones speech had been denied. Others exercised their own. Yet a few short years later, campus protests such as these became detested by right-wing politicians, who produced countless diatribes against woke mobs and the free speech crisis on campus. Then they launched a war on campus speech and beyond. Protests have never been a threat to speech it is free speech. What weve learned is that the real danger is inequality. Consider the recent campus protests against Israels war on Gaza and U.S. support for it. Conservative politicians whod thrown fits over free speech on campus cheered as police officers roughed up and arrested student protesters. Some even called to deploy the National Guard, which infamously murdered four Kent State students during the Vietnam era. Meanwhile, billionaire CEOs such as Bill Ackman led campaigns to out students whod participated in the protests and blacklist them from employment, according to CNN. Cynically casting these often Jewish-led protests as antisemitic, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., hauled several university presidents before Congress to answer for why the protests hadnt been shut down more brutally. When University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill feebly defended the First Amendment, a $100 million donor complained, and Magill was compelled to resign. Under similar donor pressure, Harvard President Claudine Gay followed suit. And Stefanik? She raked in campaign cash. Of course, high-end donors are also shaping what can and cant be said inside the classroom. Corporate and billionaire-backed groups have poured enormous sums into backing laws that ban books, restrict what history can and cant be taught, and severely curtail classroom instruction on race, gender or sexuality. Many public libraries and universities face defunding for carrying materials these billionaire-backed politicians dont like. And in some red states, teachers and school librarians may now face felony charges for running afoul of state censors. In other cases, the public square is falling under sustained assault from extreme wealth. For example, after spending a fortune to buy Twitter, billionaire Elon Musk proclaimed himself a free speech absolutist and promptly eliminated nearly all content moderation. But perhaps absolutist was a relative term. As threats and hate speech predictably flooded the platform, Musk threatened a thermonuclear lawsuit against a watchdog group that cataloged the growing trend. He also appeared to suspend journalists who covered him critically. A parallel problem has played out more quietly in local news, with beleaguered American newspapers outnumbered by dark money news sites, which peddle misinformation while posing as local news outlets, according to NewsGuard. Lying, of course, is usually protected speech. But when its backed by big money and linked to a sustained, state-backed assault on speech to the contrary, then weve badly warped the field on which free speech is supposed to play out. Similarly, when the Supreme Court rules that cash payments are free speech, those of us with less cash have less free speech. Extreme inequality threatens our First Amendment right to speak freely and to assemble together and petition our representatives. Alongside real campaign finance reform and anti-corruption laws, higher taxes on billionaires and corporations would leave them with less money to spend warping our politics, classrooms and public squares. So would stronger unions that can win pay raises and social movements that protect their communities from retribution. If we want equal rights to speech, we need a more equal country. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrives on the first day of a two-day EU summit in Brussels. A two-day EU summit began in Brussels on Tuesday, where EU leaders will address a range of political and economic issues, including the war in Ukraine, and are expected to approve the names of candidates for top posts in EU institutions. Jaroslav Novak/TASR/dpa A new far-right alliance in the European Parliament, launched just a week ago by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has enough parties to achieve group status. The Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV), Belgium's Vlaams Belang and the Danish People's Party announced their intention to join the alliance over the weekend. Their declaration means seven countries are now represented in the alliance called Patriots for Europe, an important condition to form a parliamentary group in the EU legislature. As well as representing a quarter of EU countries, a political group must have 23 EU legislators, according to European Parliament rules. It is not permitted to belong to more than one group. Orban's Fidesz party, Austria's far-right Freedom Party and the Czech ANO party were the first members the Patriots for Europe alliance when it was first announced. The group's manifesto has the usual far-right focus on retaining national sovereignty vis-a-vis the European Union, fighting illegal migration and pushing back EU measures to reduce climate change. Many of the parties in the Patriots for Europe were previously with the far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group, dominated by Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) party from France. Le Pen did not want to comment on possible membership of the new right-wing alliance until Monday, the day after the second round of the French parliamentary elections. The addition of the RN would the allow the Patriots for Europe group to become the third-strongest parliamentary group behind the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) and the centre-left Social Democrats (SD), overtaking the other right-wing group, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). So far, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which was kicked out of the ID group during the recent European Parliament elections, has declined to join the Patriots for Europe. The shifting right-wing alliances add an element of uncertainty before the EU legislature's first sitting in July to elect Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as president of the European Commission. Von der Leyen is currently trying to build a coalition of votes to secure a majority and has courted ECR support. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrives on the first day of a two-day EU summit in Brussels. A two-day EU summit began in Brussels on Tuesday, where EU leaders will address a range of political and economic issues, including the war in Ukraine, and are expected to approve the names of candidates for top posts in EU institutions. Jaroslav Novak/TASR/dpa Orban says Putin has low expectations for ceasefire before serious peace talks Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that Russian President Vladimir Putin told him he did not have positive expectations of enacting a ceasefire agreement before serious peace talks begin. Orban relayed the comments in an interview published July 7 with the editor-in-chief of the Swiss outlet Die Weltwoche. "He said that he did not have positive expectations about (such a ceasefire.) Zelensky said that he did not have positive expectations because the Russians would use it against Ukraine, and Putin - that the Ukrainians would use this pause against Russia," Orban said. Orban visited Putin in Moscow on July 5, just days after meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. His trips came shortly after Hungary acquired the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. Many European officials expressed anger at Orban's visit to Moscow, and the European Union Council President Charles Michel said that Hungary "has no mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU." Ukraine's Foreign Ministry echoed the sentiment, saying that "the decision to make this trip was made by the Hungarian side without the agreement or coordination from Ukraine." The meeting in Moscow had not been shared with Western allies until immediately before the visit. During the same interview, Orban said there would be more "unexpected meetings." Hungary has remained Russia's closest ally within the EU and has repeatedly opposed Ukraine's accession to NATO and the EU, opposed sanctions on Russia, and undermined Western aid efforts for Ukraine. Read also: Orban arrives in Moscow days after Kyiv trip, meets Putin Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. For years to come, constitutional scholars and historians will note the irony of the Supreme Courts defiance of its own intellectual platform in rendering a decision in Trump v. United States, on the eve of the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, that creates out of whole cloth the dangerous doctrine of executive immunity in service of an imperial presidency. The very concept of clothing the American presidency with protection that placed the English king above the law, was rebuked by the framers of the Constitution, who sought, in the words of James Madison, to confine and define presidential power. The Supreme Courts ruling rejected the wisdom and vision of Madison and the other delegates in the Constitutional Convention and infused the presidency with unconfined and undefined authority. In its most consequential ruling on presidential power in the nations history the court, in a 6-3 decision, set the Constitution on its head in holding that the president enjoys absolute immunity from criminal prosecution in the exercise of core constitutional powers, and in the process revived the harpies of monarchical power that compelled the countrys founders to declare independence and launch the American Revolution, in large part because of the English kings injuries and usurpations that led to the establishment of tyranny. The Courts ruling before the 4th of July holiday, the celebration of which in public schools includes reminders of the kings offenses against the colonists, tosses aside the exalted American principle that no man is above the law in exchange for a judicial invention that the president possess immunity from criminal prosecution when the courts say he possesses it. Grounded on the false premise textually, historically and logically that an American president requires immunity in order to perform the duties of the office, the courts decision will leave the nation to engage in a guessing game on the question of when the president is exercising official versus unofficial acts, whether the acts in question are core or peripheral in nature, whether the acts are a function of an ignoble purpose and whether the president might engage in a criminal act that can be saved from scrutiny by simply, and cynically, calling it official. The ruling loosens the restraints of the Constitution and the criminal justice system on the American presidency, and recalls the dire warnings of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, against converting the chains of the Constitution into ropes of sand. The Courts interest in protecting the presidency from prosecution represents a rebuke to both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. James Wilson, second in importance only to Madison as an architect of the Constitution, and chair of the Constitutional Conventions powerful Committee on Detail, assured Americans that the prerogatives of the Crown are of no guide to this Republic, and laid bare the Framers commitment to severing every tie to monarchical authority, including the precious protection for the king from prosecution. To a man, delegates to the convention were dedicated to establishing the rule of law, not the creation of an embryonic monarchy. Wilson declared of the newly minted presidency: not a single privilege is annexed to his character; far from being above the laws, he is amenable to them in his private character as a citizen, and in his public character by impeachment. This ringing endorsement of the exalted principle that, in America, all men are equal in the eyes of the law, meant that Chief Justice John Marshall, presiding over the treason trial of Aaron Burr in 1807, held that a subpoena could issue to President Jefferson, to come before a court of justice, as it could to all other citizens. The Courts decision to engraft upon the Constitution presidential immunity from prosecution represents, not an originalist, but rather an activist approach to constitutional interpretation. An originalist method would begin with the text of the Constitution, but the Court doesnt cite the text because there is no mention of immunity, and the justices dont cite any of the debates in the Constitutional Convention, the second pillar of originalism because no delegate to the Convention entertained the idea of immunity for the presidency. At bottom, the Court has invented a dangerous doctrine that finds no foundation in the architecture of the Constitution and is antithetical to the principles of democracy. David Adler, Ph.D., is president of The Alturas Institute, created to defend American democracy by advancing the Constitution, civic education, equal protection and gender equality. WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, N.C. (WNCN) Lifeguards along the North Carolina coast were busy over the July 4th holiday week as over 165 people were rescued from rip currents in three days. According to the National Weather Service office in Wilmington, in New Hanover County alone there were over 160 rip current rescues from Wednesday to Friday. The highest number of rescues happened in Wrightsville Beach on Friday, when 60 were reported there by lifeguards. Further south in the same county on the same day, 13 were reported at Carolina Beach and six at Kure Beach. The total in New Hanover County that day was 79, according to NWS Wilmington. On Independence Day, Carolina Beach had the highest number of rip current rescues with 35, while Wrightsville Beach reported 27. NWS Wilmington said the total number of rescues in New Hanover County on Thursday was 70. Further north, NWS Newport/Morehead City said two rip current rescues were reported at North Topsail Beach in Pender County and one at Coquina Beach in the Outer Banks on July 4. The day before the holiday, 17 rip current rescues were made at Carolina Beach, NWS Wilmington said. Over the three days, a total of 87 rescues from rip currents were reported at Wrightsville Beach and 65 at Carolina Beach. 2 NC beaches voted among most dog-friendly in the U.S. in 2024 Dangerous rip currents remain along the North Carolina coast, impacting many of the states most popular beaches during one of the busiest weekends of the summer. On Saturday, beach hazards statements have been issued along the coast until 8 p.m. According to NWS Newport/Morehead City, dangerous rip currents could affect beaches from Oregon Inlet to Surf City. NWS Wilmington has also issued a warning for coastal Pender and New Hanover counties in North Carolina and coastal Georgetown County in South Carolina for a strong south to north longshore current as well as a moderate risk of rip currents. Beachgoers should check for flags before entering the water or check with lifeguards for potential ocean hazards. If caught in a rip current, swimmers should swim in a direction following the shoreline or float or tread water until out of the rip current. If escape from a rip current isnt possible, swimmers should face the shore and call or wave for help. 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. The Capitol building in Harrisburg on July 6, 2024 (Capital-Star photo by Ian Karbal) Pennsylvania Capitol Police briefly evacuated the Capitol Complex and Judicial Center on Saturday, after all members of the state House and Senate received an emailed bomb threat. As first reported by PennLive, lawmakers received an email shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday from someone claiming to have hidden explosives in and around the buildings, in the name of Palestine. The message threatened to trigger one device every few hours until President Joe Biden goes on national television and publicly denounces the illegitimate state of Israel. The sender of the email claimed to be inside one of the buildings armed with a knife. Eric Veronikis, communications director with the Pennsylvania Department of General Services said in a statement Saturday night that Capitol Police did not find any explosives during a search of the building with K9 units. Capitol Police and the FBI are still actively conducting a comprehensive search and investigation in coordination with the Pennsylvania State Police, House and Senate security, and the Dauphin County Sheriffs office to ensure the safety of the area, according to the statement. Earlier in the day, both the House and Senate had canceled their planned Sunday sessions; neither was in session on Saturday, although some legislative staff were in the Capitol building. Lawmakers are still negotiating a state budget, which is a week past the June 30 deadline. On Sunday, Veronikis sent a follow-up statement: Following a comprehensive search, Capitol Police, federal, state, and local authorities determined there was no credible threat and the buildings were cleared to reopen. This article was updated at 2 p.m. July 7, 2024 with additional information. The post Pa. Capitol Complex in Harrisburg briefly evacuated Saturday following bomb threat appeared first on Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Comprehensive search of Capitol underway by police, FBI following threat; K9 perimeter search finds no explosives HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) The State Capitol Complex was evacuated Saturday evening after more than 250 House and Senate members received an email from an individual who claimed they had placed explosive devices throughout the complex and was armed with a knife. A spokesperson for the House Democratic Caucus confirmed to abc27 News that everyone inside the State Capitol was notified to evacuate the building immediately. Capitol Police are currently searching it with K9 units, according to an abc27 photojournalist on-scene. Kaylee Lindenmuth / abc27 News The email, which was sent at roughly 5:45 p.m. and titled My manifesto, claimed that highly lethal lead azide devices were hidden around the State Capitol and Pennsylvania Judicial Center in the name of Palestine. The email claimed the devices would be triggered every few hours until Joe Biden appeared on television and denounced Israel. This comes less than 24 hours before President Joe Biden is expected to visit the Harrisburg area. Capitol Police said no explosives were found following a K9 search of the complex. Capitol Police and the FBI are still actively conducting a comprehensive search and investigation in coordination with the Pennsylvania State Police, House and Senate security, and the Dauphin County Sheriffs Office to ensure the safety of the area, the department said in a statement. 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 ABC27. 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 Thirteen people died and dozens of others have been injured, most of them women and children, in an aerial attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the centre of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Saturday. The agency cited local sources, who attributed the attack to Israeli forces. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have not as yet commented, and the report could not be independently verified. The building struck in the attack is reported to be a former school, which has been used as a shelter for families who have fled their homes elsewhere in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war in October last year. In its most recent update, the Hamas-controlled health authority reported that at least 38,098 people had been killed in the Gaza Strip and a further 87,705 injured since the war began. The figures include both combatants and civilians. At least 87 people were killed in the past two days, according to the authority. Earlier, the IDF said they were continuing operations in several areas of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army said several armed Hamas members who had attacked soldiers were killed in the neighbourhood of Shejaiya in the city of Gaza. In an operation launched at the end of June, soldiers also discovered tunnels and longer-range rockets which indicate "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 still being fired at Israel from the coastal area despite the ongoing Israeli offensive there. 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. 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 Palm Beach officials have a stern warning for short-term and vacation rental, timeshares and fractional-ownership homes: Not here. Town Attorney Joanne O'Connor outlined the rules for the Town Council recently, after Council President Bobbie Lindsay asked for clarification on where and how vacation rentals and timeshares may be allowed in Palm Beach. When it comes to short-term and vacation rentals, such as those listed with services like Airbnb and Vrbo, they are not allowed in residential zoning districts, O'Connor told the council during the June 11 meeting. And fractional-ownership or timeshare properties are not consistent with the town's code at all, she said. Such uses are not consistent with Palm Beach's longstanding rules and definitions for residential uses, O'Connor said. Palm Beach town officials recently affirmed that vacation, short-term rental, timeshares and fractional ownership properties are not allowed in most areas of the town. Some of the concerns raised by council members and commenters during the meeting involved an up-and-coming co-ownership service named Pacaso, founded in 2020 by real estate and technology entrepreneur Austin Allison and former Zillow chief executive Spencer Rascoff. Pacaso's online marketplace allows those seeking second homes to buy a percentage of a luxury property. At the time of the June 11 meeting, several Palm Beach homes for sale were included on Pacaso's marketplace, which "curates luxury listings with premium amenities and high-end contemporary interior design," according to the company's website. The prices listed on Pacaso were based on anywhere from an eighth to a half-stake of ownership, O'Connor told the council. Owners have a maximum number of days they can visit the property, depending on what percentage of the property they own, which would create a constant turnover of people, Lindsay said. "You're getting a lot of choppy use by these eight owners and their families," O'Connor said, noting that the maximum length of stay is 14 nights, and owners cannot have back-to-back stays. In a letter to Pacaso, O'Connor affirmed that the company's use structure is not permitted in any residential districts in Palm Beach, and the timesharing use is not allowed in any residential district except one, on the South End, where the use would require a special exception. While Florida's laws prevent local governments from discriminating against different forms of ownership, O'Connor said that wouldn't be the case here. Instead, the permitted use in Palm Beach's residential zoning districts is limited to a single family. The town defines a family as an individual or group of people who don't have to be related but who live together as a single "housekeeping unit," she said. The town's zoning code also says that a family can't live in a home for "not less than three months" which O'Connor also cited as the reason why short-term and vacation rentals are not compatible with Palm Beach's rules. Vacation and short-term rentals are allowed as part of the town's condominium-hotel use, she said. "I think there's a good argument that in the alternative, even if this were an allowed use in our residential zoning district, that at a minimum, it's a timeshare use," O'Connor said of Pacaso. "If it walks like a duck and it talks like a duck, it's gonna be a duck," Council President Pro Tem Lew Crampton said of the differences between the co-ownership model and timeshare uses. O'Connor sent the letter to Pacaso soon after the June 11 meeting. As of July 1, homes in Palm Beach have been removed from the marketplace. In a statement emailed to Palm Beach Daily News, John Choi, Pacaso's senior director of public affairs, confirmed that Pacaso does not own or operate any homes in Palm Beach. "Pacaso remains committed to working collaboratively with all municipalities across the country to educate stakeholders on the benefits of our co-ownership model," Choi said. Short-term rental bill vetoed A bill that would have given the state more control over short-term rentals while pre-empting local governments would not have affected Palm Beach, O'Connor told the council. Gov. Ron DeSantis on June 27 vetoed the bill, SB 280, which would have granted the state any power for licensing and regulating vacation rentals. Some municipalities, including Wellington, require short-term and vacation rentals to register as a business and obtain a permit or license to operate. Had DeSantis signed the bill, anything not addressed before 2016 would be pre-empted by the state, O'Connor said. Palm Beach's rules would not have been affected, she said. Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach says no to short-term rentals and timeshares in many areas Revised plans to redevelop the historic Paramount Theatre Building will be presented to the Town Council again at its development review meeting Wednesday. Heeding direction from council members who expressed concerns about traffic, density and other impacts at three previous meetings this year, representatives will present their latest vision for the nearly century-old property, which Palm Beach resident Lester Woerner and his son, Trent, bought in 2021. Discussion is set to begin at 2 p.m. The Woerners paid $14 million for the Paramount property through their holding company, Woerner Holdings LP. They said they plan to rehabilitate the landmarked building, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. "I had a passion when I acquired it to restore it back to its grandeur and have an opportunity for the people of Palm Beach to be able to come to events here," Woerner told the Daily News in January. Plans for the redevelopment of the Paramount Theatre have been revised numerous times during the past several years. Woerner and his team originally planned a major renovation of the 40,000-square-foot theater, as well as an extensive redevelopment of the surface parking lot directly to the south. A man walks a dog along Sunrise Avenue near the Paramount Theatre Building in this file photo. Revised plans to redevelop the historic property will be presented to the Town Council Wednesday. Plans included two public-facing restaurants, a 250-seat event space and four 8,000-square-foot, multi-story homes that would be built on the parking lot, with two below-ground parking levels and retail on the first floor of the three houses that would face North County Road. But opposition was stiff, and Woerner ultimately eliminated the public-facing restaurants and added a 225-member private club and a small public-facing restaurant that would be open for breakfast and lunch. Further revisions included the elimination of the public event space and the public-facing restaurant. The private club was increased to 475 members from 225, while the total square footage of the four multi-story homes was reduced. Council members rejected those plans in January, and then rejected revised plans presented in March that maintained the 475-member private club, but eliminated the multi-story homes and 18 of the 20 previously requested variances. Those plans also did not include a retail component, which concerned some council members. Council President Bobbie Lindsay asked Woerner to consider reinstating retail in the project's plans as well as a small restaurant. A terrace is shown in this rendering of the Paramount Theatre building. Modified plans to restore the nearly century-old building will be presented to the Town Council on Wednesday. "We'd like to produce something that makes sense for the community, for the town, that poses the least amount of disruption to the neighborhood," Lindsay said. "I'm concerned about the fact that the way this is currently configured, the whole building is cut off." Currently, the property counts 16 tenants, including offices that house the Palm Beach Police & Fire Foundation and the Palm Beach Civic Association. Storefront tenants include Palm Beach Pilates, French Wine Merchant and Chik Monk. The council deferred the project a third time in April to allow for the incorporation of data collected through an updated traffic and parking study commissioned by the town. Daniel Lobitz, right, of of Robert A.M. Stern Architects, talks to people who are attending the Town Council's development review meeting in January. Lobitz discussed possible architectural plans for the Paramount Theatre. That study has been completed, and council members approved its findings last month. Conceptual plans to be presented Wednesday call for the reinstatement of the existing retail exterior spaces, though those plans would be evaluated separately if Woerner's application for club and church uses is approved, according to town documents. Sunday morning church services were held inside the theater for nearly three decades before the property's sale, and they will be included in redevelopment plans, Woerner said. Woerner said he also would be willing to open the renovated theater building to the public for lectures or cultural events that would be scheduled for off-peak hours "in order to avoid any traffic impacts." Events could include lectures, art shows, Civic Association events, movie screenings or other town-serving uses that would be beneficial to the neighborhood, according to town documents. Additionally, in an effort to address council members' comments regarding supplemental overflow parking, Woener said he has entered into an agreement to utilize the surface parking lot at 40 Cocoanut Row for supplemental valet parking on weekdays after 5 p.m. and on weekends. The 55 additional spaces result in 101 parking spaces that are available to accommodate parking needs for the project, according to town documents. A variance will be required for these spaces as the location of the parking lot is more than 500 feet away from the property. Finally, Woerner has proposed limits to be placed on occupancy of the private club in an effort to "de-intensify" the property. Currently, the existing structure is permitted to have 1,123 occupants, according to the town, but Woerner said no more than 412 would be permitted at any given time. "As the owner, I am as concerned as the community is on the impact traffic has on the island," Woerner told the Daily News. "Now, the town has a great opportunity to work together and approve this plan, which will be a great win for Palm Beach." Council members will meet at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at Town Hall for their regular meeting and at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday for development review. Members of the public can participate in person or via Zoom. Those wishing to make public comments virtually can access the Zoom link on the town's Meeting Audio page. Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Paramount Theatre renovation plans back before Palm Beach Town Council The Pennsylvania State Capitol building was evacuated Saturday after state lawmakers received an email from an individual claiming they had placed explosives in the complex and were armed with a knife. A House Democratic Caucus spokesperson confirmed to ABC27 News that everyone inside the building was told to evacuate immediately. Capitol Police began searching the Pennsylvania complex with K9 units, but no explosives were found during the search, the outlet reported. The email was titled My manifesto and sent to state lawmakers around 5:45 p.m. Saturday evening. The individual claimed to have put highly lethal lead azide devices around the building in the name of Palestine. State Rep. Ryan Bizzarro (D) posted on the social media platform X, thanking law enforcement for their courage and professionalism. In another post, Bizzarro said he said he is tired of the foolery and unhinged behavior and said he hopes they find this menace. According to his post, the email to lawmakers said the individual plans to trigger a new explosive every few hours until Joe Biden goes on national television and publicly denounces the illegitimate state of Israel. In a statement to ABC27 News, Capitol Police said it is working with the FBI to conduct a comprehensive search and investigation. President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are expected to depart Washington Sunday morning and head to Pennsylvania for campaign events. ABC27 News is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill. 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. Here's a roundup of our top stories from the past week. With a subscription to the Pensacola News Journal, you will receive full access to the work done by our journalists and photographers as they head out every day to help inform and explain the important issues affecting your community. Greyhound closed its Pensacola bus station, moved depot to rural gas station. Why it's a problem. A passenger runs to board a bus at Greyhound's new stop at the Circle K gas station at 3225 West Nine Mile Road in Pensacola on Monday, July 1, 2024. Pensacolas longtime Greyhound bus station, at 505 W. Burgess Road, near Highway 29 in Car City permanently closed in mid-May and no longer serves as a drop off or pick up location for the bus line. The Circle K gas station is now where travelers catch or get off the bus. According to a Greyhound spokesperson, "Greyhound buses stop at various locations across our extensive network. Similar to the rest of the intercity bus industry, some of these stops include convenience stores, gas stations, and restaurants. Greyhound did not own the previous location and when it closed, we worked with the local government and other partners in the area to find an alternative. Eventually, we secured our current location, transitioning to the common industry model, so we could continue providing this essential service to the Pensacola community. Greyhound bus stations around the country have closed, but travelers say what makes it tough in Pensacola is that the Circle K that now serves as a depot isnt easy to get to because theres no public transportation to that particular area. Keep reading: Greyhound closed its Pensacola bus station, moved depot to rural gas station. Why it's a problem. How many folks have been bitten by sharks near Pensacola Beach? Here's the brief history. The Pensacola Journal's previous stance on reports that sharks attack people: "We have yet to find, anywhere, any person who can say of his own personal knowledge, that a shark will attack or eat a live man." Yep, our writers wrote that more than a century ago, and while it isn't exactly "Dewey Defeats Truman," it is, frankly, wrong. The claim was part of an editorial written on Jan. 15, 1915, by Pensacola Journal editorial writers during a months-long newspaper feud between the Journal, who claimed sharks don't attack people, and writers from the St. Augustine Record and the Lakeland Telegram who fostered the myth of the "man-eating shark" the term was used often in the war of words between the paper and their respective readers. Apparently, these writers didn't know women liked the Gulf waters and beaches too. Of course, the Pensacola Journal, now the Pensacola News Journal, believes that sharks can attack, though it happens rarely. In fact, in 1928, the Pensacola Journal acknowledged they do happen on rare occasions as stated in a story with this awkward headline: "'Man-Eating' Sharks Rarely Attack Man, Scientists Say." But it does happen. Just, again, rarely. The latest shark attacks on the Gulf of Mexico happened in the waters off Walton County to the east, but the last attack in Gulf waters off of Pensacola Beach and Escambia and Santa Rosa counties happened more than two decades ago. Keep reading: How many folks have been bitten by sharks near Pensacola Beach? Here's the brief history. Fifth Wawa store proposed for Escambia County A fifth Wawa has been proposed for Escambia County. The latest Wawa convenience store was proposed for development at 7212 U.S. Highway 90 on the northeast corner of U.S. 90 and Dale Street intersection. It's the second Wawa project planned for Santa Rosa County, while there have been five stores proposed for Escambia County. Keep reading: Fifth Wawa store proposed for Escambia County Blue Angels' Jet No. 5 was reportedly damaged after hitting a seagull Blue Angels Jet No. 5 was briefly taken out of commission during their performance at the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City, Michigan, on Saturday. According to a report from UpNorthLive, the jet was damaged after it struck a seagull during the air show. Keep reading: Blue Angels' Jet No. 5 was reportedly damaged after hitting a seagull Eglin Air Force Base on board to help ease Navarre US 98 woes For years some residents of Northwest Florida have referred to the stretch of highway running through the southern portion of the region's counties as Bloody 98. State Rep. Joel Rudman said he has used the term often enough at roundtable discussions convened to contemplate traffic solutions along the terminally congested and routinely deadly stretch of roadway that some among the Air Force brass in attendance adopted it as their own. That in itself, Rudman said, helped impress upon military leaders in Washington D.C. that U.S. Highway 98 had grown from a local problem to a national defense priority. Keep reading: Deaths of service members on 'Bloody 98' may spark traffic improvements in Navarre This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola top stories: Greyhound station, Pensacola shark bite history PRICE, Utah (ABC4) Several homes were considered a total loss and one person was taken to the hospital after a fire sparked in a residential neighborhood in Price on Saturday. The Price City Police Department posted on social media to inform residents of the fire. The injured person was taken to the hospital, but police did not know their condition at the time of the post. READ NEXT: Little Twist Fire sees minimal change recently but active behavior expected soon Several homes were considered a "total loss" after a fire in Price, Utah, tore through a neighborhood on July 6, 2024. One person was taken to the hospital for their injuries after the fire. (Courtesy: Price City Police Department) Several homes were considered a "total loss" after a fire in Price, Utah, tore through a neighborhood on July 6, 2024. One person was taken to the hospital for their injuries after the fire. (Courtesy: Price City Police Department) Several homes were considered a "total loss" after a fire in Price, Utah, tore through a neighborhood on July 6, 2024. One person was taken to the hospital for their injuries after the fire. (Courtesy: Price City Police Department) Several homes were considered a "total loss" after a fire in Price, Utah, tore through a neighborhood on July 6, 2024. One person was taken to the hospital for their injuries after the fire. (Courtesy: Price City Police Department) Several homes were considered a "total loss" after a fire in Price, Utah, tore through a neighborhood on July 6, 2024. One person was taken to the hospital for their injuries after the fire. (Courtesy: Price City Police Department) The police department offered its condolences to those who have lost lifetimes of memories and possessions and we want to thank all the surrounding agencies who have assisted today in the post. Officials did not immediately disclose how many homes were affected by the fire. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. There is no further information 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. In 2017, Katie Lain was blacking out several times each week from drinking alcohol. On weeknights, she would typically down at least one bottle of wine, often more, and on weekends she binged vodka. But even after suffering a pulmonary embolism in her 30s, which her doctor tied to her excessive drinking, she struggled to quit. Later that year, a doctor prescribed naltrexone, a drug that blocks chemical activity in the brains reward centers. She noticed a shift immediately. I would pour a third glass of wine and it would sort of just sit there, she said. I couldnt believe it. It was life-changing. She hasnt had a drink in four years at the time of reporting. Almost 12 million people in the U.S. struggle with alcohol use disorder, defined as more than four drinks per occasion for women and more than six for men, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Alcohol use disorder is the cause of 500 deaths every day from car crashes, organ failure, related cancers, and acute alcohol poisoning combined. Although its not a panacea, in hundreds of studies naltrexone has been found to be a safe and effective medication for helping people reduce and stop drinking. The drug, which is classified as an opioid antagonist, was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat alcohol use disorders in 199430 years ago. Despite its effectiveness, though, naltrexone is hardly ever prescribed. In the U.S., approximately 1 percent of people with alcohol use disorders were prescribed naltrexone in a 2023 national survey. In a study published this spring, people with alcohol use disorder were the least likely to receive prescription naltrexone compared to people with other substance use disorders. The reason is complex. But experts I spoke to told me they believe that it boils down to two factors: lack of knowledge about naltrexone and stigma around alcohol use disorders, which are often seen as a lack of willpower rather than a medical problem. Even in health care, people tend to think of alcohol addiction as making bad choices, Andrew Saxon, an addiction psychiatrist and professor at University of Washington School of Medicine, told me. They dont see it as their job to treat substance use disorders. As a result, many doctors have not kept up with the latest research in addiction treatment, which has changed drastically in the past decade. Until very recently, we believed that the only treatment for alcohol use disorder was total abstinence, Saxon said. That is no longer the case. Eden Bernstein, a fellow in primary care at Harvard Medical School and Mass General Hospital, told me he agrees with that assessment. Many medical professionals still have this belief that addiction to alcohol is something that is a kind of personal moral failing, and not things that are conducive to treatment with a pill, he said. That focus on sobriety is part of the core philosophy of Alcoholics Anonymous, which eschews medication and views recovery as an all or nothing proposition, where one drink can cancel out years of sobriety. Among addiction researchers, however, any reduction in drinking is increasingly seen as a win. In addition to naltrexone, there are two other FDA-approved medications for treating alcohol use disorder: acamprosate and disulfiram. Acamprosate works by stabilizing chemicals and pathways in your brain that can be damaged by chronic heavy drinking and has been shown to help maintain abstinence.* However, it requires patients to take several pills a day. Disulfiram, on the other hand, works by making people violently ill when they drink. But the sickness can be avoided simply by skipping a dose when one plans on drinking. Naltrexone, by contrast, works by blocking neurotransmitters in the brains reward system, thus blunting the positive emotions alcohol can create. Chemically, it is related to Narcan, the overdose antidote that recently became available over the counter. But instead of delivering a massive dose directly to the brain via a nasal spray, naltrexone is a slower-acting pill that interrupts the feedback loop of addiction. Its best for reducing cravings and heavy drinking overall, and only requires occasional injections or a pill each day. When Im treating alcohol use disorder, naltrexone is almost always my first-choice medication, Saxon said. Despite this, finding a prescription for it can still be incredibly difficult. Lain approached five doctors before she found one willing to prescribe naltrexone, which she heard about from YouTube. The reasons they gave her reflected common misconceptions about the drug. One told her he couldnt prescribe it until she had five days of sobriety in a row under her belt. Another recommended she attend an inpatient rehab program instead. There is a misconception that patients must be abstinent when taking naltrexone, Jonathan Leung, a practitioner at the Mayo Clinic who surveyed doctors at the Mayo Clinic about naltrexone, told me. In a survey published in 2022 in Frontiers in Psychiatry, out of 150 doctors across three Mayo Clinic centers in Arizona, Minnesota, and Florida, most reported that they simply hadnt heard of naltrexone or didnt know enough about it to prescribe it. Doctors who didnt prescribe the drug were more likely to report wrong information about how the drug works and about how effective and safe it is. In comparison to a lot of common medications, naltrexone is very efficacious, Bernstein saidwith the caveat that, as with many medications, different patients respond differently. For some, the response may be life-changing, while for others the effects may be minimal. In studies, people with alcohol use disorders who took naltrexone drank significantly less each month in both frequency and amount compared to people taking a placebo. When prescribed at hospital discharge, naltrexone resulted in 42 percent fewer deaths and hospital readmissions after 30 days. There is also evidence that naltrexone works best when patients continue drinking as normal, at least when beginning the medication. In a 2022 meta-analysis published in the scientific journal Addiction, on average, patients who took naltrexone drank two fewer days per month compared to patients who took a placebo. When participants were not required to be abstinent, the reductions were even larger. Another reason doctors commonly cited for not prescribing naltrexone was that patients did not have appropriate follow-up care or were not enrolled in therapy. That is also a misconception, according to researchers. Naltrexone is a pretty benign medication, Saxon said. Theres almost never adverse events, so the risk to people is very low and the benefits could potentially be very high. Because the brains same reward system is involved to some extent in almost all types of addiction, naltrexone has shown promise in treating other issues as well. It was originally developed and approved for treating opioid addiction. Combined with the antidepressant bupropion, it is approved as a weight loss management medication under the name Contrave. Saxon sees other parallels between alcohol use disorder and overeating. There is a huge amount of stigma against obesity and being overweight, which, like alcohol use disorder, is seen as a failure of willpower rather than a legitimate medical condition. As a result, when Ozempic and other GLP-1 agonists first came on the market last year as the first really effective weight loss medications, there was a wave of backlash driven at least in part by the idea that losing weight by taking a pill is a form of cheating, a way of avoiding the hard work required to atone for being fat it in the first place. But despite the stigma, as well as a slew of harsh side effects, Ozempic and related weight loss medications have become hugely popular. Bernstein suggests that their success may hold lessons for increasing access to naltrexone. The clamor for Ozempic and other weight loss medications has been driven largely by patients asking their doctors for prescriptions, having heard about it from news articles and pharmaceutical advertisements. Advertising has contributed to the cultural awareness of these medications as treatment options for obesity, and were just not seeing the same thing for alcohol use disorder medications, said Bernstein. In contrast to Ozempic, which may not be covered by insurance, naltrexone is cheap and typically covered by insurance. But without the same advertising push, increasing patient awareness may fall to physicians. A study published in February in the journal Academic Emergency Medicine found that naltrexone prescribing went up sixfold when a simple prompt was made part of routine checkups. Bernstein also believes that even people who are sober curious could be interested in the medication. We know more people want to cut back even though they may not be ready to stop entirely. Maybe Ill drink again one day if the urge arises. I love that alcohol is not a forbidden fruit, Lain said. I feel like naltrexone erased the addiction. For me, its freedom. A Placerville woman is raising money to help the victim of a deadly mountain lion attack this spring that killed his brother in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Wyatt Brooks, who was 18 at the time of the attack, lost his brother, Taylen, when the two were charged by a mountain lion March 23 near Georgetown in El Dorado County. Teresa Brewster, a dental hygienist, had known the brothers for years and decided to raise money to help Wyatt replace his truck that was bloodied during the traumatic incident. At that time I was just in total shock, Brewster said after learning about the attack through the El Dorado County Sheriffs Office. I read that he had gotten back in his car after being mauled, I knew immediately right then a new car needed to be offered in some way or another. The two brothers saw the mountain lion approaching while searching for deer antler sheds, a pastime they often did together in the spring. Officials said they did the right things when the mountain lion approached them, including Wyatt throwing a backpack at the lion and raising their arms to make themselves appear bigger. Mountain lion attack are rare, according to officials, and they often avoid human interaction rather than attack. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife reported there were 21 mountain lion attacks in the state since 1986 and the attack on the Brooks brothers was just the fourth that resulted in a death since records have been kept. Instead of running away, the mountain lion charged Wyatt and bit his face, causing severe lacerations while Taylen tried beating on the lion. Wyatt wrestled the mountain lion to the ground before it began clawing at his midsection. Wyatt loosened his grip. Then the mountain lion charged Taylen, bit his throat and took him to the ground. After attempting to get the mountain lion off his brother, Wyatt left the scene to get cellphone reception. He returned to their truck where he called 911 before driving back to the area where the attack occurred. Deputies later found the mountain lion couching near Taylen and determined the 21-year-old did not survive the attack. The mountain lion was later euthanized by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Wyatt Brooks since the incident has recovered from his injuries, which required reconstructive surgery to his face and neck, and has prioritized time with his family, Brewster said. Hes thankful, hes grateful, said Brewster. Hes a really quiet, shy kid. Hes just a great kid, and his brother was a really great kid as well. These are good, good kids. Im looking forward to offering this new vehicle so he can make some new memories. Brewster set up a memorial savings account at the El Dorado Savings Bank where people can make contributions that will go directly to Brooks tax free. By last week, Brewster raised over $26,000. Shes been in communication with the Thompsons car dealerships in Placerville to supply Brooks with a reliable, lightly used pickup truck. The initial goal was to raise between $26,000 and $31,000. I think he deserves more than anybody can give, Brewster said. Its just never going to be enough. Hes going to have to live with this for the rest of his life, the trauma of it. Every day moving forward is going to be not the same as it once was for him. So, hey, lets give him a truck. Brewster also did her own fundraising, which included posting about it in the El Dorado County Chat Facebook group that has more than 31,000 members. She said the account has received donations from people across the country who saw postings on Facebook. She also hung posters in the area and sold flowers outside a Busy Spot Market in Diamond Springs, which raised some $1,300. The money will be made available to Brooks later this month, Brewster said, and he plans to use the money responsibly, even if he gets more than he would need to purchase a truck. He did acknowledge that if he wasnt to spend all of the money (on a truck) it would go to gas, Brewster said. DENVER (KDVR) Two people fled the scene of a crash in Aurora involving three vehicles, including a car that police say was stolen. The Aurora Police Department told FOX31 that officers responded just after 5 p.m. to a report of a two-vehicle crash near the intersection of South Havana Street and East Kentucky Drive. This embedded content is not available in your region. According to police, one vehicle collided with another, and then one of the vehicles kept going and crashed into a parked car. Police confirmed that one of the involved vehicles was stolen, and the driver and passenger of the stolen vehicle ran away from the scene. The two have not been found. One person was taken to a hospital, and police said the extent of their injuries was unknown. This article will be updated as more 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 FOX31 Denver. Police have identified the man who was shot and killed near a Roxbury park Friday morning, one of two people who lost their lives in the spree of violence in Boston in the immediate hours following Fourth of July celebrations. Officers responded to the area near Ramsay Park on Shawmut Ave around 1:33 a.m. to find Warren Julien, 40, of Jamaica Plain suffering from gunshot wounds. Julien was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. The Boston Police homicide unit is investigating the murder. No arrests have been made yet. One man named Robert who lives close to where that shooting happened in Roxbury said he heard what sounded like firecrackers. He said shootings are a problem in that area of the neighborhood. They all gather right here, its a one-way street, and a guy whistles when he sees a cruiser coming. You know youve got to see it to believe it, said Robert. He continued, Its just terrible. You walk out the door you got to worry if you get hit by a drive-by shooting. I dont know how it can be resolved but putting more pressure on the situation is the only thing I can think of. Hours after the Roxbury shooting, a Stoughton teen was shot and killed in Mattapan, the last of four shootings in the city Friday. Christian Cousins, who was set to graduate next year, was shot in a targeted attack while with a female classmate. Stoughton schools superintendent Dr. Joseph Baeta told Boston 25 he spoke with Christians father on Saturday morning. To be quite honest, I spoke with him more like a dad than a superintendent, said Baeta. I have a student who just graduated and his son was a rising senior. I cant imagine the loss he is going through. High school student from Stoughton identified as victim killed in Mattapan shooting While Julien and Cousins were the only two who lost their lives during the four shootings, five others suffered injuries, including Cousins classmate. In Jamaica Plain, three people were shot and wounded, just before the Roxbury shooting. At about 5:30 a.m., police responded to a shooting at a gas station in Dorchester at 783 Blue Hill Avenue and found a victim with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. My heart is with those who are recovering and those who are grieving today, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said Friday. We have seen some tremendous progress and trending in the right direction in terms of violence across the city this year and this week and this weekend is always one that we are on high alert on because there are so many people out and about and unfortunately, we still have a lot more work to do. Anyone with information is strongly urged to contact the Boston Police Homicide Unit at 617-343-4470. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Police investigating fight that led to possible shots fired in Dayton Police are investigating a fight that led to possible shots fired in Dayton early Sunday morning. Dayton Police crews were dispatched around 2:46 a.m. to the area of Oakridge Dr and Geneva Rd on reports of a large group of juveniles fighting. Around 2:51 a.m. emergency scanner traffic indicated that the call had been updated to a shots fired investigation. >> Firefighters battle commercial structure fire in Dayton A Montgomery County Regional Dispatch Sergeant confirmed that crews are still on the scene investigating. It is unclear at this time if anyone was shot or if a suspect has been taken into custody. News Center 7 is working to learn more and will update as we gather new information. Editors note: The article has been updated to reflect where the shooting occurred. DENVER (KDVR) Police in Aurora said a 14-year-old girl died in a shooting at a party in an Aurora park. The party was attended by numerous minors, according to police. Two others, another 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl, were also injured. All three were taken to a local hospital. Download the FOX31 App: Breaking news alerts & Pinpoint Weather Police said they are investigating the shooting as a homicide. According to police, there was a fight at the party that ended in a shooting. The shooting happened in the 1400 block of South Uruvan Street around 9:15 p.m. No arrests had been made as of Sunday morning, but police said the investigation showed the incident was isolated and that there was no threat to the general public. Anyone with information, especially video of the party and the shooting, was asked to contact the Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. 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. Numerous police officers stand together for a meeting. After a fire with a "threatening situation", the police surrounded a wooded area in Altdorf near Nuremberg in the search for an armed man. Pia Bayer/dpa There was a major police operation under way in Altdorf near the Bavarian city of Nuremberg on Sunday, where two fires broke out and an unidentified assailant threatened rescue workers with a firearm, police said. Officials said they closed the nearby A3 motorway in both directions as a person with a firearm was at large. A special task force was also called out, a spokeswoman for the regional police headquarters said. Initially, a fire was reported in Altdorf, to the south-east of Nuremberg. Police said that a residential building was on fire and there was also a fire in a nearby forest. A person wielding a firearm reportedly threatened officers as they arrived at the scene. No further details were initially known. On the social media platform X, officers called on residents to avoid the area. The police are on a major operation in Altdorf near Nuremberg. After a fire with a "threatening situation", the police surrounded a wooded area in Altdorf near Nuremberg in the search for an armed man. Pia Bayer/dpa A former reporter at The Marion County Record, a Kansas weekly newspaper, has reached a $235,000 settlement as part of a lawsuit she filed over a search by police. The June 25 settlement came from the lawsuit filed by the former reporter, Deb Gruver, against Gideon Cody, the former Marion police chief. More from Deadline Gruvers lawsuit claimed Cody caused injury to her hand while forcibly obtaining her personal cellphone during the raid on the newspaper. On Aug. 11, 2023, local police and county sheriffs deputies raided The Record offices and the homes of a councilwoman and the newspapers publisher. The raid stemmed from allegations against a local restaurateur in an unpublished story that police became aware of. The raid sparked a national debate over First Amendment rights and the duties of a free press. The raid also sparked outrage after the 98-year-old co-publisher of the newspaper died of a heart attack when her home was raided. The local prosecutor, Joel Ensey, said in a statement after the raid that after reviewing the police forces application for a warrant, he had come to the conclusion that insufficient evidence exists to establish a legally sufficient nexus between this alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized. Clayton Weimers, the executive director of Reporters Without Borders, called for a greater explanation as to how the search and seizure was allowed to be conducted at all. The raid by the Marion Police Department stemmed from a complaint by a local restaurant owner. Kari Newell accused the Record of illegally obtaining information about her. Five officers the full contingent of the Marion Police Dept. along with two sheriffs deputies came to the Record offices and took everything we have, the newspapers publisher and co-owner Eric Meyer told the Kansas Reflector, a nonprofit news site. Computers, including the newspapers file service, and personal cell phones of staff members were taken, the Record reported. Meyer wrote in a Record article that Newell, who was trying to obtain a liquor license, had been convicted of drunk driving and had driven without a license. Meyer said he ultimately decided against publishing the story. Instead, he notified police, who launched an investigation and obtained a search warrant for evidence of identity theft and criminal use of a computer. A search warrant, posted online by the Reflector, was approved by a judge, citing probable cause that crimes were committed. Basically, all the law enforcement officers on duty in Marion County, Kansas, descended on our offices today and seized our server and computers and personal cellphones of staff members all because of a story we didnt publish, Meyer said in the aftermath. Lawsuits filed by four other employees of the newspaper against the police remain pending. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. BRUNSWICK, Ga. A masked man snatched a woman from a day care in coastal Georgia and drove her north to a small cemetery. Near ivory marbled tombstones and stone angel statutes, Javier Sanchez Mendoza Jr. beat his victim. He planned to stab her and dump her body in the grass under towering oak trees and swaying gray ribbons of Spanish moss. However, the day care worker fought back, wrestling the knife from Mendoza's grip. It landed between his truck's console and seat, out of reach. As the Brunswick area day care notified police, Mendoza changed his plan and drove the woman farther north toward his home in Jesup, Georgia, 66 miles southwest of Savannah. Ronnie Cooper, a veteran officer with the Glynn County Police Department in Brunswick was on his way home after a long shift when he heard the crackle of his police radio: Day care worker kidnapped. Suspect armed with a knife. Northbound. Silver truck. Retired Glynn County Police officer Ronald Cooper stands inside a cemetery in unincorporated Gardi, Georgia on Sunday, May 26, 2024. In November 2019, Javier Sanchez Mendoza, Jr. kidnapped a woman at knife point and drove her to the cemetery with plans of killing her. Cooper rushed north as his lieutenant relayed location information, or "ping" data, tracking the woman's cellphone. Cooper called his partner, Jeremy Stagner. Both sped along U.S. 341, unaware Mendoza had already spread a large tarp on the floor in preparation for a prolonged ritual killing. In May, Cooper talked about the 2019 incident, one of the most haunting in his 19-year career, with The Louisville Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, at the cemetery where Mendoza first tried to kill his victim. Cooper described the tense search for the woman and the improbable rescue amid a murder in progress. "This is the cemetery where the offender in this case brought the victim to kill her," the veteran lawman said, standing in the shade at the tiny cemetery in the Wayne County community of Gardi, 38 miles northwest of Brunswick. "She was able to fight and get the knife away from him." "He was going to kill and leave her here," Cooper said. USA TODAY gets to the heart of news fast Download the app now for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more 'She came here looking for happiness and found pure hell' A cross decorates a grave at a cemetery in unincorporated Gardi, Georgia. In November of 2019 Javier Sanchez Mendoza, Jr. kidnapped a woman at knifepoint and drove her to the cemetery with plans of killing her. Police arrested Mendoza as part of an expansive trafficking network with an estimated 71,000 victims from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, according to U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, the lead agency that toppled the criminal ring through a three-year investigation. The men and women were recruited under the guise of working on farms as part of the H-2A visa program for temporary agricultural workers. The scam operated from at least 2015 through 2021, prosecutors alleged in court records, with the criminal organization, likely tied to Mexican cartels, profiting more than $200 million. Others who were supposed to be program participants paid larger fees and were allowed to abscond, he said, leaving the program and relocating in the U.S. without permission. The case illustrates how Mexican cartels not only profit by blanketing the U.S. with drugs, but by smuggling humans and forcing them into modern-day slavery. Even in rural coastal Georgia, thousands of victims were hidden in plain sight, scared to seek help after they or their families in Mexico were threatened. Human trafficker Javier Sanchez Mendoza Jr. exploited hundreds of Mexican residents through a migrant farmworker scheme. He selected one woman to become his sex slave. When she escaped, he tried to kill her, but police interrupted the ritual killing in progress. Experts say human trafficking is a growing problem, much larger in scope than many Americans realize. "I think it's going on all over the U.S.," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Gilluly, who worked on the case. "It's mind-blowing." Julio Lopez, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, testified during Mendoza's sentence hearing that he spoke to more than 200 victims of the labor scam. Many didn't speak English, were poor and intimidated by the scammers, he said. This visa scam centered on southern Georgia but also expanded to other parts of the U.S., Lopez told the judge. Mendoza worked as a farm labor contractor for the U.S. program even though he wasn't in the country legally. He sneaked into the U.S. and used aliases to become a crew leader for the criminal network, later claiming he netted $27,000 a month, though prosecutors suspect he made much more. Mendoza recruited the kidnapping victim and 564 other women and men as guest farm workers. A statue of an angel at a cemetery in unincorporated Gardi, Georgia. In November of 2019 Javier Sanchez Mendoza, Jr. kidnapped a woman at knifepoint and drove her to the cemetery with plans of killing her. Many of the victims were exploited by being forced to pay fees that weren't legal. Others, were forced to live in deplorable conditions and weren't paid what they were promised. The Savannah Morning News, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported this as one of the largest human trafficking cases ever prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice. Mendoza made trips to Mexico to recruit program participants, bringing 565 workers from Mexico to the U.S. Many were charged illegal visa processing fees, often totaling $1,000. They were forced to work for free to pay off those fees, a criminal scheme known as "debt bondage," or "debt servitude," Gilluly said. Mendoza had the power to decide where the workers lived and where they worked. When Mendoza's kidnapping victim and 37 others arrived on a packed bus from Mexico in September 2018, Mendoza took their passports, then pointed at her and told her she would be his wife. To force compliance, he threatened her and her family in Mexico, including her young son. Operation Blooming Onion, which involves foreign laborers brought to the U.S. on seasonal visas to do agricultural work (such as harvesting onions), is one of the nations largest human trafficking cases ever prosecuted. Photo showing Mexican passports and money included as an exhibit in a criminal case stemming from the Blooming Onion investigation. The woman, whose name has been withheld because she is the victim of a sexual crime, envisioned a brief stint in the U.S. harvesting food for a farmer so she could take her earnings back to her family in Mexico. Instead, Mendoza forced her to live with him and follow his orders. "It was all about power and control," Gilluly said. "If she didn't do what he wanted, she was punished." Mendoza took the woman to a Georgia courthouse and forced her to sign papers in English, claiming they were married. Prosecutors said they found no legal documentation of a marriage and it would be illegal anyway because the woman was under duress. But in Mendoza's mind, he owned her. "Shackles aren't always visible," Gilluly said. "She came here looking for happiness and found pure hell." Federal prosecutor Greg Gilluly, with the Southern District of Georgia, prosecuted a large network of human traffickers bringing over thousands of victims from Mexico. The woman testified during Mendoza's sentencing hearing that she eventually worked up the courage to call police in 2019 when Mendoza tried to rape and strangle her. She borrowed a phone from one of the two men who lived in Mendoza's trailer and called 911. The men tried to protect her as they ran down the street, while Mendoza chased after her with a knife. Mendoza remained in jail for two months, giving the men time to help relocate the woman. While he was locked up, the men helped the woman escape. She relocated to Brunswick and was enjoying a sunny day on Nov. 9, 2019, watching children at play outdoors at the day care when Mendoza, whose face was covered with a purple bandana, rushed in and dragged her to his truck with the blade of his knife pressed against her throat. A teen girl called 911 as younger children relayed what had happened, according to a recording of the call. "He just came really fast," the teen told a female dispatcher. "We saw him grabbing her and putting her inside his truck. He had a knife. "She was screaming." During the drive to his home in Jesup, Mendoza called his contact in Mexico, believed to be a cartel associate, and put the call on speaker, so the woman could listen as he and another man discussed whether she should be killed in Mexico or in the U.S. The men decided she should die on this day in Georgia. It's unclear who gave the orders from Mexico, but Gilluly, the veteran prosecutor, said: "Sinaloa tends to have a large presence in our district," referring to the infamous Sinaloa Cartel, once headed by notorious drug lord El Chapo. Javier Sanchez Mendoza's Santa Muerte shrine, including blood and hair from his victim. Once they arrived at Mendoza's trailer, he placed his knife to the woman's cheek and sliced her skin, then dripped her blood on the statue of the death saint's scythe, a large agricultural hand tool historically used for cutting grass or hay, Cooper said. Cartel members believe the saint can protect their business and keep them from getting caught by police. With candles flickering near the statue, Mendoza offered up grapes, liquor and other sacrifices. The name of the victim and her birthday were scrawled on paper and left on the altar, along with her photo. Her face was scratched off, and the photo was placed upside down. The victim, who recognized the patron saint of death, later told the judge she knew she was about to die. Meanwhile, Cooper and Stagner, task force officers with the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, drove out of their county and into Wayne County, heading to the small town of Jesup. As members of the federal task force, both had the authorization to cross into other jurisdictions, preventing possible delays in handing the case over to another department. Two police officers from southern Georgia spotted the silver truck of kidnapping suspect Javier Sanchez Mendoza Jr. and rushed to rescue the female victim before Mendoza killed her. They drove around and spotted the suspect's truck, parked outside his trailer. Police in Jesup called in their SWAT team but assembling the specially trained unit would take time. Cooper and Stagner decided they couldn't wait. They hid behind large oak trees and watched the trailer, and when Mendoza walked outside during a phone call, they tackled him to the ground. "If they waited for the SWAT team, it would have been too late," Gilluly said. Mendoza continued to threaten the victim's life and her family, shouting in Spanish in front of the lawmen. Cooper used a translation app to decipher the suspect's rants. Mendoza pleaded guilty in 2021 in federal court in Brunswick, just 5 miles from the kidnapping site, to conspiracy to engage in forced labor. At the time of his arrest, about 300 more men and women in Mexico were in the process of coming to work for him and had already paid illegal fees, prosecutors said. Standing in front of a judge, Mendoza dropped to his knees during his sentence hearing and begged for mercy. Prosecutors sought to keep him behind bars for the rest of his life. The judge sentenced him to serve 30 years in federal prison, where parole is not an option. Mendoza's former attorney, Steven Blackerby, didn't return calls in May and June seeking comment on the case. Gilluly said Mendoza's crimes were perpetrated by a "monster." He now trains police on watching for red flags that could indicate human trafficking, and he recounts the kidnapping victim's case, always while fighting back tears. "It rips my heart out every time," the prosecutor said. "She was on the edge of death. "The horror of what she went through will always stay in my mind." The U.S. State Department offers tips on possible signs of human trafficking at www.state.gov/identify-and-assist-a-trafficking-victim/. The National Human Trafficking Hotline,1-888-373-7888, is a toll-free and 24-hour resource with multilingual operators. It's accessible to everyone, from victims to police and concern citizens. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Police in Georgia stop ritual killing amid Mexican trafficking network Police want to identify 2 thieves seen breaking into cannabis store in Henry County Henry County police are looking for two thieves they say broke into a small business and stole merchandise in McDonough. On Friday, July 5, at approximately 6 a.m., two people were seen on surveillance cameras breaking a glass door and entering Cannabis Therapy at 3200 Jodeco Road, Suite G. Police did not detail the items stolen or their value. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] According to their Instagram posts, the store sells kratom, CBD, and Delta8 products, as well as hookahs and other smoking accessories. If anyone can identify the suspects, please call Sergeant M. Gleason at 770-288-8265, the Henry County Non-Emergency Dispatch at 770-957-9121, or text tips, photos, and videos to 770-220-7009. TRENDING STORIES: [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: Police: Wanted man threw bags of cocaine out of car in Edenton EDENTON, N.C. (WAVY) A wanted man threw bags of cocaine out of his vehicle while out on bond for a separate drug arrest in Edenton, police say. Edenton Police Chief Henry King says Anthony Sawyer was able to get away after a pursuit on Saturday that started around 7:50 a.m. on Virginia Road near the entrance of U.S. 17. King says Sawyer was heading south and failing to stop, and eventually threw multiple individually wrapped plastic bags of cocaine out of the drivers side window. Police terminated the chase and investigated. Police were able to obtain warrants for possession with the intent to sell and deliver cocaine, driving while license revoked, failure to heed blue lights and siren, and violation of a court order. Sawyer was out on a $20,000 secured bond after a separate incident on June 28 on North Broad Street. Sawyer was stopped that time for driving with a revoked license, King says, and officers found an open bottle of beer, multiple individually wrapped bags of crack cocaine, a bag of powdered cocaine, multiple individually wrapped bags of morphine, and multiple unidentified pills that were believed to be ecstasy. King says Sawyer has been charged numerous times in the past for driving with a revoked license and for drug offenses. Anyone with information on Sawyers whereabouts is asked to contact the police department. 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. With Poll Showing 1 in 4 Kids Is Chronically Absent, How 1 District Is Reaching Out Officials at Virginias Richmond Public Schools knew something had to change when nearly 40% of students were chronically absent in the wake of the pandemic. Dozens of seats remained empty when classrooms fully reopened in the 2021-22 school year. Approaches to absenteeism in the 22,000-student district were failing, and administrators were forced to rethink how they could bring children back to school. The job was assigned to Shadae Harris, the districts chief engagement officer. Harris and other staff decided to prioritize family engagement instead of using punitive measures such as referrals to the juvenile justice system to increase attendance. Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter In order to really improve student attendance, we had to make sure that we were designing a system of engagement that really put families at the center, Harris said. Lack of family engagement is a national issue, as nearly 1 in 4 students are chronically absent. A recently released national poll found that many parents dont think chronic absenteeism is a problem and are unaware of how often their child misses class. The poll, released in May by the National Parents Union, surveyed roughly 1,500 public school parents around the U.S. Raquajah Battle, family liaison at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, hands out breakfast treats to students. (Richmond Public Schools) They havent been told [chronic absenteeism] is a problem, said Keri Rodrigues, the organizations co-founder. They havent really defined what it is for them, so theyre not seeing that this is a major issue. Related New Study: School Nurses Are Untapped Resource to Combat Chronic Absenteeism The poll, which was distributed to parents in March, showed that 16% of respondents had a child who missed six to 10 days of school during the 2023-24 school year. Another 4% said their child missed 10 to 15 days, and 3% said their child missed more than 15 days. Still, 82% of parents said they were unsure about whether chronic absenteeism existed at their childs school or didnt think it was widespread. Students are considered chronically absent when they miss at least 10% of school, or roughly 18 days in most districts, according to Attendance Works, a national nonprofit. These students are more at risk for struggling academically, falling into poverty or dropping out of high school. Only 8% of parents surveyed said they thought their child was absent more often than most students. Harris said the Richmond district found out through its own research and discussions with families that not only were parents unaware of what chronic absenteeism was, they didnt think their children were skipping class as much as they actually were. You may have a family who thinks theyve only missed three days, but its actually 13, Harris said. In response, Harris helped launch several family engagement initiatives in the 2021-22 school year. The district created an attendance dashboard on its website, and teachers began to make home visits to families who had absent children. So far, the district has completed more than 40,000 home visits. Through that building of trust, that prioritizing of relationships, we were finding out what the root causes were, Harris said. There were issues around health, medical needs, transportation and housing Related Confronting Chronic Absenteeism: Why Parents Are Picking New Schools For Kids When Richmond staff found that several families were living in motels because they couldnt afford rental deposits, they secured grant funding to help those students get stable housing. More than 130 families have been moved to better accommodations through this program, Harris said. The district deployed school officials to work with parents distrustful of the school system, calling them family liaisons instead of attendance officers, which implied discipline instead of cooperation. Harris created a We Love You Here campaign to help families feel supported instead of judged for their childrens absences. If the district did need to get law enforcement involved because a students attendance failed to improve, court hearings were held in one of Richmonds middle schools instead of at the courthouse. Harris said the middle schools gym would be filled with booths, each one offering a community resource or service. Fairfield Court Elementary School Assistant Director of Engagement Darryl Williams leads a morning fist-bump tunnel. (Richmond Public Schools) Instead of ordering [the families] to do something more punitive, [the judge] orders them to see every single service, Harris said. So they have a little card and they visit the service. Then the judge will give them a certain amount of days to improve attendance. The most common reason for absences in the parents union poll was physical illness, followed by medical or dental appointments, weather, family emergencies and vacation. When asked why they think students are chronically absent, nearly 30% of respondents said its because they dont want to attend school. About 26% attributed absences to illness and 21% to parents who dont care. Related To Fight Chronic Absenteeism, Its Time to Rethink the Yellow School Bus More than half of respondents 56% said parents should face legal consequences if their child misses too much school without an approved reason. But Rodrigues said people need to focus more on why students dont want to come to school. The only thing thats going to solve their problem in a meaningful way is getting to the reason why kids dont want to be in the classroom, she said. Part of that is because of the mental health crisis and social anxiety. The other piece is that we dont present compelling reasons for them to actually want to be there and create that [fear] that theyre going to miss something if they dont show up every single day. In the poll, 11% of parents said making school more engaging or fun would improve attendance, while 8% said children should be given incentives for showing up and 6% said schools need to engage with parents more. Harris said she feels family engagement was the biggest reason why Richmond Public Schools has improved its chronic absenteeism rate, which was at 25% during the 2022-23 school year and at the end of 2023-24 had dropped to 19%. If you prioritize your relationships with families and students, youll actually get the information you need to find out, like, what are the things that motivate them? What are the things that give them joy? Harris said. Families actually already know. We just have to be quiet and listen to them and help shift some of the power to them. Because theyre the experts of their children. Pope Francis attends a meeting with the participants into the 50th Social Week of Catholics in Italy at the Generali Convention Center in Trieste. Vatican Media/IPA via ZUMA Press/dpa Pope Francis on Sunday expressed concern about the state of the world's democracies at an event in the northern Italian city of Trieste. "Let's be honest: in today's world, democracy is not in good health," said the head of the Catholic Church, while stressing the importance of participation in democratic processes, including voting. "Indifference is a cancer for democracy," he added. Francis was speaking at the end of the Social Week of Italian Catholics, week-long series of events focused on social issues. In front of a crowd of around 1,200 participants, he said: "Everyone must feel part of a community project. No one should feel useless." The pope did not elaborate on which countries he was referring to. The 87-year-old pontiff, who is in poor health, has not been on a long trip abroad for almost a year. In recent weeks, however, he has visited various northern Italian cities, including Venice, Verona and now Trieste. In addition, Francis - who is also the head of state of the Vatican - attended the summit of the Group of Seven (G7) major democratic industrialized nations in southern Italy in mid-June. Pope Francis attends a meeting with the participants into the 50th Social Week of Catholics in Italy at the Generali Convention Center in Trieste. Vatican Media/IPA via ZUMA Press/dpa Pope Francis on Sunday expressed concern about the state of the world's democracies at an event in the northern Italian city of Trieste. "Let's be honest: in today's world, democracy is not in good health," said the head of the Catholic Church, while stressing the importance of participation in democratic processes, including voting. "Indifference is a cancer for democracy," he added. Francis was speaking at the end of the Social Week of Italian Catholics, a week-long series of events focused on social issues. In front of a crowd of around 1,200 participants, he said: "Everyone must feel part of a community project. No one should feel useless." The pope did not elaborate on which countries he was referring to. Francis also expressed his concern about declining voter turnout in many countries. "Democracy demands that conditions are created so that everyone can express themselves," he said. Appealing to members of the Catholic Church to also take responsibility in politics, Francis said: "We cannot be satisfied with a private faith. This means having the courage to make proposals for justice and peace in public debates." The 87-year-old pontiff, who is in poor health, has not been on a long trip abroad for almost a year. In recent weeks, however, he has visited various northern Italian cities, including Venice, Verona and now Trieste. In addition, Francis - who is also the head of state of the Vatican - attended the summit of the Group of Seven (G7) major democratic industrialized nations in southern Italy in mid-June. If he remains healthy, the pope plans to travel to South East Asia and the Pacific in September for a 12-day trip, his longest abroad to date, with stops in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. Shortly afterwards, a visit to Luxembourg and Belgium is on the cards. FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) Following over a week-long fight against a fire of just over 14,000 acres, the U.S. Forest Service announced they have positive news to share about the Basin Fire. The fire began on the morning of June 26 following a lightning storm. As of Saturday evening, forest officials report the fire is at 60% containment with an acreage of 14,020. The California National Guard also posted Saturday a video of an airlift rescue of a firefighter at the Basin Fire. The video shows a firefighter being lifted off the side of a rock on what appears to be a hill. There is no update on their status or the extent of their injuries. Thanks to the work of firefighters, the Fresno County Sheriffs Office has issued reductions to the following zones effective immediately: Evacuation orders reduced to warnings K29; K166; K41; K31 Taken out of evacuation warnings K76; K61 Still under evacuation orders K30; K40 Forest officials add for the safety of everyone, the Sierra National Forest Temporary Closure Order remains in effect. Officials say they are continuing to restore the area by clearing and repairing roadways and trails, removing trees that pose a threat of falling, and ensuring future water runoff does not cause a flood or damage to trails and roads. Residents can track evacuation warnings and orders through the Fresno County Sheriffs map. 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. Representatives attend a ceremony marking the 87th anniversary of the beginning of China's whole-nation resistance war against Japanese aggression at the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Beijing, capital of China, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xiang) China on Sunday marked the 87th anniversary of the beginning of its whole-nation resistance war against Japanese aggression. Yin Li, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, presided over a ceremony at the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression near the Lugou Bridge, where the historic Lugou Bridge Incident took place 87 years ago. On July 7, 1937, Japanese soldiers attacked Chinese forces at the Lugou Bridge, marking the beginning of Japan's full-scale invasion of China, and China's whole-nation resistance against the Japanese invaders. At 9 a.m., the ceremony began with China's national anthem. Poems were recited and songs were performed by students from the capital to express the younger generation's resolve to carry forward the spirit of the heroes and martyrs, advance China's modernization and contribute to the building of a strong nation and national rejuvenation. Attendees offered floral tributes and bowed to pay their respects to those who had laid down their lives in fighting the Japanese aggression. The ceremony was attended by about 500 people, including war veterans and family members of military officers in the war. WAMEGO (KSNT) Over the past week, Pottawatomie County has seen an increase in car break-ins. This prompted the Wamego Police Department to make a Facebook posting warning residents about potential burglaries. While there have been no break-ins yet in Wamego, Police Chief Paul Schliffke said that when they begin happening in surrounding areas, they will more than likely begin seeing them in their city. He wanted to let people know about this ongoing problem and also wanted them to know how to protect themselves from becoming a victim. Cooler temperatures for Sunday with a few storm chances KSNT 27 News spoke to Schliffke about some ways to prevent break-ins from happening. First of all, lock your vehicle. One of the things thats very common about any vehicle burglaries, including these have been most of the vehicles have been unlocked, Schliffke said. Secondly, dont leave valuables in sight in your vehicle. Schliffke also said that its extremely important to never leave a firearm in your vehicle. It is dangerous for the officers that respond to the scene and becomes very hard to track when it is stolen. LaRoccas Pizza to be featured on nationwide food roadshow He said its also important to file a police report if you were a victim of a break-in, even if nothing was taken. Schliffke also said if you see any suspicious activity to report it to your local law enforcement immediately. It is important that they know where and when the break-ins are happening. 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. 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. Power, water and internet cut off after explosions in Melitopol media Explosions were heard in occupied Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, on Sunday. The media reported strikes at the airfield and in the area of the Russian-occupied Avtokolorlyt factory (a former automotive industry enterprise), where the Russians have set up military bases. The Russians claimed to have shot down all the missiles. Source: RIA Pivden (South, or RIA Melitopol) media outlet; Russian-appointed official of Zaporizhzhia Oblast Vladimir Rogov; Russian-appointed puppet "governor" of the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast Yevgeny Balitsky Details: As RIA Pivden reports, the first explosion was heard around 14:00, and it was well heard on the southern outskirts of the city. Later, powerful explosions occurred at the airfield and in the Avtokolorlyt area, where the Russians have set up military bases and storage points. Thick smoke rose over the city in three locations at once. "It is likely that at least three missiles hit the target," the media outlet writes. Melitopol residents also reported three explosions in the Melitopol district, near the village of Pryvilne. The explosions in the temporarily occupied city of Melitopol were later reported by Vladimir Rogov, the self-proclaimed mayor of the city, who is suspected of treason. "The Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a missile attack on this city in Zaporizhzhia Oblast with five HIMARS missiles," Rogov wrote, claiming that all five missiles were shot down by air defence, and a fire started in the places where the debris fell. Rogov reported a second "powerful explosion" in the city around 17:30. "A pillar of smoke is rising on the northern outskirts of the city again. Preliminary reports suggest another missile strike," he wrote. RIA Pivden reported that almost all districts of Melitopol were cut off from electricity on Sunday evening. There was no water supply and communication interruptions, with almost all customers losing their internet connection. Yevgeny Balitsky, the so-called "governor" of the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, said that hospitals were switched to backup power, mobile and internet connections may be interrupted, and some base stations were switched to backup power sources. The Russian authorities reported that they had managed to restore electricity supply in some areas, but residents wrote that after the power supply was restored, the lights went out again, RIA Pivden reported. Traffic lights are not working in the city, and shops have closed ahead of usual working hours. The situation is the same in Melitopol district. Most villages there also have no electricity or water supply, and mobile phone service has disappeared. Support UP or become our patron! Russian troops shelled a residential area in Khersons Korabelnyi district on July 7, Kherson Oblast Military Administration reported. As a result of the attack, private homes were damaged as well as a pregnant 32-year-old woman was hospitalized with signs of smoke inhalation poisoning, the authorities reported. Kherson and other regional settlements west of the Dnipro River have been subjected to near-daily Russian strikes since Ukraine liberated the area in November 2022, and Russian troops were pushed to the river's east bank. On July 6 alone, Russian attacks on Kherson Oblast killed four people and injured three, according to local governor Oleksandr Prokudin. Russian troops targeted residential neighborhoods in settlements of the region, damaging a high-rise building and 10 private houses. Hits were recorded on an administrative building, a public catering facility, and a store, with private cars also damaged, Prokudin wrote on Telegram. Read also: Russian attacks across Ukraine kill 8, injure 16 over past day Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. One of President Joe Biden's closest advisers, his sister Valerie Biden Owens joined her brother at Mass on Saturday evening at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church in Greenville. It wasn't just a show of family support or comfort after Biden's poor June 27 debate performance has raised fears that he is no longer up to the job as president. Joe Biden and his sister, Valerie Biden Owens, stop by Gianni's Pizza in Trolley Square in Wilmington in April, 2019. Jennifer Corbett, The News Journal Owens, 78, the president's younger sister, has long been his trusted confidante through triumph, turmoil and tragedy. She is a frequent companion to Biden at the 5 p.m. church service, and the pair also sometimes meet up for meals around Wilmington at old familiar places like Mrs. Robino's in Little Italy. The slight, impeccably dressed Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, resident usually arrives alone before the 81-year-old president at the historic church and sits in a back right pew that is roped off. Parishioners, long accustomed to getting wanded by the Secret Service before entering the building off Old Church Road, pay little mind. Friends who have long known Owens frequently wave or say hello before walking down aisles and genuflecting. When he is in Greenville, President Biden arrives at the church, a short drive from his home, a few minutes after the Mass begins, and slides into the seat next to his sister. There is little gawking even though the country's commander-in-chief has entered the church. Delaware residents have long been used to seeing Joe, as he's still called. He's been seen around Delaware with Owens even before she helped him run for an open seat on New Castle County Council in 1970. President Joe Biden embraces his sister, Valerie Biden Owens, as they leave Mrs. Robino's Restaurant in Wilmington on Feb. 10, 2024. The presidential motorcade on Saturday stopped outside St. Joseph's at 5:09 p.m. and the president walked to the church at 5:11 p.m., according to a White House press pool report. When Biden arrived, Owens kissed her brother's cheek. The president exited the church at 5:50. He and his sister spoke briefly with some members of the clergy and then the president walked with his sister to the cars. Owens had been her brother's campaign manager for more than five decades beginning with a high school race. She became the first woman in United States history to run a presidential campaign. It's not surprising that Owens was at St. Joseph's to support her brother and affirm their deep faith. The pair have long had a close-knit relationship. Owens has played a central role in her brother's life as both an advocate and a best friend. Owens wrote about their lifelong bond in her 2022 memoir, "Growing Up Biden." "She's been my best friend since I was 3 years old," Biden said. What or even if Owens has been advising Biden in recent days since the debate is not known. Last week, she traveled to the White House to spend the Fourth of July holiday with the president and other family members. Presidential Fourth: Biden hosts 4th of July celebration at White House While there, Owens also planned to have face-to-face meetings about her brothers campaign, according to NBC News. In 1987, Owens was by Biden's side when he ended his first run for president after being accused of plagiarizing a speech from United Kingdom Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock. In her book, Owens wrote that the close "campaign family" and "the blood family" came together and decided that Biden had to drop out of the race. Owens said she took a walk with her husband, Jack, and looked for signs and signals that dropping out was the right decision. She saw three tea-leaf-sized pink rosebuds and immediately thought it was a sign from St. Therese, a Catholic saint associated with flowers whose message was "Life presents enough challenges and opportunities for grace." "She always sends a rose to let you know that she has heard your prayers," Owens wrote and then told her husband "We're making the right decision." By 2020, Owens said she was finished with full-time campaign management and happily settled into a "behind-the-scenes role as Joe's confidant." In her book, Owens writes that Ron Klain, Biden's former White House Chief of Staff who has helped prepare him for debates, told her that he always wanted to speak her mind when it came to Biden's best interests. "You have great instincts for how to connect with people and above all, you're not afraid to tell him when you think he's wrong," Klain said, according to Owens. President's best friend: Valerie Biden Owens, Joe's sister who ran his campaigns, to write memoir, 'Growing up Biden' Owens wrote, "I am generally reluctant to correct him in public, but when I see or hear something I don't like, I always tell him. I just wait until we are alone. The question inevitably comes: 'What do you think, Val?'" As a defiant president has vowed to stay in the race to defeat Donald Trump even as some in his political party want him to end his campaign, the question may already have been answered. Patricia Talorico has been covering Delaware for more than 30 years. You can find her on Instagram , X and Facebook. Email ptalorico@delawareonline.com. Sign up for her Delaware Eats newsletter. This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: After debate turmoil has President Biden asked his sister for advice? President Joe Biden is set to deliver a major speech on civil rights and democracy at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum in Austin on July 15, the same day the Republican National Convention begins in Milwaukee, two sources familiar with the engagement told the American-Statesman. The event, which will commemorate the recent 60th anniversary of Johnson's signing of the Civil Rights Act, will mark Biden's first trip to Texas' capital city since before his election in 2020. The announcement comes days after U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, became the first congressional Democrat to call on Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential election, drawing on the example of Johnson's decision to forgo a reelection campaign in 1968 in his statement. "Under very different circumstances, (Johnson) made the painful decision to withdraw. President Biden should do the same," Doggett said. A White House official who confirmed the visit to the Statesman did not comment on whether the trip is connected to the GOP convention or to Doggett's calls for withdrawal, though they noted that the event is an official White House event, not a campaign event. The White House official and the other source did not agree to be named. Biden continues to be plagued by questions about his capacity to serve four more years in office after an ABC News interview Friday failed to substantially assuage concerns that arose from his disastrous performance at the recent presidential debate with presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. Continuing a national tour to promote Biden's record as president, the speech will center the work of his and Vice President Kamala Harris' administration on civil rights, per the White House source. He is also expected to address his vision for continuing that work. More: When Lloyd Doggett called on Biden to stand down, it was one old pro talking to another First Lady Pat Nixon, left, and President Richard Nixon are greeted by President Lyndon B. Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson when they arrived for the dedication of the LBJ Library in Austin on May 22, 1971. The visit will come roughly a decade after then-President Barack Obama and former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter attended the Civil Rights Summit at the LBJ Presidential Library to commemorate the Civil Rights Acts 50th anniversary in 2014. Following the speech in Austin, Biden will travel to speak at the NAACP National Convention in Las Vegas on July 16 and make remarks at the UnidosUS conference in the same city. UnidosUS is a nonprofit organization that works to "eliminate barriers and create opportunities for" Latinos in the U.S. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: President Biden to speak at LBJ Library in Austin next week Braver Angels Watching the presidential debate was a painful experience for me. Donald Trumps endless hyperboles were almost laughable, but Joe Bidens difficulty with articulation was also very concerning. The only saving grace: I was watching it at the Braver Angels convention in Kenosha, Wisconsin, surrounded by 700 friendly blue- and red-leaning delegates. Braver Angels are dedicated to healing our countrys deep partisan divide, using respectful dialogue to discuss some of our thorniest issues like immigration, income inequality and abortion. Their goal is to find shared values and goals that both sides can support. Opinion After the debate, I found that the one thing many of my fellow delegates agreed on is that our country deserves better than either of these two candidates. It may be too late to find better alternatives for this election. But I hope that in the future we select leaders who treat their opponents with respect, decline to engage in personal attacks and seek to find solutions that help all Americans. Don Gaede San Luis Obispo Withdraw, Mr. President President Joe Bidens debate performance sealed his fate to exit stage left in six months. Everyone knows it, including Democratic leadership. Joe needs bow out peacefully, retire on a Delaware beach, and work with party leaders to select a competent, capable, intellectual candidate who believes in democracy and the Constitution. A candidate who is not a convicted felon, has not conned or duped millions of people or hundreds of organizations in the past, has not incited an insurrection that called for the hanging of a vice president, and is not buddies with global dictators. It needs to happen quickly. There are several choices that make sense including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Adam Kinzinger or Liz Cheney could could also step in. As Liz mentioned months ago, the single most important task we have in this country right now is to ensure Trump can never get back into the Oval Office. Brent Jorgensen Pismo Beach Stay in, Mr. President Whats this with everyone (or all too many people, anyway) writing off President Joe Biden because of a poor debate performance? As I understand it, he had a cold, and that would put anyone off. They say his poor performance is evidence he wouldnt be able to do well as the next president. But hes been doing a great job as president over these past few years. Hes not going to suddenly deteriorate because of a debate. He may be slowing down, but hes still doing great. And hes going to continue to do great. Vote for Biden! And eschew the third party candidates. We cant let this ultra-important job go to that other guy. The future of America depends of a reliable president. BIden is your man! Rosalie Valvo Morro Bay Democracy in danger The Roberts court, if democracy survives, will go down in history as the most corrupt court in history. The Supreme Courts immunity decision has essentially stated that the president is above the law and that democracy as we know it is now in danger. Does the courts immunity decision mean that Congress cant impeach a president for conducting an official act? Since official acts by the president are immune from prosecution, maybe President Bidens next official act should be to disband the Supreme Court and appoint his own Biden court. After all, Chief Justice John Roberts and the rest of the Trump cronies have stated that the president is immune. Bob Foster San Luis Obispo Thoughts on the 4th I am a proud American patriot, unmoved by vacuous symbols and rituals, but by a virtuous ideal. Our founding principles and historically evolved values call me to develop an identity transcending the limitations of my race, religion, class, national origin, gender and party. My obligation and opportunity as a citizen is to break free of those chains and gain membership in a multifaceted community and a more profound sense of what it means to be a human being. Our nation is the first in the history of civilization to lay the foundation for such a transformation. We have reason to be proud of that and to be humble, recognizing that we have far to go in the realization of our vision. Our resolve to attain it is under constant challenge from those who appeal to our fears, anxieties and superficial impulses. Artful deceivers identify scapegoats for us to demonize as objects of our hostility, trying to splinter us into alienated factions. Yet we know from our history that every advance weve made toward that vision was gained by our solidarity and collective action. Fireworks, BBQs and parades mean nothing without working to make the vision real. E Pluribus Unum. David Broadwater Atascadero Wind farm misinformation Offshore wind developer to map sea floor (sanluisobispo.com, June 30) This letter is directed to the residents of the coastal towns regarding the wind farm site assessment operations described in Stephanie Zappellis excellent article of June 30. I can understand your concerns about the impact of the wind farm on the character of coastal communities. These concerns can and should be negotiated in good faith with the three leaseholders. But please do not be misled by the misinformation being propagated by opponents of the wind farm concerning the damage to marine life by the site assessments. There is simply no sound science supporting this. Please always keep in mind that the need to develop clean energy to combat climate change is real and urgent. Ray Weymann Atascadero You would have to be a Neanderthal confined to the family cave not to hear the din of voices calling for Joe Bidens presidential scalp and a replacement candidate not dealing with similar age and cognitive decline factors. I concluded months ago that Biden should step aside so the Democrats could find a new standard bearer, but as he failed to do so and with the campaign cycle in full swing, I then concluded Biden was apparently the last man standing who could beat Trump. With Biden demonstrating more serious cognitive and physical decline recently, it is now apparent that he is not the person to challenge Trump in November, and its Vice President Kamala Harris who happens to be polling close enough to Trump that she could defeat him in November. Biden will pay a heavy price in history if he loses this election. He would forever be the guy who put his own and his familys comfort with the presidential perks of office ahead of beating down an autocrat who has already proven in his previous term of office that he has little regard for constitutional democracy. Perhaps the best example of the supposed blue collar, union-backed Biden family losing touch with the boys at the local tavern in Delaware is First Lady Jill Biden showing up on the cover of Vogue recently wearing a Ralph Lauren dress that retails for almost $5,000. Then comes a politically dense headline quoting Jill Biden that we will decide our future as calls for Biden to do what is good for the country ring out. It is the voters who decide a candidates future, after all. Dont get me wrong. I would vote for Mickey Mouse to keep Trump out of the White House so Biden has my vote, mindful as I am of Benjamin Franklins comment when asked after the Constitutional Convention of 1787 whether we had a republic or a monarchy. He responded, A republic, if you can keep it. No doubt, Biden will keep the republic if he can get elected, while Trump will tear it apart. But there are now more legitimate concerns that Biden cannot get elected. I grew up in Missouri, the son of Truman Democrats, and Bidens refusal to step aside reminded me of Trumans low approval rating of 22% in 1952 and his decision not to run for his own second term. The two-term limitation on the presidency could not apply to Truman so he had to decide whether to run again or quit and return home to Independence, Missouri, which was his choice. Truman also reminds us how difficult it is to predict the eventual effectiveness of a presidential candidate. According to David Roll, author of Ascent to Power: How Truman Emerged from Roosevelts Shadow and Remade the World, who I recently interviewed for Readers Corner, Truman was kept in the dark about FDRs decision-making and that if Truman had been schooled by FDR, he would have avoided a couple of gaffs early in his presidency. More importantly, Truman had only three months as VP to prepare for the presidency and this unprepared Harry Truman was eventually ranked as the sixth greatest president in the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project and the 2021 Presidential Historians Survey by C-Span. Meanwhile, Harris has had three years of experience to prepare for the presidency. That is important to keep in mind with so much chatter about Harris unpopularity despite recent CNN polling that shows her within one point of Trump. The Biden team did Harris no favors with few quality assignments at the start of her term, but with Biden on the ropes more recently, he has given her assignments in foreign policy and as an advocate for womens reproductive rights, and she has handled them well. To the doubters who have not thought of Harris as the presidential candidate to take on Trump, it would be an unforgiveable affront to African-American voters to pass her up for someone else. Also, lets not forget her deftly critical role in exposing Justice Kavanaughs mediocrity for a Supreme Court appointment in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Now imagine how she would do the same in a Trump debate. And her work as California Attorney General with a tough on crime agenda is not a bad resume when she is running against a convicted felon running on crime in America. What is it that keeps Biden in the campaign for re-election when so many political strategists and key Democrats fear he cannot win with the age issue, rightly or wrongly, so amplified in the media. How could it be that the Democratic Party has been so listless in simply acquiescing to Bidens decision to seek another term? The one- word answer could be family. Thus far, the Democratic Party has not been interested in taking on the collective judgment of Jill Biden, Hunter Biden and sister Valerie Biden Owens who are identified as Joes closest political and personal allies although that seems to be softening now with the whirlwind of calls for Biden to step aside. A younger candidate would flip the age issue and land it directly on Trump who spends at least as much time talking nonsense that we might ordinarily attribute to cognitive decline. He is only a few years younger, but not as limited physically as Biden is, so thus far he gets a pass from the media as he appears at his rallies with nonsensical, bizarre and usually false assertions that his MAGA crowd cheers. Doesnt that change when a much younger candidate like Harris faces off as his challenger? If there was ever a president who comes off as the common man getting to the U.S. Senate, its Harry Truman. Without earning a college degree and no impressive Ivy League credentials to burnish in the Senate, Harry told it like it is, the plainspoken Senator who used his common sense and good judgment to serve him both as a U.S. senator and president. And, most importantly, he knew when to give up the office. I thought of Biden as the same kind of plain-spoken man of the people as Truman when he was campaigning for the presidency. For years he hopped a train back to Delaware after Senate sessions so he could tuck in his boys since an auto accident claimed the lives of his wife and daughter. It was the stuff of legends and used successfully to cast him like the guys down at the bar in Wilmington, Delaware. However, reports of old political cronies emphasis on old and family telling him what he wants to hear about his reelection chances have dulled my enthusiasm for the man and the president. Even if he is reelected, this American president will be challenged by cognitive and physical issues that will preoccupy the media and detract from the presidential image of a confident America assuring its rightful place in the world. There is some irony in the fact that Trump is accused regularly of blowing up the Republican Party and turning it into his own MAGA fiefdom, yet the Biden family so far acts similarly by defending the indefensible and ignoring those moments in the last debate when he simply looked lost. The time is now for Biden to step aside as Truman did in 1952 and allow the Democratic Party to nominate someone who would not have to approach the 2024 election with increasing concerns about fitness for office. Bob Kustra served as president of Boise State University from 2003 to 2018. He is host of Readers Corner on Boise State Public Radio, and he writes a biweekly column for the Idaho Statesman. He served two terms as Illinois lieutenant governor and 10 years as a state legislator. A journalist screams after being wounded during clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers along the Israel-Gaza border, east of Khan Yunis town in the southern Gaza Strip on September 15, 2023. File Photo by Abd Rahim Al-Khatib/ UPI July 7 (UPI) -- The Foreign Press Association, a nonprofit organization representing journalists working in Israel and Palestine, has blasted Israeli authorities for what it called an "information blackout." "Never before has Israel enforced such a long and strict information blackout," the FPA said in its statement Sunday. "It has repeatedly rejected our appeals for access, fought us in court to uphold its draconian ban and offered just a handful of highly controlled 'embed' opportunities for a small number of our members." The group added that Palestinian journalists in Gaza continue to face "unprecedented threats" from Israeli soldiers who monitor and restrict their movement."It raises questions about what Israel doesn't want international journalists to see," the nonprofit said in its statement. Meanwhile, Israeli journalist Nir Hasson and Palestinian journalist Saif Kwasmi were harassed and assaulted by Israelis during the annual Jerusalem Day Flag March last week, earning condemnation from the U.S.-based Committee for the Protection of Journalists. "An Israeli police officer started hitting me and took me to a side street to arrest me," Kwasmi told the nonprofit group. "I told him that I am a journalist and produced my card. They escorted the journalists outside of the Old City and to a place for journalists." The annual march commemorates the June 5 capture of East Jerusalem by Israeli forces in the 1967 war. Palestinians have been banned from organizing protest marches for half a century and regularly censor media reporting on Israeli occupation. In fact, Israel detained journalists simply on the suspicion they were working for Al Jazeera in May after outright banning the news broadcaster from reporting within Israel. At least 48 journalists have been arrested by Israeli authorities since Oct. 7, the CPJ reported. Of those, 36 remain detained by Israel. Palestinian authorities have arrested just three journalists. So far, 108 journalists covering the war have been killed and 32 reported injured. The circumstances of their deaths have been tracked by the nonprofit. Primary ballots will be out in days. Learn about these 3 packed Central WA races Rolls of I voted! stickers on it for voters to take with them after dropping off their ballot at the Benton County Voting Center in Richland. Tri-City voters will get to hear from candidates running in some of the most competitive Central Washington races in the coming days. The League of Women Voters of Benton and Franklin Counties and Northwest Public Broadcasting will air primary candidate forums for Washingtons 4th Congressional District on Tuesday, July 16, and the 14th Legislative District on Wednesday, July 17, on KTNW TV. These interviews will also be available for rebroadcast on YouTube, the Leagues website and on Richland and Pasco city TV stations. The primary election is Tuesday, Aug. 6. The top two vote recipients during this election will move on to the general election on Nov. 5. Local county auditor offices will begin mailing out ballots on July 19. The deadline for online or mail-in voter registration is July 29. Beverly Johnson-Torelli, a member of the Benton-Franklin League, said theyre encouraging voters to get engaged and educated on candidates running for public office this year. Were really excited to present these broadcasts to the public so that they can be informed voters, she said. The League invited all candidates running in the three races to participate, but not all took them up on the offer. The following candidates running in the 4th Congressional District chose to participate in the forum: Altogether, seven candidates are running to oust five-term incumbent Dan Newhouse, some for his 2021 vote to impeach former President Donald Trump over his role in fomenting the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Absent from the forum are Newhouse, Republican Tiffany Smiley, Democrat Jane Birdie Muchlinski and MAGA Democrat John Malan. The 4th Congressional District encompasses central Washington, stretching from the U.S.-Canada border down to the Columbia River valley. It includes Omak, East Wenatchee, Moses Lake, Yakima, the Yakama Indian Reservation and the Tri-Cities. The following candidates running for the 14th Legislative Districts Position 1 and Position 2 seats participated in the forum: Absent from the forum are Republican Gloria Mendoza, of Grandview, and Republican Deb Manjarrez, of Wapato. Democrats are looking to flip seats in the 14th from red to blue after a U.S. District Court judge earlier this year instated a new redistricting map aimed at giving Latino voters a greater voice in choosing their state representatives. The new map made some heavy changes to voting boundaries in Central Washington and the Yakima Valley, and as a result drew out state Reps. Chris Corry and Gina Mosbrucker, both Republicans, from the 14th district. Republican incumbent Sen. Curtis King and his challenger, Democrat Maria Beltran, were not invited for the forum since both will advance to the general election. The new 14th Legislative District now includes Pasco, parts of Kennewick, parts of Yakima, Wapato, Toppenish, Finley, parts of Goldendale and the Yakama Reservation. People enter a polling station during the second round of the French parliamentary elections. On July 7, 2024, France is holding parliamentary elections that will be decisive for the country's political future and in which the far right could become the largest party in parliament for the first time. Hannes P. Albert/dpa The left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) has pulled off a surprise and come out on top after the second round of the French parliamentary elections, with the far right falling to third place, broadcasters TF1 and France 2 predicted after polls closed on Sunday. The NFP, a new alliance that has brought together Jean-Luc Melenchons hard-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), the Socialist Party, the Communist Party, The Ecologists and several smaller left-leaning groups, is projected to gain 172-215 of the 577 seats in the lower house, or National Assembly. President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance came second and is projected to win 150-180 seats, down from 245. The far-right National Rally party, which came out on top after the first round, fell to third place, and is expected to take 120-152 seats. If the projections are correct, no camp is likely to achieve an absolute majority of 289 seats. National Rally suffered from a coordinated campaign by the second and third-placed groups in the first round, who did a deal in some 200 seats to put forward one candidate in the hopes of keeping the far-right candidate out. What happens next is unclear for the time being. The result gives rise to various future scenarios: The left could try to gain support from the centrist forces - either as a minority government under a confidence-and-supply arrangement with other parties or in a kind of grand coalition. In view of the opposing political orientations, however, it is not clear whether this could succeed. It is unclear whether President Macron would be politically forced to appoint a prime minister from the ranks of the left in such a scenario. The National Assembly has the power to topple the government. With a prime minister from the left, Macron would have to share power under an arrangement known in France as cohabitation. The prime minister would become more important. What this would mean for Germany and Europe is unclear. The left-wing alliance is divided and holds very different positions on many major political issues. Should none of the camps find a governing majority, the current government could remain in office as a transitional government or a government of technocrats could be appointed. In such a scenario, France would be threatened with political gridlock. There was a high turnout in Sunday's decisive second round of France's parliamentary elections. Voter turnout was 59.71% by 5 pm (1500 GMT), according to the Interior Ministry in Paris, up from 38.11% at the same time of the last election in 2022. In the first round a week ago the overall turnout was 66.71%. According to the television channel BFMTV, this could be the highest voter turnout since 1997. According to the broadcaster FranceInfo, several shops on the upmarket Champs-Elysees boulevard in Paris had been barricaded in anticipation of riots if National Rally had won. The security forces have prepared for possible unrest, with 30,000 police officers mobilized and 5,000 officers deployed in Paris and its suburbs alone, as previously announced by Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin. Boosted by general dissatisfaction with the Macron administration, National Rally topped the European Parliament elections in June with 31.36% of the vote, leading Macron to call the snap parliamentary polls. There are more than two years to go until the next round of presidential elections in 2027, which Le Pen is favoured to win. Macron cannot run again. A man enters a booth to cast his vote at a polling station during the second round of the French parliamentary elections. On July 7, 2024, France is holding parliamentary elections that will be decisive for the country's political future and in which the far right could become the largest party in parliament for the first time. Hannes P. Albert/dpa A woman casts her vote at a polling station during the second round of the French parliamentary elections. On July 7, 2024, France is holding parliamentary elections that will be decisive for the country's political future and in which the far right could become the largest party in parliament for the first time. Ludovic Marin/AFP/dpa A woman casts her vote at a polling station during the second round of the French parliamentary elections. On July 7, 2024, France is holding parliamentary elections that will be decisive for the country's political future and in which the far right could become the largest party in parliament for the first time. Ludovic Marin/AFP/dpa The left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) has pulled off a surprise and come out on top after the second round of the French parliamentary elections, with the far right falling to third place, broadcasters TF1 and France 2 predicted after polls closed on Sunday. The NFP, a new alliance that has brought together Jean-Luc Melenchons hard-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), the Socialist Party, the Communist Party, The Ecologists and several smaller left-leaning groups, is projected to gain 172-215 of the 577 seats in the lower house, or National Assembly. President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance came second and is projected to win 150-180 seats, down from 245. The far-right National Rally party, which came out on top after the first round, fell to third place, and is expected to take 120-152 seats. If the projections are correct, no camp is likely to achieve an absolute majority of 289 seats. National Rally suffered from a coordinated campaign by the second and third-placed groups in the first round, who did a deal in some 200 seats to put forward one candidate in the hopes of keeping the far-right candidate out. What happens next is unclear for the time being. The result gives rise to various future scenarios. The left could try to gain support from the centre forces - either as a minority government with acquiescence or in a kind of grand coalition. In view of the opposing political orientations, however, it is not clear whether this could succeed. A man enters a booth to cast his vote at a polling station during the second round of the French parliamentary elections. On July 7, 2024, France is holding parliamentary elections that will be decisive for the country's political future and in which the far right could become the largest party in parliament for the first time. Hannes P. Albert/dpa Elsa Pearson Sites is the policy director of the Partnered Evidence-based Policy Resource Center with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Medical Center are both critically important to the health of Rhode Islanders and are also struggling to stay open. Last month, state leadership approved their proposed sale to The Centurion Foundation, but not without significant concern. The attorney general said that the current owners have been poor stewards of the hospitals and their resources. He said that the prospective buyer isnt a great option either. It lacks the required expertise and funding to run two safety net hospitals and it has an inadequate plan to get the facilities back on their feet. The Department of Health wasnt much more optimistic. It noted that the instability of the current situation was an impetus to move forward with the sale. In its full report, it said that Centurion has no experience running a hospital, but its a good thing that Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Medical Center would become nonprofit entities after the sale. Health policy experts are always talking about how hospital mergers and acquisitions are bad for patients. Ive written about this myself many times, including in The Providence Journal. We talk about it because its true. More: Sale of Roger Williams, Fatima hospitals approved with conditions. Here's what they are This kind of consolidation often leads to higher prices. For example, when Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Lahey Health merged in Massachusetts a few years ago, the Health Policy Commission the states watchdog estimated that the merger could increase health care spending in the state by over $250 million a year. Higher prices do not mean better quality however. Patients just end up paying more for the same or worse care. Beyond the numbers, provider interviews validate these concerns: Doctors share stories about how patient care is often compromised right after a transfer of ownership. State leadership last month approved the proposed sale of Roger Williams Medical Center, along with Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, to The Centurion Foundation. But the sale of Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Medical Center doesnt fit into the nice, clean mergers and acquisitions are bad box. Its neither an excellent decision nor a terrible decision for Rhode Island. What it is is complicated. First, the current owner is a for-profit entity and Centurion is a nonprofit entity. As the attorney general said in his press release, private equity doesnt belong in health care. Shifting the hospitals back to nonprofit status could be a step in the right direction (though the data show it might not matter too much). More: Report: Rhode Island among top 4 states with safest hospitals. Check your hospitals score Another factor is that Centurion is not local and has never owned a hospital. That means the two safety net hospitals would be under out-of-state, inexperienced control after the sale. That could be a step backwards. Yet, the hospitals are indeed in dire straits and doing nothing is not an option. The question then becomes whether the pros of a sale outweigh the cons. Rhode Island leadership seems to think they do, and Im inclined to agree, albeit cautiously. Even though the sale of Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Medical Center to Centurion isnt automatically a bad idea, that doesnt mean we understand the short- and long-term effects that this shift may have on the states health care market. Rhode Islanders deserve good quality, affordable and reliable health care. If selling these two safety net hospitals offers a chance of that being a reality again, the state should try it. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: The sale of Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Medical Center doesnt fit into the nice mergers and acquisitions are bad" box. Protesters spray water guns at tourists in Barcelona as thousands rally against overtourism More than 150 activist groups gathered in Barcelona on Saturday to protest overtourism. Footage showed protesters squirting water guns at tourists and telling them to "go home." Barcelona is combating overtourism, which locals blame for the increased cost of living. Protesters swarmed the streets of Barcelona to condemn mass tourism, which they blame for skyrocketing rent prices and the city becoming "unliveable." Multiple outlets reported that thousands of protesters, including more than 150 organizations, marched through Barcelona on Saturday. Photos showed protesters carrying signs that read, "Barcelona is not for sale" and "Tourists go home." Protesters in Barcelona used water guns on tourists. Europa Press News/Getty Images Footage obtained by BBC showed protesters using water guns against people visiting popular tourist areas while chanting, "Go home!" Protesters also taped off certain restaurants and hotels as if to symbolically close the establishments. Barcelona is a top tourist destination that draws millions of travelers annually with its Mediterranean climate and distinct culture. According to the Barcelona Tourism Observatory, the city welcomed 15.6 million tourists last year, with the wider region receiving nearly 26 million. While the influx of travelers brings money to Barcelona's economy, it can also have adverse effects, such as increasing the local cost of living. Protesters taped off restaurants and hotels in Barcelona on Saturday. SOPA Images/Getty Images Diners at a restaurant in Barcelona during Saturday's protest. JOSEP LAGO/Getty Images Reuters reported that rent in Barcelona and other popular cities such as Madrid rose by 18% in June compared with the previous year. One protester told Reuters, "The city has turned completely for tourists, and what we want is a city for citizens and not in service of tourists." Another said tourist-heavy venues such as restaurants and hotels made good money from tourists, but some locals "are in a very poor situation and they don't have enough money to live," adding, "That's a problem." A resident told AFP the city was suffering as a result. "I have nothing against tourism, but here in Barcelona, we are suffering from an excess of tourism that has made our city unliveable," they said. Barcelona residents held signs and waved flags during the protest. JOSEP LAGO/Getty Images Representatives for the mayor of Barcelona, the city's police department, and the tourism office didn't respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Barcelona officials have taken measures in recent months to address overtourism. It's an issue several popular tourist hubs are tackling, including Japan and Venice. The city increased its tourist tax in April, USA Today reported. In June, it announced plans to ban all short-term rentals. "More supply of housing is needed, and the measures we're presenting today are to provide more supply so that the working middle class does not have to leave the city because they can't afford housing," Mayor Jaume Collboni of Barcelona said, according to Bloomberg. "This measure will not change the situation from one day to the next. These problems take time. But with this measure, we are marking a turning point." Barcelona banned cruise ships from docking at one of its terminals last year to address overcrowding and pollution. Read the original article on Business Insider Man pointing toward migrant shelter, woman speaking toward camera while standing on street, migrants sitting and standing on the sidewalk outside of a shelter The influx of illegal migrants to the Big Apple over the past two years has meant a sea-change in the quality of life for workers and residents in ZIP codes swamped with shelters, they told The Post. Its overpopulated here [with migrants] and thats a concern, said Maria Katirtzoglou, 38, who works for a Long Island City engineering firm next door to a hotel-turned-migrant shelter on Crescent Street. Thats a concern for people who were born and raised here, people that have property here, because people that do own property and then they see all this coming in, they dont like it, she said. At night, I dont feel safe in this areaIts not safe. Things happen robberies and knives, you know, people take out knives. The influx of illegal migrants to the Big Apple has meant a sea-change in the quality of life for residents like Craig Richardson in Jamaica, Queens. Helayne Seidman In the 114th Precinct, which covers the shelter-saturated neighborhood where she works, robberies, assaults and other reported major crimes rose 12.3% during the first half of this year, compared to the same period in 2022 a stark difference from the .5% drop in major crime citywide over the same time, records show. Complaints to the citys 311 hotline in the 11101 ZIP code also surged since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in spring 2022 began bussing illegal border crossers to New York and other blue states with sanctuary policies, with 15,256 lodged through the end of June a 42% increase from 10,745 made during the first six months of 2022. Theres 24 migrant shelters in the 11101 including 23 in LIC the most of an NYC ZIP code, records show. Shawarn Shields, 50, of Queensbridge Houses, said parents are afraid to take their kids to local parks and playgrounds because migrants typically race electric scooters and have sex there. Magdalene Katirtzoglou, who works in shelter-saturated Long Island City, said there are safety concerns nowadays for long-time residents. Helayne Seidman This is not a third-world country, said Shields. We cant just let anyone come into our neighborhood and do whatever the f they want! Stuart Gleiber, 82, and his son Doug, 51, said the migrant shelters arrival in LIC is a gut punch to the community. Since 1998, the father-son duo have run a successful wooden box-making company out of an office building they own on 10th Street. But theyre now considering relocating after a former Holiday Inn across the street began housing migrants. They claim their new neighbors routinely take over the block for all sorts of rogue activities including dangerously firing up a barbecue with a propane gas tank next to plywood the Gleibers store in a lot for their business. We called the police; the police removed them, but the next day they were back, sighed Stuart. Doug said the migrants party every day, so theres beer, food containers everywhere. In the 114th Precinct, which covers LIC, major crimes have surged 12.3% since the first half of 2022. Helayne Seidman Stuart Gleiber, 82, and his son Doug, 51, are considering relocating their business after a migrant shelter opened up across the street in LIC. Helayne Seidman This is our business We have people who come in through the front door, [so] its not a really professional way to have it, he added. On Thursday, a Post reporter witnessed migrant men brazenly speed up and down 10th Street on mopeds and pop wheelies. Others sat in herds along the street and sidewalk, which were littered with empty cigarette boxes and food containers. A young boy watched while getting a haircut on the sidewalk. In Jamaica, one resident said his block has become a complete nightmare since a migrant shelter opened three doors down on Liberty Avenue, with many of the new arrivals spending their days outside drinking booze and smoking weed. Shawarn Shields, right, said Queensbridge Houses parents in LIC are afraid to send kids to local parks because migrants race electric scooters and have sex there. Stephen Yang Some were kicked out of the shelter, formerly the Van Wyck Hotel, for bad behavior but later returned in vehicles to park on the street and sleep, recalled videographer Craig Richardson. I dont know where theyre getting the money to buy cars, said Richardson, 53. And when they have to go to the bathroom, whered they go? In my backyard! He also blames migrants for littering the block with all sorts of debris and attracting huge rats. We get tickets for garbage because they throw trash all over the place, said Richardson. Why do I have dirty baby diapers in front of my house when I dont have kids here? Im picking up beer bottles, weed bags, diapers. Queens residents said migrants have been dumping trash in their backyards. Helayne Seidman In Midtown, Angelica Cisneros, who works at a salad bar next to a migrant shelter on 47th Street formerly known as the Econo Lodge Times Square hotel, said the new occupants even the paying customers are bad for business. They smoke; theyre messy, and they hang around every day, said Cisneros, 40. It bothers us because we have to clean the tables all the time and some of them are rude. Over the past year, Midtown has been the scene of wild clashes between migrants and cops, including one in May at the historic Roosevelt Hotel and another in February where a gang of migrants launched a vicious attack on two NYPD officers in Times Square. A Midtown salad bar employee said the migrants staying in local shelters are bad for business even the ones who are paying customers because they bother staff and other customers. Edi Chen stock.adobe.com The yawning gap between quality of life on the Upper West Side and Upper East Side made sense to longtime residents told about data obtained by The Post showing huge discrepancies in the citys placement of migrant shelters. There are eight migrant shelters in ZIP codes on the UWS, while the UES only has one shelter: the once-posh Bentley Hotel on E. 62nd Street. It makes people who live on the Upper West Side frustrated that they can cross the block and go on a five-minute or 10-minute walk through [Central] Park, and its like being in a different city, UWS activist Maria Danzilo, 67, ZIP codes on the Upper West Side are hosting eight migrant shelters, while the Upper East Side has one. New York Post The potential for feeling unsafe on the West Side has a lot more potential because of the shelters. You shouldnt feel safe like theres two cities separated by a park one that feels safe and one that doesnt. Neighborhood complaints include migrants illegally racing mopeds, boozing and puffing plenty of pot in public, illegally hawking fruits and other foods on bustling roads, and harassing outdoor diners for cash, according to UWS residents. Yet Councilwoman Gale Brewer, a Democrat who represents the UWS, said shes well aware of the complaints but insisted the historically liberal nabe is handling it pretty well. UWS activist Maria Danzilo described the quality of life in her migrant shelter-heavy neighborhood as a far cry from that on the Upper East Side. Its like being a different city, she said. James Keivom Residents in neighborhoods with many migrant shelters such as near the Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City say the shelters should be evenly distributed throughout the city. Stephen Yang Shawn Hill, co-founder of the Greater Harlem Coalition, said he and his neighbors in Upper Manhattan are frustrated the city has failed to equitably site shelters for housing migrants. Just as we want our share of world class sporting facilities, beautiful bike paths and parks, wed also like other neighborhoods to take their fair share of some of the less popular civic infrastructure, Hill said. We have equitably distributed schools, fire stations. Why cant we do that with shelters? No one neighborhood, City Council district, Senate district, should act as a containment zone for the city for unwanted civic infrastructure, he added. Councilman Keith Powers (D-Manhattan), who represents parts of Midtown with plenty of migrant shelters, agreed. We recognize theres a national crisis that came to New York City that required us to do a lot of things really quickly, but no single district should carry the burden of this crisis, said Powers, whose district includes eight shelters in the 10036 ZIP code in Midtown West. Some council members representing neighborhoods with little or no shelters declined to be interviewed, saying theyre concerned speaking about the topic would draw attention and lead to Mayor Eric Adams opening more shelters in their neighborhoods. However, Liz Garcia, a mayoral spokesperson, insisted the Adams administration is committed to siting the shelters fairly. With more than 65,300 migrants currently in our care, and an average of over a thousand more continuing to arrive every week, we have used every possible corner of New York City to shelter asylum seekers in a compassionate and equitable way, but given the nature of this emergency, we have prioritized sites that are practical, efficient, and cost-effective, she said. Campaigners say more than 100,000 Ukrainian children may have been taken by Russia - Thierry Monasse/Getty Ukrainian children are facing prison for refusing to adopt Russian citizenship as part of Vladimir Putins programme of abduction of tens of thousands of minors. A number of young Ukrainians are being held in detention centres in occupied territories after being rounded up by occupying Russian forces during the war. Some have been tortured into confessing to crimes, researchers and activists told The Telegraph, and may be moved to Russia and lost in the main prison system there when they turn 18. Russias mass abduction of children has been well documented and was cited on the arrest warrants for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, his childrens rights commissioner, issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). A spontaneous memorial to the victims of Russian rocket attacks in Zaporizhzhia - Andriy Andriyenko/Shutterstock The activists said they were racing to free the children held in occupied territory before they turned 18 and could be moved into the Russian adult penitentiary system, which is often arbitrary and Kafkaesque. Phoney crime One teenage boy whom The Telegraph is choosing not to identify to protect sensitive negotiations went missing after he left home for a walk early in the war. His parents said Russian police told them he had been detained for carrying out an alleged terror attack on the Russian state. The boy was taken to a childrens detention centre, where he was tortured into signing an admission of guilt, for what his parents say is a phoney crime. When his mother protested against the condition of her son who was left bruised and bloodied by the interrogation, with visible signs of electric shocks she was soon barred from seeing him again. The Telegraph can reveal that the boy is one of at least six Ukrainians aged between 13 and 17 who are being held in childrens detention centres on similar allegedly bogus charges. They were all snatched from towns and villages near Mariupol and Melitopol, in Ukrainian territory captured in the early months of Vladimir Putins full-scale invasion in 2022. Ukrainian schoolchildren were made to write letters thanking their Russian 'liberators' They are now at risk of being moved on their 18th birthdays from detention in the occupied cities of Mariupol and Sevastopol and Russias southern city of Rostov to adult prisons for refusing to take Russian passports. The problem with these cases, you can have the best lawyer in Russia or Ukraine but it is very difficult to dismantle the claims made by Russia because they are fake claims, said Mariam Lambert, founder of the Dutch Orphans Feeding Foundation, who has been involved in efforts to free the children. Some 20,000 children taken Ukraine estimates nearly 20,000 children have been forcibly removed from occupied territory to Russia since the invasion started in Feb 2022. Many thousands more are missing, with estimates upwards of 100,000 for the number of children that could have been kidnapped by Russia. The ICC arrest warrants accuse Putin and Ms Lvova-Belova of the war crime of unlawful deportation of children. The Russian president brushed off the warrants by signing a decree that accelerates Russian citizenship for Ukrainian children taken to Russia. Ukrainian officials and independent humanitarian workers divide the Russian kidnappings into two categories. The first, as with the teenagers detained on phoney charges, is intended to suppress children old enough to disagree with and oppose Putins invasion. The second type is motivated, they say, by a genocidal intent to wipe out the next generation of Ukrainians by making them Russian. By targeting and stealing the next generation of Ukrainians, Russia is manifestly demonstrating a brutal extinction policy against the Ukrainian people, implemented alongside the widespread and systematic campaign of torture, ill treatment and unlawful confinement of civilians in occupied territories, Andriy Kostin, Ukraines prosecutor general, said. In many cases, Russia has taken children from orphanages that have fallen under occupational control. This is not random Russia does not act randomly, its a pattern of repeating behaviour, Mr Kostin said. Since Feb 2022, Ukrainian children are being gathered from child care institutions across occupied territories and displaced, as far as possible from their motherland, in Russia. Some children are directly taken from family or separated from their parents in filtration camps organised by the Russian armed forces and then moved to Russia proper. The fate has been similar for those children whose parents died during the sieges of Ukrainian cities or in the course of urban hostilities, and they fell into the hands of the occupying authorities. The children are later put up for adoption on Russian government websites, often with falsified Russian identities, including fake names and dates of birth, and no mention of their Ukrainian backgrounds. A former Ukrainian intelligence officer now independently tracking these listings told The Telegraph he had identified some 35,000 potential adoption adverts that match this description. Officials and charity workers are using sophisticated software to scrape Russian adoption databases, image recognition tools and public records to confirm these findings. Bringing the children home is considered a race against time. With many of them abducted before their first birthday, they will have no recollection of their parents or Ukrainian heritage. Even more urgently, as they grow up it becomes harder to identify them. Time is on Russias side Time is playing in Russias favour, Daria Zarivna, a Ukrainian presidential aide and head of Bring Kids Back UA, said. That means the longer we drag [our feet], and play to Russias demands, the harder it will be to recognise these children later. There are international efforts aimed at bringing Ukrainian children home. Both Qatar and Saudi Arabia have acted as intermediaries between the Ukrainian and Russian governments on the issue. The Gulf states have also funded independent trips by Ukrainian parents, who have travelled through checkpoints between Ukrainian and Russian-held territories to Russia to reunite with their children. These efforts have been slow, with around 400 children being returned since efforts began. Children taken in 2014 It is a challenge that will continue to plague Ukraine long after its war against the Russian invasion ends. Ms Lambert said: Even if the war stopped tomorrow, there would be work for the next 10 years, because these children need to be found, these children need to be rehabilitated and reintegrated. For some, I cant even say reintegrated, because we are not talking about children who have disappeared from 2022... we are also trying to return the children who were taken from 2014 [Russias initial invasion of Ukraine], who need to be completely integrated into Ukraine. 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. By Tyler Clifford (Reuters) -A widespread heat wave is expected to deliver a fresh batch of record temperatures along the U.S. West Coast, as millions of Americans sweat through a heat dome that is also hovering over Arizona and Nevada. About 36 million people roughly 10% of the country are under excessive heat warnings coming from the heat dome centered over California, the National Weather Service said on Sunday. Fossil fuel-driven climate change is driving extreme heat waves across the world and will continue to deliver dangerous weather for decades to come, research shows. High temperatures are forecast to meet or exceed daily high records in Washington state, Oregon, California, northern Arizona and central Idaho. In Death Valley National Park along the California-Nevada border, the NWS projects highs near 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54 degrees Celsius) through Friday. On Saturday, the thermometer reached 128 degrees Fahrenheit there, breaking a 17-year record and killing a motorcyclist who died from exposure to the extreme heat, multiple news agencies reported, citing a government statement. Temperaturs reached 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius) in Las Vegas, which tied a record that was set in 2007. Temperatures are running as much as 20 degrees above normal this time of year in places like Redding, a city a northern California that hit an all-time high of 119 degrees Fahrenheit (48 degrees Celsius) on Saturday, NWS meteorologist Bryan Jackson said. "We're expecting it to merely drift east through the early part of next week and basically persist through the week, so we've got a real expansive and extreme heat wave ongoing, and it's expected to continue this week," he said. The NWS is also warning of increased wildfire risks due to a mix of hot, dry and windy conditions. In Southern California, residents were ordered late Saturday to evacuate parts of Santa Barbara County where the Lake Fire has scorched more than 13,000 acres since Friday, according to Cal Fire. The wildfire is 0% contained as officials investigate the cause. Another 36 million people are under heat advisories, while about 1 million people face excessive heat watches, including eastern Oregon, northeastern Nevada and southwestern Idaho. Heat warnings signify that conditions are imminent, which differ from heat watches that are issued when conditions are forecast in the coming days. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for urgent action to avert "climate hell." Each of the past 12 months have ranked as the warmest on record in year-on-year comparisons across the globe, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, European Union's climate change monitoring service, which links human activities like the combustion of fossil fuels to climate change-causing greenhouse gas emissions. Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden's administration proposed the first-ever safety standard intended to protect workers and communities from the impacts of extreme heat. (Reporting by Tyler Clifford in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Aurora Ellis and Michael Perry) He was rejected and homeless at 15. Now he leads the LGBTQ group that gave him acceptance. Chris Allen vividly recalls the rejection he felt when he came out about his sexual orientation at 15. It's a story he tells two decades later to give today's teens hope. There is love and acceptance, and people who will help. He knows that from experience. He now leads an organization that showed him the way. He came out during a heated argument with his stepfather over his insistence that Allen get a girlfriend and prove his manhood by having a sexual relationship with a woman. I just blurted out that I wasnt with a woman because Im gay, Allen recalled. Allen's stepfather immediately became hostile, stating he was not going to raise a gay son and often referring to him in derogatory terms. His mother remained silent, but her silence conveyed a powerful and equally hurtful message. When he told his biological father a week later, his dad took a corporal punishment approach. He forced Allen to attend church and pressured him to repent. There was a lot of resentment at both places. We did not have a good relationship, and I no longer wanted to live there, Allen said. He ended up homeless, couch surfing with friends and men who would take him in. Allen, now 37, expressed that he felt trapped. He felt nobody understood or cared enough to talk to him about his feelings. He longed for someone to tell him that they loved and accepted him for who he was. Regrettably, Allen's experience remains prevalent today. Among the 1.6 million homeless youth in the United States, approximately 40% identify as LGBTQ+. Given that LGBTQ+ youth constitute only 7% of the total youth population, there exists a notable disproportion in homelessness within these demographic segments. A cousin steered him to a group that gave him love and acceptance Moreover, LGBTQ+ youth are at a higher risk of homelessness and tend to experience it at younger ages. They also encounter multiple forms of discrimination and stigma, such as racism, sexism, ableism and classism, in addition to homophobia and transphobia, according to Child Trends, a nonprofit organization focused on improving the lives of children and youth. When Allen decided to leave home, he said he stayed at random places, using instant messenger to find places to go. Sometimes, people would let him crash on their couch. Sometimes, he would find a comfortable bench in the park to sleep. James Causey and Chris Allen. During a period of couch surfing, he faced instances where people demanded sexual favors from him in exchange for food and shelter. Subsequently, an older man aided, and he initially believed they were in a relationship. However, this individual became physically abusive and inflicted severe harm, resulting in Allen being admitted to the emergency room. At one of the most challenging junctures in his life, Allen tried to take his own life. With nowhere left to go, Allen returned to his father. While at his fathers house, Allen returned to church but still felt out of place. It was a conversation with his cousin, Melanie, where he began to find a way out. He mentioned that a good friend became a youth adviser at a group called Diverse & Resilient. She did some research and discovered the group worked with a lot of young, Black and Hispanic gay youths. She encouraged him to get involved and even drove him to his first meeting. During one of the meetings, Allen remembered sitting at a table with a group of LGBTQ+ youths. He realized that everyone's voice was being valued in that space, and people could see him for who he was beyond his sexual orientation. It was eye-opening, and the people were comfortable with who they are, Allen said. He became a youth adviser at Diverse & Resilient in 2002. Last year, he became the organization's president & CEO. Coming out saved my life. LGBTQ+ ex-Christians like me deserve to be proud of ourselves. Discrimination against LGBTQ+ remains persistent despite progress During Pride Month in June, Allen stressed that it is crucial to acknowledge that although companies, families and individuals celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, substantial progress is still required in fostering acceptance and inclusion. While the general public has made progress, we still see a lot of discrimination toward LGBTQI+ people, and this is disproportionately felt within communities of color, said Allen, who is Black. While many people of color support the movement, their ideologies are often challenged when it comes to individuals within their own families. This is especially true when it comes to acceptance of transgender people. The social challenges faced by Black LGBTQ+ individuals are reflected in the attitudes of Black Americans toward gender identity issues, as revealed by a 2022 Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults. The survey found that only 13% of non-Hispanic Black adults believe that U.S. society is highly or very accepting of transgender individuals. Furthermore, opinions among Black adults are divided on the extent of societal acceptance. While 36% say society has not advanced enough in accepting transgender people, 31% say the current level of acceptance is appropriate, and 29% say it has gone too far. Additionally, approximately 41% of Black adults say opinions regarding transgender individuals and issues are evolving at the right pace, while about 34% say they are changing too quickly. I grew up without LGBTQ+ role models. These elders paved the way for us to be ourselves. Leading Diverse & Resilient a full-circle moment for Allen Allen was working with the Texas Department of State Health Services to evaluate HIV programming to decrease inequities when he received a call about an opening for the CEO of Diverse & Resilient. Allen applied, and during the interview process, he knew it was his dream job. Gary Hollander, who founded Diverse & Resilient, said Allen becoming the CEO is a full-circle movement. He remembered how Allen came to the organization in 2002 as a shy, intelligent youth who found his voice during a summer internship. He is exceptionally intelligent and adept at managing both programs and people, Hollander said. Hollander, 75, fondly remembered Allen's advice to leaders about effectively communicating with teens regarding health and safety. He also shared how Allen contributed to designing activities that adapted nationally recognized evidence-based prevention efforts to engage local teens in lifesaving programs. "We are fortunate to have him back. Im absolutely thrilled. As a Black man, he possesses a deep dedication to social justice, which forms the foundation of the mission of Diverse & Resilient," Hollander said. Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. Allen is married and has two sons, 8 and 13. And despite early silence and rejection, Allen has a good relationship with his mother, though his father is still a work in progress. Since accepting the role, Allen's primary goals have been to find ways to provide resources that fill the many gaps in services for the community. He has also focused his attention on addressing the social determinants of health. Developing and working with allies is the key, along with engaging the community and unlearning racism and sexism that have been a part of our overall society, he said. When Allen was a teen struggling with homelessness, Diverse & Resilient provided him with acceptance and family. Now an adult, Allen is returning what was given to him: the ability to be free and thrive. James E. Causey is an Ideas Lab reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where this column originally appeared. Email him at jcausey@jrn.com or follow him on X: @jecausey You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: LGBTQ youth are at high risk of homelessness. He works to end that After reopening less than two years ago, Freesone's closing was big news: Top stories As we head into a new week, let's take a look at the news from this past week. Tavares Brothers' Way was named in honor of the internationally famous music group made up of the Tavares brothers. Chubby Tavares was joined on June 28 by brothers Perry "Tiny" Tavares and Victor Tavares to celebrate the street naming. The fifth brother in the group, Feliciano "Butch" Tavares wasn't in attendance. There was a party on Purchase Street on June 27 beneath a tent filled with people in a mood to celebrate the groundbreaking for the Zeiterion Theatre. Construction is now underway and is expected to take 14 to 18 months to complete. The result will be a restoration of the venerable theater's historic beauty supplemented with state-of-the-art sound, lighting, and patron amenities. Keep up with high school sports with scores, game highlights, and Player of the Week voting at https://www.southcoasttoday.com/sports. Here are the most-read stories of the week on https://www.southcoasttoday.com: Freestone's City Grill on William Street in New Bedford is seen in this 2021 file photo. After reopening for two years under new management, on Monday, the historic Freestones City Grill announced that the restaurant would be closing indefinitely. "First of all, we didn't just make this decision weeks ago and decided to do it. If you see, we put a brand new sign up on Thursday," said co-owner Howie Mallowes. "The summer's always been really, really rough there, and that even dating back to before we owned it." Mallowes also said the new renovations changed the overall tone of what people loved about Freestones. Dining news: Freestone's City Grill closes its doors. Here's everything we know so far. 'Missed the mark': Why historic New Bedford restaurant closed Minerva's Pizza, 75 Main St., Fairhaven, is seen closed on Monday, July 1. Minerva's website announced that "Ester, Jon and their crew are leaving after Saturday, June 29th." A message posted on the website of Minerva Pizza House, 75 Main St., Fairhaven, suggests the business may have closed its doors. However, whether they'll remain closed is unclear. "Sadly, Ester, Jon, and their crew are leaving after Saturday, June 29th," a message near the top of Minerva's homepage read as of Monday. "It has been a pleasure serving Fairhaven for the past 24 years! Thank you for your support. We will miss you!" However, another message, lower down on the page under "Hours," reads that after June 29, the business "will be under new management." Closing its doors: Minerva Pizza House team in Fairhaven said Saturday was their last hurrah Andrew O'Leary, New Bedford Superintendent of Schools, speaks with Nya Salter, a para educator, who was a former student of Darcie Aungst, new Deputy Superintendent, during a stop at the Congdon Elementary School on Hemlock Street in New Bedford. As the state and nation continues dealing with a labor shortage, the Healey-Driscoll administration hopes that giving out a total of $15.9 million will help boost various areas of the workforce across the state. The portion coming into SouthCoast will be dedicated to putting more people in paraprofessional positions at New Bedford and Fairhaven public schools, as well as helping existing paras become licensed teachers. New Bedford, Fairhaven schools: State funding to increase paraprofessional positions Brian Gallant prepares The Noreastah coffee drink at his temporary location inside of The Rescue Cafe on Main Street in Fairhaven. Mr. Gallant is preparing a truck which will help bring his Union Java coffee drinks into the community. Summer may not be the time SouthCoasters are thinking about nor'easters, but for a growing segment, it's when "Nor'Eastahs" are most on the mind, according to one New Bedford entrepreneur. "I make a batch every week," Brian Gallant said of his creation, a gourmet iced coffee blend he named after the storms synonymous with New England. "The size will depend on how many orders I have, but this time of year I'll make a little extra." Gallant, a 2001 New Bedford High graduate, launched his coffee start-up Union Java last year. Now he's thinking bigger.: This New Bedford firefighter became his station's barista. All of these stories can be read in their entirety on southcoasttoday.com. This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Top stories this week: Freestone's, Minerva Pizza, Union Java Meharry Medical College in Nashville is one of the few historically Black medical schools in the United States. Nashville is on the leading edge of organ transplants. For one, Vanderbilt University Medical Center is among the busiest transplant hospitals in the nation. Last year, it performed 739 transplants, putting it among the top five transplant centers in the country. A team of Vanderbilt doctors even traveled all the way to Alaska to retrieve a donated heart, a 10-plus hour journey only made possible by new technology and methods. Meanwhile, Nashville-based HCA Healthcare is the nation's leading hospital system for performing live donor kidney transplants. Meharry Medical College is playing a key role, too. As reporter Todd Price writes, Black patients in the U.S. are 10% less likely than white patients to receive heart transplants and 14% more likely to die in the decade after a transplant. Why do these disparities exist and what can be done about them? Meharry, the historically Black medical school in Nashville, is trying to add more Black voices to the transplant conversation with a new program it has created. Medical students in the new program observe the transplant process and engage with grieving families who are ask to approve organ donations. The hope is some of these students will pursue a career as transplant surgeons and boost the diversity in the field. I asked Todd a few questions about reporting the Meharry story and his role covering the South for The Tennessean and the USA TODAY Network. What struck you the most about reporting a story on disparities in organ donation and how Meharry plans to help bridge the divide? Todd: From my past reporting, I wasn't surprised to see how racism can creep into health care decisions. It affects so much of American life. And I expected that income inequality among Black and white Americans would impact the health care they receive. But I was honestly shocked to learn how diagnostic tools doctors use to decide who deserves transplants, tools that were created in recent decades, often had unfounded racist assumptions that lowered the scores Black patients received. Todd A. Price is a regional reporter in the South for the USA TODAY Network. You interviewed Teresa Belledent, a Meharry medical student. Tell me about her story and some of the stigma she faced growing up about organ donations. Todd: Teresa had an interesting perceptive. She was born in Haiti and immigrated to the U.S. as a child. She saw in Haiti how starkly wealth determines who receives transplants. I think that made her more sensitive to disparities in the transplant process that she found in the U.S. Teresa's mother also was leery of organ donations, and scolded her for becoming a donor at young age. Now, though, Teresa says her mother comes to her for medical advice. You cover a range of issues for us across the South from the plight of Black farmers to the unionization efforts at auto plants like Volkswagen in Chattanooga and now issues surrounding organ donations. What stories from our region fascinate you the most? Todd: My favorite stories are the ones where I can show how an issue that appears big, knotty and complex actually plays out in concrete ways in the lives of individuals. And in the South, often those stories have deep roots in the history of the region. How did you first get your start in journalism? Todd: I definitely don't have a typical journalism background. I originally planned to be a professor, and I have a doctorate in Spanish literature. I taught at Tulane University for a number of years, but I started freelancing more and more and eventually landed a staff job at the Times-Picayune in New Orleans. In 2019, I joined the USA TODAY Network, which includes The Tennessean, to cover the South. Although I would not necessarily recommend my career path to another journalist, I have found that years of studying storytelling in grad school and my training in historical research have served me well in this second career. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville making its mark in organ donation via Vanderbilt, Meharry Republican convention in Milwaukee could be attractive target for violent extremists, federal assessment says The Republican National Convention in Milwaukee next week could be an attractive target for violent extremists or other people looking to sow chaos by disrupting a high-profile political event, according to a threat assessment from federal agencies and the Milwaukee Police Department obtained by CNN. This election season has seen a resurgence in disruptive tactics targeting election symbols that are very likely meant to instill fear and disrupt operations at election-related critical infrastructure facilities, according to the assessment. The report was prepared by the FBI, US Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, and Wisconsin state and city law enforcement officials. Homeland Securitys Office of Intelligence and Analysis distributed the assessment to federal, state and local officials in recent days. There is no credible reporting to indicate a threat to the Republican National Convention, but violent threat actors may view the convention as an attractive target due to its symbolic nature and link to the 2024 general election, says the threat assessment, which was dated July 2. One of the disruptive tactics that law enforcement officials are worried about is swatting, in which a caller makes a bogus crime report intended to trigger a massive law enforcement response to a targets residence. Since December, at least four swatting incidents have been aimed at the homes of elections officials, CNN previously reported. The Republican National Convention, taking place July 15-18, is expected to draw some 50,000 people as Republicans nominate Donald Trump as their presidential candidate. It comes at a time of bitter partisan divide and simmering tensions among Americans over policies such as President Joe Bidens handling of the Israel-Hamas war. DHS and FBI remain concerned about the possibility of violent conflict occurring at otherwise lawful protest events or gatherings linked to the 2024 RNC, the threat assessment says. There are also expected to be security concerns and a large law enforcement presence around the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August. The Republican convention, like other major political events, is an opportunity for foreign intelligence services to collect information on policy positions or people with perceived access to political campaigns, the threat assessment says. Blockbuster political events like the convention also remain attractive targets for foreign terrorists or domestic violent extremists looking to draw attention to their ideological causes, according to the assessment. There are heightened concerns from US officials that an ISIS affiliate could carry out an attack on US soil, CNN reported last month. A DHS spokesperson told CNN in a statement that The U.S. is in a heightened threat environment, as the agency detailed in a September threat assessment. We continue to work with our partners to evaluate the threat environment, provide updates to the American public, and protect our homeland, the statement said. There is no credible reporting to indicate a threat to the Republican National Convention at this time, but the event may be viewed as a target. We urge the public to stay vigilant and to promptly report suspicious activity to their local law enforcement. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has designated the Republican National Convention a National Special Security Event, or NSSE a common designation for major events that might be a target of criminals or terrorists, a US official told CNN. Threat assessments like the one issued for the Republican National Convention are issued for all NSSE events. While our standard practice is to not comment on specific intelligence products, the FBI regularly shares information with our law enforcement partners to assist in protecting the communities they serve, the FBI said in a statement to CNN. The FBI encourages members of the public to be vigilant and report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement. The Secret Service referred questions about the threat assessment to Homeland Security. CNN has also requested comment from the Milwaukee Police Department. Federal, state and local law enforcement officials have spent months preparing for the Republican convention, mapping out potential threats and chasing down investigative leads. In February, according to the threat assessment, an unidentified individual was seen recording/photographing during a delivery to a loading dock at the exterior of Fiserv Forum the arena that is the main venue for the convention. The Milwaukee Police Department is investigating the incident, the assessment says. The Secret Service last month laid out the security measures for the convention, including a perimeter that will prevent protesters from gathering at a large park near the venue. The announcement came after a monthslong dispute between the Secret Service and the Republican Party over security measures around the convention. The party had accused the agency of ignoring its concerns, while the Secret Service said Republicans were undermining efforts to keep the event safe. Around the convention, law enforcement officials are also on alert for the mailing of suspicious packages, arson, property destruction and the exposure of public officials private information online, according to the threat assessment. Election offices in multiple states reported receiving suspicious packages around the November 2023 gubernatorial and state legislative elections. We also remain concerned about the potential for hoax threats to disrupt the 2024 RNC, leading to evacuations and closures of political events, as well as straining law enforcement resources, the document says. The large influx of out-of-state visitors could also be a boon for sex traffickers, officials warned. The FBI anticipates victims will arrive in Wisconsin and advertise online or in locations known to offer sexual services in the weeks prior to the events, according to the assessment. This story has been updated with additional information. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Concord native Scott Medlin understands the joy and pride that naturally comes with being a law enforcement officer. It had been his longtime goal to become a police officer, starting with a career fair at Concord High School, where he zeroed in on a Concord police officer. It was almost like God slapped me on the back of the head and said, Youre going to be doing this, Medlin recalled. He was also active in the Explorers Program and went on numerous ride-alongs, including with Concord Police Chief Jimmy Hughes, who was a patrol officer at the time. Following several years in the U.S. Marines, where he served two stints in Iraq, Medlin joined the Concord Police Department in 2007. Its one thing to just sit and observe, but when you graduate from the rookie school and youre actually put in the drivers seat with a police uniform on, it hit a little different, he said. Medlin, 40, ultimately served 15 years in law enforcement, before leaving the field in 2022 to spend more time with his family. He and his wife Rachel, along with their three young children, currently reside in south Florida. He worked patrol during the majority of his tenure with CPD; he also served as a certified K-9 officer and was a school resource officer at Concord Middle, Cox Mill High and Cabarrus County Opportunity School. Like many officers, Medlin is also keenly aware of the traumas inherent in such a fulfilling but nonetheless dangerous profession. He struggled at times with depression, battled with addiction and at one point was treated for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I felt very alone in that struggle, he said. A particular low point occurred in January 2020, when Medlin, still a Concord police officer, recalled reading a headline that roughly 220 officers in 2019 had died by suicide. It was then that Medlin, who had been an officer for more than a decade, came to the sobering realization that officers are more likely to take their own lives than be killed in the line of duty. It didnt really sit well with me, Medlin said, noting that there needed to be more discussion about the topic of suicide among officers. Soon after, he wrote his first book, Mental Health Fight Of The Heroes in Blue, which was published in April 2020. Since leaving the force, Medlin has written several more books and now travels the country speaking monthly to police academies and first responder conferences about the importance of mental health and self-care. He also hosts a popular YouTube channel and podcast, each centered around Medlins 10 Code Mindset, which helps keep police officers alive and thriving. His YouTube channel has close to 10,000 subscribers with several of his videos having received more than 30,000 views. Everybody has to show up for themselves so they can show up that much better for others, Medlin said. Medlin and his wife are also featured in a new documentary called Is There Something Going On At Home? which focuses on police officers families as they navigate trauma. In his speeches, Medlin prioritizes that officers and other first responders should not just be surviving; rather, they should do everything possible to be thriving. Officers have to shift their perspective so they have a thriving mentality and not this survival mentality, Medlin said. Thriving is progress, and each and every day continuously improving. Often after his presentations, officers thank Medlin and tell him about the need for departments to have more frank discussions about self-care. Medlins work is necessary and important. While speaking about mental health is no longer the taboo subject it once was, officers are still struggling. Despite the exacting mental health toll that being in the law enforcement profession can have on certain officers, only 29% of police departments have wellness programs or trainings, according to a September 2023 article in the Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology. Medlin has interviewed several former officers who tried to commit suicide but are now living successful and fulfilling lives. Never give up hope, Medlin said. Remember your reasons for living and stick to them. When you have meaning in your life, you have a reason to keep going. House Oversight Committee chair James Comer has demanded Joe Bidens doctor sits for an interview about his medical assessments and potential business dealings with the Biden family, amid the escalating controversy around the presidents mental and physical well-being. In a letter addressed to Dr Kevin OConnor on Sunday, the Republican lawmaker wrote that he is concerned your medical assessments have been influenced by your private business endeavors with the Biden family. He asked Dr OConnor to sit for a closed-door interview and hand over any communications he may have had with James Biden, the presidents brother, regarding Americore a now bankrupt healthcare business. Comer is giving the doctor until July 14 to contact staff to schedule the interview. A White House spokesperson dismissed the letter as crazy, discredited conspiracy theories when reached for comment. Here they go again, pushing their crazy, discredited conspiracy theories in order to score another hit on Bartiromo, the spokesperson told The Independent. If extreme House Republicans want to take a look at a White House physician, heres an idea for where to start, they added, pointing to a The Washington Post article about former president Donald Trumps former personal physician Ronny Jackson, titled: No prescription needed: Inside a White House clinics systemic problems. Comers letter arrives as the presidents dismal debate performance last week triggered growing doubts about his competency to successfully run for and serve a second term. In a February report, Dr OConnor indicated the president underwent an extremely detailed neurological exam that produced no findings consistent which would be consistent with any cerebellar or other central neurological disorder. But Comer said hes concerned the doctor has not issued a cognitive test to the president after his debate performance. Rep James Comer in the US Capitol on May 14 2024. (Getty Images) The letter tries to suggest that Dr OConnor may have provided a more positive medical exam because he provided counsel to James Biden about Americore before the president entered office a connection to a separate, and so far failed, impeachment inquiry investigation led by Comer focused on the Biden familys business dealings. So far, that investigation is yet to find any evidence the president was involved with his brother James or son Hunters foreign business dealings or that his actions warrant impeachment. Now, Comers demand to Bidens physician marks the first official move from a lawmaker to investigate the presidents mental and physical health after the debate. Though the president says he is fit to run for office and defeat his Republican opponent in November, several Democratic lawmakers have also expressed concerns. So far, five House Democrats have publicly called for Biden to step aside from the 2024 race with a higher number joining those calls behind closed doors on Sunday. Biden, meanwhile, is refusing to do so. On the left is the roundabout under construction at the intersection of Horns Hill, Cedar Run and Waterworks roads in Newark. On the right is a temporary road connecting Horns Hill and Waterworks roads during construction. Cedar Run is closed east of the intersection. NEWARK Betty and David Young said they knew there would eventually be changes at the intersection of Horns Hill, Waterworks and Cedar Run roads, where a single-lane roundabout is under construction. The couple has had a close-up view of the changing traffic patterns because they've lived on the corner for 31 years. "We're all for the roundabout," Betty Young said. "We think they're great. It's very much needed, especially during school time when someone is turning left. It was getting backed up on Horns Hill way past the (Horns Hill) Park. It was getting bad." The roundabout, scheduled for completion in mid-August, before school starts, will cost the city almost $1 million. David Young said, "It may even cut down on some traffic because people don't like roundabouts." The Ohio Department of Natural Resources also requires the city to install a spillway around the nearby dam, which will cost another $250,000, City Engineer Brian Morehead said. The spillway will be in place for high-water events. A temporary road maintains traffic between Waterworks Road and Horns Hill Road. Cedar Run Road remains closed, with no access to Horns Hill Road or Waterworks Road until Aug. 9, weather permitting. The Youngs, who live in Newark Township, just outside the city limits, say there have been some inconviences with the road construction so close, but contractor Layton has been very considerate. "Layton has been great," Betty Young said. "They have bent over backwards and been very kind to us." Hillview Elementary School opened in 2007, a mile-and-a-half north of the roundabout, as Newark continued to expand to the north. Construction on the Meadowland subdivision, just north of Horns Hill Park, started in the 1990s. Construction began in 2022 on Conors Pass, a 113-home development on 55 acres on the west side of Horns Hill Road, a mile north of the roundabout. The city of Newark purchased land in December 2022 to build a new fire station on Horns Hill Road, less than a quarter mile north of Conors Pass. "When we first moved here there was hardly any traffic," Betty Young said. Morehead visited the Licking County Commissioners on June 20 to request the county deed a corner of the intersection to the city, correcting an error dating back to the early 1970s, when the Waterworks Road bridge was built. The change would put all the roundabout project area in the city. "With all the traffic going up Horns Hill Road, it's time to do something with that intersection," Commissioner Tim Bub said. "It's almost a safety isssue." The city decided not to open nearby Hollander Pool this summer because of the construction projection and road closure. kmallett@newarkadvocate.com 740-973-4539 Twitter: @kmallett1958 This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Newark residents: Horns Hill, Waterworks, Cedar Run roundabout needed The Rohingya in Myanmar's Rakhine state are at risk of facing "genocidal violence" similar to what the Muslim minority suffered eight years ago, a UN expert has warned. Thomas Andrews, UN special rapporteur for the crisis in Myanmar, said the situation in Rakhine was "terrifying", according to AFP. "For Rohingya people oppressed, scapegoated, exploited, and stuck between warring parties the situation carries echoes of the lead-up to genocidal violence in 2016 and 2017," Mr Andrews told the United Nations Human Rights Council on Thursday. An army crackdown against the Rohingya Muslims in 2017 sent 730,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh. The UN described it at the time as genocidal in intent. In Rakhine, tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced since the Arakan Army, an armed group of the Rakhine ethnic minority seeking autonomy from the central government, renewed fighting the army late last year. The attacks last November ended a ceasefire which had largely held since a military coup wrested power from the government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. Mr Andrews said the military had been conscripting thousands of Rohingya youth and mobilising them against the Arakan Army. Even though many Rohingya young men have been taken to the frontlines of the conflict against their will, the potential for retaliation by members of the Arakan community, and a downward spiral of violence, is enormous, he warned. "Tens, if not hundreds of thousands, have been displaced in Rakhine state. Although Rohingya are not eligible for conscription because they are denied citizenship, the military has conscripted more than 1,000 men and boys from the community since February using methods including abduction, threats and false promises of citizenship, according to a report by the Human Rights Watch. In May, the UN human rights office warned of frightening and disturbing reports about fresh violence in Rakhine, pointing to attacks on Rohingya civilians by the military and the Arakan Army. Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the UN agency, highlighted the burning of the town of Buthidaung, air strikes, shootings at unarmed fleeing villagers, beheadings and disappearances in the northern part of Rakhine in recent weeks. The Arakan Army announced in May that it had seized Buthidaung, home to a sizable Rohingya Muslim population in northern Rakhine. We are receiving frightening and disturbing reports from northern Rakhine state in Myanmar of the impacts of the conflict on civilian lives and property, Ms Throssell told a briefing in Geneva. Some of the most serious allegations concern incidents of killing of Rohingya civilians and the burning of their property. She quoted a survivor saying they saw dozens of dead bodies lying around as they fled Buthidaung and others speaking of abuse and extortion at the hands of the Arakan Army. The United League of Arakan, the political arm of the Arakan Army, said civilians in the battle zone had taken refuge in areas controlled by its forces, adding that it has been doing its utmost to safeguard and care for these Internally Displaced Persons as valued citizens, irrespective of race or religion". Rohingya activists, however, have blamed the Arakan Army for most of the destruction. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller previously said Washington was deeply troubled by reports of violence in Rakhine and called on the military and armed groups to protect civilians and allow humanitarian access. "The militarys previous acts of genocide and other crimes against humanity targeting Rohingya, in addition to its history of stoking intercommunal tensions in Rakhine State and elsewhere across the country, underscore the grave dangers to civilians," he said. "The current increased violence and intercommunal tensions also raise the risks of further atrocities occurring." U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio on Sunday insisted that Donald Trump would not seek revenge on his political rivals if he wins the White House in November, playing down the former presidents past suggestions that he would retaliate against his perceived enemies. Donald Trump has been the one thats been very clear: that his vengeance is going to be by winning and making America great again. Not going after his political opponents, Rubio said during an appearance on CNNs State of the Union. Rubio is a top contender to be Trumps vice presidential pick. Trump, expected to announce a running mate in the coming days, is headed to Doral on Tuesday for a political rally. Asked whether he was confident that Trump would not seek retribution against Democrats if elected in November, Rubio said he was, pointing to the fact that Trump already served four years in the White House and didnt go after 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton or former President Barack Obama. He was president before and he didnt do it then, Rubio said. Hes already said that he wouldnt do that. Hell be too busy undoing all the damage of this disastrous presidency. Rubios remarks on Sunday cast Trump as the victim of a political revenge campaign perpetrated by Democrats, who the Florida senator said had weaponized the U.S. justice system in an effort to silence Trump. Since leaving the White House in early 2021, Trump has faced a growing pile of legal woes stemming from his actions both before, during and after his presidency. He was convicted in May of 34 felony counts related to hush money payments made to a porn star who says she and Trump once had an affair. He has also been charged in federal cases involving his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, as well as his retention and handling of classified documents after he left the White House. Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of seeking revenge against his political opponents if he wins the presidency, telling Fox News last month that he would have every right to go after rivals like President Joe Biden. In another interview with the TV host Dr. Phil that aired in June, Trump insisted that sometimes revenge can be justified. Rubios remarks on Sunday came just days after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision holding that presidents have broad immunity from prosecution for official actions taken in the White House. That ruling was seen as a major win for Trump, who has argued that he cant be tried for certain actions he took when he was president. Rubio says undocumented immigrants are murdering Americans Speaking on CNN, Rubio also echoed the former presidents rhetoric on undocumented immigrants. Ten million people are in our country illegally, Rubio said. Theyre murdering people everyday. The remark underscores the extent to which Trump has reshaped Republicans rhetoric on immigration and border security since he launched his first presidential campaign nine years ago by assailing immigrants as violent criminals and pledging to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, earned a reputation early on in his Senate career as a staunch advocate for immigration reform, working with a bipartisan group of senators more than a decade ago to write a sweeping immigration bill that would have, among other things, created a legal pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. An adviser to Rubio pointed to recent examples of crimes that were committed by Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal gang that originated in Venezuela and has spread throughout Latin America and into the U.S. BEYOND THE BORDER: Crime concerns grow as members of a violent Venezuelan gang arrive in American cities Vice presidential prospects Rubio said on Sunday that Trump hasnt yet tapped him to be his running mate, and declined to discuss in public how he would address potential constitutional hurdles should Trump ultimately choose him as his vice presidential nominee. Donald Trump has a decision to make, Rubio said. Hell make it when he needs to make it. Hell make a good decision. I know for certain that I will be out there over the next three or four months working on behalf of his campaign in some capacity. I know that Ill be in the Senate and Ill have the opportunity to continue to do that. While Rubio is said to be on the shortlist of potential vice presidential contenders along with North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, his candidacy would likely be complicated by a provision in the 12th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that forbids electors from voting for both a president and vice president from their own state. Both Rubio and Trump are Florida residents. Asked on Sunday whether he would move out of Florida and resign his U.S. Senate seat if Trump chooses him as his running mate, Rubio demurred, saying it was presumptuous to talk about such issues publicly. I have no idea who hes going to pick, Rubio said. Like I said, well confront those issues when they come. Marco Rubio Says Trump Wont Go After Political EnemiesDespite Trump Saying He Will Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) insisted on Sunday that Donald Trump would not try to prosecute his political opponents if he wins the electiondespite Trump promising to do just that. Rubio complained on State of the Union that Trumps criminal casesone of which he was recently convicted for by a jury of his peerswere part of a political persecution orchestrated by Joe Biden and Democrats. He tried to claim that Trumps sole vengence would be to restore the U.S. to Trumpian times, ignoring Trumps past remarks to the contrary. .@DanaBashCNN presses @marcorubio on his claims that President Biden is targeting his political opponents using the Justice Department. pic.twitter.com/RI6A0qX6ap State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) July 7, 2024 He was president for four years, Rubio said. He didnt go after Hillary Clinton, he didnt go after Joe Biden, he didnt go after Barack Obama, he didnt go after any of their consultants. The reported VP hopeful also vowed to moderator Dana Bash that, should Trump return to the White House in January, the former president still wouldnt seek revenge on those figures. Hes already said that he wouldnt do that, Rubio said, referencing last months presidential debate. Hell be too busy undoing all the damage of this disastrous presidency. Rubios lofty vision for a second Trump termone hed evidently like to be a part ofdoesnt quite square with reality. While Trump did say his retribution will be a second electoral win, he told Glenn Beck last year that hed have no choice but to go after his political enemies. The answer is you have no choice, because theyre doing it to us, Trump said. He returned to such musings last month, telling Newsmax that he restrained himself from prosecuting Hillary Clinton during his first term but that hed have to view it very much differently. Wouldnt it be terrible to throw the presidents wife and the former secretary of statethink of it, the former secretary of state, but the presidents wife, into jail. Wouldnt that be a terrible thing? But they want to do it, he said. So, you know, its a terrible, terrible path that theyre leading us to, and its very possible that its going to have to happen to them. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Rubio tries to put distance between Project 2025 and Trump as VP audition ramps up Marco Rubio, the Florida Senator rumored to be among Donald Trumps VP contenders, tried to distance the former president from Project 2025 (CNN / YouTube) Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a possible contender for Donald Trumps vice presidential pick, went to bat for the former president on Sunday by trying to distance the presumptive Republican nominee from Project 2025. Think tanks do think tank stuff they come up with ideas, they say things, Rubio told CNNs State of the Union when he was asked if he was comfortable with the policies outlined in the project headed by the conservative Heritage Foundation. Rubio downplayed the impact of the 920-page project which proposes consolidating executive power and replacing civil servants with ideologically like-minded individuals. When confronted with a clip of The Heritage Foundation president claiming the US is in the process of a second American revolution that will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be, Rubio quickly dismissed it. Well hes not running for president, Rubio said. I mean our candidate is Donald Trump, I didnt see Donald Trump say that Rubios tactics mimic that of Trump who this week said he knows nothing of Project 2025 or those behind it, despite multiple former Trump administration officials having some role in it. This includes former aide John McEntee, former chief of staff for the Office of Personnel Management Paul Dans and former director of the Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought. Stephen Miller, a former Trump advisor, has also appeared in an advertisement for Project 2025. "Well he's not running for president, is he?" -- Marco Rubio on a Project 2025 leader saying the "second American revolution" will "remain bloodless, if the left allows it to be" pic.twitter.com/Svv7EOJIvk Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 7, 2024 Project 2025s collection of right-wing policy proposals has garnered negative media attention, especially when it comes to the major campaign issue of abortion. One policy outlined in Project 2025 includes suggesting the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should revise and withdraw its initial approval of the abortion pill. The Republican Party has long held an anti-abortion stance but that may change with Trump who has supported leaving abortion access up to each state and rejected blocking access to mifepristone one of the key medications in the abortion pill. Marco Rubio, the Florida Senator rumored to be among Donald Trumps VP contenders, tried to distance the former president from Project 2025 (CNN / YouTube) Rubio told State of the Union that he likes some of the policies The Heritage Foundation stands for but that the Republican Party platform must reflect our nominee. Another possible Trump VP contender, Ohio Senator JD Vance, similarly distanced the former president from Project 2025 in an interview with NBC News saying Trump has his own transition team. The Heritage Foundation does a lot of good work, it does a lot of things I disagree with, a lot of things that I agree with, Vance said. I guarantee there are things that Trump likes and dislikes about that 900-page document, he continued, referring to the mandate. But he is the person who will determine the agenda into the next administration. Democrats called on President Joe Biden to restore voters faith in him and fast. Rep. Adam Schiff said that the debate last month rightfully raised questions among the American people about whether the president has the vigor to defeat Donald Trump and expressed concern that the race appears to be close, while Sen. Chris Murphy said clock is ticking for Biden to recover from his dismal debate performance. Given Joe Bidens incredible record, given Donald Trumps terrible record, he should be mopping the floor with Donald Trump, said Schiff, who is campaigning for senate in California. It should not be even close. And theres only one reason it is close, and thats the presidents age. The Democrat, in an interview with NBCs Kristen Welker on Meet the Press, urged the president to consult with people outside his inner circle to obtain some distance and objectivity. WATCH: Pres. Bidens debate performance rightfully raised questions about whether [he] has the vigor to defeat Donald Trump, @RepAdamSchiff (D-Calif.) says. His advice for Biden now: Seek out the opinions of people you trust people with some distance and objectivity. pic.twitter.com/xeD2Kiei8W Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) July 7, 2024 He should take a moment to make the best informed judgment, and if the judgment is run, then run hard and beat that SOB, he said. Schiff also said that Vice President Kamala Harris would be a phenomenal president and could win the election overwhelmingly. But, he added, Before we get into a decision about who else it should be, the president needs to make a decision whether its him. WATCH: @RepAdamSchiff (D-Calif.) says VP Kamala Harris would be a phenomenal president and could win overwhelmingly. "Before we get into a decision about who else it should be, the president needs to make a decision whether its him. pic.twitter.com/VAyYsRpxNY Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) July 7, 2024 Murphy on Sunday emphasized that the clock is ticking for Biden to regain voters faith in his ability to beat Trump. Im going to vote for Joe Biden, but the president needs millions of votes, the Democratic senator from Connecticut told anchor Dana Bash on CNNs State of the Union. I think the president needs to make some moves this week to put himself out there in a position to answer those questions. And if he cant do that, then of course, hes going to have to make a decision about whats best for the country and whats best for the party. "I think the president needs to do more. Sen. @ChrisMurphyCT defends President Biden but acknowledges that "voters do have questions I dont know that the interview Friday night did enough to answer those questions, so I think this week is going to be absolutely critical." pic.twitter.com/TDIWlJlAtS State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) July 7, 2024 Murphy added, Im not advising this campaign, but if I were, I would probably suggest that the president get out there and do a town hall, that he do a press conference, that he show the country that he is still the old Joe Biden, one of the best retail politicians this country has ever seen. Biden, who has said that only the Lord Almighty could convince him to drop out of the race, heads to two campaign events on Sunday in Pennsylvania. Despite Bidens poor debate showing that sent the party leadership into panic, the president has gained supporters in key battleground states in recent weeks, according to a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult tracking poll released Saturday. Biden is now leading Trump in Michigan and Wisconsin, and he is within the margin of error in Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, and North Carolina, although he trails in Pennsylvania. You think Im too old to restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land? You think Im too old to ban assault weapons again? To protect social security and Medicare? Biden said in a speech on Saturday. You think Im too old to beat Donald Trump? I can hardly wait. "You think I'm too old to beat Donald Trump? I can hardly wait, anyway." During a campaign rally in Wisconsin, President Biden outlined what he accomplished during his presidency despite his age, including putting the first Black woman on the Supreme Court and relieving student pic.twitter.com/ePDT3dXqtT CBS News (@CBSNews) July 5, 2024 More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone Yahoo Finance After China announced broad measures to rescue its economy, Chinese stocks surged, our Chart of the Week shows. It's not the first time the country has attempted to get out of the recent doldrums, but the market's reaction says this time might be different. Russian air defense units destroyed "several drones" over Russia's Voronezh Oblast overnight on July 7, Governor Aleksandr Gusev claimed on his Telegram channel. Falling drone debris caused a fire in one of the warehouses and the detonation of unidentified explosives in the Podgorensky district, according to the governor. Later in the day, a law enforcement source told the Kyiv Independent that Ukrainian drones operated by the Security Service of Ukraine struck a large ammunition depot in the village of Sergeevka in Voronezh Oblast. "On an area of nine square kilometers, the enemy stored surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, shells for tanks and artillery, and boxes of ammunition for firearms," the source said. Russia reportedly supplies ammunition from this warehouse to its troops in Ukraine, the source added. As of around 9:30 a.m. local time, Gusev announced that a state of emergency had been introduced within the Podgorensky district, where "debris from a Ukrainian drone fell." Read also: Ukraines military intelligence says it set fire to ammunition depot in Russias Voronezh Oblast The Russian Defense Ministry, on the contrary, did not report downing drones over Voronezh Oblast. On July 7, it reported the downing of one drone over the Belgorod Oblast. The Voronezh Oblast borders Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast, partially occupied by Russian forces. Ukrainian "kamikaze" drones operated by Ukraine's military intelligence attacked a gunpowder plant in the town of Kotovsk in Russia's Tambov Oblast, a military intelligence source told the Kyiv Independent on July 4. Ukrainian forces regularly conduct drone strikes and sabotage acts on Russian territory, targeting military assets, oil refineries, and industrial facilities. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russia claims to have captured Storm Shadow missile and its now studying how it works Backed by dramatic music, the video shows a Russian soldier inspecting what he says is a Storm Shadow, a missile built by Britain and France Russia claims to have captured the warhead of one of Ukraines most destructive weapons and is now studying how it works. A short video published by RIA-Novosti, a Russian state-linked news agency, shows a soldier inspecting what he says is a Storm Shadow, a missile built by Britain and France and also known as a Scalp. We understand the penetration depth, the response range from the surface, what target sensors are used, said the uniformed Russian soldier, whose face is covered with a balaclava. The object in the Russian video appears undamaged and has no markings which would identify it as a Storm Shadow missile The air-to-surface Storm Shadow missile is one of the most potent weapons in Ukraines arsenal, with a range of more than 150 miles. Its commanders have used them to pound the Kremlins Black Sea Fleet and other military targets in occupied Ukraine, forcing the Russian Navy to withdraw its most valuable warships. Ukrainian strikes on targets in occupied Crimea have infuriated Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, who has ordered Russian forces to improve training and air-defence systems. In the RIA-Novosti video, a seemingly undamaged white, metal spherical object roughly the size of a small car wheel is shown, though there are no markings immediately visible that would identify it as a Storm Shadow. The clip, which has not been independently verified, was released early on Sunday morning. It is the second released by the news agency in the past week showing what appears to be the same Russian soldier inspecting captured Western weapons. The previous clip, released on Monday, showed him with what he said was a captured Atacms missile, a US-made long-range artillery weapon. Both videos were set to similar dramatic music and appeared to have been shot in the same warehouse filled with metal military objects. RIA-Novosti also quoted a Russian military source as saying that engineers from Russias defence ministry were studying the captured warhead to deduce the Storm Shadow flight patterns. The study of the missile by Russian specialists will allow countermeasures to be taken to protect against such weapons, including the creation of shelters with the necessary characteristics, it reported. Neither Ukraine nor its Nato allies have commented on either video and the Russian ministry of defence has not explained how it apparently captured the missiles. 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. Russia may resort to an old World War II tactic that had a key role in the D-Day landings to repel Ukrainian drone attacks Russia is planning to use barrage balloons to counter Ukrainian drone strikes. The balloons will rise up to 300 meters and drop a 250-meter net to stop drones from getting through. The tactic was inspired by barrage balloons used in the First and Second World Wars. Russia is developing a network of barrage balloons to repel Ukrainian drone strikes, inspired by a tactic used in World War I and II. Speaking at a conference in St. Petersburg this week, Polina Albek, the general director of the Russian aerospace firm First Airship, which is developing the network, said: "Our main activity is building cargo airships, but today, based on the experience of our ancestors, we have created the 'barrier' defense system," the Russian state-run outlet RIA Novosti reported. The balloons are designed to rise in a row up to 300 meters (984 feet) before dropping a 250-meter (820 feet) net designed to stop incoming drones, per The Telegraph. They have a maximum load of 30kg (around 66 pounds). Albek said that the the balloons can also be fitted with a "vacuum gun" to shoot nets at oncoming drones, adding that the system has already been tested and that preliminary orders had been placed. She noted that the developers had been inspired by the use of barrage balloons in WWI. Barrage balloons were first used in WWI, but they played a particularly key role in Britain's defenses during WWII. According to London's Imperial War Museum, Britain had 2,748 barrage balloons in use by September 1941. They were also crucial during the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944, providing protection to Allied soldiers and ships. The balloons forced German aircraft to fly at higher altitudes, making their targets more difficult to strike as well as making them more vulnerable to antiaircraft fire. The cables that anchored the balloons to the ground could also pose a serious risk to any aircraft attempting to fly through them. The balloons offered "a vital means of defence against the [German] Luftwaffe as their trailing metal cables would severely damage or destroy any aircraft which touched them," according to a report published by the Royal Air Forces Association. "Attackers attempting to shoot down a balloon could be caught in an explosion of the hydrogen used to get them airborne," the report adds. Barrage balloons protect a convoy of ships off the coast of England, July 17, 1942 Central Press/Getty Images Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine has continued to target Russian energy infrastructure and airbases with long-range drone attacks. Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Defense Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, told The War Zone in June that Ukrainian forces had launched 70 drones in a strike on Morozovsk airbase in Russia's Rostov region, almost 200 miles from the Ukrainian border. A security source told Sky News that the Ukrainian attack was part of a "sustained campaign to degrade the Russian Air Force." Also in June, Kyiv said it had hit a prized Russian Su-57 stealth fighter jet stationed at the Akhtubinsk airfield in southern Russia 360 miles from the front line. In May, Ukraine claimed one of its longest drone attacks to date, with officials saying a drone traveled 930 miles to strike an oil refinery inside Russia. Read the original article on Business Insider Russian attacks across Ukraine killed eight people and injured 16 over the past day, regional authorities said on July 7. Ukrainian forces shot down all 13 Shahed-type drones launched by Russia overnight on July 7, the Air Force reported. Russian forces also reportedly launched two Iskander-M ballistic missiles, apart from 13 drones, from Russia's Kursk Oblast. Mobile fire groups, as well as anti-aircraft missile and electronic warfare units of the Ukrainian Air Force, were involved in repelling the air attacks. The drones were brought down over Kirovohrad, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Poltava oblasts. Russia targeted a total of 10 Ukrainian oblasts over the past day Poltava, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Luhansk, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, Kharkiv, and Donetsk. Casualties were reported in the latter four regions. In Kherson Oblast, Russian forces targeted 17 settlements, including the regional center of Kherson. Four people were killed, and three were injured over the past day, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported. In Donetsk Oblast, two people were killed in the towns of Niu-York and Ukrainsk, respectively, Governor Vadym Filashkin reported. Eight people were injured. In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Russian forces struck the Chervonohryhorivka community in the Nikopol district, killing a 65-year-old woman on July 6, according to Governor Serhii Lysak. The Russian military also attacked the Nikopol district with drones and artillery overnight on July 7. Three women, aged 38, 65, and 71, were injured, Lysak reported. In Kharkiv Oblast, Russian forces struck the village of Odnorobivka in the Bohodukhiv district, killing a 47-year-old man and injuring a woman, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov. 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. Russians kill one more resident of Kherson Oblast over day A local resident was killed in the shelling of Dniprovske village in Kherson Oblast on Saturday evening. Source: Oleksandr Prokudin, the Head of Kherson Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram Quote: "In the evening, the village of Dniprovske of Bilozerka hromada came under enemy artillery fire. (hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories) Unfortunately, a local resident succumbed to his injuries. His identity is currently being established." Details: Earlier, Prokudin reported that on Saturday, the Russians attacked Odradokamianka, Beryslav district. A 43-year-old man was fatally injured and died on the spot. Background: On Saturday, a man and a woman were killed in the village of Khreshchenivka in Kherson Oblast in the Russian attack. Support UP or become our patron! Russians spend two days putting out fire at oil depot in Russia's Krasnodar Krai It took two days for Russian firefighters to put out a fire at an oil depot in the village of Leningradskaya after a drone attack on Kuban, Russia. Source: Krasnodar Krai Regional Operational Centre Details: It was only on Sunday morning, 7 July, that the fire at an oil depot in the rural locality of Leningradskaya was reported to have been extinguished. Local authorities reported that a UAV attack had caused a fuel tank to catch fire on the night of 5-6 July. The Russians also reported a drone attack in the rural locality of Pavlovskaya, where a fuel storage tank burst into flames. Support UP or become our patron! The Russians launched a missile attack on Pavlohrad overnight, with the debris damaging four houses. Source: Serhii Lysak, Head of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram Quote: "The air defence forces were operating day and night. Air Command Skhid (East) destroyed one missile and a reconnaissance drone. Meanwhile, there are casualties in Nikopol district. Three women aged 38, 65, and 71 were injured in the district centre during the evening and early morning bombardment." Details: Lysak reported that the Russians attacked Nikopol with heavy artillery and kamikaze drones. Multiple-launch rocket systems were also deployed. Premises belonging to three businesses were damaged in the city, as well as a college building, a kindergarten, and a garage cooperative. A gas pipeline, three sheds and ten individual residences were all damaged. A car was destroyed. Quote: "The firefighters appliances were also damaged. After one of the strikes, they were extinguishing a fire in a house when the enemy struck again. The firefighters were able to take cover." Details: Lysak stated that there was also activity in Marhanets and Pokrovsk hromadas. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a town, village or several villages and their adjacent territories ed.] No one was injured there, and experts are investigating the aftermath of the strikes. Support UP or become our patron! (FOX40.COM) The Sacramento Police Department is asking the communitys help in locating an at-risk 38-year-old woman. Jocelyn Saalman, who is considered at-risk due to a mental health condition, was last seen on Thursday leaving C Street with a tan backpack, police said. She is described as 5 feet and 6 inches tall and weighing about 130 lbs with brown hair and green eyes. 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. Salem City Council to vote on millions in bond spending for affordable housing Salem City Council is set to vote Monday on moving millions of infrastructure bond dollars to two large affordable housing developments planned in the city. In 2022, Salem voters approved a $300-million infrastructure bond to fund new roads, sidewalks, libraries, and parks. The bond included $10 million set aside for expanding affordable housing. Two motions during Monday's meeting aim to put some of that $10 million to use. Council will vote on whether to approve an allocation of $3 million from the bond to pay for improvements to land at the intersection of Joseph Street SE and Aumsville Highway for a 183-unit affordable housing complex. Neighborly Development, the developer behind the Jory Apartments and the Cornerstone Apartments, requested the money to fund offsite improvements, including street, water and sewer infrastructure. "Due to bond requirements, these funds can only be expended on improvements that will stay in City ownership for the life of the bond," city staff said in a report to council. The proposed development consists of two phases with the first phase entailing 183 affordable units. The project is also dependent on receiving LIFT funds through Oregon Housing and Community Services. If funding is secured, construction will begin in spring 2025. The affordability level for this project will be 60% of the area median income. Anticipated rent for a one bedroom is $1,028 per month, staff said in the report. Council will also vote on whether to use $3.4 million in bond funds to acquire the 10-acre property on 23rd Street and between D Street and Center Street from Salem Health and $400,000 for structure pedestrian improvements on D Street. A development planned for the land, the site of the former Salem General Hospital, could bring as many as 200 affordable housing units. The first phase of development will include 120 affordable housing units designed for families. The next phase will add as many as 80 more units and a child care facility. Developers said the apartments will be built with the needs of the community in mind, with lots of community space, a basketball court, bike path, in-unit washers and dryers, dog run, a playground and community building. Drawings of plans for the Gussie Belle Brown Apartments near Center and 23rd streets NE in Salem. In late 2023, the city agreed to buy the land from Salem Health for $3.8 million. The city then entered into a purchase agreement and lease with Green Light-Home First to sell the property to Green Light to allow them to develop the property for affordable housing. City leaders said they wanted to retain ownership of a 50,000-square-foot area within the property. The area is subject to a historic designation and can only be used or developed for passive recreation purposes. In a report to council, city staff said Salem Health has indicated a desire to assist Salem in preserving and protecting the conservation area and has agreed to reduce the purchase price by $400,000 to facilitate that goal. Other Salem City Council agenda items Councilor Virginia Stapleton's resignation as council president. Stapleton, who was elected in 2020, opted to not seek reelection and is running for office in the Oregon Legislature. In a letter to council, Stapleton said she feels like it is time to step down as president and transition into new leadership. She will remain on the council until her term ends in January. After accepting her resignation, council will vote for a new council president. A motion from Mayor Chris Hoy regarding modifications to the Multiple Unit Housing Tax Incentive Program to require transparency documentation of the identity of each contractor, subcontractor and companies performing work on projects getting tax breaks from the city. The motion was made after allegations of wage theft and unethical business practices were made by subcontractors connected to projects helmed by Deacon Development. How to participate in the Salem City Council meeting The meeting is at 6 p.m. It will be held in person in the City Council Chambers at the Salem Civic Center, 555 Liberty St. SE, and can be watched on Comcast Cable CCTV Channel 21 or on the Salem YouTube channel in English/American Sign Language and Spanish. Those wishing to comment in person can sign up on the rosters at the chamber entrance before the start of the meeting. Written public comments on agenda items can be emailed by 5 p.m. Monday to cityrecorder@cityofsalem.net. Or preregister between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday at cityofsalem.net/Pages/Public-Comment-at-Salem-City-Council-Meeting.aspx to speak during the meeting via Zoom. For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on X at @wmwoodworth This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Salem City Council to vote on millions in bond spending for housing SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) A single-vehicle accident on July 6 resulted in the death of Chelsea Gray, 26. Officers were dispatched to the 600th block of E. Houston Harte around 4:34 p.m. finding a white passenger car that had left the roadway and collided with a traffic sign. The San Angelo Police Departments Motor Division, Crime Scene Unit, and Drone Division responded to assist with the investigation. The male passenger, also 26, was uninjured. Gray, the driver, was pronounced dead at Shannon Medical Center. According to a release from the San Angelo Police Department, authorities are continuing to investigate the incident. 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 ConchoValleyHomepage.com. Fourteen high schools in the Triad and northwest North Carolina including the Career Center and Carver in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools are among the initial 60 participants in an initiative to encourage students into a career in the drone sector. Spurring the efforts is a partnership between the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and Zipline, the worlds largest autonomous delivery service. The goal of Career and Technical Education is to open doors to successful and fulfilling careers for our students through exposure and helping them develop academic, technical and durable skills to use in the workplace, said Trey Michael, the departments director of CTE. This partnership prepares students for a viable career after graduation in a field that is rapidly expanding globally. Beginning in the 2024-25 school year, this pathway program will be available at high schools that offer drone technology courses in their career technical education departments, where students study the fundamentals of drones, legal requirements, simulations, drone flight training and mapping. The group said there is increasing demand for highly skilled Uncrewed Ariel Systems operators and flight operations professionals. The end goal of the partnership is a pathway program for students to pursue a career with Zipline. To qualify, students must graduate high school, successfully complete the UAS pathway program, meet grade-point average requirements and provide a written letter of recommendation from a faculty member. Qualifying students are guaranteed an interview with Zipline upon completion. It has been truly amazing to see the excitement of our children of all ages and abilities to engage with the drone program, Carver principal Thyais Maxwell said. Even when we have to duck due to them flying drones in the halls. The sheer joy and excitement are evident. Im looking forward to the transference of knowledge as our students embrace this innovative learning. Career Center principal Nancy Martinez said the drone pathway program is positioning us among the schools poised to benefit significantly from DPIs new partnership with Zipline. Our commitment is to ensure that all our students seamlessly transition to their next steps after high school. For our Career and Technical Education students, this often means securing apprenticeships that can start even before graduation. The other participating high schools in the 14-county region are East Wilkes, High Point Andrews, Eden Morehead, Mount Airy, North Wilkes, Starmount, Uwharrie Ridge 6-12, Watauga, Watauga Innovation Academy, West Wilkes, Western Guilford and Wilkes Central. Zipline and NCDPI have set essential program requirements that will offer high school graduates cutting-edge aviation opportunities right after graduation, said Joseph Marshall, director of Flight Operations at Zipline. We are confident that the pathway program will attract exceptional candidates and contribute to the advancement of the UAS industry. Drone test, permit law repealed In a separate UAS-related development, the state legislature repealed in House Bill 198 the states UAS operator knowledge test and permit requirement. The repeal goes into effect Dec. 1. HB198 had been vetoed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, primarily over concerns that it allowed for tree cutting and destruction of native plants around billboards. The Republican-controlled legislature overrode his veto on Thursday. The UAS knowledge test and operator permit became law in 2014 with its inclusion of a state law focused on the criminal use of drones. The law requires both state/local government and commercial drone operators to pass the knowledge test. Commercial drone operators are required to obtain the NCDOTs UAS permit. This process could be completed online, and the permit would need to be renewed every two years. Critics of permit and knowledge test law questioned why North Carolina was the only state with such a permit, while other states relied on Federal Aviation Administrations Remote Pilot certificate program. AeroX was part of the effort to lobby legislators to repeal the knowledge test and permit requirements. AeroX is a non-profit organization formed in 2021 with the goal of creating and expanding unmanned aviation technology in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. AeroX said its participation was based on promoting drone operations in the state. In June 2022, Elizabeth City State University, AeroX and Piedmont Flight Training launched an online aviation degree and flight-training program that will be based at Smith Reynolds Airport. The groups announced the 10-year collaboration, an extension of the universitys Aviation Science and Unmanned Aircraft Systems degree program. The local online program will be the same as the four-year aviation degree offered in person at ECSU. The initial online degree program will concentrate on flight education for students from Forsyth, Cabarrus, Davidson, Davie, Guilford, Mecklenburg, Randolph, Rowan, Stanly and Union counties. Students will complete the flight portion of the online degree at Piedmont Flight Trainings facilities at the airport, with graduates earning a pilots license. The university said that a potential student is required to apply for admission. Once accepted, the student can enroll in the aviation science degree program. Through the N.C. Promise Tuition Plan, in-state students pay $500 a semester in tuition at ECSU. It was unclear on Tuesday when students could begin to apply for the program. Piedmont Flight Training will provide flight-training services for ECSUs aviation science degree. In December 2021, AeroX received $5 million in funding from the General Assembly toward its drone technology platform. The group is focusing on what it calls next-generation technologies, including the commercialization of unmanned aircraft systems and electric vehicle takeoff and landing. SC man killed in shooting, and theres a search for who pulled the trigger, cops say A Lowcountry man was killed July 4 at a boat landing, and a search is underway for who pulled the trigger, South Carolina officials said. The shooting victim was 31-year-old St. Stephen resident Jonah Price, Berkeley County Coroner Darnell Hartwell said. At about 9:30 p.m., deputies responded to a report of a fight where shots were fired at the St. Stephen Boat Landing at 1148 Arrowhead Road, according to the Berkeley County Sheriffs Office. Thats near the Santee River. Deputies were told the victim later identified as Price had been shot multiple times, the sheriffs office said. When they arrived, deputies discovered Price had died at the scene, according to the sheriffs office. No other injuries were reported. There was no word about a shooter or shooters, or anyone else involved in the gunfire. Information about a motive for the shooting, or if the people involved knew each other, was not available. No arrests have been reported, but the death continues to be investigated by the sheriffs office and coroners office. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the sheriffs office at 843-719-4465. Scammers are swiping billions from Americans every year. Worse, most crooks are getting away with it William Bortz, left, stands alongside his daughter, Ave Williams, at his senior living center, Friday, May 17, 2024, in San Diego. Bortz said criminals stole his family's nest egg of almost $700,000 in an elaborate scheme. Sophisticated overseas criminals are stealing tens of billions of dollars from Americans every year, a crime wave that's projected to get worse as the U.S. population ages and technology like AI makes it easier than ever to perpetrate fraud and get away with it. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) The scammers are winning. Sophisticated overseas criminals are stealing tens of billions of dollars from Americans every year, a crime wave projected to get worse as the U.S. population ages and technology like AI makes it easier than ever to perpetrate fraud and get away with it. Internet and telephone scams have grown exponentially, overwhelming police and prosecutors who catch and convict relatively few of the perpetrators, said Kathy Stokes, director of fraud prevention at AARPs Fraud Watch Network. Victims rarely get their money back, including older people who have lost life savings to romance scams, grandparent scams, technical support fraud and other common grifts. We are at a crisis level in fraud in society, Stokes said. So many people have joined the fray because it is pretty easy to be a criminal. They dont have to follow any rules. And you can make a lot of money, and then theres very little chance that youre going to get caught. A recent case from Ohio, in which an 81-year-old man was targeted by a scammer and allegedly responded with violence, illustrates the law enforcement challenge. Police say the man fatally shot an Uber driver after wrongly assuming she was in on a plot to extract $12,000 in supposed bond money for a relative. The driver fell victim to the same scammer, dispatched to the home midway between Dayton and Columbus to pick up a package for delivery, according to authorities. Homeowner William Brock was charged with murder in the fatal March 25 shooting of Lo-Letha Hall, but the scammer who threatened Brock over the phone and set the tragic chain of events in motion remains on the loose more than three months later. Brock pleaded not guilty, saying he was in fear for his life. Advantage scammers Online and telephone rackets have become so commonplace that law enforcement agencies and adult protective services dont have the resources to keep up. Its a little bit like drinking from a fire hose, said Brady Finta, a former FBI agent who supervised elder fraud investigations. Theres just so much of it, logistically and reasonably, its almost impossible to overcome right now. Grifts also can be difficult to investigate, particularly ones that originate overseas, with stolen funds quickly converted into hard-to-track cryptocurrency or siphoned into foreign bank accounts. Some police departments dont take financial scams as seriously as other crime and victims wind up discouraged and demoralized, according to Paul Greenwood, who spent 22 years prosecuting elder financial abuse cases in San Diego. Theres a lot of law enforcement who think that because a victim sends money voluntarily through gift cards or through wire transfers, or for buying crypto, that theyre actually engaging in a consensual transaction, said Greenwood, who travels the country teaching police how to spot fraud. And that is a big mistake because its not. Its not consensual. Theyve been defrauded. Federal prosecutors typically dont get involved unless the fraud reaches a certain dollar amount, Greenwood said. The U.S. Justice Department says it does not impose a blanket monetary threshold for federal prosecution of elder financial abuse. But it confirmed that some of the 93 U.S. attorneys offices nationwide may set their own thresholds, giving priority to cases in which there are more victims or greater financial impact. Federal prosecutors file hundreds of elder fraud and abuse cases annually. The Federal Trade Commission says the vast majority of frauds go unreported. Often, victims are reluctant to come forward. A 74-year-old woman recently charged with robbing a credit union north of Cincinnati was the victim of an online scam, according to her family. Authorities say they believe the woman was preyed on by a scammer, yet there is no record she made a formal police report. These people are very good at what they do, and theyre very good at deceiving people and prying money out of them, said Fairview Township, Ohio, police Sgt. Brandon McCroskey, who investigated the robbery. Ive seen people almost want to fist fight the police and bank tellers because they ... believe in their mind that they need to get this money out. A devastating scheme Older people hold more wealth as a group and present a ripe target for scammers. The impact can be devastating since many of these victims are past their working years and dont have much time to recoup losses. Elder fraud complaints to the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center rose by 14% last year, with losses increasing by 11% to $3.4 billion, according to a recent FBI report. Other estimates put the annual loss much higher. A 2023 AARP study calculated that Americans over 60 lose $28.3 billion each year to fraud. The Federal Trade Commission, seeking to account for unreported losses, estimated fraudsters stole a staggering $137 billion in 2022, including $48 billion from older adults. The authors of that study acknowledged a considerable degree of uncertainty. In San Diego, 80-year-old William Bortz said criminals stole his familys nest egg of almost $700,000 in an elaborate scheme involving a nonexistent Amazon order, a fake refund processing center in Hong Kong, doctored bank statements and an instruction that Bortz needed to synchronize bank accounts in order to get his money back. Bortzs scammer was relentless and persuasive, harassing him with dozens of phone calls and, at one point, taking control of his computer. Even though he was the victim of a crime, Bortz struggles with self-blame. I understand now why so much elder abuse fraud is never reported. Because when you look back at it, you think, How could I have been so stupid? said Bortz, who retired after a career in banking, financial services and real estate. His daughter, Ave Williams, said local police and the FBI were diligent in trying to track down the overseas scammer and recover the money, but ran into multiple dead ends. The family blames Bortzs bank, which Williams said ignored multiple red flags and facilitated several large wire transfers by her father over the course of eight days. The bank denied wrongdoing and the familys lawsuit against it was dismissed. The scammers are getting better, Williams said. We need our law enforcement to be given the tools they need, and we need our banks to get better because they are the first line of defense. The Justice Department contends industry needs to do more, saying the U.S. cant prosecute its way out the problem. Private industry including the tech, retail, banking, fintech, and telecommunications sectors must make it harder for fraudsters to defraud victims and harder to launder victim proceeds, the agency said in a statement to The Associated Press. A way forward Banking industry officials told a Senate subcommittee in May they are investing heavily in new technologies to stop fraud, and some hold great promise. The American Bankers Association says its working on a program to coordinate real-time communication among banks to better flag suspicious activity and reduce the flow of stolen funds. But industry officials said the banks cannot singlehandedly prevent fraud. They said the U.S. needs an overarching national strategy to combat scammers, calling the federal governments current efforts disjointed and uncoordinated. Law enforcement agencies and industry need to join forces to fight fraud more quickly and efficiently, said Finta, the former FBI agent, who launched a nonprofit called the National Elder Fraud Coordination Center to cultivate better cooperation between law enforcement and major corporations like Walmart, Amazon and Google. There's very, very smart people and there's very powerful, wealthy companies that want this to stop," he said. "So we do have the ability, I think, to make a greater impact and to help out our brothers and sisters in law enforcement that are struggling with this tsunami of fraud. Schiff says both Biden and Trump should be willing to take cognitive tests Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday both President Biden and former President Trump should be willing to take cognitive tests as candidates for the White House this November. Look, Id be happy if both the president and Donald Trump took cognitive tests, Schiff told NBC Newss Kristen Welker on Meet the Press when asked whether Biden should take a cognitive test. I think they both should be willing to take a test, Schiff added when pressed again on whether Biden should take one. I think, frankly, a test would show Donald Trump has a serious illness of one kind or another. Schiffs interview comes amid pressure on Biden to prove he is still up for the task of president after a difficult debate that has prompted calls in the party for him to consider stepping aside at the top of the ticket. Biden on Friday joined ABC Newss George Stephanopoulos for a high-stakes interview, in which the president pushed back on questions about whether 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 Israeli 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 said. 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 past the debate. Ultimately, the decision is going to come down to what Joe Biden thinks is best, Schiff said in the Sunday interview. And if his decision is to run, then run hard and beat that SOB. And if his decision is to pass the torch, then the president should do everything in his power to make that other candidate successful. 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. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday that he is of course concerned about former President Trumps personal threats against him, especially in light of the Supreme Courts Monday ruling that core presidential powers offer immunity from criminal prosecution. Of course, Schiff told NBC Newss Kristen Welker when asked on Meet the Press about Trumps accusations of fraud and treason against him, and the former presidents call for members of the Jan. 6 select committee to be indicted. I think anyone whos on his enemies list should be concerned, Schiff continued. Schiff said hes particularly concerned about the personal threats after the Supreme Court found that presidents have absolute immunity for actions taken within their core official responsibilities, while they have presumptive immunity for all other official acts. Schiff said he is concerned about the implications of the ruling for a hypothetical second Trump term. What concerns me the most is what the court just did, was to basically tell Donald Trump, you can do anything through the Justice Department. You can do anything through the military. These are core responsibilities of the president of the United States. You will have unquestioned immunity for whatever you do. And even outside of that, you will have such a strong presumption of immunity as to be irrebuttable, Schiff said. The former president recently repeated his call to indict the members of the committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and ultimately recommended to the Justice Department that they charge Trump on several counts. 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. Schiff says Kamala would be phenomenal president as he hits out at concerning Biden interview answer Democratic Rep Adam Schiff said President Joe Biden needs to make the right decision when deciding whether to stay in the 2024 race (Meet The Press / NBC News) Democratic Representative Adam Schiff has said that Vice President Kamala Harris would be a phenomenal president and could overwhelmingly beat Donald Trump in the 2024 race as he revealed which of Joe Bidens comments he was most concerned by in the presidents make-or-break ABC News interview. Speaking on Meet the Press on Sunday, the House Democrat publicly expressed some hesitations about Biden remaining in the 2024 presidential race, hinting that other options, such as Harris, could be a better option for the party. However, he stopped short of calling Biden to step aside, saying that the decision is ultimately up to the president. I think the vice president would be a phenomenal president, I think she has the experience, the judgment, the leadership ability to be an extraordinary president, Schiff said. But before we get into a decision about who else should be, the president needs to make a decision whether its him, he added. The California rep acknowledged the publics apprehensions about Biden remaining in the race, saying he too has some concerns after his disappointing debate performance and underwhelming ABC News interview. Bidens appearance during the debate escalated fears that he is not physically or mentally competent enough to defeat Trump in November. His hoarse voice and stumbling responses gave the impression of a confused elderly man, rather than a strong confident leader. Schiff agreed that Bidens debate performance rightfully raised questions about his mental acuity. Democratic Rep Adam Schiff said President Joe Biden needs to make the right decision when deciding whether to stay in the 2024 race (Meet The Press / NBC News) In an attempt to dissuade the concerns, Biden joined ABC News for an interview that aired on Friday evening. But Schiff said that this also did little to comfort people about his decision to remain in the race and pointed to what he found a specifically concerning answer to one of George Stephanopoulos questions. During the interview, Biden said that if Trump is re-elected in November after he stays in the race, he would still feel like he did a good job so long as he gave it his best try. That is the answer that most concerned me as well, Schiff said on Sunday. This is not just about whether he gave it his best college try but rather whether he made the right decision to run or pass the torch. Like other Democrats, Schiff noted that the stakes are high this November adding that there are some concerns within the party that Bidens unpopularity could affect the down-ballot races in the House and Senate. WATCH: President Biden should be mopping the floor with Donald Trump. Joe Bidens running against a criminal. It should not be even close, @RepAdamSchiff (D-Calif.) tells #MTP. Theres only one reason it is close. And thats the presidents age. pic.twitter.com/kvGSrsiRcy Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) July 7, 2024 At present, our down-ballot candidates in the Senate and House are doing well, theyre all ahead. Theyre running well ahead of the president but you can only run so far ahead of the president, Schiff said. But despite the pressure, Schiff refused to break with his partys commitment to Biden, even as some House Democrats have called for Biden to step aside. He said the president has to make that decision himself. Schiff also praised Biden for the accomplishments hes made in office, including strengthening ties with NATO allies, creating jobs in the US, enacting strong climate policies and more. He said the president has done more in one term than other presidents have done in multiple terms. Despite his achievements though, Schiff still encouraged Biden to seek opinions outside of his inner circle to determine whether he should remain in the 2024 race. He will make the right decision, Schiff said. Second gentleman Doug Emhoff tested positive for Covid-19 Saturday after experiencing mild symptoms, according to a Sunday statement from his office. Vice President Kamala Harris has tested negative for the virus and remains asymptomatic, Emhoff communications director Liza Acevedo said in the statement. The couple were on a balcony at the White House with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Thursday for an Independence Day celebration. CNN has reached out to the White House to ask whether the president is being tested. Harris was in New Orleans on Saturday for a moderated conversation at the Essence Festival, an annual Black music and cultural festival. The vice president is on a tour through the US on what the Biden administration has dubbed the Summer of Engagement. Shes participated in more than 60 trips across 20 states since the start of 2024, her office said earlier this month. The vice president is next scheduled to deliver a keynote speech at the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sororitys 71st Boule on Wednesday in Dallas as she looks to reach key constituencies for the Biden campaign, including Black, women and young voters. Biden, meanwhile is making campaign stops in Pennsylvania as part of an aggressive travel schedule in July following his poor debate performance last month. Emhoff previously tested positive for Covid-19 in March 2022, and Harris tested positive a month later but had no symptoms. CNNs Samantha Waldenberg and Ebony Davis contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com WASHINGTON - Capitol Hill is headed for a historic and pivotal week with the trajectory of the 2024 presidential campaign very much on the line. Lawmakers return from their Fourth of July holiday recess with Democrats facing mounting questions about whether they will band together and urge President Joe Biden to nix his reelection campaign amid serious concerns the 81-year-old incumbent is not up to the job of serving four more years. Time is short. Biden continues to blame a minor illness for his poor performance in the recent debate with presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and says that he has no intention of giving up his spot atop the Democratic ticket with a little more than a month to go before accepting his partys nomination in Chicago. The politics are expected to change come Monday when congressional Democrats who so far have been hedging in public over what they think Biden should do will be seeing their own colleagues face to face in the nation's capital. Over the last two weeks, everyone has been hearing directly from voters in their districts and states about the presidents mental fitness and capacity to keep doing his job. Were in unprecedented territory, the likes of which weve rarely seen in this country, Jim Manley, a former spokesman for Democratic Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., told USA TODAY. Everybody should hang on because its about to get wild. Added Henry Waxman, a former House Democrat who served for 40 years in Congress: "This is a seminal moment, and I think the decision has to be made very soon." One hand is still needed to count the number of elected Democratic lawmakers willing to call publicly for Biden to leave the 2024 campaign. But the list started growing in private on Sunday. Whether it adds up in a significant enough way to upend this years presidential campaign remains unclear, though party leaders acknowledge the coming days will be critical in assessing the path ahead. Let's just be honest, I think there are still questions out there in the minds of many voters, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Sunday on CNN. I think there's no doubt that the president's performance at the debate has raised questions for voters, not questions about his character or his decency, or who he cares about or who he fights for, but questions as to whether this is still the old Joe Biden. So far, Biden has dismissed those who have been calling for his ouster. During an interview on Friday with ABC News, the president said hed been speaking with lawmakers who have been encouraging him to stay in the race. Against that backdrop, Murphy called this upcoming week in Washington absolutely critical. In an interview on Sunday, Waxman said he expected the number of lawmakers seeking Biden's ouster will get bigger once they're back in Washington. But the former congressman added that he's not sure yet what difference that would make with the incumbent president. "It's just really trying to influence a man who he himself claims is quite stubborn," Waxman told USA TODAY. Congress returns to Washington on Monday Until now, elected officials have also been able to lay low and make news on their own time regarding Biden through scheduled interviews, their favorite social media, carefully-crafted statements and stage-managed events. That changes on Monday, when the hallways of the U.S. Capitol are expected to be teeming with reporters eager to hear from Democrats in particular about whether theyre ready to break with Biden or stand by the undeniable leader of their party. Im sure they wont want to talk, former Sen. Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican who spent more than four decades in Congress, told USA TODAY on Sunday. They face a tough decision. They dont want to be disloyal. They dont want to hurt themselves politically in a presidential election year, but theyre going to have to face the reality of the situation of President Biden. Bidens health and capacity to lead the country has been the source of nonstop behind-the-scenes discussions among party leaders and rank-and-file members since the June 27 debate against Trump. But those talks are anything but easy since posing the question of whether Biden should step down almost instantly becomes a larger conversation about how to (and who would) replace the president for Election Day, as well as what all of this means for the partys chances in November in their races for the White House and in both chambers of Congress. "This is not as clear cut as anybody wants it to be, Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said on CNN on Sunday, noting that she heard from voters during the congressional recess that they dont want Biden to drop out of the race. Those internal Democratic conversations are going to start moving even faster in the hours and days ahead. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., huddled with key Democratic committee leaders on Sunday. The result: multiple media reports that Reps. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., Adam Smith, D-Wash., Mark Takano, D-Calif., and Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., wanted Biden to stand down. Members of the House return on Monday for an early evening series of votes. Across the Capitol, the Senate resumes business Monday afternoon and with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., presiding over a weekly policy lunch Tuesday with Democrats. Neither Democratic leader has spoken up to any substantive degree about Biden's status. Democrats say it'll matter if and when they do since so many rank-and-file members are otherwise conflicted about speaking up in such a powerful and unprecedented way regarding their party's leader, the sitting president of the United States. "I think Schumer and Jeffries weighing in on this would have a great deal of weight," Waxman said. "(Biden) has relied on both of them. He's relying on their wisdom and experience and he ought to take what they say very seriously." Five House Democrats have called publicly so far for Biden to exit the 2024 race: Reps. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, Seth Moulton, D-Mass., Mike Quigley, D-Ill., Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., and Angie Craig, D-Minn. Craig made the ask after watching Bidens interview with ABC Friday that was meant to temper concerns. In the Senate, Mark Warner, D-Va., is reportedly working to organize a group of his partys colleagues whod join him to ask Biden to exit the presidential race. For the Democrats who have spoken up but not gone as far as saying Biden should outright go, many have expressed concerns about the president while saying that its his decision to make on whether its time to bow out. They also arent hiding their concerns about the 78-year-old Trump as the likely benefactor of the Democratic turmoil. Given Joe Biden's incredible record, given Donald Trump's terrible record, he should be mopping the floor with Donald Trump, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said on Sunday during an appearance on NBCs "Meet the Press." Joe Biden's running against a criminal. It should not be even close, and there's only one reason it is close, and that's the president's age, added Schiff, a former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a floor manager during Trumps first impeachment trial who is now a leading contender to win one of Californias U.S. Senate seats in November. US President Joe Biden speaks as he hosts Democratic Congressional leaders in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 24, 2023. - Also pictured (L-R) are US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), US Vice President Kamala Harris, US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and US Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL). ABC interview doesn't satisfy Democrats Bidens interview Friday night with ABC News failed to assuage the internal party panic following his performance in the first presidential debate. Multiple times, the president insisted he wasnt going anywhere in 2024. In his Sunday interview, Schiff urged Biden to slow down and take the time to make the right decision here thats, thats best for the country. The California Democrat added that Vice President Kamala Harris, should she replace Biden in November, very well could win overwhelmingly against Trump. But before we get into a decision about who else it should be, the president needs to make a decision whether its him, he said. Several of Bidens long-time allies in Congress now say the president needs to do multiple unscripted events this week to show that the debate performance was an aberration and not a sign of cognitive decline. It is only through such a public process that he can demonstrate that (the debate) was simply an off night and that his past ability to define the issues and seek common sense solutions remains undiminished, said a spokesperson for Sen. Angus King, I-Maine. For the White House, Bidens week ahead will be a full one. The president is hosting world leaders in Washington for the NATO 75th anniversary summit, a series of highly choreographed events that leave little room for the kind of presence many members of Congress want Biden to display to voters. Biden is also looking beyond the seven days ahead to the following week when Trump will be in Milwaukee to accept his party's presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention. According to a White House official, Biden is planning to visit Austin, Texas, on July 15 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at the LBJ Presidential Library. Then it's on to Las Vegas to address annual conferences on July 16 for the NAACP and on July 17 with UnidosUS. The president held no public events on Saturday. On Sunday morning in Philadelphia, Biden huddled briefly on the airport tarmac with Pennsylvanias two Democratic senators, Bob Casey and John Fetterman. He then spoke at the Mount Airy Church of God in Christ, using written notes at the largely Black church and making no reference to the calls to step aside. During the church service, Senior Pastor J. Louis Felton had the congregation lock arms as he spoke about how "the enemy has tried for so long to divide us. Theres no election that we cannot win," Felton said. He also spoke directly to Biden, adding, Dont let anybody talk about your age. You are a young whipper snapper. Contributing: Riley Beggin and Ken Tran. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lawmakers return to DC as Biden's status for 2024 stays in limbo If it had not been for the bystanders at the dock, the first responders who treated me at lakeside, the emergency helipad that had been installed by Trident Marina, Alabamas Air Evac Flight Team, and an amazing group of UAB doctors, nurses, and administrators, I am certain that the outcome of this accident would have been much different. I remain under watch in UABs Intensive Care Unit but have been able to walk down the hallway. The physical recovery will be a difficult one for our family, but it will be made easier by the intercessory prayers being sent by friends, family, constituents, colleagues, and even total strangers who understand that healing comes from God. At this time, I must focus on getting better and will not be able to accept visitors, but please know how grateful my family and I are for everyone who has reached out to offer help and concern. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) refused to address remarks from Project 2025s leader about a bloodless second American Revolution during a CNN interview Sunday. "Well he's not running for president, is he?" -- Marco Rubio on a Project 2025 leader saying the "second American revolution" will "remain bloodless, if the left allows it to be" pic.twitter.com/Svv7EOJIvk Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 7, 2024 Appearing on CNNs State of the Union, Rubio was shown a video of Kevin Roberts, president of the conservative political think tank the Heritage Foundation, which is leading Project 2025, recently saying that the United States is in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be. Are you comfortable with that? Dana Bash, co-anchor for State of the Union, asked Rubio. Well, hes not running for president, is he? Rubio replied. Our candidate is Donald Trump. I didnt see Donald Trump say that. Donald Trump is running on common sense, on restoring common sense versus the lunacy of the last four years on the far left in the shadow government that now is running our country with Joe Biden as its figurehead. Rubio continued, saying that think tanks do think tank stuff. They come up with ideas, they say things look, I like Heritage Foundation. I agree with some of the things they stand for, but theres a bunch of scholars and people that turn around and work on different projects. But our candidate for president is Donald Trump, and Donald Trump is running on restoring common sense, working-class values and making our decisions on the basis of that, he added. Not on ideological lunacy, which is what weve seen over the last four years under Joe Biden. Is that what Project 2025 is? Is it ideological lunacy? Bash asked. No, I think its the work of a think tank, of a center-right think tank, Rubio answered. According to Project 2025s website, the initiative will build on four pillars that will, collectively, pave the way for an effective conservative administration: a policy agenda, personnel, training, and a 180-day playbook. The 922-page handbook lays out a plan to dismantle the U.S. government and fire more than 50,000 federal workers. Authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat warned last week that one of the most alarming things in the handbook was the admission that Trump didnt do everything he wanted to during his first administration. On Friday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he knows nothing about Project 2025. (The Heritage Foundation, as well as the initiative, are led by former Trump administration officials.) 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, he wrote. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them. Related... Sen. Tommy Tuberville promoted a conspiracy theory that President Joe Biden is not in charge of the country. Instead, he claimed, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, and former president Barack Obama along with the Deep State are calling the shots. Weve all known Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and Obamas been running the country, along with [Secretary of State Antony] Blinken and [National Security Advisor Jake] Sullivan Theyve all been making the decisions. Joe Biden hasnt been making decisions Theyve had total control, not the president, the Alabama senator told host Maria Bartiromo on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures. Tommy Tuberville on Fox News: "We've all known Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and Obama's been running the country they've had total control. Not the president." pic.twitter.com/Oxq2F8Gm3y Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 7, 2024 Tuberville continued with his unhinged rant, claiming that Biden the first two years may have had some say so in whats going on, but hes been out of it since after the first year in office. He added that you can tell this by looking at the actions of Schumer and Pelosi the first two years of the Biden administration. They were calling the shots, he said before adding that the Deep State has total control of this. Tuberville is the Republican senator who single-handedly held up hundreds of military promotions for months even over the objectives of some of his GOP colleagues because he disagreed with the Pentagons policy of paying for military members travel to obtain abortion care. Tuberville is no stranger to unfounded conspiracy theories. The senator claimed in March that Democrats are part of a satanic cult. Ive traveled all over the country all 50 states Ive been in good places and bad places. The one thing I saw, we are losing our kids to a satanic cult, he said. Tuberville continued, Weve lost our moral values across the country. Weve got to get back to the Constitution, and we have got to get back to the Bible. Weve got to get God back in our country. Theres not one Democrat that can tell you they stand up for God. When a news story made it seem like Bidens White House specifically did not allow religious-themed Easter egg designs at its annual contest while neglecting to note that, according to the American Egg Board, which supports the event, the language barring religious symbols from the designs has been in place for decades Tuberville doubled-down on his claims, tweeting that the Democrats are a Satanic cult. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) said Sunday he thinks it would be totally reasonable for former President Trump to investigate President Biden if the presumptive GOP candidate is elected to a second term in the White House this November. In an interview on NBC Newss Meet the Press, Vance responded to a clip of Trump from last year pledging to appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the United States of America, Joe Biden, and the entire Biden crime family. Vance, seen as a top contender to be Trumps running mate, downplayed the significance of Trumps threats and said media outlets make too much of that quote. Donald Trump is talking about appointing a special prosecutor to investigate Joe Biden for wrongdoing, Vance said, in response to the video. What Donald Trump is simply saying is we ought to investigate the prior administration. He accused Biden of doing exactly that for the last few years, and said, I think Donald Trump saying, Look, lets do the basic work of investigating wrongdoing is a totally reasonable thing for him to do. And frankly, the Biden administration has done far worse. So, if you think that what Donald Trump is proposing is a threat to democracy, isnt what Biden has already done a massive threat to our system of law and government? Vance said. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel, Jack Smith, to investigate Trumps efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. He ultimately brought two indictments against the former president, one related to the election and another related to his retention of classified documents and obstruction of the governments efforts to retrieve them. There has been no evidence suggesting Biden or Democrats are directing the Department of Justices actions. The Justice Department has also been involved in the recent indictments of two Democrats, Sen. Bob Menendez (N.J.) and Rep. Henry Cuellar (Texas). A Department of Justice special counsel also won a conviction recently against Hunter Biden, the presidents son. 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. At least four senior House Democrats told House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Sunday that they are calling on President Joe Biden to step down from the presidential race, according to several sources with knowledge of the discussion on the private call. Reps. Jerry Nadler, Mark Takano, Joe Morelle and Adam Smith stated Biden should step aside and no longer continue his campaign, sources told ABC News. This is notable it means the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, the ranking member of Veteran Affairs, the highest Democrat on the Administration Committee and the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee have privately conveyed Biden should step aside. Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia, whose wife was a major Biden fundraiser in 2020, expressed some concerns about the presidents path forward, according to multiple sources. A spokesman posted on X that Beyer "supports President Biden and said so on this call and any reporting to the contrary is a misunderstanding of what he said and what he believes." U.S. President Joe Biden greets supporters and volunteers during a campaign stop at a Biden-Harris campaign office in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on July 7, 2024. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) MORE: Biden countering RNC with battleground state travel Jeffries did not express a position, according to one person on the call. That person tells ABC News the Democratic Leader said that he would engage with the caucus throughout the week, starting with these senior Democrats to solicit views on the path forward. ABC News has reached out to reps for Beyer, Nadler, Takano, Morelle and Smith for comment. When reached on Sunday, a Biden campaign adviser said the "simple math" shows that the vast majority of the caucus, including House Minority Leader Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, is on Biden's side. The campaign says they aren't backing down and they are "ready to fight." On Sunday evening, Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Susan Wild said in a statement that she "expressed the same concerns that Americans across the country are grappling with, about President Bidens electability at the top of the ticket" on the House leadership call. In her statement, she said, "In the coming days and weeks, I will operate as I always have, continuing to have these important conversations while keeping the best interests of my constituents at the forefront of every decision and statement I make." Wild, facing a difficult reelection test, has avoided discussing Bidens debate performance previously, declining multiple times since then to answer ABC News questions about the Presidents future. Senior House Democrats tell Jeffries they're privately calling for Biden to step aside: Sources originally appeared on abcnews.go.com After series of appalling Supreme Court rulings, there is little to celebrate this July 4 | Opinion Little to celebrate Can presidents be prosecuted? How the Supreme Court ruled in Trump immunity case, (sacbee.com, July 1) I have voted in every presidential election and off-year election since 1971, save one. I am a first-generation American. My mother, of blessed memory, was a German-Jewish Holocaust survivor from Konigsberg who, with her immediate family, was miraculously able to set foot on this soil in December, 1942, when it was virtually impossible to do so. My father came to this country five years later on his own accord, after serving as a civilian electrician in County Down, Northern Ireland, keeping the lights functioning on a Royal Air Force base runway, while the British and the allies were bombing Hitler. Supreme Court decisions regarding presidential immunity, the Chevron Doctrine, the homeless and abortion, among others, are appalling. I miss my parents, but I am glad they are not alive to see this debacle. SCOTUS is no longer a co-equal branch of government. It has trashed the good civics lessons I received as a fifth-grader in Fair Oaks, California, from my teacher, who was also an immigrant. I pray and hope the good citizens of this country elect Democrats this fall, from dog catcher to the presidency, by uncontested margins. There is little to celebrate this Fourth of July. Sean Boyd Fresno Opinion The new America Can presidents be prosecuted? How the Supreme Court ruled in Trump immunity case, (sacbee.com, July 1) Welcome to America, where one man is now above the law. Here, one Senator can manipulate the rules to disallow a rival partys Supreme Court nominee, then reverse course to allow his partys nominee to prevail. And a desire to piggyback to power can create undeserved and unrelenting fealty to a single man. Welcome to the new America, just 24 months short of 250 years into our unique democratic experiment. Lets keep the democracy momentum alive. Please vote. Beth Carver Kingsburg The complete picture Fresno CA crime rate declined, chief says. Down nationally, (fresnobee.com, Jan. 3) I have received two flyers from the city of Clovis recently lamenting increases in crime, indirectly blaming the increases on Fresno. But Ive been reading for several years now about how violent crime nationally and locally has been falling. A Bee story on Fresnos falling crime rates for 2023 reported that crime has declined nationally with major cities reporting declines among the highest on record, according to nationally recognized analyst and independent criminologist Jeff Asher. Homicides were down 13% nationally. Seven of the eight crimes tracked by the FBI in the Uniform Crime Report trended down this year nationally. Only car theft was up. In Fresno, in 2023, homicides were down 43.3%; shootings down 20%; rape down 18.8%; robbery down 8.3%; commercial burglaries down 44.2%; and residential burglaries down 25.1% according to The Bee story. Im willing to bet the pattern is similar in Clovis in recent years. In the 2022 Report to the Community, Clovis reported homicides down 60%; arson down 75%; and declines in robbery and burglary. Rape was up 14%; car theft up 4%; and other theft up 3%. If the chief wants to make a case for more police officers, Im listening. But I want a complete picture. Michael Reddin Clovis Importance of live music What are the most iconic concert performances in Fresno? (fresnobee.com, June 20) I strongly believe that live music should stay important in Fresno a city with a long history of supporting musicians and fostering a lively music scene in the 70s and 80s. Live music adds a lot to our communitys energy and identity. Lately, however, challenges such as sound rules at places like the Big Fresno Fair threaten to quiet down this important part of our culture. To keep live music thriving in Fresno, we can do a few things: First, community leaders should work together to change rules. We should encourage places to hold live music events, which will give both experienced musicians and new talents a chance to perform. Restaurants and bars can help by making more lively environments and attracting young people who love live music experiences. This will make life better for both people who live here and those who visit. I play in a band, and it is important for the live music culture not to fade away. David Rodriguez Fresno Challenging debt forgiveness narrative Biden just erased my student loan debt. If its a campaign ploy, Im all for it | Opinion, (fresnobee.com, June 22) At face value, I can imagine the joy of having your debt erased, but I have to admit, the author simply sounds like someone who never learned the law of matter which states that mass cannot be destroyed, it can only be distributed elsewhere. I understand we live in a time where we simply dont want it to be our problem anymore, and that whatever means make that true is worthy of a vote. However, just because youre not paying for your student loans anymore doesnt mean they arent being paid. It has been stated by the Supreme Court that President Joe Biden far overreached his authority in this decision. It has been clear that he failed to consult congress in his fulfillment of this promise and made the decision to disperse student loan debt amongst taxpayers. Your student loan debt wasnt erased, it was dispersed among American taxpayers. K. Garbarino Fresno Biden must step aside After debate disaster, Biden cant continue presidential run, (fresnobee.com, June 28) After watching the debate, we saw Donald Trump clearly demonstrate that he is a liar and we saw President Joe Biden, a brilliant statesman for peace, aging out. We are asking Biden to step aside and allow another Democratic candidate to come forward. This ask of Biden to leave the presidential race is not a reflection of his achievements during his term in office. It is a clear recognition that there is a moment when seniors need to step aside and allow younger, more vital members of society to move up and take over. Michael Levine Fresno A chance encounter in a coffee shop led the author to suggest seven books about democracy to read this summer. (Max McCoy/Kansas Reflector) One day last week, I went to a coffee shop downtown to meet a friend. I had a hardback book tucked under my arm to give to the friend, a historian who shares my interest in the twisting and sometimes tortured arc of American democracy. I was early, so I ordered a lemonade it was approaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit outside and as I waited for the iced drink, a young woman who worked there noticed the book beneath my arm and tilted her head sideways to better see the title. What are you reading? she asked. The question was asked with a certain curiosity, an earnest thirst for knowledge, I hadnt heard in some time. The woman was in her 20s and explained that shed been looking for books about democracy and fascism to share with her family and friends and the title of the book had caught her eye: Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism. Wow, she said, Have you read it? I hesitated for a moment, fearing that I might launch into a lecture on history and culture that was sure to bore, if not alienate, a stranger. Then I was moved that a young person would ask my advice on what she should read because, lets face it, Im not the most approachable of people so I tamped down my urge to hold forth and said yes, my wife and I had read it several times. I asked the woman if she had heard of the author, Rachel Maddow, and she was unsure. She said she was interested in learning about fascism but didnt know where to start. This is one of perhaps two books I would start with, I said. Prequel is about the largely forgotten rise of fascism in America in the years before World War II and how the movement was defeated, in order to better understand the threats we face today. My wife, Kim, and I had heard Maddow speak in Tulsa, Oklahoma, during the final stop of her book tour last year. Some of the historical characters in the book the Rev. Gerald Winrod, the Jayhawk Nazi, for example have been subjects of this column. But I didnt tell her any of that. I just said if she wanted to learn about fascism in America, she should read the Maddow book. The young woman took a cellphone photo of the book cover and said shed check it out. Thanks, she said. Standing there, I had an epiphany about how important it is to connect with others in person. We spend so much of our time by ourselves, even in a crowd, blinkered by screens. But here I had made a connection with someone who was searching simply be being receptive to a question about what I was reading. I thanked the woman for her courage. It wasnt easy to ask a stranger, I said. But this is important, this sharing hand to hand. Find the book and give it to your friends when youre finished. Discuss it and keep investigating. This may be the only sure way things change for the better. Before I had even left the coffee shop, I was thinking of lists I would make for those who wanted to learn more about democracy, fascism, and the tortured arc. Prequel was near the top of the list. But there were many others. Kim and I live in a house filled with books, so much so that there arent shelves to contain them all. We dont have an accurate count, but a reliable estimate when all are counted, including the titles in storage ranges above 6,000. Kim writes in her books, using a fine-point ink pen, underlining things she finds important or sometimes arguing with the author in the margins. I could never bring myself to write in books, because it always seemed somehow wrong, but I make notes about what I read on index cards, legal pads, and even the backs of envelopes if nothing else is handy. During the last eight years, we have done heavy reading about American democracy, and it is from that reading Ive pulled a few books which might help get us through the summer of 2024. It isnt beach reading, but it isnt all doom and gloom, either. Lately Kim has pursued her serious and longstanding obsession about Nixon you have to understand the enemy, she says but has added Lincoln and Gettysburg to her list. My reading tends to the broad if not shallow themes in American culture and embraces fiction as well as popular histories. The titles tend to look back rather than forward, sort of like how T.H. Whites Merlin lived his life in reverse, because thats the nature of knowledge: the past unspools like a ribbon of steel behind us while the future is as changeable as next weeks weather forecast. This is a list of seven books to save democracy, one reader at a time (along with a sidebar of Kims top picks). A stack of books with sticky notes Kim Horner McCoys democracy reading list Margaret Atwood (author of The Handmaids Tale), Elif Shafik and nine others Democracy: Eleven Writers and Leaders on What It is and Why It Matters. Profile: Aug 2024. Nick Capodice and Hannah McCarthy, hosts of the podcast Civics 101; illustrated by Tom Toro A Users Guide to Democracy: How America Works. Celadon: 2020. Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, professors of government at Harvard How Democracies Die. Crown: 2018. The Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point. Crown: 2023. Rachel Maddow, Ph.d in Political Science, and MSNBC anchor Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism. Crown: 2023. Tom Nichols, professor of Security Affairs, U.S. Naval War College and Staff Writer for The Atlantic Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault From Within on Modern Democracy. Oxford UP: 2021. Darryl Pinckney, novelist Blackballed: The Black Vote and US Democracy. NYRB: 2020. Heather Cox Richardson, history professor at Boston College Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America. Viking: 2023. Daily Letters and Chats on Facebook (free) and Substack (subscription) Elaine Weiss, journalist with The Atlantic, The New York Times, etc. The Womans Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote. Viking: 2018. Naomi Zack, philosopher professor at Lehman College, CUNY Democracy: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford UP: 2023. Joan Didion. Slouching Towards Bethlehem, 1968. This collection of essays takes its title from a W.B. Yeats poem and is a firsthand account by a wickedly good essayist who didnt just write about the 60s, but who was the decade. Questions of straightforward power (or survival) politics, questions of quite indifferent public policy, questions of almost anything, Didion writes in an essay about morality. They are all assigned these factitious moral burdens. There is something facile going on, some self-indulgence at work. Because when we start deceiving ourselves into thinking not that we want something or need something, not that it is a pragmatic necessity for us to have it, then is when we join the fashionable madmen, and then is when the thin whine of hysteria is heard in the land, and then is when we are in bad trouble. And I suspect we are already there. Allen C. Guelzo. Our Ancient Faith, 2024. Guelzos book is about Abraham Lincoln, and the faith referred to in the title is Lincolns faith in democracy. Guelzo, who has written 17 other books, mostly about Lincoln or the Civil War, is the most centrist of observers, turning away from the extremes of both right and left, but nursing a hope for America based on his deep understanding of our greatest president. This is a brief essay, in a time of shadows, he begins in an authors note. My long life has been a hurdle race of public agonies, from the Vietnam War, through repeated and destabilizing economic convulsions and a clash of civilizations, to a crazed and inhumane technological environment in which no reality seems stable, bullhorns trample debate, and the smiling threat of power is too ominously real. To all those who despair for the future, Guelzo offers Lincolns example. And just as we, as a nation, were once rescued at the last gasp by an intervention so unlooked-for as to defy hope, he writes, limning the Gettysburg Address, I take up principles with the yearning that once again, this last, best hope of earth may yet have a rebirth of freedom. Dorianne Laux. Facts About the Moon, 2006. In a previous column, I wrote about Walt Whitmans influence and the power of poetry to guide us. For this list, Ive chosen a book by an award-winning poet from Eugene, Oregon, whose poem titled Democracy includes the homeless in Hefty bags and a young bus rider with a swastika carved into his shaven head. There is much more in this volume, and Lauxs authority and humanity comes through on every page, as well as an enduring hope for the future. But writing about poetry is like describing a movie to someone. To really understand it, you just have to sit in the theater and watch. Lauxs vision is worth the ticket. Tim OBrien. The Things They Carried, 1990. Ive included this one, in part, for my historian friend who is also a Vietnam vet. A collection of linked short stories, OBrien also a vet gives us the story of one platoon and the interior lives of the men in combat. It ranks with the Red Bad of Courage and The Killer Angels as the most powerful literature about Americans at war. It is one thing for politicians to talk about war, for ordinary people to wave the flag, for kids to shoot fireworks on the Fourth of July. It is quite another for soldiers to put themselves bodily in service and perhaps sacrifice for their country. For the most part they carried themselves with poise, a kind of dignity, OBrien writes. Now and then, however, there were times of panic, when they squealed or wanted to squeal but couldnt, when they twitched and made moaning sounds and covered their heads and said Dear Jesus and flopped around on the earth and fired their weapons blindly and cringed and sobbed and begged for the noise to stop and went wild and made stupid promises to themselves and to God and to their mothers and fathers hoping not to die. Heather Cox Richardson. Democracy Awakening, 2023. The title comes from Walt Whitman, who wrote in 1871: We have frequently printed the word Democracy. Yet I cannot too often repeat that it is a word the real gist of which still sleeps, unawakend. In this book, Richardson reminds us that democracy has persisted throughout our history, despite many attempts to undermine it. And like other authors on this list, she quotes Lincoln often. Men like Abraham Lincoln recognized that such a struggle was not just about who got elected to the White House, she writes. It was the story of humanity, the eternal struggle between these two principles right and wrong throughout the world.' Philip Roth. The Plot Against America, 2004. In this alternative history, Charles Lindbergh of the America First Party is elected president by a wave of popular support from the south and Midwest. Jewish-American families like the Roths are driven to the fringes of American society by Lucky Lindys Nazi-influenced antisemitic policies. Roth, who was 8 when World War II began, tells the story from his own imagined childhood point of a view. As I write, I have before me Kims copy of Plot, and it bristles with multi-colored flags. Its pages are thick with highlighting and marginalia. It is her reasoned response to the tale Roth has written, a dialogue with a cautionary tale, notes from someone who reads like a hunter tracking prey. In one passage, after Lindbergh has been nominated on the last day of the Democratic Convention in 1940 at Chicago, the candidate embarks on a flying tour and, still in leather helmet, tells an adoring crowd: Your choice is simple. Its not between Charles A. Lindbergh and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Its between Lindbergh and war. In the margin Kim has written two words. Daisy Girl. T.H. White. The Once and Future King, 1958. A collection of fantasy novels originally published between 1938 and 1940, Whites whimsical and anachronistic retelling of the Arthurian myth has the desire for good, as represented by the ideal of the Round Table, pitted against the wickedness of human nature, including black-clad fascists led by Mordred, Arthurs illegitimate son. The cycle ends with an aging Arthur contemplating the coming apocalyptic battle with Mordred. The fate of this man or that man was less than a drop, although it was a sparkling one, in the great blue motion of the sunlit sea, Arthur reflects before the battle. The outcome was not as important as the ideal which guided him, because there would surely come another time when the promise of the table with no corners would be fulfilled and the nations would feast there. The hope of making it would lie in culture, Arthur thinks. If people could be persuaded to read and write, not just to eat and make love, there was still a chance that they might come to reason. Miscellany Many other titles could have been included here, but allow me to mention just three more: Ned Blackhawks The Rediscovery of America, a reappraisal of American history and First Peoples; Kevin Youngs Bunk, on the rise of hoaxes and lies; and Elaine Weiss The Womans Hour, about the fight for female suffrage. Oh, and let me add one title for Kim: Rick Perlsteins Nixonland, about Nixons presidency of resentment. If youre interested in owning any of these titles, visit your nearest independent bookstore. If you dont have a bookstore near you, consider going to bookshop.org, which supports independent bookstores. Heres a Wired story about how Bookshop supports independents. Also check your local public library, and if they dont have these titles ask for them. Finally, let me add this. The day after the young woman stopped me in the coffee shop asking me what I was reading, I returned and gave her a copy of Prelude, along with the graphic edition of Timothy Snyders On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. Read them, I urged. Then pass them on. Max McCoy is an award-winning author and journalist. Through its opinion section, the Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here. The post Seven books for the 7th of July: a reading list to save democracy appeared first on Kansas Reflector. Six-year-old boy dies days after being injured in Fourth of July shooting in Prince Georges County PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) The Prince George County Police Department (PGPD) said a six-year-old boy has died days after being injured in a shooting at a Fourth of July block party in Temple Hills. Police said that around 7:50 p.m., they responded to the report of a shooting in the 4500 block of Akron Street. Once there, police found a six-year-old boy who had been shot, as well as two other people. A man suffered non-life-threatening injuries and a woman was treated on the scene for a graze wound. Child critically hurt after Fourth of July triple shooting in Prince Georges County The boy was taken to the hospital where he died late Saturday night. He was identified as six-year-old Ahsan Payton of Washington, DC. In a statement, County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said the following, in part: We extend our deepest condolences to the family of 6-year-old Ahsan Payton, whose life was so tragically cut short. Our thoughts and prayers are with them, and with all those affected by this senseless violence. We share your grief and pain. This incident underscores why were urgently working on addressing the pervasive issue of gun violence. It is unacceptable that our neighborhoods, our celebrations, and our very homes are not safe from the threat of firearms. We remain committed to our efforts to remove illegal guns from our streets and protect our Prince Georgians from such tragedies. Every resident has the right to live in peace and safety. Prince Georges County Executive Angela Alsobrooks PGPD said the shooting took place during a holiday gathering in the neighborhood. They are encouraging anyone who attended the party or anyone who may have information to contact police at 301-516-2512. Police are offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to an arrest and indictment in this case. 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. DENVER (KDVR) A small plane made an emergency on Interstate 76 on Saturday. Colorado State Patrol out of Sterling said the plane experienced a malfunction around 2:25 p.m. The plane landed on westbound I-76 near mile post 101, causing some delays for traffic. No one was injured. A small plane made an emergency on Interstate 76 on Saturday. (Colorado State Patrol) A small plane made an emergency on Interstate 76 on Saturday. (Colorado State Patrol) A small plane made an emergency on Interstate 76 on Saturday. (Colorado State Patrol) A small plane made an emergency on Interstate 76 on Saturday. (Colorado State Patrol) The plane was towed 9 miles to exit 92 and was loaded onto a trailer and taken to the Fort Morgan Airport. 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. You could say the last couple of weeks delivered a double whammy for the Democrats going into the summer campaign stretch this election year. First, the reaction to President Joe Bidens debate performance continued to reverberate this week. He struggled to speak clearly, froze on camera and lost his train of thought. That only fueled the critics who say hes lost more than a step. A Democratic Congressman from Texas, Lloyd Doggett, became the first in his party to say the president needs to leave the race. Polling among Democrats suggests the same thing. Joe Biden clearly lost on style. However, fact checkers with the Associated Press found Donald Trump distorted the truth or outright lied repeatedly while Bidens mistakes tended to be exaggerations. The second whammy for Democrats? This weeks Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity. The justices 6-3 decision delivered a clear victory for Donald Trump by determining whoever is president cant be prosecuted for what are considered official acts. Theres no immunity from prosecution for unofficial acts. That sets the stage for legal fights about what constitutes official and unofficial acts. All six conservative justices were in the majority, three of whom Donald Trump appointed. All three liberal justices were in the minority, encapsulated by this conclusion from justice Sonia Sotomayor: With fear for our democracy, I dissent. Its a recess for lawmakers on Capitol Hill, but that isnt stopping recent activity from fueling the turbulence on the political landscape. It could definitely have repercussions on the November election. Illinois Congressman Eric Sorensen joins host Jim Niedelman for a conversation. Im really focused here on the things I need to do in the district, Sorensen said. Ive seen the clips from the Thursday night debate, but I wasnt watching live because its not a decision that is front and center in my mind. To hear more of the conversation, click on the video. Local 4 News, your local election headquarters, is proud to present 4 The Record, a weekly news and public affairs program focused on the issues important to you. Its a program unlike any other here in the Quad Cities. Tune in each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. as Jim Niedelman brings you up to speed on whats happening in the political arena, from Springfield, Des Moines, Washington, D.C. and right here at home. 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 WHBF - OurQuadCities.com. Explosions have been heard in Pavlohrad in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast following the issuing of an air-raid warning triggered by the threat of Russian UAV attacks. Source: Suspilne Dnipro, local branch of Ukraine's public broadcaster Details: Suspilne journalists reported to have heard the explosions after 01:00 on 7 July. Support UP or become our patron! SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah (ABC4) The South Salt Lake Police Department is seeking information from the public about a shooting that happened around 1 a.m. on Saturday morning. According to a press release, multiple shots were fired in South Salt Lake between about 125 East to 300 East on Helm Avenue around 1 a.m. on Saturday. READ NEXT: Man rescued after following Google Maps shortcut into trees on Utah mountain Police said a call came in reporting that gunshots had stuck a car. After arriving at the scene, police were also informed that a nearby residence was hit by a bullet as well. Thankfully no one was struck in either the car nor the residence, South Salt Lake police said in the press release. The preliminary investigation suggests this is an isolated incident, directed toward the parties involved. Based on the evidence, officials said multiple suspects are believed to be involved in the case. If you have information or evidence about the shooting, you are asked to call 801-840-4000 and reference case number LK2024-22147. There is no further information 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. Southern California father shot and killed in front of his children Loved ones are devastated after a young father was shot and killed while walking with his family. On June 22, Anthony Brieno, 28, was walking near the 1100 block of East Wanamaker Drive in Covina at around 9:35 p.m., according to the Covina Police Department. Brieno was with his wife and three children an 11-year-old girl and 9-year-old twin boys. Thats when a male suspect suddenly approached them and began walking in between Brieno and his family, prompting a verbal altercation. As Brieno attempted to shield his family, the suspect pulled out a gun from his waistband and fired two shots, striking Brieno in the chest. Brieno later died from his injuries at the hospital while the suspect remains at large. His family is devastated as they remember the loving father and husband. When he walked into a room, he lit up the room, said Lena Lopez, the victims aunt. He had a huge heart. He absolutely adored his kids, [would do] anything for his kids. Anthony Brieno, 28, is seen with his daughter in a family photo. (Brieno Family) Anthony Brieno, 28, is seen with his children. (Brieno Family) Anthony Brieno, 28, is seen with his daughter in a family photo. (Brieno Family) Anthony Brieno, 28, is seen with his twin sons. (Brieno Family) The victims aunt, Lena Lopez, is devastated. She hosted a car wash fundraiser on July 6, 2024 to raise funds for her nephews funeral. (KTLA) Anthony Brienos son is seen helping out at a car wash fundraiser on July 6, 2024 to raise money for his fathers funeral. (KTLA) Anthony Brienos twin boys are seen helping out at a car wash fundraiser on July 6, 2024 to raise money for their fathers funeral. (KTLA) The street near the 1100 block of East Wanamaker Drive in Covina where Athnoy Brieno was shot and killed on June 22, 2024. (KTLA) Anthony Brieno is seen with his wife and three children in a series of family photos. (Brieno Family) Police sketch of the male suspect wanted for shooting and killing a father in front of his family in Covina on June 22, 2024. (Covina Police Department) Loved ones hosted a car wash fundraiser on July 6, 2024 to raise money for Anthony Brienos funeral. (KTLA) Loved ones hosted a car wash fundraiser on July 6, 2024 to raise money for Anthony Brienos funeral. (KTLA) Lopez and relatives hosted a car wash fundraiser on July 6 to raise money for Brienos funeral expenses. His family is left with many unanswered questions, including why the gunman targeted them. The kids were literally right there when he just pulled the gun out and just shot him, Lopez said. Brieno and his family were walking home that night and were right outside their residence when the deadly confrontation happened. Now that my kids dont have a father, who are they going to look up to? said Brienos wife tearfully. The person who shot my husband took my soldier away. He took my person away. Now, [my children] dont even have a role model to look at. Lopez said everyone is having a hard time processing Brienos death, especially his three young children. They are also autistic, Lopez said of Brienos kids. They saw their dad get murdered, so, they need a lot [of resources]. They need to see a doctor. My nephew came up to me and hugged me and said, Auntie, my daddy got shot and killed. Someone pulled out a gun and shot him. Thats the worst thing for a kid to see and thats all hes been saying. Family and community members are mourning together while working to raise funds for the young fathers funeral. We are pleading for people to give whatever they can, Lopez said. It doesnt matter if its five dollars. Thats five dollars we didnt have five minutes ago. Any money helps to get a casket. Its so expensive for a funeral and [the family] has nothing right now. A GoFundMe to raise money for the Brieno family can be found here. Police have released a sketch of the suspect in hopes someone may recognize him. The gunman is described as a Hispanic man around 20-25 years old. He stands around 5 feet 5 inches tall and has a thin build. Police sketch of the male suspect wanted for shooting and killing a father in front of his family in Covina on June 22, 2024. (Covina Police Department) Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Det. Preciado at 626-384-5622. Anonymous tips can be provided to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org. 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. SpaceXs plan to launch its monstrous Starship-Super Heavy two-stage tandem from NASAs Kennedy Space Center caught the attention and concern of two rival space companies that warn federal officials the up-to-492-foot-tall rocket will be too untested, too dangerous and too potentially disruptive for the nations busiest spaceport and the surrounding environment. United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin which both have significant footprints on the Space Coast and view SpaceX as direct competition have submitted written concerns to the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA is preparing an environmental impact statement to evaluate potential impacts of Starships launching up to 44 times a year from pad 39A at KSC. SpaceX is also eyeing a potential second Starship launch pad on adjacent Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. As the largest rocket in existence, an accident would inflict serious or even catastrophic damage, while normal launch operations would have a cumulative impact on structures, launch vehicle hardware, and other critical launch support equipment, ULA officials wrote in a 22-page letter to the FAA. ULA cited the April 2023 Starship explosion at SpaceXs private launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, that sent debris flying across a six-mile radius. At the Cape, ULA officials noted that their launch pad is only three miles away from pad 39A, and other companies are located nearby. If a similar accident occurs again, that debris would reach ULAs operations and could hurt people or damage property. And with the increased liftoff thrust planned for Starship, the debris from a similar launch failure could reach larger, populated areas surrounding KSC, the ULA letter said. Blue Origin employs more than 2,700 full-time workers in Brevard County and has invested more than $1 billion developing the worlds first privately built heavy-lift launch complex for future New Glenn rocket liftoffs. Cape Canaveral: Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA, ULA rocket launch schedule in Florida In a three-page letter to the FAA, Blue Origin officials proposed to cap the rate of Starship-Super Heavy launches and landings to a number that has a minimal impact on the local environment, locally operating personnel, and the local community. And ULA urged the government to consider an alternative to allowing SpaceX to bring Starship to KSC: Keep the giant rocket in Boca Chica, where it is now. SpaceX media officials did not return messages seeking comment for this story. Space companies compete for contracts A Blue Origin New Glenn test rocket was upended on the pad for the first time in February at Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. In the days following those FAA comments from his competitors, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk took to X to state just two words: "Sue Origin." Some media reports have characterized these Starship environmental-study comments as a battle between billionaires, notably Musk and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos. However, Don Platt, director of the Florida Institute of Technology's Spaceport Education Center in Titusville, said, if a large company has the ability to complain about one of their competitors in an open public forum, then they're probably going to do so. You have to consider the source. They're not going to want to just sort of hand the keys to the space industry over to SpaceX. And right now, it appears that that's really what's happening, Platt said. And that's not really because of anything that the government is being unfair about, or anything like that. It's just that SpaceX is just, theyre operating. They're doing their thing. They're being successful. And Blue Origin and ULA are both having trouble keeping up with that, he said. Possible Starship missions aside, SpaceX rockets have accounted for 46 out of the Space Coast's 49 orbital launches thus far this year. ULA has notched the other three launches, while Blue Origin officials hope to start launching New Glenn rockets by year's end. All three space companies are competitors for NASA contracts. Tension between SpaceX and Blue Origin unfolded after NASA selected Starship to land humans on the moon with the Artemis program. Blue Origin filed a lawsuit against NASA, further stating that Starship is "immensely complex and high-risk." In 2023, NASA was in position to add a second human landing system for Artemis. NASA selected Blue Origin's Blue Moon to land astronauts on the moon alongside Starship during future missions. Blue Origin, ULA warn of Starship hazards An aerial photo of a fully stacked Starship 28 and Super Heavy was posted to X (formerly Twitter) on March 4, 2024. The post announced that Starship successfully completed a launch rehearsal. The FAA is preparing the Starship environment impact statement as part of its licensing process to authorize future launches from KSC. Separately, the U.S. Air Force is conducting an environmental study on SpaceXs goal of bringing Starship-Super Heavy liftoffs to Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station by 2026. In its letters to the FAA, Blue Origin and ULA warned of an array of Starship-related dangers. Among the companies concerns: Starship-Super Heavy operations are expected to have a greater environmental impact than any launch system operating on the Space Coast, Blue Origin said, noting that the two-stage rocket can hold up to an unprecedented 5,200 metric tons of liquid methane for propulsion. Landing boosters at pad 39A, rather than using drone ships in the Atlantic Ocean, shifts the risks of a system failure onto the communities, businesses, and environment that surround KSC, ULA said. Blue Origin expressed concerns for the safety of its employees and assets in the event of an anomaly, citing worries about debris dispersion, blast overpressure, sonic booms, explosion, fire, noise, air toxins and hazardous materials. Disruption to other launch providers. SpaceX seeks to frequently launch the largest rocket ever from two launch sites within a six-mile area. Just one Starship launch site is likely to disrupt other launch operations in the area and cause significant environmental impacts, ULA said. Locals also raise Starship environmental concerns FAA officials accepted Starship public comments through June 24, and they heard from Brevard groups as well. The federal agency hosted mid-June public open houses at Raddison Resort at the Port in Cape Canaveral and the KSC Visitor Complex. The project website is located at faa.gov/space/stakeholder_engagement/spacex_starship_ksc In a letter to the FAA, Merritt Island Wildlife Association President Charlie Venuto commended the repurposing of pad 39A for Starship especially compared with the option of building a new launch complex on undeveloped KSC property. However, the Titusville-based MIWA contends the FAA environmental study should address an array of Starship environmental ramifications, such as: Quality of the stormwater management system to protect the ecologically imperiled Indian River Lagoon. Impacts of artificial lighting on nesting sea turtles, migratory and nesting birds, and nocturnal wildlife. Cumulative effects on air quality, stratospheric ozone layer damages, habitat destruction, ability to practice conservation management techniques such as controlled burns, and carbon emissions, factoring in Blue Origins upcoming New Glenn rockets. In a 10-page letter, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge officials noted that the KSC and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station environmental studies seem to be connected actions that are being considered separately, making the two analyses of impacts, including cumulative impacts, less efficient and less comprehensive and requiring substantial cross integration between the two. The Southeastern Fisheries Association commented that it supports national defense and space exploration efforts. That said, the group wants the FAA study to encompass Starships physical, social, and economic impacts on all stakeholders, including fishing families, local communities, businesses, restaurants, lodging facilities and Floridas tourism industry. UCF space expert: Multiple robust space companies are key Phil Metzger is director of the Stephen W. Hawking Center for Microgravity Research & Education at the University of Central Florida. In an email, he said he thinks the ULA statement about Starship is fair, because it asks the FAA to do its job while noting potential impacts on the environment, neighboring communities, and launch operations of other companies at the Cape. They noted that it is in the national interest to have multiple healthy launch companies for assured access to space so the operations of one company should not shut down its competitors. I think this is all legitimate and should be emphasized, Metzger said. However, he said he thinks Blue Origin made a serious mistake by suggesting a cap on the Starship launch rate. This would be the least creative and least helpful solution for potential problems at the Cape, Metzger said. Space is becoming far more important to the world, to national security, and to economic prosperity, and the US needs to scale up the launch rate from all providers not create caps that will in the end hurt every company and the nation as a whole, he said. For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space. Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars. Space is important to us and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here. This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX Starship launches in Florida too disruptive, Blue Origin, ULA warn We won't have to wait much longer to see the most powerful rocket ever built take to the skies again, if all goes according to plan. That rocket, SpaceX's 400-foot-tall (122 meters) Starship, has flown four test flights to date. And number five should be just around the corner, according to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk. "Flight 5 in 4 weeks," Musk said Friday (July 5) via X, the social media platform he owns. Starship consists of two elements: a first-stage booster known as Super Heavy and a 165-foot-tall upper-stage spacecraft called Starship, or simply Ship. Both are designed to be reusable. Starship's four test flights occurred in April and November of 2023 and March 14 and June 6 of this year. All have launched from Starbase, SpaceX's site in South Texas, near the city of Brownsville. The vehicle has performed better on each successive flight. The most recent launch, for example, went entirely according to plan; Super Heavy and Ship separated on time and came back to Earth as planned, splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico and the Indian Ocean, respectively. That success helps explain the relatively rapid turnaround for Flight 5. Because Starship performed as expected on June 6, SpaceX has fewer issues to analyze ahead of the next launch. And the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration didn't require a mishap investigation, so technical readiness, rather than regulatory approval, is the main timeline driver for Flight 5. RELATED STORIES Watch SpaceX catch Starship Super Heavy booster with 'chopsticks' in this animation Starship and Super Heavy: SpaceX's Mars transportation system SpaceX fires up Starship rocket for upcoming 5th test flight (photos, video) Flight 5 will feature an exciting new twist, if all goes according to plan: SpaceX has said it aims to bring the giant booster back for a pinpoint landing on Starbase's launch mount, an effort that will be aided by the "chopstick" arms of the facility's launch tower. This bold strategy will increase Starship's flight cadence, allowing the booster to be inspected, refurbished and relaunched more rapidly, Musk has said. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) The SS Badger canceled its Sunday trips after experiencing mechanical issues. A post on the ferrys Facebook page said that after it departed Manitowoc en route to Ludington on Saturday, the boat experienced a mechanical issue. The boat arrived at Ludington around 8:20 p.m. and did not return to Manitowoc Saturday evening. Lake Michigan Carferry personnel are working with passengers impacted by the cancellation, the post said. On Sunday morning, a post on the ferrys Facebook page said that crews were working on the vessel and that Sundays voyage was canceled. Anyone with questions is asked to call 800.841.4243 or email info@ssbadger.com. 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 WOODTV.com. St. Johns County has reportedly completed the $38.6 million Ponte Vedra Beach Restoration Project two months ahead of schedule, with approximately $30.6 million of the costs covered by state legislative funding and grants. Originally anticipated to be completed by mid-August, the project was expedited by Weeks Marine, the Countys contractor, who utilized two dredges for a limited time. This effort enabled the project to be finished by the end of June. The St. Johns County Office of Public Affairs produced a video to capture the projects success. The County secured over $30 million from the State of Florida to fund the project, which is estimated to cost approximately $40 million. In the event of a declared disaster, the project could be eligible for post-disaster funding assistance from FEMA and the Florida Division of Emergency Management. The Ponte Vedra Beach Restoration Project has restored storm-damaged dunes and berms, providing storm protection to upland infrastructure with more than two million cubic yards of sand dredged from the ocean. It has also created additional environmental habitats for wildlife, enhanced the recreational value of the beach, and provided substantial coastline fortifications. This includes dune reconstruction between 13 and 18 feet, beach berm elevation of eight feet, and an increase in beach width from 40 to 180 feet post-construction. The project area covers about nine miles of coastline, stretching from the St. Johns-Duval County line to the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve. Were really excited that this project went the way that it did, Coastal Environment Project Manager Sloane Stephens said. Its been on such an expedited schedule, and our contractor, Weeks Marine, has done a spectacular job with trying to get things done as fast as possible, and were really excited that this project will be complete before the end of peak hurricane season in Ponte Vedra. In conjunction with the restoration project, St. Johns County has maintained essential environmental and physical monitoring of the coastline. Sea turtle nesting season began on May 1 and runs through October 31. In 2023, St. Johns County beaches recorded a historic 133 green sea turtle nests as part of a total of 1,205 nests and an estimated 79,811 sea turtle hatchlings. These conservation successes occurred amid multiple full-scale beach nourishment projects, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers St. Augustine Shore Protection Project, the South Ponte Vedra and Vilano Army Corps Coastal Storm Risk Management Project, the South Ponte Vedra Dune Project, and the FEMA Dune Enhancement Project, which has been renourishing St. Johns County beaches following erosion from Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole. For more information on St. Johns County Coastal Projects, visit www.sjcfl.us/departments/coastal-projects. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WLFA) A fire left a single-family home significantly damaged, according to St. Petersburg Fire Rescue. Fire rescue said firefighters responded to the scene around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday to find the home engulfed in flames. Hillsborough deputy struck by BMW released from hospital A spokesperson for fire rescue called the home, located on 40th Ave. South, a complete loss. Thankfully, the occupants of the home made it out before the fire spread. Firefighters extinguished the flames after it made its way into the homes attic. A fire investigator is working to determine the cause of the fire, fire rescue confirmed. 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. Most people wont know the name Mariana Mazzucato. Yet the economist is about to have a significant impact on their lives. The University College London (UCL) academics signature idea mission-driven government is about to be put into practise by Sir Keir Starmer following Labours landslide election victory. The new Prime Minister has set out five missions across energy, health, crime, education and the economy. Achieving goals across each category will be at the heart of his new government. Starmer was inspired by Mazzucato, a Left-leaning academic who has spent the past decade championing this mission driven approach through lectures, numerous papers and four books with a fifth one in the works. She believes governments must tap into the spirit of the Apollo programme where US space agency Nasa marshalled the private sector to put a man on the Moon to tackle the biggest issues of the day. That means a more muscular state that is willing to intervene in a host of industries, an approach that remains controversial among many of Mazzucatos peers. Mission-driven ethos Nevertheless Labour has adopted her mission-driven ethos with gusto. Starmer met with Mazzucato as far back as February 2021, at UCLs Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, which she founded. He came in and said, I love your ideas and I want to talk to you, Mazzucato recalls. And so I sat with him for two hours and we talked about all these things, just the two of us. Two years later, Starmer called a major press conference in Manchester and announced his plan to transform the way Britain does its business, from top to bottom using Mazzucatos mission-driven government concept. Well modernise central government, so it becomes dynamic, agile, strong and, above all, focused, he told a gathered audience. The most notable expressions of this new approach so far are Labours proposals to set up Great British Energy and a National Wealth Fund. How does it feel to have your ideas championed by the Prime Minister? Mazzucato, who speaks in rapid-fire, effervescent bursts, is yet to be satisfied. She believes that Starmer has not fully grasped how to put her ideas into practice, even if he has been an enthusiastic adopter of her language. Theyre using the concept of missions. But ... thats not what I mean. The NHS is not a mission. Growth is not a mission, right? Im happy theyve taken this approach and I think these can become concrete missions that change how government works. But if they dont if its just old wine in new bottles and this ends up being, at best, more money to the NHS, more police on the street, some patchy policies here and there that dont really transform the economy, then its not going to work. According to Mazzucato, the state should set clear, ambitious goals but stay agnostic on how to get there. This involves placing bets on multiple technologies that might work as Nasa did learning from mistakes quickly and, crucially, sharing rewards (not just risk) with the businesses that receive support. With Apollo, beating the Russians was the challenge, she says. But they would not have done anything if they just said beat the Russians. Getting to the Moon and back in a short amount of time was the mission. Through four books The Entrepreneurial State (2011), The Value of Everything (2018), Mission Economy (2021) and The Big Con (2023) Mazzucato has argued that economists undervalue the states role in creating wealth. She is critical of how government work is increasingly outsourced to private consultants, something she argues is infantilising civil servants. Whether youre going to the moon or developing a vaccine ... its impossible, unless we have a new theory of what the state is for and how to work together with others. Mazzucato is calling for what many economists regard as a radical enlargement of the states role in the economy. Prioritising growth However, she is also passionate about the role capitalism plays in spreading prosperity and has rubbished claims by environmental campaigners that degrowth is the answer to climate change. I do believe [we have] to be radical, but not radical in the sense that we give up on growth because then were screwed. Growth has not been helped by the recent corporate vogue for share buybacks and hoarding cash, she believes. A study Mazzucato co-authored found that from 2003 to 2013, blue-chip American companies spent more than half of their profits on buying their own shares money she argues would be more productively spent on new equipment, training or research. She also highlights data showing the UK has significantly lagged western peers such as the US, France and Germany in business investment since the mid-1980s. I always come back to this, Mazzucato says. We have a low-investment economy in the UK, which is the biggest problem no one talks about. Everyone obsesses over austerity, and public this, public that but the private sector doesnt do its job here. Leaving important investment decisions to businesses alone is therefore a mistake, she believes. Mazzucato told Starmer as much during their 2021 meeting. What I especially said was, Stop talking about just being business-friendly. Because thats not the point. Nasa didnt say they were business-friendly. They said, Weve got a s---load of problems that weve got to solve with business and were going to help you if youre willing to work with us. It was about picking the willing, not picking the winners. A mission-based approach would give support to businesses but with conditions that ensure the Governments goals are met, such as requirements to use more green energy or a ban on share buybacks. Advice to world leaders This was also what she told the Biden administration when the White House consulted her on the design of a $40bn (30bn) grant programme for the Chips and Science Act, passed in 2022. Italian-born Mazzucato grew up in the United States but has lived in London since the late 1990s. She has advised parties of all stripes over the years, including the David Cameron and Theresa May administrations. Others that have sought her help include foreign governments in the US, Brazil and South Africa. Her ideas were cited by Marco Rubio, a Republican senator and once-presidential hopeful. Mazzucato has her critics, who have accused her of cherry-picking examples of government successes. One fellow economist at the Cato Institute, a free market think tank in Washington, argued her theories were more romance than reality, while two others denounced her as the worlds greatest exponent of state profligacy. Her call for greater state investment comes at a time when global arbiters ranging the IMF to the OECD are urging governments to rein in spending and pay down spiralling debt piles. Mazzucato insists she is not saying deficits dont matter. How should Rachel Reeves best deploy Britains depleted coffers then? Mazzucato believes the new Chancellor should focus on investments that will generate growth, effectively paying for themselves. As an example, she points to Denmarks public investment in green energy industries, which helped to create other spin-off businesses in digital and professional services that the country now sells to China. Still, isnt this logic of investment that pays for itself very close to what Liz Truss said about her tax cuts? The reason Truss was totally wrong and irresponsible is that she grew the deficit without expanding the economy, by simply lowering tax, Mazzucato says. If its simply helicopter money, it does not work. And [Reeves] should indeed be worried about that. Mazzucatos ideas seem to have captured the zeitgeist, at a time when Western governments are leaning towards more interventionist policies. She is more in demand than ever, jetting around the world to advise organisations including the World Economic Forum, the European Commission, the World Health Organisation and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. As a result of a crowded diary, she is forced to reschedule our interview twice and eventually speaks by phone from the lounge at Heathrow Airport, where she is waiting to fly to a writers retreat beside Lake Como in northern Italy. There, shell be put up at the luxurious Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni by the Rockefeller Foundation through a programme that supports artists and scientists. She will spend her time finishing her fifth book. Im off to a castle, basically, she says. And the crazy thing is, they have waiters who wait on you like Downton Abbey. When Mazzucato returns, her mission ideas will be guiding Britain. 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. Keir Starmer campaigned as changed Labour, and now he will govern as New Labour. Its not difficult to imagine the consternation felt by Starmers critics on the Left at the news that some of the big beasts from the eras of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown are making a comeback. Most significant is the return of Alan Milburn, Blairs health secretary, who will advise his successor, Wes Streeting, on reform of the NHS. Milburn was the newest of New Labour, pushing through reforms that were anathema to the partys Left wing, like patient choice and an increased role for the private sector. His return to a position of influence will merely confirm critics worst fears that the Starmer era is no more than Blair 2.0. Confirming their fears, Jacqui Smith, Blairs chief whip and Browns home secretary, is to return as an education minister via an appointment to the Lords, while Douglas Alexander, who served in cabinet under both Blair and Brown, becomes a business minister, having returned to the Commons on Friday after a nine year absence. That Starmer feels confident and emboldened enough to appoint those he wants in key roles, and not listen to the siren voices who would steer him in a different direction, is in many ways encouraging. Of course, having won a majority of 170 a few days ago, there are few who would deny him the right to appoint whoever he pleases. Milburn in particular is a bold choice and good one; there are few in the partys parliamentary ranks who can bring such a sharp and pragmatic analysis to the many problems besetting the NHS, and none who will have the courage to prescribe the necessary medicine without fear of being labelled a sell-out. On the other hand, what does it say about the lack of real-life experience of this new, gigantic cohort of Labour MPs that, despite winning 411 seats, our new prime minister has made these appointments? Even before the election, there were whispers that, since there was more ministerial experience in the middle ranks of the front bench and indeed on the Opposition back benches than there was in the shadow cabinet itself, Starmer would have to draft in dozens of former ministers. This in itself would have been unremarkable; the longer any party spends in opposition, the fewer ex-ministers populate its front bench. But the contrast with 1997 is an instructive one. After 18 years in opposition, Tony Blairs first cabinet was bursting with the big beasts who now populate Labour mythology. Its important to remember that for Gordon Brown, Frank Dobson, Donald Dewar, Robin Cook, George Robertson, Jack Straw and Blair himself, this was their very first taste of ministerial office. And Blair also reached out to beyond parliament to seek help in governing, recruiting his former boss Derry Irvine as Lord Chancellor. But Starmers appointments feel more of a statement of intent, as well as perhaps an acknowledgement that much of the key experience and skills he feels he needs are simply not available in the Commons. It will be in time. As the weeks and months pass, new ministers will be either exposed for their shortcomings or revealed as arch Whitehall manoeuvrers. Reshuffles will come and go and slowly Starmer will find he has crafted the cabinet and the ministerial ranks he would ideally have started off with. But time isnt necessarily on his side. The gloomy economic environment coupled with national expectations of delivery by this new administration place burdens on Starmer that did not apply to Blair. And coupled with an acute awareness that that enormous Commons majority disguises a historically low level of popular support, is the fact that there are always elections coming down the line. By appointing Milburn, and, to a lesser extent, Smith and Alexander, Starmer is continuing the strategy he pursued in the more recent, more successful phase of his leadership, when he made it clear that he was uninterested in the criticisms he would receive from his partys Left, and that his own policy intentions would not be derailed by those seeking a purer form of governing ideology. Those critics will have to learn to take Starmer at his word. When he declared, on the steps of Downing Street, that his government would be unburdened by doctrine, a cold shiver of dread may have settled in the stomachs of many on the Left. But also the Right. By choosing to apply solutions and to recruit individuals that are categorised according to their effectiveness rather than their ideological purity, Starmer could be making his government a harder target for the Conservatives to attack, while making it clear he will not buckle to criticism from the Left. 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. Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen is set to follow through this month on his long-promised plan to recall lawmakers to Lincoln for a special legislative session focused on his administration's top priority: property tax reform. The looming special session, expected to begin July 25, comes months after the governor's scaled-back plan to reduce Nebraskans' property taxes failed to clear the final hurdle in the Legislature in April, sinking the legislation the first-term governor had championed and dealing Pillen the biggest loss of his political career. The governor had pledged as early as February to "have a session every day until Christmas" if that's what it took for lawmakers to solve the state's property tax "crisis." Still, his decision to follow through on that pledge marks a political gamble for Pillen, a Republican whose agenda will be at the whim of the same group of lawmakers who ultimately rejected his tax plan broadly blasted as a "tax shift" in April, some of whom are now set to face general election voters in November. "I would say, potentially, this special session has a high risk and, potentially, a high reward," former Gov. Dave Heineman, who left office in 2015, told the Journal Star. "Right now, I don't think anybody knows for sure exactly how it's gonna turn out because we don't know the details of the governor's plan yet. But there's no question that it's gonna have political consequences. Probably the most immediate will be for those state senators who are up for election this year." The session, too, will come after Pillen crisscrossed the state in May and June for a weekslong series of around 20 town hall meetings focused on the need for property tax reform, during which the governor has cursed in his remarks to attendees in Fremont and criticized a lawmaker by name in Nebraska City while urging Nebraskans to call their senators "multiple times" to rally support for his still-evolving tax proposal. The governor's tactics which some lawmakers have openly suggested lack "courage" or are "like a child that is not getting his way" don't seem to have endeared him to the senators whom his agenda is dependent on. "The consensus is that most people, including myself, are bewildered by the governor's actions," said Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, a Democrat who said she had spoken with numerous colleagues and observers from across the political spectrum. "It is a very strange political strategy to barnstorm the state for a couple months trumpeting his political failures and trying to bully citizens and legislators into signing on to one of the most significant tax increases and tax shifts in history," she said. "I think that is very odd." Such criticisms of Pillen are not exclusively partisan, suggesting his town hall series has only heightened the uncertain outcome that will accompany the special session, which is set to start in fewer than three weeks while at least some lawmakers haven't heard from Pillen's camp in months. "Since (the spring), he hasn't really put much pressure on me, other than he did come to Grand Island for one of his town halls," said Sen. Ray Aguilar, a Republican who is in his second stint representing District 35 in the Legislature, and whose vote Pillen would likely need for his plan to overcome a filibuster. "One of the things that he asked the people that attended to do was to call their senator and ask them to vote for his proposal," he said. "And I'm gonna be honest with you: I got zero phone calls. So, pretty much, the position of my constituents is: 'Stay away from that.'" Pillen was not available for an interview for this story, according to a spokeswoman, who pointed to the governor's June 25 letter to Speaker of the Legislature John Arch in which Pillen wrote that the state is "hurtling toward a status quo in which total property taxes will grow by more than a million dollars per day." "Yet, Nebraskans received no new property tax reform in the 2024 regular session, despite the best efforts of a committed majority of senators working in partnership with my office, backed by a coalition of hundreds of thousands of hardworking people hoping for relief," Pillen wrote. "This special session will provide those elected leaders another opportunity to convene and finish the business of delivering transformative property tax reform to their constituents," Pillen's spokeswoman, Laura Strimple, said in an email. The Legislature's Accounting Office estimates a special session will cost the state upward of $16,000 per day. A fleeting plan As lawmakers prepared to convene in Lincoln for this year's regular legislative session in January, the first-term governor, who entered the session with political momentum and a statehouse full of reliable allies, made headlines with a plan he dubbed "bold" and "courageous," pledging to reduce the state's collective property tax bill by 40%. Soon, his plan was on shaky ground. Pillen in early January floated an across-the-board 2 cent sales tax increase, prompting immediate skepticism from some lawmakers and drawing fire from groups with different political ideologies, including the Lincoln-based fiscal policy think tank OpenSky and the conservative-run advocacy organization Americans For Prosperity. Lawmakers amended the bill that carried Pillen's plan repeatedly, ultimately axing the across-the-board sales tax hike altogether while proposing new or increased taxes on consumable hemp products, cigarettes, soda and candy, veterinary care and other services for pets, dry cleaning and lottery tickets, among other things. But even the final version of the bill (LB388) which included a 7.5% excise tax on ads that run on some state broadcasting outlets and social media websites faced a last-minute advertising blitz on state radio and TV stations and in newspapers across Nebraska, warning that the tax would destroy many small businesses." By the time lawmakers gave the bill third-round consideration April 18, the bill, combined with tax relief measures passed last year, would have reduced property taxes by an estimated 22%, Pillen's staff had said but would have offered no net savings to property owners who were already taking advantage of income tax credits offered to property taxpayers through a program that would have been eliminated by LB388. The Legislature adjourned for the year April 18 without taking a final vote on LB388, sinking the governor's plan. In a speech to lawmakers hours later, Pillen repeatedly derided the Legislature's failure to act and promised to recall them for a special session on property taxes. In the months since, Pillen's plan has evolved. He most recently outlined a plan to do away with school property taxes in Nebraska by having the state take over paying for K-12 education, a move that he said would eliminate about 60% of the average property owners tax bill. But the governor is still looking to the sales tax to replace the property tax revenue that primarily funds state public schools now a proposal that remains a nonstarter for lawmakers of all political stripes in Nebraska's formally nonpartisan Legislature. "Most of the other party is totally against it, and some of our party is against it," said Aguilar, who finished second in May's primary race to keep his seat in the Legislature and is set to face off with former Democratic Sen. Dan Quick in a November rematch. "It's kind of a tough one. And anybody in the position that I'm in, where I'm up for an election," he said. "If I were to vote in favor of raising the sales tax on everybody, that's a pretty good way to not get reelected." Some lawmakers with less to lose have been equally skeptical and more critical of Pillen's proposal, which had not been formally shared with the entire Legislature as of July 3. "If you are so convinced your 'plan' is the magic bullet for taxes in Nebraska, release the plan in writing to the state senators so we can check your math," conservative Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar, who has opted not to seek reelection this year, said in a social media post Tuesday. Slama, too, has criticized the governor on social media for releasing bits of his tax plan through "the 10 p.m. news" a sentiment Conrad echoed as she slammed Pillen for having "learned nothing" since April. "At the heart of the governor's plan, from what we can glean through news stories because it hasn't been presented to the Legislature ... is that the governor's proposing to essentially rewrite the tax code and the school funding code with really no plan and no coalition in a few weeks," Conrad said, "which is unserious at best and dangerous at worst." 'Serious governance' Pillen's decision to use his office's power to recall lawmakers for a special session focused on his administration's own agenda is out-of-step with how the state's recent governors have approached special sessions and only amplifies the political risk, observers said. When the Legislature reconvenes this month assuming Pillen does formally issue a "call" to lawmakers, which hasn't yet happened it will mark the fifth special legislative session in Nebraska in the last 20 years and the eighth since the turn of the century. Every other special session called in Nebraska since 2000, though, has been in response to budding crises, looming deadlines or dire financial straits requiring immediate budget cuts. "Special sessions are not there to facilitate performative politics, where the governor sets an unrealistic plan, calls the Legislature in for a special session, sticks the taxpayers with the bill and then, if his unpopular plan is unsuccessful, he what?" Conrad said. "Shakes his fist at the Legislature and points his fingers? I mean, that's not serious governance." Nebraska lawmakers last convened for a special session in 2021 to take up redistricting following the pandemic-delayed 2020 census that made it impossible for the Legislature to redraw the state's electoral maps before then. It was the only time a special session occurred under former Gov. Pete Ricketts, who served from 2015 until 2023. There were two special sessions in 2002: one to bring Nebraska's death penalty statutes into compliance with a U.S. Supreme Court decision that came down after lawmakers convened for the year, and another to address continued budget woes. Those sessions followed an initial budget-cutting special session in November 2001, when lawmakers reduced the state's budget by 5% amid the first special session this century. "You want a narrow focus so that the Legislature comes for one purpose a single purpose and resolves that issue," Heineman said. "Secondly, it's important to work with the legislative leadership ... so that you have a pretty good idea going in that you're gonna be successful. "I mean, if you're gonna call a special session, you want to make sure that you achieve your objective and your goal relative to that legislation." Ricketts followed the same logic in 2022 when he declined to call a special session aimed at further restricting abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. He pointed to the lack of support for a 12-week abortion ban among lawmakers, only 30 of whom had signaled support for such a ban short of the 33 required to overcome a filibuster. Pillen himself has invoked the same rationale at times. In his June 25 letter to the Legislature's speaker, Pillen said he "will not hesitate to call a special session" to replace Nebraska's unique presidential electoral system with a Donald Trump-backed winner-take-all model if "support exists within the Legislature to justify" a session focused on the change. But when it comes to property taxes, such support does not seem to be a prerequisite for the governor to recall lawmakers to Lincoln. "When we left (the regular) session, I honestly didn't believe we were gonna have a special session, just because of the circumstances unless he was able to change some people's minds," Aguilar said. "I haven't heard that that's happened. "I'm afraid we might go to Lincoln and just waste some time and money, and that'd be very disappointing." Top Journal Star photos for July 2024 AUSTIN (Nexstar) More than a week after the first presidential debate of the 2024 election season raised concerns about President Joe Bidens ability to serve, many Democrats are still reconsidering their support for the Presidents re-election bid. Two House Democrats from Texas issued differing public statements on their support for Biden after his performance in the debate. Congressman Lloyd Doggett of Austin called on Biden to remove his name from the ballot on Tuesday making him the first Democrat in the U.S. House to publicly withdraw support. Im really very, very concerned that our country is about to be taken over by a criminal and its gang, Doggett said Tuesday in an interview for the State of Texas politics program. The danger is great to our democracy and I dont believe that President Biden is our strongest candidate to put up to put a stop to this, Doggett added. Doggett told KXAN that he regrets not voicing his concerns sooner about Bidens cognitive ability. We thought the debate would give us the momentum to begin a comeback to try to overcome the bad poll numbers that have been out there, Doggett said, noting that he watched the debate with his wife, Libby. Instead, we were alarmed at what wasnt said as well as what was mumbled through the debate. But many Democrats are rallying behind the president. Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett proclaimed her full support for Biden after the debate. Do I think that it was his best performance? Absolutely not, Crockett told reporters on Wednesday. Do I think that the substance was there? I absolutely do. Crockett criticized those in the party that are bailing on him for his performance in the debate, drawing a comparison between Biden and former president Trump. In addition to the fact that he wasnt sitting inside of a courtroom being prosecuted for 34 felonies, instead he was out on the road, Crockett said. And so as he began to speak, you could hear that he was hoarse. So were talking about somebody who has been working not only behind the scenes, but he has been working in the streets. Texas Republicans are speaking up about Bidens debate performance as well. Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said in an interview with Newsmax that Biden appeared tired during the 9:00 pm debate because it was past his bedtime. He told the reporter that Biden will lose big time if he stays on the ballot. In a post on X, Senator Ted Cruz said Democrats are withdrawing support for Biden after the debate which he describes as a disaster. Biden vowed on Wednesday to stay in the race, disregarding pressure from Democrats who question his ability to win. Biden and Trump agreed to have another debate planned for Sept. 10 which ABC News will host. The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for August 19 22 in Chicago. Doggett urged Biden to step aside before then, and allow delegates at the convention to choose another candidate. Doggett said he does not have a preferred presidential candidate at this point and he is not acting on behalf of any particular candidate. Weve got a number of good potential candidates, governors, senators, perhaps the vice president, who all can compete openly and fairly and then get about the business of uniting behind them to provide a reasonable alternative to President Trump, Doggett said. Resolution filed as hospital crash surveillance surfaces Newly viewed surveillance video taken from inside the lobby of St. Davids North Austin Medical Center shows the hard-to-watch moment when the Bernard family was run over by a drunk driver, who was killed by the impact. The video comes as Austin City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly filed a resolution, published late Friday, that aims to prevent vehicle crashes at medical facilities by requiring crash-rated safety bollards at all new hospital entrances built in the future. The footage shows Levi and Nadia Bernard standing in front of the large lobby aquarium on Feb. 13 as their two toddlers kneel on its ledge, their faces pressing tight against the glass. In an instant, a vehicle speeds into frame, swallowing the family as the fish tank explodes sending glass, water and wood debris flying everywhere. After a car crashed into St. Davids North Austin Medical Center, it added security barriers, called bollards, near the ER entrance (Photos from: Howry, Breen & Herman; Diane Warmoth) The vehicle comes to a stop next to the ERs information and registration desks. The tail lights are flashing. The video shows Nadia, whose leg is broken, lying on the ground to the right of the car holding their oldest son, Rio, who is crying. Levi gets up and climbs on top of and over the car in a frantic search for their now-2-year-old, Sunny, who went through the cars windshield. The overhead surveillance video doesnt have audio but captures the chaotic moments before and after the crash as hospital workers rush to try to help as smoke fills the lobby. It was shown to KXAN by a source who said it was obtained from Austin police. KXAN has opted, at this time, not to publish or air the video, since St. Davids owns the footage and has not yet given us legal permission to show it. KXAN has separately requested the video from APD and is awaiting a final determination on its release. We asked St. Davids for comment on the video but, as of publication, it has not responded yet. Bystander video previously given to KXAN showed the immediate aftermath from inside but this is our first look at how it happened, how the family took a direct hit, and how fast the driver, whose blood alcohol content was between three and four times the legal limit to drive, appeared to be going. The incident is detailed in the familys million-dollar lawsuit against St. Davids HealthCare accusing one of the largest health systems in Texas of gross negligence for not having bollards at the time. A dozen of those security barriers were installed after the crash, including five installed after KXANs investigation. The video will show exactly what happens when hospitals delay installing protective safety bollards families get run over in devastating fashion, said the Bernard familys attorney, Sean Breen. If St. Davids had installed safety bollards there like it should have and did in other facilities, the car would have never crashed into the ER and the Bernard family never gets run over. EXPLORE: KXANs Preventing Disaster investigation This week, another victim was added to that lawsuit, alleging the crash also caused him severe injuries. At least five people, including all four members of the Bernard family, were injured. The safety of our patients and their families, as well as our employees and visitors, is always our top priority, St. Davids HealthCare previously said in a statement, adding, per policy, we do not comment on pending claims or litigation. In addition to requiring bollards at new hospitals in Austin, Kellys draft resolution tasks the city manager with finding ways to incentivize existing hospitals to voluntarily install bollards or in some cases if a hospital applies for a permit to build or expand, for example trigger a requirement. Hospitals, not taxpayers, would pay for the bollards. WATCH: Texas-tested security barriers could prevent ER crash disaster The team at KXAN did such a good job of explaining the problem and providing potential solutions that it would have been stupid for me not to have looked into this as a solution for the city of Austin, said Kelly. I mean, Ive always been dedicated to public safety. KXANs investigation is credited in a draft copy of the resolution (Courtesy Mackenzie Kelly) The resolution would initiate an amendment to the city code and specifically mentions how a KXAN investigation found that similar incidents have happened more than 300 times across the country in the last decade. Our ongoing investigation continues to track crashes into medical centers and found, to this point, more than 340. In May, Kelly directed her staff to take action on this issue in the middle of watching our investigation. After we spoke, I moved forward by taking action to prevent accidents like these from occurring in the future, Kelly said. I wanted to make sure every resident in the city of Austin is safe when they are visiting a hospital or emergency room. Three other council members have co-sponsored her resolution, including Vanessa Fuentes, who previously told KXAN she wanted to prevent what happened to the Bernard family from happening to anyone else. Council Members Ryan Alter and Jose Chito Vela have also signed on, according to the agenda. Council Member Mackenzie Kelly spoke with KXAN investigative reporter Matt Grant about her resolution (KXAN Photo/Chris Nelson) The potential policy change will need at least one more vote to pass, Kelly said. Both Levi and Nadia, who is still in a wheelchair, are expected to testify to council members in favor of the resolution, their attorney confirmed. Nadia cried when she heard that news that lawmakers are taking this seriously, amazing how quickly your story is getting attention, Levi told KXAN in May after Kelly and Fuentes promised to look into a bollard requirement. I am very sorry that that tragedy happened to them, Kelly told KXAN before the resolution was made public. But, its my goal to prevent it from happening to anybody else in the future. And it warms my heart that theyre touched that were doing this. Unfortunately, sometimes in life it takes a sort of tragedy to enact change. But my hope is that this never happens again. Read Austin City Council Member Mackenzie Kellys draft resolutionDownload Kelly hopes her resolution will serve as a model for other cities around the country. Last month, a College Station city council member said he too was looking into a bollard ordinance in response to KXANs investigation. To see the problem, and then the solution from you all, and just to know and understand from across the country that this is a much larger problem than just the city of Austin, Kelly said. I wanted the city of Austin to lead on it. Asked if shes optimistic the measure will pass, Kelly responded, confidently: Oh absolutely. Yes. If that happens, the city manager would have until Oct. 31 to bring forward proposed changes. The council is expected to vote on the resolution at its next meeting on July 18. Director of Investigations & Innovation Josh Hinkle, Investigative Photojournalist Chris Nelson, Digital Special Projects Developer Robert Sims and Digital Director Kate Winkle Campaign Context: The Race for U.S. Senate We are just four months out from the general election and the campaign for U.S. Senate is ramping up. Democratic Congressman Colin Allred is challenging incumbent Republican Senator Ted Cruz. Theyre vastly different candidates with different visions for how to represent you in Washington. KXAN anchor Daniel Marin recently spent an afternoon with each candidate. The one-on-one interviews took place away from the noise and rhetoric of the campaign trail. The goal was to have real conversations to reveal things you wont hear in a political ad or a quick soundbite. Our team put together a one-hour special presentation where you can see more of our conversations with the candidates. Campaign Context: The Race for Senate will air Wednesday at 7 PM on most Nexstar stations across Texas. Governor, Lt. Governor push to expand program aimed at building more power plants This week, top Texas leadership called for an immediate review of all policies related to the power grid in response to the latest estimates about future demand on the states power grid. In a joint statement released Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick pointed to recent testimony from Pablo Vegas, CEO of the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), where he told lawmakers Texas could need as much as 150,000 megawatts of power by 2030. ERCOT predicts up to 16% chance of emergency power conditions in August Thats effectively almost doubling the peak demand of the ERCOT grid in about six years, Vegas said at a June 12 hearing of the Senate Business and Commerce committee. Abbott and Patrick also announced efforts to double the amount of money available through the Texas Energy Fund. Voters passed a resolution last November to create the $5 billion program, which will provide low-interest loans to incentivize the building of more dispatchable natural gas plants. Abbott and Patricks statement noted the state has already received notices of intent to apply from companies totaling $39 million, making the program nearly eight times oversubscribed. They said they would seek to expand the program to $10 billion. According to the statement, the average plant will take three to four years to complete, and new transmission lines will take three to six years to complete. Bitcoin, AI and the Texas grid: Lawmakers consider action Texas is currently the fastest state to approve and build new plants and transmission lines because of our low regulations and pro-business policies, but we must move quickly, the statement said. In the same hearing in June, lawmakers heard striking statistics on the increasing energy demands of the Bitcoin and artificial intelligence sectors. As KXAN previously reported, Vegas said one graphics processing unit, which is a core technology for Artificial Intelligence (AI), uses as much power as an average home uses in an entire year. He compared one AI companys energy demand to bringing half a million homes onto the grid in an instant. Joshua Rhodes, a research scientist at The University of Texas at Austin, told KXAN the latest high-end estimates about peak demand should be taken with a grain of salt. If every single potential data center and green hydrogen facility and crypto mine and everything that possibly wants to connect in the next six years were to connect, then that demand would jump could jump up to 150 gigawatts. But that would be growth on a scale that weve never seen before, he said. However, he believes the forecast will help Texas be more proactive. The idea is that if we are planning for larger amounts of load, then well be more proactive in doing things like building transmission and other supporting infrastructure to be able to meet it, he explained. It is, you know, kind of a thermometer as to where demand is going to grow in the state, so that we can be more proactive in building that infrastructure to that part of the state. 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 KXAN Austin. Stay cool: Heat advisory in effect for all of South Florida until 6 p.m. The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for all of South Florida through 6 p.m. The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for all of South Florida today, including Palm Beach County. The heat index, or feels like temperature, is expected to be in the low triple digits everywhere in the county today, ranging from 105 in Riviera Beach to 107 at Palm Beach International Airport, and 111 in Jupiter, the NWS said. The advisory will last until 6 p.m. Heat index temperatures from 103 to 107 degrees constitute an elevated excessive heat risk, meaning heat exhaustion is likely with prolonged exposure. Temperatures of 108 to 112 are considered a significant excessive heat risk, with dangerous and potentially deadly heat stroke likely with prolonged exposure, the NWS said. A heat advisory means people sensitive to warm temperatures should take precautions to avoid heat illness, including staying hydrated and seeking breaks if working or playing outside. Signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke include symptoms such as muscle cramps, excessive sweating, throbbing headache, passing out, confusion and seizures. An excessive heat warning, the highest alert level on a four-tier scale, means everyone needs to take precautions to stay safe in the heat because "you may become seriously ill or even die," the NWS says. Tips to beat the heat Tips for keeping safe during excessively hot weather from the American Red Cross: If you suspect heat injury, call for help. Children and the elderly are among the most vulnerable. Try not to work outside in the hottest part of the day; if you must work in the heat, slow down. When outdoors, take frequent breaks in the shade. Drink plenty of water. If you wait until you feel thirsty, you're already getting dehydrated. Don't drink beverages containing caffeine or alcohol (sodas or beer). They interfere with the bodys temperature-regulating mechanisms. Sweating is the bodys mechanism for cooling. If you stop sweating, call for help. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Weather Service issues heat advisory for all of South Florida Study says Sumter County is Florida's oldest. How does Lake rank? A man wears a giant Keep America Great hat while awaiting Vice President Mike Pence at Brownwood Paddock Square in The Villages on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020. [PAUL RYAN / CORRESPONDENT] New data has found the oldest and youngest counties in Florida, and the north central county dominated by The Villages retirement community, no surprise, ranks on the elder end of the spectrum. A study by The Schiller Kessler Group analyzed census data from 2013 to 2022, and calculated the median age of every county in Florida to create the ranking. Known for being the oldest county in the United States, Sumter has aged by 4.5 years since 2013 and is the only Floridian county with an average age over 60. The county with the oldest median age is Sumter, with Charlotte coming in second with an average age of 59.9. Citrus County is the fourth oldest at 56.9. Indian River, with an average age of 54.8, is in fifth. The Daily Commercial has recently reported on improved downtown and community amenities and planned developments in Sumter's Wildwood municipality. It remains to be seen if those changes might skew the average younger. 'A new chapter': Wildwood starts building a downtown parking garage How did they arrive at their rankings? Census data surrounding the ages of residents in each Floridian county was taken from the American Community Survey (ACS), and a median age was calculated for each county. What is the statewide average? This data was also used to calculate a statewide average: 42.4 years. Wakulla (42.3) and Gilchrist (42.7) are the counties that most closely match up with the state's average. What are the youngest counties? The Schiller Kessler Group took a decades worth of demographic data from the American Community Survey (ACS) to calculate a median age for each county, identifying the states most youthful areas. The counties anchored by Florida State University and the University of Florida have the youngest populations, unsurprisingly. Based on the report's calculations of demographic data, Leon has a median age of 31.4 years, the youngest area in Florida. Leon ranks 11 years younger than the state average of 42.4 years old. Since 2013, the average age in Leon has increased by 1.7 years, which is slightly above the average 1.4-year increase reported across the state. In second place, Alachua has a median age of 31.7 years. Hendry (35.1), Hardee (35.2) and Orange (35.9) round out the five youngest counties, all around seven years under the state average. Hillsborough takes ninth place, with its residents averaging an age of 37.6, and Baker lands in the final spot, with the median age of residents reported as 37.7. What about Lake County? Has it changed over the years? Lake County ranks at No. 24 of Florida's 67 counties in age. Not exactly a middle child, but close. The county aged almost a year from 2013 to 2022, and is now estimated to have an average age of 46.9. This data offers a fascinating insight into which areas in the state have the oldest average population and how that has changed over the past decade," a Schiller Kessler Group spokesperson said. "Overall across the state, the median age in Florida has risen by more than a year, from 41 in 2013, to 42.4 years in 2022. This mirrors the national trend of an aging population, which will have impacts on everything from medical services and public health to economic performance and development. This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Sumter County is Florida's oldest county. How does Lake rank? MAGA autocracy Supreme Court rules Trump has partial immunity for official acts only, (modbee.com, July 1) The slim hope that Donald Trump would be held accountable for his seditious acts of domestic terrorism against our government on January 6 has been dashed by the Supreme Court. MAGA judges indebted to Trump granted the convicted felon immunity for crimes against our government. This ruling is a big thank you for all the yachting vacations, loans, land sales, expensive jewelry and furs provided by wealthy MAGA millionaire friends of the judges. Democracy is silenced when the Supreme Court neutralizes laws that are there to protect our democracy. The end result? Being held far above the law and having to answer to no one is MAGA autocracy, Trump style. Brooks Judd Turlock Opinion Time for Biden to go Should Biden drop out of presidential race? What poll found, (modbee.com, July 1) There are just a few Democrats with gumption telling President Joe Biden it is time to go. The rest are wringing their hands. Polls indicate Biden will lose to Donald Trump and that Democrats may lose control of Congress. And dont even get me started on the idea of Kamala Harris as president. As district attorney of San Francisco, attorney general of California and as a California senator, she made many blunders, but everyone in the Democratic party gave her a pass because she was a woman of color. The Democrats must find a middle ground candidate to beat Trump. Joe Manchin, where are you? Alan Seliger Turlock We must support Biden Should Biden drop out of presidential race? What poll found, (modbee.com, July 1) Wake up, Democrats. You are electing Donald Trump with your comments. Do you want his immorality? The loss of womens rights? Less healthcare coverage? Religious bigotry? Xenophobia? Mass deportations? On day one, the dictator Trump will start the immediate retribution of anyone that has been against him in any fashion. Dont believe me? He has said those exact words: Absolute loyalty required. Powerful Republicans dont like Trump, but they will use him to gain power. Our three branches of government will become one giant executive branch. We must rally around and support Joe Biden, a person of character with recent accomplishments. Is he perfect? No. But he is truthful and honest, and a smart humanitarian. Diane M Kroeze Modesto Stop Riverbank sprawl If Stanislaus County wants to remain a top ag producer, it must protect prime farmland | Opinion, (modbee.com, June 15) The Farmland Working Group got it right in their op-ed when they said the proposed River Walk Project does hopscotch over Riverbanks current sphere of influence (the pre-approved area within which the city can grow). The need for more growth now has not been demonstrated since only about a third of the Crossroads West area has been annexed thus far. The Draft Environmental Impact Report for the project was significantly flawed and either glossed over or entirely missed many required components. It should be considered un-approvable by the agencies with decision-making authority. We need to stop paving over prime farmland in Stanislaus County and grow upward and smarter like the City of Modesto is proposing. Riverbank residents can help by signing the Ballot Initiative petition currently being circulated, which would establish a western urban limit/boundary in order to save the highest quality soils and maintain a community buffer, wildlife habitat and aquifer recharge. Supporting the initiative gives residents decision-making power and prevents sprawl and significant cost increases associated with needed new infrastructure and services. Jami Aggers Modesto Egregious betrayal With Supreme Courts historic Trump immunity decision, how did California Democrats react? (sacbee.com, July 1) The Supreme Court has dealt a death blow to American democracy. Their ruling that shields presidents from prosecution is nothing short of a coronation. Our Founding Fathers would be outraged at this 6-3 coup that replaces our Republic with a monarchy. Our country was founded to escape an empire. Now, the court has created one. No one is above the law is not etched in stone, but its the bedrock of our nation. This ruling isnt just an unconscionable overstep, its an obvious abdication of duty. Tim Herrera Elk Grove Opinion Existential threat With Supreme Courts historic Trump immunity decision, how did California Democrats react? (sacbee.com, July 1) The Supreme Courts ruling on presidential immunity was a coup by judicial fiat. It upended the foundation of our democracy: that no one is above the law. A corrupt president can now commit crimes with impunity, and use the presidential pardon power to enable his cronies to do the same. Democrats (and Republican believers in democracy, if any are left in Congress) must enact term limits, reform and, yes, court expansion. This court has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that without such action, all of our rights are on the chopping block. Kathy Campbell Sacramento Protecting our nation Tonights presidential debate has many Biden voters on edge, (sacbee.com, June 27) Despite a disappointing debate performance accentuated by a pronounced feeble manner and weak voice, President Joe Biden still demonstrated that experience, integrity and a grasp of issues that affect all Americans eclipse the views of one in service of one. Donald Trump was undeniably more vigorous, but vitality alone is not a measure of reassurance when it comes to protecting our nations sovereignty. Voters must decide if they want an ill-informed president who favors dismantling the Constitution or one hell-bent on doing whatever is necessary to protect it. Jim Paladino Tampa, Fla. Protecting our homes Placer County wildfire burns northwest of Roseville, CA, (sacbee.com, June 24) Californias wildfire season is off to a bad start. More than 1,000 lightning strikes have ignited fires across the state, burning more than 90,000 acres already this year (compared to 5,863 acres by the same time last year). Homeowners in fire-prone areas can harden their homes to make them more fire-resistant, but modifications can be expensive. Rep. Kevin Kileys bill, The Safe Home Act (House Resolution 6861), would make these changes more affordable by providing a tax credit of 25% up to $25,000 per year to help defray the cost of such improvements. Wildfires are nonpartisan, and require thoughtful solutions from both political parties. Lisa Howard Rocklin Punishment wont reduce homelessness Supreme Court ruling wont affect Sacramentos homeless policy, officials say. What has changed? (sacbee.com, June 29) In 2018, Berkeley voters created the Homeless Services Panel of Experts and increased taxes on multi-million dollar real estate exchanges to fund homeless services. I joined the board as a founding member. In 2022, Berkeley reduced unsheltered homelessness by funding evidence-based regionally-specific expertise. This year, Berkeley reduced the unsheltered population by nearly half. Punishment is not an evidence-based solution to homelessness. The Supreme Court may have enabled municipalities to remain trapped in a pointless and pathetic process of punishing the poor, however, the fight for housing justice continues wherever people of conscience find the courage to love their unhoused neighbors. Anthony Ray Carrasco Oakland How would this nations founders react to the Supreme Courts decision on presidential immunity? Students of history would likely say those patriots would be appalled and frightened. The 13 colonies rebelled under the monarchy in Great Britain. They were willing to fight to the death to rid themselves of a ruler with absolute power to tax and govern them. After the long and sacrificial war, the new states were resolute to never again subject themselves to so much authority by one person. They were so determined that their first attempt at drawing a governing agreement, The Articles of Confederation, was so weak and decentralized it became quickly apparent it wouldnt work. Even after drawing the new U.S. Constitution, states like North Carolina refused to ratify it into law until a Bill of Rights, guaranteeing and protecting peoples rights was added in 1790. There was a big debate over what to call the leader of this new nation. The framers finally settled on the title of president. From the beginning the framers intent was that this presidents powers be subservient to and dependent upon the Congress and, to a lesser extent, the states. Over our 248-year history weve witnessed the authority and power of the presidency expand. Not only has the president become the most powerful person in America, but arguably in the world. The immunity case brought before the court focused on the actions of Donald Trump, but in their 6-3 decision the Supreme Court not only affirmed that Trump had virtually unlimited immunity, they gave that power to future presidents. More from Tom Campbell: Legislators need to get to work and approve a budget | Tom Campbell In speaking for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said, the president is not above the law, however a full reading of the decision appears to say otherwise. It declares that the nations chief executive has immunity from any official act he takes and, while it says that might not be true with unofficial acts, the Supremes failed to distinguish between what is official and what is unofficial. Further, they didnt specify who would decide between the two. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in condemning the majority decision, said, The relationship between the president and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law. We fought a war to escape King George and now the court has essentially declared the president a king. One can reasonably suspect the six justices assumed the new monarch would be King Donald. Ive made no secret of my contempt for Donald Trump. Spend any time reading his rants and declarations and I believe reasonable people could conclude that he is an existential threat to this nation. That belief is further confirmed when you read about Project 2025. This 1,000-page document outlines the plan for what will happen beginning January 20, should Trump once again put his hand on the Bible and swear to preserve, protect and defend our constitution. Some 3,000 current federal employees are to be fired immediately, replaced by Trump cult disciples willing to obey any directive the king gives. Civil servants are presumably protected from wrongful termination, however that has never bothered Trump before. Now he will have immunity from prosecution. More from Tom Campbell: We were a country united. What happened? | Tom Campbell Most Americans have never heard of Project 2025 but let me suggest you investigate it. Even a cursory examination points to a massive, all-encompassing plan to radically change our government. Many months and many people have worked to envision and outline its goals, with actions taken after a Trump inauguration. You may think Project 2025 sounds like a made-for-TV movie plot or a fantasy-fiction book, but a growing number are convinced of its authenticity and are alarmed at the potential impact it will have. And maybe this writer is a bit paranoid, but I cant help but wonder if the courts immunity decision wasnt part of Project 2025. Let us be clear. Our government isnt perfect. Neither are those who work in it. But the solution to problems isnt a wholesale discarding of everything and starting anew. Such actions would create chaos, making our nation susceptible to foreign interventions. Novembers elections become more important every day. Nowhere is this more evident than in North Carolina. Not only will our state have a significant impact on determining who becomes our next president, but we have pretty clear options between candidates for governor, attorney general and superintendent of public instruction. This is no time to disengage, stay home and sit this one out. Thank God the men and women in 1776 were up to the challenge of opposing the monarchy. The question today is whether we have that same resolve. We dont want and dont need a king. Tom Campbell is a Hall of Fame North Carolina broadcaster and columnist who has covered North Carolina public policy issues since 1965. Contact him at tomcamp@carolinabroadcasting.com. This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Tom Campbell writes about Supreme Court decision on immunity The U.S. Supreme Court, pictured, issued a decision on a case dealing with a legal precedent that gave federal agencies broad discretion to use their judgment to resolve any ambiguity Congress left in a federal statute. (Photo by Jane Norman/States Newsroom) 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. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 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. 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. info@stateline.org 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: . Follow Stateline on Facebook and X .. Paul deLespinasse The Supreme Court recently struck down a regulation crafted by the Trump administration banning "bump stocks." Bump stocks are equipment attached to semi-automatic rifles allowing them to fire hundreds of bullets a minute. One had been used to kill 58 people and wound more than 500 in Las Vegas. The opinion was written by Justice Clarence Thomas, supported by the five other "conservative" members of the Court. It argued that the act of Congress banning machine guns (which can fire hundreds of bullets per minute) did not apply to bump stocks (which can fire hundreds of bullets per minute), and that the Trump administration's regulation was therefore not authorized by that legislation. To arrive at this conclusion, the majority opinion engaged in constitutional theology that makes old arguments about how many angels could fit on the head of a pin look reasonable by comparison. This was not a Second Amendment case. It just required the Courts to interpret an act of Congress, the constitutionality of which was not being disputed by the plaintiff. Judicial review has a bigger impact than it did in this case when it considers a challenge to the constitutionality of legislation. If it finds legislation to be unconstitutional, overturning its finding requires amending the Constitution. On the other hand, if a court has only interpreted an act of Congress, as in the bump stock case, Congress can overturn that decision merely by enacting a new law. Justice Samuel Alito, in a brief concurring opinion, pointed out that "There is a simple remedy for the disparate treatment of a bump stock and machine guns. Congress can amend the law . . ." Perhaps Alito does not realize the difficulty of getting any legislation restricting access to guns through Congress. Or perhaps he does realize it. But in any event Alito's argument can cut both ways. If the Court had found that bump stocks are indeed machine guns under the law, Congress could have amended the law to make it clear that this is not true if it chose to do so. I would like to propose a procedural rule for cases like this one. When there are two reasonable interpretations of a law claimed to authorize a regulation, the Court should opt for the interpretation that would be most beneficial to the public. In this case my proposed rule would obviously have led the Court to hold that the regulation prohibiting bump stocks was indeed authorized by Congress. Justice Thomas would be in a weak position to object to a new rule, since he himself fashioned a new rule to be applied in Second Amendment cases: Only if a firearm regulation is consistent with this Nation's historical tradition may a court conclude that the individual's conduct falls outside the Second Amendment's 'unqualified command.' (New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen) Ironically, the new rule proposed by Justice Thomas violated itself, since it had no roots in our country's "historical tradition." And his new rule made no sense, because changing weapons technology may call for regulations that would have not been necessary in the past. And Thomas' new rule applied to decisions about constitutionality, meaning that to reverse them would require a constitutional amendment. The record for quick passage of an amendment was the Twenty First, repealing Prohibition. Proposed by Congress on February 20, 1933, it was ratified by the necessary number of states on December 5, 1933. But people were eager for a drink! Most amendments take years, not weeks, to take effect. No constitutional amendment will be needed to rectify the bump stock decision. But in any event, thanks to this decision by the Supreme Court, Americans will continue to enjoy the right to be mowed down by guns that can fire 400 to 800 bullets a minute until Congress--- in its wisdom---enacts legislation specifically banning bump stocks. Paul F. deLespinasse is professor emeritus of political science and computer science at Adrian College. He can be reached at pdeles@proaxis.com. This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: The Supreme Court Should Have Upheld The Bump Stock Ban Survivor of domestic violence sparks change this Fourth of July with nonprofit to empower and support other survivors LITTLE ROCK, Ark.- Survivor of domestic violence ignites change this Fourth of July with her nonprofit Hope for HOPE by asking for people to donate money instead of purchasing fireworks. I was a victim of domestic violence about five years ago and it was definitely the hardest thing Ive ever been through in my life, Allison Magann said. Mcgann started her nonprofit Hope for HOPE to help victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, harassment, and racial injustice after experiencing the effects herself. Pine Bluff police say husband kills wife, himself after disagreement at liquor store During that time, I just felt like there was no one on my side or there was no one there to support me, Magann said. Her mission is to make sure another survivor doesnt ever feel that way. To ensure that, Magann says that she needs funding to help expand her nonprofit to meet the increasing needs, and thats when she created the Fireworks of Hope fundraiser. This Fourth of July, give your dog a break from the noise and make a difference instead. For just $10, the cost of a couple of fireworks, you can support domestic violence survivors, Mcgann said. Every dog has its day, but its not the Fourth of July The National Institutes of Health reports that every year more than 10 million people experience domestic violence. The institute also states that one in four women and one in nine men experience domestic violence. I just decided that you know, I dont want other people to have to do that alone or feel that way that I did, Magann said. Hope for HOPE empowers victims through compassion and justice and advocates for safety, equality, and dignity through comprehensive support, education, awareness, and collective action. When they feel empowered, then they speak, and they share their story, Magann said. Community reacts after Pine Bluff police say man killed wife, himself after disagreement in liquor store parking lot If you want more information or want to donate to Hope for HOPE, you can visit their website at www.hopeforhopear.org or their Facebook page at Hope for HOPE Arkansas Nonprofit Organization. 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 KARK. Suspect in the Chinatown-International District shooting in custody Seattle police have arrested a suspect in connection with a July 5 shooting that happened near the 600 block of South Main Street in the Chinatown-International District of Seattle. Around 11:58 p.m. police answered calls about a man shot in the chest. Officers provided medical aid until the Seattle Fire Department arrived on the scene. The 31-year-old man was transported to Harborview Medical Center in critical condition. During the investigation, a firearm was located and taken as evidence. According to police, the suspect fled the scene in a car and police later found him in Kent. The suspect was arrested and booked into King County Jail for suspicion of first-degree assault. The Gun Violence Reduction Unit detectives are investigating what led to the shooting. No information was provided on the status of the victim. If the Midwest were a person, it might be Gretchen Whitmer. True Gretch, the governors not-a-campaign-book-campaign-book, out this Tuesday from Simon & Schuster, isnt Dreams From My Father or Contract With America, and it doesn't want to be. In a characteristically pragmatic, Midwestern way, the 10 life lessons Whitmer shares with chapter titles like, dont let the bullies get you down, take nothing personally, youll never regret being kind collectively make the case that in 2024, the United States of America needs a way back more than a look forward. Or maybe just an off-ramp from the turbulence that has engulfed this country for the last eight years. All of us lived through these years, but Whitmers perspective comes from the center of the storm. She survived, literally, the wild backlash of the COVID-19 pandemic a group of extremists, apparently incensed by her pandemic restrictions, plotted to kidnap and kill her governing through the efforts of the Trump administration to hamper Michigans COVID response, the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the fight to preserve reproductive rights in Michigan, and an intense 2022 re-election campaign. Whitmer is unselfconsciously frank about details others might try to obscure: As a tailgating teenager, she threw up on her principals shoes. As a child at church camp, Whitmer knocked her front teeth out, and keeping implants in place has been a task. She has tattoos, including one of a shark, as in, Its Shark Week, m-----f-----, an expletive she was caught mouthing on camera before a virtual speech delivered to the 2020 Democratic National Convention. And despite her assertions to the contrary, shes probably running for president in 2028. Whitmer denies having any such plan but seriously, why else are we here? (After President Joe Biden's poor debate showing last month, Whitmer was mentioned as a potential 2024 candidate. Whitmer and other Democratic governors met with president last week, and she wrote on social media that he has her continued support.) Shes terrifically popular in Michigan, her 67.8% approval rating far exceeding Biden or former President Donald Trump. Personally progressive, she governs as a centrist, focused on the dinner table issues she believes Michiganders care most about. She can appeal to voters in multiple Rust Belt swing states. Shes a Gen X woman at a time when voters are weary of the male septuagenarian and octogenarian political class. Shes won every election shes run in, becoming governor twice by wide margins and shes good at her job. Shed be crazy not to take a shot. On first read, True Gretch feels more pragmatic than visionary. But in this climate, Im starting to think pragmatic is the most visionary thing a politician can be. Cover image provided by Simon & Schuster, photo by CJ Benninger ***** Last month, I talked to Whitmer about True Gretch, her tenure as governor and what it means to be a woman in public life. Oh, and Dolly Parton. The conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity. So, first question: You mention two tattoos in the book. How many do you have, total? Three. Three? But we don't mention the third in the book. No, we dont. Is that the Whitmer 2028 tattoo? No. *laughs* So, serious questions This isn't really a memoir. I would maybe call it a manifesto if that wasn't a negative term, or maybe a declaration of I'm Gretchen Whitmer, here's how I like to be, and maybe you guys would like to be this way, too. How do you see it? I think of it kind of like a handbook. Ten lessons I've learned at different points in my life that have sustained me through the most tumultuous six years in political life in this country anyone could imagine. It's definitely that, but it also seems like it gets to something about the very specific worldview that you have. It feels, like youre getting at not just life lessons, but things that are home truths for you. These are the things that have grounded me and sustained me. I wrote this in the book, but it's Gods honest truth that everywhere I go, people ask me, how do you stay positive with all the ugliness and heavy stuff we've had to navigate? I get that question over and over again and I thought, you know, this is gonna be a heavy year. I could write it so that it's quick and digestible and accessible for people, and maybe put a little light out into what is a dark time. So if you get a laugh at my expense, or something resonates, or there's a lesson that inspires you or helps you get through something tough, then that's really what it's all about. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer at the Michigan Governor's Mansion in Lansing on Friday, Aug. 26, 2022. At times, your positivity has frustrated me during the 2022 debates, when your GOP opponent went on the attack, I wanted you to get into it with her. Instead, you would say, "Oh, that's silly or You know that's not true, and move on. It seems to me that much of your success is based on the idea that people actually want a grown-up who's not going to get into these sorts of petty fights. And you've been, obviously, right. It's a concerted choice that I have to make every day, to be honest. Theres that chapter about the former state Senate majority leader calling me names and you just have to look at it and go, All right. (Editors note: former Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, said Whitmer was on the batshit-crazy spectrum, that he wanted to fist fight her on the Capitol lawn and that hed spanked her on legislation.) I am capable and would find certain satisfaction in responding in kind, but it's not going to be constructive, and at the end of the day I want to get shit done. That's what it's all about. So I do think that that resonates with people, because I think every one of us has plenty of opportunities over the course of our life to throw a counter punch, and we have to make a concerted decision if we're going to be effective and get things done. The only things that I really regret having written are when I was so impressed with my own cleverness. You're right, it's a choice. And it's normally the right choice. You never regret being kind. I really believe that. I have regretted being sarcastic. I have regretted losing my temper. But I've never regretted being kind. I ran into a person at an event one time and I knew he looked familiar from somewhere, but I couldn't place it. So I just greeted him with a hug and I walked away and realized he was the consultant that was putting all this horrible stuff out about me on my opponent's behalf. And I thought, oh my God, I just hugged that guy that jerk and then I realized, you know what, I'd rather hug someone that I didn't mean to than insult someone I didn't mean to. All women in public life have to walk a line. We have to be more personal, we have to be more personable, we have to share more of ourselves, but if we share too much, that's a problem too. Can you talk about walking that line as a governor and in the book of letting people see enough of you, but not putting too much out there? I think it's important to recognize that the women that came before me gave me license and space to show up as I am. That's a gift. You think about all the heat that Jennifer Granholm or Hillary Clinton or Ann Richards or Debbie Stabenow took because they were the first, and it's given people in my generation, our generation the opportunity. I mean, I know I'm older than you, Nancy Not that much older! It gives us license to show up as we are. That's a gift they didn't have, so I'm always mindful of that. Thats why it's important to connect with people and let people see the humanity in me, as I try to see the humanity in them. Sharing my story of being a rape survivor was really hard. (Editors note: In 2013, Whitmer revealed on the floor of the state Legislature in 2013 that she had been sexually assaulted in college, part of an ultimately unsuccessful effort by Democrats to stop the Republican-led state Legislature to require women to purchase a special health insurance rider to cover abortions. The current Democratic majority repealed that law in 2023.) And yet every day since then I have been grateful that I did, because I gave voice to something that needed to be done. But more importantly, I've connected with so many people that have, walked in the same path. And thats a gift. I also have to be protective of my family and not put too much out there. So now people know I have tattoos. They know I like beer, but everyone already knew that part before. I'm a human being, too, and sometimes it's hard to see politicians as real life people. But I think that's important. I'm an ordinary person serving in an extraordinary role, and certainly in extraordinary times, and I don't want to lose sight of that I'm just a regular person, too. You wrote that you were terrified to talk about having been sexually assaulted. What were you most afraid of? I didn't want to be defined by it. I think anyone who's a survivor is worried about that, that something that was inflicted on me could be the first thing people lead with in stories, and not who I am, where I come from, what I've accomplished, what I'm focused on doing, but to be defined by a horrible event that happened to me in my life. I think that's what I was afraid of. Maybe it's part of the generation but ... it's like, tough stuff happens, and I was brought up at a time where we just didn't talk a ton about it. We didn't dwell on it. We dusted ourselves off and just kept going, and I think that's maybe a part of who I am, too. I'm almost 49, not that much younger than you ... This felt like a very Gen X book. Do you feel strongly connected to Gen X? I do. I was reading an article the other day about Gen X and how we're the latchkey kids. We had a key around our necks and went off to school. We're expected to get home ... I remember my sister had broken her arm at school, and she was lying on the couch in pain. I was quite young, I called my mom at work and she was like, Oh, give her a Twinkie and I'll check it when I get home. You know what I mean? Or one time, my brother had to go get stitches, and my mom rushed out to the hospital with him. We were pretty young. So I called a babysitter for us. Thats just what we did. And if you can't get ahold of the babysitter, you just hold down the fort. At my old age of 10. Speaking of Gen X things, Dolly Partons 9 to 5 is on the True Gretch playlist included in the book the movie 9 to 5 is visionary in terms how it talks about reshaping the workplace, and it's shocking like how few of those things we have done, like on-site daycare, or being able to split shifts for working moms. Would you consider a 9 to 5 policy platform? I like the idea. So many movies from when we were growing up do not hold up over time. That one does. Like you said, it was visionary, but sad to say there's still lots of work that needs to be done. I love the 9 to 5 agenda, and maybe we can get Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin to come help us. Reliving those early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in this book was hard. Like when you wrote how former President Donald Trump doled out assistance based on which governors had been nice to him, and what a bizarre view of public service that is, and particularly, I think, antithetical to your approach. I remember being on the calls with my fellow governors, and just listening to some of them really sucking up, and they were doing it because they had figured out that if they did it, they'd get more help. It was really jarring, because I really do believe my job is to serve all the people in Michigan, whether they voted for me or not. I go out of my way to show up for people who didn't vote for me, because I want to earn their confidence and I want to make sure that government's working for everyone. So to be in a situation where the ability to get masks is being undermined because the president's feelings are hurt was just really mind boggling. I couldn't believe what was happening. In the book, I predominantly describe my feelings as fear. It wasn't anger that he was singling me out. It was fear that it was going to make it harder to get masks for doctors and nurses in Michigan. I was afraid. I wasn't mad or insulted. I was like, oh my God, is this really how this is going to operate? Ultimately it didn't end up significantly impacting us, but that was his intent. He couldn't carry it through, thankfully. That's no coincidence: A kidnap, murder plot targeted Gretchen Whitmer You write that you want to sit down with the men who plotted to kidnap and murder you. What do you hope could be achieved? I just want to understand what led them to that point. I'd like to sit down maybe with one of the people that took a plea deal ... who has shown some remorse, (and say), "Help me understand how this came to be. What was going on? Whitmers, we don't really take things personally. We don't hold grudges. We have thick skin and short memories, but I'm always trying to learn something. All I can assume is that there's something that wasn't going right in their lives that led them to a point where they felt like that was a solution ... it still doesn't make sense to me. And I want to understand that, and if it was lack of employment, lack of opportunity whatever it was, if, if there's a way that we can help people and learn from it, it's worth having that conversation. Did that experience make you more guarded? Absolutely. I would carefree walk into any room in any part of the state, and show up and not be worried. From then on, when I show up at events, I'm looking around and it's not so much about fear for my safety, but I worry about everyone around me. We didn't walk the Mackinac Bridge the year of the election, because all I kept thinking of is, if there's a person who shows up, the people around me could be in danger. That includes the state police, it includes my family, it includes my staff. Folks sometimes try to impose qualifications on your political success. When you were elected in 2018 it was the year of the woman. In 2022, your win was because abortion rights were on the ballot, when that's simply not true your polling had remained pretty much the same before and after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Youre one of the most successful electoral politicians in state history, and people still find a way to put asterisks on your accomplishments. I think it's a uniquely gendered issue, and I'll be honest, it can be frustrating. I hope that its different by the time my children are 52. But I can also see the value in it. People underestimate you. and you know what, I love to underpromise and over deliver. So to be underestimated can be a gift, and I choose to look at it that way. They don't see you coming. OK, so Ive got to ask are you running in 2028? No! You're not? Nancy, I have no plans. I have no plans to run for president, not this year, not in the foreseeable future. I'm not making any plans on that front. When you're ready to make an announcement, I would note that the Free Press is a great place to do that sort of thing. You would be my first call. Nancy Kaffer is editorial page editor of the Detroit Free Press. Contact her at nkaffer@freepress.com. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters and we may publish it online and in print. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan's Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on new book, 'True Gretch' Teen arrested in Georgia faces murder charge from shooting in SC, Columbia police say A teenager faces a murder charge following a July 4 shooting where a male was killed, according to the Columbia Police Department. In addition to murder, the 16-year-old also will be charged with possession of a weapon during a violent crime and possession of a weapon by a person under 18, police said Saturday. The name of the teenager has not been released because hes a minor. The teen will be charged when hes extradited from Georgia to South Carolina, according to police. He surrendered to law enforcement officers Friday in Bibb County, in the Macon area, police said. There was no word what the teen was doing in Georgia or how he got there. When the teen returns to South Carolina, hell be held in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice. The shooting happened Thursday at Woodland Terrace Apartments, according to police. Thats at 320 South Beltline Blvd., just south of Rosewood Drive, not far the Midlands Technical College Beltline campus. The shooting stemmed from an argument between acquaintances, according to police. Information about why they were arguing was not available. Officers found an injured male when they arrived, and he was taken to an area hospital where he died, police said. The Richland County Coroners Office has not released the name or age of the victim. No other injuries were reported in what police called an isolated shooting. MADERA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) A teenage boy is dead and another was injured following a stabbing at a quinceanera Saturday night, the Madera Police Department says. Officers say they were called to the family gathering at a home in the 1300 block of Sonora Street for a report of a disturbance and assault involving a deadly weapon. They say they arrived to find two boys, ages 13 and 15, who were victims of a stabbing. Both boys were transported to an area hospital for treatment, however, detectives say the 13-year-old died of his injuries at the hospital. Investigators say a fight occurred outside of the party prior to the stabbing, near some parked cars, but have not disclosed what started the disturbance. They also say that while they are uncertain if the victims had any gang affiliation, they do believe the motive to be gang-related. To the family of the victim, we are deeply sorry for your loss. The tragic passing of one of our youth in such a senseless act deeply saddens us. The incident occurred amidst a gathering meant to celebrate a young womans milestone. We implore any witnesses to the crime to come forward and collaborate with our investigators. Your cooperation will be crucial in bringing closure to the victims family and ensuring justice prevails. Madera Police Chief Giachino Chiaramonte Officers say they are in need of leads and will continue to canvas the area for additional evidence. Suspect information has yet to be released. The investigation remains open and on-going and the department asks anyone with information regarding this incident, to please contact them at (559) 675-4220. 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. Teen in custody after chase in stolen vehicle FERRYSBURG, Mich. (WOOD) One teenager is in custody after an early Sunday morning police chase near the lakeshore. Around 5:15 a.m., officers with the Ottawa County Sheriffs Office were called to assist with a police pursuit after a vehicle was stolen in Muskegon. The sheriffs office said that the Holland Department of Public Safety followed the vehicle until the three teenagers inside took off near M-104 and US-31. The two 15-year-olds and a 14-year-old were found. The sheriffs office said the driver was handed over to the Muskegon Police Department, and the other two were returned to their parents. No one was hurt. This embedded content is not available in your region. The case remains 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 WOODTV.com. Telephone pole crash with entrapment hospitalizes one in Dauphin County SWATARA TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WHTM) A car crashed into a telephone pole with entrapment in Dauphin County on Saturday, leaving one injured. Swatara Police Department was dispatched to 3700 Chambers Hill Road in Swatara Township at 9:23 a.m. on Saturday, July 6. Police say they found a single vehicle crashed into a telephone pole with wires brought down across the area. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Breaking News Authorities say they were able to extract the driver and transport them to a local hospital. No word on injury severity or condition of the driver. Chambers Hill Road was shut down for a short period but was reopened at around 1:30 p.m. Saturday, per Swatara Police. Swatara Police is currently investigating the cause of the crash. This is a developing story. abc27 news will keep you updated as we learn more. 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 ABC27. Tens of thousands fill Madrid with colour for gay pride parade By Elena Rodriguez and Guillermo Martinez MADRID (Reuters) - Tens of thousand of people marched and danced on Saturday along the main streets of Madrid, filling the Spanish capital city with coloured flags for the main LGBTI pride parade in the country. "This is wonderful, I think this is the only place where people are truly free," Maria Alvarez, 43, told Reuters. Through the slogan "Education, rights and peace: Pride that transforms,", the parade's organisers called for education in diversity as a "key tool" to fight against LGTBIphobia. Representatives of the coalition in government, as well as some members from the main opposition party, attended an event full of music and floats, but also demands. "Far-right is always against progression and the opposite should always be supported, society should move forward," said Rober, 37, a hairdresser. Protesters and organisers also called for an end to the war in Gaza. (Reporting by Elena Rodriguez, Guillermo Martinez and Pablo Menendez; Writing by Ana Cantero; Editing by Leslie Adler) Louisiana police were called to rescue a group of teens who reported seeing Bigfoot, Zoinks! A group of terrified teenagers called police in a panic after they claimed they ran into a growling, Bigfoot-like creature with glowing eyes, officials said. The recent high school graduates from Houma in southern Louisiana were camping in Kisatchie National Forest about 100 miles northwest of Baton Rouge when they reported the chilling encounter last week, according to the Natchitoches Parish Sheriffs Office. They recalled seeing a large animal that resembled Bigfoot shortly after they set up camp about a mile and a half off Back Bone Trail in southern Natchitoches Parish, according to police. The teens claimed to have seen a creature with glowing eyes in the forest. Getty Images Around 9:20 p.m. on June 28, one member of the group who were all 17 and 18 years old called 911 after they reportedly heard a growl and saw what appeared to be an animal that had glowing eyes and stood about 5-foot tall, the sheriffs office said. Deputies responded to the scene and walked to the campsite, vigilant for any mythological creatures. They followed the sound of their whistles to the campsite and found the teens frightened but unharmed. They were safely escorted out of the forest by the deputies. Despite a thorough investigation, deputies were unable to locate any suspicious activity involving a growl with glowing eyes and standing 5-feet tall, the sheriffs office said. The teens were camping in Kisatchie National Forest. Wikipedia They congratulated the teens on their graduation and wished them good luck in their futures. This is not the first Bigfoot sighting in Kisatchie National Forest. Two self-proclaimed Bigfoot researchers, who only provided their names as Tex-La and Claude to avoid ridicule, claimed in 2019 they had visual and audio evidence of the cryptids existence in the dense, 600,000-acre woods. The pair left camouflaged cameras and audio devices in trees to record hours of footage and recordings including loud howls they later studied and analyzed, local paper Town Talk reported. They also claimed to have seen footprints and signs of Bigfoot markings, such as twisted tree limbs. It is what it is. If you choose to believe thats great. If you choose not to believe, thats great, too, said Tex-La. Bigfoot sightings have been reported since the 19th century. Bettmann Archive Its something you have to approach with an open mind, he added. In October, a man and his wife on a romantic getaway snapped a video of a creature purported to be Bigfoot walking around in broad daylight in Colorado. Shannon and Stetson Parker were enjoying a sightseeing tour on the narrow gauge rail line between Durango and Silverton in the states far southwest when they filmed the creature. The large, ape-like creature, also known as Sasquatch, has roots in Native American folklore and has been reported by European settlers since the 1800s. Those who claim to have seen Bigfoot have described everything from a large, upright ape to an actual hairy human, sometimes standing over eight feet tall and described as powerfully built, the Washington National Guard wrote in a post about the legend. The debate and research continue, it added. A woman walks along the beach of Manresa, covered with garbage after the passage of Hurricane Beryl, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 3 July 2024. Photo by Orlando Barria/EPE-EFE July 7 (UPI) -- Much of south Texas is under voluntary evacuation orders as authorities prepare for Beryl to hit the Lone Star State as a hurricane on Monday. Tropical Storm Beryl is barreling toward south Texas and is expected to make landfall in Matagorda Bay, about 100 miles southwest of Houston, early Monday as a Category 1 hurricane, authorities said Sunday. "The County of Matagorda is under imminent threat of widespread or severe damage, injury or loss of life or property resulting from Hurricane Beryl," Matagorda County Judge Bobby Seiferman said in a disaster declaration ahead of the storm's landfall. He said he has determined extraordinary measures must be taken to "alleviate the suffering of people and to protect or rehabilitate property." The city of Bay City was providing sandbags for local residents, advising them to "please be respectful and only take what you need." All sandbags were claimed by 2:20 p.m. CDT on Sunday. Beryl is expected to bring significant rainfall and damaging winds along the Texas coast and inland as far north as the Oklahoma border. Courtesy of National Weather Service. Residents were filling sandbags at local merchants, but were limited to just half a dozen per household, according to a Facebook post. Other residents were asking for help from local officials to find temporary housing. Officials are advising residents to stock up on essentials, including water, and cautioned people to move to safer areas if they feel they are in danger and prepare to "shelter in place" for several days. "Prepare to hunker down tonight and Monday and be without power for 1 to 2 days and even longer near where Beryl makes landfall along the coast," The Bay City Sentinel reported on Facebook. Much of the Gulf Coast is under a voluntary evacuation order and there are hurricane and storm surge surge watches in effect. Residents of Houston further north are also expected to see the effects of Beryl. "Flash and urban flooding, some of which may be considerable, is expected across portions of the middle and upper Texas Gulf Coast and Eastern Texas through Monday night," NOAA warned on its hurricane website. "River flooding is also expected." At 2 p.m. EDT Sunday, the storm was about 165 miles southwest of Matagorda Bay. Although Beryl is still just a tropical storm, its pressure has dropped from 992 millibars to 988, but what exactly does that mean? Well, lower pressure means higher winds are on the way, so its looking more and more like Beryl will become a Category 1 hurricane, with an expected landfall near Matagorda, Texas, early Monday morning. Starting overnight tonight and lasting through Monday afternoon, Texans should be prepared for 12-15 hours of strong winds and heavy rain. Expect winds of 50 mph and higher, intense downpours, and some coastal flooding. Tropical Storm Beryl Heads For Texas MEGA The Houston-Galveston area should brace for a rough Monday. As of this morning, Beryl is still a tropical storm, but it's expected to strengthen into a hurricane at some point today. Landfall is anticipated very early Monday near Matagorda Bay, possibly even closer to Brazoria County, per Fox News. 40-70 mph winds for cities like Freeport, Bay City, Wharton, Rosenberg, and possibly Sugar Land, Katy, and, by midday, the Great Houston area are expected. Texans should prepare for a soggy Monday with rainfall ranging from 5-10 inches, which means flooding could be a concern. However, theres a silver lining: Beryl is a fast mover, so the heavy rain won't last too long. Beryl Rips Through Mexico Munro College in the outer eyewall of Hurricane Beryl. pic.twitter.com/xYZCj35ThC Hurricane Jamaica (@Hurricane876) July 6, 2024 When Beryl devastated the Caribbean islands of Grenada, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines, it was a Category 4 storm. However, the storm weakened to a Category 2 by the time it made landfall on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula this past Friday. "We are expecting, unfortunately, to see environmental conditions conducive for Beryl to re-strengthen and regain hurricane strength," National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said in a video update Friday, per NBC. Ahead of Beryl's arrival in southern Texas, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he will deploy nine of the state's firefighters to assist with the Federal Emergency Management Agency's "Incident Support Team." Risk Of Life-Threatening Storm Surge Along Texas Coast 7/5 10PM CDT: There is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge along much of the Texas Coast late Sunday & Monday where a Storm Surge Watch has been issued. Interests in these areas should follow any advice given by local officials. pic.twitter.com/VSkkVRg5Eh NHC Storm Surge (@NHC_Surge) July 6, 2024 According to the NHC, there is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge along much of the Texas coast late Sunday and Monday, and a Storm Surge Watch has been issued. The hurricane has already caused nine deaths in Venezuela, Jamaica, and the Windward Island nations of Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Officials reported that it caused severe damage to many homes in Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, per NBC. Texas Prepares For Beryl Attention #Texas! Here is the latest update from the National Hurricane Center on #Beryl. Please heed the advice from your local emergency officials and complete your preparation plans today. For the latest advisory visit https://t.co/8tsSehKxVt #Houston #SouthPadre #CRP pic.twitter.com/u2MAnhW406 National Hurricane Center (@NWSNHC) July 6, 2024 We are expecting Beryl to be intensifying up until landfall early Monday, and people should be preparing for the possibility of a Category 2 hurricane landfall, the NHC said in a statement. On Friday, Texas issued a disaster declaration for 39 counties in preparation for the storm. "We are going to be prepared for the worst, and we have assets ready to deploy as soon as we know a better direction of where that storm has gone," Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said during a press briefing, according to ABC News. 'Significant' Damage To Jamaica Jamaica faced significant damage late Wednesday, including flooding and widespread damage caused by Beryl. The hurricane's center passed just 45 miles south of Kingston as a Category 4 storm, packing winds of 140 mph. According to ABC, Beryl was the first major hurricane -- at least a Category 3 -- to pass this close to Jamaica since 2007. "Jamaica was spared the worst of Hurricane Beryl, but the damages are still significant," Prime Minister Andrew Holness said on social media. When Beryl strengthened to a Category 5 storm with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph this week, it set a record as the strongest hurricane ever recorded in July. MATAGORDA, Texas Texas officials are telling coastal residents to expect power outages and floodings as Beryl was forecast to regain hurricane strength before making landfall early Monday. The outer bands of Beryl began lashing communities along the Texas shoreline on Sunday, bringing rain and intensifying winds. The storm was projected to make landfall around the coastal town of Matagorda, about 100 miles south of Houston, but officials warned that the path could still change. Nim Kidd, the chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, said residents along the coast should expect power outages as Beryl comes ashore. Much of Texas shoreline was under a hurricane warning and officials in several coastal counties urged tourists along the beach for the Fourth of the July holiday to leave. 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 on its way to Texas. The storm ripped off doors, windows and roofs with devastating winds and storm surge fueled by the Atlantics record warmth. Were seeing the outer bands of Beryl approach the Texas coast now and the weather should be going downhill especially this afternoon and evening, Eric Blake, a senior hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center, said Sunday morning. People should definitely be in their safe space by nightfall and were expecting the hurricane to make landfall somewhere in the middle Texas coast overnight. Beryl would be the 10th hurricane to hit Texas in July since 1851 and the fourth in the last 25 years, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach. Three times in its one week of life, Beryl has gained 35 mph in wind speed in 24 hours or less, the official weather service definition of rapid intensification. Beryls explosive growth into an unprecedented early whopper of a storm shows the literal hot water of the Atlantic and Caribbean, and what the Atlantic hurricane belt can expect for the rest of the storm season, experts said. Texas officials warned people along the entire coastline to prepare for possible flooding, heavy rain and wind. The hurricane warning extended from Baffin Bay, south of Corpus Christi, to Sargent, south of Houston. Beryl lurked as another potential heavy rain event for Houston, where storms in recent months have knocked out power across the nations fourth-largest city and flooded neighborhoods. A flash flood watch was in effect for a wide swath of the Texas coast, where forecasters expected Beryl to dump as much as 10 inches of rain in some areas. Potential storm surges between 4 and 6 feet above ground level were forecast around Matagorda. The warnings extended to the same coastal areas where Hurricane Harvey came ashore in 2017 as a Category 4 hurricane, which was far more powerful than Beryls expected intensity by the time the storm reaches landfall. In Port Lavaca, Jimmy May was boarding up his business Jimmy Hayes Electric on Sunday to protect the glass, in case we get a little bit too much wind, too much trash blowing, he said. He said he wasnt concerned about the forecasted high winds or possible storm surge in town but people in lower-lying areas need to get out of there. Those looking to catch a flight out of the area could find that option more difficult as Beryl closes in on the Texas coast. While the majority of flights from Houstons two major commercial airports were leaving on time as of midday Sunday, more than 65 flights had been delayed and another four canceled, according to FlightAware data. In Corpus Christi, officials asked visitors to cut their trips short and return home early if possible. Residents were advised to secure homes by boarding up windows if necessary and using sandbags to guard against possible flooding. Traffic was nonstop for the past three days at an Ace Hardware in the city as customers bought 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 has been definitely a lot of buzz about the incoming storm, with customers stocking up on food and drinks, particularly meat and beer. The White House said Sunday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had sent emergency responders, search-and-rescue teams, bottled water, and other resources along the coast. Some coastal cities called for voluntary evacuations in low-lying areas that are prone to flooding, banned beach camping and urged tourists traveling on the Fourth of July holiday weekend to move recreational vehicles from coastal parks. In Refugio County, north of Corpus Christi, officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for its 6,700 residents. 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 earlier this week 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. Before hitting Mexico, Beryl wrought destruction in Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Barbados. Three people were reported dead in Grenada, three in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, three in Venezuela and two in Jamaica. (Bloomberg) -- Thailand took another step in its plan to reclassify cannabis and hemp as narcotics again after a committee tasked with controlling illegal drugs agreed they shouldnt be for recreational use, the Bangkok Post reported. Most Read from Bloomberg All members of the committee agreed on the principle that cannabis should be used for the purposes of medical treatment only, the report said, citing the public health ministrys deputy permanent secretary Surachoke Tangwiwat. A majority agreed to put cannabis and hemp back on the narcotics list, the paper said. The committee will submit its report to the Office of the Narcotics Control Board next week, and a nod from the agency will then prompt the Food and Drug Administration to amend cannabis-related laws and provide criteria on usage of the plants, the Bangkok Post said. The new rules are planned to take effect on Jan. 1. Thousands of weed dispensaries and other related businesses have opened across the country since Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis in 2022. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin ordered officials to take steps to restrict the use of marijuana to only medical purposes. Cannabis advocacy groups and businesses have voiced their opposition to the policy u-turn, staging rallies and threatening a legal challenge against the premier. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Thirteen homes were destroyed by the Thompson Fire that blazed through Butte County this month. In reporting its damage assessment Sunday, Cal Fires Butte County unit found that 13 minor structures were also destroyed. The assessment came as the final evacuation zones were lifted for the wildfire that started July 2 and burned through an area sandwiched between the city of Oroville and Lake Oroville, prompting more than 13,000 residents to flee. Cal Fire said an additional five homes and three minor structures were damaged by the blaze, which broke out amid red flag conditions and fierce winds that quickly spread embers. As of Sunday, the fire had scorched 3,789 acres and was 86% contained. Four firefighters were injured during the initial fight but no residents were injured. A home on Bessie Lane was among four structures destroyed in the Thompson Fire burning near Lake Oroville in Butte County Wednesday, July 3, 2024, that has injured four firefighters amid hot, dry, and windy conditions. The fast-moving wildfire prompted evacuations for 13,000 residents. A burned down home and vehicle from the Thompson Fire on Wednesday, July 3, 2024 in Oroville at Bessie Lane. Cal Fire said Sunday morning that crews remained in the burn areas strengthening containment and control lines, and support suppression repair efforts. Firefighters on the line will continue to remain hydrated and ready in the event the fire activity increases, incident commanders said. Record hot and dry weather conditions and rugged topography throughout the fire area are challenging for suppression efforts. Record-high temperatures in Butte County and across Northern California remain a concern for firefighters, who are expecting slightly cooler days temperatures below 105 degrees at the beginning of this week. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. A deer walks on a burned olive grove on Bessie Lane from the Thompson Fire on Wednesday, July 3, 2024 in Oroville. Flames are seen on the shores of Lake Oroville from the Thompson Fire on Tuesday, June 2, 2024. The 3,000-acre wildfire has prompted evacuations of roughly 13,000 residents in Butte County. A helicopter flies over the Thompson Fire near the Oroville Dam on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Tick that can cause meat allergy may be spreading: What to know Tick that can cause meat allergy may be spreading: What to know (NEXSTAR) A tick known to cause meat and dairy allergies appears to be continuing its northward spread, prompting new reminders from health officials. The lone star tick, found primarily in southern states, has been on the move in recent years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the lone star tick has been confirmed in more than two dozen states. Lone star ticks had, at one point, almost entirely disappeared from the northeast and Great Lakes region, Dr. Leslie Mertz explained in a 2022 article for Entomology Today. Theyre now returning to those areas, thanks in part to shorter cold snaps during winter, the spread of invasive plants, and an increase in the deer population. Dengue fever map: Where the mosquito-driven disease is confirmed, spreading fastest Now that summer is here, the lone star tick (as well as others) is better able to thrive. Some health officials are already warning that theyve seen an uptick in tick activity, causing concern. Heres what you should know about the lone star tick. What is a lone star tick? Lone star ticks are like most other ticks but are described as fast-moving, aggressive biters. Adult female lone star ticks are the largest and have a single white dot on their backs. Male lone star ticks are smaller with black lines visible on their back. Dorsal view of a female lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum), 2006. Image courtesy Centers for Disease Control (CDC) / Dr Amanda Loftis, Dr William Nicholson, Dr Will Reeves, Dr Chris Paddock. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images) The lone star tick, Amblyomma Americanum, crawling on my fingers as I wander through a local wetlands. (Getty) Close up of lone star tick in macro on a male finger (Getty) Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum) on human skin (Getty) Where has the lone star tick been reported? Though it hasnt been updated in recent years, the CDC map below shows the lone star ticks reported range. The impacted range stretches from Texas north to Nebraska, east to Maine, then south to Florida. This map, last revised in 2011, shows where the lone star tick has become established. (CDC) Last month, the lone star tick was found in Ottawa County, Michigan a state not included in the CDC map above. Parents found the tick crawling on their son, Nexstars WOOD reports. The tick had previously been reported in nearby Kalamazoo County as well. A few states over in Kansas, health officials say theyre seeing more tick-associated conditions like alpha-gal syndrome, a disease the lone star tick is known to spread. What is alpha-gal syndrome? The syndrome is sparked by alpha-gal, a combination of a carbohydrate in a protein found in the cells of different organisms, but not humans, Dr. Seth Mobley, a family medicine doctor in Arkansas, told Nexstars KNWA. Humans can develop alpha-gal syndrome after being bitten by a tick with alpha-gal. Lone star ticks are most associated with alpha-gal, though other ticks may also be involved. Sometimes known as AGS, alpha-gal syndrome is a potentially life-threatening allergy to red meat or other products made from mammals, according to the CDC. The agency reports that from 2010 to 2022, more than 110,000 suspected cases of AGC were identified in the U.S. The number is likely higher, though, because AGS is not a nationally notifiable condition. Persistent heat wave in the US expected to shatter new records as it bakes West and swelters in East Symptoms of alpha-gal syndrome align with other allergic reactions, like hives or itchy skin; coughing, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing; and swelling of the lips, throat, tongues, or eyelids. According to the CDC, other symptoms include nausea or vomiting, severe stomach pain, heartburn or indigestion, diarrhea, a drop in blood pressure, and dizziness or faintness. Usually, its not as bad as a full anaphylactic reaction that you think about needing an EpiPen for or anything, Dr. Mobley explained. A 2023 study published by the CDC showed most suspected cases of AGS over the previous five years were in Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, as well as in parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina all areas with a population of lone star ticks. The geographic distribution of suspected cases of alpha-gal syndrome (those confirmed with laboratory evidence), per 1 million people, per year, from 2017-2022. (CDC) Is there a cure for alpha-gal syndrome? Those with alpha-gal syndrome are often advised to stop eating meat from mammals, including pork, lamb, venison, rabbit, and beef, as well as milk products. The CDC notes, though, that some patients may not experience a reaction to every product that contains alpha-gal. According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of AGS can lessen or disappear over time, with some patients able to eat products with alpha-gal again within a year or two. Traveling with marijuana: Can you bring cannabis on a cruise? Hayden Hurtig, who was diagnosed with AGS while in middle school, recently explained to Nexstars WDAF that he would have some allergic reactions after eating red meat. After avoiding the meat for roughly seven years, Hurtig, now 22, says he is once again able to eat it. That was the doctors best advice: if you can completely cut it out, youll be able to get over the allergy sooner than later, Hurtig explained. The more you eat it, the more it feeds it and [getting over it] will take longer. How to stay safe Health officials say that the best way to prevent alpha-gal syndrome is to avoid tick bites. That includes wearing bug repellant with at least 20% DEET, picaridin, or IR3535, as well as pants and long-sleeved shirts while outdoors. The U.S. Forest Service also says to avoid areas with high grass and leaf litter. After coming indoors, the Forest Service recommends bathing or showering as soon as possible, which can make finding ticks easier. Be sure to fully check your body for the presence of ticks. 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. Douglas Prade, a former Akron police captain, was convicted of murdering his former wife, an Akron physician. Former Akron Police Capt. Douglas Prade is the only Ohio inmate once freed by DNA testing before being re-imprisoned. Prade was convicted of killing his ex-wife, Dr. Margo Prade, in 1997. He has since said he didn't commit the crime. Here is a timeline of events in the case. Nov. 26, 1997: After Dr. Margo Prade failed to show up to her clinic to treat patients, a staff member finds her dead in her minivan in the clinic's parking lot. An autopsy finds she was shot six times and her killer bit her through her blouse and doctor's coat, leaving a curved bruise on her upper left arm. Accused: Ohio man once considered exonerated by DNA evidence still fights to clear name Winter 1997: Investigators recover surveillance footage from a neighboring business that captured the killing but is too pixelated to be useful for identification purposes. The FBI joins Akron police in the investigation. On Dec. 1, Douglas Prade passed a lie-detector test prompting the Cleveland Plain Dealer to run a story headlined: EX-HUSBAND CLEARED IN PRADE CASE. Feb. 23, 1998: Douglas Prade is arrested and charged in his ex-wife's murder. The top evidence police gave reporters at the time was that the bite mark on Margo Prade's arm was deemed to have matched Prade's teeth, per a New York odontologist. September 1998: Douglas Prade is tried in Summit County Common Pleas Court. Prosecutors paint him as financially strained and suggest the $75,000 life insurance policy he received after Margo Prade's death was motive for murder. Prosecutors also emphasized two odontologists' testimony that the bite mark left on Margo Prade's arm supposedly matched impressions taken of Douglas Prade's teeth. Sept. 23, 1998: Prade's convicted of murder and wiretapping the latter related to audiocassettes he had of his ex-wife talking on the phone with others. Prade was sentenced to life in prison. "I didn't do this," Prade said in the courtroom. "You convicted the wrong man." 1998-2008: Prade's various appeals fail up through the 9th District Court of Appeals. The Ohio Supreme Court refused to hear the case as well. Prade also filed applications for post-conviction DNA testing, which initially were denied. Meanwhile, convictions based largely on bite-mark evidence start falling under scrutiny as it's determined human skin is too malleable to reliably compare with dental impressions. The National Academy of Sciences publishes a report in 2009 stating dentists are not able to identify perpetrators of crimes by matching dental patterns to marks on victims' bodies. Aug. 31, 2009: Barry Scheck's Innocence Network in New York files a defense brief on Prade's behalf arguing that new DNA testing is vital because a negative result could conclusively prove Prade's innocence. May 4, 2010: The Ohio Supreme Court reconsiders and sends the case back to the trial court to weigh whether DNA testing should be allowed after all. Sept. 23, 2010: Summit County Judge Judy Hunter agrees to the testing, which ultimately focuses on the doctor's coat Margo Prade was wearing when she was killed. Both prosecutors and defense lawyers agreed the doctor had been bitten hard enough to leave an impression on her arm, so they considered the corresponding area of her coat as key. August 2012: DNA tests on biological matter recovered from Margo Prade's coat indicate the presence of two male profiles, neither of which were Douglas Prade. Summit County Prosecutors argue the new evidence is "meaningless." October 2012: A days-long hearing is held in Summit County court as Prade argues he should be granted a new trial. Forensic odontologist Franklin Wright testifies that bite-mark analysis classified in 1998 as showing Prade's bite matched the mark on Margo Prade's body would by modern standards be considered "inconclusive." Jan. 29, 2013: Judge Judy Hunter rules that the DNA testing and changes in how bite-mark evidence is weighed would likely mean a modern jury would not find Prade guilty. Hunter's ruling also included a conditional order for a new trial if her findings were overturned. She orders Prade's release from prison. He'd been behind bars for 15 years. February 2014: Prade alleges a conspiracy among Akron Police Department investigators, accusing them of framing him of murder. April 2014: The 9th District Court of Appeals rules that now-retired Judge Hunter erred in freeing Prade, saying that the DNA results raised more questions than answers. Prade was allowed to remain free on bail while he appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court. July 2014: In a 4-3 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court declined to hear Prade's appeal of the 9th District's ruling. Prade, who had spent 18 months reconnecting with family, was ordered back to prison by Judge Christine Croce, who opted not to honor Judge Hunter's earlier provisional ruling that called for Prade to be granted a new trial if her order was ultimately overturned. March 2017: Croce denies Prade's continued requests for a new trial, saying he had "failed to introduce any new evidence that the jury had not already considered" in his '98 trial. The 9th District Court of Appeals eventually concurs. March 2019: The Ohio Supreme Court declines to hear Prade's case again. His lawyers with the Ohio Innocence Project hit a dead end in their efforts to free him. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: A timeline in the case against former Akron Police Capt. Douglas Prade Candidates for the Tokyo Gubernatorial Election joint press conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo By Tim Kelly TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has won re-election to a third term on Sunday, fending off challenges from dozens of candidates vying to unseat the ruling Liberal Democratic Party-backed incumbent, according to an exit poll from public broadcaster NHK. Koike, 71, got more than 40% of the vote, followed by Shinji Ishimaru, 41, a former mayor of a town in Hiroshima prefecture, who was in second place, the exit poll showed. Renho, 56, who was supported by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), came in third. A victory for Koike could help embattled Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida resist calls from within the LDP to step down as public support for him and his ruling group ebbs amid a political donations scandal. With its popularity waning, the LDP in April lost three parliamentary by-elections to the CDPJ as well as the vote for the governorship of nearby Shizuoka prefecture, which was won by Yasutomo Suzuki, a candidate backed by the opposition group. A total of 56 candidates contested the election for the governorship of Japan's capital, which is home to 13.5 million people. (Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Jan Harvey) Louise Lucas upset by statement Missy Cotter Smasal made online. The GOP is pouncing on the division its created. A top state legislator took aim this week at fellow Democrat Missy Cotter Smasal, a candidate running to unseat U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans, giving ammunition to Republicans seeking to highlight divisions on the other side of the aisle in a bid to win the fiercely contested race. Military families are being left out in the cold and all Virginia Democrats can do is attack each other, the Republican Party of Virginia wrote Tuesday on social media. Shameful. The argument stemmed from a dustup over a state tuition waiver program for families of military veterans who were killed or seriously disabled. Ben Melusky, assistant professor of political science at Old Dominion University, said its not surprising that an issue involving veterans would spark arguments and heated rhetoric, even among members of the same party or at different levels of government. This is the reality of Virginia in terms of the veterans population and the connection we have to the military; (everyone) wants to look good in the eyes of the military, he said. This years state budget approved by the Democratic-held General Assembly and Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin imposed new restrictions on the tuition waiver program in an attempt to curb rising costs. State budget discussions are spearheaded by the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee chaired by Portsmouth Democrat Louise Lucas and House Appropriations Committee. After fierce backlash from veterans and military families, legislators announced Tuesday they had reached a deal to reverse the changes. Youngkin is expected to approve the plan after the legislature formally approves it during a special session July 18. Smasal, running in the 2nd Congressional District, voiced strong support for the waiver program in a Monday news release shared on social media platform X. As a Navy veteran who married an Army veteran, I personally understand the sacrifice that service members and their families give to our country, said Smasal, who served as a surface warfare officer during Operation Enduring Freedom. It is our job to honor that sacrifice and provide for their earned benefits. Smasals post didnt mention Lucas or the Senate, but touted legislation introduced in the House and name dropped two Hampton Roads delegates who sponsored it. The House and Senate had introduced separate pieces of legislation to address the issue, with the House backing a full repeal. Lucas viewed Smasals comment as a slight and replied to the post on social media. Missy, like I told you, the first rule of HR politics is to stay the hell of my and (House Speaker Don Scotts) business, Lucas wrote. How dare you attack me for trying to find a long term, sustainable solution to an issue that you KNOW that I care so deeply about. Lucas then took a swipe at Smasals absence from a June 28 news conference in Chesapeake held to counter former President Donald Trumps rally that same day with military veterans and the Democratic Party of Virginia. Smasal was listed as an event speaker in a news release sent out June 27 by Democratic Party of Virginia. However, the news conference went ahead without her. Shame on you for walking out on (President) Joe Biden, Lucas wrote. The National Republican Congressional Committee pounced on the divide, highlighting Lucas comments in a news release that declared Smasal isnt ready for primetime. Bidens June 27 debate performance fueled divisions within the Democratic Party about whether its time for the 81-year old to pass the torch to a younger candidate. In response to questions about Lucas comment, Smasal provided a statement Tuesday that reiterated her support for veterans. She declined to speak with The Virginian-Pilot. I will always fight for military families and veterans so that they can get every benefit theyve earned and all the support they deserve, she said. Campaign manager Brenna Crombie provided a brief statement about Smasals absence from the rally. Missy could not attend the Veterans Against Trump event on Friday because of a scheduling conflict, Crombie wrote. The Democratic Party of Virginia declined to comment. Rich Anderson, chair of the Republican Party of Virginia, said the organization had no additional comment apart from the post on social media. Why interfere when two Democrats are clawing at each other? he said. On Wednesday, Lucas said she had mostly moved on from the dispute, but maintained that Smasal should have attended the event. Im still upset about the way she walked out on Joe Biden, said Lucas, who declined to comment further. Melusky said the divide between state and national politics has weakened in recent years, opening the door to more interactions or arguments between federal and state level politicians. We have this kind of confluence going on between national level and state level politics, he said. Because of that, you have essentially this weird in-party fighting going on with whats happening at the state level I think its just the reality of the nationalization of our politics. Melusky, however, doubts any of it will influence the outcome of Smasals congressional campaign. I dont think its going to have that much of an impact, he said. Its not like shes being attacked by Biden or Trump, shes being attacked by a state level official. Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com China's public security ministry directs local rescue after dike breach Xinhua) 09:39, July 07, 2024 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. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Kou Jie) Is Tropical Storm Beryl coming to Louisville this week? What to know about storm's path Remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl could reach the Louisville metro area by Tuesday, the National Weather Service said in a statement Sunday. Heavy rain and winds could result in "isolated strong to severe storms." NWS Louisville said much of Kentucky, expect for the far eastern part of the state, is under a "slight risk" for severe weather Tuesday. The slight risk area also includes several counties in southern Indiana. Cities just outside of the area were at risk for non-severe thunderstorms, according to a graphic from the National Weather Service issued Sunday morning. The National Weather Service in Louisville predicted a slight risk of severe weather for Tuesday, July 9, 2024. Tropical Storm Beryl, which made landfall as a hurricane in Jamaica and Mexico over the July Fourth weekend, is expected to reach the Texas coast early Monday morning, USA TODAY reported. On Sunday, the National Hurricane Center anticipated the storm would weaken into a tropical depression while traveling northeast through Texas, Arkansas and Missouri. How likely is Beryl's arrival in Louisville? Louisville was just south of the USA TODAY storm tracker's cone Sunday afternoon, but there is a 33% chance Beryl's path could veer outside the projection, according to the map. "The track may continue to shift in the coming days which would impact the placement of the heaviest rainfall," the National Weather Service in Paducah said in a statement Sunday. The weather service's office in Paducah serves parts of western Kentucky and Indiana. None of the computer models used by the National Weather Service showed the path of the storm going through Louisville directly. How much rain could Louisville get Tuesday? Louisville could receive more than a half-inch of rain Tuesday, according to a forecast from the National Weather Service. Locally residents could see higher amounts. There is a 50% chance of rain during the day and a 60% of rain overnight Tuesday, according to the NWS forecast. Thunderstorms are possible throughout the day. What are the chances for tornadoes in Louisville? The National Weather Service in Louisville stated "brief tornadoes" could occur in the region Tuesday. "The strongest storms will be capable of producing heavy rainfall and isolated instances of damaging winds and brief tornadoes," NWS Louisville said in a statement Sunday. Multiple tornadoes have touched down in Louisville this year, as recently as Thursday, when an EF-1 tornado damaged homes and cars in the West End. In April, a tornado crossed the Ohio River into Prospect. Louisville 5-day forecast Sunday night: Mostly clear, with a low around 67. Calm wind. Monday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 94. Calm wind. Monday night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 73. Light west wind. Tuesday: A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 11 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 90. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Tuesday night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 73. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. Wednesday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 2pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 83. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Wednesday night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2 a.m., then a slight chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 68. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Thursday: A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 p.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 85. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Thursday night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8 p.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 68. Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 90. More: Honeymoon now a 'prison nightmare,' after Hurricane Beryl strands couple in Jamaica Reach reporter Leo Bertucci at lbertucci@gannett.com or @leober2chee on X, formerly known as Twitter This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Tropical Storm Beryl: Louisville could be in path of former hurricane Can you 'Trump-proof' NATO? As Biden falters, Europeans look to safeguard the military alliance FILE - President Donald Trump speaks during the NATO summit, Dec. 4, 2019, in Watford, England. NATO allies are gathering in Washington for a summit this week, and the prospect that former President Trump, the military alliance's most prominent critic, may return to power is dominating discussions. President Joe Biden's shaky performance in the presidential debate last month escalated doubts about his reelection. It's given rise to the term "Trump-proofing" or "future-proofing" NATO, making the alliance more self-sufficient. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File) WASHINGTON (AP) Growing skepticism about President Joe Biden's reelection chances has European leaders heading to the NATO summit in Washington confronting the prospect that the military alliance's most prominent critic, Donald Trump, may return to power over its mightiest military. NATO made up of 32 European and North American allies committed to defending one another from armed attack will stress strength through solidarity as it celebrates its 75th anniversary during the summit starting Tuesday. Event host Biden, who pulled allies into a global network to help Ukraine fight off Russia's invasion, has called the alliance the most unified it has ever been. But behind the scenes, a dominant topic will be preparing for possible division, as the power of far-right forces unfriendly to NATO grows in the U.S. and other countries, including France, raising concerns about how strong support will stay for the alliance and the military aid that its members send to Ukraine. At the presidential debate, Biden asked Trump: Youre going to stay in NATO or youre going to pull out of NATO? Trump tilted his head in a shrug. Biden's poor debate performance set off a frenzy about whether the 81-year-old president is fit for office or should step aside as the Democratic presidential candidate. Even before the debate, European governments were deep in consultations on what they could do to ensure that NATO, Western support for Ukraine and the security of individual NATO countries will endure should Trump win back the presidency in November and temper U.S. contributions. Some Americans and Europeans call it Trump-proofing NATO or future-proofing it when the political advances of far-right political blocs in Europe are factored in. This week's summit, held in the city where the mutual-defense alliance was founded in 1949, was once expected to be a celebration of NATO's endurance. Now, a European official said, it looks gloomy." There are two reasons for the gloom: Russian advances on the battlefield in the months that Trump-allied congressional Republicans delayed U.S. arms and funding to Ukraine. And the possibility of far-right governments unfriendly to NATO coming to power. The official spoke to reporters last week on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations among governments. Rachel Rizzo, a senior fellow on NATO with the nonpartisan think tank the Atlantic Council, says she has a blunt message for Europeans: Freaking out about a second Trump term helps no one. For allies at the summit, she said, the key will be resisting the temptation to dwell on the details of unprecedented events in U.S. politics and put their heads down on readying Western military aid for Ukraine and preparing for any lessening of U.S. support. Trump, who before and after his presidency has spoken admiringly of Russian President Vladimir Putin and harshly of NATO, often focuses his complaints on the U.S. share of the alliance's costs. Biden himself, as a U.S. senator in 1997, warned that if there were any sense other NATO allies were taking the United States for suckers, the future of the alliance in the next century will be very much in doubt. The 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union lulled the West into thinking the Russian threat had been neutralized, leading to military spending cuts. Now, NATO allies are bolstering their forces against any wider aggression by Putin, and a record 23 nations in NATO are meeting defense-spending goals. One of Trump's former national security advisers, John Bolton, says Trump in a second term would work to get the U.S. out of NATO. Congress passed legislation last year making that harder, but a president could simply stop collaborating in some or all of NATO's missions. Trumps campaign did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Elections in France saw a NATO-adverse far-right party under Marine Le Pen greatly increase the number of seats it holds in parliament. Far-right forces also are gaining in Germany. Some European officials and analysts say that's simply the rise and fall of voter allegiance in democracies, which NATO has dealt with before. They point to Poland, where a right-wing party lost power last year and whose people have been among NATO's most ardent supporters. They also note Italy, where right-wing populist Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has won praise as an ally. In part in response to the United States' political upheaval, Europeans say they want to institutionalize support for Ukraine within NATO, lessening the dependence on the U.S. European allies also failed to get enough weapons to Ukraine during the delay in a U.S. foreign aid package, outgoing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged in a visit to Washington last month. That's one of the reasons why I believe that we should have a stronger NATO role is that role in providing the support, Stoltenberg told reporters. An initiative likely to be endorsed at the summit is NATO taking more responsibility for coordinating training and military and financial assistance for Ukraine's forces, instead of the U.S. Europeans also are talking of giving Ukrainians a greater presence within NATO bodies, though there's no consensus yet on Ukraine joining the alliance. Europeans say NATO countries are coordinating statements on Ukraine for the summit to make clear, for example, that additional Russian escalation would trigger substantial new sanctions and other penalties from the West. That's even if the U.S., under Trump, doesn't act. As for NATO security overall, besides European allies upping defense spending, they're huddling on defense strategies that don't rely as much on the U.S. There's also growing emphasis on ensuring each country is capable of fielding armies and fighting wars, the European official said. The possibility of a less dependable U.S. partner under Trump is generating discussions about Europeans playing a bigger role in NATO's nuclear deterrence, according to the Poland-based Centre for Eastern Studies, a security think tank. The U.S. now plays the determinative role in the nuclear weapons stationed in Europe. But European countries and Canada, with their smaller military budgets and economies, are years from being able to fill any U.S.-sized hole in NATO. If an American president comes into office and says, Were done with that, there is definitely will in Europe to backfill the American role, said John Deni, a senior fellow on security at the Atlantic Council. The Brits would jump on it. But even they will acknowledge they do not have the capacity or the capability, and they cant do it at the speed and the scale that we can," Deni said. "This notion that we are somehow Trump-proofing or future-proofing the American commitment either to Ukraine or to NATO I think that mostly is fantasy. One of Donald Trumps leading running mate contenders declared on Sunday that the former president, who was found liable by a jury for sexually abusing a woman and also paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to cover up affairs with a porn star and a Playboy model, is clearly a good husband. Republican Senator JD Vance appeared on NBCs Meet the Press for a wide-ranging interview with moderator Kristen Welker where he seemingly conducted his latest audition for the role of Trumps vice president. His comments about Trump as a positive father and a husband came in response to a question from Welker about a line from his book, Hillbilly Elegy, in which Vance describes former President Barack Obama as a good husband. I grew up in a broken family, Kristen, said Vance. And I just wanted to be a good husband and dad and certainly Barack Obama, despite my many political disagreements with him, he's clearly a good husband and a father. He added: By the way, I'd say the same thing about Donald Trump, whose children love him. I think this is one of the things the media often misses about Trump, is how genuinely devoted he is to his family, to his grandchildren, and how part of his pro-life messaging, his fundamental pro-life view, is that we ought to make it easier for more American families to have those thriving children and thriving families, the senator continued. His comments starkly contrast with the known history of Donald Trumps multiple marriages, countless alleged affairs, and more recent history of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to women who came forward and alleged that the ex-president was disloyal to his third wife, Melania, and committed adultery after she became pregnant with his youngest son Barron. Trump has publicly denied any infidelity, but was recently found guilty on 34 felony counts over falsifying business records to hide a hush money scheme involving those women the most famous being Stormy Daniels, an adult film star who was paid $130,000 as part of an agreement during the 2016 election. Vance, a first-term senator, was elected to his position just two years ago after riding a wave of the former presidents support through the Republican Senate primary in Ohio and going on to defeat Tim Ryan, a Democratic congressman, in the general election. His win was seen as a sign of Ohios deepening-red politcs and the power of Trumps endorsement among the states Republican voters. After less than half a term in the Senate, Vance is now widely reported to be within the top three, if not the top two, contenders remaining to join Trump on the 2024 Republican ticket. Florida Senator Marco Rubio is thought to be his main rival for the job, while North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum is also reportedly still in the running. His ascension to the role of vice president in 2025, were he to be selected and Trump were to win, would define a career arc that has been shorter than almost any other politician in Washington and would serve as a clear indication of Vances own presidential ambitions. JD Vance is pictured in the Senate in June. The Ohio senator is one of three men thought to be still in the running to serve as Donald Trumps running mate. (Getty Images) Vance was clearly taking steps to align his positions with Trumps to the letter in his interview on Sunday an important step for a man who once described the former president as an idiot. His most notable point of alignment was on the issue of the abortion pill mifepristone. In the interview, Vance affirmed his support for the legality of the drug, a position that echoes Trumps own efforts to stake out a less extreme stance on reproductive issues than the absolutist pro-life groups who have called for a national ban and sought to restrict or prohibit other practices like in vitro fertilization (IVF) and over-the-counter contraception. Mifepristone has been near the top of the list of the pro-life movements targets. Just to be clear, you support mifepristone being acceptable? asked Welker. Yes, Kristen, I do, said Vance. On the issue of reproductive rights, the senator charged that reporters frequently frame Democrats as being reasonable and pragmatic, when in reality Republicans are the one trying to find some common ground. Vance also backed Trump when asked about his pledge to appoint a special prosecutor to go after President Joe Biden if he takes back the White House in November. Donald Trump is talking about appointing a special prosecutor to investigate Joe Biden for wrongdoing, Vance claimed. What Donald Trump is simply saying is we ought to investigate the prior administration, he said something he falsely claimed Biden had done to Trump. Downplaying Trumps threats, he insisted the presumptive Republican nominee was just calling to do the basic work of investigating wrongdoing. That is a totally reasonable thing for him to do, he said. Despite his staunch support for Trump, Vance confirmed that Trump has yet to extend the offer of serving as running mate to the former president, the first candidate in history to run for president after becoming a convicted felon. I have not gotten the call, Kristen, Vance admitted. [W]ere just trying to work to elect Donald Trump. Whoever his vice president is, hes got a lot of good people he could choose from. Its the policies that worked and the leadership style that worked for the American people. I think we have to bring that back to the White House, and Im fighting to try to do that. Trump's hush-money sentencing will still happen in September despite his new immunity superpowers, New York legal experts predict Trump's hush-money sentencing will still happen in September despite his new immunity superpowers, New York legal experts predict Trump wants his hush-money verdict nixed in the wake of the Supreme Court immunity opinion. But Trump's new immunity superpowers won't derail his September sentencing, experts predict. That's because any official-act evidence used in his trial only amounts to "harmless error." "No harm, no foul" isn't just for streetball. It could help former President Donald Trump's hush-money conviction survive the US Supreme Court immunity opinion. Thanks to a legal doctrine called "harmless error," Trump's September 18 sentencing is virtually guaranteed to proceed as planned, former New York judges and prosecutors predicted in conversations with Business Insider. And no amount of jumping up and down and screaming "SCOTUS" can stop it, they said. That's because even if Trump's trial judge, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, finds that presidential immunity retroactively invalidates some evidence used at trial, he'll likely also find that this amounts to "harmless error." No harm, no foul meaning that even if you removed the challenged evidence, there would still be overwhelming proof of Trump's guilt. "Saying it's harmless means you're saying that removing this evidence from the trial wouldn't change the verdict," explained John Moscow, a former Manhattan financial crimes prosecutor. "And yes, I believe the judge will find that he would have been convicted regardless," added Mocow, now senior counsel at Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss in New York. "And yes, I believe that the judge will find that this was harmless." What are Trump's lawyers trying to do? Trump's lawyers are about to file what's known as a 330.30 motion to set aside the verdict. Their deadline for filing is Wednesday. It's a pre-sentencing motion. And it's based on a state statute that tells New York criminal trial judges that they must toss out a verdict if the defense proves that something happened in the trial that was so grievously wrong, it would never survive an appeal. Donald Trump hopes to use this section of New York law to overturn his hush-money conviction. NYS Criminal Procedure Law/Business Insider And here's where SCOTUS comes in Trump's lawyers have already given Merchan and prosecutors the broad outlines of what they believe those grievous 330.30 grounds for an appellate reversal are. They're the same grounds they raised pre-trial in March, in arguing without success that the trial should be delayed until SCOTUS addressed presidential immunity. Monday's immunity opinion protects former presidents from having to defend themselves against evidence involving their "official acts." The Supreme Court presidential immunity opinion bars official-act evidence. US Supreme Court/BI Trump's lawyers now say there were at least four times that the judge improperly let Manhattan prosecutors show official-act evidence to the jury. All four instances involved evidence from 2017 and early 2018. (It was just 11 days before the 2016 election when then-Trump attorney Michael Cohen fronted $130,000 in hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels. But Trump was in the White House when he falsified Trump Organization records throughout 2017 to hide paying Cohen back.) Then-president Donald Trump on a phone call. REUTERS/Carlos Barria Trump says his 2017-18 phone logs were official-act evidence The defense is poised to argue that the hush-money jury should never have seen phone logs showing when and for how long Cohen's phone connected with phones used by Trump. But the logs are neither "acts" nor vital to a verdict, former prosecutors said. "A phone record is not the president doing something," said Diana Florence, another former financial crimes prosecutor now in private practice. "The logs only show that this instrument connected to that instrument," Moscow agreed. "And if that's an official act, then that's a real problem," he added, meaning that any such interpretation of presidential immunity would be incredibly broad. Still, "the conversation is what was important, and the fact of a conversation was confirmed by the person on the other end," meaning Cohen, who the verdict shows the jurors believed, Moscow said. "So if you knock out the phone logs, that doesn't warrant a new trial." An incriminating tweet Manhattan District Attorney's Office/BI Trump says his 2018 tweets were official-act evidence The hush-money jury should never have seen certain incriminating 2018 tweets, the defense is also ready to argue in seeking that 330.30 reversal. In the tweets, Trump described his payments to Cohen as hush-money reimbursement, contrary to his business records, in which the payments were falsely and 34 times called "legal fees." But the tweets were from Trump's personal Twitter account. They described payments from Trump's personal checkbook. And they concerned the most personal of allegations a one-night-stand with a porn actor. "And that's why it wasn't on the White House stationery," Florence joked. "President Donald J. Trump here, and I didn't pay that porn star." "If tweets or 'truths' are all official acts, then the libel and defamation laws all go," added Moscow. "Privacy laws all go. He can say whatever he wants whenever he wants to." Donald Trump poses for members of the media with then-White House Communications Director Hope Hicks on her last day in the role. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik Trump says an Oval Office conversation with Hope Hicks was official-act evidence, too The defense is also poised to argue that the jury should never have heard former White House communications director Hope Hicks testify about a 2018 Oval Office conversation, in which she said Trump told her he was relieved the hush-money story broke after the election, rather than before. The testimony was "devastating" and showed Trump considered the hush-money payment to be vital to his campaign, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told the jury in closing statements. Florence thought this conversation might arguably be official under the SCOTUS opinion "because she worked for the administration." The opinion says that in the DC insurrection case, Trump's discussions with his acting attorney general "are readily categorized in light of the nature of the President's official relationship to the office held by that individual" and are therefore immune from prosecution and cannot be used against him. "But even then, he's talking with Hicks about something relating to his personal life," Florence added. Either way whether it was properly or improperly shared with the jury the Hicks conversation is more corroborative than substantive, and the verdict would survive without it, Florence and Moscow agreed. From a footnote in a government ethics form Donald Trump signed in 2018, Manhattan district attorney's office/BI Finally, Trump says a 2018 government ethics form was also official-act evidence The last piece of purportedly official-act evidence Trump is challenging is a government ethics form he signed in 2018. The form details Trump's assets and liabilities and is mandatory for all presidents and high-level administration officials. Prosecutors showed it to jurors because it includes Trump's claim that "Mr. Trump fully reimbursed Mr. Cohen in 2017." By calling it reimbursement, Trump contradicts his business records, which disguised the reimbursement as legal fees. "The Supreme Court could not mean that the president is immune from filling out forms," Moscow said. "If that is an official act, then Trump has no liability for signing and approving any documents." Said Florence, "If he was being prosecuted for that form for that being a false filing then maybe, maybe, in the new world we're living in then that could cause the verdict to be overturned. "That's if the judge deemed it an official act, which it could be," she said. "But the thing is, it's only more corroboration." Donald Trump's signature on the government ethics form his lawyers say should not have been shown to jurors. Manhattan District Attorney's Office/BI No reversal necessary Even without the phone logs, the tweets, the Hicks testimony, and the ethics form, there is more than enough non-official-act evidence to convict Trump, said Charles Solomon, who, before retiring, was a state Supreme Court justice in Manhattan for more than 30 years. "Even if he had immunity from all of this evidence, that doesn't mean you throw out the whole verdict," said Solomon, who after leaving the bench worked as an advisor to the DA's office. "I don't think there's anything appearing in the record requiring a reversal or modification of the verdict as a matter of law," he said. "The question every judge is going to ask, and the then the appellate courts will ask too, is was the error of such significance that had it not been made, the verdict could well have been different," said attorney Thomas Franczyk. "The judge will ask, 'even if we set that evidence aside, was there sufficient evidence left to still say 'no harm, no foul, there would have been a conviction anyway?'" said Franczyk, a retired state Supreme Court justice from Buffalo who has written about 330.30 motions for the Assigned Counsel Program of Erie County. And if a 330.30 fails, it's straight to sentencing If Merchan rejects the defense 330.30 motion, it's game over, at least on the trial-court level. Trump's sentencing will be the next, inevitable step, the retired judges and former prosecutors who spoke to BI agreed. As a newly sentenced felon, Trump can immediately appeal including on the grounds that official-act evidence was improperly admitted and that the 330.30 motion was improperly denied. Trump's hush-money conviction appeal will take years and could even lead back to the US Supreme Court. "I can write their opinion: 'It's Donald Trump, so he wins,'" Moscow joked. "With a concurring opinion by Justice Clarence 'My Buddies Won't Continue Funding Me If I Let His Conviction Stand' Thomas." Any sentence will almost certainly be put on ice in its entirety pending the outcome of Trump's appeals, experts say. Still, Trump will remain a convicted and sentenced felon for the duration. That's including if the current September 18 sentencing date holds as Americans head to the polls in November to choose their next president. "Obviously, we're all speculating because who in the world ever thought that this is where we would ever be," said Florence. "But I'm pretty sure there will be a sentencing," she said. "Maybe Judge Cannon would set the verdict aside," she said, referring to US District Judge Aileen Cannon, who presides over his Florida classified documents case. "But I don't think a Judge Merchan will." Prosecutors have called the 330.30 effort "without merit." They must file their response by July 24. Merchan has said he will issue a written decision on September 6. A DA spokesperson and a lawyer for Trump declined to comment on this story. Read the original article on Business Insider CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) TSA reported record-breaking checkpoint travel numbers that exceeded the numbers of last year on July 4 and 5. This is the first time since April 8 that the numbers exceeded their 2023 numbers. TSA reported the number of people screened at CLT: July 4 26,376 July 3 40,510 July 2 35,857 American Airlines says they are preparing for Sunday, what the airline is calling their biggest day of this holiday period and the entire summer travel season. We plan to serve more customers than ever before with 775,800 customers expected across more than 7,000 scheduled flights at CLT. Thats more than 570 additional flights compared to last year. July 7 will be our busiest travel day with nearly 700 departures, American Airlines wrote in a recent release. American Airlines also reports that the airline led the industry in on-time departures with only two flights canceled due to regional weather not related to Hurricane Beryl. 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. Tweaked ordinance change would still allow growth for less desired industries in IEC A sign for concrete company Ozinga is posted near the Smith Ready Mix Concrete plant on Walnut Road on April 25, 2024, near New Carlisle. Officials are coming to the St. Joseph County Council with a modified version of a proposed ordinance change that will permit a concrete contractor to expand in the Indiana Enterprise Center near New Carlisle and without which, the contractor would violate the IECs overlay district rules. The IEC is hungry for concrete to build big, new industries like Amazons data center and the GM/Samsung EV battery plant. But the overlay district bans certain kinds of unwanted industry, such as mining operations, slaughterhouses and junkyards. The proposed change would allow certain pre-existing businesses already in the IEC even though they are considered less desirable to grow their buildings and paved areas by 25%, rather than 50% as originally suggested. How this issue came about: With possible violation of New Carlisle overlay district, county seeks to tweak wording. The softened percentage appeased those whod opposed the expansion at the Area Plan Commission meeting on May 21, including rural and environmental advocate Steve Francis and New Carlisle resident Dan Caruso. They worried that an exception like this weakened the overlay districts protections. The change was sparked this spring after Caruso noticed how concrete contractor Ozinga was already setting up a temporary operation on land that a competitor, Smith Ready Plant, was leasing to it. Seeing it as a violation, he alerted county officials. The APC itself, which had raised questions on May 21, too, ultimately voted 6-0 to give the tweaked wording a favorable recommendation at its June 18 meeting. The modified measure will come to the county council for its approval on July 9. It gained a favorable recommendation from the councils Land Use Planning Committee on June 25. South Bend Tribune reporter Joseph Dits can be reached at 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com. This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: County change would let industries in IEC overlay district to grow Two congirls charged in callous romance scam that duped over a dozen elderly men of $7M: feds Two "callous" congirls duped at least 16 lonely men out of more than $7 million in a long-running romance scam, Manhattan federal prosecutors said. Two callous congirls duped at least 16 lonely old men out of more than $7 million in a long-running romance scam, Manhattan federal prosecutors said. Rosanna Lisa Stanley and Gina Guy reeled in the elderly marks with tall tales about kidney and liver transplants and paid the grifters big bucks for bogus business investments, prosecutors alleged. The romance scam ran from at least 2009 until this year when they were arrested last month, authorities said. The heartbreakers hooked their victims through in-person meetings, phone calls, text messages, and an online dating platform, according to court documents. One sucker handed Stanley, 48, more than $1 million after the fake fortune teller told her victim his money was tainted with bad influences and she would return it clean, authorities contended. Rosanna Lisa Stanley, 48, reeled in lonely elderly men. Gina Guy, 37, allegedly scammed at least four men out of more than $900,000 by tugging their heartstrings. Moe, Alison (USANYS) The victim wired money transfers and issued checks to Stanleys purported astrology business in Manhattan from 2009 through 2020, while she promised she could help him reach his desired life, prosecutors said. Another victim, who fell for Stanley during a February 2023 meeting in Manhattan, believed he was in an exclusive, romantic relationship with her, court records showed. The swooning senior ended up paying Stanleys rent and living expenses and at her request, turned over his online banking credentials for a particular credit card and gave her the card. Stanley allegedly changed the victims password, refused to share it with him and then ran upthousands of dollars in expenses, court papers show. She also conned the victim into ponying up money for a bogus Florida catering business, the feds said. Both women are charged with money laundering, wire fraud and conspiracy. justice.gov Stanley soaked the senior for at least $555,000 in all, using $220,000 of the funds to pay off loans on a boat and luxury car, according to court documents which did not reveal details of the vehicles. Guy, 37, allegedly scammed at least four men out of more than $900,000 by tugging their heartstrings. In multiple instances she claimed to need money for kidney transplants, prosecutors said. Stanley, who has addresses on the Upper East Side, New Jersey and Florida, according to public records, was arrested June 25 in Miami Beach. Guywas collared that same day in the Big Apple, the Manhattan federal court filing says. Both women are charged with money laundering, wire fraud and conspiracy. The women were released on $250,000 bond each. The case is pending. Rosanna Lisa Stanley and Gina Guy callously defrauded elderly victims who were simply looking for companionship. They allegedly used the millions of dollars in fraud proceeds to lead lives of luxury at their victims expense, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said in a statement. Two men escape from Pennsylvania residential treatment facility NEW MORGAN, Pa. (WHTM) Caernarvon Township Police are seeking two men they say escaped from a residential treatment facility in Berks County. Police said two men were missing from Abraxas Academy in New Morgan and were last seen Saturday at around 4 p.m. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now WHTM Daily Digest The men are from Reading and Bristol Township. State Police are investigating and Caernarvon Township Police urged residents to keep their vehicles and property secured. Abraxas is described as a secure residential treatment and detention center. 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 ABC27. If the U.S. Forest Service wants logging projects, the courts are clear: They must follow the law. A photo of logs stacked ready to be transported (Photo by Albert Herring via Wikimedia Commons | CC-BY-SA 2.0). On June 27, a federal court halted an illegal logging project on federal public lands in the Little Belt Mountains of Montana. The Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Native Ecosystems Council filed their lawsuit to stop the Horsefly project in the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest in April 2021. The project called for cutting and burning trees on 10,343 acres, which is more than 16 square miles. To enable the logging, the agency planned on bulldozing a stunning 40.7 miles of new logging roads in the Little Belt Mountains north of White Sulphur Springs, Montana. The scope of the massive Horsefly landscape-altering proposal is alarming and because the project violated federal law, it had to be enjoined. The Forest Service used a number of euphemisms in a transparent attempt to disguise what used to be more honestly called logging. For instance, the agency called 3,278 acres of commercial logging intermediate treatment, 1,049 acres of clearcutting regeneration harvest, 409 acres of clearcutting and possible burning meadow restoration, and 465 acres of non-commercial logging rearrangement of fuels. Theyre rearranging them, alright from forest ecosystems to stump fields. This is an ecosystem, not a private tree farm, and so we have to maintain the habitat for sensitive wildlife species. One of those species is the northern goshawk, which has been declining in population, and which the forest plan lists as an old-growth forest management indicator species. Due to the importance of this species, the law requires 100% of goshawk nets to be monitored annually. In 2018, the entire Forest was surveyed for goshawks and the Forest Service found an alarming 47% decline in active goshawk nests, which the agency failed to disclose to the public in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Forest Management Act. The agency also ignored its own Forest Plan requirement to issue an evaluation report if active nests decline by 10%. The courts ruling was very straightforward on the failure of the Forest Service to follow the law. As the Order reads: The c ourt agrees with Alliance that the Forest Services failure to disclose and evaluate the decline in active goshawk nesting territories violated both NFMA and NEPA. . . . Federal Defendants all but concede that the Forest Services failure to disclose the decrease in active goshawk nesting territories to the public in the EA and failure to comply with the Forest Plan requirement to conduct an evaluation report if active nests decline by 10% amounts to a violation of NFMA. . Yet the Forest Service continues to log the last remaining mature and old growth forests and goshawks are in trouble. The courts order remanded the project authorization to the agency, and enjoined the project pending compliance with federal law. We follow the law every day, and the Forest Service must also follow the law. When a government agency violates the law, it must be held accountable in court. Its not easy to fight the federal government, which has far more resources than we do, but nonetheless we are committed to making the government follow its own laws to protect our native wildlife and public land ecosystems. Despite attacks by politicians, intimidation tactics, and misinformation campaigns, we wont be stopped. We are determined to continue with this critical work. Mike Garrity is the Executive Director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies. Less than 48 hours after the United Kingdom's new Defense Secretary John Healey took his post, Healey met with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Odesa and announced a new package of defense aid on July 7. The new aid announced includes more artillery guns, a quarter of a million ammunition rounds and nearly 100 precision Brimstone missiles. Healey also met with his counterpart, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. "There may have been a change in government, but the U.K. is united for Ukraine. As the new Defense Secretary, I will ensure that we reinvigorate Britains support by stepping up supplies of vital military aid," Healey said, in remarks posted on the UK government's website. "Our commitment to stand with the Ukrainian people is absolute, as is our resolve to confront Russian aggression and pursue Putin for his war crimes." Healey's visit was part of an event marking Ukraine's Navy Day, in which a delegation of foreign and Ukrainian officials accompanied Zelensky to Odesa to honor sailors who were killed. Healy also directed UK officials to expedite an earlier defense package from April, to ensure it is delivered within the next 100 days. That package, worth 500-million-pounds ($617 million), was the U.K.'s largest single military aid package ever. The Labour Party won elections in the U.K. on July 5 in a landslide victory, taking control of the government from the Conservative Party. Leaders of both parties have consistently supported Ukraine, so the elections were not expected to significantly alter the U.K.'s stance toward Ukraine. Read also: Zelensky congratulates Labour Partys Starmer on UK election victory Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. (Bloomberg) -- The UK government will demand that jobs are saved at Tatas steelworks in Port Talbot, Wales, in exchange for state support for the industry, new Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said. Most Read from Bloomberg Reynolds in the job for less than two days after the Labour Partys landslide win in Thursdays general election, told the BBC on Sunday that both he and Prime Minister Keir Starmer have already spoken to Tata Steel over the companys plan to shut down its blast furnaces at the plant in south Wales in a move that could hit the jobs of some 2,800 workers. Im going to make sure that job guarantees are part of the negotiation that we are having, he said. Its not about underwriting loss making businesses in perhaps a way we might have thought about industrial policy in the past. It is about being a partner for investment in the future. The fate of the jobs at the steelworks is an early test of the new governments industrial policy. Tata is planning to cut jobs as it replaces the blast furnaces at with greener but less labor-intensive electric arc furnaces. Reynolds pointed to Labours election manifesto pledge to plow 2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) into the steel industry, on top of 500 million that was already in the outgoing Tory governments plans, telling the BBC there is more money available for the steel industry under a Labour government but that it will come with conditions. He added that the talks are a priority but conceded the timescale is not a large one. There is a better deal available for Port Talbot and the steel industry as a whole, Reynolds said. We have to make sure that decarbonization is not deindustrialization. Nevertheless, Reynolds hinted that some jobs will have to go, saying blast furnaces employ more people than some of the newer technologies available, and adding theres a range of things you have to understand. Tata announced its plan in January after reaching a deal with the Conservative government for 500 million of support. The company is investing 1.25 billion in the project, and was aiming to close down the blast furnaces by September. Unions had hoped to keep one of the furnaces running during the transition, but the company said doing so wouldnt be feasible due to the heavy losses involved in running the plants. Sharon Graham, head of the union Unite, warned that the Starmer government wont have a lot of a honeymoon period as she urged it to take action to support the steel industry. Im asking for two things: One is investment in steel with jobs guarantees and the other one is on procurement legislation that all UK infrastructure projects should use UK steel, she said in a BBC interview. Starmer is expected to visit Wales in the coming days as part of a tour of the UK nations following Labours landslide victory in Thursdays general election. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. New UK Secretary for Defence announces military aid package for Ukraine in Odesa John Healey, Secretary of State for the Defence of the UK, has promised to strengthen support for Ukraine during his visit to the city of Odesa less than 48 hours after his appointment to office. Source: European Pravda with reference to a statement by the UK government Details: Following the meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the negotiations with his Ukrainian counterpart, Rustem Umierov, Healey announced that the UK would provide Ukraine with a new support package that would include more artillery guns, a quarter of a million ammunition rounds and nearly 100 precision Brimstone missiles. During the visit, which coincided with the annual Ukrainian Navy Day, Healey confirmed that the new government in Westminster would strengthen the UK's unwavering support for Ukraine. Quote: "There may have been a change in government, but the UK is united for Ukraine. As the new Defence Secretary, I will ensure that we reinvigorate Britains support by stepping up supplies of vital military aid. Our commitment to stand with the Ukrainian people is absolute, as is our resolve to confront Russian aggression and pursue Putin for his war crimes. This government is steadfast in our commitment to continue supplying military assistance and will stand shoulder to shoulder with our Ukrainian friends for as long as it takes." More details: The new military aid package will include: A quarter of a million of 50 calibre ammunition 90 anti-armour Brimstone missiles 50 small military boats to support river and coastal operations 40 de-mining vehicles 10 AS-90 artillery guns 61 bulldozers to help build defensive positions Support for previously gifted AS-90s, including 32 new barrels and critical spares which will help Ukraine fire another 60,000 155mm rounds John Healey also instructed government officials to ensure that the military aid package pledged in April is accelerated and delivered in full to Ukraine within the next 100 days. The UK announced in April this year the largest ever military aid package to Ukraine, including 400 vehicles, 1,600 strike and air defence missiles, including additional Storm Shadow long-range precision guided-missiles, four million rounds of ammunition and 60 boats, including off-shore raiding craft. Background: The foreign and defence ministers of the new government of the Netherlands also paid their first foreign visits to Odesa on 7 July, a few days after being sworn in. Support UP or become our patron! Ukraine says it fooled Russia into striking fake planes and air defense systems with Iskander-M ballistic missiles Ukraine says it fooled Russia into striking fake planes and air defense systems with Iskander-M ballistic missiles Ukraine says Russian forces were fooled into striking dummy models of military targets. Air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said that Russia attacked the models with Iskander-M missiles. The Iskander-M is a short-range ballistic missile with a range of up to 500 km (around 310 miles). Ukrainian forces say they duped Russia into striking dummy models of aircraft and air defense systems with Iskander-M missiles. Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of the Ukrainian air force, posted about the savvy tactic on Telegram. He shared footage that he claimed showed recent enemy strikes with Iskander-Ms on the mock-ups, which he said were placed at an airfield close to the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine and the Yuzhne area, near the Black Sea port of Odesa. He said the footage was captured by Russian reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles. "The Air Force personnel successfully conducted passive defense measures!" Oleshchuk wrote in the post. "Thank you to everyone who helps with high-quality models of aircraft and air defense systems. The enemy has fewer 'Iskanders,' and more models will be delivered," he added. It would not be the first time that Ukraine has used "fake" military targets since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukrainian forces continue to field incredibly realistic decoys, seen here, a fully mechanically functional fake AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radar system. pic.twitter.com/rdpcpICLC4 OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) February 1, 2024 Photos and videos circulating on social media in February showed what appeared to be highly realistic decoy versions of radar and air defense systems. Russia has also employed such tactics in the war, painting silhouettes of naval vessels on land to try to fool Ukraine, the UK Ministry of Defence said in an update on the conflict in March. Business Insider contacted the Ukrainian Air Force for comment. A Russian Iskander-M missile launcher. EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA/ Reuters The Iskander-M missile The Iskander-M is a Russian "road-mobile short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) with a range of up to 500 km" (around 310 miles), according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies Missile Defense Project. The missile has a launch weight of up to almost 8,900 pounds, and it was first used in combat by Russian forces against Georgia in 2008, per the Missile Defense Project. Moscow has claimed that the missile will not be rivaled by Western rivals until 2025. "According to designers, foreign states will be able to create its counterpart no earlier than in 2025," Russian Ground Forces Commander-in-Chief Col. Gen. Oleg Salyukov said. Read the original article on Business Insider Key developments on July 6,7: Ukrainian drones attack ammunition, oil depots in Russia, source says Leaked documents suggest more Russians killed in Ukraine than previously thought Poll: More and more Russians think a nuclear strike on Ukraine is justified Ukraine working on new maritime strategy, Zelensky says Turkey proposes 'peace platform' to end war in Ukraine Ukrainian drones operated by the Security Service of Ukraine struck a large ammunition depot in Voronezh Oblast, and two oil deports in Krasnodar Krai region over the past two days, a law enforcement source told the Kyiv Independent on July 7. Drone attacks were reported in Russia's Krasnodar Krai region overnight on July 6, causing large fires at two oil depots. Russian state-controlled outlet RIA Novosti claimed later on July 6 that 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 an oil depot in the Leningrad community. Ukrainian drones struck Russian "Lukoil-Yugnefteprodukt," the source said. Read also: Opinion: Ukraine is racing to ramp up domestic defense production "Yesterday (July 6), the Russians couldn't extinguish the massive fire all day, which started as a result of a nighttime drone attack on the oil depot near the Pavlov community in Krasnodar Krai," the source said. "A massive fire at two petroleum product tanks began after two explosions." SBU drones also launched a series of explosions on the territory of the "Rosneft-Kubannefteprodukt" oil depot in the Leningrad community, damaging at least three fuel tanks, the source added. Overnight on July 7, Ukrainian drones carried out an attack on the ammunition depot in the village of Sergeevka in Voronezh Oblast, according to the source. "On an area of nine square kilometers, the enemy stored surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, shells for tanks and artillery, and boxes of ammunition for firearms," the source said. Russia reportedly supplies ammunition from this warehouse to its troops in Ukraine, the source added. Earlier in the day, Governor Aleksandr Gusev claimed that Russian air defense units destroyed "several drones" over Voronezh Oblast. Falling drone debris caused a fire in one of the warehouses and the detonation of unidentified explosives in the Podgorensky district, according to the governor. As of around 9:30 a.m. local time, Gusev announced that a state of emergency had been introduced within the Podgorensky district, where "debris from a Ukrainian drone fell." The Russian Defense Ministry, on the contrary, did not report downing drones over Voronezh Oblast. On July 7, it reported the downing of one drone over the Belgorod Oblast. Read also: We set a precedent. Ukraine officially presents Unmanned Systems Forces Leaked documents suggest more Russians killed in Ukraine than previously thought Between 462,000 and 728,000 Russian soldiers were killed, injured, or captured by mid-June, The Economist reported on July 5, citing leaked documents from the U.S. Defense Department. These numbers exceed the number of Russian troops who were preparing for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia's losses in Ukraine since 2022 exceed the number of cumulative casualties the country faced in military conflicts since the Second World War. On July 5, Russian media outlets Meduza and Mediazona published a report indicating that approximately 120,000 Russian troops have been killed since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine's General Staff estimates that the Russian military's personnel losses surpassed 500,000 in late May. This number includes both killed and injured. For every Russian killed in action, there are about three to four wounded, according to The Economist. Read also: Military: Russia has lost up to 5,000 soldiers fighting for one district of Chasiv Yar Among those who suffered the most significant losses were Russians aged 35 to 39. During the entire period of the invasion, up to 27,000 people from this age group were killed, according to The Economist's calculations. Regarding the percentage ratio, the most serious losses were among the Russian male population aged 45 to 49. "The latest estimates suggest that roughly 2% of all Russian men aged between 20 and 50 may have been either killed or severely wounded in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war," the article said. Around 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the war, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Feb. 25. The announcement is the first time Zelensky has publicly stated a figure on the death toll of Ukrainian soldiers since the start of the full-scale invasion. Russia continues to recruit 25,000 to 30,000 new soldiers a month, the New York Times (NYT) reported, citing U.S. officials. This amount is enough to replenish troops and allows the Russian army to continue to carry out human wave-style attacks, the NYT said. Read also: What Ukraines partial Chasiv Yar withdrawal actually means 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. Read also: Opinion: Much ado about Russias nuclear rumblings? 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: Daryna Shevchenko: Its time we stop waiting for the Russian people to stop the war Ukraine working on new maritime strategy, Zelensky says 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. "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: Military: Russia firing missiles from Azov Sea, Black Sea not safe enough Turkey proposes 'peace platform' to end war in Ukraine 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: Russia struggles to control finances as Ukraine invasion spending soars Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Alar Karis, President of Estonia. Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine President of Estonia Alar Karis has stressed that Ukraine's future membership in NATO "is non-negotiable" and warned against a deceptive peace with Russia that would force Ukraine to make concessions. Source: President of Estonia at a press conference after a meeting with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda as the ERR media outlet writes; European Pravda Details: The presidents discussed issues of bilateral cooperation as well as preparations for the NATO summit in Washington, which will begin on 9 July. Karis noted that the most important topics of the summit will be effective and long-term support for Ukraine during and after the war, as well as strengthening NATO's defence capabilities. Quote: "The alliance must send a strong message that NATO will support Ukraine for as long as it takes. Ukraine's NATO membership is non-negotiable, and the process of becoming a member is irreversible." Details: He stressed that history has taught us many lessons and that appeasement of aggressors ensures only temporary peace. "If Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty are not respected, it will lead to new and larger wars in the future. Russia and other aggressors will only be emboldened to attack again. Therefore, the only effective strategy right now is to support Ukraine as much as possible," Karis said. Karis also recalled that Estonia has set a goal to provide assistance to Ukraine in the amount of 0.25% of its GDP. He also said that the allies should increase the target for defence spending from 2% of GDP to 2.5% or 3%. Support UP or become our patron! Ukraine's Navy has performed tactical training for river flotilla forces and weaponry in the waters of the river Dnipro. Source: Ukraines Navy on Facebook Quote: "The event was held with the involvement of boats received under the international technical assistance programme and in cooperation with other units of the defence forces of Ukraine. The participants in the exercises practised combat operations by river forces, specifically as part of boat groups and groupings, interaction with units operating on river banks, delivery of personnel to certain areas of the shore and mine detection operations." Details: The report said that sailors underwent training in the identification and neutralisation of enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups while developing river navigation control skills. In addition, by working with a search and rescue helicopter, the boat crews improved their skills in rescue operations. Quote: "As a result of the exercise, as well as developing their skills and performing combined operations with other units, the sailors assessed the features and capabilities of the foreign boats they have received to fulfil missions in the context of todays war with Russia." Support UP or become our patron! Smoke rising over the ammunition storage point in Russias Voronezh Oblast that was struck by Ukraines Security Service. Screenshot: video by Ukrainska Pravda sources A major explosion occurred at a field ammunition storage point near the Russian village of Sergeyevka, Voronezh Oblast, on the night of 6-7 July, caused by drones operated by the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU). Source: Ukrainska Pravda sources in the SSU Details: A source noted that the Russians had used the facility, which covered an area of 9,000 sq. m, to store surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, shells for tanks and artillery, and boxes of small arms ammunition. These weapons would have been delivered to the battlefield. Local residents reported hearing explosions and detonations at night. Quote from the source: "There is a high probability of sudden detonations at facilities of the Russian defence industry, which is working to supply the war against Ukraine, in the very near future." https://t.co/hvo1znLWAf pic.twitter.com/ySfYZRIMcB (@ukrpravda_news) July 7, 2024 Background: A fire has broken out in Russias Voronezh Oblast at a storage point containing explosives following a UAV attack, the Russian authorities have acknowledged. Support UP or become our patron! Anti-aircraft gunners of Ukraine's 110th Separate Mechanised Brigade have shot down a Russian Su-25 attack aircraft in Donetsk Oblast. Source: Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group on Telegram Quote: "Our Ukrainian troops have shot down a Russian Su-25 aircraft, which was attacking the positions of the defence forces, on the Pokrovsk front. The anti-aircraft gunners of the [110th] Separate Mechanised Brigade named after Lieutenant General Mark Bezruchko have destroyed another Su-25 attack aircraft, which is now burning in the steppes of Ukrainian Donbas." Support UP or become our patron! Texas National Guard troops stop migrants from entering a popular crossing area along the bank of the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas, in 2022. (JOHN MOORE/GETTY IMAGES) Originally published by The 19th In Southern Arizona, on an over-100-degree day in June, humanitarian aid workers found a group of migrants standing in a thin slice of shade formed by the large steel slats of the border wall. Among them were a pregnant woman, an elderly woman, two women showing signs of heat exhaustion and young children. In total, about 30 people had crossed into the United States and were waiting for the Border Patrol to pick them up so they could make an asylum claim. They were some of the lucky ones. Advocates say that more and more people are ending up stranded in the desert because of onerous Trump and Biden administration restrictions that make it difficult to ask for asylum at official ports of entry. Instead, people are trying to cross through remote desert areas. Thats a risky decision year-round; the desert can be disorienting and people can get lost, injured or fall prey to criminal organizations that operate on the Mexican side of the border. But in the summer, that decision can be deadly for another reason: Temperatures regularly exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit without reliable water sources. Even for migrants waiting to make asylum claims on the U.S. side of the border, you are going to be waiting against a very large 30-foot-tall, heat-conducting wall, with very little in the way of shade, said Brad Jones, a volunteer and media liaison with Humane Borders, whose members encountered the asylum seekers by the border and countless others in the Arizona desert. Crossing the desert is a dangerous gamble, but often the only option left for asylum seekers after their long and arduous journeys from places like Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala and Haiti, which are beset by violence, political instability and poverty. We know, based on 20-plus years, that the harder you make it, the greater the risks that they will take in the desert, whether it is in Texas or Arizona, Jones said. It means that risk-taking exponentially increases the likelihood you will die. Historically, men made up the majority of those dying in the border desert. But in recent years, the balance has shifted. Increasingly, those dying are women. The Rio Grande forms the U.S.-Mexico border at Big Bend Ranch State Park near Presidio, Texas, which is situated right at the edge of the Chihuahuan Desert. (John Moore/Getty Images) For the last several decades, those crossing the border into the United States were mostly Mexican men looking for jobs, said Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh, a policy analyst with the Migration Policy Institute, a liberal think tank. But starting around 2010, that began to shift, with people from other countries making the trip more than in previous decades, as well as more families. Experts say these demographic changes could also explain the shift in demographics of migrant deaths. In April, No More Deaths, a humanitarian aid organization, issued a report quantifying the changes in who is dying while trying to cross the border. The report examined deaths in the Border Patrols El Paso sector, which covers southwest Texas and the bootheel of New Mexico. In 2023, the group documented 140 deaths in that area 31 more than in 2022. Of those, 51 percent were women. Its the first time that data captured anywhere along the border has indicated a higher number of deaths for women than men. And across the board, the number of women who die appears to be rising. According to the Humane Borders Migrant Death Mapping, a partnership with the medical examiners office in Pima County, Arizona, that tracks deaths in the states border desert region, 38 women were found dead in 2023 or 22 percent of all cases. Just the previous year, women made up 15 percent of all deaths. Between 2010 to 2020, they accounted for approximately one in 10 deaths. Melanie Nezer, vice president of advocacy and external relations for the Womens Refugee Commission, said women are driven to migrate for the same reason as men: lack of employment, persecution by local armed gangs and, increasingly, climate change, which is affecting farming yields and food security. Climate-intensified disasters have also led to high levels of displacement around the world and are linked to higher rates of domestic violence and sexual assault in their aftermath. All these factors interact in ways that can lead a person or a family to migrate. A lot of times when youre talking about women, youre also talking about children, Nezer said. Women, she said, dont want their kids to be forcibly recruited by gangs. They want their kids to be able to grow up and go to school and work and have a future. According to the No More Deaths report, many of the deaths in the El Paso sector in the last year were related to environmental exposure, dehydration and hyperthermia, a term used to describe heat illness. In data going back to 2014, the report also included migrants who died trying to climb over the border wall, among them a 19-year-old pregnant Guatemalan woman who died in 2020, or by drowning in canals. It also noted deaths involving the Border Patrol, in which migrants died while in custody, while being chased or by use of force. The data in the report comes from medical examiners offices, news sources and from the volunteers themselves, who find remains out in the desert every year while they are leaving food and water along the trails used by migrants. The tally is different from the number the U.S. Customs and Border Protection provides. In most years, No More Deaths documented a higher number of deaths than the federal agency. One exception is 2023, when CBP registered 149 deaths in the El Paso sector. On its website, CBP says that statistics are pulled from designated target zones, which comprise 45 counties along the southwest border. Any figure is also likely an undercount in part because of the vastness of the U.S.-Mexico border, which spans nearly 2,000 miles, and because of how animals and the elements scatter remains. In the 1990s, the United States implemented a prevention through deterrence border strategy aimed at funneling migrants away from cities by concentrating more agents in urban hotspots. This forced people over more hostile terrain, less suited for crossing and more suited for enforcement, according to the plan details. Advocates say this is why so many people die making the trek in the first place. Since 1998, the Border Patrol has recorded over 8,000 deaths along the border, with a majority occurring in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts, located in Arizona and New Mexico, respectively. Last week, the agency reported three deaths in the Sonoran desert, including a 17-year-old girl. Advocates believe the growing number of deaths in El Paso and elsewhere along the border stems from a combination of two things: changes in asylum requirements converging with the growing number of asylum seekers. Asylum is a form of protection given to people fleeing persecution over identifiers like their religion and race or for being a part of a certain social group. Unlike refugees, who are granted permission to enter the country ahead of their arrival, asylum seekers request protection once they are already in the country or at ports of entry, which are the official entry and exit points into a country. To start the process, migrants have to undergo what is known as a credible fear interview, where an asylum officer determines if they meet the minimum threshold to request asylum. A 22-year-old migrant from Venezuela holds her 3-year-old daughter while being denied entry after attempting to cross through concertina wire from the U.S. side of the Rio Grande River on March 26, 2024, in El Paso, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images) As the number of people migrating across the world has continued to climb, actions by both the Trump and Biden administrations forced many migrants to stay in Mexico while their asylum claims are being processed. In June, faced with intense political pressure from Republicans in an election year where immigration and the border rank as top-of-mind issues to voters President Biden swung right. He issued an executive order that triggered a ban on migrants requesting asylum between ports of entry if the southern border is experiencing over 2,500 crossings a day. The order also raised the bar for migrants seeking protection, and requires migrants to voluntarily share or demonstrate their fears of persecution before being asked by a Border Patrol officer in whats known as the shout test. A requirement implemented last year remains unchanged: Asylum seekers must first make an appointment through an app called CBP One and wait in Mexico. The problem is that it can take many months to get an appointment. And the longer people have to wait, the more desperate they become. In an interview, Bryce Peterson, a volunteer with No More Deaths who helped compile the report, said he recently visited a migrant camp in Ciudad Juarez, the Mexican city bordering El Paso, where there is very little sanitation and no cooling system, so temperatures were consistently over 100 degrees. Staying in Mexico is also very dangerous, Nezer said, as migrants are essentially sitting ducks for organized crime. The shelters are completely overwhelmed, and security, particularly for women and children, is a major issue. Extortion, sexual violence, kidnapping all of those things, she said. At some point, if theyre waiting for an appointment that may never come, they make the decision to try to enter wherever they can, with the plan of presenting themselves to border authorities once they cross. While there arent official stats breaking down how many asylum seekers coming to the United States are women, anecdotally, Peterson and Jones say they are seeing more women crossing and more women with families. And because they initially come to seek asylum, these people may be less prepared for a desert crossing and not as aware of the dangers of heat. Now with even more asylum restrictions in place this summer, advocates are wary of how many will then take the chance as summer temperatures continue to climb. Our biggest concern is that asylum seekers are just going to take greater risks, Jones said. That means entering in more remote areas to get into the country. That is our biggest concern. Border policy sometimes incentivizes risk. Crosses left by border activists mark the locations where the remains of migrants who died trying to cross into the United States through the harsh conditions of the Sonoran Desert were discovered, in the Altar Valley, Arizona. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis/Getty Images) Recent measures by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who ordered the placement of concertina wire along the Rio Grande and deployed state troopers and the Texas National Guard to patrol the border, may be pushing more people to cross through the El Paso sector, Peterson said. Around El Paso, average temperatures are typically in the 90s during the hottest months, which are June, July and August. But heat records in the region keep getting shattered. In 2023, there was a 44-day stretch of 100-plus temperatures in El Paso, which broke the previous record of 23 days in 1994. Last year, Tucson, a southern Arizona city about an hours drive from the border, also broke its own record: 15 consecutive days over 110 degrees. Extreme heat can become deadly in a matter of hours, causing a persons heart to pump faster in order to circulate more blood to the skins surface in an effort to cool the body down, which can lead to a heart attack or organ failure. Heat also causes sweating, the bodys natural evaporative cooling mechanism; in extreme cases, that can lead to dehydration and kidney failure. Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat because they have a harder time controlling their body temperature and get dehydrated more quickly. Extreme heat is also linked to a higher rate of preterm birth and miscarriage. In the El Paso sector, according to the No More Deaths report, most of the deaths are occurring near neighborhoods and densely-populated areas. But in Arizona, Jones said, some people who opt to cross can become frustrated with the wait at the border and choose instead to walk across the desert. Its a recipe for death, he said. There is no potable water apart from the water stations we maintain. And stumbling upon those is like a needle in the haystack. So we go to great lengths to put the word out: Do not venture out on your own, because you may not be coming back. SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE The post Under increasing pressure to migrate, more women are dying at the U.S.-Mexico border appeared first on Utah News Dispatch. Children work on tablets during a preschool class in Cincinnati in 2023. Many states are expanding pre-K, but there are barriers to attendance for many families. Carolyn Kaster/The Associated Press When Tanya Gillespie-Lambert goes to an event in a local park in Camden, New Jersey, she takes a handful of brochures about free preschool with her. She has no hesitation about approaching strangers moms with kids especially to plug the service in the local public school district, where shes director of community and parent involvement. Gillespie-Lambert and her team also hold door-knocking events several times a year to put the word out on free pre-K, dressing up in matching blue T-shirts and hats. Thats in addition to billboards, public service announcements and posters all over town. I still get a little shocked when they dont know about it, she said in an interview. They always say, I didnt know they could start when they were 3 years old, and they dont have to be potty trained. And its free? Forty-four states offer some free preschool, and states from Colorado to Mississippi are expanding their programs. But even when states claim to have universal pre-K for 4-year-olds and sometimes 3-year-olds, some of the most comprehensive programs only serve a slice of the kids who are eligible. Theres a host of reasons for that, beyond a lack of awareness. Some states only provide funding for 10 or 15 hours of preschool per week. Some parents cant afford the cost of before- and after-care, or have transportation problems if theres no bus. In some states, private pre-K providers, who often get state money for their pre-K programs, oppose shifting more state funds to public schools. And many states have a shortage of early education teachers and assistants, limiting the number of slots they can provide. Studies show preschool is highly beneficial for young children, giving them a jump on reading and math skills and the socialization that are key to later school success. Preschool differs from child care, which has less emphasis on academics and often doesnt employ certified teachers. But private preschool is costly, making it difficult for parents with lower incomes to afford pre-K unless its state-funded. Everybody doesnt define universal the same way, said Steven Barnett, senior co-director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. You cant just wave a magic wand. Barnett said a state pre-K program should not be considered universal if theres a cap on funding or a waitlist for slots. He advocates for states to treat pre-K like first grade automatically available. But providing universal preschool is expensive for states. Participation varies More than 1.6 million 3- and 4-year-olds attended state-funded preschools in the 2022-2023 school year, with states serving 7% of 3-year-olds and 35% of 4-year-olds, according to Barnetts institute. But participation varies widely from state to state. The number of 4-year-olds enrolled in state-funded pre-K programs in the 2022-2023 school year ranged from a high of 67% in Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma and West Virginia to single digits in Alaska, Missouri, Nevada, Delaware, North Dakota, Arizona, Hawaii and Utah, according to the institute. Six states have no state-funded preschool: Idaho, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Wyoming. Some states are starting pre-K programs or expanding them. Mississippi doubled the number of kids in preschool in 2022-23 from the previous year to more than 5,300, added another 3,000 seats in 2023-24 and committed to future expansion, according to the state. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, signed a universal preschool bill in April 2022, and classes started in the 2023-24 school year. But Colorados program provides only 15 hours of free preschool per week in the year before kindergarten. Similarly, Vermonts universal pre-K program, enacted in 2014, provides only 10 hours a week of free school. In addition to being problematic for parents who work 40 hours a week, 10 hours a week of preschool is not enough to provide quality learning, Barnett said. It has to be a big enough dosage of truly high-quality education. Vermont state Sen. Ruth Hardy, a Democrat, called the program technically universal because all 4-year-olds are allowed to participate but acknowledged there are gaps. She filed a bill last year that would have expanded the pre-K program to include full school days but it died, amid other expansions to child care and educational priorities. Hardy, a former educator and school board member, said in an interview that the legislature did enact a measure to study expanding pre-K to all 3- and 4-year-olds and report back by July 2026. It was part of a larger law that focused on providing more child care subsidies, including for families with incomes up to middle-class or close to upper-middle-class levels, she said. To pay for it, the state instituted a new payroll tax of 0.44%. Employers may choose to pay all of it or deduct up to 0.11% of it from employees wages. Concerns about access Hardy said that in Vermont, as well as other states, a roadblock to expanding public pre-K programs is the tension between public and private schools. Many states take a mixed delivery approach to public preschool, under which pre-K is offered in settings ranging from public schools to community-based centers to private schools. But private providers sometimes see expanding the public preschools as competition. Aly Richards, CEO of Lets Grow Kids, a Vermont child care advocacy organization, said the groups concern is equitable access to pre-K programs, especially when parents need kids in all-day instruction and public programs only operate on school-day hours, while private programs often last all workday. Working-class families cant leave their job in the middle of the day if they have to move their kid, she said. She also said there is often not enough room in nearby public schools to accommodate all the children who want pre-K programs. Similar tension is roiling efforts to expand public pre-K in Michigan. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Democratic lawmakers want to make more children eligible, but private schools worry that legislative proposals would eliminate requirements that a percentage of slots go to private providers and thereby cut their state funding. In Hawaii which has one of the highest-quality public preschool programs, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research the problem is getting enough educators into the classrooms. Hawaii plans to open 44 more classrooms for 3- and 4-year-olds in the fall, bringing the states total to about 90, Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, a Democrat, said in a statement. But more staffing is needed if the state is going to reach its goal of getting all 3- and 4-year-olds in preschool by 2032, The Associated Press reported. California is in the third year of a four-year phase-in of a universal pre-K program launched in the 2021-22 state budget. A draft report from the Learning Policy Institute, a California educational research group, found that while most school districts in the state are on track toward getting all 4-year-olds and income-eligible 3-year-olds in pre-K, staffing is a problem and is expected to get worse as new teacher requirements go into effect. Hanna Melnick, a senior policy adviser at the Learning Policy Institute and one of the co-authors of the report, said its unclear how many of the eligible kids are actually taking advantage of the pre-K program. Some families cant afford before- and after-care, she said. Extended care is a really critical barrier. And some families want more of a familylike environment [for their preschoolers]. They might not feel comfortable using out-of-home care or care in a school setting. Back in New Jersey, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy announced in March that an additional $11 million in state funding had been secured to bring preschool to 16 more school districts in the state. But despite the effort, workers such as Gillespie-Lambert need to keep walking neighborhoods. People dont read, she said. We found canvassing not just flyers, but having a conversation with them seems to work a lot better. 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. CHICAGO The University of Chicago issued a campus security alert following a shooting early Sunday morning in Hyde Park. According to officials, just before 5:30 a.m. Sunday, Chicago police and University of Chicago police responded to calls of shots fired at 5717 South Cottage Grove Avenue. Upon arrival, police say officers found three victims on the sidewalk with gunshot wounds. Driver of stolen vehicle killed, 8 hospitalized after high-speed, two-vehicle crash in Newport Township According to police, witnesses observed someone in a dark-gray SUV point a gun from the vehicle and fire shots at several people standing near a parked car in what initially looks to be a targeted shooting. The shooters SUV then fled south on Cottage Grove Ave., police say, away from the University of Chicago Medical Center. The victims were transported to the University of Chicago Adult ER. Police do not yet know the victims affiliation to the university. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines CPD is investigating the incident. 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. (Bloomberg) -- One moment youre shaking hands with Elmo in a town hall, the next youre on the worlds biggest stage bearing the weight of the liberal order on your shoulders. Most Read from Bloomberg Keir Starmer whos spent the last six weeks campaigning under the one-word banner of change is about to discover how in politics, it can come at you fast. No one around the new UK prime minister would claim his victory on Thursday came as a surprise. But the fact hes going to show up at the annual summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization just days later as the strongest leader in the room owes partly to the pace of events beyond his control. In Washington hell be hobnobbing with Joe Biden, about whose deteriorating health fellow leaders have begun to break their silence. The president of France, Emmanuel Macron, will arrive wounded by his decision to call a snap election in which his own party look set to come third. Unlike Macron, Germanys Chancellor Olaf Scholz didnt inflict his most recent trial at the ballot box on himself but its hurt him nonetheless. In that company, a leader whos promised to reverse the damage successive Conservative administrations caused to his countrys international reputation stands out against the rest. And thats despite the modesty of his proposals. Officials representing progressive governments around the world have sent plaintive messages of congratulations to Starmers entourage in recent days, telling them that the new UK leader is now, as one put it, their only hope. Starmer feels keenly the responsibility of those expectations, according to Labour aides who, like others from within the new administration, asked not to be named discussing private matters. In an interview with Bloomberg just ahead of the election he acknowledged his countrys an outlier in a world thats shifting in an ever more populist direction. The legislative elections in France have been dominated by the ascent of Marine Le Pens far-right National Rally party, and Donald Trump is increasingly the favorite to make a White House return after Bidens disastrous debate performance. Its very important we make the case that only progressive, democratic parties in government have the answers to the challenges that are out there, Starmer told Bloomberg. At next weeks meetings the leaders of the 32 NATO members will sit in alphabetical order interspersed by invited guests, likely putting Starmer between the United Statess Biden and Ukraines Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The optics of that placement have shifted subtly since last week. Where before, the seating plan might have elevated Starmer, a former human rights lawyer and diplomatic novice, now some of the stardust may rub off the other way. Bidens candidacy is encircled by doubts. And that has knock-on effects for Ukraine given that Trump has expressed none of his rivals commitment to the countrys long-term security. Starmer, on the other hand, will be arriving on the back of the most decisive UK election result since Tony Blairs 1997 landslide. The new prime minister has said hell use his mandate to take a leading international role in defense, security and climate. With China and Russia increasingly assertive, he aims to champion liberal democracy in the face of electoral breakthroughs by far-right parties elsewhere. The UK is one of the NATOs biggest spenders and has been a key supplier of arms to Ukraine since Putins invasion. The new prime ministers team was made aware in transition talks with government officials that he is likely to face questions from allies on his plans. Diplomats have quietly let it be known that Labour has caused uncertainty by committing to spend 2.5% of gross domestic product on defense as soon as the public finances allow. But Starmer doesnt plan to change that position any time soon, people familiar with his thinking said although he will still try to portray himself as hawkish on the issue and look to prioritize military spending. That will form part of Starmers effort to create a manageable working relationship with Trump, should the former president win the US election. Starmers new Foreign Secretary David Lammy has been engaged in the challenging task of building alliances with a cosmos of right-wing Republicans. Time to Prepare Though Starmer remains relatively untested on the international stage, the unusually high poll lead he enjoyed months out from the general elections did gift his team time to prepare him. Last year it was he and not then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who showed up at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Starmer also went to the COP28 climate talks in Dubai. With no official engagements for an opposition politician at the UN-sponsored summit, his team was taking a calculated risk, betting that the opportunity to run into world leaders informally would prevent him sitting idle. That leaves allies with some notion of what to expect from Starmer at NATO. A lot of expectations around that summit will be that theyre talking to a grown-up, according to former diplomat Tom Fletcher, a foreign policy adviser to ex-prime ministers Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron. The body language and the tone will be as important as what they announce, said Fletcher, speaking on Bloombergs Voternomics podcast. Soon after NATO, Starmers government hosts a European Political Community meeting in Oxfordshire which Labour staff view as an opportunity to reset regional relationships. Although his recent victory places him in a stronger domestic position than many of those allies, theres enough in Thursdays election results to suggest they have something to teach him in return. Beyond the headlines there were menacing longer-term signs for his government in the form of a new right-wing party which, though it only picked up four of the countrys 650 seats, came second in around 100. While Starmers team arrives in office keenly aware of the challenge of showing a progressive government can deliver, at his first post-election press conference he gave away fewer clues as to its answers. We will not be tempted as the last government was to pretend that money is there now which isnt there, the prime minister said. --With assistance from Ailbhe Rea. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. TOKYO U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel expressed regret Saturday for the handling of two cases of sexual assaults allegedly committed by American military personnel on Okinawa, which have again stoked resentment of the heavy U.S. troop presence on the strategic island in Japans far southwest. The issue broke out late last month, triggering an uproar over reports that two American service members had been charged with sexual assaults months earlier. Japan protests sex assault cases involving US military on Okinawa Both cases were first reported in local media in late June. In one arrest made in March, a member of the U.S. Air Force was charged with the kidnapping and sexual assault of a teenager, and in May a U.S. Marine was arrested on charges of attempted rape resulting in injury. Further details about the alleged victims were not released. Okinawa police said they did not announce the cases out of privacy considerations related to the victims. The Foreign Ministry, per police decision, also did not notify Okinawa prefectural officials. The cases are a reminder to many Okinawans of the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old girl by three U.S. service members, which sparked massive protests against the U.S. presence. It led to a 1996 agreement between Tokyo and Washington to close a key U.S. air base, although the plan has been repeatedly delayed due to protests at the site designated for its replacement on another part of the island. Emanuel said he deeply regretted what happened to the individuals, their families and their community, but fell short of apologizing. Obviously, you got to let the criminal justice process play out. But that doesnt mean you dont express on a human level your sense of regret. We have to do better, he said, adding that the U.S. militarys high standards and protocols for education and training of its troops were just not working. Emanuel said the U.S. may be able to propose measures to improve training and transparency with the public at U.S.-Japan foreign and defense ministers security talks expected later this month in Tokyo. On Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the Japanese authorities would do their utmost to provide more prompt disclosures of alleged crime related to U.S. military personnel on Okinawa while protecting victims privacy. The cases could be a setback for the defense relationship at a time when Okinawa is seen as increasingly important in the face of rising tensions with China. Some 50,000 U.S. troops are deployed in Japan under a bilateral security pact, about half of them on Okinawa, where residents have long complained about heavy U.S. troop presence and related accidents, crime and noise. Emanuel commented on the issue while visiting Fukushima, on Japans northeast coast. Earlier Saturday, the ambassador visited the nearby town of Minamisoma to join junior surfers and sample locally caught flounder for lunch, aiming to highlight the safety of the areas seawater and seafood amid ongoing discharges of treated and diluted radioactive water from the tsunami-ruined Fukusima Daiichi nuclear power plant. China has banned Japanese seafood over the discharges, a move Emanuel criticized as unjustified. An ammunition vending machine selling bullets in the US Gun owners in three US states can now buy bullets from vending machines in grocery shops, after a company launched automated kiosks to make ammunition more available. Some shops in Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas now allow customers to scan their ID on a device similar to a drinks vending machine, and walk away with rounds for their weapons. American Rounds, the company that manufactures the machines, says they are as easy to use as an ATM. Our automated ammo dispensers are accessible 24/7, ensuring that you can buy ammunition on your own schedule, free from the constraints of store hours and long lines, it says on its website. The machines use built-in AI technology, card scanning capability and facial recognition software to match a buyers ID to their face and ensure they are over 18 years old. Customers select the ammunition they would like to buy on a touchscreen, scan their ID and collect it from a hole in the bottom of the machine. Expansion plans The company says it will continue the roll out of the devices in states where hunting is popular, including Louisiana and Colorado. A promotional video for the machines shows a customer moving through a shop using the vending machines on a motorised wheelchair, before raising her fist in the air and shouting: Its ammo? Whoo! Alabama has the fourth-highest rate of gun deaths in the US, according to the latest data from the National Center for Health Statistics. In 2022, there were 25.5 deaths from firearms in the state per 100,000 people, with a total of 1,278 fatalities. The Biden administration has declared gun safety to be a public health crisis, and is pushing states to adopt tougher laws on firearm ownership. Joe Biden has called for federally mandated universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, although the measures are opposed by Republicans. Grant Magers, the American Rounds CEO, said the company had received more than 200 requests to install the machines and that number was growing daily. He told Newsweek that the company supported law-abiding, responsible gun ownership. The machines are legal and store records of the transactions are kept to comply with regulations in some states. 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. US political divisiveness at the forefront this July Fourth US political divisiveness at the forefront this July Fourth DENVER (KDVR) As the U.S. celebrates its 248th year this Independence Day, political divisiveness remains a major issue across the country. On this weeks Colorado Point of View, University of Denver professor Seth Masket explores how political divisiveness is near peak levels. You have a lot of divisions that fall along the lines of those parties, Masket said. Meanwhile, a majority of young adults say the nation is headed in the wrong direction, and crime tops the list of most-searched election-related issues. Watch the full episode in the video player above. Colorado Point of View airs weekends on Colorados Very Own Channel 2. 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. Support for victims and survivors of domestic violence is available 24/7: 1-800-897-LINK (5465). If you or someone else is in immediate danger, or in an emergency, please call 911 immediately. BLUFFDALE, Utah (ABC4) A woman was arrested in the early morning hours on July 5 for allegedly stabbing a man seven times and hiding the knife while children were in the same apartment, according to arrest documents. The suspect, 23, was arrested after 2:30 a.m. on July 5 for eleven charges, three of which are felonies, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed with the Third District Court in Salt Lake. WATCH: Fireworks launch into crowd at Stadium of Fire, 6 taken to the hospital The woman was arrested for one count of aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury, a second-degree felony; one count of obstructing service of board of pardon warrant, a third-degree felony; one count of obstruction of justice, a third-degree felony; one count of intoxication, a class C misdemeanor; and seven counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, all class B misdemeanors. According to the probable cause statement, police were informed that two adult males began fighting while under the influence of alcohol. The man who suffered from stab wounds left the scene after the suspect threatened to call the police, documents said. The victim had six stab wounds in the back and one stab wound in the neck, according to the probable cause statement. The victim later checked into the hospital with stab wounds, using the same last name but a different first name, documents said. [The suspect] later admitted to police that she did stab the victim that had fled police, documents said. The woman described stabbing the victim in the back and the stomach, and also showed officers the dumpster where she hid the knife. She was reportedly drinking alcohol while speaking to officers and admitted to having several alcoholic drinks before the incident. The other man who was involved in the fight was found on the floor of the apartment, and documents said he was missing a tooth, reportedly unaware of his surroundings, and later taken to the hospital. The suspect remained at the scene with officers and said the victim who was stabbed is known to hit his wife, documents said. The victim reportedly began arguing and attempted to hit his wife, but fled after the suspect threatened to call the police. The suspect originally claimed she stabbed the victim because she feared for the life of the man officers found on the floor, as he and the man she stabbed were engaged in a physical altercation. She later admitted she stabbed the victim before he began hitting the other man. Officials said there were seven children in the apartment at the time of the stabbing. Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. 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. Need to take this very seriously: Health expert warns against surge in Florida COVID cases Amid a nationwide summer spike in COVID-19 cases, Florida is reportedly experiencing one of the highest increases, prompting health experts to warn residents to take the situation very seriously and adopt protective and educational measures. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms. However, Vice President Kamala Harris has tested negative and remains asymptomatic. READ: Long COVID remains serious and persistent; more than 200 symptoms identified This comes amid a summer spike in COVID-19 cases across the country, including Florida. According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Florida ranks among the highest of any state during this wave. Rates of COVID-19 have surged in emergency rooms over recent weeks, nearing peaks not seen since the worst days of this past winters wave. In addition to emergency room visits, other key metrics in Florida, such as wastewater and nursing home data, have also seen steep increases. Chart provided by the Center for Disease and Prevention READ: Florida emergency rooms see a surge in COVID-19 cases, nearing last winters peak Action News Jax spoke to Dr. Jeffrey Goldhagen, the former Director of the Duval Department of Health, who said the uptick is to be expected since we have more variants and those who are unvaccinated are susceptible. Unfortunately, the support for COVID testing is not what it was during the pandemic, but those COVID tests are still available through pharmacies. People do need to take this very seriously, Dr. Goldhagen said. Historically, COVID-19 activity has picked up at least twice a year since the pandemic began: once during the summer or early fall after a spring lull, and again in the winter. However, the CDC now states that COVID-19 activity patterns observed are not seasonal and can surge at any time of the year, often driven by new variants. Dr. Goldhagen added Over a million people died during the pandemic. Most of those people who did were actually not vaccinated. The vaccines that do work. If they want to take that risk for themselves, they can for sure, but they do need to vaccinate their children, and certainly those around them that are at great risk. The KP.2 and KP.3 variants are the most common nationwide, responsible for more than half of recent cases. Other variants, such as LB.1 and KP.4.1, also contribute to the current surge. Dr. Goldhagen also warned of the potential for another pandemic with the H1N1 bird flu virus. While the current public health threat is low, he emphasized that if we do not learn from our experience with the COVID-19 pandemic, we will make the same mistakes with future viruses. To protect themselves and others, people are urged to follow these guidelines: Get Vaccinated: Ensure you and your family are up to date with current COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters. Wear Masks: Wear fitted masks such as respirators like N95, especially in crowded indoor spaces or where social distancing is not possible as COVID-19 is an airborne illness. Regular Testing: Utilize available COVID-19 tests, especially if you have symptoms or have been exposed to someone with COVID-19. Practice Good Hygiene: Wash hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and use hand sanitizer when soap is not available. Stay Informed: Follow updates from reliable sources such as the CDC and local health departments. Avoid Crowded Places: Try to maintain social distancing and avoid large gatherings, particularly indoors. Protect Vulnerable Populations: Be mindful of those at higher risk, such as the elderly and those with preexisting conditions. For more information and resources, visit the CDCs COVID-19 page or your local health departments website. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) El Paso area veterans and their families can learn about benefits under the PACT Act and enjoy food, music and giveaways during a special event put on by El Paso Veterans Affairs later this month. The El Paso Veterans Affairs Health Care System and the Veterans Benefits Administration Waco Regional Office are teaming up to host a Summer VetFest and a PACT Act Claims Clinic. The claims clinic will be from 3 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, July 27 at the local VAs main parking lot, 5001 N. Piedras. VetFest will run from 4 to 8 p.m. that same day in the same location. The PACT Act expanded VA health care and benefits to all Veterans exposed to toxins and other hazards while serving at home or abroad. This includes all Veterans who served in the Vietnam War, Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, or any other combat zone after 9/11. The VA added new presumptive conditions for radiation, Agent Orange, Gulf War toxins, and burn pits, according to a news release sent out by the local VA. The claims clinic is designed for veterans to meet with a claims representative one-on-one and learn more about VA benefits and eligibility and to submit a PACT Act claim. The concurrent VetFest will include food trucks, an information fair, a veteran service organization recruitment fair and live music by Sunset 915 Band and Blackberry Jam Experience. There will also be a back-to-school giveaway, while supplies last. Children must be present to receive back-to-school items, the VA 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 KTSM 9 News. 1. Yes. They look better and require less maintenance. Most high-end housing areas have them. 2. Yes. Wood fences can weather and look unsightly, plus masonry walls help to block sound. 3. No. Residents should have a choice of what kind of barriers are put up near their homes. 4. No. Allowing a variety of materials will be better for aesthetics, and costs may be lower. 5. Unsure. Its hard to say. Masonry walls may be sturdier, but mandating them is problematic. Vote View Results As mounting calls for President Joe Biden to step down permeate through the Democratic party, Vice President Kamala Harris visited New Orleans to speak to a largely Black audience about the stakes of the 2024 election. While speaking at the Essence Festival, Harris mostly ignored the criticisms the president has faced over the past week since his highly criticized debate performance and interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos. PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks with George Stephanopoulos on July 5, 2024, in an ABC News exclusive. (ABC News) Harris did little to bolster or defend the president, she in fact only mentioned Biden one time while referencing debt relief and instead, opted to attack former President Donald Trump over his 34 convictions. MORE: Major Democratic donors continue calls for Biden to step aside after ABC News interview "The United States Supreme Court essentially told this individual, who has been convicted of 34 felonies, that he will be immune from essentially the activity he has told us he is prepared to engage in if he gets back into the White House." Most of the defense for the president came from the panelists who took the stage before Harris, which included Rep. Maxine Waters and former Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Joyce Beatty. PHOTO: Vice President Harris Speaks At The 30th Essence Festival Of Culture In New Orleans (Michael Democker/Getty Images) Beatty went after those calling for Biden to step down by bringing up when Rep. Mitch McConnell had a series of public episodes last year in which he seemed to "freeze." "One of the things we're doing is sticking with [Biden] ... conversely when Mitch McConnell froze up nobody asked him to step down. Members and constituents didn't start telling him he was too old." PHOTO: Don Lemon, Joyce Beatty, Steven Horsford, Maxine Waters and Troy Carter speak onstage during the 2024 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture, on July 6, 2024, in New Orleans. (Marcus Ingram/Getty Images for ESSENCE) However, this comment was made only after Beatty proclaimed, "I am going to continue with the Biden-Harris team because we're going to still have a sister in the White House fighting for us." Is America ready for a Black woman president? The Essence Festival is an event billed as the largest Black festival to celebrate Black culture. The Biden campaign has been focusing on Black voters as polls show some support slipping to Trump. Elaine Brown from California told ABC News that although she has mixed feelings about the president's debate performance, she feels that she is electing more than just one man, "I know as a president he makes several decisions, but he has a whole cabinet that makes other decisions as well," said Brown. "It's a group thing, and it's just not one individual." Amongst reports that wealthy donors are attempting to push Biden off of the ticket, Mark Gilbert, former U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa -- who has thrown several seven-figure fundraisers for the team -- noted that Biden is still coherent enough to lead the ticket. MORE: Congressional Democrats respond to Biden's interview with ABC News But Gilbert acknowledged the undeniable truth that Biden isn't getting any younger and if something should happen Harris would "100%" be able to take up the mantle. The majority of Black voters ABC News spoke with at the festival agreed with Gilbert. Should Biden step down, they are more than ready for Harris to step up. "That's the only thing that gives me comfort in knowing that he has her," said Melina Williams. But while many acknowledged that while Harris is ready to take the job, America might not be ready to accept a Black woman as president, with a voter noting to ABC News, that if Hilary Clinton couldn't do it, they're not sure how Harris could. In a potential matchup between Harris and Trump, they were nearly tied with 42% supporting her and 43%, supporting the former president, according to a Ipsos poll released Tuesday, compared to the 43%-49% split between Biden and Trump. MORE: Biden dismisses concerns about mental fitness, says he'd drop out if the 'Lord Almighty' told him to Harris will need to close the gap in the critical battleground states that Biden is neck and neck with Trump in, appealing to groups that the Democrats are struggling to hold on to like the Arab and Muslim community in Michigan - a state Biden only narrowly won in 2020 by some 150,000 votes. But voters like Chuck Berry and his friend, Shirley Ann who had flown to Louisiana from Columbia, South Carolina, to not only enjoy the festival but to hear Harris, feel that if Americans were able to elect former President Barack Obama they'll be able to do the same for Harris. "I think if we [who] look like her, especially women, rally, we'll get her there. It's a matter of us holding her accountable once she gets there." Vice President Harris takes the stage at Essence Festival, only mentions Biden once originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Voice of the People (July 7, 2024): Is this the best of our choices? President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump face off in a presidential debate June 27 in Atlanta. They debated twice before Biden won the 2020 election. Is this as good as it gets? Before I get too far, let me make this perfectly clear: I am a steadfast Democrat. I did not watch much of the Presidential debate on June 27. I did watch highlights (if you would call it that) afterward. In regards to the debate, I consider myself a bit of a stoic, but I saw what was coming A contest between presidential candidates who are not fit for the job. I just didnt have the stomach for it. I must be prescient I was absolutely right! Bidens performance apparently was incoherent at times, and very much embarrassing. And listening to Trump spin his alternate reality spiel is for me a nauseating exercise. Trump appears incapable of telling the truth and trends sociopathic. Where the heck is Mitt Romney when you really need him? Are these the two the best candidates that the United States of America has to offer? Jon Stuart, comedian and political satirist, joked that hes going to contact a realtor in New Zealand. As for me, Im thinking of Ireland. The land of Saint Patrick and nothing but green. Right now, it does sound divine. See you in Galway. Paul Foks, Winter Haven Voice of the People (June 23, 2023): US Supreme Court has lost its integrity Gates-Skipper for Republican State Committeewoman I am writing to express my strong support for Kathryn "Kat" Gates-Skipper for Polk County Republican State Committeewoman. Kat is a proud veteran of the United States Marine Corps and an inductee into the Florida Veterans Hall of Fame. As a small-business owner and cattle rancher, she brings a unique and valuable perspective to our community. Kat is dedicated to helping Republicans win at all levels of government. Her commitment to growing the Republican Party, building a bench of strong conservative candidates, and holding our elected officials accountable is unwavering. She was instrumental in advocating for the VA Accountability Act in 2014, which significantly improved veterans' access to healthcare. Kats leadership extends beyond local efforts. She served as the state director of "Veterans for Donald J. Trump for President," was a member of the National Veterans for Trump Advisory Board. This July, she will represent Florida as a delegate at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where she'll cast her ballot for Donald J. Trump, securing his position as the Republican nominee. Kat has a proven track record for success. I urge you to join me in voting for her on August 20, 2024. Ronald Parks, Lakeland Want to contribute? Send letters to the editor to voice@theledger.com, or Voice of the People, P.O. Box 408, Lakeland, FL, 33802. Submit on the website at http://tinyurl.com/28hnh3xj, or go to TheLedger.com, click on the menu arrow at the top of the website and click Submit a Letter. Letters must be 200 words or less and meet standards of decency and taste. This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Voice of the People (July 7, 2024): Is this the best of our choices? (KNWA/KFTA) Walmart must face a class-action lawsuit over allegations that it engaged in deceptive and unfair pricing practices on groceries, a federal appeals court ruled on July 3. The plaintiff, Yoram Kahn, claims the retail giant has taken advantage of consumers with small price discrepancies that add up to hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Kahn alleges that Walmart is aware of these discrepancies between shelf prices and register prices and that its unfair and deceptive pricing practices are pervasive and continuous, the lawsuit states. Walmart announces plans to roll out digital shelf labels at 2,300 stores Kahn said he shopped at a Walmart in Niles, Illinois, on August 2, 2022. Relying on the marked prices on the shelves, he decided what to purchase. Once he went to check out, Kahn scanned 15 items and later learned the price of six of the 15 items scanned had 10 to 15 percent markups above the shelf prices, the lawsuit claims. In total, Kahn paid Walmart $1.89 in overcharges on these six items, nearly seven percent of the pretax total of his bill, the lawsuit states. Small change for Kahn as an individual, no doubt, but keep in mind the volume of Walmarts business. (Photo by Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) A Walmart spokesperson provided the following statement to Nexstars KNWA: Well always work to provide our customers everyday low prices they can count on. We are confident in the evidence and look forward to arguing our case. This case was previously dismissed in March 2023 after a judge ruled that Walmart providing a receipt after purchase negated unfairness caused by the inaccuracies in shelf prices. However, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago recently reversed the lower court judges ruling and said customers could try to prove Walmart has used a bait-and-switch method that violates Illinois consumer protection laws. Texas man sued Walmart for $100M or free shopping for life. Why a judge tossed the lawsuits This isnt the first time Walmart has faced legal problems regarding its prices. In June, Walmart agreed to pay $1.64 million to settle claims by regulations in New Jersey for inconsistent unit pricing, according to a news release from New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin. The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs said in a consent decree that the departments investigation showed the 64 stores in the state violated unit pricing regulations by failing to use a standard unit of measurement such as quart, pound, or per 100 sheets on groceries and other items. Earlier this year, Walmart announced its plans to install digital shelf labels in nearly 2,300 by 2026. The new addition will allow employees to update prices through a mobile app and eliminate the need to change paper tags by hand, the company 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. Want to move an airport? Make changes? Better talk to the feds. Local control is limited Want to build an airport? Ask the Federal Aviation Administration. Want to move a runway? Ask the FAA. Want to build a hangar? The FAA has to approve it. Moving an airplane to a runway? The FAA has a say most of the time. That goes for all airports across the United States big or small, with a tower or without. So, when Naples Airport neighbors, Naples City Council members or airport customers ask for changes to the flight traffic at the airport in their backyard, they find they don't have much control. When the Naples Airport Authority wants to change something, there is paperwork and action needed, such as proving to the FAA the change is warranted. "We are essentially a landlord," said Zachary Burch, Naples Airport Authority community engagement/communications manager. "From the moment a plane starts to move, we don't have any authority over that." When the tower is open, air traffic controllers have authority over the planes as they start moving, Burch said. Those air traffic controllers are contractors with the FAA."They don't work for us. They don't report to us," he said. "The airport doesn't control which runway gets used. "Flight paths are recommended, but not required." Why are we talking about this? Noise complaints and expansion constraints at the airport prompted talk of a move and more efforts to subdue noise and traffic for the community that grew up around the airport. When Naples became a city in 1949 it had fewer than 1,000 residents. Today, there are more than 20,000 in the city limits and 419,500 in Collier County. U.S. News named Naples one of the top 10 fastest growing places in the U.S. Changing anything at any airport in the U.S. isn't impossible but it certainly isn't easy and takes time and paperwork because the FAA is in charge and has decades of Congressionally approved regulations. Airport sponsors agree to certain obligations when they accept federal grant funds or federal property transfers for airport purposes. The FAA enforces these obligations through its Airport Compliance Program. Most airports apply for and accept FAA grants for infrastructure improvements and conducting required studies that are costly. Naples Airport is one of only three of 36 airports since 1990 to start and complete what's called a Part 161 Study which has to do with rules and administrative decisions, and the only one to win, Burch said. The FAA ruled in 2001 that Naples had violated FAA rules by banning noisy Stage 2 planes, which typically include older planes including Gulfstream IIs and IIIs, 20 series Learjets, and executive-configured Boeing 727s. It took four years of legal wranglings, but Naples won an appeal in June 2005. In addition to FAA-required studies such as master plans, Naples Airport Authority in 2023 completed a noise and land use compatibility study and currently is working with consultants and advisers on an exploratory study on the feasibility of moving the airport to East Naples something that would take 15 to 20 years and on improving flight patterns and safety. The local authority, which takes no local tax money, is paying for these. The $2 million Part 150 Noise Study, which is a voluntary study to assess noise compatibility planning, was submitted to the FAA with a request for approval for some of the abatement proposals. The authority has responded to FAA questions and resubmitted the study twice and is waiting on the administration's final response, Burch said. Texas-based Hughes Aerospace is in the middle of a feasibility study to develop conceptual designs for plane departures, approaches, missed approach waiting areas and shared airspace. Environmental Science Associates (ESA) is the company conducting the move exploratory study. Both projects came out of the noise study. All of these efforts are to satisfy complaining neighbors and politicians and determine whether an airport move makes sense for the community and the airport's customers. Elite Jets played host to a Friends of the Airport event Feb. 28, 2024 at the Naples Airport. Candidates for Naples mayor and city council spoke about the importance and the fight to keep the airport in its current location. Stephen Myers, executive vice president of Elite Jets, told a group of Naples Airport supporters that the Naples Airport Authority needs their support in keeping the airport in its current location. He said the current City Council wants to close the airport. Moving the airport isn't a new idea Covering one square mile in East Naples, the airport is just west of Airport-Pulling Road. Residential homes run all along North Road beside the airport and along Davis Boulevard, on the other side of Airport-Pulling Road. Fifth Avenue South is less than a 10-minute drive west of the airport. The 140-acre Gordon River Greenway is just north and east of the airport and 15-acre Baker Park is just west. Naples Airport started operations in 1943, first as a military airfield. In 1948, the U.S. government returned the airport to Naples and Collier County. In 1958, the Naples City Council bought Collier County's interest. Naples Airport Authority was created in 1969 and runs the airport independently working with the authority's Board of Commissioners, whose members are appointed by City Council. Studies and discussion about moving the Naples Airport date back as far as 1971, Burch said. There was a previous Study on Airport Site Characteristics and Impacts done in 1987. Follow on studies were considered in 1991, 1997, 2007 and 2008, but were never approved, he said. An airport move would affect more than just Naples The FAA needs to approve any flight changes; however Hughes has FAA authority for a much more streamlined process, Burch said. The company is authorized to work within the same systems the FAA uses to publish flight procedures, he said. Hughes will still go through FAA review and approval, and the federal agency has input and oversight and trains its air traffic controllers. The FAA will have to approve a decision to move the airport and where if the authority's commission were to approve such a change. "We can't just unilaterally force these things to happen," Burch said. "Along with nuclear power, airports are the most heavily regulated, and rightly so. There's a good reason why Congress and the FAA have taken these steps." ESA presented four potential sites for an airport in east Collier County to the airport commission in May. One site would change Collier County's Immokalee Regional Airport. Another site would require the closure of the county's Marco Island Executive Airport. The FAA is never going to approve a site that would close Marco Island's airport, actually located on Mainsail Drive in Naples, about three miles north of the island's Jolley Bridge, said Bryant Garrett Collier County Airports Manager who started in April. "They're not going to sacrifice one airport for another, and they have to approve all of this," Garrett said of the FAA. Collier County Executive Airports Manager Bryant Garrett started in April as manager of Marco Island Executive Airport, Immokalee Regional Airport and Everglades Airpark. The study won't compare the sites or make a recommendation on a site or on moving the airport at all. Garrett doesn't see the airport moving at all. "It's simple math," he said in an interview in his office at the Marco airport in June. "The cost of creating an airport from scratch is astronomical." At 2024 costs, a general aviation airport like the one in Naples now, is estimated to cost between $790 million and $1.2 billion. Commercial services are estimated at $1 billion to $1.6 billion. These figures include land acquisition, environmental mitigation and airport facilities, according to the ongoing exploratory study. In addition to negotiating land purchases and mitigating any environmental issues, the Naples Airport Authority would need to make the case to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that there is a need to move the existing airport, which site is best and why. Also, how such a move would affect other airports including Southwest Florida International Airport, Marco Island Executive Airport and Immokalee Regional Airport. The Collier-Dade Training and Transition Airport, located on Tamiami Trail in Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area was built with a 10,499-foot runway in 1968 as a planned replacement runway for the Miami Airport but environmental concerns stopped further buildout in the 1980s. Any development in East Collier will require the same kind of environmental scrutiny. "Color me skeptical but I don't see it ever happening," Garrett said. This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Naples airport move: Federal government has say on all things aviation WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, Manhattan (PIX11) Police released images of two men they believe fatally stabbed a 20-year-old in Washington Heights. The two men stand accused of attacking Mateo Solis, 20, on July 2 just before 3 a.m. near Saint Nicholas Avenue and West 185th Street, according to the NYPD. More Crime News Solis was stabbed in the back, police said. He was rushed to an area hospital in stable condition, but was later pronounced dead, police said. The young man, identified by family as Mateo Solis Tlalpachitoc, was celebrating his wifes birthday when the two suspected attackers approached their table, a family member told the New York Daily News. He is a father to two young children and a cook for the familys food truck, according to the New York Daily News. Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Emily Rahhal is a digital reporter from Los Angeles who has covered New York City since 2023. She joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter 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 PIX11. Tourists dining in Barcelona were drenched with water guns by angry crowds of anti-tourism protesters marching down the main boulevards. Several thousand demonstrators rallied through hot spots including the famous La Rambla, carrying banners that said Tourism kills the city and Dear Tourist: Balconing is fun! alluding to the practice of jumping from hotel balconies into swimming pools, which often ends in serious injuries for intoxicated tourists. Some demonstrators called out insults at tourists who took photographs of the march, while others taped off hotels and restaurants in a symbolic protest at over-tourism in the Catalan capital. Protestors shot tourists with water guns during a protest against mass tourism in Barcelona - BRUNA CASAS/REUTERS The use of water guns by some protesters against onlooking tourists prompted heated verbal exchanges, but order was maintained by police escorting the march. Some diners, including families, were forced to leave their tables that looked onto the street where the protesters were gathering. Barcelona police said 2,800 people had taken part in the demonstration but organisers claimed seven times that number were in attendance. A symbolic cordon was put up on a bar-restaurant window by the protesters - JOSEP LAGO/SFP According to city council figures, Barcelona last year received more than 12 million tourists, 81 per cent of whom were from outside of Spain. They spent a massive 9.6 billion (8.1 billion) in the city, but many locals have concluded that the overall impact of so many visitors is warping the local economy to their detriment. Protesters on Saturday chanted Tourists out of our neighbourhoods. The rise of tourism rental properties is partly blamed for a 61 per cent rise in property prices between 2013 and 2023 across the city. Protesters spewed insults at restaurant diners - PACO FREIRE/SHUTTERSTOCK Jaume Collboni, the mayor of Barcelona, took to social media at the time of Saturdays demonstration to assure citizens of his council teams firm commitment to limiting mass tourism and its consequences. Mr Collboni, a Socialist, pointed to his plan to ban Airbnb-style rental properties by 2028. There are currently 10,000 licensed tourism apartments and an association representing owners has vowed to challenge his plan in the courts. The mayor also said the citys tourism tax would rise from 5.50 (4.60) per night to 7.50 (6.35). Barcelona becomes the latest Spanish tourism hotspot to have witnessed public protest this year against the impact of millions of visitors on locals quality of life. There has been multiple anti-tourism demonstrations happening in different parts of Spain - PACO FREIRE/SHUTTERSTOCK In Malaga last month, 15,000 people marched against overtourism in a city where licenced tourism apartments have swelled to 12,000 from less than 1,000 in 2016. In Palma de Mallorca, more than 10,000 marched in May against the lack of affordable housing due to the impact of tourism. In April, some 55,000 people took part in the biggest-ever demonstrations against tourism in the major capital cities across the Canary Islands archipelago. Spain received a record 85 million foreign visitors in 2023, an increase of 18.7 per cent from the previous year, according to the countrys National Statistics Institute. Only France received a higher number of international visitors. Figures from the first months of 2024 suggest that Spain is on course to set another record this year. 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. Newly sworn-in British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and U.S. President Joe Biden had their first call on Friday after Starmers Labour Party overturned the governing Conservatives majority in the July 4 election. In a statement on Friday, the White House said that during the call, the pair reaffirmed the special relationship between our nations and the importance of working together in support of freedom and democracy around the world. On Saturday, a video of their call was posted to Starmers Instagram, in which Biden congratulates Starmer on a hell of a victory. Mr. Prime Minister, congratulations. What a hell of a victory. Congratulations, Biden said. Thank you, Mr. President, Starmer chuckled in reply. It has been a long night and day and I have been busy appointing my cabinet. Starmer added that he is excited to visit Washington next week, where he will meet Biden and attend a summit to celebrate NATOs 75th anniversary. Theres no doubt under your leadership, our two countries are going to continue our special relationship, President Biden added. He then listed areas of cooperation between the allies. Were working together on just about every issueSupporting Ukraine, managing the competition with China, advancing cooperation in the Indo-Pacific with AUKUS [military alliance]. Obviously the special relationship is the bedrock, always has been, for our defense, for our security and prosperity, which obviously is central to our missions for government, Starmer replied. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. A state of emergency was declared in parts of Russias Voronezh region on Sunday after a Ukrainian drone strike on a large ammunition storage facility. Alexander Gusev, the governor of Voronezh, said that several drones were destroyed by Russian air defence systems and that the falling debris set off a fire in a depot. The fire continued to ignite explosive material for several hours after the attack, Mr Gusev said, adding that there were no casualties. According to Russian media, roads were closed as emergency services and government officials rushed to the scene, while local people working in the nearby Podgorensky district were evacuated. Footage posted on social media showed a large mushroom cloud billowing on the horizon along with a chain of smaller secondary explosions. Another video showed a drone flying low at dawn over the fields of the Voronezh countryside. The falling debris from the drone strike 'set off a fire in a depot' Kyiv has yet to officially comment on the strike, but a Ukrainian defence source told AFP that the powerful explosion was a result of the large number of missiles, tank and artillery shells and ammunition boxes that Russia stored at the site. A Ukrainian security service source told Reuters that the depot was a 9,000 sq m location that Russia uses to equip its forces in Ukraine. The source also warned that Ukraine planned further similar strikes: In the nearest future, there remains a high chance of sudden detonations at Russian military-industrial facilities, which are working [to supply] the war against Ukraine. According to open-source intelligence analysts, the depot is located in the small town of Sergeevka, which is south east of the city of Voronezh and around 50 miles from the Ukrainian border. Russias Ministry of Defence has not commented on the strike in Voronezh but said that its air defence systems had destroyed a Ukrainian drone over the neighbouring Belgorod region. Since the beginning of the year, Ukraine has launched cross-border drone strikes on Russia on an almost weekly basis. Targets most often include military bases, oil refineries and industrial facilities but civilian casualties have also been reported. 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. All the ways Japan is trying to stop you from visiting Japan is introducing fees and barriers for visitors in an attempt to tackle overtourism - John W. Banagan/The Image Bank Unreleased The falling yen has helped create a tourism boom in Japan. Some 33 million visitors are expected this year, a new record and up one million on pre-pandemic levels. But not everyone is celebrating. Back in April, the small town of Fujikawaguchiko made headlines when it took a drastic step against overtourism, installing an obstructive black screen to block a favoured viewpoint (and selfie spot) of Mount Fuji. Now the trend appears to be catching on, with a range of new restrictions in Tokyo, Kyoto and elsewhere. These restrictions are in response to very real issues, says Rebecca Hallett, a Japan specialist who has visited the country more than a dozen times. The Japanese remain welcoming to tourists in general, she says, but are losing patience with bad behaviour among a sizable minority. Here are some of the new rules in place: Luggage fees on trains 5 per bag Lugging your suitcases onto a train feels like an inevitable part of travel. Yet Japans cheap courier services mean that locals prefer to send their luggage ahead. As a result, they dont take kindly to unwieldy suitcases blocking aisles or taking up seats on busy commuter trains Earlier this year, the Shinkansen railway network introduced an additional fee for anyone carrying a bag longer or taller than 160 cm. Expect to pay 1,000 (5) per bag. No access to Geisha streets 50 fines Geisha's can now refuse to have their pictures taken with tourists - Jorge FernAndez/LightRocket The famous Kyoto district of Gion, home to the geisha teahouses, is a must-see for tourists. Yet in recent years, visitors have been exhibiting increasingly bad behaviour, including harassing geisha to get the perfect souvenir photo. In response, Kyoto has now banned tourists from the historic private alleyways between the teahouses. Anyone taking a photo of a geisha without her consent risks being fined 10,000 (50). Locals-only dining nights and discounts for Japanese Japan ranks among the worlds greatest culinary destinations. Yet some establishments are looking to protect their regulars against the influx of internationals. One Hiroshima okonomiyaki restaurant has barred tourists on Friday evenings, reserving its tables for residents only. Others are taking a craftier approach. In Tokyos Shibuya district, smallprint on the menu (written in Japanese) explains that all locals will receive a 1,000 (5) discount on their total bill. Tourist-only bus routes Clean and efficient public transport is a point of pride for Japan. But a surge in tourists means that some busy services are running slower than usual. In response, Kyoto has created tourist-only buses, taking you straight to the popular landmarks without irritating commuters. Reminders about Japanese manners and no loitering Japan is regarded as a country of immaculate manners and novel customs. But how many tourists take a quick refresher course before heading there? Fed up with persistent violations which may or may not coincide with a 50 per cent jump in American visitors Kyoto has launched a new poster campaign. A new Mind Your Manners campaign will remind English-speaking visitors of local customs. It includes basic stuff like not littering or yelling, but also an encouragement not to loiter in large numbers (a tricky one for group trips). Limits on Mount Fuji plus 10 fees New fees are being introduced for tourists visiting Mount Fiji - DoctorEgg/Getty Images Contributor Like other world-famous attractions, Mt. Fuji gets a little crowded at times. As of this summer, authorities have capped visitors at 4,000 per day, as well as bringing in new fees (2,000 / 10) for those taking the popular Yoshida Trail. Other hotspots are taking a similar approach: Tokyos Studio Ghibli museum now limits daily visitors to 3,500 during the week and 4,000 on weekends. No tourists on speediest trains Tourists love the Japan Rail Pass, which offers unlimited usage of the Shinkansen rail network for a limited time. But you should be aware that the rail pass doesnt cover all services namely the speedier Nozomi and Mizuho services. While these routes are only a few minutes faster, they rely on locals boarding and disembarking in a matter of seconds and thus dont have time to wait for clueless tourists. Tourists pay extra up to four times more Although commonplace in other Asian countries, the idea of charging foreigners more remains taboo in Japan. But is the tide turning? This month, it was reported that the ancient Himeji Castle may soon be charging a quadruple entry fee (4,000 / 20) for non-nationals. The local mayor defended the extra costs by saying that locals already pay towards its upkeep through their taxes. Higher tourist taxes up to 9.80 a night Like their European counterparts, Japanese cities have been increasing the daily fees paid by tourists although the sums arent exactly eye-watering. Anyone staying overnight in Kyoto will now pay a daily tourism levy on their hotel room, ranging from 2001,000 a night (1-5). The northern island of Hokkaido, known for its ski resorts, now charges every guest an extra 2,000 (9.80) per night. Restaurants may refuse to serve tourists during some days in the week - d3sign/Moment RF Sending visitors elsewhere Dont worry; Japan isnt looking to redirect tourists to Timbuktu. But the government does want visitors to spread out beyond the crowded hotspots (according to official figures, 72 per cent of foreign tourists stay within Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya). The country is currently promoting 11 lesser-visited destinations, including the samurai heartland of Hokuriku and the Alps of Nagano. I had an amazing time in Shimane a couple of years ago watching kagura performances, visiting Japans oldest shrine, and drinking sake where it was invented, says Japan expert Rebecca Hallett. Even better, just 0.1 per cent of overseas tourists currently go there. But luxury travellers are welcome While boisterous influencers are a no-no, another class of travellers can expect the red carpet treatment perhaps quite literally. Japans tourism authorities are currently focusing on maximising the number of luxury tourists, defined as those who spend more than 1 million (around 5,000). Good news if youre one of them. 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. Omar Touray, president of the ECOWAS Commission, left, Ghana's President, Nana Akufo Addo, center and Nigeria Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar pose for a photo, prior to the start of the ECOWAS meeting,in Abuja, Nigeria, Sunday, July 7, 2024. West Africa's divided regional bloc has appointed Senegal's President Basirou Diomaye Faye to dialogue with the three military junta-led member states that have left the association to try and get them back and reunite the region whose stability is under threat. (AP Photo/Olamikan Gbemiga) ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) West Africas divided regional bloc Sunday asked Senegals President Basirou Diomaye Faye to have a dialogue with the three military junta-led member states to try to reunite the region whose stability has been under threat following their decision to leave the group in January. At its summit in Nigerias capital Abuja, the bloc known as ECOWAS appointed Faye as its envoy to meet with Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, which formed their separate union after their respective coups fractured relations with neighbors. It was not immediately clear what the terms of the dialogue would be. The Senegalese president, who became Africas youngest leader after his election victory in March, has all the credentials required to serve as a facilitator," Omar Alieu Touray, the president of the ECOWAS Commission, said at the summit. The three coup-hit countries already said at their summit a day earlier that they have irrevocably turned their back on ECOWAS. It is the first time in the blocs nearly 50-year history that it has lost members in such a manner. Analysts viewed Fayes assignment as important during an unprecedented regional crisis. Still, it will most likely not be fruitful anytime soon because of regional tensions that remain, said Karim Manuel, an analyst for the Middle East and Africa with the Economist Intelligence Unit. Touray said it is the worst time for the block for years. "Our region is also faced with the risks of disintegration, he added. When you get out of an agreement, certainly you dont become part of that agreement. If it is about free trade, free movement of people, the risk of losing those concessions remains," Touray said. In addition to economic projects that ECOWAS said it might have to suspend in the three countries if they do not return, their withdrawal could also affect their citizens. ECOWAS as West Africas top political and economic authority offers free trade and movement without visas within member states. The three countries' departure from the bloc could also affect neighbors on different fronts. They all share borders and deadly security crises that are now spreading across the region and which the bloc is seeking their partnership to fight. Observers have also warned the coups in the countries could embolden other militaries, especially in countries where citizens have complained of not benefitting from their rich natural resources. Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu, who was asked to continue serving as the bloc's chairman because his one-year tenure neared its end, called for stronger and new partnerships to develop the region amid its enormous challenges. Together, we can pave the way for a prosperous future for all of West Africa, Tinubu said. Britain, the Brexiteers claimed in 2016, is fundamentally different from the Continent above all in its political culture, but also economically and constitutionally. At first sight, the 2024 election would seem to confirm that judgment. France appears likely to elect Marine Le Pens radical-Right National Rally as the leading party in the National Assembly, and similar parties are making headway in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Britain, by contrast, has just seen power pass seamlessly from a party of the moderate Right to a party of the moderate Left. Our electoral system distorts rather than reflects reality. One in seven British voters supported Reform UK, though the party has been rewarded with just five seats. In the last two nationwide elections fought in Britain under proportional representation the European Parliament elections of 2014 and 2019 Reform UKs predecessor parties, Ukip and the Brexit Party, came first with 26 per cent and 30 per cent of the vote respectively. Indeed, Nigel Farage is the most underestimated politician in Britain. Without him Brexit would probably not have occurred. And he has destroyed three Conservative prime ministers David Cameron, following the 2016 Brexit referendum; Theresa May, after the debacle of the 2019 European Parliament elections when the Conservatives secured just 9 per cent of the vote; and now Rishi Sunak. Reform UK has turned a Conservative defeat into a rout. Perhaps, then, Britain is not so different from the Continent after all. In truth, both are being affected by trends that are present in many advanced democracies, not excluding the United States. These trends are long-term consequences of the economic recession that began in 2008 and which was a prime cause of Brexit. Both in Britain and in France, support for the radical Right comes mainly from those who have suffered most from the consequences of recession those left behind by economic change, those living in former mining areas or decaying seaside towns who feel that the political system is not working for them. The vote for Reform, as for that of the National Rally, seems drawn primarily from left-behind areas with a high proportion of elderly, white and less well-off voters with few educational qualifications, although by contrast with Britain, the National Rally has now begun to attract the young and the better-off. Many on the progressive side of politics had believed that the recession, which highlighted the weaknesses of the market economy, would help not the Right but the Left. Yet, both in Britain and France, where the socialists suffered a collapse after the presidency of Francois Hollande in 2017, parties of the moderate Left now represent less the underprivileged than the interests of public-sector trade unionists and graduates. Indeed, in Britain in 2019, if it had been only university graduates who had been able to vote, Jeremy Corbyn would have won with a 14 per cent lead. In many advanced democracies there has been a movement not to the Left but to the Right, yet a Right that is very far from being conservative. Instead of a social-democratic moment, the recession gave rise to a nationalist moment. As in the 1930s after the Wall Street Crash, recession strengthened national solidarity, a mood exploited by Nigel Farage as by Marine Le Pen, Donald Trump, Giorgia Meloni, and the AfD in Germany. Nationalism, often with a dash of anti-Semitism, has also been exploited by the radical Left. In France, Jean-Luc Melenchon, a French Jeremy Corbyn, is, like Corbyn, a Eurosceptic, as is George Galloway, the leader of the Workers Party and a Brexiteer. And the radical Left shares with the radical Right an eagerness to find excuses for Putins invasion of Ukraine. But neither in Britain nor France is it as strong as the radical Right. One indication of the revival of nationalism is the return of identity politics. Marine Le Pens complaint against Macron is not that he is too Left-wing or too Right-wing, but that he is insufficiently French. Nigel Farage complains that the Conservatives have not put Britains interests first, while the SNP complain that Keir Starmer is not Scottish enough. In France as in Britain, the cry is heard all the (non-insurgent) politicians are the same. The insurgents, sometimes labelled populists, claim that the fundamental political cleavage is not between Left and Right, but between the elite the political class and the people. For the radical Right, immigration symbolises that cleavage. I accept, Nigel Farage has declared, that open-door immigration and mass cheap labour is good for rich people... And it is good for very big businesses. But it has been a disaster for millions of ordinary decent families in this country, and surely it is the primary duty of a British government to put the interests of our own people first. Immigration has created a gulf between a meritocratic elite, the exam-passing classes, more at home in Brussels and Biarritz than in Bolton or Burnley, and Farages ordinary decent families. For the moment, then, Britains electoral system makes it appear politically an outlier, enabling us to look condescendingly at the Continent. But for how long? Sir Vernon Bogdanor is Professor of Government at Kings College, London. His book Making the Weather: Six Politicians Who Changed Modern Britain will be published in September 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. Texas will open a state office in Taiwan to enhance trade and cultural relations, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Sunday during an economic development trip to Asia. Texas and Taiwan are critical economic partners that seek to drive the future of innovation, Abbott said in a news release from Taipei, the capital of the self-governing island off the coast of China. "Both initiatives an economic agreement and a new State of Texas Taiwan Office will strengthen the economic and cultural relationship between Texas and Taiwan." The new office in Taiwan will fall under the governor's economic development and tourism umbrella. Gov. Greg Abbott and Taiwan Economic Affairs Minister Jyh-Huei Kuo sign an agreement to boost trade and cultural relations during the governor's economic development mission to Asia. The trip to Asia also included visits to South Korea and Japan. The governor was joined by his wife, Cecilia; Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson; Democratic state Sen. Carol Alvarado of Houston; and Republican state Reps. Angie Chen Button of Richardson, Giovanni Capriglione of Keller and Jacey Jetton of Katy. Button was born in Taipei. More: China launches 'punishment' drills around Taiwan. Here's why Beijing says it's doing it The United States severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan, once known as the Republic of China, in 1979 as part of the agreement that normalized the nation's relationship with the People's Republic of China, which had been isolated after the Communist takeover in 1949. However, according to the U.S. State Department, which describes Taiwan as "a leading democracy and a technological powerhouse," the U.S. and Taiwan "have a robust unofficial relationship." "The United States and Taiwan share similar values, deep commercial and economic links, and strong people-to-people ties, which form the bedrock of our friendship and serve as the impetus for expanding U.S. engagement with Taiwan," the State Department says on its website. More: Taiwan hit by strongest earthquake in 25 years; 4 dead and dozens injured: Updates Abbott signed what his office called an Economic Development Statement of Intent with Taiwan Economic Affairs Minister Jyh-Huei Kuo "to further boost investment, expand trade, spur job creation, and increase innovation in critical industries between Texas and Taiwan." The document's priorities include collaboration in such sectors as semiconductor manufacturing, electric vehicles and energy resilience. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: During trip to Asia, Greg Abbott announces new initiative with Taiwan Woman Dies While Boating on the Fourth of July. Now 2 Men Have Been Charged with Boating While Intoxicated Authorities said they received a call about a woman who had "fallen off a boat" in Texas' Lake Conroe earlier this week Facebook Jerri MacMeekin Authorities in Texas are investigating a Fourth of July drowning after a woman fell off a boat and died. The Montgomery County Pct. 1 Constable announced this week that it received a 911 call around 8:59 p.m. local time on Thursday about a woman who had "fallen off a boat near the Scotts Ridge Boat Ramp" in Lake Conroe. At the time, multiple departments "responded to the area" and the woman was located by divers at 11:30 p.m. The woman has since been identified as 31-year-old Jerri MacMeekin, authorities told PEOPLE. Two men Jerri's brother, Kyle MacMeekin, 29, and Shane Annboli, 44 were taken into custody on July 4 by Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Wardens and each charged with boating while intoxicated. Related: 73-Year-Old Man Is Latest Death at Lake Lanier After Falling from Fishing Boat After arriving on the scene, authorities learned that two boats including one pontoon boat had been running together, and two men and a woman jumped in the water to rescue Jerri, though they could not locate her, according to the Montgomery County Police Reporter, which cited police records. (The woman who jumped in for the rescue was also reportedly missing at one point, the outlet said.) After that woman was located about an hour later, divers then found the body of Jerri, according to the Police Reporter. The operators of both boats were then arrested and booked in Montgomery County Jail, per the Police Reporter. Both men and their reported charges do not appear on the jail's current inmate list. According to records obtained by the Police Reporter, Kyle had a bond of $3,000, while Anniboli was given a $1,000 bond. Law & Crime reported that both men have since been released from custody. 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. We never enjoy pulling people out of the water, especially on a holiday weekend when youre supposed to be having fun, enjoying time with your family, Montgomery County Precinct 1 Constables Office Capt. Miguel Rosario said, per NBC affiliate KPRC. Jerri was reportedly not wearing a life jacket when she was pulled out of the water, according to the outlet. All the divers I know, theyve never pulled anybody out of the water thats been wearing a life jacket, Capt. Rosario said. In a statement at the end of the Montgomery County Pct. 1 Constable's Facebook post, Philip Cash expressed his "deepest condolences to the family and friends of the victim." For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. A New York City Airbnb host was shut down under the short-term rental law. He's now renting his basement illegally on Facebook and making crucial income after he was laid off. A New Yorker's Airbnb business thrived until a new city law shut it down. NYC moved to restrict short-term rentals, in part to address the city's housing shortage. The former host now rents his basement through Facebook and friends, earning income after a layoff. After Paul and his wife bought their townhouse in Astoria, Queens, in 2013, they decided to transform their basement into a guest suite for visiting family and friends. To help pay off the loan they took out for the renovation, the couple rented their basement which has a bedroom, living space, and a kitchenette on Airbnb for short-term stays in between family visits. They were quickly inundated with eager guests. There aren't many hotels in Astoria a largely residential neighborhood and the few that exist are "dinky" and expensive, Paul said. Fast-forward several years and the couple is still renting out the basement for short periods. But they're knowingly violating New York City's new law banning most short-term rentals. Through Airbnb, they hosted tourists from across Asia, Europe, and the US, as well as people visiting family members in Queens. Guests usually stayed about three or four days, but sometimes as long as two weeks. "It turned out to be enormously profitable," said Paul, whose name was changed for this story to protect his family's anonymity. In the high season, he said they charged up to $300 a night for the space, which can comfortably sleep four, and they never charged less than $150 a night. In a good month, it brought in nearly $3,000, according to their Airbnb earnings report. But when the pandemic hit in early 2020, they were forced to shut down their Airbnb business. Because the basement doesn't have a proper kitchen, including an oven, they couldn't rent it out long-term. A couple of years later, they were just about to re-list their basement on Airbnb when the New York City government passed new regulations known as Local Law 18 cracking down on short-term rentals. Under the law, homeowners can host paying guests for less than 30 days only if their unit is in an approved building, they rent to a maximum of two guests at a time, and they stay in the home with their guests. The law also requires that guests have access to the entire unit and that there aren't any locked doors inside the home. Every potential host has to apply and be approved by the city's Office of Special Enforcement (OSE). Hosts can be fined up to $5,000 for repeated violations. Paul and his wife applied, but they were denied, according to documentation viewed by Business Insider. To comply with the law, they would need to open up their personal living room and kitchen to their Airbnb guests. An OSE representative helpfully explained how they could alter their home to comply with the law, but Paul and his wife felt the changes would "sacrifice our own sense of privacy," so they gave up on Airbnb. Since the city began enforcing LL18 last September, the number of short-term rental listings has plummeted. Airbnb listings for stays of less than 30 days fell from 22,246 in August of last year, just before the city began enforcing the law, to nearly 4,000 in May 2024, a roughly 82% drop. As of June 24, the city had received 6,395 applications for short-term rentals, according to OSE. The office has approved 2,276 of these, denied 1,746, and asked 2,269 applicants to submit additional information. LL18 aims to address the city's severe housing shortage by opening homes to long-term renters that were previously reserved for visitors. Some evidence, including from Irvine, California, suggests that restricting short-term rentals can reduce rents. Less than a year into enforcement of the near-ban, it's not clear whether New York City is achieving this goal, but it has made hotel rooms more expensive. Crucial income after a layoff After the city rejected his application, Paul says he was "pissed off" and decided to find other ways to rent the basement out to short-term guests. So he began promoting it in various Facebook groups and through friends in the neighborhood. He quickly found takers. With so many former Airbnbs gone and hotel rates on the rise, business has been good. For the last about 18 months, he's managed to regularly rent the place out for short-term and medium-term stays, charging between $150 and $200 per night or $2,500 for a month-long stay. He's not particularly worried about being fined by the city because he thinks the government is more concerned with shutting down large-scale, short-term rental businesses rather than small-time property owners. OSE told BI it's working with Airbnb and other short-term rental companies to ensure they're in compliance before it begins fining hosts who violate the rules. Right now, Paul is hosting a local family waiting for renovations to be finished on their new home in the neighborhood. And they have lots of regular, repeat guests mostly grandparents visiting from out of town and others who want to stay near family who live in Astoria. "They want a place that's within walking distance and also has the amenities of a home that you won't find in a hotel," he said. He believes that Airbnb and other short-term rentals in New York City should be regulated, but he doesn't think LL18 does enough to protect small-time hosts like himself, who wouldn't be able to rent out their space long-term. "I agree with the sentiment behind the regulations," he said. "I just think that the regulations were designed as sort of blunt instruments rather than a precision tool." Since Paul was laid off from his job as a TV producer a few months ago, the family has come to rely on the income from short-term renting. He also feels they're doing a service for visitors who need a more affordable place to stay in the neighborhood. "The best use of that space I could think of is to rent it out to local families," he said. "The way we use this space is good for Astoria, and it's good for New York, and it makes living here easier." Have you been impacted by New York City's short-term rental regulations? Reach out to this reporter at erelman@businessinsider.com. Read the original article on Business Insider 'You're not done yet': John O'Keefe's brother speaks out after Karen Read mistrial Paul O'Keefe, brother of the John OKeefe, stares at Karen Read during her trial on murder charges in Dedham Superior Court on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. CANTON Paul O'Keefe, brother of the late Braintree native John O'Keefe, is speaking out after the Karen Read murder trial ended last week with a hung jury. Paul O'Keefe told WCVB that his family is no longer keeping silent about the case. He spoke one-on-one with NewsCenter 5's David Bienick. O'Keefe said his family didn't speak publicly during the trial because they didn't want to interfere with the prosecution and they trusted that justice would lead to a guilty verdict for Read, who is accused of second-degree murder. Prosecutors say she will be retried. In 2013, Paul and John O'Keefe lost their sister Kristen to a brain tumor and a few months later, Kristen's husband had a fatal heart attack. When John moved into their home in Canton and became the guardian of his young niece and nephew, Paul O'Keefe wasn't surprised, he said. "People say they would take their shirt off their back or do anything for anybody. But many people don't get a chance to prove that. ... He proved all of that," Paul O'Keefe said. At the start of each of the 29 days of testimony, Paul O'Keefe led his family into the courtroom and took the same seat a few feet away from Karen Read and directly in front of the courtroom camera. "Nobody really wanted that first seat. I'll take the camera on me," Paul O'Keefe said. "But also, I wanted Karen to know I'm here. And I'm not going anywhere. And I'm going to be here every day." Karen Read listens to testimony about her discovery of John O'Keefe's body in Canton on Wednesday May 22, 2024. Paul O'Keefe had known Karen Read since 2020 when she rekindled an old relationship with his brother John, a Boston police officer. In 2022, Read was charged with killing John O'Keefe by backing into him with her SUV. Paul O'Keefe said he never believed Read's defense story, that someone else killed his brother and that police were framing her to cover it up. Boston police officer John O'Keefe He said he was disappointed to see crowds of Read supporters outside the courthouse each day. "A group of people that are just, you know, they're just never going to be convinced," Paul O'Keefe said. "That's fine. And those are the people that are out there wearing their pink shirts and tailgating and, you know, having a good old time while there's a murder trial going on inside the courthouse." During closing arguments, he invited some of the people the defense has tried to implicate in his brother's death to sit with his family. "It was just our way of saying, you know, we don't believe any of this stuff," O'Keefe said. After the mistrial was declared, O'Keefe passed by Read and said something. "I just walked by her, and I said, 'You're not done yet.' That's all," O'Keefe said. This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: The late John O'Keefe's family ends its silence after mistrial The Youth Crisis Center on Parental Home Road is shown adorned with blue pinwheels in April to mark Child Abuse Awareness Month. Theres an inspirational quote (often attributed to prominent anthropologist Margaret Mead) that states: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. Those words resonate with me as Northeast Floridas Youth Crisis Center Inc. celebrates 50 years of working to create a stronger community through stronger families. In fact, it was Jacksonville City Councilwoman Gwen Yates who secured a city grant in 1974 to open Floridas first runaway shelter, the Transient Youth Center. Its impact has been recognized and replicated throughout the state. Fast forward five decades later and the Youth Crisis Center is stronger than ever, providing critically needed services to more than 2,500 youth, young adults and families throughout the region. Its services include short-term residential services, outpatient mental health counseling, psychiatric care and supportive mental health care in Head Start schools. Overall, our goal is to provide more than a safety net for those in need by embracing families and transforming lives across Northeast Florida. But we know the world is a very different place now than when the center was established. When a child or family is in need, time is of the essence to begin the critical care that often has plagued families for some time before making the first connection. Free of waitlists, Youth Crisis Center can immediately assist our community in time of need. With the increase in the prevalence of human trafficking, domestic violence and presence of extreme behaviors, these crises have forced the need for a range of emergent programs and services to address them directly. This includes: Family Link Community Counseling program, which provides outpatient counseling services to children ages 6-17 who are experiencing concerns with truancy, behavior, homelessness and mental health; House of Hope, which provides emergency housing for young adults ages 18 to 24 experiencing homelessness; Touchstone Village transitional living program to help homeless or housing insecure young adults with limited self-sufficiency successfully make the transition into responsible, independent adults; and SNAP (Stop Now and Plan), an evidence-based program designed for children ages 6 to 11 engaging in aggressive, ungovernable behavior just to name a few. Some of these services are so important they have even been codified in Chapter 984, Florida Statutes as Children and Families in Need of Services. Funding is provided by the state, through the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and administered by the Florida Network of Youth and Family Services, a nonprofit organization representing 27 member agencies across the state, including Youth Crisis Center. As a result of our affiliation with the Florida Network, the center has determined that our impact extends far beyond Northeast Florida and significantly benefits the entire state. In fact, a January 2024 report, conducted by Analytic Initiatives Inc., found theres a $9.19 return on investment for every $1 the state invests in the Florida Networks programs. Additionally, nearly $410 million in cost savings were generated for the state, as a direct result of these services, from January 2022 through June 2023. Letters: Creating a 'stadium of the future' for Jacksonville requires more than aesthetics I am excited for what the next 50 years will bring. As we begin construction of a maternity independent living program in Jacksonville and continue the expansion of our office in St. Augustine, I am so thankful to the community for their outpouring of support, advocacy and generosity. Our amazing team of dedicated employees and board of directors gives their time, service and devotion to ensure Floridas families have the best resources to aid in their time of healing. So, yes: That small group of thoughtful people has indeed changed the world. Sirdevan Kim Sirdevan, president and CEO, Youth Crisis Center Inc., Jacksonville This guest column is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Times-Union. We welcome a diversity of opinions. This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Impact of Youth Crisis Center extends far beyond Jacksonville Past changes in the charter Eleven of 13 Killeen City Charter amendments were approved by Killeen voters on May 7, 2022, which was the last time changes were made to the citys charter. Two proposals, which included propositions H and J, failed to garner the votes necessary to pass, while other amendments passed, including a pay raise for council members from $100 a month to $250, and for the mayor from $200 a month to $350. Here is a look at the charter amendments and the outcomes from the election in 2022: PASSED Proposition A would remove the citys ability to conduct involuntary annexations, as they are no longer allowable under state law. PASSED Proposition B would remove the requirement for Killeen to receive preclearance approval under the Voting Rights Act for district boundary changes as it is no longer federally required. PASSED Proposition C increases the pay for City Council members from $100 a month to $250 a month, and the mayors pay from $200 a month to $350 a month. The proposition was originally listed at $1,000 per month for council members and $1,500 for the mayor, but was reduced to the current proposition after public backlash. PASSED Proposition D, which would remove the ability of the city manager to demand written charges and a public hearing if removed within six months of his or her appointment. PASSED Proposition E would provide for a special meeting following an election for the purpose of qualifying newly elected council members. PASSED Proposition F would require a public hearing for any ordinance imposing a fine or fee. PASSED Proposition G would allow individual council members to make inquiries into the conduct of any office, department, agency or officer of the city. As it is currently written, council members do not have the power to conduct investigations without appointing a committee. FAILED Proposition H would remove the requirement for Killeen to send a copy of the annual budget to the state comptroller; according to city staff, the comptroller does not use this copy, making the practice redundant. APPROVED Proposition I would remove the citys ability to secure revenue bonds by a mortgage or deed of trust through the physical properties of public utilities. FAILED Proposition J would remove the requirement for full names to be printed on official ballots. APPROVED Proposition K would enable the passage of ordinances subject to state or federal law requirements that would not be passible via the initiative ordinance process. APPROVED Proposition L would amend the term officer in the city charter. PASSED Proposition M would require council members to resign from their present office immediately upon filing for an office that council member does not currently hold. Currently, council members are required to resign 40 days prior to the election in which they are running for an office they do not currently hold. Zelenskyy: Ukraine will strengthen its fleet with help from UK and Netherlands Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his video address on 7 July. Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has outlined the latest developments on the front to newly appointed Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp and Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans and newly appointed UK Defence Secretary John Healey. Zelenskyy and the ministers also discussed strengthening the Ukrainian fleet and air defence. Source: President Zelenskyy during his video address on 7 July Quote from Zelenskyy: "The newly appointed Dutch defence and foreign ministers and the UKs new secretary of defence were here in Odesa today. I told them about the situation on the battlefield. Commander of the Ukrainian Navy [Oleksii] Neizhpapa also delivered a report. We will continue strengthening the Ukrainian fleet alongside the UK and the Netherlands; we have additional cooperation agreements in place. Today we also discussed strengthening [Ukraines] air defence; this is our absolute priority, and I am grateful for [our partners] readiness to take further steps, including regarding the F-16 fighter jets." Details: Zelenskyy also said that he presented awards to Ukrainian marines and visited injured soldiers and marines in Odesa on Sunday. He also held a meeting to discuss the situation in Odesa and Odesa Oblast, including the regions security, transport, energy, and social issues. Support UP or become our patron! Apple's future M5 chip shows promise for impressive upgrades to performance, efficiency, and AI power, but it's likely to be released at least a year from now. In May, Apple launched the latest M4 chip inside its new iPad Pro model, and we've already seen stellar Geekbench 6 scores for the M4. To imagine that Apple's M5 silicon could be more powerful than the M4 chip is wild but not unexpected, especially considering the M5 chip could be the first to use 2nm process technology. We still don't know much about Apple's next-gen M5 chip, like detailed improvements to specs and AI features. But thanks to early leaks, rumors, and speculation, we can surmise quite a bit about the M5 chip, from which devices we expect to see it on to its release date and price. Latest news (Updated 7/5/2024) Apple leak reveals iPad mini 7 and iPad Pro M5 plans | An X user revealed which Apple devices may see an M5 upgrade first. All-screen foldable MacBook: Everything we know so far | This epic foldable MacBook will likely feature an M5 series chip. Apple M5: Release date and price Apple's M4 chip practically just launched for the iPad Pro, and we don't even have a release date yet for the M4 Pro, M4 Max, or M4 Ultra chips. So, chances are, we'll be waiting a while for Apple's M5 chip. However, if we look at previous release dates for Apple's silicon, we can make an educated guess as to when the M5 chip might be announced. Base M2 chip: June 2022 M2 Pro and M2 Max: January 2023 M2 Ultra: June 2023 Entire M3 Series: October 2023 Base M4 chip: May 2024 M4 Pro, M4 Max, M4 Ultra: TBA While past schedules have varied for Apple's Pro, Max, and Ultra chip variants, the company tends to release a new base chip every year. Looking at the dates above, it seems likely that Apple could release its M5 chip sometime in May or June 2025. Man using iPad Pro with Apple Pencil on a wooden desk That said, a report from DigiTimes suggests Apple is working on AI cloud computing chips that could be part of the M5 lineup. It says these chips "will enter mass production at TSMC in the second half of 2025." If Apple launches all of its M5 chips simultaneously like it did with the M3 series, an October 2025 release date could be more likely. Regarding price, there's a good chance we won't see any price increases between M4 devices and M5 devices. The 11-inch iPad Pro M4 increased by $200 compared to its predecessor, so the chances of another price increase for an M5 iPad Pro are slim. That said, take this all with a grain of salt. We don't know anything official yet from Apple, and we probably won't for a while. Apple M5: Possible variants While we don't have definitive information yet on possible M5 variants, Apple is fairly predictable in this area. The M5 base variant will probably be the first to debut, likely followed by three more powerful variants: M5 Pro, M5 Max, and M5 Ultra. MacBook Air 15 M3 lid closed on a slatted wooden table Of course, it's possible that Apple could switch things up and come out with three or five M5 variants. But based on the company's track record, we're confident there will be four unique M5 variants, likely with the M5 Pro and M5 Max releasing together after the base M5 variant and then the M5 Ultra chip releasing last. That said, Apple launched all of its M3 variants at once, so the company could be prepared to do that with its M5 series. Apple M5: Expected devices Thanks to some backend sleuthing by X user Nicolas Alvarez , we know which four iPads could be the first to feature Apple's upcoming M5 chip: iPad17,1 - M5 11-inch Pro Wi-Fi iPad17,2 - M5 11-inch Pro Cellular iPad17,3 - M5 13-inch Pro Wi-Fi iPad17,4 - M5 13-inch Pro Cellular Initially, we only had iPad identifiers, like iPad 17,1, iPad 17,2, etc. But thanks to a popular tweet from @aaronp613 and guesses from @AppleDBdev on which devices the identifiers might represent, we learned Apple's iPad Pro will likely be the first device to debut the M5 chip. This theory doesn't seem too far-fetched because Apple launched the M5 chip in its new iPad Pro in May. More devices will inevitably sport the M5, but we only know about these four potential iPad Pro models. Apple M5: Specs So far, we don't have any leaked benchmarks or performance estimates for the M5 chip because it likely hasn't been made yet. It's not wild to assume that the M5 chip will be significantly more powerful than the M4 chip, but we don't know how much more powerful it will be. Apple M4 spec sheet The biggest rumor we have about Apple's M5 chip's specs right now is that it could be the first chip to feature 2-nanometer technology. This "2-nanometer technology" essentially refers to the design rules used for chips. Silicon made with 2-nanometer technology will feature more transistors in a smaller space compared to 3-nanometer technology, which is what Apple's M3 and M4 chips utilize. More transistors translate to better performance and more efficient power consumption. According to DigiTimes (via MacRumors), in January 2024, Apple was "widely believed to be the initial client to use the [2-nanometer] process." Apple M5 chip: AI features The AI space is quickly ramping up, and Apple's M5 chip will undoubtedly be even more AI-heavy than the existing M4 chip. Right now, the Neural Engine inside Apple's M4 chip delivers up to 38 trillion operations per second, which the company says is 60x faster than its first Neural Engine ever. The M5 chip will likely have a more powerful Neural Engine capable of delivering better AI performance. Photo illustration of Apple M4 chip colorfully springing to life from the control board of a MacBook Pro According to DigiTimes, Apple will supposedly use advanced small outline integrated circuit (SOIC) packaging from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for its next-gen silicon, which "could signal a strategy to cover all the bases from AI PCs to cloud AI applications." This change in how Apple's chips are made indicates potentially more robust AI performance. However, Apple needs to be careful that its hardware doesn't outpace its software. A mighty chip is nothing without powerful, intuitive software to match its capabilities. Outlook The Apple M5 chip may be about a year away from release, so the current rumors and leaks surrounding it are pretty impressive. This powerful successor to the M4 chip will likely boast improvements to performance, efficiency, and AI capabilities, and we can't wait. We hope Apple will release its more powerful M4 variants the M4 Pro, M4 Max, and M4 Ultra later this year to better understand how powerful the M5 chip could be. If the M5 chip is truly the first chip to utilize 2-nanometer process technology, we can't wait to test it. Apple's next event this year will likely happen in September, but there probably won't be any new information about the M5 chip. Instead, we'll hear all about the upcoming iPhone 16. More from Laptop Mag If you thought yesterday's VPN news coming from Russia was bad Apple reportedly removed at least four of the best VPN services from its app store on July 4, 2024, with more services expected to disappear in the coming days you should know that the Kremlin isn't the most active when it comes to app removal. A recent study on the availability of 50 popular VPN apps worldwide across both Google and Apple app stores found that the gold medal in blocking applications goes, once again, to China. Researchers at the App Censorship Project found no sight of VPN apps on Apple's App Store in China, the only one of the two platforms available in the country. "Not only the services and the servers of those VPNs are being blocked or targeted by the authorities, but [China] really ensures, through Apple, that nobody will be even able to download them," Benjamin Ismail, Project Director at the App Censorship Project, told me commenting on the findings. Iran, Russia, and Turkmenistan also boast low levels of VPN unavailability due to government censorship. Popular providers affected include our favorite NordVPN who confirmed to TechRadar it withdrew from Russian app stores in 2023 "due to moral and legal reasons." Also in the firing line were ExpressVPN, which is currently blocked in Iran's Google Play Store (Apple app store is banned in the country), Private Internet Access (PIA), Proton VPN, CyberGhost, and Surfshark. These findings are especially worrying as VPN apps are a critical resource to escape online surveillance and censorship. A virtual private network (VPN) is security software that encrypts internet connections to boost your anonymity when browsing the web. At the same time, VPN apps spoof your real IP address to allow you to bypass geo-restrictions, including government-imposed social media blocks. Suffice to say, as VPN usage soars across the world while internet restrictions keep rising digital rights advocacy group Access Now described 2023 as the "worst year of internet shutdowns ever recorded" since they began their monitoring in 2016 so does VPN censorship among the countries more at risk. It's worth pointing out, though, that the App Censorship Project's results aren't about censorship levels per se. "What we can offer in terms of information is simply availability versus unavailability," said Ismail. "There is no algorithm that can detect censorship because censorship is about intention. Why was it removed? Why is it unavailable? Everyone needs to investigate more to understand the reasons behind this." VPN unavailability is just a side of the issue, either. For instance, despite Apple in Russia currently removing more VPN apps, the Kremlin generally tends to block their usage directly from a server level rather than removing apps from platforms. This is why providers like Proton VPN have been investing in more sophisticated anti-censorship techniques to evade authorities' control. Could increased VPN app removals be another chapter in this infinite cat-and-mouse game? Alternative ways to download VPN apps What's certain now is that people living across the Asia-Pacific, Africa, and Middle East regions often need to find alternative ways to download reliable VPN apps. If you are an Android user, sideloading might be the easier way to do so. This refers to the ability to install applications on mobile devices without using the official app store. All you need to do is download the application file on your device and follow the steps. Another alternative includes changing your country in Apple ID and downloading the VPN you need. However, this may be tricky and can cause other usability issues. In some instances, providers create alternative installation pages. This is what one of the VPNs affected by the recent wave of removal in Russia, Le VPN, did for instance. However, this might be just a temporary solution. "As soon as you advertise it, authorities will pick up the URL of that page and they will block it," said Ismail. If you keep having trouble downloading a secure VPN app, I recommend opting for alternative ways of circumventing restrictions altogether. For example, the Tor Browser is another very popular way to shield your anonymity online (it reroutes the internet traffic through at least three encryption layers for maximum security) and spoofs your IP location. GreatFire, the organization behind the App Censorship Project, has also launched a tool called FreeBrowser which can be installed directly on your Android phone to grant access to geo-restricted content. A stunning net-zero modern farmhouse-style mansion on the outskirts of London is still for sale after hitting the market late last year and it could be yours for just 3.95 million (nearly $5 million). The seven-bedroom, two-story home is part of a unique sustainable development called Birch Grove near the idyllic rural community of Chalfont St. Giles, nestled in the picturesque Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire. There are three zero-carbon homes on the property, all named after native woodland plants, according to Mansion Global. Campion House, the largest and most expensive of the three homes, includes plenty of energy-saving features that justify the selling price. Built of flint, which is a centuries-old natural material that can last for millennia, per Ernest Barnes Ltd., the home has a small environmental impact despite its imposing size. It measures over 5,000 square feet, but since it produces just as much energy as it consumes, it allows residents to save on energy bills while blending in with the surrounding ecosystem. With sliding glass doors and huge windows to let in natural light, it is designed to make residents feel like they're part of nature rather than simply spectators. A double-height planted open-air atrium in the main bedroom along with a private terrace overlooking the countryside add to the contemporary indoor-outdoor living concept, as Mansion Global detailed. In addition to the sleek, modern design and architecture of the home, it's equipped with the latest energy-efficient technologies, including solar panels, air-source heat pumps, mechanical ventilation and heat recovery systems, highly efficient Mixergy hot water heaters, and multizone radiant underfloor heating, per Mansion Global. The listing agency noted that the solar panels come with 10 kilowatts of smart storage batteries as well. All these features not only help residents save money on energy and water bills but also reduce planet-warming pollution from dirty fuel sources that are contributing to the changing climate. Net-zero homes have become popular recently as homeowners seek to live in harmony with nature while lowering their electric bills. From North Carolina to Kansas to Vermont, architects are increasingly building homes for a future powered by clean energy. "Chalfont St. Giles is a prime location and we have transformed this once redundant site into a place of beauty, creating three extraordinary, fully net-zero homes," Paul Higgs, founder of eco-developer Millbank Group, which developed Birch Grove, told Mansion Global. "The overarching concept of Birch Grove is its biophilic design, focusing on the well-being of future occupants and enhancing the connection between people and nature." "Birch Grove is where discerning architectural design and nature have converged to create luxury homes with a difference. Here, the beauty of the surroundings is effortlessly woven into every element to soothe the senses and enhance the living experience. You just won't find anything like this anywhere else," Higgs told contemporary door supplier Urban Front Limited. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the coolest innovations improving our lives and saving our planet. In one of North Carolinas quietest rooms, the silence can be felt The room without noise is a five-meter cube, encased in metal and kept at 67 degrees Fahrenheit. Blue spikes with black ends jut from the ceiling, walls, and floor, somewhat evoking a supervillains lair, except these points lack menace. They are instead a soft composite of foam, carbon and salt that absorb the radio frequency waves they encounter. One feels the absence of sound in this anechoic chamber, housed within the Wake Forest offices of the nonprofit Wireless Research Center. Claps are deadened. Voices eerily crisp. Balance is disturbed as the inner ear struggles to readjust. Anechoic means no echo, and the space is an ideal setting for major organizations and small startups alike to test cell signals and antennas. It shields anything inside from going out and anything outside from going in, said Gerard Hayes, president and founder of WRC. The chamber isnt completely silent, at least not the way humans hear sounds, as a signal amplifier unit hums in the background. There are quieter anechoic chambers elsewhere in the U.S. for sound testing, but for the purpose of radio frequency testing, a hum or even blasting rock music doesnt matter. Its the same reason a car antennae wont be disrupted by the driver screaming; the noises this chamber eliminates are at a radio frequency we cant detect. Jordan Stearns, operations manager at the Wireless Research Center of NC, holds a device used to test equipment inside one of the facilitys anechoic chambers in Wake Forest, N.C. Hayes saw the need for a local anechoic chamber in the late 2000s when his previous employer Sony Ericsson, which had one, shut its Research Triangle Park campus. At his next job, a local defense tech startup called GreenWave Scientific, Hayes found the process of shipping devices to testing facilities as far away as California inefficient. Former Sony Ericsson colleagues in the area faced similar obstacles. In 2010, Hayes approached Wake Forest officials about supporting local telecommunications companies with a radio-silent chamber. The Wake County town gave a loan for the Wireless Research Center, around $1 million, and the Golden LEAF Foundation added a $962,000 grant. Today, the WRC has five chambers, and companies book them by the hour to test and measure devices. The oldest chamber was reassembled from a unit Sony Ericsson discarded and is used to check for federal pre-compliance standards. The smallest chamber measures very high frequencies, up to 60 gigahertz, on more cutting-edge equipment. In addition to the space, WRC engineers help customers troubleshoot their connectivity issues. The nonprofit has supported patents on several solutions born at the facility. And when companies ask for additional support, the WRC refers them to for-profit telecommunications firms in the area. The cool part is it brings more attention to Wake Forest, North Carolina, and the region, Hayes said. A lot of times they say they didnt know this was here. The largest chamber, nicknamed the Satimo chamber after its manufacturers previous name, contains $1.5 million worth of equipment. In its center, a light blue arch with 125 probes encircles a Styrofoam-covered plinth on which devices are placed. A pair of red lasers run towards the podium to help center items. The chamber has unique range, capable of measuring electromagnetic frequencies between 400 megahertz and 18 gigahertz. This enables an assortment of testing, from on-body medical tech to defense satellite communications. Two key measurements WRC staff capture are total isotropic sensitivity (how well a product can listen for outside signals) and total radiated power (how well a product can speak signals out). The Satimo chamber has seen vending machine card payments, smart thermostats, home security systems, wearables, and cell phones. Basically, most things with an antennae or cellular radio, said Jordan Stearns, an operations manager at the Wireless Research Center. For me, getting to see the devices that come in here is the best part, he said. We get devices that are still on the drawing board to those ready to market. To test wearable products like smartwatches or CPAP machines, WRC engineers place a body phantom in the chamber, a dummy named POPEYE that mimics the electrical properties of the human body. In the centers early years, before POPEYE arrived, staff themselves would sit inside the Satimo chamber to measure wearables. The lights would go off and any sense of orientation would disappear as they rotated through the void in a chair. Even today, engineers perform this task when they want to achieve testing angles the dummy cant. The hum of the amplifier and red laser lines provide some sensory references. But its still hard to know which direction is which. The News & Observers Inside Look takes readers behind the scenes to illuminate the people and places in our community. Enjoy Triangle tech news? Subscribe to Open Source, The News & Observer's weekly newsletter, and look for it in your inbox every Friday morning. Sign up here. For the first time, Chinese government workers will be able to purchase Teslas Model Y for official use. Specifically, officials in eastern Chinas Jiangsu province included the Model Y in a government procurement list, which was also reported in the state-owned publication The Paper. As the only foreign-owned electric vehicle company on the list, Teslas inclusion is a sign that the companys efforts to win over the Chinese government are paying off. Tesla operates a Gigafactory in Shanghai, and it says self-driving data from its Chinese customers is fully stored and processed within China. In the midst of broader tensions between China and the U.S., Tesla CEO Elon Musk stands out among American executives for his commitment to the Chinese market (which is, after all, the largest EV market in the world). The company cleared a different hurdle earlier this year after reaching a deal with Chinese regulators to launch its newest self-driving features in the country. Its also partnering with Baidu to get access to the Chinese companys high-resolution maps. Teslas good news comes as the company faces intense competition from Chinese EV companies such as BYD, particularly around price. June shipments from its Shanghai factory fell 24.2% year-over-year, according to Chinas Passenger Car Association. LINCOLN In lieu of Gov. Jim Pillen, Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly is set to lead a 20-plus-member trade delegation to Indonesia later this month. Pillen was originally slated to lead the trip, but he reconsidered, given the missions proximity to a special legislative session on property taxes that he has yet to officially call. The trip is scheduled from July 15 through July 24, and Pillen previously signaled his intent to call a special session starting July 25. The trade mission will include representatives from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, the University of Nebraska, and several representatives of Nebraskas agricultural producers. Indonesia is growing rapidly and is a major market for Nebraska agricultural exports, Kelly said in a press release. We are excited to explore this vibrant market and build new partnerships that will directly benefit Nebraskas economy. The first day of the mission will include a briefing from the U.S. Embassy. Other notable activities during the trip include participating in the Indo Livestock Expo and Forum, touring the Southeast Asia Food and Agricultural Science and Technology Center, meeting with Indonesias beef import associations and visits to dairy, feed mill and fueling operations. Indonesia is one of the top 10 export markets for Nebraska at $139 million, according to the press release. Nebraska Agriculture Director Sherry Vinton said the state is uniquely positioned to meet the nations growing demand for agricultural products. When we meet new trading partners face to face it has provided results in the short and long run, she said in the press release. We are laying the groundwork for future generations. Active encounters at two separate regions in Jammu and Kashmirs Kulgam district today resulted in death of two soldiers while six terrorists have been gunned down and four more are suspected to be in hiding. One army personal is undergoing treatment at hospital after sustaining gun injuries. The confrontation is currently ongoing between terrorists and security forces in Frisal Chinnigam area of the district. Security forces launched anti-terrorist operations in the district based on specific intelligence about the presence of insurgents at two locations, leading to back-to-back encounters. While briefing the media, DGP RR Swain said, "According to confirmation, encounters have happened on two different encounter sites. 6 terrorists have been neutralised. This is a big milestone for the security forces and these success matter in strengthening the security environment." As per Kashmir Zone polices social media post, the encounter started in Modergam Village of Kulgam District. Hours later, it was reported that contact had been established in the Frisal Chinnigam area. Amid heavy gunfire from the target site, the bodies of the terrorits could not be retrieved. Authorities suspect that two more terrorists remain at the encounter location. #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 The region has recently experienced a rise in terrorist activities, with several encounters reported across various districts of Jammu and Kashmir. On June 27, three terrorists were neutralized by security forces during an encounter in the Gandoh, Bhaderwah sector of Doda district, according to ADGP Jammu Anand Jain. Last month, a bus carrying pilgrims fell into a gorge after a terrorist attack in Reasi district on June 9, resulting in at least nine deaths and 33 injuries. New Delhi: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Sunday demanded a CBI probe into the death of her party's leader Tamil Nadu president K Armstrong in Chennai. BSP leader urged the Tamil Nadu government to refer the case to the CBI. Following the death of the BSP leader in Tamil Nadu, Mayawati urged the state government and especially the Chief Minister that he should ensure law and order in the state. "I urge the state government and especially the CM that he should ensure law and order in the state, weaker sections in particular should feel safe. Had the government been serious, the accused would have been arrested, but now since that's not the case, we urge the state government to refer the case to the CBI," she said. BSP supremo added that her party has taken this incident very seriously and will pressure the state government to refer this case to the CBI. Mayawati said, "Our party has taken this incident very seriously and we will not sit quietly. Our state unit will not sit quiet and will exert pressure on the state government to refer this case to the CBI... " #WATCH | Chennai, Tamil Nadu: BSP Chief Mayawati says, "Our party has taken this incident very seriously and we will not sit quietly. Our state unit will not sit quiet and will exert pressure on the state government to refer this case to the CBI... I will pray to god to give his pic.twitter.com/Y4oIaccwKv ANI (@ANI) July 7, 2024 She also prayed to god for the victim's family and supporters to bear the loss. "To ensure action against the accused, the party cadre should come forward but at the same time, stay within the limits of law and show that the weaker section does not take law into their hands," she said. BSP leader was brutally murdered by six assailants on motorcycles near his residence in Chennai on Friday. Party president Armstrong was hacked to death by an unidentified mob in the citys Perambur locality. The 2024 UK General Election will be remembered for its historic outcomes, among which the Labour Party's remarkable victory stands out, ending the Conservative Party's 14-year reign. Within this political upheaval, Kanishka Narayan, hailing from Bihar, India, has emerged as a significant figure by winning a parliamentary seat in Wales. This momentous win has not only captured the attention of UK citizens but has also resonated deeply within India, particularly in Narayan's home state of Bihar. Kanishka Narayan's Background Early Life in Muzaffarpur, Bihar Kanishka Narayans roots trace back to Muzaffarpur, Bihar, where he spent his formative years. Born into a family with a rich legacy of public service and education, Kanishkas early environment was ripe with influences that shaped his future aspirations. His grandfather, Krishna Kumar, was a notable figure in the community, serving as the chairman of the Muzaffarpur District Board and founding the SKJ Law College. Family Legacy and Academic Journey Narayan's parents, Santosh Kumar and Chetna Sinha, moved to Delhi after graduating from SKJ Law College, seeking broader opportunities. Kanishka's education began at APJ School in Saket, Delhi. At the age of 12, he relocated to the UK with his parents, continuing his academic pursuit at Eton and Oxford, prestigious institutions that previously educated India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Career in the British Civil Service Before stepping into the political arena, Kanishka Narayan built a respectable career in the British civil service. This professional experience provided him with a profound understanding of governance and public administration, equipping him with the skills necessary for a successful political career. Journey to Politics Resignation and Campaign Launch When the 2024 UK General Election was announced, Kanishka made a bold decision to resign from his civil service position, dedicating himself entirely to his campaign. His determination and passion for politics were evident, inspiring many who followed his journey. This move was met with both excitement and apprehension from his family and supporters. Campaign Strategy and Public Engagement Narayan's campaign was marked by a strategic approach that combined grassroots engagement with modern political techniques. His visits to community centers, participation in public forums, and active presence on social media platforms helped him connect with a diverse electorate. His background, education, and commitment to public service resonated with many voters, contributing to his eventual victory. Historic Victory in Wales Election Night Celebrations The announcement of Kanishka Narayans win in Wales was a moment of immense joy for his supporters, both in the UK and back in India. Celebrations erupted in his hometown of Muzaffarpur, particularly at his family residence in Sandho Apartments, Damu Chak. Messages of congratulations poured in, reflecting the pride and hope that his victory symbolized. Impact on Indian Representation in UK Politics Narayan's election to the UK Parliament marks a significant milestone for Indian representation in British politics. It signifies the growing influence and integration of the Indian diaspora within the UKs political landscape. This achievement not only honors Kanishka's individual efforts but also highlights the contributions of the broader Indian community. Family Background and Academic Journey Influence of Grandparents and Parents Kanishka Narayan's grandparents, Krishna Kumar and Veena Devi, originally from Sandho in the Vaishali district, were pivotal figures in shaping his early life. Their relocation to Muzaffarpur set the stage for a family deeply involved in education and public service. Krishna Kumar's role as the founder of SKJ Law College and chairman of the Muzaffarpur District Board left an indelible mark on the community and on Kanishka himself. Educational Pathway from Delhi to the UK After moving to Delhi, Kanishka attended APJ School in Saket, a period during which his academic prowess began to shine. At 12, his familys relocation to the UK opened new avenues for him. Eton and Oxford, two of the worlds most prestigious educational institutions, became the backdrop for his intellectual and personal growth. These experiences equipped him with a global perspective and a deep understanding of cultural and political dynamics. Kanishka Narayans Political Ideals and Vision Commitment to Community and Service Narayan's journey from the British civil service to the UK Parliament is underpinned by a steadfast commitment to community and public service. His campaign emphasized issues such as social justice, community integration, and economic development. His background in civil service enriched his understanding of these issues, allowing him to propose practical and effective solutions. Vision for a Diverse and Inclusive Society Kanishka's political vision is one that celebrates diversity and promotes inclusivity. His election campaign focused on bridging cultural gaps and fostering a society where all communities feel represented and valued. This vision aligns with the Labour Partys broader goals of social equity and community empowerment. Celebrations and Reactions in Muzaffarpur Local Pride and Festivities The news of Kanishka's victory was met with exuberant celebrations in Muzaffarpur. His family home in Sandho Apartments became a hub of festivity, with relatives, friends, and well-wishers gathering to celebrate. Jayant Kumar, his uncle, expressed immense pride, stating, "Kanishka's victory is not just a personal achievement but a testament to the potential and aspirations of our community." Significance for Bihar Narayan's success story resonates deeply in Bihar, serving as an inspiration for many young individuals in the state. His journey from Muzaffarpur to the UK Parliament underscores the possibilities that hard work, dedication, and a strong educational foundation can unlock. It is a narrative that encourages the youth of Bihar to dream big and pursue their goals relentlessly. FAQs What is the significance of Kanishka Narayan's win in the UK Parliament? Kanishka Narayan's win is significant as it represents the growing influence of the Indian community in UK politics and highlights the potential for greater diversity and inclusivity within the British political landscape. How did Kanishka Narayan transition from the British civil service to politics? Narayan resigned from his position in the British civil service upon the announcement of the 2024 UK General Election, dedicating himself fully to his campaign and leveraging his background in public service to connect with voters. What was the reaction in Bihar to Kanishka Narayan's victory? Kanishka's victory was met with joyous celebrations in his hometown of Muzaffarpur, Bihar. His family and the local community expressed immense pride and viewed his success as a source of inspiration for the youth in the region. What educational background does Kanishka Narayan have? Kanishka Narayan attended APJ School in Saket, Delhi, before moving to the UK, where he continued his education at Eton and Oxford, prestigious institutions that provided him with a strong academic foundation. What issues did Kanishka Narayan focus on during his campaign? Narayan's campaign focused on social justice, community integration, and economic development. He emphasized the importance of diversity and inclusivity, aligning with the broader goals of the Labour Party. How does Kanishka Narayan's victory impact Indian representation in UK politics? Narayan's election to the UK Parliament is a milestone for Indian representation, highlighting the significant contributions and influence of the Indian diaspora in the UK. It encourages greater participation and representation of diverse communities in British politics. Kanishka Narayan, the Labour Party candidate of Indian origin who clinched victory in the UK general elections from Wales, traces his roots back to Muzaffarpur in Bihar. Jayant Kumar, director of SKJ Law College and uncle of Kanishka, expressed immense pride in his nephew's achievement, emphasising that Kanishka has not only brought honor to Muzaffarpur but to the entire nation. "Kanishka is my younger brother's son. He resigned from his job to pursue his political ambitions," Jayant Kumar shared. Kanishka, 33, was born in Muzaffarpur and completed his early education there before joining the civil services. Recently, Kanishka returned to India with his family to participate in a religious event. Following his electoral triumph, festivities erupted at his residence in Sandho Apartment, Damuchak, Muzaffarpur. "We are receiving an outpouring of congratulations from friends and family. Kanishka remains a proud Bihari and an Indian first," added Jayant Kumar. Originally from Saundho in Vaishali district, Kanishka's grandparents, Krishna Kumar and Veena Devi, settled in Muzaffarpur decades ago. Krishna Kumar was the chairman of Muzaffarpur District Board and the founder of SKJ Law College. Kanishka's parents, Santosh Kumar and Chetna Sinha, moved to Delhi after completing their studies at SKJ Law College. Kanishka briefly attended APJ School in Delhi's Saket before relocating to Britain at the age of 12 with his parents. He pursued higher education at Eton Oxford, an alma mater shared with India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. On Friday, Keir Starmer assumed office as the United Kingdom's new Prime Minister following a decisive electoral triumph by the Labour Party. Voters, expressing a clear sentiment, delivered what was described as a "sobering verdict" on the Conservative leadership under Rishi Sunak. The Labour Party now holds 412 seats in the 650-member House of Commons, while the Conservatives, led by Sunak, secured only 121 seats. (Based on inputs from ANI) RISHIKESH, July 5 (AP) A viral video of foreign tourists wearing bikinis and enjoying themselves at the Ganga Ghats in Rishikesh has ignited a heated debate on social media. The footage, which shows tourists in swimsuits playing in the sacred Ganga River, has received mixed reactions from viewers. The video was posted by a user named Himalayan Hindu, with the caption, "Thanks to @pushkardhami for turning the holy Ganga into Goa Beach. This is what's happening in Rishikesh now, and soon it will become a mini Bangkok." The clip depicts foreign women in bikinis and men in shorts enjoying the river. Additionally, an older video was shared, captioned, "Rishikesh is no longer the city of religion, spirituality, and yoga. It has become Goa. Why are such rave parties/zombie culture being promoted in Rishikesh?" The viral video has sparked controversy, with some users expressing anger and frustration. One comment read, "What kind of obscenity have you allowed in Uttarakhand in the name of tourism? Every ten steps there's a liquor shop, illegal businesses, marijuana, etc." Thank you @pushkardhami for turning Pavitra Ganga into Goa Beach. Such things are now happening in #Rishikesh & soon it will become Mini Bangkok. https://t.co/5nbB86FfZK pic.twitter.com/VnOtRkWPXM April 26, 2024 However, others defended the tourists, suggesting that the criticism was misplaced. One user commented, "There's nothing wrong here. If you have a problem with clothing, then there's an issue with your upbringing. Don't behave like an extremist who takes their spouse to the beach in a burqa or full clothing." The video underscores a tension between traditional values and modern tourism, raising questions about the evolving identity of Rishikesh and how it will balance cultural heritage with contemporary influences. A temple was vandalised on the outskirts of Jammu, police said on Sunday, adding that the perpetrator was arrested within hours of the incident. The man, alleged to be responsible for the vandalism and arson at the temple, claimed he carried out the act on Saturday night after being "annoyed by black magic being practised by some some members of the community" at the temple, they said. Arjun Sharma, a local resident, confessed to his involvement before the magistrate, solving the case within a few hours of the incident, Jammu (rural) Superintendent of Police Brijesh Sharma told reporters here. The SP said the timely arrest of the culprit has averted a potential flare-up over the issue. This was the second incident of vandalism reported at a place of worship in the past week in the Jammu region. Earlier, a place of worship was found vandalised in a village in Reasi district on June 30, with police detaining 43 suspected persons for questioning. SP Sharma said an FIR under relevant sections of law was registered at Nagrota Police Station after a complaint was received that some idols were desecrated and mats set on fire by unidentified persons at the temple in Narain Khoo area late Saturday night. A police party along with a team of Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and Crime branch with sniffer dogs rushed to the scene and rounded up four suspected persons on the basis of investigation and CCTV footage of the area, the officer said. Arun Sharma confessed to his involvement in the incident, the SP said. The timely arrest of the culprit averted a certain flare up in the situation. We are thankful to the people for their positive role and maintaining calm to allow police to conduct its investigation, the SP said, adding the accused worked alone in the incident. The SP said the accused claimed that he was "annoyed with black magic being practised by some members there. He also had a personal enmity with the village 'numbardar' and a few others, he said. The investigation of the case is still at its initial stage and further details will emerge with the completion of the probe, the SP said. The SP appealed to people to not rush to any conclusion in such sensitive matters on social media without getting the version of the police. Senior BJP leader and former MLA of Nagrota constituency Devender Singh Rana lauded the police and the civil administration for taking a serious note of the incident and reacting promptly to bring the culprit to book. New Delhi: Manipur Congress leaders along with AICC state-in-charge Girish Chodankar on Sunday discussed Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's visit to the northeastern state. Gandhi will visit Manipur on Monday and will interact with violence-affected people in Jiribam, Churachandpur and Imphal districts. He will be spending the entire day with the people of the state. Manipur Congress president Keisham Meghachandra, Congress legislature party leader O Ibobi Singh, two Congress MPs of the state Angomcha Bimol Akoijam and Alfred Kanngam Arthur and Girish Chodankar attended the meeting on Sunday to discuss Gandhi's visit to Manipur, a party leader said. "Gandhi has chosen to visit Manipur where peace is necessary... We are grateful that he chose to visit the state after being chosen as the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha," a Congress leader told PTI. The state Congress president said Gandhi would travel from Delhi to Silchar on a flight, and from there would head to Jiribam district where fresh violence happened on June 6. "Gandhi will visit some relief camps in the district. He will then return to the Silchar airport, and from there, take a flight to Imphal," Meghachandra said. "After landing in Imphal, he will head to Churachandpur district where he will interact with people living in relief camps," he said. From Churachandpur, Gandhi will get to Moirang in Bishnupur district by road and visit some relief camps. He will then return to Imphal where a meeting with Governor Anusuiya Uikey is being planned. "He will then leave the state," Meghachandra said. This will be Gandhi's first visit to Manipur after the Lok Sabha elections, in which the Congress won both the constituencies in the ethnic violence-hit state. O Ibobi Singh said, "Gandhi visited the state twice since the outbreak of the violence on May 3 last year. He has visited relief camps to learn about the pains and sorrow of the people. Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in Manipur in view of Rahul Gandhi's visit to the state, officials said. New Delhi: Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced on Saturday that Russia is anticipating a "very important and full-fledged visit" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Moscow, highlighting the significance for Russian-Indian relations. Prime Minister Modi will be in Moscow from July 8 to 9, attending the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. This visit will mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first trip to Russia since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022. PM Modi's Agenda For Russia Visit: Top Points The Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi announced on Thursday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin will review the full spectrum of India-Russia relations and discuss contemporary regional and global issues of mutual interest during the high-level visit. Dmitry Peskov indicated that the agenda for the visit would be extensive and possibly very busy. He expressed hope that the leaders would also have the opportunity to engage in informal discussions despite the official nature of the visit. Peskov said that Russian-Indian relations are at the level of a strategic partnership. The visit will include both one-on-one talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin and broader meetings involving delegations from both countries to discuss various aspects of bilateral cooperation. The annual summit between the Indian Prime Minister and the Russian President serves as the highest institutional dialogue mechanism within the strategic partnership between the two nations. Modi's most recent visit to Russia was in 2019, when he participated in an economic conclave in the Far East city of Vladivostok. On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted that democracy, freedom, and the rule of law are the foundational principles that will strengthen the partnership between India and Austria. This is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in over 40 years. This statement came just a day after Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer expressed his anticipation on 'X', stating, I very much look forward to welcoming Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, the world's largest democracy, next week in Vienna. (Based on inputs from agencies) Surat Building Collapse: At least seven people died and 10 others were injured when a multi-storey building collapsed on Saturday in Surat, Gujarat, amid heavy rains. Rescue operations are underway in the Sachin area, where many are feared to be trapped under the debris. Commissioner of Police, Surat, Anupam Gehlot, informed ANI, "Rescue operations are being conducted by the SDRF and NDRF teams. According to the information received, 6-7 people are trapped, and three bodies have been retrieved. The incident occurred around 3 p.m. during heavy rainfall. Residents of the six-storey building became trapped, prompting immediate responses from the fire department, NDRF, and SDRF. Gehlot noted that the building contained around 30 flats, of which 45 were occupied. Many residents were at work, while those who were sleeping after a night shift became trapped in the collapse. New Delhi: Chinese smartphone brand OnePlus has announced the official launch date of the OnePlus Nord 4 smartphone. The company has informed that the upcoming smartphone is set to be unveiled on July 16 at the company's Summer Launch Event in Italy. Apart from this, the OnePlus will also roll out the OnePlus Watch 2R, OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro and OnePlus Pad 2 alongside the OnePlus Nord 4 smartphone. The phone could be the rebranded version of the OnePlus Ace 3V. Meanwhile, the OnePlus Pad 2 is also expected to be a rebadged version of the OnePlus Pad Pro. OnePlus Nord 4 Specifications (Expected): The handset could be powered by the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 chipset. It could feature a 6.74 inch 1.5K curved AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. In the camera department, the smartphone could feature a 50MP primary sensor and a secondary 8MP ultra-wide angle shooter. (Also Read: Amazon Prime Day 2024: From Samsung Galaxy M35 To iQOO Z9 Lite 5G To Go On Sale; Check Bank Offers, Discount) The much-anticipated smartphone is expected to be powered by a 5,000mAh battery. OnePlus Pad 2 Specifications (Expected): The tablet could sport a 12.1-inch 3K LCD with a peak brightness of 900 nits and a resolution of 3000 x 2120 pixels. The device is rumoured to be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. On the optics front, the tablet may be packed with a 13MP rear camera. For selfies and video chats, there is an 8MP shooter on the front. The device is expected to come with a 9510mAh battery and support for 67W fast charging. (Also Read: Struggling to Manage Gmail? Learn How To Organize Emails With A Swipe - 6 Easy Steps) Overall, the OnePlus Nord 4G handset reportedly features a metal unibody design. The OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro are expected to be a mid-range option with active noise cancellation (ANC). The OnePlus Pad 2 is being hailed as the "new productivity powerhouse," and the OnePlus Watch 2R is confirmed to be lightweight and powered by Wear OS. New Delhi: Swiss technology company Proton, known for its privacy-focused online services, is giving a tough challenge to Google and Microsoft with the launch of Proton Docs, a privacy-focused alternative to Google Docs. The online editor is designed to be similar to Google Docs, with white pages, a top toolbar, and real-time collaboration. However, there is one significant difference, Proton Docs is built with top-notch privacy. The company claims that every document, keystroke, and even cursor movement is protected by end-to-end encryption. It means that even Proton can't access your content as well. In a blog post, Anant Vijay, senior product manager, Proton said Were announcing a new end-to-end encrypted, collaborative document editor that puts your privacy first. Docs in Proton Drive are built on the same privacy and security principles as all our services, starting with end-to-end encryption. Notably, the privacy-focused company Proton currently offers a web-only application optimized for desktops, with plans to expand to other platforms soon. Key Features Of Proton Docs: Users can create and edit documents in Proton Drive, knowing only they and the people they share with can access the content. Like Google Docs, users can invite others to view or edit documents with one click. Also, changes are updated instantly so that everyone always sees the latest version. Users can see who else is viewing or editing the document and add comments for feedback without changing the document. Comments are visible to everyone working on the document, keeping everyone updated. Users can upload .docx documents, edit them, and download them in different formats like .docx, .txt, .md, and HTML. Flash Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday sent a message to Masoud Pezeshkian, congratulating him on election as 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 said. The Chinese president said he attaches great importance to the development of China-Iran relations, and is willing work with Pezeshkian to guide the deepening of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. Photos by Kyle Haney () Are Korean rapids what youd expect to find in places like the Colorado River? Certainly not. But are Korean Rapids still a good time? Absolutely! Read on as I recapture my amazing time rafting the Naeinchon River through the USAF Outdoor Recreation program. The Naerincheon River Located in Inje-gun, Gangwon-do province, the Naerincheon river flows into the Han River (the fourth longest river on the Korean peninsula). The class II/III rapids are set in a wooded, picturesque environment complete with blue skies above and vegetated valley walls that stretch up at least a hundred feet on both sides. The entire river is not inundated with repeated rapid sets, rather its a combination of slow-moving water and fun drops into whitewater, making this river the perfect spot to be during the hot, Korean summers. The Outdoor Rec Program One of the many amazing benefits of being a servicemember is the access to the outdoor recreation outings offered on base through the Outdoor Rec program. Outdoor Rec programs are ran by a combination of volunteers and active duty servicemembers with the mission of provid[ing] expertly managed recreational activities and outings, as well as professionally-trained and knowledgeable recreation staff, and they do just that! The outdoor rec folks can provide insider knowledge on hidden secrets near your base and as bonus, they rents out tried-and-tested recreational equipment to help you get the most out of any adventure you set out on! Getting there The morning of the rafting tour started early (like, 0530 early), but I was loaded with anticipation. I had been out of my mandatory 2-week quarantine for only 72 hours but here I was, seizing the day! I showed up on base with my GoPro in hand, eager to see a side of Korea that was anything but the same 4 walls I saw from the time I woke up to the time I went to sleepyou can imagine I was chomping at the bit to get out and explore! There was a group of 80+ military dudes/dudettes who all signed up for this excursion, and we were loaded onto 2 charter busses to get us there. At 0600, the busses rolled out of Osan Air Base and made their way northeast towards Inje county. With a 2-hour bus ride ahead of me, I pulled out a magazine that I snagged off the counter of the registration table before we departed, hoping to do a little light reading to pass the time. Sure enough, a blurb on how to read and understand the Korean alphabet filled my time until we made our first pitstop at what I would call a Korean truck stop. This pitstop was at no ordinary truck stop though, oh no. This truck stop, if you can even call it that, was like a mini strip mall that offered dining at three different restaurants and had vendors selling their hand-made goods, all set in the picturesque Korean countryside. Oh, and there happened to be bathrooms on-site as well lol. Being a total tourist, I went with what I knew and grabbed a Jamba Juice before getting back on the bus to go hit some rapids. We arrived! As the busses pulled up to a dirt parking lot, the one Korean translator for a group of 80+ Americans tried her best to explain where the shower facility for changing was, and that we needed to start forming groups of 8 once we were ready. Not needing to change, I meandered over to the registration table where the crowd began to organically separate into groups of 8. The Korean river raft guides began explaining the process of getting life vests, helmets, and oars to the translator. The translator explained that our group leader (me, in this case) would go up to the equipment drop, snag enough life vests for the group, drop them back off for distribution, then do the same for the oars. Before we knew it, our group of 80+ all began to look like a studly group of amateur river rafters! Surprisingly, as we all hauled our rafts down to the river to begin the journey, nobody began walking out into the water. It had to have been 90 degrees out! So, being the curious, polar-plunging guy I am, I started walking into the water. When nobody yelled at me to stop, I decided to take a big dive inthe water was perfect! The river was nowhere near as cold as the rivers in the Rockies being constantly fed from snowmelt, and with the outside temperature being so high, I felt instantly refreshed. Soon after, the Korean river raft guides directed everyone into the water to do the same. To my surprise, much of the group thought that the water was too cold and decided to only get their legs wetthe Korean raft guides were not happy with this lol. They began splashing the entire group! The herd scattered back to the riverbanks, hoping not to get wet as if they had forgotten what they signed up for lol. It was comical to say the least. Setting sail down the river Finally, with all the scaredy-cats packed into our rafts, we set off to smash some rapids. I lucked out with my group for many reasons, the main one being that the translator for the group was in my raft. Whenever the Korean river guide would say anything, she would announce it to the group for us in Englishscore! Forward 1! the guide would yell, and wed all lean forward as if trying to scrape up rocks from the bottom of the water just outside our reach. As wed pull back our oars, the raft would uniformly launch forward down the river. Forward 1! Forward 1! the guide yelled. As I peered ahead, I could see why he was getting us moving so quickly: rapids! The anticipation was mounting, and I had only the faintest idea of how this was about to play out compared to the big ones I remember hitting in Colorado as a kiddo. Bam! Our raft dropped over a collection of boulders and smashed into the whitewater, taking on loads of water in between laughs of excitement from the team. It was exhilarating! Moments later we did it again and again, seemingly smashing through class II and III rapids like only a group of amateurs could lol. Forward 1! Forward 1! the guide yelled. We continued for a few more moments and before we knew it, were through the first round of rapids. With adrenaline still coursing through our veins, our first break had been reached and the team was immediately congratulated by a stretch of gentle, rolling water. A sense of peace and reflection The break in rapids allowed me enough space to soak in the beauty of the blue skies overhead and to breathe in the clean air that I hadnt realized I missed so much. The now-distant rapids echoed through the valley, generating a white-noise that put me in a state of bliss, allowing my mind to finally rest for a moment. As I dropped my hand into the river, I was greeted with a sensation of cold that directly opposed the warm sun that was heating my bones. I was at rest. I was in complete peace. I remember this so vividly because this was the moment my endless anxiety finally shut the fuck up. The peace I gained on the river in that moment allowed me to frame a juxtaposition of joy in the moment with the state of misery I had been in in the last few weeks; last few months really. This ended up being more than a rafting trip for me, this was the first sense of joy I had felt inI dont know how long. You have to understand that as a military guy with orders to Korea for a year, the months leading up to my PCS were a series of moments where my loved ones and I were just trying to play it normal in every situation, despite the 600-pound me-leaving-for-Korea gorilla in the room. I met Ciara in the beginning of 2020 and quickly fell in love with her. Throughout 2020, we created this normal life where we would travel almost every single weekend, enjoying each others company more and more, as we scratched things off our bucket lists. I had also finally established the relationship I had always wanted with my mother but only after a horrible, horrible divorce allowed me to do so. I had a great life! But each and every thing that Ciara and I, or my mom and I would do leading up to my departure left this lingering feeling in my head of, is this the last time Ill ever do this with these people again?, and it drained me from the minute I woke up to the minute I went to sleep. So much can go wrong when youre thousands of miles away and Murphys Law still dictates much of our lives. As situations or objects would present themselves, I would be instantly reminded that on May 30th, this reality that I prayed and worked so hard for would be a thing of the past. I was being contently reminded of a ticket I booked for myself on a one-way train bound for loneliness, uncertainty, depression, and homesickness, thousands of miles from home. Its not easy saying goodbye to loved ones for an indefinite amount of time while trying desperately to comfort them by saying Ill be home soon!, not knowing when that will be. And when I actually landed in Korea, I was ordered into Korean quarantine in the Incheon Airport, not knowing just how long it would be before I was going to be back in American custody. Then to top it all off, when I finally made it out of Korean quarantine and onto base, I spent two more weeks of listening to F-16s scream by my window at all hours of the day while eating pre-portioned DFAC food. I needed this peace lol Man overboard! Suddenly, I was shaken out of my daze by the river guide yelling Forward 1!. Thanks to muscle memory, I didnt even have time to think before my arms stretched forward and began pulling the oar back as hard as they could. I was back to reality. Forward 1! Forward 1! the guide yelled, and we began thrashing into the rapids when suddenly, the guy to my right fell right out of the raft! Mid-rapid, he must have been bounced out, thanks to the turbulence, and was now floating down the rapids on his back, legs forward and head above water like the guide instructed. A few scary moments later, the guide pulled him back into the raft and we continued on. No rest for the weak! Or however that expression goes haha. After a few more sets of rapids, the river guides gave us a much-needed break in a slower part of the river near these rather large boulders. Our raft was the first to make it to this part of the river, so the guide ordered us all out of the yellow inflatable and onto solid ground. I started to peer over the rocks we were standing on, noticing that they were in a rather good spot of the river for, say, jumping in? My spidey-senses were right as the river guide waved at me to wait. I was on to something! Cliff jumping The next group of rafters arrived shortly after us and they all piled out of their rafts and onto the rocks where my group was standing. The guides began pulling the giant, yellow rafts out of the water and flipping them over. I thought I knew where they were going with this and sure enough, they stacked them one on top of the other, so that the cliff we were on, was an extra 5 feet tall! Without hesitation, I locked eyes with our river guide, and he motioned me forward. Fearlessly, I walked out on to the yellow plank, about-faced, and backflipped right into the Naerincheon Rivera perfect 10 I might add lol! One after another, this rag-tag group of beginner river masters jumped high into the air before splashing into the river. 30-or-so minutes had gone by entirely too fast before the guides wrapped it up, flipped the the rafts back into the water, and pointed us towards shore. Each group helped carry their rafts up the sandy riverbank before making their way to the busses and just like that, we were shuttled back to base. This trip was an absolute Godsend after the hiatus that was my life the weeks leading up to it, and Im so blessed to have been able to take advantage of the Outdoor Rec program. If youre an active duty member, I strongly suggest you look into your bases ODR program and get involved! They usually post activities by the month and reservations are required. If youre civilian, then google River Rafting near me or something similar and give it a go! Take care of yourselves and take care of your minds, and enjoy this big, beautiful planet we all call home. Carpe Diem! View video Flash 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. Flash 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. The U.S. space agency NASA has chosen SpaceX to produce a vehicle to take the International Space Station (ISS) out of orbit at the end of its service life. NASA recently announced that SpaceX will design, develop, and build the spacecraft. The vehicle will aim to guide the ISS through a final reentry into Earths atmosphere. NASA calls the spacecraft the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle. The agency said the deorbiting operation will take place sometime after the stations operational life, which has been set for 2030. NASA said its contract with SpaceX to build the deorbit vehicle was worth $843 million. This does not include costs to launch the vehicle. The agency said the launch would be part of a future contract. California-based SpaceX has an existing relationship with NASA. The company has established itself as a dependable private partner of the agency since 2020. Since then, SpaceX has made regular trips to carry astronauts and supplies to the ISS. NASA announced last year it had decided on a plan to deorbit the ISS after service ends in 2030. The agency and its international partners agreed that the orbiting laboratory would one day reach the end of its technical lifetime. The station has been continuously inhabited since November 2, 2000. In a statement, NASA said it chose the method of deorbiting with a specially designed vehicle to provide a safe and responsible deorbit of the ISS in a controlled manner. The space agency did consider other choices, or options, to retire the ISS. One option would have involved the use of several Russian spacecraft in a deorbiting operation. Another plan called for taking apart the space station in space and transporting its pieces back to Earth. Still another option was to move the ISS to a higher orbit, where it would remain out-of-service. But NASA officials have said none of those options met the agencys requirements for safety and effectiveness. The agency noted that while SpaceX will develop the deorbit spacecraft, NASA will take ownership after development and operate it throughout its mission. Neither NASA nor SpaceX have provided further information about the planned deorbit vehicle. But Bill Spetch, a leader of NASAs ISS program, recently spoke to reporters about it. He said the current plan is for the deorbit vehicle to be based on the design of SpaceXs Dragon spacecraft. Versions of the Dragon spacecraft have been used to carry astronauts and supplies to the ISS. Spetch noted that while the new deorbit vehicle would be based on Dragon, its design would require some modifications and changes. Ken Bowersox is associate administrator for Space Operations at NASAs Mission Directorate in Washington D.C. He said in a statement that having a deorbit vehicle will help NASA and its international partners ensure a safe and responsible transition in low Earth orbit at the end of station operations. Bowersox noted that although the current ISS cannot continue forever, it will remain a blueprint for science, exploration, and partnerships until its service ends in 2030. Once the ISS is retired, NASA plans to use privately developed space laboratories for its space research needs. The agency has already chosen several American companies to develop future space stations. NASA has said a deorbiting operation would begin by slowing lowering the ISS altitude level. Officials have said this will likely be carried out by the ISS and its systems without the need for additional spacecraft. But the final part of the operation is reentry. This will require guiding the ISS into Earths atmosphere to a target in an unpopulated area of the ocean. The targeted landing spot has been identified as a place called Point Nemo in the South Pacific Ocean. This is a stretch of open water between New Zealand and the southernmost part of South America. The U.S. National Ocean Service identifies Point Nemo as the point in the ocean that is farthest from land. NASA predicts that most ISS equipment will burn up or vaporize during the intense heat of atmospheric re-entry. But it says some dense or heat-resistant elements are expected to survive and land in the ocean. Im Bryan Lynn. Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from NASA, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse. Quiz - SpaceX to Build Vehicle to Deorbit Space Station Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz ___________________________________________ Words in This Story inhabited adj. describing a place where people live modify v. to change something in order to improve it transition n. a change from one system or method to another, often a slow one blueprint n. a plan that shows how someone will design, build or achieve something altitude n. the vertical distance of an object above a given level (as sea level) vaporize v. to turn, or cause something to turn, from a solid or liquid state into gas Two spills of firefighting foam occurred at the La Crosse Regional Airport in a span of less than four months earlier this year, according to reports filed by the airport. The foam contained polyfluoroalkyl substances, a suspected carcinogen also known as PFAS. Its the same substance that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has pointed to as the cause of drinking water pollution on French Island. Both spills were caused by human error and involved the accidental release of firefighting foam known as aqueous film-forming foam, or AFFF, according to two spill reports submitted by the airport to the DNR. The first spill, on Feb. 1, occurred during a routine test on firefighting equipment. According to the report, the airports operations coordinator mistakenly engaged the wrong switch, releasing four to six gallons of water containing AFFF foam into a grassy area southeast of the airport. Cleanup efforts began within two hours of the spill. Less than four months later, during another routine test May 9, an airport mechanic mistakenly released 125 gallons of foam solution onto the airport tarmac. Sandbags were placed around the stormwater drains within 30 minutes of the spill. The stormwater outfall was capped and is to remain closed until the liquid can be disposed of. The remaining liquid on the tarmac was absorbed with 1,400 pounds of oil-dry powder and 50 absorbent socks and was stored in steel drums. Until last year, the Federal Aviation Administration required all commercial airports to use AFFF to extinguish fires. In September 2023, the FAA recognized the environmental and health hazards of AFFF and authorized the use of fluorine-free foam. More than 4,000 French Island residents have been drinking bottled water since 2019, when testing identified dangerous levels of PFAS in a majority of the towns wells. The DNR has linked some of the contamination to the airports burn pits, where AFFF foam was used during training exercises. In October, the La Crosse Regional Airport approved $16,500 in its budget for the purchase of fluorine-free foam. The Philippines is actively working to finalize negotiations on the proposed Philippines-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (PH-UAE CEPA) by end-2024, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). We have agreed with the UAE to conclude negotiations within the year. Were targeting October or November, said Trade Undersecretary for international trade Allan Gepty during a June 28 online stakeholder consultation. - Advertisement - The PH-UAE CEPA is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) designed to enhance trade and investment relations between the Philippines and the UAE. Its goal is to facilitate the export of goods and services, boost investment prospects and open up more opportunities for Filipino professionals and service providers in the UAE and the broader Gulf region. If successful, the Philippines-UAE CEPA will mark the Philippines first FTA with a GCC member state and the entire Middle East region, as well as its fourth bilateral FTA overall. Both countries agreed to expedite the consultations and planned four full rounds of face-to-face negotiations, supplemented by virtual meetings. The first round, held in May 2024, laid the groundwork for the upcoming second round, scheduled for July 8 to 10 in Manila, which will focus on market access negotiations. After signing the terms of reference (TOR) in December 2023, which marked the initial step toward the FTA, both countries have been diligently working toward its successful conclusion. The TOR sets out the guidelines and scope of the CEPA. The CEPA aligns with the Philippines trade strategy to explore new markets, as outlined in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 and the Philippine Export Development Plan 2023-2028. Working groups were established to negotiate specific chapters of the TOR, covering trade in goods, rules of origin, trade in services, digital trade, customs procedures and trade facilitation, investment, intellectual property rights and trade and sustainable development. The UAE is a promising market for Filipino products like halal-related items, tropical fruits, garments and high-end consumer goods. Its also home to a large number of overseas Filipinos and well-known Filipino brands and businesses. The UAE was the Philippines 18th largest trading partner with bilateral trade reaching $1.88 billion in 2023, including exports valued at $341.97 million and imports at $1.54 billion. President Marcos has issued an executive order (EO) revoking the policy granting Career Executive Service (CES) rank to graduates of Master of National Security Administration (MNSA) program of the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP), Malacanang announced on Sunday. EO no. 63, which Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin signed on July 2, aims to synchronize the standards and procedures for conferring the CES rank. - Advertisement - According to the EO, the Constitution provides that appointments in the civil service shall be made only according to merit and fitness to be determined by competitive examination. Prior to the EOs issuance, graduates of the MNSA program of NDCP, who are appointed to CES positions are granted CES rank. In February this year, the Career Executive Service Board (CESB) recommended revoking the policy of granting CES rank to graduates of the MNSA program to synchronize the standards and procedures in conferring CES rank. The EO supported CESBs recommendation. The Constitution vests in the President the power of control over all Executive departments, bureaus and offices, and the mandate to ensure the faithful execution of laws, the order read. The EO also mentioned that the entrance to the CES positions shall be prescribed by the CESB. The CESB is mandated to promulgate rules, standards and procedures on the selection, classification, compensation and career development of members of the CES, it added. The United States has deployed 1,300 of its troops for the Salaknib exercises in the country, a Philippine Army official said. Philippine Army Spokesperson Colonel Louie Dema-ala said that there are 1,800 troops from the Philippine Army who are involved in the said exercises. - Advertisement - Very successful yung conduct of Salaknib Phase 1 and 2, likewise, ongoing ang mga subject matter expert exchange (small training activities) between Philippine Army and USARPAC, Dema-ala told Manila Standard. The ongoing Salaknib exercises is an annual bilateral exercise led by the Philippine Army and sponsored by the US Army Pacific (USARPAC). Scheduled to conclude in September, the event is designed to enhance the US and Philippine Armys capacity and interoperability across the spectrum of military operations. On Thursday, Dema-ala clarified that the powerful mid-range missile system that Washington deployed to the Philippines in April for the Balikatan joint exercises will remain in the country until the conclusion of Salaknib Phase 2 in September. Dema-ala told Manila Standard that deployment or redeployment of the Typhon missile system will still depend if the training objectives of Salaknib had been met. The ground-based mid-range capability (MRC) that could launch Tomahawk and SM-6 missiles was also used for a simulated firing drill during a bilateral exercise in the South China Sea in May. Among the 1,800 troops of the Army, around 40 of them, who are part of Army Artillery Regiment (AAR), were directly trained for operating the Typhon missile system. As of now, almost 40 personnel are directly trained for the MRC and similar training will be conducted as planned. He said. Other Philippine Army personnels involved in Salaknib exercises came from units specifically in 5th and 7th Infantry Division and support personnel from Training and Doctrine Command and Philippine Army Headquarters in Taguig City. Aside from MRC training, other Salaknib activities were various Subject Matter Expert Exchange (SMEE) across different warfighting functions, Division and Brigade Size Staff Exercises (table-top) and Reserve Force training (platoon exercises). Editors Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline: 1300 US troops deployed for Salaknib, Army says The direct and immediate impact of fast broadband connectivity to all the economic pillars of Philippine society is pretty obvious The need to expand and upgrade broadband infrastructure in the Philippines has become increasingly critical. As highlighted by Ooklas Speedtest Global Index, as of May 2024 the Philippines ranks 83rd in mobile internet speed at 32.12 Mbps, which is considerably lower than Vietnams 52.15 Mbps, Singapores 99.29 Mbps, and Malaysias 95.66 Mbps. - Advertisement - In terms of fixed broadband, the country is positioned 56th with an average speed of 94.50 Mbps, trailing behind Vietnams 129.01 Mbps, Malaysias 134.44 Mbps, Thailands 235.86 Mbps, and Singapores 289.98 Mbps. This situation not only hampers our nations competitiveness in the global digital economy but also impedes the overall economic and social development of our population. These rankings starkly illustrate the gap the Philippines needs to bridge to achieve parity with its regional peers. This lag is a substantial barrier to the nations aspirations of becoming a middle-income economy, as it affects various sectors, from business operations to educational opportunities. One of the primary reasons for this lag is the significant disparity in broadband infrastructure investment between the governments of the Philippines and other Asian countries. For instance, the 2023 budget for the National Broadband Plan by the Department of Information and Communications Technology stood at P1.9 billion, approximately US$0.032 billion at current exchange rates. In stark contrast, Indonesia invested $2.06 billion, Malaysia $5.1 billion, Singapore $2.8 billion, and China with a staggering $1.4 trillion. This comparison highlights the insufficient government funding allocated to digital infrastructure in the Philippines. Even Vietnam, which has surpassed the Philippines in various broadband metrics, invested $0.82 billion, underscoring the urgent need for the Philippine government to scale up its investment efforts substantially. The private sector in the Philippines has consistently demonstrated its drive to invest in digital infrastructure, with the top three telecommunications companies collectively investing approximately P1.079 trillion from 2018 to 2023. This investment is significantly higher than the governments allocation for the same period, which was only P43.3 billion pesos. While these private investments are commendable, they are not sufficient to close the broadband infrastructure gap entirely. A coordinated approach where both the government and private sector would align their resources and strategies is crucial to enhancing the countrys digital capabilities and ensuring broadband connectivity that meets global standards. Broadband connectivity and cloud based technologies are now essential utilities of economic growth, education, and social development. It enables efficient communication, access to information, and the unceasing development of innovative technologies. For the Philippines, improving broadband infrastructure is not just about catching up with international standards; it is about empowering its people and industries to compete effectively in a highly digitized world. A robust and accessible broadband network can transform the potential of the Philippines digital-savvy population, turning them from mere consumers to innovators of new digital technologies. This transformation is vital for fostering a knowledge-based economy where new ideas for new digital technologies can thrive. Given the urgency and importance of upgrading broadband infrastructure, the Philippine government should consider several policy actions: First, the government needs to significantly boost its investment in broadband infrastructure to match or exceed the investments of neighboring countries. This includes increasing the budget for the National Broadband Plan and other related initiatives. Second, strengthen collaboration between the government and the private sector to leverage resources and expertise. This partnership can accelerate the building of mobile and fiber cable networks that integrates private and government owned assets to deliver high-speed internet across the country, especially in underserved and rural areas. Third, implement regulatory reforms that encourage innovation in digital technologies. This can include incentives for new locators and support for research and development in digital technologies. Fourth, invest in education and training programs to develop a skilled workforce capable of supporting and driving the digital economy. This includes programs focused on digital literacy, coding, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and other digital tech skills. The direct and immediate impact of fast broadband connectivity to all the economic pillars of Philippine society is pretty obvious. By aligning government resources with the aggressive and forward-looking investment outlook of the private telcos, the country can bridge the connectivity gap, and enable local industries to compete and thrive in the borderless global digital economy. In the heart of Khartoums war-torn al-Shajara district, the Dar Mariam Catholic mission has become a sanctuary for about 80 women and children caught in the crossfire of Sudans ongoing conflict. Led by Father Jacob Thelekkadan, the mission faces dire circumstances as food supplies dwindle and bombardments intensify. The compound, bearing scars of the conflict with bullet-riddled walls and fire-damaged quarters, shelters mostly Christian refugees from South Sudan and Ethiopia. As supplies run low, inhabitants resort to boiling tree leaves for sustenance, with adults often skipping meals to prioritize the children. Attempts to evacuate the mission have proven perilous. A Red Cross rescue effort in December ended in tragedy, with two dead and seven wounded after coming under fire. Father Thelekkadan and the nuns refuse to leave without the families, despite offers from the army for their evacuation. The missions predicament reflects the broader humanitarian crisis in Sudan, where millions have been displaced and famine warnings have been issued. As fighting between the army and Rapid Support Forces continues, the inhabitants of Dar Mariam pray for safety and await a chance for evacuation, their resilience tested daily by hunger and the constant threat of violence. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: CC0 Public Domain Should heroin and cocaine be legally available to people who need and want them? If we are serious about stopping the crisis of drug overdose deaths, that is exactly the kind of profound change we need. Yes, extensive regulations would be necessary. In fact, the whole point of regulating drug production and sales is that we can better control what is being sold and to whom. After British Columbia's Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry testified to the all-party health committee in Ottawa in May that regulating these controlled drugs would minimize harms, B.C. Premier David Eby said he disagreed. He is quoted saying "in a reality-based, real-world level, (it) doesn't make any sense." But does our current approach of drug prohibition "make sense?" Since the overdose crisis was declared in 2016, illicit drug toxicity deaths have become the leading cause of unnatural death in B.C. and the leading cause of death from all causes for those aged 10 to 59. More than 44,000 people have died from drug poisoning in Canada since 2016, and more than one-third of those were in B.C. An average of 22 people are dying every day in Canada because the illicit supply of drugs is toxic. Toxic drug supply Why is the drug supply so toxic? Because we are letting organized crime manufacture drugs instead of regulated licensed industries that are required to follow health and safety standards. In the context of drug prohibition, organized crime and drug cartels are incentivized to make highly potent products because it is cheaper and hence more profitable. This is what happened during alcohol prohibition in the 1920s. Organized crime ran rampant, and people were poisoned because there were no health and safety standards for production. The failure of alcohol prohibition in meeting its key objectives of eliminating the supply and demand of alcohol are the same failures of drug prohibition. Illegal drugs are easy to find regardless of their illegal status. Reliable estimates are that 225,000 people are using illegal substances in B.C. What is the way out? Our knowledge of research evidence and decades of collective experienceincluding as a researcher (Kora DeBeck), a B.C. provincial health officer (Perry Kendall) and chief coroner (Lisa Lapointe) during the overdose crisisbrings us to drug regulation. When we regulate a substance, we have the most control over its production, distribution and consumption. Lessons from tobacco Some may argue that regulating drugs sends the "wrong message" and will encourage drug use, most concerningly among young people. However, if we look to lessons from tobacco regulation, we can see that public health-based regulations can actually be strong and effective substance-use deterrents. By strictly controlling tobacco marketing, packaging, purchase price, purchase age and consumption locations alongside educating people about the health risks, tobacco consumption and associated health harms have been significantly reduced without all the additional risks of banning tobacco products (for example, criminal black markets controlling production and sales). The same kinds of regulatory tools would be available to control the use of currently illegal drugs if we moved from prohibition to regulation. Addiction treatment is not enough But what about addiction treatment? Isn't that what we really need? While it's true that eliminating wait times and increasing access to effective, evidence-based treatment are critically important and much needed, the reality is that many people who use drugs don't have an addiction and many others are not currently seeking treatment. Yet all people who use drugs face the deadly consequences of an unregulated toxic drug supply. It is also important to remember that addiction recovery is complex and relapse is common in the recovery journey. In today's toxic drug environment, people who relapse after a period of abstinence face a significantly higher risk of death due to their reduced tolerance. We also know that substance treatment is not regulated or standardized, and treatment outcomes are not reported. While supporting people to recovery is important and can be lifesaving, addiction treatment is not the straightforward solution many believe it should be. Thousands of lives remain at risk every day. A regulated drug supply Taking the production and sale of currently illegal drugs away from organized crime and drug cartels is the most promising way to keep our kids and communities safe. With strict health and safety standards for the production of these drugs and stringent public health-based regulations on their distribution and sale, we have the best shot at reversing the carnage of overdose fatalities and managing drug-related harms. Regulating drugs may seem to some like a radical proposition but governments regulate the production and distribution of potentially dangerous goods all the time. The regulation of firearms in Canada includes licensing that requires passing a firearms safety course. Mandatory ingredient lists that disclose the amount of sugar, sodium and fat in the foods we eat is another example of a government regulation that is designed to protect the public and provide information that may shape consumption patterns and reduce health risks. Implementing an effective regulatory framework for currently illegal drugs will be a complex undertaking requiring close monitoring and evaluation and inevitably corrections and revisions along the way. While the task may appear daunting, allowing overdose deaths to continue at the current rate is unconscionable. Transformational and life-saving drug regulation is urgently required because, borrowing terminology from Premier Eby, at the "reality-based, real-world level," our current approach is a catastrophic failure. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain New research has demonstrated the effectiveness of a first-in-class oral, non-hormonal drug in increasing embryo implantation, pregnancy and live birth rates among infertile women who are undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The findings, presented at the ESHRE 40th Annual Meeting in Amsterdam, represent a significant step toward the first therapeutic tool to increase embryo implantation and live birth rate success. The study abstract was published in Human Reproduction. Worldwide, one in six people of reproductive age experience infertility in their lifetime. Over 3 million IVF cycles are performed annually and yet, despite advancing IVF technologies, embryo implantation failure remains a significant challenge. In response to this unmet need, researchers have unveiled the promising findings of their Phase II clinical trial, OXOART2. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted across 28 centers in Europe evaluated OXO-001, a first-in-class oral drug that acts directly on the endometrium (inner lining of the uterus) to improve embryo implantation and pregnancy rates. The OXOLIFE exploratory subset study analyzed 96 women aged up to 40 years old who underwent a single embryo transfer, 42 receiving placebo and 54 receiving a daily dose of OXO-001. Treatment began one menstrual cycle before the embryo transfer cycle and continued until five weeks after the transfer. Statistically significant improvements were observed in biochemical pregnancy ratesan early detection of pregnancywith rates of 75.9% in the OXO-001 group compared to 52.4% in the placebo group. Clinically relevant improvements were also seen in clinical pregnancy rates (fetal heartbeat five weeks after embryo transfer), and in ongoing pregnancy rates (10 weeks post-embryo transfer), being a +14.3 absolute increase (50.0% for OXO-001 vs. 35.7% for placebo) and a +10.6 absolute increase (46.3% for OXO-001 vs. 35.7% for placebo) respectively. Most importantly, there was an absolute increase of +6.9 in live birth rates (42.6% for OXO-001 vs. 35.7% for placebo). Dr. Agnes Arbat, OXOLIFE's CEO and CMO, says, "From scientific societies, key opinion leaders, clinicians and patients, we know that an absolute increase of more than 5 percentage points in ongoing pregnancy is considered clinically meaningful. We observed an increase higher than +9, giving renewed hope to patients and the scientific community. We look forward to advancing this promising treatment through the next phases of clinical development." The occurrence of side effects was similar in both groups. The most common side effects were headaches, nausea, vomiting, gastrointestinal issues, and dizziness, most of which were mild to moderate. More importantly, in the six-month follow-up, the babies indicated good development with no differences with placebo. Overall, OXO-001 was well tolerated, with high rates of compliance. Dr. Ignasi Canals, CSO of OXOLIFE adds, "We are thrilled with the results of this trial, which highlight OXO-001's potential to become the first therapeutic treatment to increase embryo implantation success, with a non-hormonal drug using a new mechanism of action, acting directly on the endometrium." Professor Dr. Karen Sermon, Chair of ESHRE, explains, "Despite continuous developments in ovarian stimulation, embryo manipulation and culture, improving live birth rates in medically assisted reproduction has been incremental at best. A jump of nearly 7% is very good news for our patients, and hopefully this can be confirmed in larger patient groups." More information: Arbat, A. et al, Efficacy results from the phase II randomized clinical trial: OXO-001 in infertile women undergoing egg donation IVF/ICSI. Human Reproduction (2024). academic.oup.com/humrep/issue/39/Supplement_1 Journal information: Human Reproduction HARRISBURG, Penn. President Joe Biden urged his supporters to stay unified during a series of Sunday stops in critical Pennsylvania on Sunday, even as some leading congressional Democrats privately suggested it was time for him to abandon his reelection bid because of intensifying questions about whether he's fit for another term. Addressing a rousing church service in front of stained glass windows bathed in sunshine at Philadelphia's Mount Airy Church of God in Christ, the 81-year-old Biden joked, I know I look 40 but Ive been doing this a long time. I, honest to God, have never been more optimistic about Americas future if we stick together, he said. There and during a subsequent rally with union members in Harrisburg, Biden offered short speeches that touched on familiar topics. But he also left plenty of room for key backers to discuss standing by him. In that way, the Pennsylvania swing seemed meant to showcase support for the president from key political quarters more than proving hes up to four more years. His party, though, remains deeply divided. As Congress prepares to resume this week, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries convened top committee lawmakers Sunday afternoon to assess their views. Several Democratic committee leaders said Biden should step aside, according to two people familiar with the meeting and granted anonymity to discuss it. Other top Democrats, including members of the influential Congressional Black Caucus, argued just as forcefully that Biden should remain the party's choice. The conversation was wide ranging, with the committee leaders sharing various views on the situation, but there was no unanimity on what should be done, the people said. Biden was personally calling lawmakers through the weekend. He also joined a call with campaign surrogates and reiterated that he has no plans to leave the race. Instead, the president pledged to campaign harder going forward and to step up his political travel, according to two people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. One Democrat the president spoke to, Sen. Alex Padilla of California, said he and others are pushing the Biden campaign to let Joe be Joe, get him out there. I absolutely believe we can turn it around, Padilla told The Associated Press. Still, at least five Democratic lawmakers have publicly called on him to abandon his reelection campaign ahead of November. Meeting this coming week in person means more chances for lawmakers to discuss concerns about Bidens ability to withstand the remaining four months of the campaign not to mention four more years in the White House and true prospects of beating Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump. Bidens campaign team was also calling and texting lawmakers to try to head off more potential defections, while increasingly asking high-profile Biden supporters to speak out on his behalf. Calls to bow out nonetheless popped up from different directions. Alan Clendenin, a Tampa city councilman and member of the Democratic National Committee, on Sunday called for Biden to "step aside and allow Vice President Kamala Harris to carry forward his agenda as our Democratic nominee. Director Rob Reiner, who has helped organize glitzy Hollywood fundraisers for Biden in the past, posted on X, Its time for Joe Biden to step down. The Democratic convention is fast approaching and Bidens Friday interview with ABC has not convinced some who remain skeptical. Democratic fundraising bundler Barry Goodman, a Michigan attorney, said he's backing Biden but, should he step aside, he'd throw his support to Harris. Thats notable since Goodman was also a finance co-chairman for both of the statewide campaigns of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has also been mentioned as a top-of-the-ticket alternative. We dont have much time, Goodman said. I dont think the president gets out. But if he does, I think it would be Kamala. There was no such suggestion at Mount Airy, where Pastor Louis Felton likened the president to Joseph and the biblical story of his coat of many colors. In it, Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers, only eventually tp obtain a high place in the kingdom of the pharaoh and have his brothers beg him for assistance without initially recognizing him. Never count Joseph out, Felton implored. Then, referring to Democrats who have called on Biden to step aside, he added, "That's whats going on, Mr. President. People are jealous of you. Jealous of your stick-to-itiveness, jealous of your favor. Jealous of Gods hand upon your life. Felton also led a prayer where he said, Our president gets discouraged. But today, through your holy spirit, renew his mind, renew his spirt, renew his body. After the church service, Biden visited a campaign office in Philadelphia, where Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat who won a tough 2022 race while recovering from a stroke, offered a forceful endorsement. There is only one guy that has ever beaten Trump," Fetterman said. And he is going to do it twice and put him down for good. Later stepping off Air Force One in Harrisburg, the president was asked if the Democratic Party was behind him and emphatically responded, Yes. Joining him at the union event, Rep. Madeleine Dean, also a Pennsylvania Democrat, said that democracy is on the line. Theres one man who understands it, its Joe Biden. Isabel Afonso, who saw Biden speak in Harrisburg, said she was worried when she saw the presidents debate performance, but doesnt think he should drop out of the race and that he can still win. I know he is old, but I know if something happens to him, a reasonable person will replace him, said Afonso, 63. History-making moments from presidential debates That old age question (again) Gaffes galore Getting personal Blunders without words Biden-Trump redux Aizawl: Mizoram chief minister Lalduhoma has urged the Centre to understand the position of Mizoram in giving shelter to refugees from neighbouring Bangladesh, an official statement said. During a brief meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lalduhoma, who is now in Delhi, informed the former that his government could not push back or deport Zo ethnic people from Bangladeshs Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), who took shelter in the northeastern state, the statement said. "Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!" He informed the Prime Minister that many people belonging to Bawm tribe, one of the ethnic Mizo tribes, from Bangladesh have been taking shelter in Mizoram since 2022 and many of them are still trying to enter the state. The two leaders also discussed other issues, including shifting of Assam Rifles base from the hearth of Aizawl to Zokhawsang on the eastern outskirts of the state capital and the implementation of Mizoram governments flagship programme, handholding policy, the statement said. Fleeing armed clashes between the Bangladesh army and Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA), an ethnic insurgent group fighting for a separate state in Bangaldesh, ethnic Bawm people fled their homes in CHT and took shelter in Mizoram since November 2022. An official of state home department said that nearly 2,000 Zo ethnic people from Bangladesh are now taking shelter in Mizoram. Meanwhile, Zo Re-Unification Organisation (ZORO), a Aizawl based Mizo group representing Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Zomi tribes of India, Bangladesh and Myanmar, slammed the Border Security Force (BSF) for pushing back the Bangladesh refugees seeking shelter in Mizoram. The organisation said that around 93 people belonging to 32 families from Bangladeshs CHT entered Damped-II village in southernmost Mizorams Lawngtlai district on Friday. After personnel of BSF, which guards the Indo-Bangladesh border, took details of the refugees, they pushed back them to Bangladesh on Friday evening, it alleged. It further alleged that about 200 people who entered Mizoram in mid-June were also pushed back by the BSF. It said that the Bangladeshi refugees are still languishing in the forest as they are afraid of returning to their villages. The ZORO urged the state government to protect the Zo ethnic people from Bangladesh, who seek shelter in Mizoram. Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Saturday claimed that corruption and unabated violence have transformed West Bengal into a mini-Pakistan. Uncontrolled corruption and unabated violence have turned West Bengal into a mini-Pakistan. In the recent Assembly and Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has won Odisha. In the future, the BJP-led NDA will also come to power in West Bengal and Kerala, Saha said during an event marking Shyama Prasad Mukherjees 124th birth anniversary, organized by the BJP. "Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!" The Chief Minister emphasized the publics desire for corruption and violence-free governance, stating that such a government would have longevity. He noted that the people of Tripura were eager to escape the Congress-led coalition government and the long-standing Communist rule. He highlighted that the BJP met the peoples aspirations by defeating the CPI (M)-led Left parties in the 2018 assembly polls. We will govern Tripura with complete transparency, similar to how Prime Minister Narendra Modi is running the country, Saha asserted. Praising Shyama Prasad Mukherjees contributions and dedication, Saha described him as not only an eminent barrister but also the first Minister of Industry of independent India. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee always worked with the unwavering aim of keeping the nation intact, he added. Mukherjees birth anniversary was observed across Tripura with a series of discussions and various functions. The Finance Ministry concluded the Pre-Budget consultations for the Union Budget 2024-25, which began on June 19, 2024. These meetings were chaired by Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman. A press release by the Ministry of Finance on Sunday stated that over 120 invitees from 10 stakeholder groups participated in the in-person consultations. Among these stakeholders, the experts and representatives from farmer associations and agriculture economists, trade unions, the education and health sectors, employment and skilling, MSMEs, trade and services, industry, economists, the financial sector and capital markets, as well as the infrastructure, energy, and urban sectors participated.As part of budget deliberations, the Finance Minister also convened a meeting with the Finance Ministers of the states in the national capital. During the first meeting with the Union Finance Minister, the economists discussed several critical issues among them boosting capital expenditure and reducing the fiscal deficit were highlighted. The group of economists suggested to the ministry that the focus should be on reducing the fiscal deficit in the upcoming budget, adding the issue of the need to generate employment growth. The industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) suggested the government increase capital expenditure in the upcoming budget. The economists also emphasised on the need to enhance the capital expenditure. In another meeting, the farmer associations suggested the government enhance the budgetary allocation for the agriculture sector. The agriculture economists and farmers association also demanded to review the current budgetary allocations. The trade and services industry representatives demanded the policies for the exports and trade meanwhile they suggested the government review the Interest Equalisation Scheme, ease of doing business, and enhance R&D initiatives. The issue of employment was also raised during the meeting. the representatives of the skilling and employment sectors suggested ways to skill the youth for the better utilisation of the workforce. Union Ministers of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, Finance Secretary and Secretary Expenditure Dr. T.V. Somanathan, Secretary of Economic Affairs Ajay Seth, Secretary of DIPAM Tuhin K. Pandey, Secretary of Financial Services Vivek Joshi, Secretary of Revenue Sanjay Malhotra, Secretary of Corporate Affairs Manoj Govil, Chief Economic Adviser Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran, and senior officers from the Ministry of Finance and relevant ministries were also present during the meetings. Union Minister, Sitharaman expressed gratitude to the participants for their valuable suggestions, as per the release. The Minister assured all the stakeholders that the suggestions will be examined and considered in the preparation of the Union Budget 2024-25.(ANI) Companies need to contribute to the social security net of gig workers and India could be a trendsetter in facilitating gig workers in their work, said Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal. In an interview with ANI, Aggarwal said, "As an ecosystem between the companies and the central and state governments, we need to innovate on how a gig worker can get some kind of social security, some kind of insurance. And India can actually be the trendsetter in this." Gig workers are those who operate as independent contractors or freelancers in the gig economy for short periods of time. The Ola founder said India can be a trendsetter because the US is very corporatised, whereas India can come forward to do the best for society. The Ola CEO said that they are engaging with the government across states and centres to discuss the state of gig workers. "As you save money through technological interventions, part of the profit should go to the gig workers so that more gig workers also come in. They find it more lucrative to work," he added. Recognising the rising trend of gig work in the country, government policy think tank NITI Aayog released a report titled 'India's Booming Gig and Platform Economy'. The body provides a scientific methodological approach to estimate the current size and job-generation potential of the sector, recognizing the government's seriousness for the rights of gig workers in the country.The report said in 2020-21 the number of gig workers in the country was about 77 lakh (7.7 million). The gig workers are 2.6 per cent of the non-agricultural workforce or 1.5 per cent of the total workforce in India. The body said that the gig workforce is expected to expand to 2.35 crore (23.5 million) workers by 2029-30. By 2029-2030, gig workers are projected to account for 4.1 per cent of India's overall income, or 6.7 per cent of the country's non-agricultural workforce. (ANI) Bhavish Aggarwal, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ola Cabs, emphasized that the current generation has to work 'extra-hard' to build the 'country of our dreams'. In an interview with ANI, CEO Bhavish Aggarwal was asked about his journey from Ola Cabs to Ola Electric. "I would like to start with why I became an entrepreneur. I am a big believer in the concept of 'Dharma' and 'Swadharma'. I feel my purpose, my DNA, and my capability are to truly bring the technology entrepreneurship business together. That's my locus standi in society. I genuinely believe that our generation has to work extra hard to build the country of our dreams", Aggarwal said. "There will be critics who say a lot of things and sometimes, they are also correct. But we should have dreams; ones that cannot be fulfilled in one life. In order to fulfil that, I started my journey with Ola Cabs. Ola Cabs is broadening into a broader consumer ecosystem. My mission with that company is to truly make consumption more accessible to one and a half billion people", he added. Further elaborating on the subject, Aggarwal said that Ola is working with Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), which is a government marketplace run by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade. "For example, we are doing a lot with the ONDC there, which is the government marketplace. Most e-commerce platforms take 20-30 per cent commissions from the sellers, 'Kiranas' or small retailers are left out. ONDC is going to make it a much more democratic eco-system, which will bring down the cost of e-commerce. We are doing a lot of work on supply chains to bring down the cost of logistics in the GDP. We are doing a lot of work in warehousing to bring down the cost of warehousing", he said. "All of that technology-driven work is to enable much more efficient, accessible, and affordable consumption", he added. Founded in 2017, Ola Electric Mobility deals with the leasing of electric cars. Ola Electric is the only Indian EV company selected by the government under its ambitious Rs 80,000 crore cell PLI schemes. Also, Ola is one of India's widest mobility platforms, serving over 250 cities across the nation. (ANI) Ola founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal has expressed strong support for Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy's advice advocating a 70-hour workweek for young professionals. In an interview with ANI, Aggarwal was asked about Murthy's 70-hour workweek advice and his return as Executive Chairman in 2013 after retiring in 2011. The Ola CEO said that Murthy had to come back because of the state of his company at that time. "I should do more, and I'm fully in sync with his (Murthy's) direction to the youth. I think he had to come back because of the state his company was in, right? And he was able to contribute after he came back and was able to turn it around. Since then, actually, even Nandan has come back in a non-executive chairman role and contributed further," he said. Nandan Nilekani is the co-founder and non-executive Chairman of the Board of Infosys, credited for the launch of Aadhaar. "And even when Nandan came back to Infosys. Infosys also took off after that, right? So, I think it's like the same parental thing. You are always connected to your company," he added. Speaking about whether he has other things in mind when he starts something new, the Ola CEO said, "Absolutely. I'm still maybe one-third the age. It's too early for me. And as an entrepreneur, an entrepreneur never lets go. You will always bring professional management to run it and to be more day-to-day anchoring the business. But an entrepreneur is always emotionally and strategically involved." Murthy sparked a huge debate in the country when he suggested in October last year that India's work culture needs to change and that youngsters should be prepared to work for 70 hours a week. (ANI) Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Russia on Monday, the Indian Russian business community hopes that the PM will initiate talks on technology exchange with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Expressing his excitement ahead of the PM's visit, Sammy Manoj Kotwani, president of Indian Business Alliance, Indian National Culture Centre SITA said, "When you talk about bilateral ties, Mr Modi knows that he has got one million young population every month seeking jobs. He has a lot of responsibility back home and he understands that we need technology which will only come from the West. He is going to convince Putin to help with the technology." At the invitation of Russian President, Vladimir Putin, PM Modi will make an official visit to Moscow on July 8-9 to attend the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit."Everybody knows about it. Russian media is covering it very positively, it is a proud moment for the Russians as PM Modi is coming for the first bilateral visit after coming to power for 3rd time...Russians see this as one more milestone in their friendship," Kotwani added. Preparations are going on to welcome PM Modi as he is scheduled to engage with the Indian community a day after his arrival in Russia. Sharing details about the PM's visit to Russia, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Friday said that both the leaders have spoken on the phone multiple times since their unofficial meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in 2022. "The last, that is the 21st, annual summit, you would recall was held in New Delhi in December 2021. The two leaders thereafter met in September 2022 in Samarkand on the margins of the SCO summit in Uzbekistan. They have also stayed in touch with each other through several telephonic conversations through these years," Kwatra said. As per the Foreign Secretary PM will arrive in Moscow in the late afternoon of July 8. Russian President Putin will host a private dinner for PM Modi on the day of arrival. PM Modi and the Russian President will review the full range of multifaceted ties between India and Russia. "These engagements will be followed by a restricted level talk between the two leaders, which will then be followed by delegation level talks led by the Prime Minister and the Russian President" as per the Foreign Secretary.(ANI) John Cena will soon bring the curtain down on his legendary WWE career. In a video posted on social media accounts of WWE, John Cena announced his retirement from the in-ring competition. He will bid farewell to WWE in 2025. https://x.com/WWE/status/1809779235168416033 Cena announced a surprise appearance at WWE Money in the Bank in Toronto, Canada. "Tonight, I am officially announcing my retirement from the WWE," he said in the clip. This announcement has left his fans saddened. "Will miss you champ," a social media user commented. "Would be difficult to watch WWE without Cena," another fan wrote. Later in his speech, Cena revealed he plans to stay on to take part in Monday Night Raw as it makes the unprecedented move to Netflix in January 2025, as per Deadline. "This farewell, it does not end tonight," he said. "It is filled with opportunity. Everybody, Raw makes history next year when it moves to Netflix. I've never been a part of Raw on Netflix, that is history. That is a first, and I will be there. "And along with that history making first, we are going to build so many unforgettable lasts. The 2025 Royal Rumble will be my last. The 2025 Elimination Chamber will be my last. And I'm here tonight to announce that in Las Vegas, WrestleMania 2025 will be the last WrestleMania I compete in," added Cena. Cena signed with the WWE in 2001, cutting back to part-time in 2018 as he has continued to grow his acting career. (ANI) Judy Belushi Pisano, the widow of comedian John Belushi and a former actress and producer, has died at the age of 73, as per PEOPLE magazine. As per The Martha's Vineyard Times, she died after a long battle with cancer. Belushi's official social media accounts shared the news on Instagram and Facebook. "Today, our hearts are heavy as we say goodbye to our sweet Judy," the statement read. "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 John's passing in 1982, Judy honored his life and championed his legacy and the Blues Brothers brand," the statement continued. "As we bid farewell, we pledge to continue her work, ensuring that John's legacy, and the Blues Brothers will never fade." Judy was married to Belushi from 1976 until 1982 when he died from a drug overdose. She remarried in 1990 to Victor Pisano before filing for divorce in 2010. Friend and musician Stephen Bishop, who appeared in The Blues Brothers and contributed music to Animal House, paid tribute to Judy Belushi Pisano on Instagram. He shared a photo of himself with Judy and John Belushi and reflected on their time together. "I have fond memories of working and hanging out with Judy and John. She was always kind to me and stayed in touch through the years. I so enjoyed seeing her at Animal House reunions," he wrote. "My memories of her are filled with warmth and affection. I'll always cherish them." Judy and John Belushi met in high school in Wheaton, Illinois, and married in 1976. In a 2020 interview with PEOPLE, Judy recalled her late husband telling her," You should probably break up with me because I want to be an actor and I'll probably never make any money." "But I always thought he'd do well," she said at the time. Judy Pisano was also deeply involved in the arts community on Martha's Vineyard, organizing fundraisers for Martha's Vineyard Community Services and Martha's Vineyard Playhouse, according to PEOPLE Judy Belushi Pisano is survived by her children and grandchildren. (ANI) Actor Manushi Chhillar started her Sunday morning by attending a fitness-oriented event in her hometown, Haryana. Manushi was quite happy to be back in her home state. Taking to Instagram, she dropped a picture from her car and wrote, "Nothing feels better than being in my home state." At the "walkathon" event, Manushi met with her fans and greeted them. She also shook her leg on the stage to one of her songs from 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan'. "Here they have organised such an important walkathon event...I have come here to support it," Manushi told media at the event. Meanwhile, on the film front, Manushi was last seen in 'Operation Valentine' and 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan'. The story of 'Operation Valentine' revolves around the indomitable spirit of Air Force heroes on the frontlines and the challenges they face protecting the nation. Talking about her preparation, Manushi earlier said, "My prep for Operation Valentine included a lot of basics just to simply understand the structure of the Air Force, understand what a radar officer is supposed to do, basic things like body language, the tonality of your voice and how to give a certain command. These are the few things that I had to work on." "Fortunately, we had someone from the Indian Air Force team on set. So, I always had that guidance on set whenever we needed any extra information or wherever I was going away from how a normal radar officer would do a certain thing. So, it was learning a lot of basics. It was not just learning how to portray a radar officer, but also learning the things that happen in the Air Force, or what basic terms like an evacuation and the kind of planes that are flying. So, just understanding all of that was a completely new world. I am a DRDO kid, so obviously, I know things from the surface, but this was me going deep into it," she added. Manushi made her Bollywood debut in 2022 opposite Akshay Kumar in Samrat Prithviraj. Prior to it, she stole spotlight with her Miss World win in 2017. (ANI) The first poster of the upcoming film was released by the makers on social media handles, on Sunday. https://www.instagram.com/anandpanditmotionpictures/ The movie will see Big B playing God. Meanwhile, he has previously played the role of God in 'God Tussi Great Ho' (2008). The film, produced by Anand Pandit and Vaishal Shah, is slated for release on Independence Day, August 15, 2024. 'Fakt Purusho Maate' revolves around themes of gender equality and generational conflicts, continuing the narrative thread from its predecessor directed by Jay Bodas. Producer Anand Pandit expressed his enthusiasm for working with Amitabh Bachchan once again, highlighting the actor's unparalleled dedication and professionalism. "We shot with Mr. Bachchan on June 6, and everyone on the set was mesmerized by his energy and larger-than-life aura," Pandit remarked, underscoring Bachchan's integral role in both films of the franchise. Vaishal Shah, another producer of the film, emphasized Bachchan's pivotal contribution to the narrative, stating, "Mr Bachchan's role is central to how the story unfolds in 'Fakt Purusho Maate'. His enduring stardom and his ability to transcend generations make him a legend in his own right." Directed by Jay Bodas and Parth Trivedi, 'Fakt Purusho Maate' also stars Yash Soni, Mitra Gadhvi, Esha Kansara, and Darshan Jariwala in significant roles, promising a blend of talent and storytelling prowess. The film is expected to resonate with audiences as it tackles contemporary themes within the framework of Gujarati cinema. With its release planned around Independence Day, 'Fakt Purusho Maate' aims to captivate viewers with its compelling narrative and stellar performances. (ANI) Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) RR Swain on Saturday handed over appointment letters to the Special Police Officers (SPOs) who recently neutralised three terrorists in the Gandoh area who had sneaked into the Doda District. Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) R R Swain said, "When the police personnel, which includes SPOs, work in this manner to keep the public safe, then to encourage them we absorb them as constables and we want that under this one ceremony, their families, community, people, cities, and villages, everyone should feel proud of their boys who come forward and work for their soil, for its protection..." An encounter between terrorists and security personnel began on June 26 at the Gandoh area of Doda in Jammu and Kashmir. On June 27, three terrorists were neutralized in an encounter with security forces in the Gandoh, Bhaderwah sector of district Doda in Jammu and Kashmir. Speaking to ANI, the ADGP of Jammu, Anand Jain said, "Three terrorists have been neutralized in this encounter, and arms and ammunition have been recovered from them. A search operation is going on in the area. We launched a search operation as soon as we received information of the presence of terrorists... Two M-4s and one AK-47 rifle have been recovered..." In a press conference, the ADGP Jammu said, "We have recovered two M-4s and one AK-47 gun, grenades, and basic necessities stuff from the terrorists." On the emergence of new terror organizations, the ADGP asserted, "There is the presence of groups in this area and a search operation is underway. As the investigation into the Chhattergala incident is also underway, so, it's yet to be discovered if it's a new scheme of terror organizations."Furthermore, he assured that there is no threat to the Amarnath Yatra and an investigation is underway to find out the terrorists whose sketches were issued. (ANI) According to the official, a woman was safely rescued from the debris. In a conversation with ANI, Basant Pareek, Chief Fire Officer of Surat, said, "Around 3:55 p.m. on Saturday, the Surat Fire and Emergency Services received information about the collapse of a five-storey building. Around 20 fire officers, along with the administration, rushed to the spot. We conducted a search and rescue operation throughout the night." Chief Fire Officer Pareek added that a woman was rescued safely from the debris, and a total of seven bodies were retrieved. "During the operation, we heard a woman's voice from beneath the debris. After digging out the debris, the firemen safely rescued her. We continued the search operation and have so far recovered seven bodies," he said. Chief Fire Officer Pareek added that there are no reports of any more missing persons. "However, the search operation is still underway," he said. (ANI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu met with his Telangana counterpart Revanth Reddy in Hyderabad on Saturday. The two states decided to form committees of officials and ministers to resolve issues between the Telugu-speaking states, a decade after their bifurcation. Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said ministers from both states discussed several issues during the meeting. "We have discussed the unresolved issues from the Andhra Pradesh bifurcation over the last 10 years. While we do not expect all issues to be resolved immediately, we recognize the need for action. Therefore, we have made this decision," Vikramarka said during a press conference. The Deputy Chief Minister announced that a committee of higher officials, including the Chief Secretaries and three officials from each state, would be formed. "If some issues are not resolved by the officials' committee, a committee of ministers from both states will be formed. If any issues remain unresolved, the Chief Ministers will discuss them," Vikramarka added. The Deputy Chief Minister also said that both states would cooperate in combating drugs and cybercrimes, with the Additional Director Generals from each state working together on these issues. "The Telangana government is driving efforts against narcotics and cybercrimes. Cooperation between both states will enhance these efforts. The Additional DGs will collaborate on this," Vikramarka stated. Telugu Desam Party Minister Satya Prasad emphasized the formation of the committees to address the issues of the Reorganization Act. "Telangana was formed after a significant movement. To ensure all benefit and to resolve the issues of the Reorganization Act, we have established a high-level officials committee and a ministers' committee," Prasad explained. The Andhra Pradesh Minister also mentioned the formation of a committee with Additional DGs from both states to address concerns about drug production in Andhra Pradesh and its sale in Telangana. "We have formed a committee with Additional DGs from both states to eliminate the drug culture. The Telangana Chief Minister was concerned about drugs being prepared in Andhra Pradesh and sold in Telangana," he said. The Chief Ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh met at Jyotirao Phule Praja Bhavan in Hyderabad on Saturday. (ANI) With the chants of 'Har Har Mahadev' (hailing Lord Shiva), the pilgrims expressed glee as they embarked on the much-awaited journey. Meanwhile, visuals showed a heavy police force deployed at the base camp to ensure the safety and security of the devotees. Monika, a pilgrim from Madhya Pradesh's Indore, told ANI, "We are very excited. We made plans all of a sudden. Certainly, the Lord called us. The arrangements are very good here. There's is no issue here. The administration is taking good care of us." Another pilgrim, Vijay Bhaskar from Hyderabad, expressed his enthusiasm over the Amarnath Yatra and said that he was eager to have a glimpse of 'Baba Amarnath', a form of Lord Shiva. "I'm feeling very good. I'm eager to have a glimpse of Baba Amarnath. I would like to thank the government for having made great arrangements for pilgrims", Bhaskar told ANI. This year, the yatra started on June 29 and will end on August 19, lasting 52 days. The devotees of Lord Shiva undertake the arduous annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine located in the Kashmir Himalayas in July-August. Conducted by the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, the Amarnath Yatra has two routes through Pahalgam and via Baltal. Baltal serves as the camping ground for pilgrims in the Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir. This year, the Yatra is taking place in the shadow of recent terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. (ANI) Following the brutal killing of Tamil Nadu Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Chief K Armstrong, the Chennai police suspect the involvement of associates of gangster Arcot Suresh, who was murdered in August last year. K Armstrong, Tamil Nadu BSP Chief, was hacked to death on Friday evening by a group of unidentified men near his residence in Perambur, Chennai. In an interview with ANI on Sunday, Asra Garg, Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), North Chennai, said, "After sustained interrogation, due analysis, and diligence regarding the facts and circumstances of each suspect, we have arrested eight people. We have seized seven blood-stained weapons, one Zomato t-shirt, a Zomato bag, and three bikes that were used in the commission of the offence." Highlighting the suspected motive behind the killing, ACP Garg mentioned that the associates of gangster Arcot Suresh, who was assassinated last year, believed it was "conspired" by Armstrong. "In continuation of this, the special teams formed by the Chennai police have secured three more suspects. The preliminary investigation so far indicates that the motive prima facie appears to be based on different types of analysis. In August 2023, Arcot Suresh was murdered by a gang; his family and associates believe it was done under the direction or in conspiracy with Mr Armstrong, who was murdered on Friday," he stated. "Armstrong was murdered by associates of Arcot Suresh, including his brother, who has been arrested by us," added the ACP. The Chennai police have formed special teams to comprehensively probe the case. Earlier on Saturday, Greater Chennai Police Commissioner Sandeep Rai Rathore ruled out any political angles in the BSP leader's murder case. "There is no political angle to this," Rathore said while speaking to reporters. Meanwhile, the mortal remains of the slain BSP leader have been placed at Corporation School Ground in Chennai for public homage. Several people were seen paying floral tributes to the leader. BSP Chief Mayawati and the party's National Coordinator have also left for Chennai to pay tribute to the leader. Earlier on Saturday, the BSP supremo 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 and necessary action to prevent such incidents in the future," she said in a post on 'X'. (ANI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended wishes to the people on the commencement of the sacred Rath Yatra in Odisha and prayed that the blessings of Lord Jagannath continue to be bestowed upon them. "Greetings on the start of the sacred Rath Yatra. We bow to Mahaprabhu Jagannath and pray that his blessings constantly remain upon us," posted Prime Minister Modi on X, on Sunday. Union Home Minister Amit Shah also performed the 'Mangla Aarti' with his wife Sonal at a temple in Ahmedabad earlier today. Taking to his social media handle on X, Amit Shah posted, "Jai Jagannath! Like every year today, on the auspicious occasion of Lord Jagannathji's Rath Yatra, I had the good fortune to participate in the Mangala Aarti of Sri Jagannath Mandir located in Ahmedabad. Mangala Aarti always feels immense peace and renewed energy. I pray to Lord Jagannathji for everyone's welfare." Meanwhile, the annual Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra, one of the most significant and eagerly awaited festivals in India, commenced in Odisha's Puri district on Sunday. President Droupadi Murmu is expected to witness the Rath Yatra in Puri, along with millions of devotees from across India. The festival offers a vibrant and spiritual experience for the lakhs of devotees who will gather to witness this auspicious occasion. This year, the event will be held for two days due to specific celestial arrangements. The Jagannath Yatra also began in Ahmedabad with fanfare and excitement on Sunday morning. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi also attended the Rath Yatra festival. Patel performed the 'Pahind Vidhi'--the symbolic cleaning of the path for the chariot of Jagannath for the Rath Yatra. The Rath Yatra, also known as the Chariot Festival, is believed to be as old as the Jagannath Temple in Puri. According to the Hindu calendar, the festival is celebrated on the Dwitiya Tithi of Shukla Paksha (waxing moon fortnight) in the month of Ashadh. The Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra is scheduled to be celebrated today, July 7, 2024. The festival is associated with Lord Jagannath, an avatar of Lord Vishnu, and his siblings. During the Yatra, the deities Lord Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra, and his sister Subhadra are carried on wooden chariots from Jagannath Temple to Gundicha Temple in Puri. (ANI) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Supremo Mayawati on Sunday paid floral tribute to slain party's Tamil Nadu Chief, K Armstrong, at Corporation School Ground in Chennai and urged the state government to refer the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). BSP National Coordinator Akash Anand also paid tribute to K Armstrong, who was hacked to death by a group of unidentified men near his residence in Perambur in Chennai. Terming the incident 'saddening', Mayawati said that the way he was assassinated near his residence is very 'devastating'. "It is very saddening moment. He was my friend. He was the President of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)'s Tamil Nadu unit. He was connected with the movement led by Baba Bhimrao Ambedkar. When he wanted to work for the people, he chose Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Since his association with the party, he worked whole-heartedly. The way he was assassinated outside his residence, is very devastating", she said while addressing the gathering. The BSP Supremo further appealed to the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government to entrust the CBI with the matter. "I urge the state government and especially the CM that he should ensure law and order in the state, weaker sections in particular should feel safe. Had the government been serious, the accused would have been arrested, but now since that's not the case, we urge the state government to refer the case to the CBI", she added. Meanwhile, in a conversation with ANI, Asra Garg, Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), North Chennai, said that eight suspects have been held so far in connection with the case. "After sustained interrogation, due analysis, and diligence regarding the facts and circumstances of each suspect, we have arrested eight people. We have seized seven blood-stained weapons, one Zomato t-shirt, a Zomato bag, and three bikes that were used in the commission of the offence", ACP Garg said. Highlighting the suspected motive behind the killing, ACP Garg mentioned that the associates of gangster Arcot Suresh, who was assassinated last year, believed it was 'conspired' by Armstrong. "In continuation of this, the special teams formed by the Chennai police have secured three more suspects. The preliminary investigation so far indicates that the motive prima facie appears to be based on different types of analysis. In August 2023, Arcot Suresh was murdered by a gang; his family and associates believe it was done under the direction or in conspiracy with Mr Armstrong, who was murdered on Friday," he stated. Gangster Arcot Suresh was assassinated in August 2023. As per the police, the family and the associates of the slain gangster reckon that it was 'conspired' by K Armstrong, whose murder is suspected to be a 'revenge killing'. (ANI) Two people have been rescued and many others are feared trapped under the debris after a three-storey building collapsed in Jharkhand's Deogarh district early Sunday morning. According to Deogarh District Collector, Vishal Sagar, "A three-storey building collapsed here in Deogarh early on Sunday. Two people have been rescued from the site and many others are feared trapped in the debris. Rescue operations are underway." Three individuals have been sent to Sadar Hospital for treatment, where a medical team is currently deployed, according to the official. The District Collector shared details about the incident, stating, "All three floors of the building collapsed. Shortly after receiving the information, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams arrived at the scene to conduct rescue and relief operations." The official further informed that ambulances and doctors are on-site, along with the magistrate and police force. "As per preliminary information, construction works were taking place, which led to the building's collapse. Our primary concern is to rescue people from the debris," said the district collector. Further details are awaited. Meanwhile, an official reported that seven bodies have been recovered from the debris of a collapsed building in Surat, Gujarat, on Sunday. Earlier on Saturday, a multi-storey building collapsed in the Sachin area of Gujarat. Out of the 30 flats in the building, only 4-5 were occupied, while the rest were vacant at the time of the incident. (ANI) Miniature artist L. Eswar Rao from Odisha has crafted an eco-friendly, two-inch chariot for the revered Jagannath Rath Yatra procession. This intricate piece is designed to honour the traditional festival. Speaking to ANI, the Odisha-based miniature artist said, "This year, I have made a chariot of 2 inches in connection with the Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra procession. It took me 7 days to build this chariot. I want to extend my wishes to everyone." The artist said that he made the miniature chariot with incense sticks, paper, and thread, adding that it took him 7 days to create the craft. He further said that the half-centimetre sculptures inside the miniature chariot were made with tamarind seeds. The artist also extended wishes to fellow countrymen and prayed that Lord Jagannath bless everyone through his blessings. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended wishes to the people on the commencement of the sacred Rath Yatra in Odisha and prayed that the blessings of Lord Jagannath continue to be bestowed upon them. "Greetings on the start of the sacred Rath Yatra. We bow to Mahaprabhu Jagannath and pray that his blessings constantly remain upon us," posted Prime Minister Modi on X on Sunday. The annual Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra, one of the most significant and eagerly awaited festivals in India, commenced in Odisha's Puri district on Sunday. President Droupadi Murmu is expected to witness the Rath Yatra in Puri, along with millions of devotees from across India. The festival offers a vibrant and spiritual experience for the lakhs of devotees who will gather to witness this auspicious occasion. This year, the event will be held for two days due to specific celestial arrangements. The Jagannath Yatra also began in Ahmedabad with fanfare and excitement on Sunday morning. The Rath Yatra, also known as the Chariot Festival, is believed to be as old as the Jagannath Temple in Puri. According to the Hindu calendar, the festival is celebrated on the Dwitiya Tithi of Shukla Paksha (waxing moon fortnight) in the month of Ashadh. The Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra is scheduled to be celebrated today, July 7, 2024. The festival is associated with Lord Jagannath, an avatar of Lord Vishnu, and his siblings. During the Yatra, the deities Lord Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra, and his sister Subhadra are carried on wooden chariots from Jagannath Temple to Gundicha Temple in Puri. (ANI) Ahead of the assmebly polls, BJP National President JP Nadda on Sunday chaired a meeting with the leaders of the party's Jammu and Kashmir unit. The meeting was held in Jammu. Union Minister Jitendra Singh, Jammu and Kashmir party President Ravinder Raina, and party's National General Secretary Tarun Chugh were present at the meeting. Earlier in the day, JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh visited the Raghunath Temple in Jammu and offered prayers. J&K Dharmarth Trust shared pictures of their visit to the temple. As per the temple authorities, Martand Singh, grandson of Karan Singh and Trustee of J&K Dharmarth Trust, welcomed the union ministers on their arrival. Union Minister JP Nadda arrived in Jammu on Saturday afternoon and later in the day paid tribute to Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee on his birth anniversary in Jammu. Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, who is in charge of poll-bound Jammu and Kashmir, told reporters in Jammu on July 6 that they are conducting a review and will discuss the upcoming programs of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Union Territory. "We are conducting a review after the Lok Sabha elections. We formed the government for the third time. We will discuss the upcoming programs of the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir," He said. J-K is likely to see its first Assembly election in September this year, according to the timeline fixed by the Supreme Court after the erstwhile state's special status was scrapped in 2019. The last Assembly election in the erstwhile state was held in 2014. The BJP-led government scrapped Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019 and bifurcated the state into two union territories. There have been demands from political parties for early assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and the restoration of statehood. Earlier, the Supreme Court had asked the Election Commission of India and the Centre to conduct polls by September. (ANI) K Armstrong was assassinated by a group of unidentified men near his residence in Chennai on Friday evening. Justice V Bhavani Subbarayan of the Madras High Court observed that the location where the petitioner planned to bury Armstrong's body was a passage. Justice Subbarayan also asked the petitioner if they had an alternative location to bury the BSP leader's body, given that the party office is in a residential area. The petitioner's counsel sought time until 1 p.m. to come up with an alternative. However, failing to do so, the case was postponed for a hearing at 2:15 p.m. K Porkodi, wife of the slain BSP leader, filed a written petition seeking court approval to bury his body at the party's office in Chennai. However, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government objected, arguing that the locality is a residential area. The mortal remains of K Armstrong have been placed at Corporation School Ground in Chennai for public homage. Earlier today, party supremo Mayawati and national coordinator Akash Anand paid floral tributes to the slain leader. Mayawati also demanded that the case be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). "I urge the state government, especially the CM, to ensure law and order in the state. The weaker sections, in particular, should feel safe. Had the government been serious, the accused would have been arrested. Since that is not the case, we urge the state government to refer the case to the CBI," she said. Eight suspects have been arrested so far in connection with the BSP leader's brutal assassination, according to the police. Meanwhile, the police are probing the case from multiple angles. (ANI) A woman was killed after a luxury car crashed into the bike she was riding with her husband early Sunday morning in the Worli area of Mumbai, Maharashtra, police reported. The deceased woman has been identified as Kaveri Nakhwa (45), a resident of Worli Koliwada. Meanwhile, the deceased's husband sustained injuries and is undergoing treatment at a hospital, added the police. "A BMW car ran over two people riding a bike. The woman died in this incident and the other person was injured. This incident took place at 5:30 am this morning when the couple riding on a bike were passing in front of Atria Mall in Worli", a statement from the Mumbai Police said. The police further added that the diver fled from the spot following the incident. "After the incident, the driver fled from the spot with his car. The accident happened when the couple from the fishing community was returning home after buying fish. The husband managed to jump off the speeding vehicle. The woman injured in the accident died during treatment. The deceased woman has been identified as Kaveri Nakhwa (45), a resident of Worli Koliwada. Worli police are investigating the matter further", added the police. The police emphasized that the luxury car belonged to the leader of a political party based in Maharashtra's Palghar. "The luxury car belongs to a leader of a political party based in Palghar and his son was sitting in the car with the driver", said the police. More details are awaited. (ANI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday assured that strict action would be taken against the culprits behind the hit-and-run case in Mumbai which claimed one life. "The BMW car belongs to a leader of a political party based in Palghar and his son was sitting in the car with the driver. The deceased woman has been identified as Kaveri Nakhwa (age 45), a resident of Worli Koliwada. Further investigation is underway," Mumbai Police said. A woman was killed, earlier today, after a luxury car crashed the bike she was riding with her husband in the Worli area of Mumbai; the deceased's husband sustained injuries and is undergoing treatment at a hospital, said the police. "The Mumbai hit-and-run case that has happened is very unfortunate. I had a conversation with the police. Whoever is guilty, action will be taken against them...We treat everyone equally. Whatever happens will be legal", CM Shinde said while speaking to the media. The incident took place earlier today at around 5:30 a.m. when the couple riding on a bike were passing in front of Atria Mall in the Worli area of Mumbai. According to the police, "A BMW car ran over two people riding a bike. The woman died in this incident and the other person was injured. This incident took place at 5:30 am this morning when the couple riding on a bike were passing in front of Atria Mall in Worli", a statement from the Mumbai Police said. The police further added that the diver fled from the spot following the incident. "After the incident, the driver fled from the spot with his car. The accident happened when the couple from the fishing community was returning home after buying fish. The husband managed to jump off the speeding vehicle. The woman injured in the accident died during treatment. The deceased woman has been identified as Kaveri Nakhwa (45), a resident of Worli Koliwada. Worli police are investigating the matter further", added the police. The police emphasized that the luxury car belonged to the leader of a political party based in Maharashtra's Palghar. "The luxury car belongs to a leader of a political party based in Palghar and his son was sitting in the car with the driver", said the police. More details are awaited. (ANI) The incident occurred around 10 pm outside a garment shop in A Block, Vikash Vihar, Chander Vihar, Nilothi Extension. The police were alerted to the shooting via a PCR call and immediately dispatched a team to the scene. Upon arrival, they found blood stains on the ground and inside a nearby shop, but the injured man had already been transported to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital by an unknown individual. The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team was called to inspect the scene, and a complaint was subsequently filed. According to reports, Sunday Ernest Morah, a resident of Chander Vihar, had sought refuge inside the shop after being attacked by two armed individuals. He sustained three bullet injuries: two in the abdomen and one in the leg. Despite efforts to save him, Morah succumbed to his injuries early this morning. Initially, an FIR was registered under sections 109(1), 3(5) BNS, and 25/27/54/59 of the Arms Act. Following Morah's death, Section 103 BNS has been added to the case, and further investigation is underway. (ANI) Union Minister For Coal and Mines, G Kishan Reddy on Sunday attended the valedictory function of the 73rd Indian Pharmaceutical Congress (IPC) in Hyderabad and asserted that the pharma sector should be encouraged and government in the coming days will try its best to promote the sector. Speaking with ANI, Reddy said, "Hyderabad has made a big contribution in the sector of pharma. In different parts of the world, India exports vaccines. During the Covid-19 time, India not only vaccinated its 140 crore population but also exported vaccines to African countries and several poor nations." The Union Minister also said that he congratulated the pharma sector, which during the Covid time helped in the production of vaccines. "In the coming days, the Modi government is ready to promote the pharma sector. The pharma sector should be encouraged and in the coming days, we will try our best to promote the sector," Reddy said. The Telangana BJP President was the Chief Guest at the IPC Expo which was held at Hi-Tech Exhibition Centre Hall, Hitech City in Hyderabad. Taking to his official X handle, Reddy posted about the IPC Expo and said, "Attended and addressed the valedictory function of the 73rd Indian Pharmaceutical Congress (IPC) in Hyderabad today." He added further, "IPC has always been a cornerstone event, bringing together thought leaders, industry experts, and innovators. In my address, emphasized how India, under the leadership of Narendra Modi, is emerging as a global pharmaceutical hub. This year's theme of IPC, 'Role of Indian Pharma for Global Wellbeing,' highlights India's significant contributions to global health." The Union Minister also urged pharmaceutical stakeholders to strengthen Hyderabad's brand as a pharmacy of the world. In another post, he said, "With institutions like National Animal Resource Facility for Biomedical Research (NARFBR) established by the Government of India and other cutting-edge universities, Hyderabad boasts a robust research ecosystem conducive to biomedical innovation, aiming to develop India and Hyderabad as pivotal players in the global biomedical industry." (ANI) The flood situation in Assam is gradually improving, with the deluge affecting 23 lakh people across 29 districts. The situation is improving in Darrang district, where floods have affected 1. 63 people and submerged 98 villages. The water level of the Brahmaputra River is receding. Assam Water Resources Minister Pijush Hazarika visited the flood-affected areas in Darrang district on Sunday and took stock of the situation. Hazarika told ANI that the water level in the Brahmaputra River and its tributaries is receding now. "There are four embankment breaches that occurred in Assam this time. On the riverside, lots of destruction has happened. We are seriously monitoring the situation. We are helping our people. We are giving enough flood relief materials to the flood affected people. The water levels of the Brahmaputra River and its tributaries are receding now and I believe that in the next 5 to 7 days, it will be a good scenario. The destruction is less as compared to previous floods. In the second wave of floods, breaches occurred in four places only. People who live by the riverside have been highly affected," Hazarika said. He further said that the government is going to construct 220 km of new embankments in the state this year. "After completion of this, we will have only 120 km of unbanked areas. By next year, I think we will do that also. After two years, there will be no unembankment portion in Assam. We are maintaining all embankments that were constructed earlier. From time to time, we are strengthening the embankments," Hazarika said. On the other hand, BJP MP Dilip Saikia told ANI that the central and state governments are taking all possible steps for the flood-hit victims. "The centre has provided all possible help to the state government and the Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, visited all areas and took stock of the situation," he said. "Floods are a regular phenomenon in the state. The government is providing immediate relief to the flood-affected people. In Darrang district, more than 2 lakh people have been affected," Saikia said. He said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah himself is monitoring the situation and Prime Minister, Narendra Modi is taking regular updates from the Chief Minister. He further said that the budget allocation for the Water Resources Department has increased to more than Rs 2500 crore under the BJP rule from Rs 200-250 crore during the Congress tenure. On the other hand, the locals of Misamari Char, Borochar, Egarachi Char, Bogmari, Hatipori, Alga Char, Hatiala Cha, Chatiara, Deka Char, and War Char areas are facing massive problems after floods submerged all the roads. Country-made boats are the only means of transport left for the locals of around 15-20 villages located nearby the Brahmaputra river. According to the district administration, the flood waters submerged 1609 hectares of crop area in the district. Muktar Ali, a resident of Hatipori Char, said that "people are facing lots of problems." Sukur Ali said that "10,000-15,000 people have been affected in the Char areas (riverine areas) in Darrang district. Many people are still living under water." Many flood-affected people in Darrang district are taking shelter on roads and embankments after the flood waters submerged their houses. (ANI) Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacked the BJP-led central government after meeting railway loco pilots at New Delhi Railway Station who complained about "long working hours" and "inadequate facilities" during duty. Criticising PM Modi, Gandhi asserted that the life of loco pilots had completely "derailed" under BJP's regime and called them "Railways Ka Agniveer". LoP Rahul Gandhi on Sunday posted a message along with a video on his social media handle X where he was spotted interacting with railway functionaries. In a post, he wrote that the loco pilots are forced to work more than 14 hours a day and are deprived of small basic necessities like urinals in a locomotive. He conveyed that loco pilots have to work in harsh conditions. Furthermore, LoP Gandhi claimed that the "non-movement" workers of Railways are getting whole benefits from the allocated budget to Railways. As seen in the video, the loco pilots alleged that their human rights were being violated and they demanded a normal 8-9 hours working shift instead of 16 hours shift, fulfilment of basic facilities like urinal and AC in locomotives and only two-night shifts in consecutive order. After this interaction, Gandhi took a resolution and stated that the INDIA bloc would raise their voice in Parliament against these atrocities. Taking it to a social media post on X, Gandhi wrote, "In the government of Narendra Modi, the life of loco pilots has completely derailed. Loco pilots are forced to work 16-16 hours a day, sitting in cabins boiling with heat. Those on whom millions of lives depend, no longer have any confidence in their own lives. Deprived of even basic facilities like urinals, loco pilots have no limit on working hours and they do not get any leave. Due to which they are becoming physically and mentally exhausted and ill. In such circumstances, making loco pilots drive the train means putting their lives and those of the passengers at risk. INDIA will raise its voice in Parliament to improve the rights and working conditions of loco pilots. By watching this small discussion you can also feel their pain." https://x.com/RahulGandhi/status/1809872298301702446 Earlier, on Saturday, 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 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 families of workers, who are building the future of India 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. (ANI) 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. (ANI) Praying for wealth and joy in the state, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Sunday expressed hope for the state's prosperity during the Rath Yatra celebrations at the Raipur Jagannath Temple on Sunday. Emphasizing the significance of the occasion, he led the ritualistic worship of Lord Jagannath, Balbhadra Swami, and Mata Subhadra amidst enthusiastic participation from the community. "On the auspicious occasion of the commencement of the Ratha Yatra at the Jagannath Temple in Gayatri Nagar, Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh, prayers and rituals were performed for Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and Goddess Subhadra, wishing happiness, prosperity, and well-being for all the residents of the state. Before the Ratha Yatra, the ritual of Chhera Pahara was performed, and we obtained the merit of this holy act. May the grace of Lord Jagannath always be upon us," Puri wrote in a post on X. "Today is the Rath Yatra. We are fortunate to perform the ritualistic worship of Lord Jagannath, Balbhadra Swami and Mata Subhadra here at the Raipur Jagannath Temple and there is a lot of enthusiasm here on such an occasion. We have prayed to Lord Jagannath that there should be good rain in Chhattisgarh, there should be good grain production, our farmers should be happy, and everyone's life should be prosperous and joyful," Vishnu Deo Sai said while addressing a Press conference. Meanwhile, President of India Droupadi Murmu on Sunday took part in the annual Jagannath Rath Yatra in Puri.Extending wishes to fellow Indians, President Droupadi Murmu, in a post on X said, "On the occasion of the world-famous Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath, I extend my heartfelt best wishes to all the countrymen. Today, countless Jagannath-lovers from all over the country and the world are eagerly waiting to see the three forms of Bhagavat seated on the chariot. On the occasion of this great festival, I pray to Mahaprabhu Shri Jagannath for everyone's happiness, peace and prosperity". Earlier today, a large number of devotees from across the country gathered today in Odisha's Puri to take the blessings of Lord Jagannath as a two-day Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra commenced today.The Rath Yatra, also known as the Chariot Festival, is believed to be as old as the Jagannath Temple in Puri.According to the Hindu calendar, the festival is celebrated on the Dwitiya Tithi of Shukla Paksha (waxing moon fortnight) in the month of Ashadh. The Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra is scheduled to be celebrated today, July 7, 2024.The festival is associated with Lord Jagannath, an avatar of Lord Vishnu, and his siblings. During the Yatra, the deities Lord Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra, and his sister Subhadra are carried on wooden chariots from Jagannath Temple to Gundicha Temple in Puri. (ANI) Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal lashed out against 'wokeism' and said that all the big tech companies have become their own "sovereigns" and are setting the rules of the world in their own mind. In an interview with ANI, Bhavish recalled the incident in May this year when Microsoft owned LinkedIn deleted his post when he spoke about "pronoun illness" when LinkedIn referred to him as 'they' on their platform. Bhavish said, "They've (big-tech companies) become their own sovereigns. Their mindset is that we are setting the rules of the world. All these big tech companies, and I don't mind saying the names, Microsoft, Google, any of these, Meta, you know, they are setting the rules of the world in their own mind." "So, what happened in this case, I'm a user of LinkedIn. I publish my thoughts on LinkedIn frequently and engage with people. I saw that LinkedIn Pay has made that if you don't enter your pronouns, it'll refer to you as "they". And I don't know when they moved from gender to pronouns. Whereas I'm a man. I mean, I want to be referred to myself as a "he", but I don't want to set my pronouns because they're forcing me to engage with this political philosophy of wokeism by making it sort of mandatory," the Ola CEO said. The Ola CEO pointed out that the common person doesn't even know the political philosophy they are importing when they engage with such features on these platforms. "If you don't set your pronouns, you're a "they". We don't even know the political philosophy we are importing when we engage with these features on these platforms. This debate is not an Indian debate. Why should this feature be here? And this is just a very innocent sounding thing. But it grows into a much deeper impact into our culture, society," Bhavish said. He continued to say that these big tech companies control what a person sees on the Internet. "So, then I wrote a post on LinkedIn saying there's a pronoun illness here," he added. Bhavish also mentioned about his visit to Ayodhya last year, when he learnt about the transgender community there. He also emphasized that the India's culture is truly accepting of any kind of diverse thoughts or physical difference. "When I had gone to Ayodhya last year on Diwali with my wife... Just as normal Indians we went to see and get inspired by the place. We learnt about the transgender community there which is a very deep part of the Ramayana. And that's our culture of truly accepting. It's acceptance of any kind of diverse thought or physical difference or whatever. That's why I wrote all of this on LinkedIn. And then they deleted it which also shows, if this can only happen with me, then a normal young Indian professional, they don't even have a voice then," he added. Aggarwal also asserted that India needs to build its own technology built on the value systems of our own. "We as an Indian ecosystem need to realize that these battles are actually not legal battles. These are technology battles. And we have to build our own technology built on the value systems of our own. For example, when I see this future of AI, we have a uniquely Indian idea called digital public infrastructure. UPI and Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is an example of that," Bhavish said. (ANI) OLA CEO Bhavish Aggarwal's witty "I put ICE cubes in my drink" response to Rajiv Bajaj's "Champions eat OATS for breakfast" was widely noticed in the auto industry and the Ola Electric founder has said that he will happy to debate with the Bajaj Auto Managing Director on a live platform. In an interview with ANI, Aggarwal narrated how his new electric vehicle company was not seen as a disruptor about four years back with big players being almost dismissive and how its market share in two-wheeler electric vehicles has grown to nearly 50 per cent. "When we started the EV, it was completely out of nowhere for the industry. We started our Ola Electric journey about four years back, just around COVID. And before that, I was building my ride-hailing company, which does really well now. But four years ago, we added a sister business called Ola Electric. At that time, no one was doing anything in EV in India. And it was happening in the world. Tesla is an iconic company. In the West, it was growing its stature and sales....We started with the mission and the purpose that India has to be a part of the global EV solution," he said. "One of our generation's biggest challenges and opportunities is to truly build a sustainable paradigm for living. Not broadly living actually, right? Sustainable energy, sustainable mobility, everything so that we can have a clean earth. Now the world cannot achieve its sustainability ambitions without India because India is 20 per cent of the world by numbers and a growing percentage of the world's growth. So our purpose with Ola Electric was to make India a global EV hub or a global new energy hub. We started off four years ago. We were the new kid on the block in that industry. And the automotive industry in India is a very, if I can use the word, staid," he added. Aggarwal said there were only few players and very little innovation, especially in the two-wheeler segment. "The auto rickshaw you're sitting in in India, the design is still 60 years old. You feel it when you sit in the backseat and the driver sits. It's a very bad ergonomic design because no one has ever innovated...innovation was flat and it was only about sales. We do all our product launches on August 15. So on August 15, 2021, we launched our first product. We showed the world our vision and we launched it and it was to be delivered six months after that. So I thought, when we did that, the incumbents, which is the traditional Indian two-wheeler companies, Bajaj, TVS, Hero, Royal Enfield......new kid on the block has come in, they didn't even acknowledge me as a disruptor back then. They were dismissive," he said. "As they say there are six stages of acceptance...it started from there. So, Mr Bajaj, in his wisdom, said 'breakfast of Champions is OATS'. This was three years ago or so, when I launched. I didn't answer then. I said, let's do it first. And these are good companies, traditionally very strong companies, and they have helped India build an automotive ecosystem, so I have respect for them. But when something like this is said, it comes to notice and we are also Punjabis...so we started, then we started gaining market share. Today our market share in two-wheeler EVs is 50 per cent, which in the automotive world is fairly unprecedented for one company to have this kind of market share. And our market share month on month, quarter on quarter keeps increasing last few months if you see," he added. By OATS, Rajiv Bajaj apparently alluded to EV newbies then--Ola, Ather, Torq and SmartE (OATS). Aggarwal said he responded to it a few months back. "Three-four months back, I also gave tongue-in-cheek comment that if you have oats, I also have ICE in my drink. And ICE is Internal Combustion Engine. Old technology. Because EV (electric vehicle) is a new paradigm completely. And we have our tagline of the company of Ola Electric, which is 'End Ice Age'. So that's the backstory but on a forward-looking note, I actually feel it's a great opportunity for India. If you look at the world, the world, the Western companies like Tesla etc. are good in building luxury cars. But in India, the luxury car market is small. And India is a great microcosm for the global south. Whether it's Indonesia or Latin America, or Africa. In all these countries, which is 60-70 per cent of the world's population, you will be selling two-wheelers, three-wheelers, small cars. So there's no global champion company for these vehicles." Asked if industralists and entreprenuers can have debates like the presidential debates in the United States, Aggarwal said he is willing for it. "I'm up for it. I'm up for it...I'm happy to debate with Rajiv Bajaj. I'm happy to debate on a live platform," he said. Answering a query, Aggarwal said he has been "a disruptor multiple times". He said there should be more public discourse in India because sometimes the people have a traditional mindset of using and adopting technology, not creating technologies. Bhavish Aggarwal has also founded Krutrim, an Artificial Intellignce startup. (ANI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday visited flood relief camps in Kamrup district to assess the impact of ongoing floods and oversee the distribution of relief to affected residents. During his visit, CM Sarma interacted with displaced families and assured them of new houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). took stock of the conditions of the area, as the state continued to reel under floods. "Due to floods in Assam, houses of many families have been damaged and they have come to our Relief Camps. Today I met some such people in Palashbari and instructed to provide them new houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)," Assam CM posted on X. "The safety and hygiene of flood relief camps is our priority. My team is reaching out to all people staying here to gather real-time feedback," he posted on X. The grievous flood situation in Assam over the past month has claimed 58 lives across the state, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) reported. According to the ASDMA, six more people lost their lives on Saturday, raising the death toll in the state from 52 to 58. Dhubri is the worst-hit district, followed by Cachar and Darrang. The destructive floodwaters have resulted in loss of life, extensive damage to infrastructure, road closures, crop destruction, and livestock loss. Hundreds of people have been left homeless and unsettled. According to the flood report of ASDMA, on July 6, two people drowned in floodwaters in the Charaideo district, and one person each in Goalpara, Morigaon, Sonitpur, and Tinsukia districts. The overall flood situation in the state on Saturday slightly improved, but over 2.396 million people in 29 districts are affected by the second wave of floods. Dhubri is the worst-hit district, with 797,918 people affected, followed by 175,231 people in Cachar, 163,218 people in Darrang, 131,246 people in Barpeta, 109,470 people in Golaghat, 105,372 people in Nalbari, and 100,926 people in South Salmara district. The floodwaters have submerged 3,535 villages under 107 revenue circles and inundated 68,768.5 hectares of crop area. The flood-affected districts are Dhubri, Cachar, Hailakandi, Kamrup, Goalpara, Charaideo, Biswanath, Barpeta, Nalbari, Bongaigaon, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Hojai, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, South Salmara, Nagaon, Morigaon, Karimganj, Chirang, Kokrajhar, Darrang, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Sonitpur, Karbi Anglong, Tinsukia, Majuli, and Kamrup (M). Ten rivers, including the Brahmaputra River, are in spate and flowing above the danger level in many places. The water level of the Brahmaputra River is above the danger mark at Neamatighat, Tezpur, Dhubri, and Goalpara. (ANI) Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday attacked the Central government on the issue of Chinese incursion into Indian Territory and accused the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government of "failure to maintain the status quo ante" at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) adding that "Modi Ki Chinese Guarantee continues as his government wears 56-inch big Chinese Blinkers on its Laal Aankh." "How can China build a military base near Pangong Tso, on a land which was under Indian occupation, until May 2020? Even as we enter the 5th year of the "CLEAN CHIT" given by PM Narendra Modi on Galwan, where our brave soldiers sacrificed their lives, China continues to impinge upon our territorial integrity!" Kharge posted on X. Alongside his post, the Congress chief shared a media report that claimed the Chinese army digging in close to Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh. Attacking PM Modi, Kharge said, "10th April 2024 - PM Modi in an interview to foreign press failed to put forth India's case strongly at the global stage. 13th April 2024 - EAM's statement that "China has not occupied any of our land" exposed Modi government's Meek Policy towards China! 4th July 2024 - Even though EAM meets his Chinese counterpart and says "Respecting the LAC and ensuring peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential." Kharge further said that China continues to be "belligerent on occupying our territory and constructing a military base at Sirijap", reportedly a land that was under Indian control. "Modi Government is responsible for not maintaining the status quo ante at the LAC. We have lost possession of 26 Patrolling Points (PP) out of 65 including points in Depsang Plains, Demchok and Gogra Hot Springs area. 'Modi Ki Chinese Guarantee' continues as his government wears 56-inch big Chinese Blinkers on its Laal Aankh!" he said. He further said that Congress once again reiterated its demand to take the nation into confidence on the border situation at LAC. "We stand shoulder to shoulder with our valiant soldiers," he said. Earlier on Saturday, Congress targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the increase of Indian imports from China and said that it is time for a proper strategy to wean India off dependence on China ensuring that taxpayer funds do not benefit Chinese companies. "The non-biological Prime Minister infamously told the nation on 19 June 2020, after the Galwan clashes, that "Na koi hamari seema mein ghus aaya hai, na hi koi ghusa hua hai". However he shows no hesitation in liberally issuing visas to Chinese workers to help one of his tempowallah buddies," the Congress leader posted on X. (ANI) After Bharatiya Janata Party chief JP Nadda offered prayers at Raghunath Temple in Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir Dharmarth Trust, Trustee Martand Singh on Sunday said that the Union Health Minister knows culture and traditions as he is from Himachal Pradesh. Earlier in the day, JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh visited the Raghunath Temple in Jammu and offered prayers. "Today is a very happy day for the people of Jammu as the National President of BJP has arrived here. JP Nadda is from Himachal Pradesh and he knows our culture and traditions. On behalf of Dr Karan Singh and the royal family, I welcomed him," Martand Singh told ANI. Jammu and Kashmir Dharmarth Trust shared pictures of their visit to the temple. As per the temple authorities, Martand Singh, grandson of Karan Singh and Trustee of J-K Dharmarth Trust, welcomed the union ministers on their arrival. Union Minister JP Nadda arrived in Jammu on Saturday afternoon and later in the day paid tribute to Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee on his birth anniversary in Jammu. Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, who is in charge of poll-bound Jammu and Kashmir, told reporters in Jammu on July 6 that they are conducting a review and will discuss the upcoming programs of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Union Territory. J-K is likely to see its first Assembly election in September this year, according to the timeline fixed by the Supreme Court after the erstwhile state's special status was scrapped in 2019. The last Assembly election in the erstwhile state was held in 2014. The BJP-led government scrapped Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019 and bifurcated the state into two union territories. There have been demands from political parties for early assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and the restoration of statehood. Earlier, the Supreme Court had asked the Election Commission of India and the Centre to conduct polls by September. (ANI) TDP Chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu praised the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Sunday, and underlined the party's commitment to standing with the people, whether it remains in power or opposition. While addressing the TDP cadre at NTR Bhavan in Hyderabad, the CM also said the party will be restructured with the inclusion of young people. "I ask you, shouldn't the party that was born on Telangana land be here? Definitely, there are karyakartas (party workers) who have worked for the party here. We will very soon restructure the party. We will encourage the youth and bring young blood again," Naidu said. He added, "TDP has a speciality, whether in power or opposition, we will always stand by the people." Naidu also targeted former CM Jagan Mohan Reddy and said, "Five years of Jagan Reddy's rule caused more damage to the Andhra Pradesh state than the damage caused by the partition. If Jagan Reddy puts me in jail for illegal cases, I will not forget the way people here in Hyderabad came forward and supported me." Naidu also spoke about Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and informed that he wrote a letter to Reddy to take the initiative to resolve the issues of division. Naidu added, "Telangana Chief Minister responded positively. Telugu people should be united. Even if the two states are different, no matter whose rule, if someone comes in the way of our Telugu people, we should fight together. Some people want the two states to fight. Their attitude should change." His address comes a day after he met with his Telangana counterpart, Revanth Reddy, in Hyderabad on Saturday. The two states decided to form committees of officials and ministers to resolve issues between the Telugu-speaking states, a decade after their bifurcation. On July 6, at a press conference, Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said ministers from both states discussed several issues during the meeting. "We have discussed the unresolved issues from the Andhra Pradesh bifurcation over the last 10 years. While we do not expect all issues to be resolved immediately, we recognize the need for action. Therefore, we have made this decision," Vikramarka said. The Deputy Chief Minister announced that a committee of higher officials, including the Chief Secretaries and three officials from each state, would be formed. "If some issues are not resolved by the officials' committee, a committee of ministers from both states will be formed. If any issues remain unresolved, the Chief Ministers will discuss them," Vikramarka added. The Chief Ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh met at Jyotirao Phule Praja Bhavan in Hyderabad on Saturday. (ANI) Questioning the silence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin over the death of BSP leader K Armstrong, Former Tamil Nadu governor and BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan on Sunday demanded a CBI inquiry into the case, citing an "increase in political murders" in the state. BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan said, "The Dravidian model has become a murder model now. It is unacceptable. The day before yesterday one AIADMK worker was killed, day before yesterday, PMK, and one of our Karyakarta's husband was brutally attacked in Anna Nagar" Lashing out at the state government, Soundararajan said, "Political murders have increased in Tamil Nadu but Stalin is silent. CBI enquiry is required in this murder. Even three months back, one of their alliance partner, Congress district President Jayakumar has been killed. No investigation was done, victims are not arrested. Sitting in the jail, some people are behind the murder. We can't just brush away that it is a personal rivalry" The BJP leader also questioned Why didn't Stalin visit Kallakurichi after the spurious liquor case in which 65 people were killed. "Why didn't Stalin visit Kallakurichi and why is he not coming to pay homage to such a leader (K Armstrong)...he is afraid of coming here" Soundararajan said. Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Supremo Mayawati on Sunday visited and paid floral tributes to slain party's Tamil Nadu Chief, K Armstrong, at Corporation School Ground in Chennai and urged the state government to refer the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Terming the incident 'saddening', Mayawati said that the way the BSP leader was assassinated near his residence was very 'devastating'. "It is very saddening moment. He was my friend. He was the President of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)'s Tamil Nadu unit. He was connected with the movement led by Baba Bhimrao Ambedkar. When he wanted to work for the people, he chose Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Since his association with the party, he worked whole-heartedly. The way he was assassinated outside his residence, is very devastating", she said while addressing the gathering. Following Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's visit to the state after the murder of the BDP Chief, BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla questioned whether the Congress MP would demand an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). "Will you demand from the DMK government to conduct a CBI probe into the matter? Will you press the government to ensure accountability? Will you meet the families of the victims of the Kallakurichi incident? No, because for Rahul Gandhi, it's not Leader of Opposition; it is rather Leader of Opportunism," he added. He claimed that law and order had been "destroyed" in Tamil Nadu, adding that the alliance of the Congress and the DMK is "responsible" for it."Law and order has been destroyed in Tamil Nadu, and the DMK and Congress alliance is responsible for it. The lives of Dalits in the state are under threat. A person is murdered at 7 pm, and no one is answerable. Previously, 65 Dalits were killed in Kallakurichi. Mayawati has even demanded a CBI probe. If there is nothing to hide, why don't they get a CBI investigation done? This explains that the DMK government can neither ensure the safety of Dalits nor bring them to justice," he said. Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai also took potshots at the state government and questioned the law and order situation in the state. "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. 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. (ANI) After the meeting of the state BJP working committee, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Sunday said that the meeting was fruitful and "good sessions" were held. "There was discussion throughout the day, very good sessions were held," Mohan Yadav told reporters. Earlier today, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that this meeting was organised to thank the public of the state after the resounding victory of the BJP. Union Minister also hit out at the Congress Party and said that the party has lost its existence in the public. Addressing media persons, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said, "It's BJP working committee meeting today. It's our fortune that party workers from across the state are present in the meeting, whether it is Gwalior, Chambal, Tikamgarh, Bundelkhand, Nimar, Vindhya, Malwa, Rewa and Jabalpur. Each and every worker is present in this meeting." Expressing his gratitude to the public of the state, Scindia asserted, "BJP has registered a record and resounding victory and set a new milestone in these Lok Sabha elections by winning all 29 seats. After this massive victory, the BJP organised a meeting of the 'working committee' of the state. We thank the people of the state." Praising PM Modi for the historic victory, Scindia stated, "Along with that, the BJP government which has been formed for the third consecutive term, has established a new milestone, as, in the history of 75 years a party has formed a government for the third consecutive term that too under the leadership of rich personality like Narendra Modi Ji who is continuously working towards making India rise and shine on the global platform. Under his leadership, we all are working as party workers with full energy and enthusiasm. We will fulfil PM Modi Ji's dreams of turning India into a nation into a global leader by 2047." Hitting out at the Congress party, Scindia said, "Congress has lost its place in the hearts of the people. In the states where Congress and BJP were in a knock, Congress' strike rate was merely 26%. If we analyse the results of 2014, 2019 and 2024, even today, the Congress party hasn't reached the numbers of 239. Congress party has lost its existence. The public has shown its place to the party which gives statements against the Sanatan Dharm." (ANI) Former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has demanded that the MUDA (Mysuru Urban Development Authority) sites allocation scam be investigated by the CBI or under the supervision of a judge. Speaking to the media in Gadag on Sunday, he said, "If there were no irregularities in the MUDA case as claimed by the Chief Minister, then an independent investigation by the CBI or a judicial probe should be conducted to bring out the truth." He added, "In various governments, land has been allocated under different schemes, and if the scheme has been legally complied with, there should be no issue. However, if there have been changes to the scheme, an investigation would expose everything." A day before, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi demanded an impartial investigation into the MUDA scam and appealed to the state government to transfer it to the CBI. Pralhad Joshi said, "It is alleged that it is a more than Rs 3,800 crores scam and plots duly authorised by MUDA have been transferred in the name of the wife of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. There is a huge scam and the then DC who has now been transferred to cover up the same, had written more than 15 letters to the state government to look into the matter and show proper directions to MUDA. In spite of that, they did not act and Siddaramaiah got very valuable land." He further said that by transferring the DC the scam has been proven. "By transferring the DC the scam has been proven. We are demanding a proper and impartial investigation and the state government should give it to the CBI," Joshi said. Meanwhile, the former Chief Minister also criticized the state government for failing to control the dengue fever outbreak, accusing them of playing with the lives of the poor. "The dengue cases had been emerging for the past one and a half months, and the government, health department, and district health officers should have taken precautionary measures, but they failed to do so," Bommai said. The BJP leader said dengue was a disease caused by stagnant water following rains, and the government should have undertaken awareness campaigns and fumigation, which they did not. He added, "Instead, the government of attempting to downplay the severity of the outbreak by categorizing dengue cases under different categories and reducing the number of tests conducted. Officially, the government reports 7,000 cases, but the actual number is double that, with many deaths not being reported, he added." Bommai also underscored the need for proper testing, medication, and treatment, and said that many district hospitals lack the necessary facilities, and taluk-level hospitals are even worse. Stepping up his attacks on the government, Bommai said, "The state government has completely failed to tackle the dengue fever outbreak, resulting in significant loss of life and a dire public health situation. The government must constitute a task force committee to address the dengue crisis immediately and take war footing measures. if the outbreak was not contained, it could lead to other diseases and take months for patients to recover." Bommai called on the government to increase testing, supply medicines and vaccines more widely, and ensure free testing and treatment for the poor, as they cannot afford it. (ANI) Paliniswami asserted that if the case is not handed over to CBI then the real culprits will not be punished. Addressing media persons, Paliniswami stated, "Kallakurichi illicit liquor case should be investigated by CBI. The state police are involved in this matter so if the state government investigates, the real culprits will not be punished. Therefore, CBI should investigate and arrest the real culprits." According to the latest figure from the administration, the death toll in the tragedy is 65. Currently, two people are undergoing treatment at Kallakurichi Government Medical and Hospital. Six people are undergoing treatment in Puducherry, eight in Salem government hospitals. Presently, 16 people are undergoing treatment in total. The NCW had earlier taken suo motto cognizance of a media report on the deaths of people in the incident and constituted a three-member inquiry committee, led by NCW Member Khushbu Sundar, to look into the matter. A three-member delegation of the National Commission for Women, led by Khushbu Sundar, visited the families of victims who lost their lives by consuming spurious liquor in Tamil Nadu's Kallakurichi district. Earlier on June 28, the NDA delegation comprising BJP leaders Anil Antony, Arvind Menon, and MP GK Vasan today met with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes Chairman, Kishore Makwana, to submit a memorandum regarding the Kallakurichi (Tamil Nadu) illicit liquor tragedy. They appealed to the Chairman to ensure that the families of the Kallakurichi spurious liquor tragedy victims receive adequate compensation and justice. The memorandum called for urgent intervention to secure justice for the scheduled caste victims of the Kallakurichi spurious liquor consumption tragedy. AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, along with party workers, sat on hunger strike, demanding a CBI inquiry into the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy and the resignation of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin over the "inefficiency of the DMK government". (ANI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday paid her respects to Lord Jagannath and pulled the ropes of the chariot at the ISKCON Rath Yatra in Kolkata. Mamata Banerjee performed aarti at the revered temple and offered prayers to Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Suvadra. Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee also announced that next year a magnificent Rath Yatra will be hosted in Digha next year. Extending wishes to fellow countrymen, Banerjee in a post on X said, "Heartiest greetings to everyone today, on the auspicious occasion of the Ratha Yatra. May this day bring peace, amity and prosperity to all by the grace of Lord Jagannath. Today, millions of people across Bengal will join the chariot festival. At historic Mahesh (where we have restored the heritage temple), there will be a huge congregation; at ISKCON Kolkata, I shall join the Lord's journey. We shall all await the next year's Ratha Yatra at our new Jagannath Dham of Digha!" "Happy to announce that, as in Puri, we in West Bengal are also erecting a pride- inspiring temple complex for Lord Jagannath at Digha. The Lord, Balabhadra and Subhadra will be worshipped here too, Rathayatra also will be celebrated," the West Bengal CM wrote in a post on X on Friday. Meanwhile, the Jagannath Yatra also began in Ahmedabad with fanfare and excitement on Sunday morning. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi also attended the Rath Yatra festival. Patel performed the 'Pahind Vidhi'--the symbolic cleaning of the path for the chariot of Jagannath for the Rath Yatra. The Rath Yatra, also known as the Chariot Festival, is believed to be as old as the Jagannath Temple in Puri. According to the Hindu calendar, the festival is celebrated on the Dwitiya Tithi of Shukla Paksha (waxing moon fortnight) in the month of Ashadh. The Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra is scheduled to be celebrated today, July 7, 2024.The festival is associated with Lord Jagannath, an avatar of Lord Vishnu, and his siblings. During the Yatra, the deities Lord Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra, and his sister Subhadra are carried on wooden chariots from Jagannath Temple to Gundicha Temple in Puri. (ANI) Ahead of the assembly by-polls on two seats of Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami addressed a rally in support of the BJP's Badrinath candidate Rajendra Bhandari and said Congress has become directionless and far away from development which is the reason why Rajendra Bhandari joined BJP. The public meeting program was organised in support of BJP candidate Rajendra Bhandari in the assembly by-election at the Urgam area of Joshimath in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. Hitting out at the Congress party, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said, "Rajendra Bhandari has explained in front of us why he joined BJP, it's not because somebody was levying some allegations against him, it is because he couldn't continue development works by being in Congress. He couldn't take his constituency forward. So he joined BJP and is contesting election now." Calling Congress "directionless", he further stated, "Congress party is now directionless and far away from development. Rajendra Bhandari has chosen development. He joined BJP to take development forward, now he will take this area forward on the path of development." "The state government is also taking many important decisions under the leadership of PM. Uttarakhand government first implemented equal civil rights. Uttarakhand has become the first state in the country to implement UCC. Strict anti-cheating law has been implemented in the state, due to which now examinations are being conducted with complete transparency in government jobs," said Dhami. On June 14, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced its candidates for assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand. From Uttarakhand, Rajendra Singh Bhandari from Badrinath and Kartar Singh Bhadana from Manglaur have been fielded by the party. On June 10, the Election Commission of India announced that by-elections to fill vacancies in 13 assembly constituencies of seven states will be held on July 10 and the counting of the votes will be done on July 13. The Election Commission is to hold by-elections on one seat of Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Madhya Pradesh, two seats of Uttarakhand, three seats of Himachal Pradesh, and four seats of West Bengal. These seats were vacant due to the resignations or deaths of the sitting MLAs. (ANI) Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) Chief Chirag Paswan on Sunday counter-attacked Rahul Gandhi on his remarks of defeating BJP in Gujarat and said his pride won't last any longer as results of upcoming elections will show how strong NDA is. He also welcomed the suggestions of the opposition and urged RJD's leader Tejaswhi Yadav to act as opposition in a positive and effective manner. Speaking with ANI, on questions of his visit to the Rapauli assembly constituency, Union Minister Chirag Paswan said, "The way Lok Sabha elections were conducted in Rapauli, there are similar sentiments in the by-elections and without any doubt, the NDA candidate is going to win the elections with a resounding majority. During the elections, the opposition tried a lot to spread misinformation by saying that the constitution would get dissolved or amended and somehow they succeeded in their narrative in some states, but Bihar rejected their narrative. As, now, Bihar has received a double-engine government, this time also, the public of Rapauli has decided to be in the mainstream by choosing a candidate who will do the developmental works in a more intensified way." On Rahul Gandhi's remarks on defeating BJP in Gujarat, Paswan asserted, "First up of all, Rahul Gandhi should learn its Faizabad Lok Sabha, not Ayodhya. Ayodhya is Vidhan Sabha constituency and is part of it. In such cases, if they think Ayodhya's win is big for them, then we are also analysing our mistakes and working towards it. They couldn't even have crossed the mark of 100+ seats in Lok Sabha and are claiming big things, I think their pride won't stay for longer. In upcoming days, there are elections in various states, the results will show how strong NDA is." Responding to the RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav's allegations of lack of freedom of speech when it comes to crime in the NDA regime, "There is not any crime. If the opposition will play its role positively and will be laid its suggestions, then we will accept it. Nothing will change by making allegations and backfiring it. They were also in government for a long time, but we never did it. We just expect them to play a positive and effective role as "opposition" in Parliament." Earlier, on Saturday, 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. (ANI) Chief Minister Manik Saha on Sunday evening visited GB Pant Hospital to assess the preparations for the first-ever kidney transplantation in the state. The kidney transplantation is scheduled to take place on Monday, July 8 in the GB Pant Hospital in Agartala district of Tripura. During his visit, CM Saha, who also serves as the Health Minister of Tripura, interacted with the kidney donor and the recipient and offered them words of encouragement and support. CM Saha also held discussions with the attending doctors and other hospital officials, assessing the preparations and ensuring that everything was in place for the groundbreaking medical procedure. He expressed confidence in the medical team's capabilities and conveyed his best wishes to everyone involved in the transplantation. This historic event marks a significant milestone in Tripura's healthcare sector, showcasing the state's progress in providing advanced medical care to its residents. Earlier in the day, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on the occasion of National Doctor's Day and Jagannath Rath Yatra inaugurated the Blood Donation Camp in Agartala, Tripura. This camp was organised by the Indian Medical Association at IMA House in Agartala at Tripura Branch. Inaugurating the camp, Chief Minister Manik Saha said, "Doctors always work for people. They engage themselves in the service of people 24x7 from morning to night. Now they themselves are giving blood to save the lives of the poor people. It will send a good message to the society. Doctors not only take blood from others but also donate blood themselves. We are all human. And there must be a mindset to work for people." On the occasion, while addressing the doctors, the Chief Minister said that the responsibility entrusted to them should be well implemented and work should be done on time. If people have problems beyond time, you will come forward to solve that problem. You always work for people. Even if there is a call at two o'clock in the morning, run away. Apart from this, the Chief Minister thanked the organizers of the blood donation camp, the blood donors and the team that came to collect the blood. (ANI) Ahead of the floor test of the Jharkhand government, Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leader and LoP of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly, Amar Kumar Bauri on Sunday said that the "biggest corrupt" government (JMM government) has returned to hide their corruption. Earlier today, BJP MLAs held a meeting in Ranchi, ahead of the floor test of Jharkhand's Hemant Soren government tomorrow. "The biggest corrupt govt has returned and they have returned for their own benefit. They have returned to hide their corruption...they have no interest in the welfare of the people...we are challenging them to have a debate...we will tell how corrupt and selfish they are," Amar Kumar Bauri told ANI. The new government in Jharkhand, led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren who took the oath of office for the third time on July 4, is likely to expand his cabinet after proving his majority in the special session of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly on Monday. The cabinet expansion of the new government in Jharkhand will take place on Monday. Hemant Soren was sworn in as the 13th Chief Minister of Jharkhand in Raj Bhavan, Ranchi on July 4. Hemant Soren was granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court on June 28 after spending five months in jail. Champai Soren resigned from the post just five months after taking the oath, setting the ball rolling for Hemant Soren to again take over the role on Wednesday. Champai Soren took oath as the 12th Chief Minister of Jharkhand in the Raj Bhavan on February 2 this year. Hemant Soren was released from the Birsa Munda Jail on June 28 after nearly five months following bail from Jharkhand High Court in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. He had resigned as Chief Minister before his arrest on January 31. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in January on charges related to an alleged land scam and money laundering. Earlier on December 29, Hemant Soren took the oath as Chief Minister of Jharkhand as the 11th Chief Minister of Jharkhand. Hemant Soren's return as CM will bolster the JMM, which won three seats in the tribal-dominated state of Jharkhand in the Lok Sabha elections. In 2019, JMM fought the assembly elections in alliance with the Congress and Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) and got a comfortable majority with forty-seven seats in the 81-member house. (ANI) Bharatiya Janata Party Delhi unit president Virendraa Sachdeva attacked former Minister of the Delhi government Satyendra Jain and said AAP leaders are experts when it comes to "black deeds". He also expressed surprise at how Satyendra Jain allegedly demanded bribe from a government company. Speaking with ANI, Sachdeva said, "We are also surprised how can a person ask for a bribe from a Government of India company? AAP people are experts in doing black deeds. They do new experiments... If Satyendra Jain is asking for commission and if he is being investigated, then why are they getting nervous? Let the investigation happen..." Earlier, on Tuesday, the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi VK Saxena has alleged that a tender worth Rs 465 crore for construction of an additional block in Delhi Govt's Lok Nayak Hospital has increased surreptitiously to Rs 1135 crore, creating a liability of about Rs 670 crores on Delhi Government. In a letter, VK Saxena said, "I have perused the matter, which relates to blatant violation of procedures and creating an unauthorized liability of approximately Rs 670 Crores for the GNCTD while constructing a new building block for Lok Nayak Hospital. A hospital originally tendered out on contract for Rs. 465 Crores (approx.), ran into re-estimates and expansion of the scope of work amounting to a whopping Rs. 1135 Crores (approx.)." He alleged that this huge cost escalation has happened with a clear collusion of the Delhi Government's Health Department under Saurabh Bhardwaj and the Public Works Department headed by Atishi Marlena. LG VK Saxena has asked the Vigilance Department to request the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to constitute a special team of Chief Technical Examiners to conduct a detailed technical examination in this matter. LG has also constituted a committee to examine the procedural violations that led to cost escalation to the tune of Rs 670 crore. The committee will also examine all such ongoing projects in different Delhi Government hospitals. The case pertains to the construction of a new building block in LNH Hospital. The scheduled start date was November 4, 2020, with a completion period of 30 months. However, even after three and a half years, the current progress of work is only 64 per cent, even as costs have risen by 243 per cent. The Health & Family Welfare Department of GNCTD had assigned the project to the Public Works Department (PWD). However, the work originally tendered out for Rs 465 Crores, ran into re-estimates and expansion of scope of work amounting to a whopping Rs 1135 Crores. The PWD attributed the cost overruns to an increase in the scope of work. But while the scope of work increased by 8.61 per cent only, the cost increased by a whopping 143 per cent. Interestingly, such huge cost overruns were done at the level of the Engineers of the Department itself, even though it should have gone to the Finance Department and the Cabinet, the press note stated. However, after LG flagged the matter to CM Arvind Kejriwal on June 22, 2023, the AAP Government brought a Cabinet Note in March 2024, for approval of the cost overruns, which is yet pending. (ANI) Following an incident in the Worli area of Mumbai on Sunday, where a BMW car struck a bike, resulting in the death of a woman travelling with her husband, the police formed six teams to nab the main accused, Mihir Shah. Mihir Shah has been absconding since the incident, and the police have formed a total of six teams to nab the accused. Police arrested Rajesh Shah, father of the main accused Mihir Shah and another person Raj Rishi Rajendra Singh Vidawat in this case. Both will be presented in court tomorrow. According to information received from sources, it is being said that both the accused have been arrested for not cooperating with the police and under other sections and they will be presented in the court tomorrow. The deceased woman has been identified as Kaveri Nakhwa (45), a resident of Worli Koliwada. Meanwhile, the deceased's husband sustained injuries and is undergoing treatment at a hospital. Earlier in the day, Worli police said that they had confiscated the car from the Bandra region. "Worli police recovered and confiscated the BMW car from the Bandra area of Mumbai," the police said. Meanwhile, a statement from the Mumbai Police had said that a BMW car ran over two people riding a bike. It said, "The woman died in this incident and the other person was injured. This incident took place at 5:30 am this morning when the couple riding on a bike were passing in front of Atria Mall in Worli." The police emphasized that the luxury car belonged to the leader of a political party based in Maharashtra's Palghar. "The luxury car belongs to a leader of a political party based in Palghar and his son was sitting in the car with the driver", said the police. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday assured that strict action would be taken against the culprits behind the hit-and-run case. "The Mumbai hit-and-run case that has happened is very unfortunate. I had a conversation with the police. Whoever is guilty, action will be taken against them...We treat everyone equally. Whatever happens will be legal", CM Shinde said while speaking to the media. Also, Aaditya Thackeray took to his official X handle and posted about the hit-and-run case. He said, "Visited the Worli Police Station today and met with senior police officers investigating into the hit and run case that occurred in Worli today." He added, "I will not go into the political leanings of Shah, the accused of the hit and run, but I hope the police will act swiftly to catch the accused and bring him to justice. Hopefully, there will be no political refuge by the regime." Thackeray also said that MLC Sunil Shinde and he met Nakwa, the husband of the victim. "We promised him that we would do everything to bring the accused to justice." (ANI) In the latest Global Gender Gap Index by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Pakistan finds itself near the bottom of the list, with only Sudan ranked lower among 146 nations surveyed. This marks a further decline from its 142nd position last year, reflecting a worsening situation for women in the country, Dawn reported. Women's rights activists have issued impassioned pleas for both state and societal commitment to address gender disparities effectively. They emphasise the need to redefine the roles prescribed to women by Pakistani society and the government. The annual index evaluates gender parity across four critical dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. Leading nations in gender parity include Iceland, Finland, Norway, New Zealand, and Sweden, as reported by Dawn. "This year's dismal ranking is not an anomaly; Pakistan has consistently lagged in the index for over a decade," stated Bushra Khaliq, Executive Director of Women in Struggle for Empowerment (WISE), reflecting on Pakistan's persistent challenges in achieving gender equality. Comparatively, neighbouring countries have fared better in closing their gender gaps. Breaking down the rankings across sectors reveals stark disparities. In economic participation and opportunity, Pakistan ranks 143rd, with Bangladesh at 146th. Educational attainment sees Pakistan at 139th, trailing behind Bangladesh (125th). Political empowerment remains a challenge, with Pakistan at 112th, significantly behind Bangladesh (7th). According to the WEF report, Pakistan's recent drop in the index primarily stems from setbacks in political empowerment, despite slight improvements in educational attainment. Gender disparities persist prominently in economic and political spheres, alongside gaps in educational attainment and health outcomes. Reflecting on political empowerment, Farah Zia, Director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, highlighted challenges faced by women in mainstream politics. "Recent political manoeuvres have targeted women leaders and activists, undermining their role and impact," Zia lamented, citing incidents of targeted incarceration and legal obstacles. Despite a 33 per cent quota for women in parliament, Zia noted that genuine representation remains elusive for women not affiliated with influential political families or urban centers. Addressing economic roles, Bushra Khaliq acknowledged some progress in sectors like textiles and fashion but highlighted pervasive exploitation in the informal sector. "Women in Pakistan predominantly work in precarious conditions, limiting their economic empowerment," Khaliq remarked. The health sector presents alarming statistics, with high maternal mortality rates and inadequate reproductive health services plaguing women across Pakistan. Educational barriers further compound gender disparities, with approximately 25 million out-of-school children, predominantly girls, lacking access to basic education, according to Dawn. Farah Zia underscored the impact of unchecked population growth on women's development, critiquing government policies that prioritise population-linked incentives over sustainable human development. "The lack of discourse on reproductive rights has profound implications for women's health, education, and economic participation," Zia emphasised. Both Zia and Khaliq pointed to entrenched patriarchal norms and societal resistance, exemplified by contentious reactions to events like the Aurat March. "Society's resistance to women's rights exacerbates gender disparities," Zia stated, calling for concerted efforts to challenge and transform patriarchal mindsets. In closing, activists urged robust commitments from the state and society to redefine women's roles and ensure gender parity. "Progressive steps are essential for integrating women into the socio-economic fabric of Pakistan," Zia asserted, advocating for comprehensive policy reforms and grassroots empowerment initiatives. Critically appraising governmental departments' roles, Khaliq highlighted the need for improved data transparency and collaboration with international organisations. "Accurate data reporting is crucial for measuring progress and advocating for policy reforms," Khaliq emphasised, urging greater accountability and transparency. As the global community grapples with persistent gender gaps, the WEF report underscores the imperative of inclusive economic policies and structural reforms to empower women fully. "Economic gender parity is not just a social justice issue but an economic imperative," the report concluded, urging governments to prioritise gender equality as a catalyst for sustainable development and innovation, Dawn reported. (ANI) The discussion focused on bilateral cooperation and strategic relations between the two countries, including across economic and investment cooperation that fosters sustainable development and prosperity while benefiting the peoples of both nations. During the call, the UAE President and the Indonesian President also exchanged congratulations and best wishes on the occasion of the Islamic New Year, praying to God for a year of growth and prosperity for both countries and for peace, security, and stability for the Islamic world and all nations. The two leaders also exchanged views on a number of issues of mutual interest. (ANI/WAM) Rana Sanaullah, Prime Minister's Adviser on Political and Public Affairs, stirred controversy on Saturday by alleging that imprisoned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan was plotting to foment political chaos from inside Adiala Jail. Speaking on Geo News' 'Naya Pakistan' program, Sanaullah asserted that Imran Khan had been prohibited by the court from holding political meetings within the jail premises. "The PTI founder is not authorised to orchestrate plans for chaos while incarcerated," Sanaullah emphasised, pointing to unspecified evidence in possession of authorities that supposedly substantiates these claims. "We don't have audio or video evidence ourselves, but those responsible for security inside the jail do," Sanaullah clarified when asked about the proof of Imran Khan's alleged activities. Sanaullah's remarks followed complaints from leaders of the former ruling party, who asserted they were denied access to Imran Khan at Adiala Jail despite waiting for several hours. The adviser to the Prime Minister also criticised PTI's decision to stage a rally in Islamabad during the holy month of Muharram, suggesting it was aimed at sowing political turmoil, as reported by Geo News. "The PTI's desire to hold a public rally in Muharram is inappropriate and can lead to political chaos," Sanaullah remarked, while distancing the government from the decision to deny PTI permission for the Islamabad rally, according to Geo News. Earlier today, PTI cancelled its Islamabad rally after the federal capital's chief commissioner withdrew the No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the event in Tarnol. PTI leaders subsequently approached the Islamabad High Court seeking contempt of court proceedings against the administration for revoking the rally's permission. Expanding on his allegations, Sanaullah suggested that foreign elements supported PTI during the riots on May 9, 2023, following Imran Khan's arrest, with the intent to destabilise Pakistan. "Enemy countries aim to sow anarchy in Pakistan through PTI," he added, referencing the protests that targeted both civilian and military installations including Jinnah House and the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi, dubbed as the "Black Day" by the military, leading to arrests under the Army Act. Regarding foreign aid allegedly received by PTI, Sanaullah indicated a willingness to disclose evidence if the federal cabinet decided to make such information public, Geo News reported. (ANI) Team Sea Sakthi from India made history at the 11th Monaco Energy Boat Challenge (MEBC) by winning three awards, including the Innovation Prize, Design Prize, and Communication Prize. This was the best performance by the team to date, with the Communication Prize marking a hat-trick for Team India, who have won it for the third consecutive year. After the prize ceremony, Roshan from Team Sea Sakthi told ANI, "We won three awards this year, which is our best performance yet. We won the Design Prize, the Innovation Prize, and the Communication Prize. Winning the Communication Prize for the third year in a row is particularly gratifying. Although we didn't perform as expected in the races, we are determined to come back stronger next year. We also hope to see more teams from India participate, increasing our representation here." Another team member, Hemalata, an undergraduate student in Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering from Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore, added, "We are the only Indian team participating in MEBC for the third time. We are still learning and growing stronger with more confidence, and in the coming years, we will give our best." Shankar Vanavarayar, President of Kumaraguru College of Technology, remarked, "This is an extraordinary moment for us, being here in the yachting capital of Europe with an Indian team. Our students have participated for the third time and have won the Communication Prize each year. This year, winning the Design and Innovation Prizes is especially significant. For an Indian team to excel in these categories in Europe, where boats and yachts are integral to the culture, is phenomenal. It showcases the ingenuity and design capabilities of Indians. India will lead through technology, and this year, sustainability is key. Technology combined with sustainability is the future, and India should spearhead this movement." The Monaco Energy Boat Challenge attracted 18 teams for the Energy Class, 13 teams for the Solar Class, and 15 teams for the Open Sea Class. Commenting on Team India's performance, Bernard d'Alessandri, organiser of MEBC and MD & CEO and General Secretary of the Yacht Club de Monaco, said, "This year was the best year for Team India. They have been part of the MEBC for the past three years, and we are very proud of their innovative skills." Alessandri also announced a new category focusing on Artificial Intelligence for next year's MEBC, scheduled for July 2-5. "Every year, the MEBC becomes bigger and better. For next year, we have announced a new category focusing on Artificial Intelligence. The 12th edition of MEBC is scheduled for July 2-5," Alessandri said. Supported by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, UBS, BMW, and SBM Offshore, the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge has garnered significant attention from industry giants such as Monaco Marine, Oceanco, Ferretti Group, Azimut/Benetti Group, Sanlorenzo, and Lurssen. These prominent names are eager to contribute to the transformation of yachting. For young competitors, this event offers valuable opportunities to connect with industry leaders and explore job offers and internships through the Job Forum. (ANI) The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has rejected the resignation of its Secretary-General Omar Ayub Khan. It said that Omar Ayub will continue serving on the post in line with instructions given by PTI founder Imran Khan, The News International reported, citing a party statement. In June, Omar Ayub stepped down as the secretary-general of PTI "to focus" on his role as the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of Pakistan. However, PTI's core committee and parliamentary party opposed his step, asking him to withdraw his decision to step down from the party's coveted post. In an official statement, the party said that Omar Ayub will continue as PTI secretary-general and benefit the party with his political experience and leadership. The statement reads, "The parliamentary party as well as core committee of PTI through separate unanimous resolutions, reposed trust in him, commended him for his services and requested him to continue as PTI secretary general." The PTI said that Imran Khan also appreciated the services of Omar Ayub and acknowledged his services for the party. On June 22, 2024, Omar Ayub submitted his resignation through a letter addressed to PTI founder Imran Khan and PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan. In his resignation letter, Omar Ayub said that further changes would be made in the organisational structure of the PTI in the coming days as per the instructions given by former Pakistan PM. The development came amid reports of rifts in the ranks of PTI. PTI-backed 27 Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) lawmakers were thinking of resigning from the National Assembly in protest against PTI's top leadership, according to sources, The News International reported, citing Geo News report. Of the 27, the insiders had said 21 of its lawmakers indicated forming a forward bloc over PTI top leadership's inability to secure the release of Imran Khan from prison, as per sources. Subsequently, Imran Khan also acknowledged the rifts and grouping within the party. However, he rejected reports of any forward bloc within the PTI, emphasising that there were no major differences within the party. (ANI) Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND) said that 15 Chinese military aircraft and 10 naval vessels have been detected around Taiwan in the past 24 hours till 6 am (local time) on Sunday. In response to China's action, Taiwan's armed forces employed aircraft, naval vessels and coastal missile systems to monitor Beijing's activities. In a post on X, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence stated, "15 PLA aircraft and 10 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 14 of the aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's central, southwestern, and southeastern ADIZ. We've monitored the situation and responded accordingly." Since September 2020, China has intensified its use of "gray zone tactics" by operating more military aircraft and naval ships near Taiwan, according to Taiwan News report. According to CSIS, gray zone tactics are termed as "an effort or a series of efforts beyond steady-state deterrence and assurance that attempts to achieve one's security objectives without resorting to direct and sizable use of force," the report said. This latest incident adds to a series of similar provocations by China in recent months. Beijing has increased its military activities around Taiwan, including regular air and naval incursions into Taiwan's Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) and military exercises near the island. Taiwan has been governed independently of China since 1949. However, China views Taiwan as part of its territory and insists on eventual reunification, by force if necessary. On Friday, Taiwan MND stated that 30 Chinese military aircraft and nine naval vessels were operating near its territory from 6 am (local time) on Friday and 6 am (local time) on Saturday. Of the total aircraft, 23 People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft entered Taiwan's southwestern and southeastern Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ). The Chinese military aircraft came as close as 72 kilometres from Eluanbi in the south and 77 kilometres from Keelung in the north, according to a Taiwan News report. In response to China's action, Taiwan's armed forces monitored the situation and responded accordingly. In a post on X, Taiwan's MND stated, "30 PLA aircraft and 9 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 23 aircraft entered Taiwan's southwestern and southeastern ADIZ.#ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and responded accordingly." (ANI) 2,200 enterprises seek opportunities at investment, trade fair in northwest China Xinhua) 09:42, July 07, 2024 Exhibitors talk with each other during the 30th China Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair in Lanzhou, northwest China's Gansu Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Zhimin) LANZHOU, July 6 (Xinhua) -- More than 2,200 domestic and foreign enterprises are seeking business opportunities at the 30th China Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair, which opened on Saturday in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu Province. Representatives from the governments, embassies, consulates, business councils and companies of 23 countries, including Belarus, Uzbekistan and Uruguay, have been invited to attend the five-day event ending on Wednesday. So far, a total of 1,325 investment and cooperation deals have been reached, covering areas such as digital information, new energy, equipment manufacturing, the petrochemical industry, and specialty agricultural products, with the total value close to 604 billion yuan (about 84.7 billion U.S. dollars). A Belarusian band performs before the Belarus booth during the 30th China Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair in Lanzhou, northwest China's Gansu Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Xu Haofu) The fair will also feature business promotions and exchange activities. More than 40,000 visitors are expected to attend. First held in 1993, the fair serves as a window for the opening of northwestern China and has become a major event for Belt and Road economic and trade cooperation. Last year it attracted more than 1,600 enterprises from home and abroad. A total of 1,172 contracts were inked during the five-day fair. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Kou Jie) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called his upcoming visit to Austria an "honour" as India and Austria celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations. He expressed his anticipation for discussions with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer on strengthening the bond between the two nations and exploring new avenues of cooperation. PM Modi's statement came in response to Karl Nehammer's post on X, where he described PM Modi's upcoming visit to Austria as a "significant milestone". Nehammer noted that they will have the opportunity to hold talks on further deepening bilateral ties and closer cooperation on many geopolitical challenges. "I very much look forward to welcoming @narendramodi, the Prime Minister of India, the world's largest democracy, next week in Vienna. This visit is a special honour as it marks the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in over forty years, and a significant milestone as we celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations with India. We will have the opportunity to talk about further deepening our bilateral relationship and closer cooperation on the many geopolitical challenges," Karl Nehammer said in a post on X. In response, PM Modi stated, "Thank you, Chancellor @karlnehammer. It is indeed an honour to visit Austria to mark this historic occasion. I look forward to our discussions on strengthening the bonds between our nations and exploring new avenues of cooperation. The shared values of democracy, freedom and rule of law form the bedrock upon which we will build an ever closer partnership." PM Modi will be travelling to Austria from July 9-10, marking the first visit of an Indian Prime Minister to Austria in 41 years, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). During his visit, he will meet Austria's President, Alexander Van der Bellen, and hold talks with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer. PM Modi and Karl Nehammer will also address business leaders from India and Austria. PM Modi will interact with members of the Indian community in Moscow and Vienna, according to the MEA. Earlier on Friday, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said that PM Modi's upcoming visit to Austria would help broaden the scope of the India-Austria partnership and address issues of regional and global importance of mutual interest. "The visit, we are confident, will allow us to discuss various areas of importance in bilateral engagement as well as issues of regional and global importance of mutual interest and help broaden the scope of our partnership," Vinay Kwatra said in a press conference. Kwatra also announced that PM Modi will meet Austria's President, Alexander Van der Bellen, and hold delegation-level talks with officials. "In terms of programming elements, the Prime Minister, besides the ceremonial welcome being accorded to him, would also call on the President of Austria and hold restricted delegation-level talks as well as high-level business engagement in Austria," said the Foreign Secretary. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on an official visit to Russia and Austria from July 8-10. After concluding his visit to Russia, PM Modi will travel to Austria from July 9-10. Diplomatic relations between India and Austria were established on November 10, 1949. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Austria. Austria is a steadfast and reliable partner of India. The bilateral ties between the two nations are wide-ranging, multi-dimensional, and mutually beneficial. The shared and abiding commitment to the ideals of democracy and pluralism has only reinforced close and friendly ties between India and Austria. Then-President KR Narayanan paid the first State Visit from India to Austria in November 1999. In 2005, Austrian President Heinz Fischer visited India. The last Indian Prime Minister to visit Austria was Indira Gandhi in 1983. She had also visited the country in 1971. In 2011, then-President Pratibha Patil travelled to Austria. Earlier in 2017, PM Modi held a bilateral meeting with then-Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in St Petersburg. He also met then-Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg on the sidelines of COP26 in Glasgow in 2021. (ANI) In a newsletter, the Taliban-led Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation said that 11,997 Afghan migrants were expelled by the governments of Pakistan and Iran and have returned to Afghanistan. According to the newsletter, the expelled people entered Afghanistan through the borders of Torghundi, Spin Boldak, Islam Qala-Herat, and Abreshim-Nimruz between July 3-6. The trend of deporting Afghan migrants from Iran and Pakistan continues amid a humanitarian crisis despite international reactions, according to Khaama Press report. The forced deportation of Afghan refugees from Iran and Pakistan has exacerbated the dire humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Many of these deportees face uncertain futures after returning to Afghanistan as the country faces economic instability and a lack of basic services. The sudden increase in returnees has already overwhelmed communities and humanitarian organisations are struggling to provide support. Human rights groups and organisations across the world have condemned the mass deportations and expressed concerns regarding the safety and well-being of Afghan deportees, Khaama Press reported. International human rights groups said that such actions violate international law, especially concerning the principle of non-refoulement, which bans the forced return of refugees to a country where they could face persecution or serious harm. Amidst these developments, Afghanistan faces a dire humanitarian crisis exacerbated by the forced return of thousands of migrants, many of whom include vulnerable women and children. The situation highlights ongoing human rights violations and challenges in protecting the rights and safety of Afghan refugees After seizing power, the Taliban has shut schools for girls from grades 7 to 12 and barred women from pursuing studies in universities. It has also stopped most Afghan female staff from working at aid agencies, closed beauty salons and curtailed travel for women in the absence of a male guardian. (ANI) Voting began in France for the second round of the snap parliamentary election called by President Emmanuel President to elect 577 members of the National Assembly, in which 289 seats are required for a party to hold an absolute majority, CNN reported. In the outgoing parliament, French President Macron's alliance had only 250 seats and he required support from other parties to pass laws. Polls are being held from 8am-8 pm (local time) on Sunday, with the full results expected early Monday. The far-right National Rally (RN), led by 28-year-old Jordan Bardella under the party's doyenne Marine Le Pen, is closer to power than ever before after taking the lead in the first round of voting held last Sunday. The RN has been given a fresh and acceptable face by Bardella as the party won 33 per cent of the popular vote in the first round. The newly formed left-wing coalition, the New Popular Front (NFP), secured second spot with 28 per cent votes, while Macron's Ensemble alliance came third as it won 21 per cent votes. Ensemble and the NFP have swung into action amid the possibility of the first far-right government in France since the collaborationist Vichy regime during World War II. After a week of political bargaining, hundreds of candidates stood down in some seats to deny the RN an absolute majority, CNN reported. Only those who secure a win in over 12.5 per cent of the votes of registered votes in the first round can take part in the second, meaning it is often fought between two candidates. However, this time a record number of seats, over 300 seats witnessed a three-way run-off, in a measure of France's polarization. Over 200 candidates from Macron's alliance and the NFP agreed to stand down in the second round to try not to split the anti-far-right vote. RN's good performance in the first round implies that it could more than triple the 88 seats it had in the outgoing parliament, CNN reported. Although it is customary for the French president to appoint a PM from the largest party, Bardella has repeatedly stated that he will refuse to form a minority government. In that case, Macron might have to search for a PM on the hard left or form a technocratic government. Notably, France was not scheduled to hold parliamentary elections until 2027. However, Macron called the snap elections after his party was trounced by the RN in the European Parliament elections held in June. Even though the results of the European Parliament elections have no bearing on domestic politics. However, Macron insisted that he could not ignore the message sent to him by voters and wanted to clarify the situation, according to CNN report. Some have insisted that with the possibility of the RN winning both the presidency and the parliament in 2027, Macron wanted to expose it to the government beforehand, in the hope that it would lose its appeal once in office. Macron's gamble, however, could backfire if the RN declines to form a minority government. (ANI) Tel Aviv [Israel], July 7 (ANI/TPS): The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) reported that Sunday morning about 20 Hezbollah terror rocket launches were detected that crossed from the territory of Lebanon into the Lower Galilee region in Israel, some of which were successfully intercepted by the IDF's air defense units. In addition, reported the IDF, following a rocket warning issued at 5:34 a.m. local time for the Ramot Naftali area - locate near the Lebanese border - the air defence units successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target identified in the area. There were no casualties and no damage was caused. (ANI/TPS) India's Ambassador to Russia, Vinay Kumar, has called Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visit to Russia "very significant" and noted that it is taking place after a gap of three years. Speaking to ANI, Vinay Kumar stated that the visit of PM Modi is "very important" for the two leaders to exchange views on developments in bilateral ties and discuss other regional and important issues of mutual interest. He noted said the two nations have the tradition of annual exchange of summit-level meetings between the Russian President and Indian Prime Minister and added that the last one took place in 2021. Notably, this will be the 22nd India-Russia Annual Bilateral Summit. The 21st bilateral Summit was held in December 2021 when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited New Delhi. Asked about the importance of PM Modi's first overseas visit after being sworn in as PM of India for the third time, he responded, "The visit is very significant. It is taking place after a gap of three years. We have the tradition of the annual exchange of summit-level meetings between the President of the Russian Federation and the Prime Minister of India and the last one was in 2021. So, since then, a lot has changed around the world, but also our relations have expanded." "Russia is now one of the very important sources of energy resources in India. Also, trade has expanded in other areas. So this visit becomes very important for the leaders to exchange views on all these developments in the bilateral relationship, but also other regional and international issues of mutual interest," he added. Vinay Kumar said that PM Modi during his visit will have a private meeting with Russian President Putin, attend the lunch-on hosted by Putin and visit an exhibition centre. He said that PM Modi will address a gathering of Indian community members in Russia. Elaborating on PM Modi's schedule during his visit to Russia, the Indian envoy said, "The program includes a private meeting with President Putin, delegation-level talks, restricted talks, lunch on hosted by President Putin for Prime Minister and his delegation, visit to an exhibition center in the Badenha complex, Rosatom Pavilion, and also exchange of documents which we are preparing to sign and exchange during the visit." "Prime Minister will also address a gathering of Indian community members who are very eagerly looking forward to this visit to Moscow by Prime Minister after a gap of nine years. The last Prime Ministerial visit to Moscow was in 2015. So these are some of the important elements of the program," he added. Notably, PM Modi will be in Moscow on July 8-9 at the invitation of the Russian President to hold the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit. Asked about the issues that will be discussed during the meeting between PM Modi and Russian President Putin, he said, "Well, the first thing that I want to say is that I'm in no position to prejudge what the two leaders will talk. But, I can certainly tell you that the visit is in the framework of our annual exchange of the Presidential and Prime ministerial visit that we have in world summits and so the context is bilateral. But, certainly global issues, including this war that you mentioned, will be discussed. And the leaders will exchange their views and their perspective on these developments." Vinay Kumar stressed that the trade between India and Russia has expanded and crossed USD 65 billion. However, he noted that the trade is heavily in favour of the Russian side. He said that India is looking at new items, including agricultural products to export to Russia. Speaking about trade between the two nations, he said, "Trade, as I was mentioning, in the last three years, trade has expanded, crossed USD 65 billion. We have two challenges. One, to balance the trade, because trade is very heavily in favour of the Russian side. So expanding India's trade basket, export items, and also increase in the quantity to better balance the trade, while at the same time finding ways and means to sustain this growth in bilateral trade." "We are looking at new items, including agricultural products to export to Russia, ceramic tiles, auto components and engineering goods, chemical products, of course, pharmaceuticals has been one of the traditional areas, products that we have exported to Russia. We want to increase their volume and also add new items to the trade basket," he added. Calling defence an important pillar of India-Russia ties, he said that India has bought several platforms and their spare parts from Russia. Vinay Kumar said that India will discuss and look at further increasing this trend of co-production of defence items in India. "Defence is a very important pillar of the relationship. There are a number of platforms which India has bought from Russia and their spare parts and also manufacturing of many of the components and spare parts in India. A lot is being done now already. We will discuss and look at further increasing this trend of co-production as we say of defence items in India," he said. Stressing that connectivity is important for trade and people-to-people exchange, he stated, "Connectivity, similarly, is very important for trade and also people-to-people exchanges. International North-South Transport Corridor is very much on the agenda, and there have been some cargo movement along that. New routes are also coming up, Arctic route or Northern Sea route, as it is called, and we are looking for institutionalizing and expanding cooperation in that sector also." During his visit to Moscow, PM Modi and Putin will review the entire range of multifaceted relations between the two countries and exchange views on contemporary regional and global issues of mutual interest, according to Ministry of External Affairs earlier press release. Notably, PM Modi and Putin have met 16 times over the past 10 year. The last in-person meeting between the two leaders took place on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Uzbekistan's Samarkand in 2021. PM Modi has been conferred the highest Russian state honor 'Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First' in 2019. After concluding his visit to Russia, PM Modi will travel to Austria. (ANI) The representatives of the East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) and Swedish Uyghur Committee (SUC) on Saturday organised protests in Amsterdam, Netherlands and Stockholm, Sweden, highlighting the atrocities of the Chinese authorities upon the Uyghur community of East Turkistan. The protests by these Uyghur rights organizations were organised on the sidelines of the commemoration of the Urumqi massacre. During the protest at Dam Square in Amsterdam, the Foreign Affairs Minister of ETGE, Salih Hudayar urged the Dutch government to put pressure on the Chinese government to immediately stop the ongoing genocide upon the Uyghur community. "We urge the government to act against China's ongoing campaign of colonization, genocide and occupation. We want them to support the people of East Turkistan to get their rights to independence and right to human dignity. The restoration of east Turkistan's independence is the only way to ensure that their human rights, their resistance and their human dignity are guaranteed" Hudayar said. https://x.com/abdurehimgheni/status/1809638755319357859s=46&t=nbusnwoIYo9hUrDuoWfhwQ The minister further noted that China has refused to implement and respect the fundamentals of the East Turkistani people. "Unfortunately despite a lot of countries criticizing China and even the United Nations itself stating that China has been committing crimes against humanity, China has refused to implement and respect the fundamentals of the East Turkistani people," he said. The minister added that the only way to ensure our human dignity is by restoring our independence. "By doing so they have shown once again that they intend to continue pursuing their objective to completely eradicating the people of East Turkistan. Hence the only way to ensure our human dignity is by restoring our independence", he added. In another protest by the Swedish Uyghur Committee (SUC) outside the Swedish Parliament, a protestor recalling China's genocidal acts during the 2009 Urumqi massacre said, "On that unfateful day hundreds if not thousands of Uyghurs were massacred and tens of thousands were arrested across East Turkistan. Since then the Chinese occupational forces have implemented an even more oppressive surveillance-driven police state, laying a groundwork for the ongoing genocide". https://x.com/suyghurcommitte/status/1809660017441722726s=46&t=nbusnwoIYo9hUrDuoWfhwQ The protestor further referred to the Chinese so-called operation of 'People's War' in East Turkistan initiated in 2014 which has marked an even more systematic pattern of genocide. The protester lamented that millions of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic people in China have been subjected to mass internment in concentration camps and prisons, where they endure forced mitigation, indoctrination, torture, rape, organ harvesting and executions. "Many are enslaved in factories and forced labour camps under abhorrent conditions, and the scope of this genocide is staggering. During 2016-17 the Chinese regime forcibly collected DNA, voice prints and retina scans from over 36 million individuals aged between 12 to 65. Millions of poor men have been forcibly sterilized, and over a million Uyghur children have been separated from their families and have been placed in state-run facilities to be raised as loyal Chinese citizens," he said. The protester continued that over 60,000 mosques and other cultural sites have been destroyed in an attempt to erase our cultural heritage. (ANI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said it is a great opportunity for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin to have direct talks on trade during PM Modi's visit to Moscow. Highlighting the trade imbalance issues, EAM Jaishankar said that at a leadership level, it will be a great opportunity. "There are issues...like the trade imbalance...So, at a leadership level, it will be a great opportunity for Prime Minister Modi and President Putin to sit down and directly talk to each other. And then obviously, as per their directions, we will see how to take the relationship forward," he said. Calling the India-Russia Annual Bilateral Summit a "good tradition", Jaishankar said that there has been a slippage in our annual summits. "Now, this was a tradition. It's a good tradition. We are two countries that have such a strong and very steady history of working together. So both of us value very much the need for an annual summit," he told ANI. Jaishankar further recalled his last visit to Russia during the end of the year. "Even last year, I went to Moscow at the end of the year, and at that time, I carried a message from the prime minister that we are committed to the annual summit, and we will do it sooner rather than later," he said. He continued, that the annual summit is a regular occurrence and a way of taking stock of the India-Russia relationship. "It's something that was waiting to happen. It's a regular occurrence. It is a way of taking stock of any relationship," the minister said. "What you do is you look at the state of the world, there are things you want to do more. There are things you want to do differently. One of the big changes has actually been that our economic relationship with Russia has grown tremendously," he added. PM Modi will be heading to Moscow on July 8 at the invitation of the Russian President to hold the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit. Notably, this will be the 22nd India-Russia Annual Bilateral Summit. The 21st bilateral Summit was held in December 2021 when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited New Delhi. PM Modi is expected to discuss issues of regional and global importance with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Friday said that the next day after his arrival he would engage with the Indian community in Russia, adding that he will also visit to Kremlin. (ANI) The family of forcibly disappeared Baloch businessman Taj Muhammad Sarparah, on Saturday announced to organize a protest in London on July 20, demanding his safe return from the Pakistani administration, the Balochistan Post reported. Saleha Marri, the wife of Sarparah urged the representatives of all the communities especially the Baloch, Sindhi, Pashtun, Mohajir, and Kashmiri communities of PoJK who are oppressed at the hands of the Pakistani administration to join this protest and raise the voice of the united solidarity for human rights. Additionally, a Baloch rights organization Baloch Voice for Justice also announced that an online social media campaign on 'X' will be run on July 19 by using "#ReleaseTajMuhammadSarparah", as the day marks the fourth anniversary of the Baloch businessman's disappearance. Sarparah had been abducted while travelling back home from Karachi airport, and his whereabouts have been unknown ever since the Balochistan Post reported. Notably, the issue of enforced disappearance has witnessed a steep rise in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. Previously, a sit-in protest camp led by Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) demanding the safe recovery of missing individuals completed its 5496th day outside the Quetta Press Club. At that time, Sibghatullah, the Convener of Baloch Yakjehti Committee Makran, along with others, visited the camp to express solidarity with the families. Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) is an organisation dedicated to advocating for the safe recovery of individuals who have disappeared in Balochistan, reportedly due to actions by Pakistani security forces. The organisation, led by figures like Mama Qadeer Baloch, has been actively engaged in peaceful protests and advocacy efforts to bring attention to the issue of enforced disappearances in the region. VBMP's persistent efforts include maintaining a protest camp outside the Quetta Press Club for several thousand days, aiming to pressure authorities and international organisations to address the plight of missing Baloch individuals and their families. Mama Qadeer Baloch, Vice Chairman of VBMP, emphasised during his speech to visitors that for the last seventy years, the Baloch community has been striving for independence. He mentioned the historical absence of media coverage and political awareness among the Baloch, which has led to limited formal documentation. However, since 2000, there has been a gradual rise in political and intellectual maturity among the Baloch as they continue their struggle. Mama Qadeer Baloch denounced Pakistani forces for forcibly abducting Baloch youths, citing violations of international human rights laws. He further criticised Pakistan for disposing of abducted youths' bodies, while praising the Baloch community's disciplined approach to peacefully seeking their recovery. Forced disappearances in Balochistan involve the systematic abduction of individuals, including activists, journalists, and civilians, by state security forces or associated groups. This practice occurs without legal procedures or disclosure of their locations. The issue has persisted over time and is associated with accusations of human rights violations, a lack of transparency in governance, and efforts to stifle opposition. These disappearances create an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty, profoundly affecting families and communities who strive for answers and accountability regarding their missing relatives. (ANI) Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Russia, an Indian student in Moscow expressed excitement for the PM's visit and said that the visit will bring India and Russia close. The student, who is currently studying in Moscow, said that they are eagerly waiting for Prime Minister Modi. "We are very excited that PM Modi is visiting here. We are eagerly waiting for him. This visit will bring India-Russia's close...," he told ANI. PM Modi will be heading to Moscow on July 8 at the invitation of the Russian President to hold the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit. Surekha, an Indian national, who is currently on vacation to Russia with her family, said that PM Modi's visit will help in strengthening the India-Russia relationship. "We got to know about PM Modi's visit to Russia tomorrow and we are very excited about it. It will be a great thing for strengthening the India-Russia relationship. PM Modi last visited Russia before Covid," she said. Surekha further stressed the hope that something positive might happen in regard to Russia Ukraine war as PM Modi is visiting Russia. "I think something positive might happen in the case of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war," she said, adding, "However, we would not be able to meet him as we are also leaving in two days." Notably, this will be the 22nd India-Russia Annual Bilateral Summit. The 21st bilateral Summit was held in December 2021 when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited New Delhi. PM Modi is expected to discuss issues of regional and global importance with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moreover, the foreign secretary said that there is a possibility that the two leaders will discuss the developments in the Indo-Pacific as it is significant to both India and Russia. Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Friday said that the next day after his arrival he would engage with the Indian community in Russia, adding that he will also visit to Kremlin. "These engagements will be followed by a restricted level talk between the two leaders, which will then be followed by delegation level talks led by the Prime Minister and the Russian President" he added. (ANI) A major protest and sit-in has been organized in Quetta's Sariab Road as the disappearance of forcibly abducted Zaheer Baloch has gained traction in the Balochistan province. The Baloch community along with his family also announced a demonstration rally for Sunday evening, the Baloch Women Forum (BWF) a Baloch rights organization reported in a post on X. However, the same statement over the disappearance of Zaheer stated that the Pakistani administration has still remained ignorant towards the matter. Criticising and denouncing the enforced disappearance incident, the BWF on X stated, "On 6th day of their continuous protesting sit-in at Sariab Road against the enforced disappearance of Zaheer Baloch, his family members have called for a protesting rally on July 7 (tomorrow) at 5 in the evening. We, at the Baloch Women Forum, denounce the non-seriousness of the institutions concerned with the matter and support the rally call. We urge our members and the people at large to join the rally to condemn such brutal and anti-Baloch policies." https://x.com/BalochWF/status/1809491808650461412 Taking the issue further, prominent human rights activist belonging to Balochistan, Sammi Deen Baloch in a post on 'X', urged that people belonging to all walks of life must stand up and speak against this endless cycle of enforced disappearance in the province. Sammi Deen said, " The family members of forcibly missing Zaheer Ahmad have been sitting on dharna for the safe recovery of Zaheer Ahmad at different places in Quetta city for the past five days, but no response has been received from the government." https://x.com/SammiBaluch/status/1809853334678864268 She in her statement also mentioned that "Today, i.e. Sunday 7th July 2024, a rally will be held from Sariab Sessions Court at 5 PM for the safe recovery of Zaheer Ahmed, people of all schools of thought in Quetta are requested to participate. Stand up and speak out against the endless cycle of enforced disappearances in solidarity with these families." Additionally, another Baloch rights organization, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) in a post on 'X' informed that Zaheer Baloch was a father of two and was the sole bread earner for his family. According to the BYC " Zaheer Baloch, a father of two, and sole guarantor of bread and butter for his family; is a government employee serving for more than 15 years. He was forcibly disappeared on 27 June by the CTD personnel while returning home from work. With no compliance from the police and administration, Zaheer's family organized a sit-in protest on 2nd July and has since blocked Sariab Road, near Session Court, Quetta." Moreover, they have two simple demands, the safe recovery of Zaheer and an FIR against the perpetrators. However, responsible authorities have shown indifference to comply with their lawful demands, the post added. https://x.com/BalochYakjehtiC/status/1809917743375798653 The sheer inaction of the state authorities over the widespread abuses of Human Rights in Balochistan is alarming. The world must speak against the systematic genocide of the Baloch people where one family after another is being victim of Enforced Disappearances. The family also organised a protest rally at 5 pm today, urging all segments of society to join in and raise their voice for the safe recovery of Zaheer Baloch. (ANI) ADDIS ABABA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese and Ethiopian officials have stressed the need to respect and embrace the diversity of civilizations to promote peaceful coexistence, mutual understanding, people-to-people ties and development across the world. The call was made at a high-level dialogue, titled "The Civilization Lecture Series," held in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, Saturday. The event aimed to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation of civil societies between China and Ethiopia. Speaking at the event, Li Jun, vice president of China NGO Network for International Exchanges, said it is critical to advocate shared human values to promote peaceful coexistence among different civilizations and people of the world. "We should respect the diversity of civilizations to promote mutual understanding, champion cultural differences based on equality and respect, and reject pride and prejudice, which have been proved to be the biggest obstacles to civilizations, cultural exchanges and mutual learning," Li said. According to Li, the government of China firmly supports the efforts of Ethiopians and others to inherit and develop their own cultures while independently choosing a development path that suits their nations. China is willing to have more dialogues on civilizations, intercultural exchanges and governance experiences. He said a civilization can only sustain its vitality by learning from other civilizations, strengthening people-to-people exchanges and promoting mutual learning. Yonas Adaye, commissioner of the Ethiopian National Dialogue, said at the event that dialogue on civilizations is critical to maintaining world peace and development through intercultural exchanges and cooperation. Noting that China is promoting world peace through cooperation and solidarity, Adaye emphasized the need to advance dialogue and sharing among civilizations in the face of growing confrontations among countries of the world. "Civil societies serve as bridges between states and societies through building trust, teaching the society their rights and responsibilities, dignity, human rights, democratic engagement, and helping them engage with each other," Adaye said. Indicating that China has contributed a lot to promoting win-win cooperation among different countries through its Global Civilization Initiative, the commissioner said the Chinese government's engagement in promoting civilizations and cultural exchanges for shared future and common development has earned the trust of many African countries. The high-level dialogue came after the commemoration of the China-proposed International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations, which was designated on June 10 by the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit, which is scheduled to be held from July 9-11, will witness a discussion among the allies on increasing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, VOA reported. The organisation, comprising 32 members, will also deliberate on strategies to offer military aid to Ukraine, which has been enduring war for over two years and strengthening security relations with South Korea and Japan. This year, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, are invited to the NATO summit. The United States, Japan and South Korea plan to meet on the sidelines of the summit, according to VOA. One of the key highlights of the summit will include a discussion on the increasing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. Bruce Bennett, a senior defence analyst at the RAND Corporation, a think-tank, believes that the relationship between Russia and North Korea is a problem for NATO nations as well as Japan and South Korea. "I expect that it will be discussed at this meeting. It may become a critical aspect of the meeting, if, by that time, intelligence is saying that North Korea is sending many military personnel to support Russia in Ukraine," Bennett said, according to VOA. Another expert, Matthew Brunner, a professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo, emphasised that NATO allies will engage in discussions regarding the implications of Russia-North Korea relations and how to address associated risks. "Risks primarily include material outcomes, such as how North Korea's involvement will come to bear on warfighting in Ukraine. But there are also opportunities to be exploited, including how to use increased North Korean involvement to drive a wedge between China and Russia," Brunner said, according to VOA. Notably, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on June 19 signed a comprehensive partnership agreement that supersedes previous accords from 1961, 2000, and 2001, Russian news agency TASS reported. Elaborating on the agreement, Putin stated, "The comprehensive partnership agreement signed today includes, among other things, the provision of mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties to this agreement." The Russian President had hailed the pact as covering political, trade, investment, cultural, and security spheres, and labelled it a "truly breakthrough document." Putin also criticised joint military exercises involving the United States, South Korea, and Japan as "hostile" towards North Korea, characterizing US policy as "confrontational." In response, Kim Jong-un praised the new "alliance" as a pivotal moment in bilateral relations. Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday while previewing the summit, stressed that providing support to Ukraine will be the organisation's "most urgent task." "I expect heads of state and government will agree on a substantial package for Ukraine. NATO will take over the coordination and provision of most international security assistance," Stoltenberg had said. The Secretary-General also said that he expects more immediate military support for Ukraine; more bilateral security agreements; and work on deepened military interoperability. Talking about other key aspects of the summit, Stoltenberg said that 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. (ANI) The Kinmen Islands lie about 10 kilometres away from Xiamen city in China. The Kinmen Defence Command informed that a non-commissioned officer is suspected of borrowing a fishing boat to carry out a smuggling operation. The arrested people were found with goods like electronics products, shoes, skincare products, and alcohol. The Taiwan Coast Guard arrested the suspects at around midnight on Saturday. Notably, the suspects were on their way to sell the goods. Asserting that they would cooperate with the investigation, Kinmen Army officials said that they would severely punish those found to be acting outside the law. "The Army will continue to strengthen education to establish the concept of adherence to the law among officers and soldiers," officials said, according to Taiwan News. While conducting radar surveillance, the Kinmen Coast Guard identified a suspicious fishing boat 'Shunfeng 99.' The Kinmen-registered fishing boat was seized in the Tashan waters of Kinmen on suspicion of smuggling. Coast patrol officers boarded the vessel and during the inspection, the officers recovered items including electronic supplies, brand-name shoes, famous wines, skin care products, etc The case is being handled by Kinmen prosecutors who declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation, Taiwan News reported. (ANI) The death toll in Nepal has risen to 62 since the onset of monsoon as rain continues to batter the Himalayan Nation which is expecting more than average rainfall this season. According to the records of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority under the Ministry of Home Affairs, 62 people have been killed to date in various monsoon-related disasters of floods, landslides and lightning. As per the authority, four people still are unaccounted for and 90 people have sustained injuries. According to the Centre, one person in Morang, three in Dang, one in Kailali, two in Kavrepalanchowk, one in Udayapur, and nine in Palpa were killed due to floods on Saturday alone. Moreover, two people are missing due to the flood. Five houses were completely damaged. Eleven houses have been partially damaged. Similarly, 34 people lost their lives due to landslides. According to the Authority's statistics, two people went missing and 38 people were injured due to landslides. Likewise, 43 houses have been completely damaged by landslides and 24 houses were partially damaged. Nineteen sheds were damaged and 12 people were injured. Similarly, 11 houses are completely damaged and six houses are partially damaged due to inundation. According to the Authority, the flood and landslides have caused damage equivalent to eight million and six hundred thousand rupees so far. According to statistics, 19 people died and 35 people were injured due to lightning. "Monsoon-related incidents such as floods, landslides, inundation and lightning are still increasing. We are moving forward by coordinating with the relevant agencies to reduce the damage," Dr Dijan Bhattarai, the spokesperson for the Authority said. This year, it is estimated that there will be more rain than average and 1.8 million people will be affected by it so it is important to be cautious, he added. According to him, during this year's monsoon period, it is estimated that 412 thousand households will be affected by monsoon-related disasters. Sunil Pokharel, the spokesperson of the Department of Meteorology, informed that the risk of flooding will decrease throughout the country from Monday. (ANI) A five-member Indian delegation from the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) led by Secretary DARPG and Director General, National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), V. Srinivas, will be visiting Colombo from July 7-9 for bilateral discussions on collaboration between the National Centre for Good Governance and Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) for capacity building programmes of Sri Lankan Civil Servants in India. The Indian delegation will make a courtesy call on the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Dinesh Chandra Rupasinghe Gunawardena. The Indian delegation's agenda includes discussions on capacity-building programmes for Sri Lankan civil servants and the potential signing of a long-term agreement through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for capacity-building initiatives, an official press release by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions said. These discussions will focus on outlining a roadmap for future collaborations and exchanging insights on effective governance practices, the press release said. This visit is being conducted at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka which aims to strengthen bilateral cooperation in personnel administration and governance. During the three-day visit, V. Srinivas will hold bilateral meetings with E.M.S.B.Ekanayake, Secretary to the President of Sri Lanka, Anura Dissanayake, Secretary to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and Pradeep Yasarathne, Secretary Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Council and Local Government. The visit also includes an interactive session with NCGG alumni in Sri Lankan Civil Service. The delegation will visit the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) to engage with faculty members and civil service officers on capacity-building initiatives and the implementation of centralized public grievance redressal systems. The release further said that the programme also includes a presentation session by the district administration, on an overview of public services provided by the district, and an open discussion of district officials, with the visiting delegation It is pertinent to mention that the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) organised three capacity-building training programmes for senior and mid-level officers of Sri Lanka. During the first visit to NCGG from February 12-17, 2024, a delegation of 14 senior Sri Lankan civil servants was led by Secretary to the Prime Minister, Anura Dissanayaka. To date, NCGG has trained a total of 95 civil servants from Sri Lanka. (ANI) Pakistan police on Sunday raided the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) residence of Secretary-General Omar Ayub Khan, reported ARY News. However, Ayub said that the federal and provincial governments are attempting to arrest him. The police personnel entered his house in Sector F-10 and conducted a search operation after the Sargodha anti-terrorism court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Ayub. Reacting to the incident, Omar Ayub said that the federal and provincial governments are attempting to arrest him. He said that the struggle will continue for the party's rights and until the PTI chairman becomes the prime minister, according to ARY News. Notably, the PTI rejected the resignation of Omar Ayub Khan. It said that Omar Ayub will continue serving on the post in line with instructions given by PTI founder Imran Khan, The News International reported, citing a party statement. In June, Omar Ayub stepped down as the secretary-general of PTI "to focus" on his role as the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of Pakistan. However, PTI's core committee and parliamentary party opposed his step, asking him to withdraw his decision to step down from the party's coveted post. In an official statement, the party said that Omar Ayub will continue as PTI secretary-general and benefit the party with his political experience and leadership. The statement read, "The parliamentary party as well as core committee of PTI through separate unanimous resolutions, reposed trust in him, commended him for his services and requested him to continue as PTI secretary general. "The PTI said that Imran Khan also appreciated the services of Omar Ayub and acknowledged his services for the party. On June 22, 2024, Omar Ayub submitted his resignation through a letter addressed to PTI founder Imran Khan and PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan. In his resignation letter, Omar Ayub said that further changes would be made in the organisational structure of the PTI in the coming days as per the instructions given by former Pakistan PM. The development came amid reports of rifts in the ranks of PTI. PTI-backed 27 Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) lawmakers were thinking of resigning from the National Assembly in protest against PTI's top leadership, according to sources, The News International reported, citing Geo News report. Of the 27, the insiders had said 21 of its lawmakers indicated forming a forward bloc over PTI top leadership's inability to secure the release of Imran Khan from prison, as per sources. (ANI) Abu Dhabi [United Arab Emirates], July 7 (ANI/WAM): The Petroleum Products Trading Regulatory Committee in Abu Dhabi continues its efforts to enhance security and safety measures in the Emirate, ensuring that operators and stakeholders adhere to federal and local regulations and decisions. In this regard, Saif Saeed Al Qubaisi, Acting Director General of Regulatory Affairs at the Department of Energy, stated, "The Committee aims to enable the entities involved in the trading of petroleum products in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to effectively collaborate in implementing the regulatory framework for these activities in accordance with the relevant issued legislation. This includes Federal Law No. (14) of 2017 and its executive regulations issued by the Cabinet Resolution No. (35) of 2019, in addition to Law No. (5) of 2023 concerning the regulation of these activities in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi." Al Qubaisi added, "The Committee regulates these activities in Abu Dhabi according to best international practices. It studies all related issues and topics and submits its proposals to the Department of Energy (DoE), particularly concerning the assessment of activities involving the trading of these products, which include hydrocarbon gas and all petroleum derivatives except crude oil. The Committee also proposes programmes, initiatives, and projects related to the regulation of their trading those products." He continued, "In line with the Committee's charter, four working groups have emerged under the supervision of the DoE's technical sector. Each working group includes representatives from various member entities of the Committee. The tasks of each group are respectively focused on permits, inspection and enforcement, legislation and legal affairs, and data and information technology." Moreover, Al Qubaisi pointed out that the Committee studies and analyses periodic reports on the trading of these products and their performance indicators and provides appropriate recommendations. These reports include issued trading permits, compliance rates of public entities in this sector, violations, fines, and related necessary procedures to monitor the adherence of establishments and individuals to licences, permits, and related conditions and standards. Al Qubaisi emphasised that the regulations governing the trading of petroleum products cover a range of activities and processes, from the import of these products into the country or their manufacturing to their storage, packaging, transportation, marketing, distribution, offering for sale, selling, purchasing, or supplying them to others. Al Qubaisi noted that the Committee will launch a platform for consultation and communication with clients and companies operating in the petroleum products sector in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to facilitate exchanging technical expertise and understanding of the needs of stakeholders. The DoE will develop the requirements, procedures, and working mechanism for this platform. (ANI/WAM) Bangkok [Thailand], July 7 (ANI/WAM): Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, President of the National Assembly and Speaker of the House of Representatives of Thailand, received Prof Dr Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders, today, Sunday, at the Thai House of Representatives. The meeting was attended by the Thai Minister of Justice and several members of the House of Representatives to discuss ways to enhance mutual relations. The President of the Thai House of Representatives welcomed the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, emphasising that the visit marks a historic milestone in the records of the Thai Parliament. He expressed his pride and gratitude, noting that this visit is the first by a Sheikh of Al-Azhar to the Thai Parliament and will be remembered by the Thai people and etched in the memory of the Thai House of Representatives. He also assured that he has been following the activities and meetings held by the Grand Imam in Thailand and is confident that these events will strengthen the cooperation between Al-Azhar and various cultural and educational institutions in Thailand. The President of the Thai House of Representatives expressed his appreciation for the 70-year-old Egyptian-Thai relations, highlighting Al-Azhar's significant role in the development of these relations. He thanked the Grand Imam and Al-Azhar for their hospitality towards Thai students, who number more than 3,000, and for offering 160 annual scholarships to Thai Muslims. He also appreciated Al-Azhar for hosting delegations of Thai imams for training at the Al-Azhar International Academy for Imams and Preachers. He noted that most, if not all, Al-Azhar graduates in Thailand hold prominent positions in various ministries and institutions, serving as senior scholars, imams, judges, teachers, and doctors. The Speaker of Thailand's House of Representatives requested the Grand Imam to increase the number of scholarships and Al-Azhar emissaries to Thailand, emphasising their crucial role, especially in universities and secondary schools in Thailand. He mentioned that he received his education at the Islamic University in Thailand and studied Arabic under an Al-Azhar teacher sent to Thailand at that time. Speaker of Thailand's House of Representatives expressed his nation's appreciation for the significant and pioneering efforts made by Al-Azhar and the Muslim Council of Elders in spreading the values of diversity, dialogue, respect, and acceptance of others, which contribute to enhancing mutual coexistence and human fraternity. For his part, the Grand Imam expressed his gratitude to the Speaker of the Thai House of Representatives for the warm welcome and his appreciation for the mutual relations between Egypt, particularly Al-Azhar, and Thailand. He was delighted to hear about the excellence of Al-Azhar graduates in Thailand, their positive integration into society, and their contributions to the country's development through leadership in Islamic institutions and centers. The Grand Imam affirmed Al-Azhar's readiness to increase scholarships for Thai Muslims, establish a center for teaching Arabic to Thais to learn the language of the Quran, and expand cooperation to meet the needs and future aspirations of the Thai community. During the meeting, the Grand Imam announced an increase the number of Al-Azhar emissaries to Thailand from 15 to 21, in response to the request of the Speaker of the Thai House of Representatives. He also pledged to intensify the training courses for Thai imams at the Al-Azhar International Academy for Imams and Preachers, with a special program designed by senior scholars and professors of Al-Azhar to suit the nature of Thai society. At the end of the meeting, the Grand Imam presented the Speaker of the Thai House of Representatives with the Al-Azhar Shield and the Medal of the Muslim Council of Elders, commemorating the tenth anniversary of the council's establishment. (ANI/WAM) Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Ali Raza of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) was killed in what authorities have described as a 'targeted attack' in Karachi's Karimabad area, Geo News reported. The incident, which occurred on Sunday, saw unidentified assailants fatally shoot DSP Raza near a residential building. Raza, known for his close friendship with the late senior superintendent police (SSP) Chaudhry Aslam, sustained a fatal head injury from the assailants' gunfire. Despite being rushed to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, he succumbed to his injuries during treatment. A security guard of the residential building also lost his life in the intense gunfire. Police officials reported that the attackers, consisting of two gunmen, carried out the attack with precision. One of the assailants wore an ajrak, a traditional block-printed shawl from Sindh, while the other concealed his face with a helmet. The gunman who targeted DSP Raza used a 9mm pistol equipped with a silencer, indicating a well-planned operation. Authorities disclosed that DSP Raza frequently visited the area to meet childhood friends, raising suspicions that the assailants meticulously planned the attack following thorough reconnaissance. At the crime scene, investigators recovered 11 spent bullet casings from a 9mm pistol. CTD Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Asif Aijaz Shaikh, addressing reporters after the incident, vowed that those responsible for the attack would face justice. He confirmed that DSP Raza typically used a bullet-proof vehicle. When asked about potential threats to DSP Raza, DIG Shaikh acknowledged that all CTD officers are at risk due to the nature of their work. He stated that two individuals were involved in the attack, firing a total of 11 rounds at DSP Raza. However, DIG Shaikh cautioned that it was premature to speculate on the motives behind the attack, emphasising the need for a thorough investigation to uncover the assailants' intentions. Following the incident, senior CTD officials including Raja Umar Khattab, Mazhar Mashwani, and Khurram Waris visited the crime scene to assess the situation. Law enforcement agencies swiftly cordoned off the area, initiating a comprehensive inquiry to determine the underlying reasons behind the targeted killing, Geo News reported. (ANI) In a concerning turn of events, new revelations have surfaced regarding the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), suggesting a troubling pattern of mismanagement in key appointments, particularly concerning the crucial role of Additional Director Aero Medical. This position holds significant responsibility in assessing the fitness of pilots, a role critical to ensuring aviation safety, Geo News reported. The alarm was raised amidst ongoing recovery efforts following the 2020 fake licences scandal, a debacle that led to European authorities imposing a ban on Pakistani airlines. This ban, enforced due to concerns over the authenticity of pilot certifications, has had profound implications for the country's aviation sector, impacting operations and reputation alike. The latest disclosures have come to light as part of an interim report presented by the aviation minister regarding the tragic PIA flight PK-8303 crash in Karachi in May 2020, which claimed the lives of 85 passengers. This incident underscored the critical importance of rigorous oversight and competence within regulatory bodies like the CAA, as reported by Geo News. According to sources familiar with the matter, concerns have been raised regarding recent appointments to the role of Additional Director Aero Medical. This position requires expertise in evaluating pilots' medical fitness, a responsibility that cannot afford lapses or errors. However, it has been alleged that recent appointments have been marred by favouritism and inadequate qualifications. The controversy deepened with revelations regarding the predecessor to the current appointee, who reportedly suffered from hearing impairment--a condition that ironically compromised their ability to adequately assess pilots' hearing capabilities. Despite reservations from the Human Resource department, this individual was appointed, raising questions about the integrity of the selection process. Furthermore, during an audit-related visit by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), it was alleged that efforts were made to conceal these irregularities. Sources claim that a physically fit substitute was presented in place of the incumbent, suggesting a deliberate attempt to mislead international regulators. The recent appointment of Ahreema Badar to the position has also come under scrutiny. Sources indicate that Badar lacks the requisite experience and academic credentials recognized by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the ICAO. Her credentials, including a diploma in Aerospace Medicine, were obtained from a university whose program is no longer endorsed by relevant authorities due to insufficient standards. Badar's resume allegedly fails to meet the mandatory experience requirements outlined by the ICAO for assessing pilots' medical fitness, a critical oversight that raises concerns about her suitability for the role. Sources familiar with Document 8984, which details the qualifications necessary for such appointments, suggest that these criteria have not been adequately met. In response to queries about these issues, CAA officials have maintained that all appointments are made strictly on merit, following a transparent procedure that emphasizes eligibility, experience, and skills. However, they have offered no substantive response to criticisms regarding Dr. Badar's qualifications or lack thereof in pilot medical assessment. The implications of these revelations extend beyond internal mismanagement, potentially impacting the credibility of Pakistani pilots' certifications on the international stage. With the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) extending its ban on Pakistani airlines due to ongoing concerns, there is a heightened risk of further setbacks, including delays in the privatization efforts of PIA. Pilots within the country's commercial aviation sector have expressed grave concerns over the potential fallout, fearing renewed scrutiny and scepticism regarding the authenticity of their licenses. The failure to address these issues promptly and transparently could exacerbate existing challenges and undermine efforts to restore confidence in Pakistan's aviation regulatory framework, Geo News reported. (ANI) To that end, on Sunday the CEO of the Population Authority hosted a delegation from India that included the CEO of India's National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and his team. The meeting was attended by the director general of Israel's Ministry of Construction and Housing, Yehuda Morgenstern, the head of the foreign workers administration at the Population Authority, Moshe Nakash, and representatives of various ministries. Today, over 40,000 workers work in Israel in the construction industry, most of them from the countries of China, Moldova and India. (ANI/TPS) ULAN BATOR, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's main opposition, the Democratic Party (DP), announced on Sunday that it has agreed to form a coalition government with the ruling Mongolian People's Party (MPP). The decision was made during an irregular meeting of the DP's National Policy Committee on Sunday. "Members of the National Policy Committee decided to cooperate with the ruling party to consider the results of the regular elections of the State Great Khural (the country's parliament) and voter preferences while addressing pressing national development issues on our party's agenda," the DP said in a statement. The MPP secured a narrow margin of victory in the parliamentary elections held on June 28, winning 68 of the 126 seats up for grabs, while the DP obtained 42 seats. The Hun Party, which translates to "Person" in Mongolian, secured eight seats, with the Civil Will-Green Party and the National Coalition each securing four seats. The ruling party has proposed the formation of a coalition government with the DP and the Hun Party. In May 2023, the State Great Khural passed amendments increasing the number of legislators from 76 to 126. The elections were conducted under a mixed electoral system, with 78 legislators elected through majority representation and 48 through proportional representation. The Asian country's parliament operates under a unicameral system with a four-year term. Felon, 21, kills four in mass shooting at Kentucky birthday party before turning gun on himself 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) 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. Tyrekennel Collins, 24, left, and Dezarrious Johnson, 18, right, broke out of a jail in Claiborne County, Mississippi on June 6. Both escapees were being held on murder charges from separate counties (Claiborne County Detention Center ) Two suspected killers who escaped from a jail in southwestern Mississippi have now been captured following a brief manhunt. Tyrekennel Collins, 24, and Dezarrious Johnson, 18, broke out of the Claiborne County Detention Center around 2.20am local time on Friday, according to the Claiborne County Sheriff's Department. Footage from the facility showed the two men crawling into the ceiling of the jail, the sheriffs department said. From there, the pair managed to find a means of escape to the jails exterior. Johnson appeared to injure his right leg during the escape, which may have given him a limp, the sheriff's department said as it warned the public that the pair were considered to be dangerous and urged all citizens to take necessary precautions. But their time on the run came to an abrupt end on Saturday when authorities tracked them down to an abandoned home, WJTV-TV reported. Video shows the two inmates being captured (Claiborne County Sheriff Department) The Claiborne County Sheriffs Department shared a video on Facebook of the pair being arrested and dragged out of the property by officers. Both men are currently awaiting trial for separate murder chargers in separate counties. Tyrekennel Collins, 24, left, and Dezarrious Johnson, 18, right, broke out of a jail in Claiborne County, Mississippi on June 6. Both escapees were being held on murder charges from separate counties (Claiborne County Detention Center) Collins is charged with murder in Copiah County for the October killing of his 46-year-old cousin, James Collins. Copiah County is approximately 40 miles west of Claiborne County. Johnson is charged with both murder and aggravated assault in Jefferson County after he allegedly killed one person and injured two others. His trial is set to begin on October 15. Jefferson County is directly south of Claiborne County. The Claiborne County Detention Center is located in Port Gibson, Mississippi, which is approximately 60 miles southwest of Jackson. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping will soon be meeting in person for the second time in two months as they visit Kazakhstan for a meeting of an international group founded to counter Western alliances. Putin and Xi last met in May when the Kremlin leader visited Beijing to underscore their close partnership that opposes the US-led democratic order and seeks to promote a more multipolar world. Now, they will be holding meetings as part of the annual session of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which the two countries established in 2001 to discuss security concerns in Central Asia and the wider region. Among its other members are Iran, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The meeting is another chance for Putin and Xi to demonstrate the strong personal ties in their strategic partnership as they both face soaring tensions with the West. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend an official welcome ceremony at the palace in Astana, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. - AP Putin wants to show that Russia is not isolated by Western sanctions from the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. An arrest warrant has been issued for him by the International Criminal Court, which accuses him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine. However, Kazakhstan is not party to the Rome Statute, and thus is not obliged to arrest him. Putin's meeting with Xi in May showed how China has offered diplomatic support to Moscow and is a top market for its oil and gas. Russia has relied on Beijing as a main source of high-tech imports to keep its military machine running. The organisation helps China project its influence, especially across Central Asia and the Global South. Xi called for bridges of communication between countries last week and wants to further promote China as an alternative to the US and its allies. Seven Amherst residents, three incumbents and four newcomers, are running for three seats on Amherst Town Council in the Nov. 5 election. Councilors Sharon Turner, Michael Driskill and Kenneth Watts are seeking reelection while residents Sonny Sundaramurthy, Jared Martin, Jason Eagle and Shannan Carter also have filed to run and qualified for the ballot by the June 18 deadline, according to the Amherst County Registrars Office. The New Era-Progress reached out to the candidates for comments on why they are running and stances on town issues. The newcomers Eagle has resided in the town for 15 years and lived in Amherst County most his life, he said. A graduate of Amherst County High School who received a bachelors degree in business management from Liberty University, he is an insurance claims adjuster. I have enjoyed living and raising a family in this small community, Eagle said. I believe that the heart of this town are the small local-owned businesses that are supported by the town and county residents. Eagle said he would like to see a commonsense approach to ordinance and zoning-related matters that affect town business and their ability to operate, including issues related to storage and paving requirements. He said he feels councils duty is to listen to the community and in most circumstances vote in accordance with the will of town residents. It is quite amazing to see so many people express their opinions at a town meeting, but it is equally disappointing to see the council, then vote against those opinions expressed by the town residents, Eagle said. This has occurred on several occasions in the past year If elected I would strive to listen to the concerns raised by all citizens of the town and vote based on the will of the majority. Martin, an Amherst native, is currently a lieutenant with the Richmond Fire Department and has volunteered for the Amherst Fire Department since 2005. He was 15 when he first volunteered and it led to a career in the fire service. I still like giving back to the community, Martin said in a recent interview. He said if elected he would look to bring a different perspective and new ideas to town government as a younger person at age 35 raising a family in the town. I want to see Amherst keep pace with growth and not fall behind, Martin said. He said he would work to find uses for vacant buildings in town and feels council needs improvement in being friendly to businesses. His father, Steve Martin, owns and operates Martins Body and Paint Shop, so Jared Martin said he knows firsthand how important those are to the town. Thats my main interest for getting on council, Jared Martin said. Martin said he also would also plan for the towns future while actually listening to the residents of the town. An example, he said, is the majority of council late last year rejecting a land donation offer from town Relator and former Mayor Paul Kilgore for a new park across from Amherst County High School. Turner joined councilors Janice Wheaton and Andra Higginbotham in the 3-2 vote to deny the conservation easement. Watts and Driskill voted in favor. The Amherst County Board of Supervisors shortly after decided to approve the conservation easement. Watts said he was highly disappointed in councils decision, which he said caused the town to lose all control over how the park eventually will be planned and developed. Martin said he feels council in that case did not follow what the majority of residents were in favor of. Sundaramurthy also is running to bring change to council he feels is much needed, explaining how he became concerned with serial complainers constantly pointing out perceived grievances in town zoning when his wife, Angela, recently opened a smoothie and coffee shop in town. He also noticed how town rules affected his son skateboarding in town, which also bothered him. I dont think the town council is focused on serving the people who elected them, Sundaramurthy said in a recent interview. He regularly speaks on his concerns with town protocols, zoning and other matters in public hearings and comment sessions before council based on his concerns. It seems like Im talking to a brick wall, Sundaramurthy said. He feels some ordinances council passed recently are terrible and he received a degree from the Liberty University School of Law in 2013 that he believes would be helpful in addressing those and town policy in general. One ordinance in particular he raised concerns with publicly at a recent council meeting was a sign ordinance update and making sure regulations are focused on outdoor signage. We shouldnt have to worry about keeping our curtains closed because were afraid of being reported by a serial complainer, Sundaramurthy said at the June 12 meeting. Let that kind of fear stay in places like North Korea, not in Amherst. A former internal vice chair of the Amherst County Republican Committee, Sundaramurthy recently joined in a local radio discussion with Sam Soghor, chair of the Amherst County Democrats, to foster bipartisan dialogue on town issues. He said he believes there is a lot of commonality between the left and the right when it comes to local issues. He and his family moved to Amherst from Northern Virginia in 2010 while he attended Liberty University School of Law and came to love the area, he said. A budget analyst for the U.S. Navy, he is in Washington, D.C. several times a month. The best thing about the Town of Amherst is the people, Sundarmurthy said. Getting to know the people in town has provided an incredible opportunity to be able to serve I love that the Town of Amherst is a real community where people know each other, look out for each other, and take care of each other. He said he feels council has implemented zoning and policy measures that are too restrictive and negatively affect the Amherst community. Several locally-owned businesses have recently shut down or are shutting down because of recent actions by Town Council, Sundaramurthy said. He added town officials should be focused on the needs of people currently in town. Planning for the future is important, but not when its planning for a future that doesnt include us. Attempts to reach Carter for comment were not successful. The incumbents Turner, an Amherst native, was appointed to council in August 2019 to fill a vacancy and was elected to the seat in 2020. A member of the towns economic development authority, she works in a managerial position at Hardware Corp. on South Main Street in Amherst. She said she has enjoyed serving on council for nearly five years. I still believe the Town must maintain integrity and authenticity of its quaint atmosphere while pursuing new opportunities that would enhance our community, Turner said in an email to the New Era-Progress. I have learned so much from citizens, who have shared their thoughts, concerns, stories, and creative ideas while serving on Council. Turner said her vision is to see Amherst embrace the new that will build upon its foundation to support a town full of life. It would be my honor to continue to serve the community as we move forward to make the Town of Amherst the best it can be, Turner said. Watts, a retired Amherst town police chief, last November was reelected to council and served four previous terms on council from 2012 to 2022. I am running for another term because I am concerned about the direction our town taken recently, Watts said in an email to the New Era-Progress. It seems to me that we have been sliding backward vs. moving forward on a number of issues. In recent months, the town has developed a reputation among a number of people that I have spoken to as not being very business friendly. While this may just be a perception, this perception absolutely has to change. Only Council can do that. Driskill was first elected to council in November 2022 and has been a resident of the town for more than 30 years. A retired Air Force officer and retired quality manager at the Amherst Glad plant, he also serves on the Town of Amherst Planning Commission. I will be promoting a commonsense approach to helping small businesses, Driskill said. Watts said in the two years council has taken action on short-term rentals he believes were in direct opposition to what a majority of residents wanted and one specific special use permit denial for a Pine Street residence was a head scratcher. He noted short-term rentals have become highly common in most localities and are a source of supplemental income for residents. I have personally stayed in several, Watts said. They have been clean, well run and the owners have lived close by and have been extremely responsive to any issue that arose. I feel that we should be able to find a way to regulate those businesses with certain guidelines. Driskill has publicly referred to short-term rentals as the way of the future that town leadership should embrace while keeping them regulated to certain standards, adding he would like to see short-term rental operators get to work. Watts said it speaks volumes that seven candidates are running. I want to continue to work with the people, rather than against what the majority of citizens who choose to express an opinion as to the direction they wish for the town to go, as long as it is in the best interest of the town in general, Watts said. I want to continue to fight for the town to progress. Since 2013, some 28 visitors, including 12 hikers, have died at Big Bend National Park, the study says. Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle Big Bend is one of the largest, quietest and least-visited national parks in the United States. Its also one of the most dangerous, according to a recent study. The Southwest Texas destination is ranked as the countrys fifth most dangerous national park in a list created by California-based personal injury litigators Triumph Law P.C., which analyzed official fatality rates occurring in 153 popular parks across America. The study advised travelers to be particularly careful this summer when visiting Big Bend, which receives 431,241 visits on average. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Sadly, over the past 11 years, 28 of its visitors lost their lives on its premises, the study says. This means the Big Bend National Park reports nearly six deaths for every one million visits. The most dangerous national park in the country, according to the study, is Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument located at Arizonas southern border with Mexico, where 60 people have died since 2013, contributing to a rate of 25.3 deaths per million visits. Virgin Islands National Park is the second most dangerous, with 10 deaths per million visits or an average of three fatalities per year, followed by the Upper Delaware Scenic & Recreational River in New York and Pennsylvania, with six deaths per million visits. Colorado National Monument is ranked fourth with 29 deaths since 2013 and 441,356 average yearly visits. According to the study, someone dies in an American national park every 29 hours, with most of the fatalities being due to human factors. Every 11 days, a hiker dies. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Since 2013, some 365 people have died while hiking in national parks. Big Bend is the eighth-highest national park for hiking-related deaths, Triumph Law found, with 12 deaths over the past 11 years. The Yosemite National Park in California has had the most, with 31 hikers perishing, followed by the Grand Canyon in Arizona with 29; Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks with 26; Mount Rainer National Park in Washington with 21; Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado with 20; Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee with 15 and Zion National Park in Utah with 12. Further analysis suggests the older the hikers, the more unlikely they are to survive, the study says. Those aged over 55 constitute almost half the victims whose death occurred while hiking. Nearly 40% of the victims died from a medical condition resulting from the activity, while 28% fell to their death and 14% suffered from hyperthermia or hypothermia. Still, falling and medical reasons are not the top reasons 3,273 people have died in national parks since 2013. Instead, suicide is the leading cause of death, with 561 cases, followed by motor vehicle crashes and drowning. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Other causes of death include homicide (43 cases), aircraft incidents (40), drugs (34), falling rocks (18), falling tree or branch (16), bicycle crash (15), avalanche (11), flash flood (11), lightning (7), electrocution (4), alcohol poisoning (4) and horseback riding (2). Nature rarely kills, said Robert Carichoff, personal injury lawyer at Triumph Law. In fact, we discovered that, on a yearly basis, nature is to blame only in one of every 1.6 million visits to a national park of any size. He added that drowning and fatal flaws are often avoidable and can be prevented through better signage and supervision from the parks' administration. To create the study, Triumph Law examined recreational visitor and mortality data from the US National Parks Service from January 2013 to December 2023. The final ranking was based on the number of fatalities compared to the total number of visitors to each park during the same time period to obtain a rate of fatalities per one million visits. Parks with fewer than one million visits during the period were excluded from the study. The Virginia Department of Transportation is studying ways to improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety on Wards Road from the U.S. 460 interchange to Candlers Mountain Road, a section of highway in Lynchburg that handles up to 25,000 vehicles per day. Over the past year, VDOT has been soliciting feedback from the public on the proposed Wards Road Corridor improvements. The deadline for the public to offer input in the latest round of outreach was July 3. Portions of the current version of the Wards Road Corridor project could face some pushback from city officials and the public. But VDOT expects its outreach and education efforts will help the public understand the reasons for the improvements. The department, for example, was able to get public buy-in on the introduction of roundabouts in Lynchburg more than a decade ago. A similar education component will be used to explain the proposed changes on Wards Road, said Rick Youngblood, planning manager for VDOTs Lynchburg District. Youngblood told The News & Advance he expects city officials will welcome the proposed changes to Wards Road, which feature new lanes in certain areas, easier turns into commercial areas, and new crosswalks. The City of Lynchburg would be the entity to submit the application for the changes on Wards Road. City officials could opt to apply for funding for only certain components of the Wards Road Corridor plan. But Youngblood said the city could improve its chances of receiving state funding if it applies for the entire list of changes proposed by VDOT for the Wards Road Corridor. The funding would come from VDOTs transportation grant-funding program called Smart Scale. Using the Smart Scale process, VDOT evaluates potential transportation projects based on factors such as how they improve safety, reduce congestion, increase accessibility and affect the environment. The application period for the current Smart Scale funding phase is ending too soon for Lynchburg to apply this year. Therefore, Lynchburg would need to wait for the next funding period. Applications in the next round of Smart Scale funding would need to be filed by 2026. The Wards Road Corridor application would then compete for funding with other project applications in VDOTs Lynchburg District and across the state. If the changes win state funding, construction on the Wards Road improvement could begin by the end of this decade. Prior to developing the changes to Wards Road, VDOT officials studied traffic patterns and accident history along the stretch of the highway and then came up with ways to improve traffic flow and allow motorists easier access to commercial areas. In the survey, VDOT requested public feedback on a variety of proposed changes, including the entrance from Wards Road into Walmarts north entrance. As part of the Walmart area plan, southbound Wards Road would be widened from two to three lanes. A new sidewalk on the east side of Wards Road would connect pedestrians between bus stops and commercial developments. This potential solution would mitigate congestion on southbound Wards Road and improve safety along Wards Road for vehicles exiting [the] Walmart entrance as well as for pedestrians, VDOT said in its survey. Youngblood said the Wards Road Corridor faces traffic congestion most of the year, with the holiday shopping season in November and December often the worst time for traffic jams. One of the more creative plans for the Wards Road corridor, according to Youngblood, is a section near Central Virginia Community College where Old Wards Road feeds into the highway. At first glance, the design for this portion of the project might throw people for a loop, Youngblood said. But the proposed design change should help improve traffic flow at the intersections of Wards Road and Old Wards Road and Wards Road and Liberty University Drive, he said. The Old Wards Road ramp would be widened and a dedicated right turn lane for southbound right-turning traffic onto Wards Road would be added, along with two right-turning lanes that would then allow those vehicles to turn left at Liberty University Drive toward Liberty University through the tunnel. Under this type of intersection design known as a displaced left-turn concept, the southbound left-turning movement of vehicles at the intersection of Wards Road and Liberty University Drive would be shifted to the other side of Wards Road next to the opposing northbound through traffic. This potential solution would mitigate traffic congestion at the intersections of Wards Road/Old Wards Road and Wards Road/Liberty University Drive, VDOT said. This improvement would also improve vehicular and pedestrian safety along Wards Road between the two intersections. Youngblood said this type of intersection design at Wards Road and Liberty University Drive might be confusing to drivers at first. There was a ton of outcry when roundabouts were first proposed for Lynchburg, he noted. But residents have learned how to use the roundabouts and grown to accept them since the first one came to the city 10 to 15 years ago, according to Youngblood. We had to go through an education process on roundabouts, he said. To address any confusion about the proposed changes to Wards Road, VDOT plans to undertake a similar education process. Tokushima, Jul 07 (News On Japan) - Handa District in western Tokushima Prefecture is one of Japan's leading somen-producing regions, with over 20 workshops. For over 300 years, somen has been made here, utilizing the clear waters of the Yoshino River and the salt from the Naruto Strait. Takaya Ono from Handa Men Ono Seimen said, "The cold wind from the Shikoku Mountains is perfect for drying somen, allowing us to make delicious noodles." Nowadays, they also use fans and dehumidifiers and occasionally change the airflow to mimic the natural wind as much as possible. We have some Tokushima somen prepared for you! Anchor Mai Izumi commented, "Delicious! I could eat this endlessly. Each noodle is thick yet smooth, with a delightful texture." The chewy and firm texture and smoothness of Tokushima's somen are its distinctive features. On a hot day like today, it's recommended to chill the noodles in ice water and enjoy them cold! Source: TBS Jul 08 (News On Japan) - In the upcoming episode 1112 of One Piece, fans can look forward to an epic confrontation between two powerful pirate captains. Shanks, the unyielding emperor who has dominated the seas, will face off against Eustass Kid, a notorious figure from the worst generation with a bounty of 3 billion yen. The long-standing rivalry between these two captains will culminate in a fierce battle at Elbaf. With both pirates driven by their ambitions and deep-seated grudges, this clash promises to be one of the most intense encounters in One Piece history. Stay tuned for the next thrilling episode as Shanks and Eustass Kid vie for supremacy on their path to becoming the Pirate King. Source: ONE PIECE Official YouTube Channel Quantum Standardization and Testing Labs: DoT announced call for proposal for making India self-reliant in Quantum technologies New Delhi, Sun, 07 Jul 2024 NI Wire New Delhi: Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has announced call for proposals, titled "Quantum Standardization and Testing Labs," and has invited submissions from Indian academic institutions or R&D institutions, either individually or in partnership. The main objective is to accelerate research and development in quantum technologies, ensuring the interoperability, reliability, and security of quantum communication systems. These labs will serve as innovation hubs, uniting quantum technology developers, testing equipment manufacturers, and academic researchers to explore and harness the full potential of quantum technologies for the benefit of all citizens. Enhancing Everyday Life with Quantum Technologies The initiative aligns with the Prime Ministers vision for Jai Anushandhan, aiming to support research and development in telecom products and technologies that directly enhance the lives of Indian citizens. It represents a significant step towards making India self-reliant in quantum technologies and setting global benchmarks in this cutting-edge field. The effort not only supports the development of secure, reliable, and efficient quantum communication systems, but also aims at providing all Indian citizens with advanced technologies that improve everyday communication, data security, and overall digital experience. Highlights: These labs to serve as innovation hubs to explore and harness full potential of quantum technologies for benefit of all citizens Aim at establishing benchmarks and protocols essential for seamless integration of quantum communication elements Labs to develop reliable testing facilities to validate quantum concepts, processes, devices, and applications The initiative represents a significant step towards making India self-reliant in quantum technologies and setting global benchmarks in this cutting-edge field Objectives of the Proposed Labs: Quantum Standardization: Establish benchmarks and protocols essential for the seamless integration of quantum communication elements such as quantum key distribution, quantum state analysers, optical fibres, and components into existing and future communication networks. Testing Facilities: Develop reliable testing facilities to validate quantum concepts, processes, devices, and applications created by Indian industry members, including startups, R&D, and academic institutions. This includes verifying their performance under different conditions and certifying their compliance with national and international standards. These facilities will support the development of quantum technologies that can be safely and effectively used by citizens in various sectors, including healthcare, education, and finance. These labs aims at easy accessibility to industry, startups, and local telecom stakeholders at a nominal fee, ensuring that the benefits of advanced quantum technologies are available to all. By fostering a comprehensive approach, this initiative supports the growth of indigenous quantum technology solutions, positioning India as a leader in global standards. Proposed technologies for Testing: Single Photon and Entangled Photon Sources. Single Photon Detectors, including superconducting nanowire SPDs and avalanche photodiodes. Quantum Memories and Repeaters. Quantum Communication Modules such as QKD, quantum teleportation, and free-space quantum communications. Trusted Nodes and Untrusted Nodes. And Any other items relevant to the Quantum Communication Domain. The last date for submission of proposals is 05 August 2024. For more information on submission guidelines and requirements, please visit the DoT website https://dot.gov.in or contact the TTDF program office at https://ttdf.usof.gov.in. Source: PIB By John Owen Nwachukwu Elder statesman, Chike Obidigbo has warned politicians, especially those from the Southeast, against further compounding the travails of the Leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu. He regretted that some Igbo political elites are going about the demand for the release of the embattled IPOB leader the wrong way, stressing that the overzealous politicians are acting out of ignorance and mostly in self aggrandizement. According to the elder statesman, the issues around Kanu and his leadership of IPOB are not easy as politicians think, adding that releasing Kanu without granting referendum to IPOB may not address the secessionist agitation or the crisis in the zone. In a statement made available to DAILY POST, Sunday, Obidigbo, who is the President of Osisioma Foundation, noted that the delicate nature of Kanus incarceration requires quiet diplomacy to achieve political solution, without politicising his release, the way they are going about it. While identifying the salient complications around the IPOB leaders forceful rendition and consequent incarceration, the Anambra-born elder statesman said Britains loud silence about Kanus predicament raises a large red flag. Parts of the statement read: I woke up this morning with a very heavy heart. I am constrained to say that I am not happy with the way and manner our political elites are going about their request for the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. The sense I make of the cheap scramble by Igbo politicians to be identified in the growing calls for Mazi Nnamdi Kanus freedom from prolonged and unjust incarceration is that they are merely playing to the gallery. It is obvious that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not entirely the one holding Nnamdi Kanu. It was not even former President Muhammadu Buhari nor his erstwhile Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami SAN. All the AGFs, including the current one are mere legal officers for the government. However, Kanus matter is a security issue, which requires the involvement of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu. The President may not have absolute authority to release Kanu although, he has the power to influence things if he so desires. Obidigbo disclosed that the other powerful elephant in the room blocking Nnamdi Kanus freedom is the British Government, stressing that Kanu acted against British economic interest in Nigeria. He remarked that the British economic interest, which Kanus agitation was negatively affecting, has been enriching the government and people of Britain, over several centuries, saying that although the fact is well known to most Nigerian elites, they simply prefer to remain pretentious. Everything that Kanu said or did were done in Britain, being a British citizen. But, they could not afford to arrest him on British soil, because of obvious and potential backlash. What Britain did was to join in the international conspiracy to lure Kanu to Kenya, knowing that Africans lack integrity and respect for laws. They got him kidnapped in Kenya and forcibly and illegally renditioned to Nigeria. They could not have done that in any other part of the world, outside of Africa, without extreme repercussions. It is only on African soil that such illegality can take place and his captors knew that much, and took advantage of it. So, the British High Commissioner in Nigeria showed no interest in at least speaking up against the violent kidnap and rendition of her citizen. All the Embassy was interested was to hear Kanu renounce his dream of a Biafra, probably with an undertaken never to support any such agitation in future, he sated. The Industrialist said Britains double standards and hypocrisy betrays their long term destabilising designs against Nigerias socio-economic prosperity and independence. He stated: Here was the same Britain that in 1984 frustrated the forceful abduction and return to Nigeria of Alhaji Umaru Dikko, who was not even a British citizen at the time, but merely an asylum seeker in Britain. Britain continues to see Nigeria as their fertile farm land for free economic exploitation and political manipulation. They have no wish to relax their stranglehold, not now, not in the near future. So anything or anyone posing as a threat to her economic interests in Nigeria, automatically becomes their sworn enemy. The industrialist expressed relief that African youths are gradually waking up to challenge all the existing frustrations, deprivations and blatant exclusion arrayed against them from enjoying the natural endowments of their own countries. 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. Airline Company Binter on Saturday resumed direct flights between Essaouira-Mogador International Airport (ESU) and Gran Canaria Airport (LPA), marking its second consecutive year of summer links between the two destinations. Flights of the Spanish-regional airline will operate every Saturday until mid-September, with a 22% increase in capacity compared to the previous year. After a flight of almost an hour and 30 minutes, Binters ATR-72 aircraft landed at the Essaouira-Mogador International Airport, carrying several passengers bound for the Moroccan destination, before boarding passengers departing from the city. In a statement to MAP, Binters International Communications Manager, Borja Bethencourt, welcomed the resumption of air services between Essaouira and Gran Canaria, underlining the importance of this route for strengthening tourist and economic exchanges between the two regions. He explained that, this season, the airline offers 22.2% more seats compared to last year, reaching some 1,573 available seats. This initiative has been carried out thanks to Binters exceptional relationship with the Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT) and is part of the implementation of a collaboration agreement between the two parties aimed at strengthening their commitment to tourism recovery and connectivity with the Canaries, he stressed. For his part, Chief of the Essaouira Mogador International Airport, Abdelmounaim Aoutoul, said that the new route is intended to boost air services at the airport, which has seen sustained growth in domestic air traffic in recent years. In terms of air links, Aoutoul pointed out that the Essaouira airport is currently connected to eight international destinations, in addition to domestic flights to Tangiers. Essaouira-Mogador International Airport is considered to be one of the Kingdoms major airports, and plays a central role in the economic and tourism development of Essaouira and the Marrakech-Safi region, enhancing the attractiveness of the region on both national and international levels, he added. The airport terminal, inaugurated in 2010, covers an area of 3,000m and has a capacity of up to 300,000 passengers a year, noted Aoutoul, adding that the airport is equipped with modern technologies, guaranteeing optimal conditions in terms of safety, security, and quality of services for passengers. This year has seen a resurgence in really high quality systems programming meetups. Munich Database Meetup, Berlin Systems Group, SF Distributed Systems Meetup, NYC Systems, Bengaluru Systems, to name a few. This post summarizes a bit of disappointing recent tech meetup history, the new trend of excellent systems programming meetups, and ends with some encouragement and guidance for running your own systems programming events. I will be a little critical in this post but I want to preface by saying: organizing meetups is really tough! It takes a lot of work and I have a huge amount of respect for meetup organizers even when their meetup style did not resonate with me. Although much of this post talks about NYC Systems, the reason I think this post is worth writing is because so many other meetups in a similar vein popped up. I hope to encourage these other meetups and to encourage folks in other major metros (London, for example) to start similar meetups. Meetups I used to attend a bunch of meetups before the pandemic. But I quickly got disillusioned. Almost every meetup was varying degrees of startups pitching their product. The last straw for me was sitting through a talk at a JavaScript meetup that was by a devrel employee of a startup who literally gave a tutorial for their product. There were also some pretty intelligent meetups like the New York Haskell Users Group and the New York Emacs Meetup. But not being an expert in either domain, and the attendees almost solely appearing to be experts, I didn't particularly enjoy going. There were a couple of meetups that felt inclusive for various skill-levels of attendees yet still went into interesting depth. Specifically, New York Linux User Group and Papers We Love NYC. These meetups were exceptional because they were language- and framework-agnostic, they would start broad to give you background, but then go deep into a topic. Maybe you only understood 50% of what was covered. But you get exposed to something new from an expert in that domain. Unfortunately, the pandemic happened and these two excellent meetups basically have not come back. A couple of students in Munich The pandemic ended and I tried a couple of meetups I thought might be better quality. Rust and Go. But they weren't much better than I remembered. People would give a high level talk and brush over all the interesting concepts. I had been thinking of doing an in-person talk series since 2022. If I put together a systems/databases/distributed systems meetup in NYC (a physical meetup, not Zoom), who'd be interested (in attending, or presenting, or helping me organize, or donating space)? No promises! Phil Eaton (@eatonphil) September 27, 2022 But I was busy with TigerBeetle until December of 2023 when I was messaged on LinkedIn by Georg Kreuzmayr, a graduate student at Technical University of Munich (TUM). Georg and his friends, fellow graduate students at TUM, started a database club: TUMuchData. We got to talking about opportunities for collaboration and I started feeling a bit embarrassed that a graduate student had more guts than I had to get back onto the meetup organizer wagon. A week later, with assurance from Justin Jaffray that at least he would show up with me if no one else did, I started the NYC Systems Coffee Club to bring together folks in NYC interested in any topic of systems programming (e.g. compilers, databases, web browser internals, distributed systems, formal methods, etc.). To bring them together in a completely informal setting for coffee at 9am in the morning in a public space in midtown Manhattan. Trying something new! If you're a dev in NYC working on (or interested in) systems programming, grab a coffee and come hang out at 1 Bryant Park (indoor space) this Thursday 9AM - 9:30AM. See post for details and fill out the Google Form or DM me!https://t.co/A4bzcPGy6x pic.twitter.com/n1ECMd59ev Phil Eaton (@eatonphil) December 11, 2023 I set up that linked web page and started collecting subscribers to the club via Google Form. Once a month I'd send an email out to the list asking for RSVPs to this month's coffee club. The first 20 to respond would get a calendar invite. And about the same time I started asking around on Twitter/LinkedIn if someone would be interested in co-organizing a new systems programming meetup in NYC. Angelo Saraceno immediately took me up on the idea and we met up. NYC Systems We agreed on the premise: this would be a language- and framework-agnostic meetup that was focused on engineering challenges, not product pitches. It would be 100% for the sake of corporate marketing, but corporate marketing of the engineering team, not the product. NYC Systems was born! We'd find speakers who could start broad and dive deep into some interesting aspect of databases, programming languages, distributed systems, and so on. Product pitches were necessary to establish a context, but the focus of the talk would be about some interesting recent technical challenge and how they dealt with it. We'd schedule talks only every other month to ease our own burden in organizing and finding great speakers. Once Angelo and I had decided to go forward, the next two challenges were finding speakers and finding a venue. Thanks to Twitter and LinkedIn, finding speakers turned out to be the easy part. It was harder to find a venue. It was surprisingly challenging to find a company in NYC with a shared vision that the important thing about being associated with a meetup like this is to be associated with the quality of speakers and audience we can bring in by not allowing transparent product pitches. Almost every company in Manhattan with space we spoke with had a requirement that they have their own speaker each night. That seemed like a bad idea. I think it was especially challenging to find a company willing to relax about branding requirements like this because we were a new meetup. It was pretty frustrating not to find a sympathetic company with space in Manhattan. And the only reason we didn't give up was because Angelo was so adament that this kind of meetup actually happen. It's always best to start something new with someone else for this exact reason. You can keep each other going. In the end we went with the company that did not insist on their own speaker or their own branding. A Brooklyn-based company whose CEO immediately got in touch with me that they wanted to host us, Trail of Bits. How it works To keep things easy, I set up a web page on my personal site with information about the meetup. (Eventually we moved this to nycsystems.xyz.) I set up a Google Form to collect emails for a mailing list. And we started posting about the group on Twitter and LinkedIn. Very pleased to share the first NYC Systems Talks are taking place next Thursday Feb 22nd 6PM. Hosted by @trailofbits, with @paulgb and @StefanKarpinski speaking. Space is not infinite, fill out the Google Form if you can attend and would like an invite!https://t.co/jNssr5v1kJ Phil Eaton (@eatonphil) February 15, 2024 We published the event calendar in advance (an HTML table on the website) and announced each event's speakers a week in advance of the event. I'd send another Google Form to the mailing list taking RSVPs for the night. The first 60 people to respond got a Google Calendar invite. It's a bit of work, sure, but I'd do anything to avoid Meetup.com. It is interesting to see every new systems programming meetup also not pick Meetup.com. The only one that went with it, Munich Database Meetup, is a revival of an existing group, the Munich NoSQL Meetup and presumably they didn't want to give up their subscribers. Though most others use lu.ma. The mailing list is now about 400+ people. And in each event RSVP we have a wait list of 20-30 people. Of course although 60 people say Yes initially, by the time of the event we have typically gotten about 50 people in attendance. At each event, Trail of Bits provided screens, chairs, food, and drink. Angelo had recording equipment so he took over audio/video capturing (and later editing and publishing). After each event we'd publish talk videos to our @NYCSystems Youtube. Network effects In March 2024, the TUMuchData folks joined Alex Petrov's Munich NoSQL Meetup to form the Munich Database Meetup. In May, Kaivalya Apte and Manish Gill started the Berlin Systems Group, inspired by Alex and the Munich Database Meetup. I want to start a Berlin Database/Storage systems group, where we have regular meetups, discussions and talks. WDYT? @mgill25 @mehd_io @ClickHouseDB @SnowflakeDB @awscloud @GoogleDE @TUBerlin Can I get some support? Who else would be interested? #Databases Thanks Kaivalya Apte - The Geek Narrator (@thegeeknarrator) May 15, 2024 In May 2024, two PhD students in the San Francisco Bay Area, Shadaj Laddad and Conor Power, started the SF Distributed Systems meetup. Were super excited to be organizing a new SF Distributed Systems meetup NEXT WEEK! Our first meetup features @julianhyde and @conor_power23 presenting work on extending SQL and applying algebraic properties, sign up at https://t.co/d2lLDaQ5iJ Shadaj Laddad (@ShadajL) May 15, 2024 And in July 2024, Shraddha Agrawal, Anirudh Rowjee and friends kicked off the first Bengaluru Systems Meetup. Are you ready, Systems Enthusiasts of Bengaluru? Speaking at our first-ever meetup on 6th July, we have:@simsimsandy with "Learn about the systems that power GenAI applications" and @vivekgalatage with "The Browser Backstage: Performance vs Security" (talks linked below!) Bengaluru Systems Meetup (@BengaluruSys) July 4, 2024 Suggestions First off, don't pay for anything yourself. Find a company who will host. At the same time, don't feel the need to give in too much to the demands of the company. I'd be happy to help you think through how to talk about the event with companies. It is mutually beneficial for them to get to give a 5-minute hiring/product pitch and not need to do extensive branding nor to give a 30-minute product tutorial. Second, keep a bit of pressure on speakers to not do an overview talk and not to do a product pitch. Suggest that they tell the story of some interesting recent bug or interesting recent feature. What happened? Why was it hard? What did you learn? Focusing on these types of talks will help you get a really interesting audience. I have been continuously surprised and impressed at the folks who show up for NYC Systems. It's a mix of technical founders in the systems space, pretty experienced developers in the systems space, graduate students, and developers of all sorts. I am certain we can only get these kinds of folks to show up because we avoid product pitch-type talks. Third, finding speakers is still hard! The best approach so far has been to individually message folks in industry and academia who hang out on Twitter. Sending out a public call is easy but doesn't often pan out. So keep an eye on interesting companies in the area. Another avenue I've been thinking about is messaging VC connections to ask them if they know any engineers/technical founders/CTOs in the area who could give an interesting technical talk. Fourth, speak with other organizers! I finally met Alex Petrov in person last month and we had a great time talking about the challenges and joys of organizing really high quality meetups. I'm always happy to chat, DMs are open. i didn't realize how sarcastic this gif could be but i honestly am happy for her Edited at 2024-07-07 05:22 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link Congrats to the baby, so many nepo opportunities will wait for you Reply Thread Link excuse u that baby worked hard for their lead role in every film even though their acting is flat. Their last name and their parents have nothing to do with it!!! Reply Parent Thread Link True, it's likely they'll lose out on roles, even, due to the name. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link The internet is gonna be totally chill about this and respect her privacy. /s Reply Thread Link Speaking of which I was surprised no one made a post about TMZ taking pics of Vanessa Hudgens coming out of the hospital with her bb. She made a post about it. So violating. Reply Parent Thread Link It really is terrible... but inevitable? Sorry I had to Reply Parent Thread Link Aw congrats to them! I'm gonna be 30 at the end of the month and the broodiness is literally overwhelming. I want a baby so badly. Reply Thread Link I'm 40 and dealing with the baby fever too so bad Reply Parent Thread Link I swear everywhere I look at the moment someone's pregnant or just had their baby, and it's borderline torturous. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Saaaaame Reply Parent Thread Link Same its crazy how broody you get Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Yeah, for me it started after I turned 30 and now I'm almost 33 and still feel the same.. My SO finally said he felt ready to start trying for a baby at the beginning of this year, only for him to get some health issues which led to him having to get on some medications which for the duration he takes them, the doctors said we absolutely cannot try for a baby due to the damage the medications would do to the embryo All the while (what feels like) every other friend and family around us are expecting or have a baby already. So frustrating! Reply Parent Thread Link I remember once reading that she didnt want to have children, but that mustve been speculation. Congratulations to her and her husband. I hope people give her enough space. Reply Thread Link https://www.vogue.com/article/margot-robbie-do-not-ask-women-about-having-children "Sadly, Robbie says this isnt the first time shes been pressed on when she will produce an heir of her own. I got married and the first question in almost every interview is Babies? When are you having one? Im so angry that theres this social contract. Youre married, now have a baby. Dont presume. Ill do what Im going to do. Reply Parent Thread Link I respect that. As much as I may think "Aw, we lost another childfree woman", I know that it isn't my business and it's their life and happiness above all. She doesn't broadcast her life and people assumed her thoughts. Reply Parent Thread Link i was at a friends wedding a couple months ago and this other guest talked about them having babies within 30 min of them saying I do. I was so annoyed (especially because Ive had convos with this friend about how she knew it would be difficult for her to get pregnant and she wasnt entirely sure if she wanted to) Reply Parent Thread Link The other commenter responded to you with the exact quote. I think people misinterpreted this to mean she was childfree. As a childfree person, I always felt like she was just saying she was fed up with speculation, but not that she was childfree. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link She really has pulled off every Barbie ever made. Reply Thread Link Congratulations to the happy couple! Reply Thread Link I swear I read a comment on here a couple of days ago, about her and her husband not planning on having children. Anyway, Congrats to them! Reply Thread Link Happy for her. Hope she has a healthy pregnancy and delivery and babe! Reply Thread Link This Barbie is gonna be a mother!! Aww this is too cute!! I wish her well!! Reply Thread Link congrats to her! i wonder if they were already thinking of planning for a baby when she said last summer after barbie that she was going to take a break for awhile and focus more on producing Reply Thread Link well now she's producing a baby Reply Parent Thread Link all i'm taking away from this is that i should be on lake como showing my midriff. Reply Thread Link he's hawt Reply Thread Link I thought that dude was Bradley Cooper and wondered why she was photographed with him instead of her husband. But then I enlarged the photo and it wasn't Bradley Cooper. Hairline twins, tho! Anyway, congrats to them! Reply Thread Link BUT HOW OLD IS HE? Reply Thread Link 34, her age Reply Parent Thread Link Holy shit. Reply Parent Thread Link Last week, a significant political crisis unfolded in Bolivia after soldiers led by Army Commander General Juan Jose Zuniga engulfed the Bolivian government palace using armored vehicles, calling to restore democracy and free political prisoners. The attempted coup lasted only a few hours with leftist President Luis Arce quickly installing a new brass who called off the troops. However, the authenticity of the coup has come into question, with former president and Arces onetime mentor Evo Morales claiming it was staged in a bid to strengthen Arce's position, Lucho lied and deceived the Bolivian people and the entire world with this kind of coup or self coup, Morales said in a speech on Sunday, referring to Arce by his nickname. Arce has rubbished these claims and insists the coup was a genuine attempt to stop his 3-year reign by foreign interests eyeing Bolivia's lithium wealth, echoing Morales earlier claims that previous unrest was triggered by U.S. interest in Bolivias lithium sector. These interests seek our natural resources. Bolivia is the main world reserve of lithium, it also has rare earths that are what the planet needs today, he said in a recent interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais. Unlocking Bolivias Vast Lithium Wealth Bolivia is home to the worlds largest lithium deposits, accounting for 23% of global reserves. The countrys Salar de Uyuni salt flat is the largest of its kind with an estimated 21 million tons of lithium. It, therefore, comes as little surprise that several foreign companies including Germanys ACI Systems, Russias Uranium One Group, Chinas EV battery giant CATL and TBEA Group, South Korean steel manufacturer POSCO and French mining multinational Eramet have shown interest in Bolivia's lithium sector. India's battery material producer Altmin is currently working with the Bolivian government to develop the technology of cathode materials for lithium batteries. However, theres a dearth of concrete evidence linking foreign interests to the countrys political turmoil as Arce has claimed. Rather, technical issues are largely the reason why the South American nation has so far not succeeded in joining Chile and Argentina as one of the worlds lithium heavyweights despite the country being part of the famed Lithium Triangle. Related: Sinopec Appraisal Well in South China Sea Yields High Oil and Gas Flows To wit, Bolivia has managed to produce a paltry 1,400 tonnes of lithium since 2018, a figure dwarfed by 44,000 tonnes that Chile produced in 2023 alone. Theres a method to the madness though. Evaporation ponds work well enough in the salt flats of neighboring Chile and Argentina; unfortunately, they are less suited to Bolivia, where the brine has high levels of impurities and the salt flats have to contend with a rainy season that lasts several months. And now the government in La Paz is betting the farm on a relatively new and novel extraction technology: Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE). The Bolivian state has invested more than $800 million in DLE over the past two-years, but has admitted that initial results have been disappointing. The government has also signed a flurry of DLE deals: Last year, the government signed $1.4 billion deal with Chinas CBC and CATL for the construction of two DLE industrial plants with a combined capacity of 25,000 tonnes per year. Whereas DLE technologies vary, they are generally comparable to common household water softeners, and aim to extract ~90% of lithium in brine water vs. 50% using conventional ponds. Their biggest draw: they can supply lithium for EV batteries literally in a matter of hours or days, way faster than 12-18 months needed to be filtered through in order to be able to extract lithium carbonate from water-intensive evaporation ponds and open-pit mines. DLE also comes with the added bonus of offering ESG/sustainability benefits: DLE technologies are portable, able to recycle much of their fresh water and limit hydrochloric acid use. "The world needs abundant, low-cost lithium to have an energy transition, and DLE has the potential to meet that goal," Ken Hoffman, co-head of the EV Battery Materials Research group at McKinsey & Co., has told Reuters. The U.S. Geological Survey has provided estimates that DLE could unlock 70% of global reserves of the metal. Commercial scale DLE projects are expected to start coming online in 2025, and could supply 13% of global lithium supply by 2030, as per projections by Fastmarkets. The next few years will prove critical to the global lithium sector as the promise of DLE could finally see Bolivia become a lithium powerhouse at a time when Argentina is planning to sharply ramp up supply. We can expect to see a lot of smaller lithium producers go out of business if the Lithium Triangle reaches its full potential. By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Melissa Manno is a reporter covering education for the San Antonio Express-News. She can be reached at melissa.manno@express-news.net. She graduated from Penn State University in 2022 with a bachelors degree in journalism and minors in geography and digital media trends and analytics. She is also the 2021 Hearst National Journalism Writing Champion. Kazakhstans power sector is at a crossroads, a point where the government wants to diversify and reduce CO2 emissions. Nuclear power is viewed as at least a partial solution to existing challenges, and officials have taken the first step toward building a reactor by scheduling a nationwide referendum. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced the referendum in late June without scheduling a specific date for it. The country has abundant oil and natural gas reserves, but the president stressed a need to develop other energy sources to power economic growth. He went on to reassure his audience that the government was committed to developing its nuclear energy potential in a well-considered manner. The country has great opportunities for the development of nuclear energy; it is important to use them correctly and effectively. The final decision on this issue will be made by the people, the presidential press service quoted Tokayev as saying in an address to journalists. The immediate question on most peoples minds is who will help Kazakhstan build a reactor? There are four entities from Russia, France, China and South Korea under consideration for the job. Officials say the choice will be made after the referendum, provided the issue receives a popular endorsement. Given that Kazakhstan has a tightly controlled political environment, a yes vote seems likely. But many fear that geopolitics will prompt Kazakh authorities to award the construction contract to Rosatom, the Russian state-controlled firm. Some even believe its already a done deal, just waiting for the right time to announce it. That likelihood is fueling unease about safety and sovereignty risks. Aset Nauryzbaev, an economist and a former top official at KEGOC, the company operating Kazakhstans electricity grid, believes a Russian-built reactor will undermine Kazakhstans long-practiced foreign policy of multi-vectorism, in which Kazakhstan balances relations among global and regional powers so that none exerts controlling influence on Astanas policy choices. By building its own nuclear power plant here, Russia will be able to keep Kazakhstan in its field of influence we will depend on their production technologies, fuel, specialists, and they will certainly use this leverage when necessary, Nauryzbayev told Eurasianet. Vadim Nee, director of the Social and Environmental Fund, an environmental non-profit, is also concerned about the prospect that Astana, by deepening its nuclear partnership with Moscow, could face geopolitical risks. While developing green energy, the United States, the European Union, Japan, and South Korea are at the same time trying to limit Russias role in the nuclear industry, and we could find ourselves caught between two fires, Nee told Eurasianet. Timur Zhantikin, general director of the Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plant company, said that the uranium needed to fuel a nuclear plant would be domestically sourced, thereby limiting Russias ability to exert pressure on Kazakhstan once the reactor starts operations. Social media chatter among Kazakhstans commentariat appears firmly against Rosatoms involvement in any nuclear power plant project. The legacy of the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster, as well as the close calls at the Zaporizhzhiya nuclear plant during the Russia-Ukraine war, have imprinted on many the impression that Russia is lax when it comes to nuclear safety. Kazakhstan has its own complicated nuclear history, with nuclear power, linked to the legacy of Semipalatinsk, one of the Soviet Unions main nuclear test sites. Presently, about 80 percent of electricity in Kazakhstan is produced by burning coal, another 15 percent is generated via hydropower, and the rest comes from renewable energy sources. Meanwhile, Soviet-era energy infrastructure is prone to frequent breakdowns that cause extended power outages across the country. Adding nuclear power to the current mix is seen by officials as a quick fix to existing problems. At the same time, nuclear energy should not be seen as a green energy source capable of replacing coal-fired plants without entailing risks, said Nee. We must not forget that nuclear power plants produce hazardous waste, Nee said. And if an accident occurs, we risk losing one of our strategic water bodies Lake Balkhash. Since late last year, Kazakhstans Ministry of Energy has been conducting a promotional campaign that has shown signs of swaying public opinion in favor of nuclear energy. A poll conducted by Demoscope, an independent research firm, found that 47 percent of those polled favored the construction of a nuclear plant, and 38 percent were against it. Skeptics believe the referendums outcome is already settled, but authorities want to hold it to provide political cover, in case of a future mishap. Such strategic issues are decided from above, and a popular vote allows the authorities to shift responsibility to the people, said Olzhas Beksultanov, an activist with the political reform movement Oyan, Qazakstan. By Almaz Kumenov via Eurasianet.org Turkmenistan and Iran signed a contract on July 3 for the delivery of 10 billion cubic meters of Turkmen natural gas per year, which Iran will then ship to Iraq. Turkmenistan's Foreign Ministry announced the deal but did not say what price Iran would pay for the gas. The ministry's statement said Iranian companies will construct a new 125-kilometer pipeline between Iran and Turkmenistan to expand the Central Asian country's delivery capacity. The ministry said Turkmenistan, whose economy is heavily dependent on the export of natural gas, also plans to increase its gas supplies to Iran to 40 billion cubic meters a year. However, no time frame was given. Iran has the world's second-largest natural gas reserves and is the world's third-largest producer of the fossil fuel, but rising domestic demand is curtailing its ability to export. Iran has faced natural gas shortages during the wintertime. A gas swap with Turkmenistan will allow Iran to meet its export commitments. Turkmenistan has been carrying out gas swaps with Iran for several years, but the volume has been relatively low at just a few billion cubic meters annually. Revenue from natural gas exports account for the lion's share of Turkmenistan's budget. Turkmenistan holds the worlds fourth-largest proven natural gas reserves, estimated at nearly 14 trillion cubic meters, according to statistics compiled by British Petroleum. Turkmenistan currently produces about 80 billion cubic meters, meaning its production to proven reserve life is 166 years, an extraordinarily high number by global standards and one that implies Turkmenistan has the potential to produce significantly more. However, Turkmenistan has had trouble finding markets for its massive natural gas reserves. Bordered by Russia, Uzbekistan, Iran and the land-locked Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan has no ability to directly ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) to world markets. China is the country's main customer for natural gas, accounting for about half of Turkmenistans annual production. Turkmenistan is working on a pipeline to supply gas to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, where natural gas demand is expected to rise significantly in the coming decades. Turkmenistan has for decades been considering shipping natural gas via a pipeline across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan and further on to Europe, but opposition by littoral states Iran and Russia, previously the largest natural gas supplier to Europe, has left the idea in limbo. Europe's attempt to cut its natural gas demand has also raised questions about the viability of the pipeline. By RFE/RL More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The Senate President, Ahmed Lawan has said that from henceforth under his leadership, the National Assembly (NASS) will ensure the passage of the nations appropriation bill within three months of its submission by the Executive arm of government. Lawan stated this when he fielded questions from State House correspondents after joining President Muhammadu Buhari to perform the weekly Fridays Jumaat prayer at the Aso Rock Mosque, Abuja. He expressed the hope that the executive would always ensure early submission of the budget to enable the assembly deliberate and pass it in good time. Well, this is a crucial thing that worries everyone, every Nigerian wants to see the National Assembly passes the budget in good time and what we have in mind weve campaigned with that and its something both of us in the National Assembly have bought into that well pass the budget within three months by the grace of God. But I want to say here that it takes two sides of government to pass the budget in good time. I am sure that the executive side of the government would like to present the budget before the National Assembly in good time in September or early October. By the grace of God, we in the National Assembly will ensure that we carry out the budget defence and do the remaining parts of the processes and before we leave for Christmas break, the budget would have been passed and Mr President would have the budget before him to assent, he said. The senate president, therefore, called for sacrifice by both the assembly and the executive so as to create a window for budget defence only, a dedicate period and timeframe- say a month of which only budget defence will be carried out in the national assembly. Pastor Adeboye The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye has called for an end to the violence that has trailed xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other foreigners in South Africa. Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, Adeboye called for an end to the violence. He said, Please shun Violence, its dividends last a lifetime. Let us all embrace peace and remember that regardless of our race, colour or language, we are all of God. Nigerians and foreigners in South Africa have been the targets of attacks since a taxi driver, was killed in Pretoria last week by a suspected drug dealer. In reprisal attacks, Nigerians have been attacked South African-owned businesses in the country. See tweet: District 10 council member, Marc Whyte speaks before the San Antonio City Council votes to approve the first overhaul of its short term rental ordinance., Jessica Phelps City Council members and other elected officials attend a meeting to discuss the new city budget at the Henry Gonzalez Convention Center on April 18, 2024. (Kaylee Greenlee Beal/Contributor) Kaylee Greenlee Beal Attorney Marc Whyte says he?ll run for San Antonio?s District 10 city council seat. John Davenport/San Antonio Express-News District 10 Council Member Marc Whyte wants city departments to justify every cent they're seeking in San Antonio's annual budget. Called zero-based budgeting, the bottom-up approach would require City Council and city staffers to scrutinize every line item in the budget, instead of just evaluating new spending plans. Zero-based budgeting is not about cutting spending, the Northeast Side council member said. It's about finding outdated programs, programs that aren't working, the inefficiencies, the duplication and then taking that money and reallocating it to the citizens' priorities. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In social media posts, Whyte has promoted zero-based budgeting as a way to pump more money into the police and fire departments, which already make up the largest share of the general fund. He also wants to add funds for infrastructure projects and the clearing of homeless encampments, the latter of which is criticized by advocates as ineffective. The first-term council member is proposing rolling out zero-based budgeting in 2027 and repeating it every five years only for the general fund, which pays for basic services such as police and fire protection, parks, streets and libraries. This year's $1.6 billion general fund makes up 43% of the city's overall $3.7 billion budget. Zero-based budgeting has plenty of critics. They say it's hugely time-consuming, is much more expensive than routine, or "incremental," budgeting and rarely delivers the efficiencies its adopters expect. Branco Ponomariov, an associate professor of public administration at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said that budgeting approach can be an extremely resource- and time-consuming process that puts tremendous pressure on staff. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The idea for zero-based budgeting is really appealing on its face, and it's quite useful as a management approach, but if it's taken literally, it's almost preposterous in practice, Ponomariov said. If you dig deep enough, you will find money somewhere. But how much really? And at what cost? Whyte has the support of at least four of his council colleagues, but Mayor Ron Nirenberg isn't one of them. Having our police department or our parks department, whatever department, go all the way down to zero and have to justify every penny that comes out of that department is, in my opinion, a waste of taxpayer expense and time of staff, he said. Local governments rarely decide they want to drop existing programs from one year to the next or even every five years. Also, much of what a city spends on is mandated by state and federal law, Ponomariov said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad San Antonio city staff starts budget talks in the spring and spends the entire month of July preparing a proposed budget to present to City Council in August. Council then adopts the new budget in mid-September. Zero-based budgeting would blow up that timeline. But Council Members Melissa Cabello Havrda, Marina Alderete Gavito, Manny Pelaez and John Courage say zero-based budgeting could result in more transparency that is, much more information on how the city wants to spend taxpayers' money and smarter spending. Courage and Pelaez have announced mayoral campaigns for 2025. Cabello Havrda is widely expected to announce her candidacy, possibly after the presidential election in November. Several of its council supporters say city staffs early projection of a $10.6 million budget shortfall over the next two years, with few federal pandemic relief dollars to fall back on, may require a new approach to the annual budget. If we're not back to basics and tightening our belt and developing a dependable way of creating our budget, starting at zero and looking at every program and every department, then we are going to continue to face a financial challenge it's going to become a burden on people in our community, Courage said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Teri Castillo is one of the council members who aren't convinced. Castillo, who joked at an April meeting about the bad" idea of zero-based budgeting, worries that it would result in trimming funding for some programs, hurting city workers along the way. When we're talking about potentially making cuts, those are potential city employees that may have to do without work if we cut their programming and work projects, she said. Clashing interests Whyte has also managed to gather support from a couple of prominent progressives who rarely see eye to eye with the council's lone conservative. Advertisement Article continues below this ad To Ananda Tomas, executive director for local police reform group ACT4SA, zero-based budgeting could be a way to slow the expansion of the police department's budget and give smaller departments a fighting chance for more funding. This year, the city started rolling out a plan to add 360 officers to the police department over the next five years. With zero-based budgeting, Tomas said, smaller departments would have a chance to prove how much additional funds could beef up their programs and service, and force police to do more to defend what they ask for. Its going to be on a more even playing field, Tomas said. We have to start changing the narrative and start thinking bigger and broader, she added. For every department to start at the zero base and be, like, This is why we need the things. Here's the evidence I think we'll start seeing a better allocation of money, not just away from police, but any other wasteful spending. Brielle Insler, managing partner at San Antonio political and marketing consulting firm Duable, says zero-based budgeting could lead to more money for area youth and an initiative to address homelessness, beyond clearing out encampments. Duable represents liberal candidates and organizations, including Act4SA. Insler, who was initially skeptical of Whytes proposal, thinks zero-based budgeting could be a way to increase transparency in city spending and boost community voices. Pushing this forward will bring us to a place where we have public input that won't just be thrown away, she said. Spotty track record Governments that have adopted zero-based budgeting tend to drop it after a short period or end up using only elements of the process. Jimmy Carter used the budgeting strategy in Georgia when he was governor in the early 1970s and implemented it at the federal level when he was elected president in 1976. Ronald Reagan ditched it when he replaced Carter in the White House in 1981. Though Georgia claims to continue to use zero-based budgeting, Ponomariov noted the state cherry-picks only 10% of its programs to undergo the extra level of scrutiny. READ MORE: Future San Antonio budget windfalls could hold down CPS rate hikes Zero-based budgeting by design is meant to be comprehensive in part to be able to decide on priorities across programs, Ponomariov said. Obviously, you dont really do that if you just single out specific programs. The city of Houston used zero-based budgeting for its general fund in 2021. But Houston leaders ultimately turned to performance budgeting instead, which essentially requires the city to consider how well each of its programs is performing to determine how much funding it should receive, rather than building a budget from the ground up in each budget cycle. Whyte said hes open to considering other methodologies, such as performance budgeting, if that's the direction his colleagues want to go, but for now he's focused on zero-based budgeting. The city's Office of Management and Budget is reviewing Whytes proposal and will brief the councils Governance Committee by mid-August. Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has expressed his support for the ban on motorcycles by the Lagos state government. The former governor lent his support to the action on at a public lecture organised by the United Action for Change (UAC) in Lagos on Thursday. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of the state, had banned the operation of motorcycle and tricycle taxis in the state. Fashola who was a two-time governor of the state and also banned the use of okada during his administration. If you care about security, you should back your governor on okada ban. As a centre of excellence, okada cannot be part of the plan, he said. Ive always held this position. Motorcycle has always been a conduit pipe for the opioid crisis among youths. We must act to eliminate anonymity. I was robbed in my home, in fact on my bed in 1999. Organised crime is dynamic, criminals are aware that people dont keep money at home again, now they diversified into kidnapping people for ransom. We must have data to identify people. You have SIM cards on your phone. Its called subscriber identity module which can be tracked everywhere in the world. The attorney-general of each state and legislators should act. In those days, we used to have licence for bicycles. The Executive Director for the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo- Danquah says her phone call to the wife of security analyst Adam Bonaa was to caution her against becoming an innocent victim in the ongoing impasse between her and her husband and not to threaten her. I told her that all that he (Dr Bonaa) has said doesnt mean anything to me. But if he doesnt stop I will pray. If she doesnt call her husband (Dr. Bonaa) to order, I will go on my knees and I will pray to my God and my God will listen and she the wife might become an innocent victim. Because, when I pray with an open heart, I tell God that this man is hurting me because he is lying about me. My God that I serve will listen to me, COP Maame Tiwaa told Starr FM on Wednesday. It comes after Dr Bonaa claimed on the radio on Wednesday that the EOCO boss had called his wife to threaten her. She called my wife to threaten my wife, children, and me. I thought that for someone of her calibre, who has been put in charge of a public office, to do that, I found that very appalling, and so I am going to make a formal complaint to the CID for her to be questioned, Dr Bonaa stated. He explained his standoff with the EOCO boos stemmed from his petition to Parliament regarding the closure of investigations into Cecilia Dapaah's case, following a referral from the Office of the Special Prosecutor. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Former UK Prime Minister, Sir Tony Blair has urged the new Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, to introduce digital identity cards and avoid any vulnerability on wokeism. Tony Blair, who attempted to roll out digital ID cards when he was in power but saw the idea jettisoned after a new government took over, has revisited it, calling for a new digital system to help with border control following the return of his party to power. Writing in the Sunday Times, Sir Tony Blair said digital identity card system is the new order in the world and called on the UK to embrace it, describing it as a game changer. We need a plan to control immigration. If we dont have rules, we get prejudices. The only game-changer is the full embrace of the potential of technology. 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, Tony Blair wrote. He added; The only game-changer is the full embrace of the potential of technology, further stressing; We need a plan to control immigration. If we dont 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. Tony Blair's call to the new UK Prime Minister underscores the significance digital national identity system to developed economies and the world. The European Union has also given member States a deadline of 2030 to roll out digital national identity cards to all EU citizens. Ghana, interestingly, has already achieved this with the successful rollout of its robust national digital identity system known as the Ghanacard championed by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and having immense benefits for Ghana. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A mum has been jailed after killing her newborn daughter by throwing the infant out a window because she "thought a baby would ruin her career," a court heard. Katarina Jovanovic, 28, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years after being convicted of manslaughter. Katarina was a top lawyer for Porsche, from Lauffen am Neckar, Baden-Wuerttemberg State, Germany. She faced a judge at the Heilbronn District Court on Wednesday, July 3. Jovanovic secretly gave birth at home on September 12, 2023, before hurling the baby from her flat window, the court heard. The newborn, who was just minutes old, fell almost four meters into the road below and suffered a shattered skull. Traumatised passersby found her shortly after the horror unfolded and cops raced to the scene. Prosecutors told the court how Jovanovic believed having a child would ruin her career as an executive in the luxury car manufacturer's legal department. They told the court she deliberately kept her pregnancy a secret from colleagues and neighbours. Public prosecutor Mareike Hafendoerfer said: "The accused was not prepared to put her life plans, especially her professional advancement, on hold for a child. "That was her decision when the baby was born, and as a result, the criteria for a murder conviction are fulfilled." Jovanovic's lawyers claimed their client had accidentally dropped the baby after giving birth alone at home. They argued she had not realised she had been pregnant. Defence attorney Malte Hoech, 53, said: "It is a drama that affects me personally. My client did not even know that she was pregnant. "When she suddenly held the bloody baby in her hands, she was in an exceptional psychological situation. "It was an accident, she dropped the baby. How the child ended up over the windowsill remains to be determined." The court accepted the manslaughter charge and Jovanovic was jailed for seven-and-a-half years. Her lawyers claim they plan to appeal the verdict after fighting for a sentence of just three years. Neighbours previously told local media they did not realise Jovanovic was pregnant. One said: "Nobody noticed that the woman was pregnant. Recently she had changed and was no longer talking to us. Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Dennis Miracles has refuted claims about the collapse of banks under the Nana Addo administration. According to him, the claims that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo collapsed banks when he assumed office is untrue, adding nothing like that has ever happened under this regime. The Director of Local Government Services at the Office of the President, contributing to Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" panel discussion programme, emphasized that the collapse of the financial sector rather occurred under the reign of John Dramani Mahama and President Nana Addo's action salvaged the sector. He asserted; "it was never true that Nana Akufo-Addo collapsed the banks. In fact, no bank was collapsed", stressing "what was done was merger". Listen to his full submissions below: Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: CC0 Public Domain The first big moment on election night in the UK, after polls close, happens at 10pm sharp. This is when the exit poll is released and the media commentary floodgates are reopened after a day of media silence, according to broadcasting rules. Lots of polls are published during an election campaign, but the exit poll is different. While most other polls are snapshots of voting intention at a point in time, the exit poll is essentially what everyone wishes a poll could bea prediction of the election result. The exit poll is paid for by a media consortium made up of the BBC, Sky News and ITV. The polling and market research company Ipsos collects the data, which is analyzed by the expert exit poll team from a secret bunker in central London. How does the exit poll work? Opinion polls during an election tend to tell you one, or both, of two things: the projected vote share for each political party, and the projected number of seats each party will get. They make these projections by interviewing a panel of people over the phone, or inviting them to take a survey online, where they ask who they're planning to vote for. Pollsters aggregate and weight responses to arrive at their overall expectation for how the country would vote. While most polling companies do an excellent job, the people answering those surveys might not be predicting their own behavior very well, and there are a lot of statistical choices that need to be made when analyzing their answers. Therefore those opinion polls are an estimationa best guess based on that day. The exit poll is a different kind of survey. Instead of asking people what they think they might do, it asks them what they've just done. Ipsos fieldworkers stand outside 100150 carefully selected polling stations. They count the number of people who leave, and ask a certain number of them to fill out a replica secret ballot. These are counted and the change in votes for each party, compared with the previous election, is analyzed throughout the day until polls close. This method gets around a lot of the problems faced by survey researchers. It's a secret ballot, so people don't feel as embarrassed to be honest. They're repeating an action, instead of imagining something they might do. We know they've voted instead of having to estimate their likelihood of turning out. More people agree to participate than in opinion polls, too. That's why instead of being a projection, like the opinion polls are, it's a prediction. How accurate is the exit poll? In most years, the exit poll has been remarkably accurate. In 2019, it was out by just three seats for the Conservatives. It slightly overestimated Scottish National Party and Liberal Democrat success, meaning it was 12 seats under the result Labor got. But the overall picture was strikingly similar to the eventual outcome. In 2017, the exit poll was out by just four seats for both the two main parties, and two seats for the Lib Dems and the national parties. In 2015 the exit poll correctly predicted the Conservatives as the largest party, which came as a surprise because polls, until that point, had left everyone expecting a hung parliament. That year, the House of Lords ended up launching an inquiry into the polling industry because of this failure to pick up what was about to happen. The exit poll has had some notable misses of its own, though. In 1992, there were separate exit polls for different media companies. Both of them predicted a hung parliament, when in fact John Major's Tories won a majority of 21 seats. Generally, though, it gives us a pretty good idea of the story that is about to unfold overnight. Does this mean I can go to bed at five past ten? True nerds couldn't possibly sleep on election night with all the excitement unfolding. But most people will wonder whether they can get some kip because the exit poll tells us the result just in time for our hot cocoa. But there's always a chance the exit poll will miss somethingand that's slightly more likely this year, in particular. This is not because of anything that could be avoided, but because the electoral map has been redrawn as a result of boundary changes. There's therefore more uncertainty around tracking the changes in votes. Some constituencies no longer exist, some have been merged and some have been created from fragments of multiple other constituencies. So when the exit poll workers attempt to measure changes from the last election onto this election, they are working with a far more complex picture. The scale of the swings expected in 2024 also makes the job trickier. If you must, a good trick is to watch the exit poll then sleep for a few hours, and wake up again at around 3am to see how it's going. Then either get hooked and strap in for the rest of the morning, or catch a few more zzzs and come back at 6am. This is going to be a historic election, though, and you wouldn't want Fomo, so I'd always recommend staying tuned all night. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. 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: This July 2, 2018 image provided by Claudia Marsicano shows an image of the nearly complete skeleton from fossils recovered in Namibia of a giant salamander-like creature at the Paleontology lab in Cape Town, South Africa. Credit: Claudia Marsicano via AP Scientists have revealed fossils of a giant salamanderlike beast with sharp fangs that ruled waters before the first dinosaurs arrived. The predator, which was larger than a person, likely used its wide, flat head and front teeth to suck in and chomp unsuspecting prey, researchers said. Its skull was about 2 feet (60 centimeters) long. "It's acting like an aggressive stapler," said Michael Coates, a biologist at the University of Chicago who was not involved with the work. Fossil remnants of four creatures collected about a decade ago were analyzed, including a partial skull and backbone. The findings on Gaiasia jennyae were published Wednesday in the journal Nature. The creature existed some 40 million years before dinosaurs evolved. Researchers have long examined such ancient predators to uncover the origins of tetrapods: four-legged animals that clambered onto land with fingers instead of fins and evolved to amphibians, birds and mammals including humans. Most early tetrapod fossils hail from hot, prehistoric coal swamps along the equator in what's now North America and Europe. But these latest remnants, dating back to about 280 million years ago, were found in modern-day Namibia, an area in Africa that was once encrusted with glaciers and ice. This image provided by Gabriel Lio shows an artistic reconstruction of what the prehistoric salamander-like creature may have looked like. Researchers discovered a giant salamander-like predator that lived about 280 million years ago, using fossils recovered from Namibia. Credit: Gabriel Lio via AP This 2014 photo provided by Roger M. H. Smith shows Claudia Marsicano, professor at the University of Buenos Aires, examining the new basal tetrapod fossil at the discovery site of a salamander-like creature near the Ugab River in Namibia. Scientists have identified a giant salamanderlike predator with sharp fangs that likely ruled waters 280 million years ago. Credit: Roger M. H. Smith via AP That means tetrapods may have thrived in colder climates earlier than scientists expected, prompting more questions about how and when they took over the Earth. "The early story of the first tetrapods is much more complex than we thought," said co-author Claudia Marsicano at the University of Buenos Aires, who was part of the research. The creature's name comes from the Gai-As rock formation in Namibia where the fossils were found and for the late paleontologist Jennifer Clack, who studied how tetrapods evolved. More information: Claudia A. Marsicano et al, Giant stem tetrapod was apex predator in Gondwanan late Palaeozoic ice age, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07572-0 Adhi Agus Oktaviana et al, Narrative cave art in Indonesia by 51,200 years ago, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07541-7 Journal information: Nature 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. The only way to visit Ken Ables office is to traverse Great Bay Boulevard, a narrow, five-mile-long road in Tuckerton that crosses a network of brackish tidal marshes via a series of wood bridges. The boulevard, nominally protected from erosion by a border of reeds and groundsel shrubs, had flooded on a recent day. Undeterred, a woman in a truck plowed through, donned waders, and tossed a crab trap into a channel. Dozens of diamondback terrapins negotiating the road tucked their heads as an occasional vehicle approached. Ables office at the Rutgers University Marine Field Station lies at the end of the very tip of the boulevard, linked by a long boardwalk at the very edge of New Jersey. Flooding has become more common. Were losing our marshes, and thats very obvious, said Able, 79, a Rutgers professor emeritus and marine scientist who retired as the stations director in 2019 but continues conducting research. Weve lost 140 feet at the edge of the marsh channel, and its getting closer to the station all the time. Able has one of the most unique vantage points in the eastern United States to measure and experience climate change firsthand: The Atlantic Ocean is slowly swallowing the peninsula on which the station rests. Sea level rise New Jersey has experienced 8.2 inches of sea level rise over roughly the last 40 years. Thats twice the global average because not only is the ocean rising, but the land is sinking from natural geological forces and groundwater withdrawal to feed sprawl. So each inch of rising ocean is met with a compounding effect of collapsing ground. The 87-year-old, three-story field station is on the precipice of it all. The station was built in 1937 for the U.S. Coast Guard. In 1972, Rutgers took over the building and uses it as a base for the department of Marine and Coastal Sciences. The rambling buildings pilings are sunk 33 feet deep into the peat. On a busy day, dozens of scientists, students, researchers and volunteers pop in and out. Flooding of Great Bay Boulevard, known locally as Seven Bridges Road, is more frequent these days, so staff exchange emails if the road is passable. In recent years, so-called sunny day flooding, or nuisance flooding, has increased in the area. Sunny day flooding occurs when high tides push water into low-lying areas without a storm a signal water levels are increasing. In the 1950s, Atlantic City experienced sunny day flooding about once a year. It averaged eight times a year between 2007 and 2016, according to data compiled by Rutgers and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. By 2050, theres a 50% chance it could flood 120 days a year. Able ran the Rutgers station for decades. He says the peninsula will be inundated at every high tide with another foot of sea level rise. Is that going to be 2050, 2070, 2100? We dont know, Able said. There are projections out there, but they are just that, projections. Small standing pools of water have formed in normally dry patches of marsh. Some have become permanently pond-sized, Able notes. By 2050, there is a 50% chance that sea-level rise will meet or exceed 1.4 feet from the base year of 2000. Those levels increase to 3.3 feet by the end of the century under a scenario of moderate greenhouse gas emissions, according to the states Scientific Report on Climate Change. Concrete pads from a defunct meteorological tower sit just off the dock behind the field station, marking the current edge of the surrounding marsh system. A picture dated from 1998 that hangs in Ables office shows the marshs edge 140 feet farther out than now. Able has written multiple books with the station as a backdrop, including Station 119: From Lifesaving to Marine Research, a history of the field stations building, and Beneath the Surface: Understanding Nature in the Mullica Valley Estuary, about the surrounding 365,000-acre ecosystem. Literally watching our coasts change The field station sits where the Mullica River-Great Bay estuary meets the ocean. Windows in the buildings peak gives expansive views of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. Long Beach Island in Ocean County is just to the north, and Brigantine in Atlantic County just to the south. Atlantic Citys casinos loom in the distance. The station is so exposed that waves from Superstorm Sandy in 2012 slapped against its sides. As a result, the station is a near perfect site for studying marine life and sea level rise as it impacts the coast. The Great Bay is fed by the Mullica River as it emerges unpolluted from the massive Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer that lies under the Pine Barrens. Stockton awarded $650,000 in climate education funding Stockton University was the only collegiate recipient in southern New Jersey of a $650,000 state grant intended to help K-12 schools improve climate change education, the school said Wednesday. The reason that its such a valuable place is that its on one of the most pristine watersheds in the entire Northeast United States, said the field stations current director, Oscar Schofield, who chairs Rutgers Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences. Schofield said that as the ocean has warmed, the state is seeing some traditional fish species move north, and fish from traditionally warmer waters take their place. We know that were literally watching our coasts change, and theyre changing really dramatically at the field station, Schofield said. Heart of the storm A tide gauge installed in Atlantic City in 1910 shows sea level has risen 18 inches since then. The Rutgers marine station also has its own gauge, though much newer, as part of a national network of gauges. Schofield said other instruments are used to record wind and map changes to the land. Weve got this field station right in the heart of the storm, he said. So we said lets use it as a research base in the field to document everything. At the field station, Rutgers studies various species of fish and blue crabs, and habitats. Researchers use sonar, which uses sound for sensing, and lidar, which uses light from a pulsed laser, to map the ocean floor and measure distances. Lisa Auermuller, administrative director for Rutgers Megalopolitan Coastal Transformation Hub, said scientists who work at the station open it to the public for a day each September so residents can see the work thats done there. Clean Communities volunteers celebrated: Hometown briefs The Atlantic County Clean Communities program celebrated the work of its Adopt-A-Road volunteers at a dinner June 5. At the annual open house, staff present data, set up microscopes, display larval fish collected nearby, and bring in students to speak about their research. One year, the open house drew 800 people in five hours, so the station began issuing tickets for subsequent events. Theres a specialness to this place that you wont be able to replace anywhere else, Auermuller said, noting that a local band, The Moon Sisters, recently released an ode to Seven Bridges Road. Auermuller said the eventual loss of the station to the sea will be heartbreaking to staff and locals. This is an icon, Auermuller said of the station. People are interested in what happens out here. Doan Vu, right, and Luan Nguyen, left, board up windows as they prepare for Beryl's arrival, Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Palaciios, Texas. Texas officials are telling coastal residents to expect power outages and flooding as Beryl was forecast to regain hurricane strength before making landfall early Monday. Eric Gay/AP Local business owner Fred King supports neighboring business, Strand Brass, take down hanging signs in preparation for the incoming hurricane Beryl just before it is expected to make landfall on Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Galveston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Beryl is on its way to South Texas, and emergency preparedness efforts are underway across the region to respond to the storms wrath. After hitting the Yucatan Peninsula and downgrading to a tropical storm, Beryl is regaining strength as it barrels over the Gulf of Mexico. According to the National Hurricane Center, it is expected to make landfall in the Lone Star State early Monday morning as a Category 1 hurricane. On Saturday, Acting Governor Dan Patrick added 81 counties to the states Hurricane Beryl Disaster Declaration, bringing the total number of Texas counties included in the declaration, including Bexar County, to 121. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Patrick, who has assumed the leadership role as Gov. Greg Abbott leads an economic development mission in Asia, said he has been in communication with state agencies and local leaders to coordinate emergency response efforts and advised Texans that Sunday is the last opportunity to prepare for the storm. Based on the current forecast, heavy rain and some localized flooding could occur all the way from the coast through areas near College Station, Tyler and Texarkana as the storm moves through Texas on its current track, he said in a news release. The track may change over the next 40 hours. Texans need to take heed, watch their local officials, and prepare today and tomorrow before the storm makes landfall early Monday morning. Multiple counties have issued mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders, while state agencies and local nonprofits are mobilizing to establish emergency preparedness and provide relief associated with the severe weather event. The Texas General Land Office is monitoring storm conditions and has activated several storm readiness procedures across its divisions to assist communities in the storms path, including oil spill prevention and response, disaster housing operations and debris removal strategies. I urge all Texans to take the appropriate precautions to keep your family and neighbors safe including remaining alert to local weather predictions and heeding warnings from local officials, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said in a news release. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The National Hurricane Center forecasts that the center of Beryl will make landfall around 125 miles southeast of San Antonio in the vicinity of Matagorda Island, Port OConnor and Port Lavaca between 5 and 10 a.m. Monday morning. The storm is expected to cause dangerous, widespread flooding and winds potentially reaching up to 70 mph on the coastline. Port Aransas is requiring all visitors to evacuate from the city by noon Sunday, when ferry operations will be suspended due to storm impacts, according to a post on social media. The order does not apply to permanent residents and homeowners, but those who need special assistance or who live in low-lying areas are also encouraged to evacuate. Nueces County, which includes Corpus Christi, has also issued a mandatory evacuation for visitors by noon. Property owners and residents are strongly advised to also seek shelter outside the area. Area residents who chose not to evacuate are asked to take necessary precautions to protect lives and secure property, the order from Nueces County Judge Connie Scott said. Everyone who lives in Refugio County was ordered to evacuate Saturday afternoon effective immediately, according to a Facebook post from Refugio County Judge Jhiela Poynter. Bus service to an emergency shelter out of town is being provided to residents unable to evacuate. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Poynter said the community, which is still rebuilding from damage sustained during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, knows firsthand just how quickly things can escalate in a storm including how first responder vehicles cant mobilize in hurricane winds, how its local hospital has to reroute emergency patients, how city water is turned off and how power is lost for undetermined amounts of time. I would rather be cautious and let Tropical Storm Beryl come crawling into an empty Refugio County, than the alternative if it strengthens beyond prediction as so many storms have done in the past, she wrote. Brazoria, Calhoun, Galveston, Kenedy, Kleberg, Matagorda and San Patricio counties have issued voluntary evacuation orders for visitors and residents in certain areas. According to a news release from the nonprofit, the Salvation Army will coordinate its State Feeding Task Force from Austin, with the Southern Baptist disaster relief teams on standby to deploy a field kitchen if needed. Mobile feeding units from San Antonio, New Braunfels, Victoria, Kerrville and Beeville have been activated to assist. The Salvation Armys immediate efforts after the storm makes landfall will focus on feeding and emotional and spiritual care, said Alvin Migues, Emergency Disaster Services Director for The Salvation Army in Texas, in a statement. Advertisement Article continues below this ad An incident management team will run the nonprofits emergency response operations from San Antonio Sunday afternoon. Staff, volunteers and equipment will be relocated to an impacted area, which could be Harlingen, McAllen, Kingsville, Corpus Christi, Victoria or Houston depending on Beryls path. The Texas Hurricane Center is urging residents to make a plan to stay safe, including assembling an emergency supply skit with food, water and the essential supplies their family and pets will need if they have to shelter in place or evacuate. Those in the storm's path are reminded not to walk, swim or drive through flood waters. The organization wrote that it takes only a foot of moving water to sweep a vehicle away. Information on flooded roads and conditions will be posted on Drivetexas.org. Those who sustain damage caused by tropical weather are encouraged to report damages through the Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool. Rock Island Police Chief Tim McCloud initially wasnt convinced when the Davenport Police Department pitched adopting the Group Violence Initiative. My attitude going in there was, all right this is just another one of those programs thats going to fizzle out in a little bit, McCloud said. But that changed once he watched body camera footage from a police officer involved in a custom notification, one of the primary elements of the Group Violence Initiative strategy. I watched this whole thing, and I instantly became a believer. I was very impressed with the way it went, McCloud said. As soon as we walked out of there, we basically decided that there is nothing stopping us from doing this as well. And here we are. At the end of April, Rock Islands city council approved a $60,000, one-year contract with the National Network for Safe Communities to implement the GVI strategy. Operating out of John Jay College of the City University of New York, the National Network for Safe Communities has been refining the GVI approach to community violence since the 1990s. McCloud said that right now there are only a handful of officers who are trained in the strategy, but that hed like this to expand as they continue implementation. Were not out there doing this every day, so there hasnt been a need yet to pull in a whole bunch of people. McCloud said. But as we get rolling more and more, we are going to want to pull more. Debra Higens, a Senior Advisor with NNSC involved with the initiatives in the Quad-Cities, said that there are several things that set GVI apart from other violence prevention programs. First is community ownership. Second is that this is targeted specifically toward the small population committing most of the violence. Third is the combination of police, community and social services. During custom notifications, three stakeholders visit members of groups, members of social networks that commit crimes together, which can range from organized gangs to loose neighborhood associations. According to NNSC research, group members make up a small piece of the population, but commit a disproportionate amount of violence in a community. A lot of these guys dont think theyre part of the community; we have to remind them. Not only that, but if youre an officer, youre part of that community too. We have to understand that were all part of this, Higens said. The notifications are individualized messages for each group member, but are used to communicate the main themes of the strategy: the communities want the violence to stop, there is help available for group members that want it, and real legal consequences will follow if things dont change. In Davenport and now also in Rock Island, Family Resources fills the social services role of the strategy. Director of Community Violence Intervention Tee LeShoure links the various stakeholders together, communicating with the NNSC, local police, community members and her staff at Family Resources. She also handles scheduling custom notifications. LeShoure said that individuals in the Quad-Cities tend to commit crimes across city and state lines, so expanding the initiative to other cities in the area was crucial. As we roll out in Rock Island, the hope is that the other cities grab on to that, and we become one big GVI strategy initiative in the Quad-Cities, LeShoure said. While its still early days for GVI in Rock Island, McCloud is optimistic about the strategy. He said that the group members that have been contacted through custom notifications and that have accepted services through Family Resources have not been listed as suspects in further shootings. I think weve got, as a community, a lot of buy in into it. McCloud said. I almost wish we had the opportunity to really get moving on it more so that I could report more successes. But so far, Im excited about what Ive seen. New research finds young gun violence survivors experience lasting physical and mental trauma Firearms are the leading cause of death among children New research finds young gun violence survivors experience lasting physical and mental trauma Four days in D.C. gave Gabriella Pieczynski a chance to learn more about her planned career and represent Iowa among other future educators. Pieczynski, an incoming junior at Davenport North High School, recently returned from the National Educators Rising Conference. "My initial (reaction) was first to cry from sheer excitement," she told the Quad-City Times. "But then I felt very proud and honored to be chosen out of everyone from Iowa." Educators Rising is a division of Phi Delta Kappa International a professional organization supporting students who are interested in education-related careers. The conference aims to attract aspiring educators from across the nation to engage with like-minded peers, network, participate in workshops and gain insights from professionals in education. "I learned that what you are doing in this moment is really important for your future career," Pieczynski said. "I also learned that you really need to build up a community of support, just like students need support, you also need support." Teachers also learn new things each day, she said, something she aims to keep in mind as she moves toward her own career. On a more technical level, she also learned that teachers can use selections from the Library of Congress for lessons. This year's Educators Rising Conference featured more than 40 breakout sessions, along with several keynote presentations and competitive events designed to develop and showcase teaching skills. Pieczynski's trip was part of the programming made possible by a $1.26 million federal grant to the University of Iowa College of Education to help diversify the educator workforce. Per a university press release, her selection for the conference was a testament to her passion for education. Students from all five of our partner high schools for the grant were encouraged to apply to be a representative from Iowa at the national conference, said Amira Nash, associate director of partnerships and programs at the Baker Teacher Leader Center in the UI College of Education. We asked Educators Rising teacher leaders at the high schools to nominate no more than two students from their school to apply. The University of Iowa Educators Rising committee selected Gabriella as one of the member representatives. Pieczynski said she was drawn to teaching because she's "always wanted to help people." "I want to be an advocate," she added. "Teaching is the perfect job for me, I can help people while also doing the other things I love, such as history." She hopes to be a high school history teacher or an elementary music teacher two things she loves. "I have also had the best teachers who have supported me through my whole learning journey," Pieczynski said. "My speech teacher, Mr. Seth Hankins, has really inspired me to (teach) high school, though I still have not 100% decided if I will be teaching (at that level)." On top of studying either elementary music education or secondary social studies in college, she hopes to add a minor in special education. Pieczynski said she's not sure where she'll end up for college yet, but is interested in University of Northern Iowa or Western Michigan University. As she continues into her final two years of high school, she looks forward to leveraging the knowledge and inspiration gained from Educators Rising. "The Ed Rising conference is a once in a lifetime opportunity and experience," Pieczynski said. "I am extremely glad I was chosen to attend and participate." Photos: Davenport North High School Commencement 2024 In 1949, Fred Johnson and a business associate Johnson subsequently bought out founded what became the Pyramid Mountain Lumber Company, located near Seeley Lake, a little more than 80 miles down the road from where our cabin is located. While other family-owned sawmills were bought out by larger companies such as Weyerhaeuser (which started here in Rock Island) or simply went out of business in a highly competitive market, the Pyramid Mountain Lumber Company survived. Until now, that is. I know of Pyramid because when the market for knotty pine collapsed as interior decorating tastes changed, Pyramid continued to take pine logs, albeit at a reduced price. The horse loggers (the last ones in the valley) who do the selective logging of the timber on our property were able to find a market at Pyramid for the logs from pine trees that had to be removed to maintain the health of the wooded areas of our property. (The horse loggers, in case you are wondering, do not use their draft horses to haul the logs to the mill. They have a truck for that. But they do use Ed and Em to skid logs from where the trees were felled to the landing where are loaded onto their truck to be hauled to a sawmill.) But now they will no longer be able to do that with pine because Pyramid will be shutting down. In late February, the companys board of directors and its shareholders met to discuss the problems facing the company, among them a heavy debt load and labor shortages due lack of affordable housing, with the wages they could afford to pay their workers inadequate to cover the cost of decent housing for prospective employees. In a statement released to employees and the general public, the board of directors reluctantly reported that they could find no way out of the situation they were in and that with heaviest of hearts unanimously voted to close down the mill and discontinue Pyramids operations. The last load of logs is now going through the mill to be sawed into planks and boards. They will then go through the planer to smooth their surfaces prior to being dried either in a kiln or by being stacked for drying with carefully spaced slats between layers to allow air to circulate to aid the drying process. When the drying process is completed, the planks and boards will be ready for the market. When the last load of logs currently going through the mill have been turned into planks and boards ready for the market, the switch will be turned off, and the equipment will be auctioned off. A sad end to a 75-year-old company owned by a family that cares greatly about its employees and the community of which it has been a part. This column might appear to be the story of one family, one company and one community, and in a certain sense it is. But when all things are considered, it is far more than that because in microcosm it is the story of much that has happened here in Montana in recent years. During the pandemic, there were a significant number of people who moved to Montana in an effort to avoid COVID-19 while enjoying some beautiful scenery in the more mountainous portions of the state. A number of employers throughout the nation facilitated this move by allowing their employees to work from home, when feasible, a transition facilitated by Zoom and other similar programs. The result was a severe housing shortage in some parts of the country, which brought with it some significant increases in real-estate prices (accompanied by empty office buildings in cities such as Los Angeles.) It takes the building trades a while to catch up with population shifts of this magnitude. Hence the anomaly of having both a housing shortage and a shortage of workers at the same time. More on this in a subsequent column. A POSTSCRIPT. House-on-the-Hill, which is located on the campus of Augustana, is the old Frederick Weyerhaeuser family mansion, which the family donated to Augustana when they were no longer using it. High school journalism courses no longer count toward South Dakota's general merit-based scholarship, though schools can seek a waiver, and teachers in the state haven't been told why. "There was never any knowledge of this being an issue, and the school district didn't know about it either, as far as I know," said Katie Kroeze, journalism teacher and adviser for the school newspaper at Sioux Falls Lincoln High School. "So we weren't even given the option to voice our opinions before it was passed." The South Dakota Board of Regents (SDBOR), which governs the state's six public universities, provides up to $7,500 over four years for students who attend an eligible institution through the South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship. Eligibility is based on curriculum requirements and ACT scores. As of fall 2023, 3,515 students in South Dakota were receiving the scholarship, said Nathan Lukkes, executive director for the SDBOR. Regents: Journalism not included because of content standards The South Dakota Department of Education (SDDOE) and the SDBOR work together to identify which courses apply toward the scholarship requirements, said Lukkes. "They look at the content standards of the course to determine what qualifies and what doesn't," he said. In the past, journalism was included in the English unit but was removed because of how the course varied from school district to school district, and the courses didn't have the content standards and couldn't be "holistically" verified, Lukkes said. "(In) some instances, journalism was an extracurricular activity versus an actual course," he said. "So there really weren't content standards from a course curriculum standpoint to align or compare it to." Journalism programs were given no warning Before the decision was made, high school journalism teachers and program heads were given no information about this happening, Kroeze said. Her department thought the decision was based on the rigor of the program, but the SDBOR never reached out to them or looked at their curriculum, she said. "We were never given the option to back up what the rigor is of our journalism program," she said. "I was never (sought) out to ask, 'What does my curriculum look like?' or, 'How rigorous is it?'" Impact on high school, college journalism Taking journalism out as an elective option for the Opportunity Scholarship might impact the number of students that take the course, Kroeze said. "It may lower the numbers for the courses. I am lucky I'm at a larger school that has a very strong journalism program, where it might not be as impacted as maybe a smaller school district that (is) already struggling getting kids to take newspaper or yearbook," she said. Some students will sign up for journalism just for the credit and become interested in it after taking the course and consider it as a possible career path. But this decision will lower the chances of that happening, Kroeze said "Journalism is very important in our state to ensure that we have good journalists, good programs that are preparing them to be good journalists and having those opportunities for those kids that are interested in that career path," she said. Journalism courses may still be accepted Schools can apply to get their journalism courses accepted as a qualifying course for the Opportunity Scholarship by applying for a waiver through the SDBOR. "If a school district does, in fact, have a journalism course that meets the English content standards, they can apply for a waiver and then get the course counted towards one of the one of the English blocks. Otherwise it would default to an elective," Lukkes said. The school district needs to contact the Department of Education to get the course approved, as it must be an actual high school course and not an extracurricular activity. This would fall under the same guidelines as oral interpretation, Shuree Mortenson, director of communication for SDBOR, said in an email. The district must be granted a substitution for the required high school unit offerings waiver by the DOE to be eligible for a writing credit, she said. But this may not be as easy as it seems. Kroeze said she has looked for the forms on the Board of Regents website but had little success. "It's very difficult to find what forms need to be filled out, or they're very, very detailed and take a lot of time," she said. Lincoln High School's plan going forward Kroeze plans to contact the SDBOR to get the school's journalism program back to counting toward the Opportunity Scholarship. "The best decision here is probably just to go directly to the Board of Regents and then just reaching out to journalism professors in the state schools of South Dakota and seeing if there's anything they can do to help," she said. Kroeze said journalism is a great option for an English elective and should still be included in the English block because it includes all different areas of the curriculum. "There's the writing element: they're brainstorming, they're developing a story, they're editing the story, they're revising it over and over and over. And then not only is it written, it's also published for people to see," she said. Students also learn interviewing and research skills during the journalism courses and learn about different issues that are going on in their community, Kroeze said. "All of those things are incorporated into the standards that we have in South Dakota English standards and writing standards. And so it really is disappointing to me that journalism isn't seen as a course that could live up to those standards of being an English (unit)," she said. This story was produced by South Dakota News Watch. See their work at www.sdnewswatch.org. By: Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh is set to embark on an important three-day state visit to China from July 8 to 10 at the invitation of Premier Li Qiang. This visit, anticipated to be a significant milestone, aims to enhance the bilateral relationship between the two nations, which have enjoyed a long-standing friendship and strategic partnership. Beijing views this trip as a potential "game changer" that could elevate cooperation and collaboration to unprecedented levels. During President Xi Jinping's 2016 visit to Bangladesh, he expressed China's desire to upgrade its relationship with Bangladesh from a "strategic partnership" to a "comprehensive strategic cooperation partnership". A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in the presence of President Xi and Prime Minister Hasina regarding Bangladesh's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Additionally, decisions were made about China's debt and financing several mega projects in Bangladesh. Over the past eight years, China's role as a key development partner has grown, with current bilateral trade between the two countries standing at US$23 billion. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh will seek additional loans amounting to US$20 billion during this visit, with US$15 billion allocated for infrastructural development projects and the remaining US$5 billion, to be disbursed in Chinese yuan, used to facilitate payments for imports from China. In light of global economic shifts, Bangladesh is also expressing a willingness to switch to alternative currencies instead of relying solely on US dollars. The Ukraine war and Western sanctions have posed several obstacles for dollar-based economies and transaction systems, causing significant challenges for countries like Bangladesh. By exploring transactions in Chinese yuan and other currencies, Bangladesh aims to mitigate these economic hurdles and enhance its financial stability and independence. The Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Bangladesh stated in a social media post that Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning announced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit from July 8 to 10. Following this announcement, Hubei Media Group inquired about the program and China's expectations for the visit, as well as the current state of China-Bangladesh relations. Mao Ning responded: "This will be Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's first visit to China since her new term began and five years after her last visit to China. During the visit, President Xi Jinping will meet with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Premier Li Qiang will hold a welcoming ceremony and have talks with her. The two prime ministers will attend the signing ceremony of cooperation documents. Leaders of the two countries will have an in-depth exchange of views on how to deepen traditional friendship, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and discuss regional and international issues of mutual interest. Prime Minister Hasina will also attend the Summit on Trade, Business, and Investment Opportunities between China and Bangladesh. "China and Bangladesh are good neighbors, good friends, and good partners. We have similar visions for development and well-aligned development strategies. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations 49 years ago, the two countries have treated each other with respect and equality, engaged in mutually beneficial cooperation, supported each other on issues concerning our respective core interests, and jointly advanced modernization. We have set a good example of friendship and cooperation between developing countries. In recent years, with the strategic guidance and commitment of leaders of our two countries, the two sides have deepened China-Bangladesh strategic cooperative partnership and had fruitful and practical cooperation in various fields. China stands ready to work with Bangladesh through this visit to carry forward the spirit of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, deepen political mutual trust, further synergize development strategies, advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, speed up implementing the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative, and elevate our bilateral relations to a new level". Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Dhaka will seek support from Beijing for the Southern Integrated Development Initiative (SIDI) centering on the Payra Port in the southern district of Patuakhali. This project will be an integrated development plan for the southern region of the country, involving projects on transport and communication, ICT, power and energy, logistics, and a special economic zone. The Finance Ministry added that SIDI will see the establishment of an electric vehicle plant, a hi-tech park, and a logistics hub at a strategic location. In addition, Bangladesh will also seek loans from China for the implementation of the Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project (Line 2), the Bhanga-Kuakata rail line, a bridge over the Kocha river at Pirojpur, the renovation of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, and the Maheshkhali-Matarbari and Bakhrabad 3rd parallel gas transmission pipeline. Liu Jianchao, the international department head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), during his recent visit to Bangladesh, expressed interest in strengthening bilateral relationships on the political front. He stated, "We believe that government policy originates from the perspectives of political parties. This means the communication between the political parties of the two countries is very helpful to know and understand the mutual relationship between the government and the people. This communication also plays a role in adopting the right policy for each other. This communication is important". Diplomatic sources in Dhaka describe CPC minister Liu Jianchao's visit to Dhaka ahead of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Beijing tour as significant. As Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina prepares for her upcoming visit to China, the potential for strengthened ties and enhanced cooperation between the two nations is evident. With discussions set to cover a range of critical issues, including infrastructure development, trade, and regional security, this visit holds promise for both Bangladesh and China. As they approach the golden jubilee of their diplomatic relations in 2025, the foundations laid during this trip could pave the way for a new era of partnership and mutual growth, reinforcing the bonds of friendship and collaboration between these two strategic allies. Guwahati: The flood situation in Assam along with some other parts of northeast India remain grim as incessant rainfall continues affecting over 2.1 million population. The second wave of flood in Assam inundated over 2200 villages in 29 districts, following which around 40,000 families took shelter in 700 relief camps set up by the administration. According to the State disaster management authority, at least 56 people died in the natural disaster, which also destroyed a number of embankments, roads & bridges and other infrastructures. The muddy flood water inundated more than 43000 hectares of crop area and the deluge devastated 8,50,000 livestock and poultry in the State. Besides Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram are also witnessing relentless rains and subsequent floods. The residents of Lakhimpur, Darrang, Golaghat, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Biswanath, Cachar, Charaideo, Chirang, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Kamrup & Kamrup (metropolitan), Karbi Anglong, Karimganj, Hailakandi, Kokrajhar, Majuli, Morigaon, Nagaon, Hojai, Nalbari, Sivasagar, Sonitpur, Tamulpur, Tinsukia, Udalguri, Dhubri and Goalpara districts of Assam are facing major flood related difficulties in the last few days. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is visiting flood-affected areas in different parts of the State to review the ground situation. Sarma on 5 July visited Dibrugarh district and took stock of the situation in the urban areas as well as some outskirt localities. He also visited some relief camps and interacted with the families taking shelter there after directing the district administration to ensure the timely supply of essential items in the relief camps. Earlier, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal also assessed the flood situation in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts and assured the people that both the governments in New Delhi and Dispur are looking for a permanent solution to the region's recurring flood problem. Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria also visited flood affected Morigaon district and spent time with the flood hit people of Bhuragaon village. He directed the district administration to reach out to the flood victims with proper relief materials including medical facilities. Sarma earlier visited Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve and took stock of flood preparedness at the world heritage site. By now, 173 forest camps inside the park have gone under the flood water entering from the mighty Brahmaputra river on the northern side. Over 17 wild animals, including a rhino calf, drowned in Kaziranga, as 72 animals were rescued by the authorities. The safe habitat for the largest population of single horn rhinos in the world eventually experiences flooding every year and subsequently the precious animals cross the National Highway-715 on its southern border to climb the hilly areas of Karbi Anglong. As many inmates die while crossing the highway by speeding vehicles, the authorities instruct the drivers to maintain the safe speed limit. Often the vehicles are escorted by the forest officials while crossing the park to avoid any accidents with the fleeing animals. PARIS (AP) French President Emmanuel Macron could awake if he has slept at all with clipped wings on Monday morning. The high-stakes second round of the legislative election on Sunday will almost certainly impact the French leader's sway in the areas of defense and foreign affairs. It could diminish his role as an energetic and influential figure in European and world affairs and as one of Ukraine's primary backers in the war against Russia, say retired French military officers and analysts of France's defense and foreign policies. After the centrist president's bloc finished a distant third, behind the surging far right, in last weekend's first round of voting for a new parliament, one of the only certainties before Sunday's decisive round two is that Macron himself can't emerge strengthened. With many of its candidates already out of the race, Macron's camp can't secure the absolute majority that gave him ample maneuvering room in his first term as president from 2017. It also is likely to fall well short of the 245 seats it won after his reelection in 2022. That made it the largest single group albeit without a clear majority in the outgoing National Assembly that Macron dissolved on June 9, triggering the surprise election after the far right handed his alliance a painful beating in French voting for the European Parliament. That leaves two outcomes most likely to emerge on Sunday night to Monday as official results come in. In one scenario, France could end up with a fragmented parliament and a prime minister too weak to seriously undermine Macron's constitutionally guaranteed role as head of the armed forces and, more broadly, unable or unwilling to majorly challenge his defense and foreign-policy powers. Still, even in this best-case scenario for Macron, France risks becoming inward-looking, more focused on its polarized and unstable domestic politics than its place and military activities in the world. In a second scenario, a worst case for Macron, the far right could secure an historic victory on Sunday that saddles the president with Jordan Bardella as prime minister, in an awkward and possibly conflictual power-sharing arrangement. The 28-year-old Bardella is a protege of Marine Le Pen, who leads the far-right National Rally party, with Bardella as its president. Both Le Pen and Bardella have made clear that, in power, they would seek to rein in Macron and exert themselves in defense, European and foreign affairs decision-making. The French Constitution only gives limited answers to how the various scenarios might play out. In large part, it could depend on the personalities of those involved and their ability to compromise, French analysts say. Bardella's red lines Although the constitution says the president is commander in chief, it also says the prime minister is responsible for national defense. During the campaign, Bardella laid out what he said would be "my red lines with regards to Ukraine, if he ends up sharing power with Macron: No more French deliveries of long-range weaponry that Ukraine could use to strike targets in Russia and no sending of troops, a scenario that Macron floated this year. Bardella said he doesn't want nuclear-armed France to be drawn into direct confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia. His party has historically been close to Russia and Le Pen cultivated ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin for many years and supported Russias illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. Who would have the final word in potential arguments over long-range weapons for Kyiv is actually quite a tricky one, says Francois Heisbourg, a French analyst on defense and security questions at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. The president can probably do it if he wanted to, but the prime minister could also state that he can prevent the president from doing so, he says. It can become a deadlock. If they dont agree, they can actually prevent each other from doing anything. Power-sharing isn't new to France. But in previous cases, the president and prime minister weren't as sharply opposed politically as Macron and Bardella. Nobody until now has tried to test these respective powers to their ultimate conclusion. This is completely uncharted territory, Heisbourg says. Le Pen and Macron trade shots On military affairs, Le Pen has already delivered a warning shot, calling Macron's role as commander in chief an honorary title for the president since its the prime minister who holds the purse strings." Macron retorted: What arrogance! French retired Vice Adm. Michel Olhagaray, a former head of Frances center for higher military studies, is concerned that what he describes as the constitutional blur about shared military responsibilities could ripple through the ranks of the country's armed forces. Conflictual power-sharing could be something extremely painful for the armies, to know who the armies will obey. Very painful, very difficult, he says. In any case, the president of the republic can no longer take personal initiatives, like launching a (military) operation, etc., because that requires an understanding with the prime minister." Because the French military operates across the globe, with forces deployed on the eastern flank of the NATO alliance, in Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere, changes to its posture by a power-sharing government are sure to be scrutinized by France's international network of allies and partners. They will all ask, But what is happening? How will this evolve? What will become of France? Will France keep its commitments? Olhagaray says. But analysts say France's nuclear forces shouldn't be impacted. The president holds the nuclear codes, not least to ensure that the arsenal remains credible as a deterrent by making sure that potential enemies understand that any decision to strike isn't taken by committee. France looks inward If no clear majority emerges for any single bloc from Sunday's voting, lawmakers may have to do something that's not a tradition in France: build a coalition government. Because the prime minister at its head will need broad consensus in parliament to keep the government from falling, that person is more likely to be a weakened junior partner in sharing power with Macron. The president will have much more control, says retired Gen. Dominique Trinquand, a former head of Frances military mission at the United Nations. In a coalition government, consensus-building on tough foreign policy questions such as whether to greatly boost aid to Ukraine could take time, and issues that divide might be put on the back burner. The room to maneuver would be narrowed, says Frederic Charillon, a professor of political science at Paris Cite University. In France, we are much more used to this kind of, you know, presidential system of monarchic foreign policy, when the president says, I will do this, I will do that. 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. Kathmandu, Nepal, July 7, 2024: The Nepali Congress (NC), the largest party in the parliament, has reiterated that the new government will be formed according to Article 76 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal. New coalition government will be formed under the leadership of UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli in accordance with Article 76 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal, 2015, NC Chief Whip Ramesh Lekhak said while speaking to the media after the NC Parliamentary Party (PP) meeting at the Parliament Building on Saturday. NC Chief Whip Lekhak has said so at the time when speculations were widespread that Nepali Congress would form a new government according to Article 76 (3) of the Constitution. Article 76 (2) has made provision of majority based government while to Article 76 (3) has made provision of government on the basis of largest party in the parliament. Blue skies return: Cancun already welcoming tourists after Beryl Riviera Maya, Q.R. The entire state of Quintana Roo is back on its feet after being hit by Hurricane Beryl. The category 2 hurricane slammed the region Friday morning, leaving behind flooded streets, downed trees and communities without electricity. Governor Lezama, seen here, does a flyover Saturday of areas hit by Beryl. the day before Photo: July 6, 2024. Clean up began Friday afternoon as soon as Beryl left the state. By Saturday, major roads had been cleared of debirs, water and electricity normalized and flooded streets drained. State airports also resumed normal operations as did all forms of public transportation including ferry services. Two cruise ships docked at the island of Cozumel Saturday, arriving with more than 7,000 passengers. Cancun International recorded 573 operations Saturday. Governor Mara Lexama says the state is back on its feet and ready to welcome tourists from around the world. There are still around 300,000 tourists in the state enjoying the Mexican Caribbean. Blue skies have returned. A line of tourists wait for photo op at Cancun sign. Photo: July 6, 2024. Many local beaches are filled with beachgoers only two days after the hurricane passing. She snapped photos Saturday during a flyover of the coastal areas. Our beaches look spectacular and the tourism reports reflect great data on the number of visitors, she said. Cancuns Playa Delfines is busy with swimmers after Beryl. Photo: July 6, 2024. Lezama says CFE has fully restored power across the state and that 19 cruise ships are scheduled to dock Cozumel next week. The state recovered in two days after being hit by Category 2 Hurricane Beryl early Friday morning north of the town of Tulum. Cruise ships arrive: Cozumel recovered announces mayor Juanita Alonso Marrufo Cozumel, Q.R. Cozumel was one of the hardest hit municipalities by Hurricane Beryl Friday. On Saturday, the Committee on Hydrometeorological Phenomena (COEFH) announced no deaths and a recovered island. Mayor Juanita Alonso Marrufo closed the Third Extraordinary Session of the Specialized Operational Committee on Hydrometeorological Phenomena (COEFH) that remained in place since Thursday. Alonso thanked Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama for being attentive to the municipality and for the support in the prompt restoration of the island through cleaning and power restoration. She also gave special thanks to the armed forces, the National Guard and all state and municipal agencies for their work before, during and after the passage of Beryl. The Specialized Operational Committee on Hydrometeorological Phenomena (COEFH). Photo: July 6, 2024. The operational coordinator and director of Civil Protection, Firefighters and Lifeguards, Rafael Tenorio Pizano, gave a report. He said there were 15 work teams made up of Civil Protection, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of the Navy, Public Services and State Public Security along with volunteer civilian groups. The brigades participated in the cleanup of the city and responded to the report of 62 fallen trees on public roads. A total of 54 people were treated in the temporary emergency shelter where they were offered food, medical or hospital care by Civil Protection paramedics. The City of San Miguel reported 62 fallen trees across the island Friday. Photo: July 6, 2024. A total of 128 tourists were transferred to a special shelter with the support of the Municipal Transportation Department and the State Mobility Institute coordinated by the Tourism Department. He says main routes were not heavily damaged, only obstructed by fallen poles and trees. As of Saturday morning, CFE had 95 percent of the islands power restored. Photo: July 6, 2024. Electricity was lost in 40 percent of the city. CFE crews continue to work to restore service, which as of this morning, was 95 percent of the island. The most affected neighborhoods were Flamingos, Andres Quintana Roo, Colonos Cuzamil, San Miguel I and II, Fovissste subdivision, Juan Bautista, San Gervasio, among other areas such as the town of El Cedral. Water was temporarily interrupted, however, service has now been restored. In his report, he said there was no damage to the telephone signal, nor to public or private hospital infrastructure and that supermarkets are already operating. Miguel Alonso Marrufo, representative of the Quintana Roo Port Authority (APIQROO) in Cozumel, reported no damage in the port infrastructure which allowed for the arrival of two cruise ships. Cozumel Mayor Juanita Alonso Marrufo, center, says the island is restored. Photo: July 6, 2024. On Saturday morning, the Mariner of the Seas arrived at the SSA Mexico dock with 3,834 passengers and the Carnival Valor with 3,674 at Puerta Maya. Ferry crossings have also been reopened. Hurricane watch in effect as Beryl sets eye on Texas after slamming Yucatan Peninsula Riviera Maya, Q.R. AccuWeather expert meteorologists are sounding the alarm about the growing threat of flooding rainfall, damaging winds, and dangerous storm surge in Texas from Beryl. The team at AccuWeathers Global Weather Center is forecasting Beryl to make landfall in southern Texas as a Category 1 hurricane Monday morning with maximum sustained winds of 74-95 miles per hour on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. AccuWeather meteorologists warn that any wobbles with the center of the storm, and the possibility that the storm may try to turn to the north upon nearing the coast at the last minute, could push landfall significantly farther to the north in Texas. As Beryl approaches the Texas coast on Sunday, a dip in the jet stream will act like a magnet and pull the storm more to the north and northwest. Right now, were expecting Beryl to make landfall near Corpus Christi as a Category 1 hurricane, said AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno. We expect Beryl to slow down as it approaches the Texas coast, and that could cause some big flooding problems. The anticipated slower forward speed will increase the duration of wind, pounding surf and storm surge in northeastern Mexico and a large part of the Texas coast. Rainfall from Beryl is expected to arrive in Texas on Sunday. AccuWeather expert meteorologists say 8-12 inches of rainfall is expected along the southern Texas coast and across parts of central and southeast Texas. The hardest-hit areas of Texas could have up to 24 inches of total rainfall, according to the AccuWeather Local StormMax. If that rain comes too fast and too furious, significant and life-threatening flooding can occur. Weve seen it before with hurricanes in Texas, said AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter. Whenever you have a tropical storm or hurricane slowing down, that is a huge red flag for AccuWeather meteorologists because were talking about the storm bringing in copious amounts of tropical moisture and the risk for persistent downpours over the same areas which can lead to major flooding in the hardest hit areas. Beryl could push 3-6 feet of storm surge into coastal areas along the southern Texas coastline. AccuWeather expert meteorologists say 1-3 feet of storm surge is possible far north as Galveston Bay. Swells from Beryl are expected to create dangerous rip currents and rough surf along Texas beaches today through next Tuesday. The risk of rip currents could stretch across the entire U.S. Gulf Coast this weekend, creating beach hazards as far away as southwest Florida. With so many people that are going to be in the water along the Gulf of Mexico this weekend, the impacts from Beryl can be far-reaching. Weve seen that with other hurricanes in years past that have tragically taken many lives in the surf zone due to rip currents, occurring under blue skies hundreds of miles away from the storm, said Porter. The rip current risk is real and it could be a dangerous weekend in some areas considering many people will be in the water on a hot, holiday weekend along the Gulf Coast. Be aware of that risk, follow the direction of local officials and lifeguards, and know how to react if you encounter a rip current at the beach. AccuWeather expert meteorologists say strong winds from Beryl are expected to arrive in southern Texas later Sunday, then spread up the coast through Sunday night. AccuWeather expert meteorologists say they cannot rule out the possibility that Beryl could strengthen to a Category 2 hurricane before making landfall, with maximum sustained winds of 96-110 mph on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Beryl shattered records earlier this week as the earliest Category 5 hurricane to form in the Atlantic basin, causing catastrophic damage and claiming several lives when it blasted through the Windward Islands. Beryl made landfall near the town of Tulum Friday as a category 2. According to the NOAA, there is currently a hurricane watch in effect for the Texas coast from Baffin Bay northward to Sargent. PDC police chase down man for threatening to explode an LP gas tank Playa del Carmen, Q.R. Police in Playa del Carmen have arrested a 32 year old man for threatening to explode an LP tank. The incident happened Saturday afternoon on the roof of a home in the Mision de las Flores subdivision. Neighbors called police who requested firemen after arriving to find the man holding a lighter to a tank. Police proceeded to arrest Daniel N from Chiapas after his chase came to an end when he fled on foot upon their arrival. The SSC did not provide a reason for the explosion threat in their statement. Seguridad Ciudadana Solidaridad Municipal Police arrested a person who allegedly threatened to explode a gas tank on the roof of a home in the Mision de las Flores subdivision. After receiving the report, the Preventive Police officers arrived at Jamaica Street where they observed a subject standing on the roof of a home next to a stationary gas tank, threatening to explode it while holding a lighter. After requesting the support of the Firefighters, the officers arrested Daniel N aged 32 from Chiapas, when he tried to flee and was placed at the disposal of the State Attorney Generals Office for the corresponding legal purposes. Pro-Palestinian protesters are pushed to the edge of campus by Texas state troopers on horses during an April 24 protest at the University of Texas in Austin. Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman Mounted police work to contain demonstrators protesting the war in Gaza on April 24 at the University of Texas at Austin. Brandon Bell/Getty Images A student is arrested April 24 while protesting the war in Gaza at the University of Texas at Austin. Brandon Bell/Getty Images AUSTIN, TEXAS - APRIL 24: A student is arrested during a pro-Palestine demonstration at the The University of Texas at Austin on April 24, 2024 in Austin, Texas. Students walked out of class and gathered in protest during a pro-Palenstine demonstation. Protests continue to sweep college campuses around the country. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) Brandon Bell/Getty Images The University of Texas at Austin has begun disciplining students who were arrested in pro-Palestinian demonstrations in April, scolding them for their actions but offering them a path to avoid suspension. In letters sent out to students this past week, first reported by KUT, university officials said it would be appropriate to suspend them for their actions during the protests but would give them the option to take deferred suspension instead, a form of probation that would allow students to remain in class and keep the disciplinary action from appearing on their final transcripts. Recognizing our commitment to educational growth, we want to offer you an alternative path to avoid suspension by proving that you have learned from this experience, reads one of the letters obtained by the Texas Tribune. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Students who choose deferred suspension must agree to take an exam testing their knowledge of the universitys rules and agree not to appeal the decision. The status would be active until July 7, 2025. Those who decline that option would be suspended, the letter says. Students also may appeal the disciplinary sanctions through a university hearing. Ari Lenahan, a UT-Austin student set to graduate in December, said he was relieved the university offered him deferred suspension since students at other universities across the country are facing harsher punishments after participating in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. He said it may be the best choice for him since he aims to graduate this year. Its a lot clearer where I stand now, at least in the universitys eyes, he said. Lenahan still has a hold on his account preventing him from registering for classes in the fall but said the letter he received Wednesday states any holds will be removed once his case is resolved. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Anne-Marie Jardine, a recent graduate, received a sanction letter concerning her involvement in an April 24 pro-Palestinian demonstration. Jardine was told she would be under deferred suspension for one year if she were to reenroll at UT-Austin. Jardine said she hasnt received her official diploma from the university yet. Many other students under investigation have not yet been informed about how the university plans to move forward with their cases. Sam Law, a PhD candidate who was arrested on April 29, said he expects the university will contact him soon. More than 130 protesters were arrested at pro-Palestinian demonstrations on UT-Austins campus in late April. In resolute efforts to dispel the protesters, law enforcement at the time deployed pepper spray and flash-bang explosives and charged students with horses. State troopers were deployed by Gov. Greg Abbott to help quash the protests and had a hand in the arrests. Those arrested were charged with criminal trespassing but Travis County Attorney Delia Garza declined to pursue those charges. In the aftermath of the protest, many students, faculty and free speech advocates questioned UT-Austins heavy-handed response to the protests and criticized state GOP leaders support of the arrests. Just a few years ago, Abbott had championed state legislation that protected free speech on college campuses, leading free speech advocates to ask who gets to enjoy free speech protections in Texas. Advertisement Article continues below this ad UT-Austin leaders, meanwhile, have vowed to carry out discipline against students who violated campus policies. Seniors in the class of 2024 were afraid their diplomas would be withheld, though they were permitted to join graduation ceremonies in the spring. Sneha Dey contributed to this report. Ryanair forced to divert flight from Morocco to London Stansted after 'mass brawl' between passengers Ryanair turned the flight around after a violent altercation broke out between passengers over seating arrangements (PA Archive) A Ryanair flight bound for London Stansted was forced to turn around mid-journey after a violent altercation broke out among passengers over seating arrangements. The aircraft departed on schedule from Agadir, Morocco, on Wednesday, but tensions that had been simmering since boarding escalated into a full-blown brawl just 36 minutes into the flight. Eyewitnesses reported screaming and punches being thrown, with one passenger falling ill during the fracas. As the situation spiralled out of control, the pilot made the decision to divert the plane to Marrakech, another Moroccan city. Upon landing, local police boarded the aircraft and removed the disruptive passengers in an operation that lasted two hours. The remaining travellers faced further frustration as they were forced to wait until Thursday to complete their journey to Stansted. They were trying to punch each other, a passenger told the Sun, explaining that a man in his late 20s asked a woman to move so he could sit with his family. The argument over seating reignited shortly after takeoff. Once the seatbelt sign was turned off, the man approached the woman again, who had earlier refused to move from her seat next to her daughter. Witnesses said the man began making threats towards the woman. Her husband then stepped in to defend her, leading to a physical altercation. Mobile phone footage shows passengers shouting and pushing each other in the aisle. The violent scenes prompted the crew to divert the flight. The passenger added: One of the families was part of a larger group so other passengers started to join in. Then a lady in the row behind started to have a panic attack because of everything going on. She was screaming and there were kids crying. It was like a snowball effect. Another traveller said: We were only in the air for 36 minutes before we had to do an unexpected landing. It was so stressful. It was like the flight from hell. And it all escalated from that one passenger wanting to change seats. Ryanair put 200 passengers into a hotel and booked them onto a flight from Marrakech the next morning. But this was also cancelled and they did not get to Stansted until Thursday night. A spokesperson for Ryanair said: This flight from Agadir to London Stansted diverted to Marrakesh after a small group of passengers became disruptive, and during which time another passenger became ill onboard. "Crew called ahead for both medical and police assistance, which met the aircraft upon arrival at Marrakesh. The small group of disruptive passengers were then removed from the aircraft by airport gendarmerie. The passenger who became ill was provided with oxygen onboard before being treated by airport medics, who determined that they were not fit-to-fly. "This passenger refused to disembark and became abusive towards crew, and was removed from the aircraft by airport gendarmerie. As it took almost two hours in total to treat and offload these disruptive passengers, during which time the rest of the passengers remained onboard, the crew reached their permitted flying hours, and caused the flight to be delayed overnight. Affected passengers were provided with overnight accommodation and transport to/from the airport. This flight departed to London the following day. We sincerely apologise to passengers for this diversion and subsequent delay caused by a small group of disruptive passengers, which was out of Ryanairs control. Care and Feeding is Slates parenting advice column. Have a question for Care and Feeding? Submit it here. Dear Care and Feeding, After a mostly uneventful pregnancy, I developed HELLP Syndrome and gave birth to my son five weeks early. During the birth, I hemorrhaged and needed two blood transfusions before I could be released from the hospital. Its a miracle my son and I survived. My parents, who had otherwise displayed pretty typical soon-to-be-grandparents excitement, went radio silent. They did not speak to me for two weeks or make the 45-minute trip to visit until I begged them for help. Even then, they didnt help: They came for only a few hours to hold the baby, then left. My mother even asked that I, four months postpartum, travel to spend my first Mothers Day at her house! After that, my in-laws came from overseas to stay with us for a month and give us the help we very much needed. A few months later, my in-laws visited again when it became clear we still werent receiving any support from my family. And so finally my husband and I decided to move overseas. My parents threw a fit and barely spoke to me after we shared the news. Were now six months into life as expats. My parents have made very little effort to keep in touch with me or my son. They dont have passports, so visiting is out of the questionnot that I expected it to be high on their list. Im struggling now to decide how (or whether) to include my parents in my toddlers life. Making calls to them up until this point has been completely one-sided and left me feeling angry, hurt, and resentful. Exhausted Expat Dear Exhausted, Advertisement I can certainly understand why you would consider a news blackout and a shutting down of this relationship, given that theyve hurt you so. What I find myself wondering, though, is whether, during or after that strange period of radio silence after the birth of your child, you reached out to them to ask what the hell was going on. Complete silence from the grandparents after a traumatic birth is bizarre and hurtful enough so that asking for an explanation would not be out of lineparticularly after what you describe as pretty typical-level grandparent enthusiasm. (Im not sure what that means to you. Frequent phone calls filled with updates from you about the pregnancy and chatter from them about the impending grandchild? Showering you with gifts for the baby? Talking about how excited they are to contemplateand their plans fortheir relationship with your child? Offers of help with the babys care? Or just big smiles when you announced the pregnancy? Posting the news on Facebook? Simply saying, solemnly, We are very happy about this?) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im curious about what your relationship with your parents was like before your pregnancy, and just how shocking their behavior was. Did they change after your child was bornor have they always been pretty distant parents? I ask these questions because my first instinct (which Im 99 percent sure was wrong in this case) was that they were traumatized by the near-loss of both their daughter and their grandchild, and that they shut down in the wake of that. But people can only shut down if they were open before that. And I have a feeling that they werent, which makes me wonder if your expectations of them postpartum had no basis in reality. Im glad you found what sounds like a happy solution to your longing for family helpfor, in fact, a family to be a part of. Im sorry you werent able to count on your parents for that, since you wanted so much to be able to. And yes, as Ive said, I understand your desire to punish them for letting you down so completely. But heres what Im thinking: If you never talked to them before about what you had hoped for from them and their utter failure to live up to that, why not do it now? If they were furious about your decision to move far away, they must care at least a little about you and your child. They may care more than you think they doand they may have, as one says, a funny way of showing it. Pick up the phone. Tell them how you feel. Tell them that youre tempted to put an end to their relationship (such as it is) with your son, and why. See what they have to say. Advertisement Advertisement This conversation may go very badly. It may end with your feeling sure that stepping away from them is the right decision for you. But I am always in favor of direct and honest communication. If that communication ends up a one-way street, at least youll have gotten everything you feel off your chest before you go radio silent. Its my great hope for you that theyll surprise you. (I know: I am a hopeless optimist.) Want Advice on Parenting, Kids, or Family Life? Submit your questions to Care and Feeding here. Its anonymous! (Questions may be edited for publication.) Dear Care and Feeding, My second child refuses to learn to ride a bike. Its starting to reach a head this summer because her brother (who is nearly 12) has a fairly free license from his mom and me to wander about in our neighborhood on his bike, and shed like to go with him, but on her terms, which are that she gets to ride her scooter. But hes complained that when she rides her scooter she cant keep up with him, particularly on hills, and he spends a lot of time waiting for her to catch up. (Which, to me, is a valid concern, because the times Ive been out on my bike with her and shes ridden her scooter, I spent a fair amount of time waiting for her.) For what its worth, she did learn at a Pedal Power camp a couple of years ago, but has somehow since forgotten? (I thought that wasnt possible!) Plus, we went through a bit of this with our son, who freaked out the first two days he tried to ride a bike, but learned to on the third day and has loved it ever since. But she wont even get on the bike, whereas he would at least try. How do I convince her to get back in the saddle? Biking It Dear Biking, Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I dont think you should try to convince her to get on the bike. My best guess is that the harder you try, the more shell push back. You dont mention how old she is, but, presumably, shes old enough to understand consequences and limit-setting: She cannot accompany her older brother on his bike-riding adventures unless shes on a bike tooperiod. No, she cannot ride her scooter; a scooter cant keep up with a bike. So this is her choice: Learn to ride a bike, if she wants so badly to hang out with big brother, or scoot aloneor, better yet, with friends her own agein the area you designate as safe for her. Advertisement If you object to this because you want the kids to play together at all times, Id rethink that. I dont believe its productive or healthy to insist that the children play together. If for some reason they dont each have friends of their own, or if its inconvenient to set up playdates in the summertime with the friends they do have, because none of them live nearby (still, Id make the effort!), offer your daughter some alternate activities to occupy her when shes left alone while he wanders freely. Meanwhile, the best way to get her back on a bike is to drop the subject. Tell her youre here to help her (re)learn, or just to offer moral support if she wants to see if she remembers (I suspect she will), and that she should let you know. Then back away and let it go. Advertisement Catch Up on Care and Feeding Missed earlier columns this week? Read them here. Discuss this column in the Slate Parenting Facebook group! Advertisement Dear Care and Feeding, Ive been dating River for over a year now, and with the holidays on the not-so-far horizon, Im thinking its time to have some tough conversations with the family. River and I have talked about maybe having to do the holidays separately again this winter if its absolutely necessary but we really dont want to. We would rather make some sort of compromise so that they and I can be together and get the bonus of introducing each other to our families and starting to build those relationships. One compromise would be trading off holidays (my family for Thanksgiving, Rivers for Christmas, and the next year vice versabut one family would definitely feel theyre getting the shorter end of the stick, holiday-wise). Or we could trade off years, flipping a coin to see who gets us this year. Or some other variation we havent yet thought of. Advertisement Id be glad to let my parents weigh in on this as we try to figure out what would work best for all of us if I could be sure they would be reasonable about it. (Last year, I brought up the holidays six months in advance, and they immediately guilt-tripped me, so I dropped it and went to see them alone.) Ironically, all my siblings have already been through the holidays-with-partners-and-their-families dilemma; none of them got the heaping-on-of-guilt treatment I got. I understand that Im the one whos closest (emotionally) to them, but it hardly seems fair that I should be punished for that. What I want more than anything are productive conversations and collaboration from them, to bring them in early to hash out the details, and for everyone to know that whatever decision River and I make will have come with a lot of thought and consideration. But is that even possible? Neither of my parents (who are divorced) has ever been in a relationship in which they had to make these kinds of decisions, and I cant help feeling that they cant relate to this conundrum and so are seeing the very question of where Ill spend my holidays from now on as an attack on them. Im not sure if I should muster the energy/courage to embark on this conversation/guilt trip every year or just drop it and muscle through the holidays without River again. Hope(ful/less) for the Holidays Dear Hopeful (not -less!), Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Heres some tough love for you: Your parents dont get a vote in this decision. You and River are grownups, and like every set of grownups in a serious relationship, you get to decide how you want to deal with holidays. As to the guilt trips: They are only as successful as you allow them to be. In other words, Mom and Dad can lay them on youseparately, it would seem, a matching pair of guilts (which I just realized rhymes with quilts, which is a nice metaphor here)but its up to you to throw them off and refuse to accept them. Im not saying this is easy. It would be nice if all parents made this easy for their grown kidswhether they can relate or not. But it is part of growing (fully) up. Advertisement You and River need to decide what makes sense for you as a couple. Then tell, dont ask, both sets of parents. If you two arent sure what you think will work best, come up with a tentative plan, one just for this year or perhaps for the next two years (if you decide you want to try the trading-off-years plan), and let the families know youll revisit that decision later. Your own needs may change as time passes, so nothing you decide needs to be set in stone. My daughter, once she started seeing her now-husband, came home by herself for Christmas (and he went to see his parents) that first year, but she told us then that it would be the last time they would be apart for Christmas. And so, for several years after that, the compromise they came up with was to make the 10-hour drive to our house with their pets in tow, spend a few days celebrating with us, then fly to his family while we babysat for our grandpets; theyd fly back to our place after a few days, and the next day theyd pack up gifts and pets and drive home. (They traded off by spending actual Christmas with one family one year, the other the next, and while I cant speak for my daughters in-laws, I was always happy to designate another day as Christmas and pull out all the stops for it.) This system worked very well when both of them had flexible work hours. Now that neither of them doesand they have only a few days off around Christmasthey trade off years: last year they were with his folks, this year they will be with us. (From the beginning they did Thanksgiving together, just them and sometimes a friend or two, in the city where they live.) Someday I expect theyll start doing what we did about Christmas when she was growing up: celebrate that too in their own home, and invite their families to join them if they likebefore, during, or after. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I hear you when you say you long for productive conversations and collaboration with your parents. I think thats a longing that has nothing to do with holidays. It may be something you can work on with them, or it may be a lost causeI dont know enough to know which one is true. What I do know is that your life is your own and that you get to spend it, including holidays, any way you choose to. I wish you and River a very lovely holiday season together, wherever and however you decide to spend it. Dear Care and Feeding, My daughter is 43 and lives in Georgia. I live in Nevada. We have a strained relationship due to her belief that I do not communicate to her standards. Ive made attempts to call her and Ive texted at least once a week, but we havent spoken since Mothers Day. I have visited her in Atlanta but she refuses to visit me. I am tired of trying to meet her halfway. Recently, I adopted a puppy and that seemed to be the last strawshe didnt like that at all. Im at the point where if she no longer wants to communicate with me, I guess I have to respect that. Im in my 60s and feel I shouldnt have to always be the one to call. Strangely enough, she feels shes the one who is always making the first move. What should I do? Confused Mom Dear Mom, Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That does sound confusing. There is such a great disconnect between the way you perceive this situation and the way she doesyou feel that youre always the one reaching out and she feels that its her. How do we square that? The only way forward, as I see it, is through an actual conversation between you two. You say you dont communicate to her standards. Ask her what shed like from you. If shes already told you and you just dont care for what shes asked of you, tell her that. Is this really about who calls who or is it about what you talk about when you do talk? (When you call her, do you talk only about your life, or are you interested in hers?) Advertisement Advertisement And refuses to visit you sounds a bit strong to me. Have you asked her toI mean, made an actual invitation for a specific time (Would you like to visit for a few days around my birthday? I would so love to see you and celebrate it with you)and has she said no? Or have you said, When are you coming to visit? (repeatedly) and shes said (repeatedly), I wish I could. Im sorry, I just cant get awaybecause her work makes that impossible, or because she has children or others in her life who depend on her, from whom she cannot be away? Theres a big difference between the two. (Another thought I had: Did she grow up in Nebraska and is averse to returning to it, for reasons you are aware or unaware of? And one more: Have you never asked herare you waiting for her to offer to visit and youre miffed because she hasnt?) Talk to her about this too. Tell her youd like to see more of her. If she doubts you, tell her why (and I dont mean, Because Im your mother! This is not an answer). Do not accuse her or complain (Ive been to Atlanta but you never come here!). Advertisement Advertisement By the way, I dont think those of us who are in our 60s deserve any sort of special treatment, and certainly not from our own kids. And I think battling over who is or should always be the one to call is childish. You may have very different sorts of lives and be available to chat at very different times. Talk about it. Come up with a solution that works for both of you. It may work better for one of you than for the otherperfect equity is hard to come bybut if thats the case, my sincere recommendation is that your daughter gets to be the one in whose favor the scale tipsat least for the next 20 years. Then you can swap. Advertisement Advertisement As to the puppy: I cannot explain why this would be the last straw for her. Unless when you do have a conversation, all you talk about is your new puppy. Because that would do it. Michelle More Advice From Slate I love my 7-year-old sons name, Andrew, but I hate the nickname Andy. When we named him Andrew we agreed to only use the long version and never the nickname. Until this year everyone has called him Andrew. We moved over the summer, and somehow he has become Andy in his new school! Im not sure how it happened, but after participating in a recent classroom event, its clear everyone is calling him Andy (kids, teachers, other parents). It has even spilled over into Little League. My son doesnt care whether people call him Andrew or Andy. I spoke to him about correcting people when they call him the wrong name, and weve practiced what he should say, but he is not an assertive kid, and I doubt he is correcting people often. I made an appointment with the teacher to discuss the situation France players react to the Left projected to win snap legislative elections The Lefts New Popular Front is projected to win Frances snap legislative elections, meaning the far-right National Rally wont be able to form a government, despite obtaining the largest number of votes in the first round. On the contrary, the Lefts New Popular Front is set to win between 172 and 215 seats of the countrys lower house of parliament, which houses 577 MPs. The RN only finished third, behind the presidential party. France players have taken to their social networks to express their relief. Centre-back Ibrahima Konate (25) has posted five emojis on X, seemingly applauding French voters efforts to bar the National Rally from acceding to the states highest offices. Ibrahima Konate (@IbrahimaKonate_) July 7, 2024 Right-back Jules Kounde (25), who on several occasions has alerted on Frances political situation and called on French voters to not vote for National Rally, has shared his relief on X. The relief is as great as the anxiety of the last few weeks. Congratulations to all the French people who mobilized to ensure that this beautiful country of France would not be governed by the far-right. Le soulagement est a la hauteur de linquietude de ces dernieres semaines, il est immense. Felicitations a tous les Francais qui se sont mobilises pour que ce beau pays quest la France ne se retrouve pas gouverne par lextreme droite. Jules Kounde (@jkeey4) July 7, 2024 Les Bleus winger Ousmane Dembele (27) did not post any words on his social networks. He just published a photo of himself gleefully smiling to the camera minutes after the snap elections became official on his Instagram account. La Story Instagram dOusmane Dembele apres la victoire du Nouveau Front Populaire et la DEFAITE de lextreme-droite. pic.twitter.com/8SLYGMOnA6 Instant Foot (@lnstantFoot) July 7, 2024 Centre-forward Marcus Thuram, who was one of the first France players to alert on the rise of the far-right at the start of the Euros, also expressed his relief. He reposted Dembeles pic and wrote the following post: Congratulations to all of those who stepped up against the danger which loomed over our beautiful country. Long live diversity, Republic and France. The fight goes on. GFFN | Bastien Cheval https://sputnikglobe.com/20240706/bidens-campaign-orban-in-russia-and-uk-labour-sweeps-tories-1119255238.html Biden's Campaign, Orban in Russia and UK Labour Sweeps Tories Biden's Campaign, Orban in Russia and UK Labour Sweeps Tories Sputnik International On this edition of The Final Countdown, hosts Ted Rall and Angie Wong discuss the latest from around the world, including the latest out of Biden's campaign. 2024-07-06T04:00+0000 2024-07-06T04:00+0000 2024-08-10T10:26+0000 the final countdown us radio joe biden viktor orban united kingdom (uk) 2024 us presidential election uk general election uk labour party https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/07/05/1119255578_0:0:1920:1080_1920x0_80_0_0_69ea3f7a8cf72cf96111435da5698e26.jpg Biden's Campaign, Orban in Russia and UK Labour Sweeps Tories Sputnik International On this edition of The Final Countdown, hosts Ted Rall and Angie Wong discuss the latest from around the world, including the latest out of Biden's campaign. The show begins with Scott Stantis, political cartoonist for The Chicago Tribune, and media commentator Mitch Roschelle joining a special hour-long panel to discuss all things Biden and US elections. They ponder whether President Biden will eventually drop out of the race and weigh on who will replace him.The second hour starts with International Relations and Security Analyst Mark Sleboda sharing his perspective on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's visit to Russia.The show closes with Senior Research Fellow at the Global Policy Institute George Szamuely to discuss the UK Labour Party's victory in the elections.The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sputnik.We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.comCatch us in the US at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM united kingdom (uk) russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Ted Rall https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/02/13/1082125340_0:0:360:360_100x100_80_0_0_1ed1a3494a53cde87e19521c3658fe92.jpg Ted Rall https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/02/13/1082125340_0:0:360:360_100x100_80_0_0_1ed1a3494a53cde87e19521c3658fe92.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Ted Rall https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/02/13/1082125340_0:0:360:360_100x100_80_0_0_1ed1a3494a53cde87e19521c3658fe92.jpg 2024 us poresidential election, us presidential debate, joe biden, uk general election, uk labour party, keir starmer https://sputnikglobe.com/20240706/five-journalists-killed-by-israeli-forces-within-24-hours---gazas-government-media-office-1119265471.html Five Journalists Killed By Israeli Forces Within 24 Hours - Gaza's Government Media Office Five Journalists Killed By Israeli Forces Within 24 Hours - Gaza's Government Media Office Sputnik International As of July 5, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists found the number of media workers killed was at 108 since the war first started. 2024-07-06T23:07+0000 2024-07-06T23:07+0000 2024-07-07T02:49+0000 world palestine israel middle east committee to protect journalists (cpj) journalists gaza strip israel-gaza conflict genocide war crimes https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/07/07/1119266048_0:321:3070:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_784011716bbb2f9d6b1ccbce772e223c.jpg At least three journalists in the Nuseirat refugee camp and two in Gaza City have been killed by separate Israeli strikes, said Gazas Government Media Office. The three killed in Nuseirat included: Amjad Jahjouh and Rizq Abu Ashkian, both from the Palestine Media Agency, and Wafa Abu Dabaan from the Islamic University Radio in Gaza, Al Jazeera reported.At least 10 people were killed during the strike on Nuseirat, including Abu Dabaan and Jahjouhs shared children.On Friday, Palestinian journalists Saadi Madoukh and Ahmed Sukkar were also killed following an Israeli raid. The total number of media workers killed since the conflict first began has risen to at least 158.As of July 5, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists found the number of media workers killed was at 108 since the war first started, making that the deadliest period since the group first began collecting data in 1992.It was also reported on Saturday that at least 16 were killed in an Israeli attack on a school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. A majority of those who were injured during the attack were children.Saturdays attack brings the 24-hour death toll to 29 people, including the five journalists who were killed. Gazas Ministry of Health said on Saturday that 87 people were killed across the enclave in the past 48 hours, bringing the number of those killed in the enclave to 38,098 in just nine months of war time. Nearly 88,000 people have also been injured during that same period, the ministry said. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231117/idf-killing-journalists-reporting-on-gaza-war--israeli-media-exec-1115019496.html palestine israel gaza strip Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg death toll, killed journalists, genocide, ethnic cleansing, humanitarian disaster, humanitarian catastrophe, humanitarian ceasefire, israel-hamas conflict, gaza strip crisis, shelling of gaza, gaza devastation, israel-palestine conflict, palestine-israel conflict, israeli-palestinian conflict, israel kills civilians, civilian casualties, civilian deaths, indiscriminate shelling, indiscriminate killing, war crimes Gov. Greg Abbott looks at crane lifting a section of the border wall in place after a December 2021 news conference at Rio Grande City. As of June 14, officials had built 33.5 miles of wall at a cost of roughly $25 million to $30 million per mile, according to officials with the Texas Facilities Commission. Jason Garza/For The Texas Tribune Three years after Gov. Greg Abbott announced Texas would take the extraordinary step of building a state-funded wall along the Mexico border, he has 34 miles of steel bollards to show for it. That infrastructure which has so far run up a price tag of some $25 million per mile isnt yet a contiguous wall. It has gone up in bits and pieces spread across at least six counties on Texas 1,254-mile southern border. Progress has been hampered by the states struggles to secure land access, one of myriad challenges signaling a long and enormously expensive slog ahead for Abbott. Nonetheless, state contractors already have propped up more wall mileage than former President Donald Trumps administration managed to build in Texas, and Abbotts wall project is plowing ahead at a quickened pace. State officials hope to erect a total of 100 miles by the end of 2026, at a rate of about half a mile per week. The governor frequently shares video of wall construction on social media and has credited the project with helping combat immigration flows. To date, though, steel barriers cover just 4% of the more than 800 miles identified by state officials as in need of some kind of a barrier. And at its current rate assuming officials somehow persuade all private landowners along the way to turn their property over to the state construction would take around 30 years and upward of $20 billion to finish. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Under Abbotts direction, state lawmakers have approved more than $3 billion for the wall since 2021, making it one of the biggest items under the GOP governors $11 billion border crackdown known as Operation Lone Star. The rest of the money is being used for items like flooding the border with state police and National Guard soldiers and transporting migrants to Democrat-controlled cities outside Texas, all of which Abbott and other Republicans say is needed to stem the historic number of migrants trying to enter the country. Democrats and immigration advocates have cast the wall project as a taxpayer-funded pipe dream that will do nothing to address the root causes driving the immigration crisis. And they say the governor, in reviving what was once a hallmark of Trumps agenda, is using public money to boost his political stock. Even some immigration-hawk Republicans are showing unease about the mounting costs of the wall. I am, too, concerned that were spending a whole lot of money to give the appearance of doing something rather than taking the problem on to actually solve it, and until we do that, I dont expect to see much happen, state Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, said last fall before voting in committee to spend another $1.5 billion in wall funding. Abbotts office did not respond to a request for comment for this report. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Acquiring land The construction pace has largely hinged on the states success in securing rights to build the wall through privately owned borderland. Early on, the project showed little signs of life as state contractors struggled to obtain the needed easements. But things picked up last year as the state began working out more agreements covering larger tracts. Through mid-June, officials had secured 79 easements covering about 59 miles of the border, according to Mike Novak, executive director of the Texas Facilities Commission, which is overseeing the effort. At a facilities commission meeting last month, Novak said state officials were in various stages of negotiation with landowners over another 113 miles. We knew from the beginning that this was going to be the choke point, you know, one of the most challenging parts of this program, Novak said of land acquisition. And it proved true. But weve remained steadfast. Officials had built 33.5 miles of wall through June 14, a facilities commission spokesperson said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The states ability to secure land rights also has dictated the walls location, though officials say they have focused on areas pinpointed by the Department of Public Safety as the highest priority. TFC officials have declined to share exactly where the wall is being built, citing security concerns, though Novak recently said construction was underway on wall segments in Cameron, Maverick, Starr, Val Verde, Webb and Zapata counties. Though the Texas-Mexico border spans more than 1,200 miles, Abbotts budget director, Sarah Hicks, told a Senate panel in 2022 that DPS had identified 805 miles as vulnerable, or (that) is in need of some kind of a barrier. Another 180 miles are covered by natural barriers, mostly in the Big Bend region of West Texas, while existing barriers already cover another 140 miles, according to state officials. Novak has said the pace of building about half a mile of wall per week is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. At that rate, about 100 miles would go up every four years, with the full 805 miles covered sometime after 2050, when Abbott would be in his 90s. The earliest wall construction has cost roughly $25 million to $30 million per mile, according to TFC officials. That would amount to $20 billion to $24 billion for the entire 805-mile span, or about three times the cost of paying every Texas public university students tuition last year. The estimate does not account for the cost of maintaining the wall once it is built, which TFC estimates will cost around $500,000 per mile each year. Lubbock state Sen. Charles Perry, who last year carried Texas new immigration law that allows state police to arrest people for illegally crossing the Mexico border, is another Republican who has expressed concern about the walls cost. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I am for border security. I am not against a wall. But to me, at least from what I can tell, it is a perpetual circle. Were on the hamster wheel, Perry said last fall as he prepared to vote for the $1.5 billion wall funding bill. (At some point) the response has not to be more money for infrastructure. At some point this state must draw the line in the sand. Still, no Texas Republican has voted against border wall funding. Lawmakers approved nearly $2.5 billion for the effort in the states current two-year budget more than was allotted in state funds to all but a handful of state agencies, and more than twice what Texas spends on its court and juvenile justice systems. State Rep. Christina Morales, D-Houston, said she doesnt think Texas GOP leadership really understands why people are crossing in the first place. Spending billions of dollars on a wall really does not address the root causes of the migration thats happening, said Morales, who is vice chair of the Houses Mexican American Legislative Caucus. What we should be investing in is our education, our health care, real solutions for problems that are happening right now in Texas. Since 2021, federal officials have recorded an average of about 2 million illegal border crossings a year, a record that Abbott has attributed to President Joe Bidens rolling back some of Trumps border policies. The governor has touted the wall construction as a way for Texas to address the border crisis while President Biden has sat idly by. Biden and other Democrats have blamed Republicans for shooting down a sweeping bipartisan border deal earlier this year. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The scope of Texas wall construction and Abbotts broader border security efforts are unprecedented in nature, as the federal government is generally responsible for immigration enforcement and the costs associated with it. Even with the states improved pace securing easements, Novak has said land access remains the biggest challenge for the project, and itll probably remain that way through most of the program. The Trump administration encountered the same issue after the former president famously said he would build the wall and make Mexico pay for it. Even using the federal governments power to seize some borderland, Trumps administration built just 21 miles of new wall along the Texas-Mexico border. The painstaking negotiations are required for Texas wall because lawmakers barred the use of eminent domain to gain land access. Last year, state Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, filed legislation to change that, arguing TFC officials could build a complete wall only if they were authorized to use eminent domain powers. The proposal failed to make it through the Senate, though Creighton said he plans to file it again for the session that starts in January. Of course, we can continue to negotiate with ranchers, but that is a very slow process, Creighton said. And its an incomplete process, because there will always be holdouts for different reasons. Creighton, one of the upper chambers more conservative members, said he still supports using state funds to build a border wall, even as some of his GOP colleagues have raised objections. I say no to waste, inefficiencies, potential fraud and unreasonable spending as much as any member, Creighton said. But there are times, with all of that fiscal conservatism, that we have to use the money that we save efficiently to protect Texans and Texas. A difficult and complex task Most border wall advocates acknowledge barriers alone will not deter people from trying to enter the country illegally. But they say a wall would work if paired with more law enforcement officers and technology, arguing it would slow down attempted crossers to give border agents more time to apprehend them and encourage migrants to seek asylum via ports of entry. Walls do not achieve the objectives for which they are said to be erected; they have limited effects in stemming insurgencies and do not block unwanted (migrant) flows, but rather lead to a re-routing of migrants to other paths, Elisabeth Vallet of the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute wrote in a 2022 report. Those sorts of objections have done nothing to deter Abbott and GOP lawmakers, who are armed with a huge budget surplus and polling that shows a majority of Texas voters support the states wall effort and overall border spending. More than 90% of Republican voters support the wall, with 74% voicing strong support, according to an April poll by the Texas Politics Project. With construction plunging ahead, Novak has projected confidence about the walls status, pointing to the recent progress after an initial slow start, which saw officials build less than 2 miles in the 12 months after Abbott announced the effort. Its not just land access that complicates wall construction, Novak said at the June TFC meeting, where he ticked off a list of other factors: changing soil conditions that require complicated engineering solutions; steering clear of irrigation systems when building on agricultural land; weather; and sensitivity to cattle, oil and gas, and hunting operations. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240707/a-bridge-too-far-nato-bosses-mull-how-to-better-dangle-membership-carrot-before-ukraines-nose-1119280542.html A 'Bridge' Too Far: NATO Bosses Mull How to Better Dangle Membership Carrot Before Ukraine's Nose A 'Bridge' Too Far: NATO Bosses Mull How to Better Dangle Membership Carrot Before Ukraine's Nose Sputnik International Mere days before the launch of the NATO summit in Washington DC, the blocs leadership apparently strives to keep up Ukraines hope of one day joining the bloc, even if the odds of Kiev being granted membership anytime soon are slim. 2024-07-07T18:21+0000 2024-07-07T18:21+0000 2024-07-07T18:21+0000 world ukraine nato nato membership https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/06/09/1118883532_0:109:3036:1817_1920x0_80_0_0_30275bd0bd3dbee4433fae24c197af0f.jpg With the summit slated to kick off on July 9, NATO bosses are trying to work out the wording of their promises to Ukraine, with news website Euractiv claiming that negotiations on the draft declaration text are expected to remain ongoing until the very last minute. Specifically, NATO officials push the so-called bridge to NATO narrative that entails Ukraine receiving tangible benefits, like training for its armed forces and military aid, that mark Kievs metaphorical road to the membership in the bloc.At the same time, some of the NATO members want to force Ukraine to undergo certain domestic reforms before it is allowed into the bloc, amid debates whether to portray Kievs journey into NATOs fold as irreversible.Basically, the media outlet notes - citing several NATO diplomats familiar with the matter - that bloc officials are trying to figure out how to link the words bridge, irreversibility, and reforms, i.e. wrap all of the aforementioned components in one preferably non-contradictory package. One senior European diplomat, however, told Euractiv: Its nice that were getting into the business of building bridges, the question is how strong or stable are they? The thing about the bridge is that we dont know how long it is, another NATO diplomat reportedly remarked. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240705/natos-ukraine-hawks-go-down-in-flames-as-proxy-war-against-russia-continues-1119249302.html ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International ukraine nato relations, ukraine nato membership https://sputnikglobe.com/20240707/americans-havent-had-president-for-a-while--musk-1119266705.html Americans Havent Had President For a While Musk Americans Havent Had President For a While Musk Sputnik International The Tesla CEO questioned the degree to which US President Joe Biden is performing duties as the countrys commander-in-chief. 2024-07-07T04:44+0000 2024-07-07T04:44+0000 2024-07-07T07:04+0000 americas joe biden ronald reagan elon musk democratic party white house us elections us 2024 us presidential election democrats https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/08/1116061941_0:36:2922:1680_1920x0_80_0_0_a5ddbfbd8ad9ae2f1f9513e68db2d246.jpg Tech magnate Elon Musk weighed in on the US presidential race on his X social media platform Friday amid ongoing controversy over President Joe Bidens age and mental acuity.Quick update on how things are going with the election: wrote user Chris Bakke, posting a link to New York Times opinion writer Ross Douthats editorial Does America Need a President?Douthats column contemplates Bidens role in the White House and the interplay of the US presidents power and influence with that of cabinet members, advisors and political allies. The opinion writer has previously insisted Biden should be replaced, arguing it would be incredibly dangerous for him to fill the role of chief executive for another four years.Various US presidents have governed with differing degrees of mental incapacity historically. President Woodrow Wilson suffered a severe stroke in 1919, leaving his wife and physician to assist in running the White House for the remaining 16 months of his second term.Observers have speculated about the degree to which former President Ronald Reagan suffered mental decline during his second term in office. The president was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease five years after leaving the White House in 1994.As of 1984, Reagan was sometimes incoherent, but he had how to say it? good days and bad days, wrote Slate columnist Tom Scocca. But this was well known already. In 1984, people agreed not to say that the president sometimes seemed senile.The Cold War president, who previously held the title of Americas oldest commander-in-chief, was 77 years old when he left office in 1989. Current President Joe Biden was 78 years old when taking office, meaning Biden was older when he entered the White House than the previous oldest president was when he left.After Gov. Josh Green of Hawaii, a physician, asked Mr. Biden questions about the status of his health, Mr. Biden replied that his health was fine, wrote the New York Times Thursday, describing a White House meeting of the president with several Democratic Party governors. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240704/biden-says-he-screwed-up-in-shambolic-debate-as-calls-grow-to-drop-out-1119247022.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240705/disney-heiress-announces-halt-in-donations-to-democrats-until-biden-drops-out---report-1119248256.html americas Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 John Miles https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/19/1116388787_0:0:1316:1316_100x100_80_0_0_77e70d36afd983012b1c5d38ddb84156.jpg John Miles https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/19/1116388787_0:0:1316:1316_100x100_80_0_0_77e70d36afd983012b1c5d38ddb84156.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 John Miles https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/19/1116388787_0:0:1316:1316_100x100_80_0_0_77e70d36afd983012b1c5d38ddb84156.jpg elon musk us no president, biden age, biden senility, biden too old, us no president, us presidents impairment, biden unfit, demented biden, crooked joe, retarded biden, senile biden, no good biden https://sputnikglobe.com/20240707/democratic-party-clans-clash-in-wake-of-bidens-debate-performance--1119277729.html Democratic Party Clans Clash in Wake of Bidens Debate Performance Democratic Party Clans Clash in Wake of Bidens Debate Performance Sputnik International As Joe Biden refuses to give in to demands of those Democrats who are urging him to drop out of the 2024 race, fissures are growing within the partys three leading clans, reported the Financial Times. 2024-07-07T14:51+0000 2024-07-07T14:51+0000 2024-07-07T16:00+0000 americas us joe biden hillary clinton barack obama democrats white house republican 2024 us presidential election us democratic party https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/07/07/1119278173_0:160:3075:1890_1920x0_80_0_0_c46aee8de4910343ea7acb7498fc013c.jpg Fissures are growing within the Democratic Partys three leading clans as Joe Biden refuses to give in to demands to drop out of the 2024 race, the Financial Times has reported.An already-fractured Democratic Party is reportedly trying desperately to carry out damage control in the wake of the 81-year-old presidents debate against Trump. But the historic crisis that has led to increasing questions regarding his mental acuity has opened up old wounds and rivalries, noted the FT.The Democratic Party is described as witnessing a raging battle between three leading clans, while the Republican Party has appeared ever more uniform under Trump.Some Democrats are ostensibly hoping Bidens once boss, ex-president Barack Obama, could usher Biden aside. However, the outlet cites those from the inner Biden circle as warning that such a step would be counterproductive.The reason is that there is supposedly a lingering bitterness among the Bidens after Obama backed Hillary Clinton, and not vice-president Biden to be his successor in 2015. Clinton went on to lose that presidential bid to Trump in 2016.I think the thing that a lot of people dont understand is that Barack Obama and the Clintons and Biden dont have a great relationship, one Democratic lobbyist was cited as saying.As for Obama himself, during his debut stint as senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 he inflamed the Clintons after he had the audacity to challenge Hillary Clinton for the partys 2008 nomination, reminded the outlet.There is no unity among Democrats because, basically, the Democratic coalitions pieces do not share the same values, party strategist Hank Sheinkopf was cited as saying.The various degrees of resentment nursed overtly by the Bidens, Obamas and the Clintons come amid a flurry of Democratic politicians, donors, and other supporters calling for the removal of Biden as candidate.Biden - appearing to be confused and incoherent throughout his debate with the Republican frontrunner last Thursday - reinforced ongoing concerns about his cognitive abilities.The president has taken a defiant stance, claiming his debate performance was just a "bad episode." But 80 percent of the nations voters insist that the Democrat is too old to run for a second term, according to a Wall Street Journal poll released on Wednesday. Amid a flurry of reports attempting to suggest possible replacements for Biden, a new campaign has been imploring him to "Pass the Torch."Hours before Biden was interviewed by ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, where he insisted that he will stay in the race, Democratic activists launched a grassroots campaign begging the president to step aside. They urged him to act on a 2020 pledge to be a "transition" president."Democrats need the strongest possible ticket to maximize our chances of winning in November. It has become very clear, based on both long-term polling and the recent debate, that Democrats' current ticket is not the strongest one we can put forward," said the campaign. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240707/white-house-sends-list-of-questions-to-radio-hosts-for-interview-with-biden-1119275668.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240707/nato-officials-fear-biden-might-lose-2024-us-presidential-election---reports-1119270769.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240703/doing-everything-to-reelect-biden-duped-hillary-clinton-spills-cringy-details-to-prankster-duo-1119230958.html americas Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Svetlana Ekimenko Svetlana Ekimenko News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Svetlana Ekimenko why does biden refuse to drop out of 2024 race, will biden drop out of 2024 race, fissures within democratic partys three leading clans,.which democrats want biden to bow out of 2024 race, trump-2024, is trump running for president, why is trump banned from election, who's banning trump from election, why is trump banned from election, who's against trump in presidential election, was trump behind january 6, who organized january 6, why is trump banned from election, trumps court case, why is trump investigated, republicans vs democrats at the elections, who will win in 2024 elections, trump vs biden, trump biden debate, presidential debate https://sputnikglobe.com/20240707/germany-to-close-airbase-in-niger-after-negotiations-on-soldiers-immunity-fail---reports-1119267644.html Germany to Close Airbase in Niger After Negotiations on Soldiers Immunity Fail - Reports Germany to Close Airbase in Niger After Negotiations on Soldiers Immunity Fail - Reports Sputnik International The German armed forces will give up its airbase in Niger, which was used as a military transport hub, by August 31, as the sides failed to extend the agreement concerning the base, German media reported on Saturday, citing the German Defense Ministry. 2024-07-07T05:32+0000 2024-07-07T05:32+0000 2024-07-07T05:32+0000 military niger germany niamey german defense ministry un peacekeepers peacekeeping mission military presence https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/07/07/1119267770_0:0:3022:1700_1920x0_80_0_0_49e8da3f0eabd8f6a728e729a73825e9.jpg The talks broke down after the new Nigerien authorities had refused to grant German soldiers with immunity from prosecution, the NTV news outlet reported, citing a document the ministry had presented before the parliament. Germany expects to withdraw its troops from the country by the end of August as well. The German military has used the base in Niger's capital, Niamey since 2013 as a supply center for its armed forces in neighboring Mali, which were stationed there as part of a UN peacekeeping mission. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240412/what-sahel-russian-troops-replace-french-in-niger-1117896062.html niger germany niamey Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International german defense ministry, military presence in africa, military presence in niger, niger coup, niger military takeover https://sputnikglobe.com/20240707/hungarian-pm-orban-heads-to-china-after-ukraine-russia-and-azerbaijan-visits-1119279524.html Hungarian PM Orban Heads to China After Ukraine, Russia and Azerbaijan Visits Hungarian PM Orban Heads to China After Ukraine, Russia and Azerbaijan Visits Sputnik International Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is headed to China, where he is expected to arrive early on July 8, after visiting Kiev, Moscow, and Azerbaijan, reported Hungarian news outlet 444.hu. 2024-07-07T17:08+0000 2024-07-07T17:08+0000 2024-07-07T17:08+0000 world viktor orban china hungary european union (eu) russia ukraine https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/06/1113987388_0:0:3078:1731_1920x0_80_0_0_b2ee7ff55c0c7c5036cef4cd3d66a1a4.jpg "After Kiev, Moscow, and Azerbaijan, according to our information, Viktor Orban is heading to China. As far as we know, the Hungarian Prime Minister will arrive in the Asian country at dawn on Monday," the report said.Orban visited Russia on Friday to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Hungary's prime minister described his visit as a continuation of his "peace mission" after a visit to Kiev, which took place on Tuesday. He has also announced more "equally surprising" meetings coming up next week. Some EU leaders have been critical of the Hungarian leader's recent international engagements. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240707/orbans-peace-mission-continues-hungarian-fm-warns-eu-politicians-will-have-to-buckle-up-1119278870.html china hungary russia ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International hungary, viktor orban, orban in china, orban visits china, peace mission https://sputnikglobe.com/20240707/israeli-protesters-proclaim-resistance-day-to-government-9-months-after-hamas-invasion-1119274432.html Israeli Protesters Proclaim 'Resistance Day' to Government 9 Months After HAMAS Invasion Israeli Protesters Proclaim 'Resistance Day' to Government 9 Months After HAMAS Invasion Sputnik International Israeli protest movements declared July 7 a nationwide "day of resistance" against the government, with hundreds of demonstrators since early morning blocking intersections and highways across the country, demanding early elections and the immediate release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, exactly nine months ago. 2024-07-07T10:53+0000 2024-07-07T10:53+0000 2024-07-07T10:53+0000 world middle east benjamin netanyahu israel tel aviv jerusalem hamas gaza strip palestine-israel conflict qatar https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/07/07/1119274215_0:160:3076:1890_1920x0_80_0_0_7f1241fb7a5ffe8784e36307a8683c79.jpg There are many videos on social media showing the protesters. Massive rallies are expected in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and dozens of other cities. Israeli police have yet to comment on today's rallies. Later in the day, activists plan to hold a rally in front of the General Federation of Workers in Tel Aviv, demanding that the union "stop the economy." The protests are expected to peak in the evening. Rally participants also plan to protest near Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem. Anti-government rallies demanding early elections and the immediate release of hostages have been held weekly in Israel for several months. The proclaimed "Day of Resistance" commemorates the nine months since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, and triggered the current escalation of the Palestine-Israel conflict. On that day, the radicals kidnapped more than 250 people from southern Israel. Some 120 Israeli hostages are believed to be held by Hamas, including 40 who are presumed dead. Netanyahu's office said this week that his negotiators had received Hamas' comments on a prospective deal that would ensure the release of hostages in return for a ceasefire in Gaza. Israeli intelligence chief David Barnea went to Qatar on Friday to press on with indirect talks with Hamas. Netanyahu's office said negotiations would resume next week and that there were still differences between the two sides. Through various operations and humanitarian efforts, 135 people were released from Hamas captivity, a figure that includes the dead hostages whose bodies were removed from the enclave. israel tel aviv jerusalem gaza strip qatar Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International gaza genocide, is israel committing genocide, whats happening with gaza, israeli genocide against palestinians, will israel be charged with genocide, whos backing israel, un hearing on gaza, current developments in gaza, whats happening to palestinians, us military aid to israel, us arms supplies to israel, us violating international law, what weapons is israel getting from us, israeli strikes, israel strikes gaza, israel kills civilians, operation in rafah, incursion into rafah, palestinian statehood, palestine independence https://sputnikglobe.com/20240707/orbans-peace-mission-continues-hungarian-fm-warns-eu-politicians-will-have-to-buckle-up-1119278870.html Orban's Peace Mission Continues: Hungarian FM Warns EU Politicians Will Have to 'Buckle Up' Orban's Peace Mission Continues: Hungarian FM Warns EU Politicians Will Have to 'Buckle Up' Sputnik International Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on Sunday suggested that European politicians "buckle up" ahead of Hungary's further actions aimed at promoting peace. 2024-07-07T15:54+0000 2024-07-07T15:54+0000 2024-07-07T15:54+0000 world viktor orban peter szijjarto hungary russia european union (eu) eu council https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/07/07/1119278597_0:127:3188:1920_1920x0_80_0_0_719676cdce43f8999af19ae87d89e16c.jpg Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited Russia on Friday to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Orban described his visit as a continuation of his "peace mission" after a visit to Kiev, which took place on Tuesday. He has also announced more surprising meetings next week. Orbans activity, however, sparked criticism from the EU authorities. "We are not deterred or discouraged by these attacks [by the EU officials]. The peace mission continues and even intensifies, so I suggest that European pro-war politicians buckle up and follow closely next week as well," Szijjarto said in a video address on his social media. The criticism Hungary faced during this week showed that the crisis in the European Union is being fueled by politicians who are supplying Ukraine with weapons, mulling sending troops there, and talking about nuclear weapons, he added. Hungarys six-month presidency of the EU Council, which started on July 1, will be dedicated to the country's peace mission, the top Hungarian diplomat said. Budapest will do everything it can to put an end to the Ukrainian conflict and to get Europe out of its "suffocating military crisis," he added. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240706/orban-reveals-plans-to-hold-more-surprise-meetings-next-week-after-recent-talks-with-putin-1119265245.html hungary russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International peter szijjarto, viktor orban, ukraine, hungary, russia, ukrainian conflict, ukrainian crisis, war in ukraine, hungary peace mission https://sputnikglobe.com/20240707/orbans-realpolitik-approach-to-putin-talks-enraged-eu-warmongers--1119271018.html Orbans Realpolitik Approach to Putin Talks Enraged EU Warmongers Orbans Realpolitik Approach to Putin Talks Enraged EU Warmongers Sputnik International Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has enraged the EU warmongers because he exposed how false their claim that you cannot negotiate with Putin is, said FOCUS Online Chief Correspondent Ulrich Reitz. 2024-07-07T12:58+0000 2024-07-07T12:58+0000 2024-07-07T12:58+0000 world russia vladimir putin viktor orban hungary ursula von der leyen european union (eu) nato council of the european union ukraine crisis https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/103490/09/1034900994_0:0:2826:1589_1920x0_80_0_0_dce55bd9e3656aa1c7ce5c9ffca63f8b.jpg Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has reportedly annoyed EU hawks because he exposed how false their claim that you cannot negotiate with Putin is, said FOCUS Online Chief Correspondent Ulrich Reitz.By flying over to Russia on a solo mission to meet with President Vladimir Putin, Orban proved that it is only natural and obvious that you can talk to Putin, noted Reitz in his video column "Reitz-Thema."People like European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen or German Chancellor Olaf Scholz are said to be fuming, after the EU laboriously cobbled together a single strategy, which states: there is no alternative to military support for Ukraine, remarked the journalist. The EU strategy comes after pressure from the US, as the leader of NATO, he continued.However, Orbans spontaneous trip threw a spanner in the works of the EU. The position of the German government or von der Leyen has not brought us a millimeter closer to peace so far, Reitz pointed out, adding that Orbans effort was worth a try.The EU and Scholz have emphasized that Orban had no mandate for the trip, but the Hungarian PM never claimed that he was on anything but a personal mission, noted the author.He is only doing what he announced two years ago. At that time, Viktor Orban offered himself up as a mediator to the European Union, said Reitz, adding that Hungary is closer to Russia than the Western European states.Reitz finds the EUs criticism of Orbans trip unfathomable, underscoring that a seasoned European head of government in his fifth term, who is also listened to in Russia, could bring us a step closer to peace.Orban, who is viewed as the black sheep of the EU, pursues a realpolitik approach with his peace mission, remarked Reitz, adding:Orban's Russia trip reportedly triggered an outcry among European Union leaders who warned against "appeasing" Moscow and stated that the Hungarian PM did not speak for the EU.The European Council is represented by Charles Michel in terms of foreign policy and not Hungary, Scholz said, referring to the European Council president.Orban, whose country has just taken over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, was the first EU leader to visit Moscow since April 2022. Orban described his visit to Moscow to speak with Russia's president on Friday as a continuation of his "peace mission" after a visit to Kiev, which took place on Tuesday. The two leaders discussed bilateral cooperation in various areas, as well as key international issues, including the Ukraine conflict.Orban stated that he asked Putin's opinion concerning other countries' peace proposals, the possibility of a ceasefire prior to peace talks and what Europe's security architecture might look like in the future.The Hungarian PM teased several upcoming meetings next week that would be "equally surprising" as his recent talks with Putin. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240705/putin-and-orban-hold-talks-in-moscow-1119251991.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240706/orban-reveals-plans-to-hold-more-surprise-meetings-next-week-after-recent-talks-with-putin-1119265245.html russia hungary Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Svetlana Ekimenko Svetlana Ekimenko News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Svetlana Ekimenko hungarian prime minister viktor orban, orban talks with putin, russian president vladimir putin held with orban, orban trip to moscow, orban and putin, orban meets with putin, orban talks with putin, orban in moscow, orban about ukraine conflict, orban urges peace in ukraine conflict, orban on putin's remarks about arms supplies, putin comments the us decision to send long-range arms to ukraine https://sputnikglobe.com/20240707/plague-case-confirmed-in-us-state-of-colorado-1119266519.html Plague Case Confirmed in US State of Colorado Plague Case Confirmed in US State of Colorado Sputnik International Health officials are investigating a human case of plague confirmed in Pueblo County, Colorado. Although, no information about who contracted the disease, nor how or when, has been provided. 2024-07-07T04:44+0000 2024-07-07T04:44+0000 2024-07-07T05:53+0000 americas world health organization (who) colorado colorado department of public health and environment plague disease us centers for disease control and prevention us centers for disease control (cdc) infection https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/07/07/1119267990_0:320:3072:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_7481a609f7d3834c42b6e4ec0a49a8dd.jpg Health officials are investigating a human case of plague confirmed in Pueblo County, Colorado. Although, no information about who contracted the disease, nor how or when, has been provided. The Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment (PDPHE) is working with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to investigate, a press release said."We advise all individuals to protect themselves and their pets from plague," said Alicia Solis, program manager of the Office of Communicable Disease and Emergency Preparedness at PDPHE.Plague is a disease that affects humans and other mammals and is caused by the bacterium, Yersinia pestis, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). An average of seven people in the US each year contract the plague, which is spread when an infected rodent flea bites a human or a person handles an infected animal - in some cases is can also be passed through inhalation."The more common risk of exposure in the U.S. is from pets, rodents and fleas," said Erica Susky, a certified infection control practitioner based in Canada. Susky adds that hunting, including skinning animals, is also a risk. Overall, the best prevention is to avoid rodents and fleas whenever possible, as well as dead rodents.The plague is found on all continents except Oceania, though most human cases since the 1990s have occurred in Africa, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It naturally occurs in areas of the western US, as well as certain regions of Africa and Asia, but can be cured with antibiotics if treatment is quickly given.According to the organization, about 1,000 to 2,000 cases of plague are reported to them each year across the globe with nearly 600 deaths occurring between 2010 and 2015.The disease is notorious for having caused the Black Death, a devastating global epidemic that is estimated to have killed roughly 50 million Europeans in the mid-1300s.Modern sanitation and public-health practices have helped slow the impact of the disease but it has not been eliminated. The bacterium was first introduced in North America around 1900 from rats on ships that came from South Asia, estimates Timothy Brewer, M.D., professor of medicine and epidemiology at UCLA."Since its introduction 120 years ago, it has become endemic in ground squirrels and rodents in the rural Southwestern U.S.," said Brewer. americas Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg plague, health issue, fatal disease, cdc, us news, colorado, animals, who, infectious disease, plague inc, pandemic, contagious disease, plagued americans, us is plague, plague in the us, plagued nation, plague in the us https://sputnikglobe.com/20240707/republika-srpska-will-secede-from-bih-if-sarajevo-confiscates-its-property---leader-1119271731.html Republika Srpska Will Secede From BiH if Sarajevo Confiscates Its Property - Leader Republika Srpska Will Secede From BiH if Sarajevo Confiscates Its Property - Leader Sputnik International Republika Srpska will not allow Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to join NATO because Serbs remember the suffering of innocent civilians and will never give such consent, Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik told Sputnik. 2024-07-07T10:41+0000 2024-07-07T10:41+0000 2024-07-07T10:41+0000 world milorad dodik jens stoltenberg republika srpska bosnia and herzegovina sarajevo nato https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/07/07/1119272527_0:245:3072:1973_1920x0_80_0_0_a990a3e31661500ce8cbd29efe4da53d.jpg "For decades, the West has not concealed its intention to abolish the Republika Srpska, to completely diminish its importance and thus to create a centralized and unitary Bosnia and Herzegovina. If the world community tries to impose the property law, the Republika Srpska will not hesitate to declare independence," Dodik said.On March 2, 2023, the Constitutional Court of BiH in Sarajevo blocked the implementation of the Law on Immovable Property of Republika Srpska, thus the property administered by Banja Luka can be transferred to the central authorities. In early August, 2023, the BiH Prosecutors brought charges against Milorad Dodik for non-complying with the decisions of the High Representative for BiH Christian Schmidt.Republika Srpska Will Not Allow BiH to Join NATORepublika Srpska will not allow Bosnia and Herzegovina to join NATO because Serbs remember the suffering of innocent civilians and will never give such consent, the president also emphasized.In the spring, Denis Becirovic, the Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency, said in a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that BiH's strategic goal is to join NATO. In January, Dodik said that Republika Srpska of BiH allows cooperation with NATO but opposes BiH's membership in the alliance. Before that, Republika Srpska's legislature adopted the corresponding resolution. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240607/milorad-dodik-bih-peaceful-separation-solution-in-accordance-with-dayton-peace-treaty-1118827517.html republika srpska bosnia and herzegovina sarajevo Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International republika srpska and bosnia and herzegovina, is republika srpska part of bosnia and herzegovina, republika srpska and bosnia and herzegovina relations, is republika srpska in nato, republika srpska president milorad dodik Direct passenger flight connects China's Chongqing with Jakarta Xinhua) 10:09, July 07, 2024 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. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Kou Jie) Former Trump administration hard-line anti-immigrant aide Stephen Miller has angrily denied any involvement with the controversial right-wing Project 2025 plan for America after he appeared in a promotional spot posted by Project 2025 and its creator the Heritage Foundation. Miller railed on Twitter at the Biden campaign, which revealed the spot, that its candidate has "pudding for brains" and that his part of the video was advice to students on skill-building and had nothing to do with Project 2025. "But keep hoaxing, losers," he added with the attitude for which he was infamous in the White House. The spot promotes Project 2025's "Presidential Administration Academy" for training future leaders. I know youre upset because your candidate has soft pudding for brains, but thats not a recruitment ad. A while back I made a video for students on how to build skills. I have never been involved with Project 2025, not one word. But keep hoaxing, losers. Hoaxes are all you have. https://t.co/FpVnIfYL0B Stephen Miller (@StephenM) July 6, 2024 The 887-page Project 2025 is intended to be executed under the next conservative president. It was created by the right-wing Heritage Foundation think tank with the participation of some 17 members of Trump's White House. It calls for several massive changes, including moving to quickly execute prisoners on death row, launching a further crackdown on the LGBTQ community and women's reproductive rights and the "elimination of the administrative state," including shutting down the federal Department of Education, which Trump has pitched at his rallies. As many as 50,000 federal workers would be classified as political appointees, fired, and replaced wit conservative loyalists under the plan. Like Miller, Trump insisted Friday that he has never had any involvement with Project 2025, nor knows "nothing about" it. Critics pointed out that he apparently knows enough about it to also object to some aspects of it, which he didn't detail. 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 "What is he talking about?" President Joe Biden asked on social media after Trump's claims. "Trump is lying about Project 2025. It's his people and his plan." Trump's project will "destroy America," said Biden, who's currently facing pressure to drop out of the presidential race over his disastrous June 27 debate performance. "If you don't believe me, google it." In a subsequent statement, Biden called Project 2025 "extreme and dangerous" and said it "should scare every single American." Two of three people listed as the team behind the manifesto are former Trump administration officials, as are the authors of many chapters. They include former trade adviser Peter Navarro, who's serving a four-month prison term for contempt of Congress in connection with the House select committee's investigation of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. Trump's campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt also appears in the Project 2025 video with Miller, and has referred to the plan as "Trump's Project 2025." So, Trump has no idea his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, is moonlighting & did a promo for "Trumps Project 2025" that is promoted by his Super PAC. Dozens of Heritage Foundation employees went to work for his administration. They brag out Trump doing their bidding. pic.twitter.com/D8rziw3rZx Fly Sistah (@Fly_Sistah) July 5, 2024 Trump spoke out about Project 2025 shortly after controversial comments by Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts which appeared to threaten bloodshed if the left doesn't fall in line with a "second American Revolution" presaged in Project 2025 This revolution will only "remain bloodless if the left allows it to be," Roberts warned in an interview. "We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless, if the left allows it to be." ~ Kevin Roberts of the Heritage Foundation on July 2, 2024. Happy 4th! pic.twitter.com/K4RcU85a0u Christopher Tackett (cjtackett on ) (@cjtackett) July 4, 2024 Roberts also noted in a speech at a Trump rally in Nashville that the former president gets "full credit" for creating Project 2025 and will enact it if he wins the election. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240707/russian-experts-gain-access-to-storm-shadow-missile-warhead-1119269198.html Russian Experts Gain Access to Storm Shadow Missile Warhead Russian Experts Gain Access to Storm Shadow Missile Warhead Sputnik International Russian specialists have studied the cumulative warhead of European Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles, determining the penetration depth and detonation distance... 07.07.2024, Sputnik International 2024-07-07T06:59+0000 2024-07-07T06:59+0000 2024-07-07T07:00+0000 russia ukraine storm shadow cruise missile video russia's special operation in ukraine https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/07/07/1119269762_0:3:1280:723_1920x0_80_0_0_f5013dc34f9e99dd987b02e31aac1741.jpg "The primary cumulative projectile of the Storm Shadow/SCALP missile consists of the nose cap, the primary charge, and then the main warhead. It is necessary for the initial penetration of an obstacle. <...> It creates holes using the cumulative effect, through which the inertial warhead penetrates, causing an explosion. We understand the penetration depth, the detonation distance from the surface, the types of target sensors used, and the potential penetration depth," the specialist said.The cumulative warhead of the Storm Shadow/SCALP missile is a cylindrical object about half a meter in length with approximately the same diameter. The nose section is shaped like a cone, directed inward towards the body.The study of the missile by Russian specialists will enable the implementation of countermeasures to protect against such weapons, including the creation of shelters with the necessary characteristics, the specialist explained. The Storm Shadow and SCALP-EG cruise missiles can approach their targets stealthily by using navigation correction via American satellites, Lieutenant General Andrey Semenov, Commander of the Air Defense and Missile Defense Forces and Deputy Commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces earlier said. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow may respond asymmetrically to the supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine. The transfer of high-precision long-range weaponry to Kiev is a path to very serious problems, he emphasized. russia ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Russia examining Storm Shadow missile structure to work out countermeasures Sputnik International Russia examining Storm Shadow missile structure to work out countermeasures 2024-07-07T06:59+0000 true PT1M34S 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russia, ukraine, storm shadow cruise missile, video, https://sputnikglobe.com/20240707/russian-forces-capture-electronic-warfare-system-from-us-bradley-vehicle-1119275460.html Russian Forces Capture Electronic Warfare System From US Bradley Vehicle Russian Forces Capture Electronic Warfare System From US Bradley Vehicle Sputnik International Units of Russias Yug Battlegroup destroyed a US Bradley infantry fighting vehicle with its crew, using drones and captured an electronic warfare system from it, the commander of the assault group with the call sign Kucher told Sputnik. 2024-07-07T11:16+0000 2024-07-07T11:16+0000 2024-07-07T11:16+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine russia us ukraine https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/07/07/1119275239_22:0:3663:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_834fffea480a42e9d979399f1628bd0d.jpg Soldiers from Russia's 200th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade of the Leningrad Military District are carrying out combat missions as part of the Yug Battlegroup in the special military operation zone."Recently, during active offensive actions, our UAV crew hit a Bradley... When the opportunity arose, we inspected the vehicle for dead or wounded enemies and found and captured a much-needed and important electronic warfare system. We took it directly from the turret and took it with us," Kucher told the news agency.According to Kucher, the US-made BMP was hit near Chasov Yar in the Donetsk People's Republic. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240411/watch-russian-drone-smash-us-bradley-ifv-operated-by-ukrainians--1117871519.html russia ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russian special military operation, bradley ifv, ukrainian crisis, ukrainian conflict, war in ukraine, us military equipment in ukraine https://sputnikglobe.com/20240707/uk-intelligence-asset-keir-starmer-committed-to-maintaining-western-hegemony-with-british-nukes-1119266276.html UK PM Starmer Committed to Maintaining Western Hegemony With British Nukes UK PM Starmer Committed to Maintaining Western Hegemony With British Nukes Sputnik International The Labour leader also signaled he will maintain Conservative Party policies on Ukraine and NATO, demonstrating the illusory nature of democratic "choice" in Western capitalist democracy. 2024-07-07T03:39+0000 2024-07-07T03:39+0000 2024-07-07T06:18+0000 world keir starmer jeremy corbyn mike pompeo united kingdom (uk) labour party conservative party trident uk trident program nuclear weapons https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/06/0d/1096275579_0:219:2611:1688_1920x0_80_0_0_ff2e44fd82b7c55962f88aa19a69c93a.jpg Newly minted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has revealed he will continue the foreign policy of the outgoing Conservative Party government, including the UKs implicit doctrine of an offensive first use nuclear strike on its adversaries.But British military doctrine, with the purported rationale of the defence of NATO, explicitly permits the country to initiate a nuclear exchange.The 2021 Integrated Review announced that the 2010 [nuclear disarmament] commitments could no longer be met due to the current security environment, the document continues, without defining the circumstances it puts forward as an excuse to announce the expansion of its nuclear stockpile by 40%.As such, it announced that the cap on the nuclear stockpile will now be raised and that information on operational stockpile, deployed missiles and deployed warheads would no longer be made available.The London minister of parliament once clarified former Prime Minister Tony Blair should stand trial on war crimes charges if found guilty of violating international law during the UKs deployment across the Middle East. A study by Brown University has found at least 4.5 million people have died as a result of the US-led War on Terror.Nevertheless, the UK remains committed to expanding its nuclear stockpile, threatening to drive the global death toll even higher.The author suggests the maintenance of the countrys stockpile may actually threaten to undermine its national security as the UK pours hundreds of billions of dollars into the program while the quality of life of Britons declines. The Atlantic magazine recently noted the UK has become one of the poorest countries in Western Europe, raising the prospect of internal destabilization and political collapse as working-class citizens realize their government works against their interests.The nuclear program also undermines British sovereignty as the country relies on US nuclear technology. Britains dependency on the US has been repeatedly enshrined, Norton-Taylor writes, describing a secret UK government agreement to establish a bomber base on British colonial territory in the Indian Ocean.The United States has continued to work to subvert British politics, ensuring the UK itself remains a colonial territory of the US security state.We wont wait for [Jeremy Corbyn] to do those things to begin to push back, said former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a leaked recording of comments made to pro-Israel leaders during a trip to the UK.The depth of Pompeos interference remains to be revealed, although evidence suggests British intelligence played a substantial role in working to defeat Corbyn and boosting the political fortunes of new Labour leader Keir Starmer.Starmer has returned the favor by loyally pledging to unleash nuclear annihilation on any perceived enemy of Western hegemony at his MI6 handlers request. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240706/broken-promises-fed-disillusioned-voters-rage-ahead-of-uk-elections---media-1119261649.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231010/uk-labour-leader-keir-starmer-glitter-bombed-as-protester-storms-stage-1114079599.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231101/uk-opposition-leader-starmer-faces-party-divide-over-gaza-ceasefire-1114637911.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240508/china--serbia-form-partnership-after-depraved-cia-attack-in-belgrade-1118343031.html united kingdom (uk) Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 John Miles https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/19/1116388787_0:0:1316:1316_100x100_80_0_0_77e70d36afd983012b1c5d38ddb84156.jpg John Miles https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/19/1116388787_0:0:1316:1316_100x100_80_0_0_77e70d36afd983012b1c5d38ddb84156.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 John Miles https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/19/1116388787_0:0:1316:1316_100x100_80_0_0_77e70d36afd983012b1c5d38ddb84156.jpg keir starmer trident, keir starmer nuclear weapons, uk nuclear arsenal, uk declining standard of living, uk political and social collapse, western nuclear hegemony, us hegemony, nuclear war, nuclear warfare, british nukes https://sputnikglobe.com/20240707/watch-russian-troops-blow-up-two-patriot-missile-systems-in-odessa-region-1119268902.html Watch Russian Troops Blow Up Two Patriot Missile Systems in Odessa Region Watch Russian Troops Blow Up Two Patriot Missile Systems in Odessa Region Sputnik International Russian troops continue to strike Ukrainian military equipment with high-precision weaponry to ensure the safety of its territory. 2024-07-07T18:07+0000 2024-07-07T18:07+0000 2024-07-07T18:07+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine odessa russian ministry of defense ukraine russia russian army russian armed forces russian troops patriot https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/07/07/1119272301_9:0:1271:710_1920x0_80_0_0_209020aa955446f92d6025aca0edfa15.jpg The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has released footage showing the countrys armed forces targeting and successfully hitting two Patriot surface-to-air missile systems in Ukraines Odessa region.The Iskander-M operational and tactical missile complex struck the position of Ukraines battery of the Patriot anti-aircraft missile complex near the settlement Yuzhnoye in the Odessa region. The strike destroyed two Patriot launchers and a Giraffe radar station, the ministry specified. odessa ukraine russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Russias Iskander missile system hit Ukrainian Patriot surface-to-air missile system battery in Odessa region Sputnik International Russias Iskander missile system hit Ukrainian Patriot surface-to-air missile system battery in Odessa region 2024-07-07T18:07+0000 true PT1M01S 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russias special military op in ukraine, special military operation, special military operational zone, special op zone, russian troops in special op zone, ukraine casualties in conflict, total ukrainian losses, how many people did ukraine loose, how many people did kiev loose, new russian weapons in ukraine, advanced russian weapons, russian defense ministry statements, latest russian military statements, what did shoigu say about ukraine, donetsk peoples republic, nato in ukraine, is nato in ukraine, russian drones, drone warfare, new military drones, uavs in ukraine, ukraine crisis, ukraine conflict, battlegroup sever, battlegroup yug, battlegroup zapad, battlegroup vostok, battlegroup tsentr, battlegroup dnepr, russia ukraine peace talks, russia ukraine peace settlement, russia ukraine negotiations, russian air defenses Hot Fudge Sundae prevailed in a Dresden Raceway duel with rival Monteverdi to win the $5,200 Preferred 3 Trot on Sunday afternoon, July 7. Monteverdi and driver Nick Steward fired off the gate from post three in Dresden's featured trot, but Alfie Carroll had other ideas and kept on rolling with the favoured Hot Fudge Sundae from post five as those two battled for the top spot through a :28 opening quarter well in front of the rest of the field. Hot Fudge Sundae persisted and Monteverdi settled for the pocket trip as the trotters took the turn towards the grandstand to complete the first lap of the half-mile oval. They raced 1-2 with Hot Fudge Sundae leading through a half in :58 and three-quarters in 1:28.2 before a Monteverdi took another shot in the final turn. Battling head-to-head again down the stretch, Hot Fudge Sundae fought off Monteverdi for the victory by half a length in 1:59.1. Lass Shot rounded out the top three finish order 1-3/4 lengths behind for Garrett Rooney. Owned by trainer Angie Carroll and Mary Carroll of Iona, Ont., Hot Fudge Sundae has won two Preferred events at the Dresden meet and now has five victories from 22 seasonal starts. A career winner of 21 races, the seven-year-old Kadara-A Sundae On Sunday gelding has banked $141,446 in purses. Sent postward as the 3-5 favourite, Hot Fudge Sundae paid $3.40 to win. Garrett Rooney led all drivers, winning half of the day's races. He swept the early Daily Double on the 10-race card with Kiss My Bet ($6.80) for trainer Jason Libby and Silverclayspecial ($2.50) for conditioner Doug Schweitzer. Rooney also drove Debt Motivated ($3.40), Journalistic ($4.20) and Trident Seelster ($2.20), a trio of winners for the Cameron McQueen stable. After their successful Sunday showing, both Rooney and McQueen pulled out of a tie for the top spots in the driver and trainer standings. Rooney now leads all Dresden drivers with 19 wins and McQueen tops the trainers with 10 so far this season. To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Dresden Raceway. (Standardbred Canada) Stopping the clock in 1:55.4, Whats Shakin set a new stakes record in winning the $205,479 Next Generation division for two-year-old colt trotters on Saturday (July 6) at Eldorado Scioto Downs. Ronnie Gillespie was up for the record-setting performance. CS Tom K (Dan Noble) and Pink Panther (Kayne Kauffman) battled for a wicked opening quarter of 27.1. CS Tom K kept the lead through the :57 half when Pink Panther popped the pocket. Rose Run Ari (Brett Miller) followed suit, with Whats Shakin second over, but gapping cover by the 1:26.1 third quarter. Around the last turn, Whats Shakin was in hot pursuit and the two colts battled to the wire. The 3/2 favourite Whats Shakin won by a length over Rose Run Ari. Memory Vault (Chris Page) came from the back to finish third. I knew the two and three horse had a lot of gate speed, so I wasnt looking to leave," driver-trainer Gillespie said. "I just wanted to get in good position. Its very special because last year I raced in this race with Sugar Instead and finished second, so I had to redeem myself. Then I was in the eighth race and my filly made a breakso its real special." Whats Shakin is by What the Hill out of the Broadway Hall mare Broadway sister. He was bred by Steiner Stock Farm and is owned by William Donovan. Gillespie prepped Whats Shakin for the Next Generation with a lone qualifier at Scioto, finishing second and timed in 1:57.1. When I broke the colt, I didnt even like the colt," Gillespie said. "The minute I got down to about 2:20, he showed that he had a lot of heart and I told (Mr. Donovan) that I wanted to put him in the Next Generation. The two-year-old colt pace division of the Next Generation was won by Swingtown (Chris Page) in 1:53. The duo was parked from post eight to just before the 28.2 opening quarter by De Dragon (Luke Hanners). De Dragon, at 3/5, quickly reclaimed the lead and the eventual race winner settled in the pocket towards fractions of 57.4 and 1:25.3. Mr McDragon (Miller) made a first-over bid going down the backside but was not able to keep pace, which allowed Swingtown to get off the cones before the top of the stretch. Under a hand drive, Swingtown coasted home in 27.1 to win by two-and-a-half lengths. Downbytheparade (Aaron Merriman), who sat third along the rail for most of the mile, finished second with De Dragon holding on for third. Swingtown, by Downbytheseaside out of the Art Major mare Swinging Beauty, was bred by Steiner Stock Farm and is owned by Burke Racing, Hatfield Stables, Knox Services and R A S Racing. A $160,000 US purchase from the Ohio Selected Yearling Sale, Swingtown prepped for the Next Generation with two qualifiers at the Meadows, including a victory in 1:54.2 on June 18. On the distaff side, The Word Is Out (pace) and Aunt Lilly (trot) took the Next Generation filly divisions. In the filly pace division, Queen of Fear (Ronnie Wrenn, Jr.) took the early lead from post five. Prolific Fire (Brett Miller) was sitting second but took over just at the 26.2 quarter. She quickly took the field 55.2 half and held forth at the three quarters in 1:23.3. The Word Is Out (Page) came third over from sixth, and was four-wide in the last turn, to get up to win by a half-length via a 28-second last quarter. Queen of Fear came back to be second while Maddies Delite (Dan Noble) also came from behind to finish third. Thankfully the pace was hot, and they came back to me, Page said. I like her, shes very good gaited.I really want them sharp for when the money is on the line, like tonight. She finished with late pace both qualifiers and that is why she was able to go in 52.2 tonight. The World Is Out is by Well Said out of the Captaintreacherous mare Treacherous Secret and was a $24,000 US Ohio Selected Yearling Sale purchase from breeder Shaffer & Sons. Trained by Ron Burke for Burke Racing Stable, Knox Services, Beasty and R A S Racing, the filly prepped for the Next Generation with two qualifiers at The Meadows. The prohibitive favourite in the two-year-old trotting filly division, Aunt Lilly (Anthony MacDonald), went gate-to-wire to win by three lengths in 1:57.2. R Maggie (Chris Lems) stalked the leader as they tripped the beam in 29, 1:00 and 1:28.4. After R Maggie broke stride at the three-quarter pole, Mega Money (Merriman) came up for second, with Rose Run Allison (Page) closing from seventh at the three-quarter pole to be third. By Uncle Peter out of the Lucky Chucky mare Chuckys Luckycharm, Aunt Lilly came into the Next Generation off a win in a pop-up series at The Meadows for trainer Jason McGinnis and owners Thestable Aunt Lilly Group and Hutchison Harness. Aunt Lilly was bred by Samuel Stoltzfus, Jr. There was also Ohio Sires Stakes action on Saturday's card, with a lone division for three-year-old colt trotters and two divisions for the sophomore pacers. In the $136,986 OHSS division for sophomore trotters, Royal Precedent (Ronnie Wrenn, Jr.) set early fractions of 27.2 and 56.2. Hung Over (Dan Noble) made a first over bid going to the 1:24.2 third-quarter. Around the last turn, Tennessee Tom (Page) came three-wide around the dull cover to power on by to win by three lengths in 1:53. Spaaaanzano (Merriman) got up for second after a miscue leaving the gate; Hung Over finished third. Tennessee Tom is trained by Ron Burke for Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Hatfield Stables and Knox Services. After sitting out the first leg, Tennessee Tom has now won the last two Sires Stakes legs. The third time was the charm for the well-traveled Hundred Dollar Man, who made his third trip to Ohio for Sires Stakes action. Hundred Dollar Man sat in the pocket behind Dancin Moon (Merriman) who set fractions of 26.3, 56 and 1:22.4. Montrell Teague pulled Hundred Dollar Man midway through the last turn to win by a length in 1:50.1. Clive Francis trains the gelding by Lather Up for owner/breeder Brenda Teague. Racing Rebel (Austin Hanners) finished second while Pariss Dragon (Noble) closed in 26.4 from fifth to get up for third. Hundred Dollar Man had two thirds in the previous two legs of the OHHS this season. The second $89,041 split was won by Clever Cody and Merriman in 1:50.2. The pair got away fourth with a lot of action up front going to the 26.3 opening quarter. Outer Banks (Wrenn, Jr.) took the lead from post eight with Rose Run Zane (Hanners) parked and hot on their heels. Rose Run Zane crossed over as the field straightened out in the stretch and Merriman had already pulled Clever Cody to make their bid for the front. The duo cleared going under the wire for the first time and lead through the 54.3 half and 1:23.1 third quarter. Outer Banks made another move down the backside in a first-over bid, but the 1/2 favourite Clever Cody held sway to win by three-quarters of a length over a fast-closing Rock The Hill (Josh Sutton). Outer Banks was third. Clever Cody is owned by the Clever Cody Stable and trained by Dr. Ian Moore. The colt by The Panderosa is now three-for-three in the Ohio Sires Stakes and is just shy of a half-million in earnings with $495,582. There were also three $41,095 open events held on stake- laden card. In the fillies and mares open, the 1/5 favourite Strong Poison (Noble) left from the eight hole to lead the majority of the mile, tripping the beam in 26.2, 54.3, 1:21.4. Penpaperpaige (Tyler Smith) got the perfect pocket trip and came up the inside to win by a half-length in 1:49.4. Strong Poison held off the first over bid by Prosecco Princess (Luke Hanners) to finish second, while Prosecco Princess was third. Penpaperpaige, trained by Jeff Smith, is owned by Bet The House and Tyler & Maevyn Smith. The open trot was won by Kildare King (Merriman), who went gate-to-wire, setting nearly identical fractions to the filly and mare open pace, of 26.2, 54.4 and 1:22. Flemsteen (Smith) was just a neck back in second with Ahundreddollarbill (Brett Miller) getting up for third. Kildare King is owned by breeder Robert Goodman and trained by Chris Beaver. Artatac A also took his open event gate-to-wire, winning the open pace in 1:49.4. Going to the lead from post seven, at the 26.1 opening quarter Noble fended off a bid from Carbine, who left from post eight. Carbine settled in second, while the field went through fractions of 54.4 and 1:22.1. Tickertape Hanover (Luke Hanners) made a first over move going down the backside, of which Stars Align A (Trevor Smith) took advantage. Using the cover, he came three-wide around the last turn to get up for second. Carbine was third. Artatac A is trained by Christi Noble for James Morris and Norman Rae Racing. Allegiant made it two wins in a row by taking the $136,986 Moni Maker Trot. Hunter Myers was up for the two-length victory in 1:52.2. Jurassic Hattie (Brett Miller) was second and Roxanna (Merriman) was third. A three-year-old Tactical Landing filly, Allegiant is 2-1-0 in five starts this year, with a bankroll of $134,352. The Vernon Beachy trainee has career earnings of $457,752. Seaside Diva (Page) improved to six-for-six on the year with a victory in the $136,986 Nadia Lobell Pace. Seaside Diva won by a half length in 1:50.4. Pass Line (Wrenn Jr.) and Lyons Legend (Merriman) completed the trifecta. Trained by Ron Burke, Seaside Diva is a three-year-old Downbytheseaside filly. She's earned $242,467 this year and $482,272 lifetime. The 90-day Eldorado Scioto Downs race meet continues through Saturday, September 14. Races are held Tuesday-Saturday with a first post of 5:45 p.m. each day, except for Friday, September 13, which will have a 6:15 p.m. post to help accommodate horsemen attending the Ohio Selected Yearling Sale. (Scioto Downs) Two women were arrested for allegedly shouting antisemitic remarks at a man wearing a traditional Jewish skullcap as he sat on a restaurant patio in Boise, Idaho. The incident took place after Hannah Tucker, 28, and Crystal Grosenbach, 38, both of Boise, spotted the man sitting with a woman around 9 p.m. on Thursday, city police said. The women began chanting and then allegedly directed antisemitic comments toward the man, who was wearing a yarmulke on his head. Tucker and Gronsenbach left after arguing with the man, but returned a short time later and resumed yelling, according to police. That prompted the man to get up and approach them, at which point Tucker held up her phone, which allegedly made contact with the man's nose. Bystanders then intervened and the man returned to his seat, police said. Officers arrived at the scene and an investigation led to felony charges of malicious harassment against the women, police said. "This type of hateful behavior is unacceptable. Freedom of speech does not give anyone the right to break laws or target individuals based on their religion, race, or identity," Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar said in a statement. In addition to the harassment charge, Grosenbach was also charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest, jail records show. Tucker is under investigation in a June 9 graffiti incident at a Boise hotel with charges pending, police said. Both women were released after being booked. Their lawyer, Mike French, told local TV station KTVB: "It is our position that Hannah and Crystal are innocent of these charges, and we look forward to vigorously defending the case in court." NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg refused Sunday to comment on member nations' trust in President Joe Biden's fitness for the White House following his disastrous debate with Donald Trump, saying it wasn't appropriate for him to do so. "I just met President Biden in the Oval Office a couple of weeks ago," Stoltenberg said on "Face the Nation" on CBS News. "And that was a good and productive meeting where we prepared all the important decisions we'll make here on defense." When pressed on the issue again by host Robert Costa, he repeated: "We had a good, we had a productive, meeting. And of course, there is no way to make these big decisions ... without having a strong US leadership." Asked for a yes or no answer on NATO's trust in Biden, Stoltenberg deferred, saying he didn't want to become a "domestic debater." "I think it's important for NATO to stay out of that kind of domestic discussion," Stoltenberg explained. "They're of course important for the United States, but NATO should not be part of it," he added. NATO's 75th Summit is kicks off in Washington, D.C., Tuesday. Former NATO supreme allied commander Gen. Wesley Clark warned that member nations of the defense alliance are "very, very concerned" about continued U.S. commitment and Ukraine protection if Donald Trump wins the White House. They're particularly worried about "dangerous" talk from Trump indicating that his administration won't back up Ukraine in its war against the Russian invasion, or possibly any war in Europe, Clark said in a podcast for The Hill on Friday. "They don't trust him. They don't understand why he's saying this. They think it might have something to do with his relationship with [Russian President] Vladimir Putin," Clark said. "They're concerned, really worried, because, for us, NATO is an ocean away. For them, Russia is next door." NATO's 75th Summit kicks off Tueday in Washington, D.C. NATO Secretary General Jen Stoltenberg on "Face the Nation" on CBS News Sunday dodged questions about NATO members' trust in President Joe Biden's competence in the wake of his troubling debate with Donald Trump, saying he didn't want to get involved in domestic politics. Clark''s comments on Trump begn at 31:00 in the Hill podcast below: The storm surge from Tropical Storm Alberto in June flooded streets in Surfside Beach. The frequency of flooding along the Texas Gulf Coast has increased over the past several decades. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer WASHINGTON The combination of rising sea levels and sinking land along the Texas Gulf Coast has made the region one of the most frequently flooded in the country, according to a report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The frequency of flooding along the Texas Gulf Coast over the past decade averaged 10.7 days a year, compared with a national average for coastal regions of 6.8 days, the report found. The frequency is a marked increase from the 1950s, when flooding along the Gulf Coast was a relatively rare occurrence and Galveston averaged just 0.1 days of flooding per year, according to estimates compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. While coastal flooding in the United States was at one time largely linked to hurricanes and other larger storms, parts of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts will now flood even on sunny days, potentially turning what is now dry land into wetlands or open water, the EPA cautioned. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The report comes amid growing warnings from scientists that global greenhouse gas emissions threaten to further warm the planet and drive sea level rise up even faster in decades to come. Over the last 30 years the rates of sea level rise along the Gulf Coast have been the highest in the nation, and its only going to accelerate, said William Sweet, an oceanographer at NOAA. Beyond 2050 were talking beyond the goal posts, with the potential for some really big numbers if emissions dont abate. While rising sea levels area are a global phenomenon, the Gulf is especially prone to flooding because the land around it is steadily subsiding, through a combination of natural compaction and the extraction of water, oil and natural gas, Sweet said. NOAA estimates that by 2100 sea levels along the Gulf of Mexico will be between 2 and 6 feet higher than they are now, putting many of Texas' barrier islands under water and inundating coastal towns and cities. That is likely to compromise sewage systems, roads and water systems, along with other infrastructure, potentially making many communities uninhabitable. The impacts can already be seen in wetlands around Corpus Christi, where marshes are turning into open water, said Jim Gibeaut, a marine scientist at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi. Advertisement Article continues below this ad That will likely make the Texas coast more susceptible to hurricanes and tropical storms over time. By 2100 an additional 232 square miles of land area would likely be flooded by a Category 2 hurricane, according to estimates by scientists at the Harte Institute. A trio of hot dogs from Portillo's. Portillo's Fort Bend County is set to welcome variety of new culinary offerings this year. Here's a roundup of whats coming, according to records from the Texas Department Licensing and Regulation. Cluck Clucks Fire in the Cluck is a popular, spicy option at Halal comfort food chain Cluck Clucks. Cluck Clucks Popular Canadian chicken and waffles chain Cluck Clucks will open its first U.S. location at First Colony Commons Shopping Center in Sugar Land. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Construction is complete, and the eatery is expected to open at the end of July, said owner Ali Rizvi. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The family-run Toronto-based brand is known for serving Halal chicken. Popular menu items include Holy Cluck, What the Cluck and Shut the Cluck, served with sides (Side Chicks) including Hot Tender Clucks and Clucked Up Poutine. FORT BEND INSIDER: Never miss a story with our bi-weekly newsletter Rizvi said his family chose Sugar Land due to its diversity and the existing demand for Halal chicken in the area Portillo's Hot Dog A hot dog from Portillo's. Portillo's Chicago-style street food and hot dog chain Portillos will be opening two new locations in the area, in Katy and Stafford. Additionally, a third location is planned for Dallas. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Stafford location will be in a mixed-use development at corner of Nexus Ave and U.S. 59. Construction began in June and is expected to be completed in November, according to a TDLR filing. The Katy location at 1019 Westside Parkway is expected to be completed in August, according to a TDLR filing. Portillos is known for its hot dogs, char-boiled burgers and beef and sausage sandwiches. Smoothie King Smoothie King serves a range smoothie blends and smoothie bowls with flavor options, along with fitness and energy drinks. Smoothie King According to a TDLR filing, Smoothie King will open another location in Sugar Land by the end of the year, with construction expected to be completed in September. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The national franchise serves a range smoothie blends and smoothie bowls with flavor options, along with fitness and energy drinks. The new location will be at 13607 University, Suite 200, Sugar Land. Chip Cookies Oh Mmm Gyros and Chip Cookies are soon open in Katy. Juhi Varma Utah-based gourmet cookie company Chip Cookies will open its third Texas location in Katy at 806 Fort Bend, Suite 160B. The family-owned cookie delivery company ships its baked goods across the country. The franchisee is Prince Dhoat, founder of his own Houston-based gyro chain, Oh Mmm Gyros. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Oh Mmm Gyros Thai bank launches cross-border QR payment services in Laos By Vietnam News Agency Sun, July 7, 2024 | 10:58 am GMT+7 The Bank of Ayudhya PCL (Krungsri) of Thailand on Friday launched cross-border QR payment services for Thai tourists visiting Laos via its app, becoming the first Thai commercial bank to offer the service. A branch of the Bank of Ayudhya PCL (Krungsri) of Thailand. Photo courtesy of bangkokpost.com Thai tourists can use the KMA krungsri app to scan QR codes containing the Lao QR code symbol at stores in Laos. Similarly, merchants can use Krungsri Biz Mung-Mee for their corporate operations, the bank said. This initiative is part of Krungsris current medium-term business plan (2024 - 2026), which aims to strengthen the bank's comprehensive network throughout ASEAN. Ninlawan Jerraboon, Krungsri's head of Transaction Banking Group, said that the latest expansion to Laos is especially beneficial for travellers between the two countries, as well as merchants looking to increase sales opportunities. The wide use of QR code payments will simplify, expedite, and secure cross-border transactions within ASEAN, thus helping increase the region's economic bargaining power and competitiveness, she noted. Given the importance of developing digital payment innovations such as QR code payments, she said that Krungsri will continue to expand its services to the entire ASEAN and Asia-Pacific, with the goal of becoming the leading regional financial institution that connects all customer needs with trust. The bank's latest progress aligns with the Bank of Thailand's (BOT) ASEAN Payment Connectivity initiative, which aims to boost ASEAN member countries' economic potential. Under the strategic direction, BOT will gradually expand its cross-border collaboration with neighbouring countries. Singapore was the first cross-border payment arrangement made by the BOT in 2018, followed by Laos. Thailand currently collaborates with five ASEAN member countries in this regard, namely Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam. The sixth partner is Laos. The Water Technologies Innovation Institute and Research Advancement (WTIIRA) has started using advanced technology to maximise the use of cement plant by-products (fly ash) and desalination wastewater. WTIIRA is the research arm of the Saudi Water Authority (SWA). The goal is to produce high-purity (vaterite) calcium carbonate at 97% purity, a Saudi Press Agency (SPA) report said. The project, the first of its kind in the world, contributes to environmental preservation, promotes the circular economy concept, and aligns with the goals of the Saudi Green Initiative by reducing carbon emissions. The calcium carbonate extraction project is a key element of the "zero brine return" technology, which is part of SWA's strategy to maximise the use of brine wastewater in the production systems of the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), SWA's operational arm. Brine wastewater The process involves integrating the harmful by-products of cement factories with brine wastewater, leading to environmental innovation and the development of technologies that support a sustainable economy. The project is the result of a research partnership between the SWA's WTIIRA, the South Korean Taekyung Group, and Korea National University. The partnership involved close cooperation in engineering design, research, and feasibility studies. The pilot unit was manufactured in South Korea in 2023 and underwent intensive operational tests for six months, confirming its optimal performance. SWA aims to add up to SR1.5 billion ($400 million) annually to the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030 through the extraction of precious metals and salts from brine wastewater and the production of high-quality desalinated water suitable for drinking. It also involves extracting high-purity bromine, sodium chloride, potassium, magnesium and calcium sulphate at different stages. These products are used in the oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, construction, food and chemical industries.--TradeArabia News Service In the film "Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot," congregants gather at BishopWilbert C. Martin's church. The film is based on an East Texas congregation that fostered 77 children. Angel Studios Houston native Bishop Wilbert Martin, his wife Donna Martin and actress Nika King attend the premiere of "Sound of Hope: The Story Of Possum Trot" in Los Angeles. The film is based on Martin's congregation. Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Angel Studios Nika King plays Donna Martin in 'Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot,' a woman who adopted several foster children and helped find homes for many more. Angel Studios Nika King as Donna Martin and Diaana Babnicova as Terri in 'Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot' Angel Studios Houston native Rev. Wilbert Martin attends the premiere of "Sound of Hope: The Story Of Possum Trot" at Linwood Dunn Theater in Los Angeles. Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Angel Studios The solution to Texas failing foster-care system may lie with the good people of Possum Trot. Some 23 families in this rural East Texas community adopted 77 children in foster care in the late 90s and early 2000s. Their story is the focus of a touching new movie, Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot, which opened July 5. I urge you to see it. There are barely 700 people who live in Possum Trot, which is about three hours northeast of Houston. They are not wealthy, and most are just getting by, but these church-going folk armed with big hearts and unwavering faith banded together to take in children burdened by poverty, abuse and neglect. Advertisement Article continues below this ad RELATED: My Houston foster-care journey ended with courtroom joy. I wish more kids got this chance. This effort was led by Houston native Bishop Wilbert W.C. Martin, a graduate of Kashmere High School, and his wife, Donna, who head Bennett Chapel Baptist Church in the rural community. When they adopted a child after the death of Donnas mother, they inspired other families in the congregation to open their homes to children who were so damaged by their circumstances that no one wanted to adopt them. I believed this is what we were supposed to do, Martin said. We cannot overlook our children because they are in that system. There are some brilliant minds in there. Martin says he didnt know they would start a community movement when their first child, Nino, came to live in their home. They were led by Gods calling to open their hearts to children, he said, even though they had two biological children, one of whom had special needs. More churches should consider ways to help children in foster care, he said. I couldnt agree more. Advertisement Article continues below this ad It doesnt make sense if you have a big mega-church and are not reaching out to help these children, he said. FILM REVIEW: An East Texas family found homes for 77 foster kids. This touching film tells their story Imagine if each of the estimated 400,000 churches in the U.S. encouraged just one family in the congregation to adopt a child in foster care. There would be no children left in the system, given that there are about 400,000 children in foster care nationwide. In Houston, which has nearly 4,000 churches, it seems reasonable that more churches could identify families willing to adopt. An estimated 3,000 children are in foster care in Harris County; more than 500 of those children are available for adoption. This wont fix the many-layered issues with foster care, but finding loving forever homes for the children who are available to be adopted is a good start. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Sound of Hope is produced by adoptive parents Rebekah and Josh Weigel. The couple was living in California when they learned in 2013 about Possum Trots story. We were in the trenches with our own kids that we had adopted, Rebekah Weigel said. Youre longing for help when youre a foster adoptive parent and longing for community and support. To hear about this church that did this together, they helped each other, Im looking around and thinking, 'OK, my church is not involved at all.' A lot of the churches I know about in the city have no idea whats happening. Weigel reached out to Martin to speak at a Los Angeles event to get more churches involved with the foster care crisis, and they began talking about a movie. The power of Possum Trots story is that it leaves people with no excuses. If this little country church with no resources could unite families to take in children in crisis, surely big-city churches could do the same. As a foster-to-adoptive parent, I saw the power of a Houston church to address the needs of children in foster care when I was invited to speak, along with several other parents, to a 14,000-member congregation. Some churchgoers wanted to pursue fostering or adopting, while others discovered they could help by becoming respite caregivers, who provide needed breaks for foster parents, or advocates for children in care. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I think many churches dont pay attention to things like this . God is not concerned about church work, but he is concerned about ministry, Martin said. My responsibility as a pastor is to let other leaders know this is what your church should be doing. Construction work on the UAE Pavilion at the Expo 2025 Osaka began last week with the groundbreaking ceremony held at the Expo site on Yumeshima Island, said a Wam news agency report. The ceremony was attended by Shihab Al Faheem, Ambassador of the UAE to Japan, along with Expo organisers, official dignitaries and high-level officials. The UAE pavilion will be organised under the theme Designing Future Society for Our Lives, it was announced during the event. Noura Al Kaabi, UAE Minister of State, commented on the occasion: We are honoured to mark this occasion at the remarkable Expo 2025 Osaka in Japan, where nations will come together to share the latest technologies, foster innovative ideas, and collaborate on solutions to address the global challenges facing humanity. This World Expo comes at a pivotal moment for both the United Arab Emirates and Japan, as we strive to enhance our collaboration and work together to empower lives and achieve a sustainable future for all. Since 1971, the UAE has been steadfast in its commitment to global solutions, and we remain dedicated to shaping a sustainable future for generations to come. she added Expo 2025 Osaka, starting in April 2025, will focus on addressing critical global challenges through its sub-themes: "Saving Lives", which emphasises protecting lives; "Empowering Lives", dedicated to enriching individuals' lives and expanding their potential; and "Connecting Lives", aimed at engaging everyone, building communities, and enriching society. During the groundbreaking ceremony, the Ambassador of the UAE to Japan revealed that the UAE Pavilion will respond to Expo 2025 Osakas sub-theme Empowering Lives by highlighting meaningful stories of the past, present and future, centred around the UAEs ambitious efforts in innovation and R&D across healthcare, space exploration and sustainable technologies. The pavilion will also serve as a collaborative platform for co-creating solutions that drive collective progress. Located in the 'Empowering Lives' zone and in close proximity to the Japan Pavilion, the UAE Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka will participate as a Type A, self-built pavilion, making it one of the largest country pavilions at the World Expo in Osaka. Al Faheem remarked: We are thrilled about the UAE's participation in Expo 2025 Osaka, which underscores the enduring and prosperous relationship between the UAE and Japan. For over 52 years, our diplomatic relations have fostered significant industrial, cultural, and economic exchange and growth. The UAE is honoured to participate in the next World Expo in Osaka, carrying forward the spirit of global collaboration by previously hosting the world at Expo 2020 Dubai. Our relationship began even before the union of all emirates into a single country in 1971. Since Abu Dhabi's first participation in Expo Osaka back in 1970, our partnership has flourished, exemplifying mutual respect and collaboration. We extend our gratitude to the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition and the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) for giving us the opportunity to further strengthen the bonds between our nations and the world, as we work together towards a sustainable and prosperous future for all. he added. The UAE Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka will offer a diverse range of programming designed for visitors of all ages, from children to adults. The pavilion will also facilitate opportunities for creating and deepening connections among diplomats, innovators, researchers, academics, business leaders, thought leaders, and students. Through interactive exhibits, engaging workshops, and collaborative events, the UAE Pavilion aims to inspire and foster meaningful exchanges, highlighting the UAE's commitment to innovation, education, and global collaboration. Kent, a leading global provider of engineering and consultancy services, has announced that it has secured new contracts worth $1.2 billion during the first half of 2024. This achievement underscores the company's strong market presence and its continued growth across multiple regions worldwide. Announcing the new contract win, Kent said the contracts were clinched across asset lifecycle in key markets worldwide, from Feed (Front-end engineering design); Pre-Feed to EPCM (Engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contracts and framework agreements. Kent has witnessed substantial success in regions all over the world. In the UAE, it had snapped up multiple Feed and project management consultancy (PMC) contracts. These projects contribute to the nations ambitious initiative to decarbonise operations and achieve a 25% reduction in carbon intensity by 2030. Kents work in Saudi Arabia continues to grow, executing scopes under existing long-term framework agreements. Additionally, it has been awarded contract extensions with long-term clients in Iraq to continue delivering consultancy and construction management services, as well as new EPCM contracts in the country. Kents commissioning business has seen major wins with global framework agreements, with projects starting across the Americas, Europe and APAC. In the Asia Pacific region, we continue to expand our remit with key clients, being awarded Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contracts following Feed completion. On the big contract wins, Simon Lyons, Chief Business Development Officer at Kent, said: "We are incredibly proud of the progress and growth we have achieved in H1. Securing over $1 billion in new contracts, not including new framework agreements, is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team and the trust our clients place in us." "Our expansion in Europe and America, along with our success in key regions such as the Middle East and Asia Pacific highlights our commitment to delivering exceptional value and engineering solutions to our clients worldwide," he explained. "In support of its growing operations and to better serve its clients, Kent has expanded its presence in all regions, opening new offices in key locations. Our focus remains on leveraging our expertise to support our clients goals and contribute to global initiatives, such as decarbonisation and achieving net-zero," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Wood, a global consulting and engineering leader, has been selected by EPCI contractor Rosetti Marino to deliver a front-end engineering design (FEED) study for the Ineos Hejre development project in the Danish sector of the North Sea. Wood has a proud heritage in offshore design, delivery and operations, having engineered over one million tons of topsides facilities globally including support for the majority of facilities in the North Sea. Building on that track record, Wood will deliver the engineering design for the facility as well as support Rosetti Marino to develop the execute phase tender for the project, providing a clear roadmap to project completion. "Often the greatest success factor for new offshore projects comes down to the quality of execution, which is why we emphasise the importance of coupling innovative solutions with predictable delivery at Wood, said Simon Harris, Senior Vice President of Oil & Gas and New Energies Europe at Wood. "Combining Woods proven track-record in offshore engineering with Rosetti Marinos topside EPCI expertise will deliver a fabrication and construction-ready design during the initial stages of the project, ensuring there are no surprises in later phases," he stated. "Together Wood and Rosetti Marino will provide Ineos with a cost effective and executable design to help the Hejre Development Project deliver planned first oil in 2027," remarked Harris. Hejre will provide critical energy supply to Europe upon completion. The project includes a greenfield topside installation and brownfield modifications and tie ins to the existing wellhead and processing platforms, he added.-TradeArabia News Service Oceaneering, a global technology company delivering engineered services and products, has announced that its Offshore Projects Group (OPG) segment has been awarded multiple contractual agreements for vessel services with global energy companies, covering operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The scope of work under the first contract includes a mix of basic and heavy inspection, maintenance, and repair (IMR) services, including vessel-based inspections, maintenance of smaller equipment, and replacement of jumpers, said the company in a statement. The contract also encompasses intervention services and installation work, which are currently scheduled for the second half of 2024. It covers an initial 60-day work commitment. The second contracts scope of work primarily involves basic and heavy IMR services and installation tasks. It covers an initial 120-day commitment. Both contracts provide for additional work beyond the original commitments, it stated. Additionally, Oceaneering said it has secured two separate pricing agreements covering installation, IMR, and intervention work. Both contracts also include new technologies from OPGs integrated, customizable IMR service, such as photogrammetry and advanced subsea visual metrology. On the big win, President and CEO Roderick A. Larson said: "Our vessel bookings have increased year over year, affirming the growing demand for our services. These four contracts are foundational to improving our fleet utilization, particularly for our mid-size and larger vessels with 165-tonne and 250-tonne cranes, respectively." "They further reinforce Oceaneerings status as a premier provider of vessel services in the Gulf of Mexico. We take pride in our position within the industry and look forward to continuing our partnership with these customers," he added.-TradeArabia News Service From June 28 to July 2, Days of UAE Culture will be held on Manezhnaya Square in the Tverskoy District of Moscow, one of the central locations of the Summer in Moscow project. Citizens and tourists are invited to learn more about the country's attractions, traditional attire and cuisine, partake in henna painting, and explore an exhibition of paintings and photo displays. The programme is organised by the UAE Embassy and the Government of Russia. It will be part of a cycle of events held on a reciprocal basis within the framework of bilateral cooperation, said Deputy Mayor Natalia Sergunina. "Partnership relations between our countries are developing in many areas, including tourism. In 2023 alone, more than 42,000 travellers from the UAE visited Moscow eight times more than the previous year, said Natalia Sergunina. This trend continued in the first quarter of 2024 we are again recording growth. We invite everyone to Manezhnaya Square to see the exhibitions and musical performances, participate in master classes, take photos in front of art objects, and try popular Arab delicacies. According to her, guests from the United Arab Emirates are attracted by the centuries-old Russian culture and the abundance of parks and museums. Gastronomy, which combines the cuisines of different peoples of the world, is also particularly popular. Most often, travellers from the UAE come to the capital alone (34.2%) or with a partner (23.8%). They choose comfortable hotels: about a quarter of them stay in five-star hotels (23.4%). "We express deep appreciation and joy regarding holding the UAE Culture Days in the very centre of Moscow, on Manezhnaya Square. This historical area is considered one of Moscow's most beautiful tourist spots. Our goal was to introduce the Russian people to the culture and heritage of the UAE. We strongly believe that culture serves as a bridge between peoples and societies. The cultural event will be held over five days, during which we will try to showcase the true national heritage of the Emirates through folk performances by national art groups, a demonstration of an ancient Emirati wedding show, a falconry show, an engraving exhibition, henna pattern drawing, and an exhibition of antiques and folk crafts. Visitors will also be able to taste Emirati coffee and popular Emirati dishes. In addition, visitors to the event will be able to purchase traditional Emirati goods, and there will also be an opportunity to take memorable photos in a specially equipped photo zone." Dr Mohammed Ahmed Sultan Essa Al Jaber, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Russian Federation, said: Moscow is considered one of the attractive tourist destinations for tourists from the Emirates. Taking this opportunity, I would like to thank the Government of Moscow for their cooperation and support in successfully holding this important event for us and wish everyone to enjoy their visit. Moscow is an important tourist destination not only in Russia but also internationally. In 2023, the foreign tourist flow amounted to 23 million people, most often coming from China, India, CIS countries, and the Middle East. TradeArabia News Service Thailand accommodated over 17.5 million foreign tourists in the first half of 2024, who brought the Southeast Asian country a revenue of over THB825 billion (about $22.6 billion), according to Thailand's Ministry of Tourism and Sports. The Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported that the five countries with the highest number of tourists to Thailand in the reviewed period were China, Malaysia, India, South Korea and Russia. In the last week of June alone, 660,000 international tourists visited the country, marking a 2.98 percent increase compared to the previous week. Meanwhile, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is hosting a series of the Amazing Food Festival 2024 events to highlight the diversity of Thai food culture and elevate Thailands status as a world-class gastronomy tourism destination. The event was held in Phuket from 5-7 July at Central Phuket and it will be held in Chiang Mai from 20-22 July at Central Festival Chiang Mai, and Prachuap Khiri Khan from 10-12 August at Hua Don Beach, Khao Takiab, Hua Hin. THE theme for this years World Sight Day: Love your eyes, kids, is a call to action, says co-founder of the Trinidad Eye Hospital (TEH) and Hummingbird Medal Gold recipient, Dr Ronnie Bhola. One of the main problems affecting our young population that is causing concern among health care professionals like Bhola is myopia a condition in which people can see close objects clearly but objects farther away appear blurred. Co-owner Kevin Muccular holds a signature chicken dish at Aunt Bills Soul Food on Friday, June 28, 2024 in Katy. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer When you see a Houston restaurant's dish going viral on TikTok and Instagram, it's often inside the 610 Loop, but suburban spots are also making a name for themselves on social media, and it's not just when Keith Lee comes to town. Kevin and Ryan Muccular, owners of Aunt Bill's Soul Food in Katy, have seen their business grow thanks to social media engagement and are considering adding a food truck as a result. For Aunt Bill's it all started with a 2023 video review from an influencer named Mr. Chimetime, who rated it as some of the best food he's had in Houston. That video now has close to 7 million views. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Kevin Muccular when the couple transformed their California hot dog business to a soul food restaurant they never expected it to be this well-known across Houston. Its been overwhelming at times to be honest, especially when Mr.Chimetime first came, he said. We were so busy here that we had a portion of our staff quit because it was too much work, and they did it respectfully. Muccular said as he continues to manage, he just wants customers to remember that his restaurant wasnt built for really big crowds, so diners may experience longer wait times. The restaurant does offer a 100% refund if the food or service is dissatisfactory. Signature Oxtail dish served with candied yams and mac&cheese at Aunt Bills Soul Food on Friday, June 28, 2024 in Katy. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Co-owner Ryan Muccular packs candied yams into a side cup in the kitchen of Aunt Bills Soul Food on Friday, June 28, 2024 in Katy. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Advertisement Article continues below this ad Signature dishes of Oxtail, catfish and chicken with a variety of sides are served at Aunt Bills Soul Food on Friday, June 28, 2024 in Katy. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Muccular said the Mr. Chimetime review meant a lot, helping grow the business seven times from when it opened. He credits the work of his wife Ryan and their staff's caring customer service for bringing customers back. For me cooking is a job, but loving on people is my mission, he said. I dont cook because I love to cook, I cook because people love the food, people love good music, people love to laugh, be cared for and looked after. So that set up our business model, faith, family, and food. Aunt Bill's has been growing its own loyal following on both TikTok and Instagram, with the Instagram page growing from 4,000 to 21,000 followers since going viral last year. The Mucculars post pictures and videos of their soul food dishes, from smothered oxtails and collard greens to fried chicken. Aunt Bill's isn't the only Houston suburban restaurant blowing up on social media thanks to rave reviews. Here are a few others growing their TikTok and Instagram presence in the 'burbs. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Killen's BBQ- Pearland Killen's BBQ's beef ribs and brisket bring lines of foodies to the Pearland restaurant. Nick de la Torre/ Contributor Killen's BBQ's smoked brisket, ribs and chicken are getting rave reviews from influencers like Wayne Dang and British TikToker Junior Mukendi, who said it was his first time trying Texas barbecue. The popular spot has three locations Pearland, Cypress and The Woodlands. Address: 25618 NW Freeway, Cypress Advertisement Article continues below this ad Address: 8800 Six Pines Dr, The Woodlands Address: 3613 Broadway Street, Pearland Sra. Churros- Pasadena Sra. Churros, located in Pasadena, brings sweet and sugary flavors to the traditional treat. The shop's social media videos show off their churros to more than 27,000 followers combined on TikTok and Instagram videos. They also post videos of the process of making the churros from scratch. https://www.tiktok.com/@srachurrospasadena/video/7255114376531823914?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7288767632114959914 Advertisement Article continues below this ad Address: 3919 Shaver St, Pasadena Midnight Cravingz - Spring/The Woodlands Midnight Cravingz is in Spring, just minutes away from The Woodlands area and is open from 6 p.m. until 2 a.m. The late-night dessert spot has 80,000 Instagram followers and also gets buzz from food reviewers on social media. Midnight Cravingz serves square shaped cookies inside a mini bowl with side of two scoops of ice cream and syrup. Flavors include the Dark Night double chocolate cookie that is topped with Nutella and Oreo bites and served with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. Hana Ikramuddin is a Hearst Fellow in Connecticut. She spent the first part of her fellowship at the Houston Chronicle. Raised in the Twin Cities, Hana majored in journalism and political science at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. She has held internships with the Star Tribune, APM Reports and Sahan Journal. In her free time, she loves to cook, make chai and take care of her houseplants. PHOENIX The question of whether the Court of Appeals will immediately intercede in the fight between Katie Hobbs and Warren Petersen over the appointment of state department directors depends on whether the judges believe they need to step into the political spat right now. On one side, an attorney for Petersen, the Senate president, says the governor will be free eventually to appeal a ruling that she is breaking the law by having executive deputy directors run state agencies. Thomas Basile pointed out, however, that Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney, who issued the ruling, has not yet ordered her to do anything about the violation. Only if and when that happens, he told the appellate judges, can Hobbs seek special action appellate review. But Andrew Gaona, who represents Hobbs, said the case is so important as are the precedents it will set for future governors that there is need for immediate intervention. And if nothing else, Gaona said there just isnt the time to wait for the process to play out under normal procedure. He said that Blaneys ruling last month against Hobbs has created confusion about whether the executive deputy directors really have the authority to run the agencies to which the governor has assigned them. In fact, he said, there already are those who are using that uncertainty to challenge decisions of state agencies. All that, said Gaona, cant wait. The problem is that an appeal from a final judgment many months from now will not remedy the widespread harm to Arizona state government operations in the future, he told the appellate judges. This court should accept special action to promptly settle this uncertainty of law. Put another way, Gaona wants to bring a quick end to the debate about whether 13 people whom the Senate has not confirmed as agency directors legally can continue to do the same job in their positions as deputies. In that ruling last month, Blaney said Hobbs was certainly within her power to withdraw the nominations of those who the Senate Director Nominations Committee either rejected as her picks outright or simply refused to give them a hearing. Where she broke the law, the judge said, was then turning around and using a procedure to instead name these exact same people executive deputy directors positions that do not need confirmation and giving them the exact same duties and powers. Potentially more significant, the governor never submitted new names for confirmation for director positions. leaving them vacant and those deputy directors in charge. Hobbs said she would resume only after she is convinced that the Senate is willing to give them proper consideration. Petersen sued, arguing she cant avoid the legal requirement that those actually running state agencies be subject to Senate review and confirmation. Blaney agreed. That process requires oversight by the legislative branch, the judge said. Here, the governor willfully circumvented that statutory process and eliminated the legislative branch from its executive role. Whats complicating matters is that Blaney has not yet ordered Hobbs to do anything. Instead, he scheduled a hearing for next month to give the two sides a chance to work something out. Hobbs, however, chose to spurn that suggestion, insisting last month it is not possible at this point to work out something with Petersen. And then she turned around and directed Gaona to seek immediate Court of Appeal intervention. Basile, in new filings for Petersen, told the appellate judges they should ignore that request. He does not dispute Gaonas contention that the issue raises critical questions. But that, said Basile, isnt enough to bypass the normal process that would require Hobbs to await a final order from Blaney and then seek appellate review. The undisputed importance of the legal questions animating this case does not, by itself, evince the extraordinary circumstances necessary to have the case play out through a regular appeal, he wrote. And theres something else. Basile said he believes and the judge has ruled that the law is clear about what the governor has to do when agency director positions become vacant. Further, he said it was Hobbs herself who created the current legal problem she now wants the appellate court to immediately review by refusing to submit new names for the 13 posts that still remain vacant. That, he said, means there is no viable claim for special action relief. In any event, Basile said, Blaney got it right in finding Hobbs in violation of the law requiring her to submit the names of those she wants to run state agencies to the Senate for review. Gaona told the appellate judges that those arguments urging them to dismiss the governors request for immediate special action relief miss the point of how unusual the case is and why they should hear her arguments now. One is that the issue raises strictly a legal question. That means there is no factual dispute between Hobbs and the Senate, allowing the appellate judges to simply rule what the governor is and is not required to do under the laws on director nominations. What also is true, Gaona said, is that there is no legal precedent, meaning what the appellate judges decide will be the first ruling of its kind. Gaona also said that intervention now is appropriate given the statewide importance of getting the issue resolved. And he said the fact that this is a dispute between the executive and legislative branches is also a reason for the appellate judges to weigh in now. Blaney, in his ruling, acknowledged that Hobbs took the actions she did because the governor is unhappy that the Senate panel wont act on her nominations. But he said thats no excuse. The governors frustration with a co-equal branch of government even if that frustration was justified did not exempt her director nominees from Senate oversight, he wrote. Each of these de facto directors remains in control of their respective agencies in violation of applicable statutes, but with all the authority of a properly appointed director, Blaney continued. These agencies wield tremendous power they issue rules that have the effect of law and decide when and where to enforce those laws. And the judge pointed out that, for all intents and purposes, even Hobbs sees them as directors. Their reporting chains are identical to that of a properly appointed director, reporting directly to the governor or a chief of staff as the heads of their respective agencies, he said. They serve as the leaders of their respective agencies indefinitely at the pleasure of the governor, Blaney continued. Their indefinite tenure without Senate consent violates (state law) which says, In no event shall a nominee serve longer than one year after nomination without Senate consent. The appellate judges have not set a date to consider the governors request. Developers of the Copper World complex, where six open pits are planned south of Tucson, may soon get the state groundwater protection permit they need, but that wont end conflict over the permit. Two features of Hudbay Minerals Inc.s proposed plan for protecting groundwater at its mine in the Santa Rita Mountains will need to go through a separate round of permitting, possibly with additional public comments and meetings, regardless of how the current round turns out. Thats because these features were included in Hudbays 2023 preliminary feasibility study for Copper World, but not in the 2022 application Hudbay submitted to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality for an Aquifer Protection Permit. Such a permit is needed for the mine to be built and to operate. Thats the word from ADEQ in response to questions from the Arizona Daily Star. The departments action wont go as far as mine opponents want. Led by the longtime opposition group Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, they want the entire permit rejected and a new permit required to cover those and two other changes they say are significant. Simply put, the opponents view is, as they wrote in comments to ADEQ, The mine proposed in the (permit) application is a placeholder only and is not the mine Hudbay intends to build. The application process should be suspended until an accurate mine description, with accompanying technical analysis, is included in the application, the group said. There are significant changes to the mine as proposed in the application. A requirement for additional permitting for the mine will at least delay the end of the entire aquifer protection permitting process, and force Hudbay to undergo additional reviews before it can be sure of having the final state approval of the project. Hudbay says its standard practice for mining companies to revise plans during the often prolonged permitting process. Its draft permit issued by ADEQ complies with all applicable regulations and standards under Arizona law, the company told the Star. As part of the standard permitting process, ADEQ will address and respond to questions arising from the public comment period and make any necessary adjustments to the permit accordingly, Hudbay said. We will apply for amendments to the APP as necessary, said Hudbay, referring to the Aquifer Protection Permit it may soon get. Hudbay is committed to environmental responsibility, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement. ADEQ said it will decide on the $1.3 billion mine projects current permit application in August. It previously released a draft permit that says the mines current plan will prevent violations of groundwater quality standards from mine discharges. We have been carefully reviewing, considering, and responding to the comments received during the formal comment period. This is a critical step in the permitting process, department spokeswoman Alma Suarez said Wednesday. We evaluate each of these comments and update the permit as appropriate. These comments and responses will be provided to all commenters in a document called a Responsiveness Summary that will be released with the final permitting decision in August. Fourteen opposition groups led by Save the Scenic Santa Ritas filed nearly 80 pages of written comments hoping to stop the permit from being issued or to force major changes. Save the Scenic Santa Ritas spent what Rob Peters, the groups director, said is a substantial sum of money a figure the group didnt disclose to hire three outside consultants to review and critique the permit. They are hydrologists Laurel Lacher of Tucson and Ann Maest of Colorado and retired mining engineer David Chambers of Montana. The draft (aquifer) permit is extremely technical to the point that a normal person wouldnt know whether whats being proposed is a good thing or not a good thing, Peters said. For example, he noted that Hudbay and the aquifer permit propose to install a pipe drainage system under copper mine tailings to collect pollutants and other liquids that seep through them. The piping is supposed to collect 98% of the liquids. A lay person cant possibly evaluate whether or not those pipes are going to keep people safe, said Peters. The groups experts have years of experience and know what standard mining practices are and whether whats proposed is safe, he said. Hudbay noted that its preliminary feasibility study is its most recent mining plan but not the final one. It is normal for project proponents to adjust and modify their plans throughout development but unless those changes are authorized by the applicable permits, they cannot be implemented, the company said in response to questions from the Star. We would not begin a permit amendment until we know the final mine plan, Hudbay said. The two features of the mine that will definitely require separate permitting are a new facility for storing and disposing of Copper Worlds mine tailings and a reconfiguration of an already planned tailings storage area. These tailings projects either werent included in the permit application Hudbay filed in 2022 with ADEQ or have been changed since then. The changes were contained in a Copper World preliminary feasibility study that Hudbay released in September 2023. If a permit is issued, any design changes or modifications to the discharging facilities require the permittee to submit a permit amendment to ADEQ, the departments spokeswoman Suarez said. In their written comments to the agency, opponents identified four changes, including those two, to the mine plan since the 2022 permit application was filed that they said warrant a new permitting review. The other changes include a much larger amount of waste rock for deposit at the mine site and a different process for leaching certain kinds of copper from ore. Instead of approving Hudbays plan piecemeal ADEQ should require a new application that lets it assess how the entire mining project would affect water supplies. Now is the time for ADEQ to show that it will do its job of protecting the states citizens instead of bending to the will of the mining companies, Peters said. In response, Hudbay said its current permit proposal remains relevant, despite updates to the mining plan shown in its 2023 feasibility report. A favorable decision on the aquifer permit, once all aspects of the mine project are approved, would clear one of two remaining major legal hurdles before Hudbay can start building its project. It also must obtain an air quality permit from ADEQ. Hudbay also faces a pending lawsuit from mine opponents seeking to overturn the Arizona State Land Departments governing boards decision to allow a mine tailings pipeline to be built on a small slice of state land near the Copper World site. A defeat for Hudbay in that lawsuit wouldnt stop the mine but it might force the company to seek permission from the federal government for a separate route for the pipeline across U.S. Bureau of Land Management land. That would require a much more detailed environmental review. Details of the other two changes in the mine plan cited by opponents are: The original Hudbay aquifer permit application called for excavating and depositing about 477 million tons of waste rock in various places on the mine site. The destinations include a specific waste storage facility and several of the mines open pits. They would be backfilled with the waste rock once their ore bodies are exhausted. Hudbays September 2023 preliminary feasibility study, however, ratcheted up the amount of waste rock to be stored and disposed of to about 856 million tons. That represents a nearly 80% boost in expected waste rock. The same 2023 feasibility study called for replacing an earlier plan to use a heap leaching operation to extract copper with a different kind of process known as the Albion Process. Heap leaching extracts copper from ore by pouring large amounts of acid onto one or more heaps of mineral ore, which themselves are typically placed atop an impermeable pad to prevent the acids from escaping. The Albion Process involves injecting the copper ore with oxygen as well as acids as a way of removing the actual metal, inside tanks as opposed to on a leach pad. The operation also involves grinding the ore into very fine particles. Hudbay said it chose that method because its been shown to have higher copper extracting rates than heap leaching. Chambers, one of the three consultants hired by the opposition group, said he would expect the Albion Process would produce more byproduct metals and potentially more pollutants because the acid-leaching process is more effective than in heap leaching. That is one reason we need to see test data on any solid and liquid wastes from the Albion Process. ADEQ didnt respond to a question from the Star about whether the additional waste rock storage would need a permit amendment. But ADEQ has flipped its stance on whether Albion needs additional permitting. Originally, on June 28, ADEQ told the Star, if Copper World wants to incorporate the new and reconfigured tailings facilities into its mining plan, or to add the Albion Process, it would need to submit an application to amend its permit. That process would include a formal public comment period and a public hearing, Suarez said. Copper World air quality permit coming up soon While chapter 1 of Copper World's permitting saga with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is far from complete, chapter 2 is about to roll out. Sometime in mid-July, ADEQ anticipates making a public notice containing a draft air quality permit and some backup technical documents for the proposed Copper World mining complex, ADEQ spokeswoman Caroline Oppleman told the Star. The mine would ultimately cover both sides of the Santa Rita Mountains southeast of Tucson, although mining company Hudbay Minerals Inc. plans to focus on the mountains' west slope at first. In about five years after starting operations, the mine would begin extracting copper from its east pit on that side of the mountains, its preliminary feasibility study shows. ADEQ's July written notice will give the public 60 days to comment on the draft permit. The agency will host an informal public meeting on the permit in mid-August and a public hearing in early to mid-September, Oppleman said. That would be a similar course to what the agency followed on the still-pending Copper World Aquifer Protection permit. For that, ADEQ held an informal public meeting in February and a formal public hearing in March. At the public meeting, ADEQ officials can legally respond to audience questions and comments, but the public statements aren't placed in the official record. At the public hearing, all comments are formally recorded, but ADEQ officials can't legally respond to them at that time. But late Friday, Suarez very strongly suggested without saying it outright that the Albion Process wont need an additional permit or review. First, she said, ADEQ erred in saying earlier that Albion wasnt in the 2022 permit application: it was mentioned there, complete with an illustration. Second, the state Aquifer Protection Permit program regulates discharging facilities, such as impoundment or a tailings site, not specific mineral processing methods, she said. The concentrated leach process used in Albion is completed in tanks, which are not regulated under the APP. The concentrated leach process does not add any discharging facilities to the mine, Suarez said. In its responses to questions, the mining company told the Star, Hudbays current APP application incorporates both heap leaching and concentrate leaching processes, each designed to minimize environmental impact and comply with air and water quality standards. It is important to understand that the Albion Process is just one specific technology used within the broader concentrate leach process, Hudbay said. The wastes from concentrate leaching are already considered in the draft (permit). The additional detail of Albion does not matter in this context. Here are details of three other major issues raised by Save the Scenic Santa Ritas consultants in written comments to ADEQ about the proposed Copper World aquifer permit; Hudbays responses follow in each case. 1. NO DISCHARGE LIMITS AT FIRST. Consultants for the mine opponents challenge ADEQs approach that would allow mine construction to begin before it establishes formal limits on what Copper World can discharge into the aquifer. They argue that baseline monitoring and establishment of permit limits should happen first. Consultant Lacher noted that the draft Aquifer Protection Permit doesnt require Hudbay to propose formal discharge limits of pollutants from the mine until after it conducts eight rounds of quarterly groundwater sampling at the site. Construction of the mine, which will result in contaminant releases, is allowed to begin before the baseline monitoring is completed. This gap in coverage allows for groundwater contamination without regulation and biases the results of baseline monitoring, consultant Maest wrote. Responding, Hudbay said, Our approach to the Copper World project adheres to standard practices across the state and ensures that construction will not release contaminants to groundwater. It will establish discharge limits before it actually operates any mine facilities specifically covered by the Aquifer Protection Permit, such as process water ponds and tailings, the company said. Hudbay is dedicated to safeguarding Arizonas precious water resources, the company said. 2. ADEQUACY OF WELL NETWORK. Opponents say the monitoring network of 10 wells that ADEQ proposes to check whether the mine contaminates groundwater is inadequate. The wells are planned to be installed on the various Copper World facility boundaries. This is especially the case because of Hudbays plans to add a second tailings storage and disposal site and to more than double its waste rock production, opponents said. Additional monitoring wells should be placed between the mines western facilities and the Santa Cruz River, and between the easternmost planned open pit on the old Rosemont Mine site and Davidson Canyon to the east, Lacher said. At issue are what ADEQ calls point of compliance wells. They are points set by the aquifer permit where groundwater monitoring is required to establish whether the mine complies with state water quality limits. In response, Hudbay said it is currently reviewing concerns raised during the public comment period about point of compliance wells. This includes comments regarding the number and location of the proposed POC monitoring wells, Hudbay said. Under Arizona law, such wells need to be located within 750 feet of the discharging facility in order to detect any groundwater issues quickly so that they can be addressed, Hudbay added. Responding to Hudbays comment, the opponents said because multiple aquifers lie downstream of the mine site, the connection between aquifers under the mine site and those in every direction downstream must be explicitly identified to ensure that early detection is optimized. 3. TAILINGS DAM FAILURE ISSUES. Chambers said the computer model Hudbay used to project the possibility of a tailings dam failure assumes only 1% of the tailings would be released if one occurred. The amount of tailings assumed to be released should be between 25% and 90% for a catastrophic dam failure, Chambers said. A worst-case failure model must be run in order to provide emergency planners with the information needed to protect against loss of human life, and to avoid building critical public infrastructure in areas that could be inundated by an unplanned release of tailings, Save the Scenic Santa Ritas said. Hudbay said its currently reviewing concerns raised during the public comment period on the draft aquifer permit, including comments regarding the dam breach analysis it submitted as part of its application. The recently announced $51 million federal grant for tech innovations and production could change Tulsa for generations to come, officials said. The funding will go to the Tulsa Hub for Equitable & Trustworthy Autonomy, a consortium led by Tulsa Innovation Labs. This is a momentous occasion, Jennifer Hankins, managing director of Tulsa Innovation Labs, said to supporters and partners who gathered to celebrate the THETA announcement last week. This funding will continue to propel the greater Tulsa region forward as a global hub. Up to 56,000 new jobs over the next 10 years are projected with the grant from the U.S. Department of Commerces Economic Development Administration. Tulsa was one of 12 locations selected out of 31 cities initially designated tech hubs last year. The new center will be led by Black Tech Street in the Greenwood District, said Tyrance Billingsley II, founder and executive director of the organization. A timetable for the new AI center has not yet been determined. I cant remember the last time African-Americans were so heavily centered around tech hubs. Its incredible, Billingsley said. Its going to re-validate both the vision for Black Wall Street and technology. We want the nation to take note of how this happens. Its been an incredible, incredible ride. Tulsas grant amount among the 12 cities receiving funding was the largest. Programs in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio also received about $51 million each. The lowest amount, about $21 million, was awarded to a program in south Florida. Before last weeks event, Hankins told the Tulsa World in an exclusive interview that the funding will be used not only for research but also for production locally. This is all about creating new opportunities, she said. This doesnt mean we need 56,000 new Tulsans here to do that. These are jobs and skills that Tulsans largely already have. Hankins said new technologies involving drones and robotics, for example, will be developed and manufactured here. We want Tulsa and Tulsans to be making those things and building those things in Tulsa that people all over the globe are using, she said. Its not about how do we use robotics so much as it is, no, we want to manufacture robotics here and put Tulsans to work on those things. In addition to the AI center, THETA has leveraged funding to support projects that will: Increase coordination on commercialization strategies among universities and the startups they support; Build a state-of-the-art testing and simulation environment with a focus on cyber and data management for companies, researchers and regulatory entities to address barriers to commercial adoption; Develop programs to identify opportunities for manufacturers in supply chains and build out a manufacturing demonstration center where small companies can scale their capabilities; Expand workforce programs to align training with industry needs, provide upskilling and offer on-the-job training opportunities; and Establish governance structures to execute projects, pursue additional funding and drive the hubs strategy. The exact grant amount will be finalized in the coming months, officials said. Tulsa Innovation Labs spent 18 months preparing and writing its grant proposal. I think the Tulsa way is to collaborate with a lot of intention, said Ken Levit, executive director of the George Kaiser Family Foundation, which led the effort to establish Tulsa Innovation Labs. These opportunities dont come around very often. It takes an incredible amount of effort to compete effectively to win them, and they (Tulsa Innovation Labs) rose to the occasion in a major way. It will pay dividends for decades to come. Gov. Kevin Stitt said in a statement: Im grateful to organizations like Tulsa Innovation Labs, the George Kaiser Family Foundation and their partners for all their hard work to drive innovation to make Oklahoma a leader in secure autonomous systems. These groups and their partners are working with us to secure our states economic future while simultaneously contributing to our national security and elevating Oklahomas international competitive standing. Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum said in a statement: This is a defining moment for Tulsa. Weve long been considered a leader in aerospace and aviation, and this investment recognizes Tulsas Tech Hub for our ability to develop the future of these technologies. There is no better place to create the next generation of autonomous systems like drones than here in Tulsa. Cherokee Nation Businesses is among the local entities that will receive funding. Were always excited to see a project such as THETA that improves the regional economy and has the potential to help Cherokee Nation Businesses expand into the autonomous systems and component manufacturing industry, support growing defense and commercial needs and shore up critical supply chains, said Chuck Garrett, chief executive officer of CNB. With the grants, the Biden administration is trying to encourage more technological innovation across the country, instead of allowing it be concentrated in a few metro areas such as San Francisco, Seattle, Boston and New York City, The Associated Press reported. We are incredibly proud to be part of THETA, and this funding will launch Tulsas position as a global leader in autonomous systems, Tulsa Community College President and CEO Leigh Goodson said in a statement. TCC offers a wide range of programs preparing students for careers in cybersecurity, aerospace and engineering. Entities benefiting from the grant Entities that will benefit from the $51 million U.S. Department of Commerces Economic Development Administration grant include: Black Tech Street Cherokee Nation Businesses L3Harris Aeromet Madison Strategies Group Nordam Oklahoma State University Osage LLC Partner Tulsa Radius Capital TEDC Creative Capital The University of Tulsa Tulsa Community College Tulsa Innovation Labs Source: Tulsa Innovation Labs ARLINGTON, Va. Boeing has announced plans to acquire key supplier Spirit AeroSystems for $4.7 billion, a move that it says will improve plane quality and safety amid increasing scrutiny by airlines, Congress and the Department of Justice. Spirit is based in Wichita, Kansas, and has a Tulsa facility that employs about 1,200 people, according to its 2023 annual report. Mike Neal, president and CEO of the Tulsa Regional Chamber, said local officials will continue to support both companies. (The) announcement by aerospace giant Boeing that it plans to acquire Spirit AeroSystems signals that Tulsa remains a strong player in the aerospace and aviation industry, he said. We have a longstanding, stellar partnership with both Boeing and Spirit and stand behind them as their synergies in manufacturing and engineering begin to take shape. Boeing already enjoys a solid presence and excellent support in Oklahoma. We look forward to partnering with the companies as they work through this transition and are excited to have an industry leader such as Boeing back in Tulsa. Boeing previously owned Spirit, and the purchase would reverse a longtime Boeing strategy of outsourcing key work on its passenger planes. That approach has been criticized as problems at Spirit disrupted production and delivery of popular Boeing jetliners, including 737s and 787s. We believe this deal is in the best interest of the flying public, our airline customers, the employees of Spirit and Boeing, our shareholders and the country more broadly, Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun said in a statement. Concerns about safety came to a head after the Jan. 5 blowout of a panel on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 at 16,000 feet over Oregon. The Federal Aviation Administration soon thereafter announced increased oversight of Boeing and Spirit, which supplied the fuselage for the plane. No one was seriously injured in the Alaska Airlines door incident, which terrified passengers, but Boeing is under pressure from the U.S. Justice Department to plead guilty to criminal fraud in connection with two deadly plane crashes involving its 737 Max jetliners more than five years ago. Boeing has until the end of the week to accept or reject the offer, which includes the giant aerospace company agreeing to an independent monitor who would oversee its compliance with anti-fraud laws, according to several people who heard federal prosecutors detail a proposed offer recently. The Justice Department said in a May court filing that Boeing violated the terms of a 2021 settlement allowing the company to avoid prosecution for actions leading up to the crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia, which killed 346 people. Those crashes were blamed on a faulty sensor in a flight-control system, and the investigation is separate from the probe of the more recent Alaska Airlines blowout, which involved Spirit. Boeing spun off Spirit AeroSystems, which is not related to Spirit Airlines, in 2005. In recent years, quality problems have mounted, including fuselage panels that didnt fit together precisely enough and holes that were improperly drilled. Spirit removed its CEO in October and replaced him with Patrick Shanahan, a former Boeing executive who served as acting defense secretary in the Trump administration. Things seemed to be going more smoothly until the Alaska Airlines incident. Investigators said a panel used in place of an extra emergency door had been removed at a Boeing factory to let Spirit workers fix damaged rivets, and bolts that help hold the panel in place were missing after the repair job. It is not clear who removed the bolts and failed to put them back. Spirit said in May that it was laying off about 450 workers at its Wichita plant because of a production slowdown since the January incident. Its total workforce was just over 13,000 people. Bringing Spirit and Boeing together will enable greater integration of both companies manufacturing and engineering capabilities, including safety and quality systems, Shanahan said. The acquisitions equity value of $4.7 billion is $37.25 per share, while the total value of the deal is around $8.3 billion, which includes Spirits last reported net debt, the aerospace company said. Boeing common stock will be exchanged for Spirit shares according to a variable formula that depends on a weighted average of the share price over a 15-trading-day period ending on the second day before the deal closes, Boeing said. The companies also announced an agreement with Airbus to negotiate the purchase of Spirit assets involved with programs operated by the European aerospace firm. The Airbus agreement is set to commence when Boeings acquisition of Spirit is completed, the two U.S. companies said. The Tulsa World is where your story lives Felix Clary Tulsa World Indigenous Affairs Reporter Follow Felix Clary Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today MIAMI, Okla. The Truth and Healing Indian boarding school bill has gotten further in the legislative process this year than previous years, passing through two major committees in each chamber of Congress. The Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act was first introduced to the Senate in 2023 by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren. This version of the bill got support from only 26 senators, mostly Democrats. In February, U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., and U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, introduced their version of the bill to the House, which may soon be eligible to be heard on the House floor. As a matter of procedure, this new version of the bill is much further along than it has gotten any time in the past, Wilson Pipestem, representative of the Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, told the Tulsa World. The goal of the bill is to create a commission that would gather information and study what happened in the more than 150-year era of federal policy intended to eradicate tribal cultures and languages. In many cases, the federal government forcibly removed or coerced Native children out of their homes, putting them into federally operated or church-operated residential boarding schools. Kill the Indian, save the man, was the motto of Richard Henry Pratt, an Army officer who created the first boarding school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Boarding schools in Canada and other states were modeled on Pratts vision. On the Senate side, the bill unanimously passed the Committee on Indian Affairs. On the House side, it passed the Education and Workforce Committee on June 13 with a bipartisan vote of 34-4, according to Pipestem. Even though four Republicans voted against that bill, that is an excellent result that gets us another important step forward on this legislation, he said at a recent United Indian Nations of Oklahoma conference in Miami, Oklahoma. Time is of the essence with this bill, because a lot of the boarding school attendees are elderly, and theyre passing away. There is a lot of information that we would like to get from them, so we can tell their stories right, Pipestem said. Natural Resources, the second House committee the bill was referred to, waived jurisdiction July 3. Only one more committee has jurisdiction over this legislation: Energy and Commerce. Pipestem said at the UINO conference that committee is likely to waive jurisdiction, as well, because its only interest would be a small provision related to funding. Waiving jurisdiction would make the legislation eligible to be heard on the House floor. There has been so much groundwork support from tribes, Native communities, and our allies, that Congress is hearing those pleas and responding well to them, Pipestem said in a Tulsa World interview. He said the bill has support from both Republicans and Democrats, so with the upcoming presidential election, he expects support from whomever is elected and believes the bill will be put into effect this year. This bill could potentially have subpoena power, according to Pipestem, meaning any organization responsible for the abuse that occurred at the schools may be legally compelled to testify or provide documents for investigations or hearings. Under the most recent form of the bill in the Senate, a unanimous agreement among the commissioners is required, as well as a review from the Department of Justice, before subpoena power is exercised. One day after the bill passed the Education and Workforce Committee, June 14, the U.S. Catholic Church issued a formal apology for its active role in 100 boarding schools. In a 181-2 vote, the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops approved their apology. Oklahoma boarding school history While some schools in Oklahoma were operated by the Catholic church, many were operated by the Protestant church, which has not yet issued a formal apology. There were 76 boarding schools in Oklahoma, according to Department of Interior reports, which is more than any other state. Many of the schools were initially opened by the then-five federally recognized tribes Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, Muscogee and Seminole in an attempt to educate their children in a new society. Bloomfield Academy was opened by the Chickasaw Nation in 1852 as a school for girls near Achille, Oklahoma. While it was funded primarily by the tribe, Protestant missionaries controlled the operations, hiring teachers from New England colleges. Much of the abuse at the Oklahoma boarding schools was committed by the hands of teachers and missionaries. It was not uncommon for Oklahoma tribes to gain operation of a school for a short period of time. This was the case for Bloomfield when the Chickasaws took control of the school in 1876. The school shifted its focus from assimilation to the arts, theater, speech, music and dancing. When the Curtis Act was passed in 1898, the government developed a state education system. By 1907, the tribes had to give up school operations to the state, and assimilation began again. Unhealthy living conditions and sexual and physical abuse caused the death of many children, Pipestem said. For the healing aspect of the new bill, he said it comes with having an understanding of what happened. Finding where these children are that died at the schools, where they are buried, and getting to some resolution. There are many children whose stories have not been told, whose bodies have not yet been returned to their families and communities, and we have to reconcile somehow with what happened to cause the conditioning of our people, he said. The Tulsa World is where your story lives Gallery: Turn-of-the-century photos of Indigenous boarding schools across the U.S. Shakari Briggs is a reporter for the Houston Chronicle. She can be reached at shakari.briggs@houstonchronicle.com. Before joining the Chronicle in November 2023, she worked for Spectrum News as a digital journalist based in her hometown. Shakari comes to the Houston newsroom with experience in broadcast reporting and producing as a former multimedia journalist and associate producer. The Dallas native has also worked at small to medium-sized newspapers throughout her career. Her reporting on the rise and fall of a shopping mall won an Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors Contest award. She also earned an Arkansas Press Association award for freelance reporting. Randy Krehbiel Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Randy Krehbiel Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today Data stream of consciousness: Chewing gum and note-passing used to be the problem. Now its cellphones. Teachers and administrators warn that the devices have become a major distraction that interferes with learning and discipline as early as the lower elementary grades. Some schools have banned or tried to ban electronics from the classroom with varying degrees of success, but now lawmakers are getting involved. Among the interim studies approved for the second half of this year is Senate Education Chairman Adam Pughs on cellphones. Pugh, an Edmond Republican, said he plans to bring in top experts from across the country for the hearing. Their knowledge and experience will be invaluable as we explore this complex issue, Pugh said. The date and time for the study have not yet been scheduled. Financial report: The states two primary tax revenue sources were lower in June than for the same month a year ago, Oklahoma Treasurer Todd Russ office reported. Gross revenue to the state treasury was $1.43 billion in June, 3% less than for the same month a year ago. Income tax receipts and sales tax receipts were lower, as were gross production taxes, the third-leading revenue source. Income taxes were off 4.1%, while sales and use taxes dropped 0.6%, buoyed by improvement in the use tax component. Sales and use taxes combined are the No. 2 source of state government revenue and the leading source, by a wide margin, for municipal governments. Gross revenue is all taxes paid to the state treasury, including sales and use taxes collected on behalf of local governments and money returned to taxpayers in the form of rebates and refunds. Laying hands: State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters took a bow last Sunday at self-avowed Christian nationalist Jackson Lahmeyers Sheridan Church. Lahmeyer subscribes to the idea that the United States was founded on Christian principles and that the separation of church and state has no real legal basis. Lahmeyer called Walters to the front to commend him for ordering incorporation of the Bible into public school curricula. Walters said Lahmeyer was one of the first to urge action on the matter. Lahmeyer then prayed over Walters and three of his children. Understanding the influence of religion on U.S. and world history has been an element of Oklahomas academic standards for some time. Investments wars: While Russ and Oklahomas political leadership remain adamant about enforcing the states anti-ESG law, Pew Research reports other states softening positions on both sides of the issue. In the past year, the report says, there has been a great recognition that strict pro- and anti-ESG investing mandates can lead to unintended costs and administrative challenges. ESG stands for environment, social and governance and refers to company policies that say those elements are considered in business decisions. Oklahomas 2023 law prohibits the state from doing business with financial companies deemed insufficiently supportive of the fossil fuel industries. That law has been temporarily halted by a state court, which says the prohibition is at odds with other laws requiring pension funds to act in the best interest of their beneficiaries. The Pew reports cites research from Ceres, a nonprofit involved with sustainability, showing that borrowing costs are higher for government entities in states with laws similar to Oklahomas. The report also cites the experiences of Oregon and Maine, which have found divesting from fossil fuels more costly than expected. Cyber tribes: Four Oklahoma tribal nations each received U.S. Department of Homeland Security cybersecurity grants totaling $3.1 million. The Muscogee Nation received a little over $1 million, the Cherokees $971,000, the Choctaws $778,000 and the Chickasaws $365,516. Clocking in: The number of Oklahomans working grew by about 1,100 in May despite a drop in the Oklahoma City metro, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The bureau said nonfarm payrolls reached 1.787 million, not seasonally adjusted. The total included 477,800 in the Tulsa metro, an increase of 300. Oklahoma City was down 1,600 from April but still 18,000 above the same month a year ago. New digs: The Oklahoma Department of Human Services opens its new Rogers County office at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. The office is at 525-527 E. Blue Starr Drive, Claremore. Roger, Oveur: Unsatisfactory flights and other complaints concerning airlines can now be submitted to the Oklahoma Attorney Generals Office. Through an agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation, the office is now authorized to resolve airline customer complaints and has made available an online complaint form at oklahoma.gov/oag. All luck: After Carter County determined its county sheriff by drawing the name out of box two weeks ago, state Rep. Tammy Townley, R-Ardmore, said shell file legislation to settle tie votes with another election. Absolute tie votes are rare, but when they happen Oklahoma law calls for them to be broken by lot. In this case, challenger D.J. Long prevailed over Sheriff Chris Bryant after a hand recount and examination of five provisional ballots failed to break a 2,569-all deadlock. Meetings and events: Second District Congressman Josh Brecheen will hold a telephone townhall at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Call 888-480-3675 to participate. D.C. dots n dashes: Congress was out all last week. U.S. Sen. James Lankford and other Republicans complained that the Department of Veterans Affairs is reducing veterans opportunities to use local health care providers. Lankford was also among a bipartisan group of senators asking the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to improve access to technology known as Positron Emission Tomography and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography. U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin said President Joe Bidens record is more of a problem for Democrats than his debate performance. Mullins chief of staff, Ben Cantrell, left to become a lobbyist for BlackRock, the investment company blacklisted by Oklahoma Treasurer Todd Russ as not sufficiently supportive of oil and gas. The Tulsa World is where your story lives Chris Moore Web Production Technician Follow Chris Moore Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today A man and woman were killed and two others were injured in a collision in Okfuskee County on Saturday morning, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported. According to the report, a 2018 Chevy Impala, driven by Michael Lang, 67, of Dustin, Oklahoma, was heading north on Oklahoma 124 near Henryetta just after 10 a.m. when the vehicle crossed into the southbound lane and crashed into a 2013 Kia Forte, which was being driven by Kylie Puckett, 35, also of Dustin. Both Lang and Puckett were pronounced dead at the scene due to their injuries. Two passengers in the Impala were transported to hospitals and were listed in stable condition. The cause of the collision is still under investigation. All were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the crash. The Tulsa World is where your story lives Research across 11 provinces and cities in Vietnam shows that the rate of e-cigarette use among students aged 13-15 rose to eight percent in 2023 from 3.5 percent in 2022, with one WHO representative wanting a ban on this type of cigarette. Nguyen Trong Khoa, deputy director overseeing management and administration at the Department of Medical Service Administration under the Ministry of Health, spotlighted the figure at a seminar on Friday. Between 2015 and 2020, the percentage of people aged 15 and older using e-cigarettes surged to 3.6 percent from 0.2 percent. Increasing, complicated diversity During Fridays conference, Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen, director of the Poison Control Center of Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi, highlighted the increasing diversity and difficulty in controlling new generation cigarettes. Dr. Nguyen pointed out that the latest type is the fourth generation, known as pod mods, which come in various shapes and sizes, with interchangeable bases, multiple refills, and contain nicotine, synthetic cannabis, and flavors. Of particular note is the use of nicotine in salt form rather than free form, he noted. Salt nicotine has a lower pH level than free nicotine, making it easier to inhale larger amounts with less respiratory irritation. This also facilitates faster absorption of nicotine into the body. Dr. Nguyen added that the center has treated many patients poisoned by e-cigarettes containing marijuana and synthetic cannabinoids. They suffered from conditions such as brain damage, heart damage, kidney failure, and acute lung failure. In 2023, the center handled approximately 150 emergency cases of e-cigarette poisoning and has admitted nearly 100 patients from the beginning of 2024. Delegates attend a conference on e-cigarettes in Hanoi, July 5, 2024. Photo: D.Lieu / Tuoi Tre Recently, we received a 20-year-old man in Hanoi who was hospitalized for e-cigarette poisoning, he recounted. Around 4:00 am on June 26, his family found him convulsing and unconscious. He was initially taken to a local hospital and later transferred to our center in a coma, with respiratory failure, multi-organ damage, severe metabolic acidosis, brain and heart damage, and kidney failure. Testing revealed that the e-cigarette he used contained synthetic marijuana. Currently, he is still undergoing treatment. WHO representative wants a ban Dr. Nguyen Tuan Lam, a representative of the World Health Organization (WHO), highlighted that while new generation tobacco products are currently not licensed for importation, advertising, or sale in Vietnam, pirated products are widely available as a result of loose law enforcement. The WHO recommends that the legislature issue a resolution prohibiting the importation, production, distribution, and sale of nicotine products, and that electronic delivery systems not include contain nicotine. Advertising and promotion of these products should also be prohibited in Vietnam, with clear regulations on enforcement responsibilities and sanctions. In the long term, Vietnam needs to transfer and finalize these ban regulations through an amendment to the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harm, Dr. Lam said. In response, Dinh Thi Thu Thuy, deputy director of the Legal Department under the Ministry of Health, noted that five ASEAN countries -- Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, and Brunei -- currently ban e-cigarettes. The Vietnamese Ministry of Health is preparing documents and plans for submission to the Ministry of Justice for appraisal of a draft resolution, Thuy said. The regulations will prohibit all production, sale, import, storage, and advertising of electronic cigarettes, heated cigarettes, and other new-generation tobacco products to safeguard public health, especially among the younger generation. If approved by the government, the resolution is expected to be submitted to the National Assembly for approval during the coming October sitting. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Cai Rang Floating Market in Can Tho City, southern Vietnam is facing a risk of sinking into oblivion as the number of boats, vendors, and buyers has gradually fallen, leading to gloomy trading activities, according to an expert. Cai Rang is not only one of the largest wholesale floating markets in the Mekong Delta region, but also among must-visit tourist sites in the city. Unlike other tourist destinations, the floating market thrives only when trading activities take place. Yet, several changes in traffic infrastructure and transport means have downgraded the role of the floating market in such trading activities. Therefore, the number of boats is on the decrease, lessening the bustling trading atmosphere at the floating market. Tourism development expert Phan Dinh Hue, who advises many localities in the delta, remarked that while a drop in the number of trading boats at the floating market was expected, the extent of the decline was unusually sharp. Cai Rang Floating Market is still tapped for tourism growth. Tourism depends on the floating market, but the market has yet to benefit from tourist arrivals. Simply bringing tourists to the floating market for sightseeing has not succeeded in boosting the incomes of local vendors who provide services and products at the market. "Some of our recent surveys indicate that the connection between boats and the shore is inconvenient," Hue stated. "In the past, boats carrying goods found it easy to approach the banks of the Can Tho River for trading activities. "However, the presence of a high anti-erosion embankment has driven boats and traders away nowadays." Aside from concerns over environmental pollution and climate change, local authorities should take action to preserve residents traditional lifestyle and daily cultural spaces, the expert elaborated. It is vital to orient the floating market toward sustainable development and diversify tourism services and products to retain vendors and attract visitors. Tourists admire the Cai Rang Floating Market in Can Tho City, where only a few boats are seen selling goods. Photo: Hai Kim / Tuoi Tre Once the number of buyers tumbles, sellers will switch to other jobs, resulting in the disappearance of the floating market. In addition, restaurants and resorts surrounding the floating market will also be affected heavily. A foreign friend of mine decided to build a resort near the floating market after he traveled to the Mekong Delta region and visited the hotspot several years ago," Hue said. However, he is in hot water due to the absence of both visitors and vendors at the floating market. Few boats operate at the market every morning." The expert cited his friend as saying, What international tourists would visit if the floating market disappears. Thanh Vinh, who has returned to Vietnam after his trip to Thailand, said that Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, one of the most famous destinations in Thailand, mainly offers retail services. Tourists mostly buy fruits and savor dishes at the floating market. Visitors can immerse themselves in residents way of life and daily trading space as the floating market remains busy, Vinh said. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A plastic surgery clinic in Ho Chi Minh City has been suspended for an investigation after it declined responsibility for the life-threatening anaphylactic shock suffered by a woman who had undergone private-part plastic surgery there, according to local authorities. The municipal Department of Health on Saturday said it had temporarily pulled the plug on the operation of the cosmetic clinic over the serious incident and would strictly handle it. The agency also requested that city police launch a probe into the fraudulent activities conducted by the facility during its operation. On Thursday, the department received a quick report from the city-based People's Hospital 115 regarding the hospitalization of N.T.B.T., who suffered an anaphylactic shock as a result of a cosmetic surgery at the Diva Saigon Aesthetic Clinic, as shown in its signboard, located on Ba Thang Hai Street in District 11. After the surgery on her private parts, T. left the clinic for a pharmacy to buy medications as per the prescription and then fainted there, according to the report. The pharmacys staff promptly gave T. first aid for an anaphylactic shock and took her to the hospital for further treatment. When an inspection team from the department visited the clinic for verification, the facilitys staff vehemently resisted, insisting that no woman named N.T.B.T. had received esthetic surgery there. The clinics representative only admitted it after surveillance footage showed images of the victim. Notably, all members of the surgical team that performed the private-part plastic surgery on N.T.B.T. were not listed as registered medical workers at the clinic, according to the inspectors. Than Van Hung, the doctor in charge of the clinics medical expertise, was not present when the surgery took place. Most seriously, those who performed the plastic surgery on T. are not doctors and do not possess medical practice certificates. They impersonated 'Dr. Minh Tuyet' or 'Assistant to Dr. Tuyet' when advertising their services on Facebook and chat app Zalo to fraudulently attract customers, according to inspectors. N., referred to as the main surgeon of the procedure, stated that she had been trained in private-part plastic surgery at spa and skincare training facilities. Shortly after the surgery with anesthesia was completed, the clinic allowed T. to leave, and she soon suffered a life-threatening anaphylactic shock, according to the inspection team. The team also discovered that the clinic was originally owned by Diva SG Company Limited and named 'Diva Saigon Aesthetic Clinic.' However, it was later transferred to Kadia MTV Company Limited, another local firm, and its name no longer includes 'Diva Saigon.' Despite this, the clinic failed to report these changes to health authorities for re-licensing procedures, and its signboard still displays the former name, inspectors stated. The health department strongly condemned the clinics gross violation of professional ethics and requested that city police investigate and strictly handle the fraudulent acts committed by the facility. Like us on Facebook or follow us on X to get the latest news about Vietnam! A sawdust tank exploded in a wood processing company in Binh Duong Province, a neighbor of Ho Chi Minh City, on Saturday, injuring nine workers. Police in Bac Tan Uyen District, Binh Duong Province are coordinating with relevant agencies to investigate the case, which happened in a branch of H.T. wood company in the Tan Binh Industrial Park. Four out of the nine injured workers were severely burned. They are being treated at the Binh Duong General Hospital. The incident occurred when workers were cleaning the company's sawdust collection system. According to some workers, a fire broke out in their working area. They used water to extinguish the flames, which led to the explosion of a sawdust tank. Local authorities are further investigating the incident and have denied rumors that it resulted in any fatalities. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Garbage has piled up as high as mountains at two landfills in Go Quao and Giong Rieng Districts in Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam, whereas a waste treatment plant which has been built since 2017 remains incomplete. Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper found that garbage at the largest landfill in Go Quao District has overflowed to the sidewalk of the nearby National Highway 61. Passers-by have to suffer the nauseating smell from the landfill. The wind brings the repugnant odor to adjacent residential areas, turning residents lives upside down, H., a local, said. The landfill in Go Quao District, Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam has been overloaded. Photo: Buu Dau / Tuoi Tre Ca Uoi, an official in Go Quao District, admitted that the landfill in the district which covers over one hectare had been overloaded. Ten metric tons of garbage is discharged to the landfill per day. The district is waiting for the operation of the waste treatment plant so that the garbage can be treated, the official added. Garbage at the 1.5-hectare landfill in Giong Rieng District has yet to be treated either. It is located in front of the long-delayed waste treatment plant. Garbage at the landfill in Giong Rieng District, Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam is as high as mountains and gives off a foul odor. Photo: Buu Dau / Tuoi Tre Huynh Van Thai Quynh, vice-chairman of the administration in Giong Rieng District, told Tuoi Tre that the plant construction was commenced by Mai Tran II Co. Ltd. in 2017. At the beginning, the company failed to buy land from local residents for the plant development, prolonging its construction. When it completed buying the land, it turned out that its waste treatment technology was different from what was stated in the investment certificate. Therefore, the plant has been suspended since then. The waste treatment plant in Giong Rieng District, Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam remains incomplete after seven years. Photo: Buu Dau / Tuoi Tre The plant was expected to treat garbage in Giong Rieng, Go Quao, and Chau Thanh Districts. It carries a price tag of over VND78 billion (US$3 million) and was envisaged to have a capacity of 150-200 metric tons of garbage per day. Quynh said the plant was anticipated to be put into operation this month. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Construction began on a multimillion-dollar new airport in north-central Vietnam on Saturday. The new airport, located in Quang Tri Province, is estimated to cost VND5.8 trillion (US$228.2 million). A groundbreaking ceremony held by the Quang Tri Province Peoples Committee and a consortium of T&T Traffic Infrastructure Investment and Development Company (T&T Traffic Co.) and CIENCO4 Group JSC featured the participation of Vice-State President Vo Thi Anh Xuan and Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long. Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Quang Tri airport project in the namesake province in north-central Vietnam, July 6, 2024. Photo: Hoang Tao / Tuoi Tre The airport is set to cover 265 hectares of land across three communes Gio Quang, Gio Hai, and Gio Mai under Gio Linh District, with an annual capacity of five million passengers and 25,500 metric tons of cargo. The airport will come on stream in July 2026. A representative of T&T Group, the parent of T&T Traffic Co., pledged that the firm would mobilize all sources to complete the project as scheduled and turn the airport into an economic driver of the province. Vo Van Hung, chairman of the provincial administration, was committed to supporting the investor during the construction period, while asking authorities in Gio Linh District to speed up site clearance and resettlement. Besides, Hung required the investor to ensure the progress and quality of the project and suggesed that they prefer recruiting local workers. Once in place, the airport is expected to meet the soaring air travel demand, contribute to boosting political, economic, and social development, and guarantee security in the north-central region in general and the province in particular. An artists impression of Quang Tri Airport in Quang Tri Province, north-central Vietnam. Photo: T&T Group Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! With his concerted efforts, Vietnamese author Quan Vo, whose real name is Vo Minh Quan, has successfully broadened the appeal of his book and brought it to foreign markets, spreading knowledge globally and making his work an inspiration to young local authors. Apart from providing readers, mainly managers and students majoring in marketing, with knowledge about digital marketing, he expects his book and his writing journey to contribute to forming a pool of Vietnamese authors who are capable of exporting knowledge, he said at a dialogue held in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday. Quan Vo released his book, titled Digital Marketing Cho Nha Quan Ly, in late 2022, and one year after its launch, over 5,000 copies were sold. The book is available on Vietnams major e-commerce platforms such as Tiki, Shopee, Lazada, and Fahasa. The Profit-Driven Digital Marketing, which is the English edition of his Vietnamese tome, became the No. 1 Global Marketing book on Amazons Kindle Store just one month after its release in March. Profit-Driven Digital Marketing has so far been published in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook formats and is most popular amongst Amazon customers from the U.S., the UK, Germany, Canada, Japan, and the Netherlands. Journey to the release of the book Over two years ago, he accessed a training course on specialism recommended by one of his friends. The course taught learners how to write a book and collect information. He attended the course from morning till night for four straight days. After finishing the class, he was resolved to write a book and create a global version. With support from his partners, he conducted research on books about social marketing and marketing in the Vietnamese and global markets to identify market needs. He also listed training courses in the field to see whether they are satisfying learners. He quickly chose the content for his future book after finding a gap in the digital marketing skills and knowledge among managers. The book was aimed at giving them principles and recommendations on digital marketing so that they could efficiently apply them to their business operations. With his resoluteness, he overcame plenty of difficulties and challenges from failure in outlining a book, and an unfit writing style to the selection of knowledge. It took him another six months to rewrite the book after his first version flopped, he unveiled. Another laborious process was to design the cover of the book, he said, explaining that he had erased several draft covers to complete the final one. Undergoing the printing process, his book was put on sale on Vietnam's e-commerce site Tiki, and it is now available on multiple local platforms. As he began to take his book international, he explored a variety of sources and consulted a wide circle of friends and acquaintances about achieving success in global book sales. A key to success is Kindle Direct Publishing, Amazon.com's e-book publishing platform, Quan Vo revealed. The platform will print books on demand and ship them to customers around the world, meaning that authors do not have to pay any costs upfront or carry any inventory. Through the platform, my book has been exported globally, he stressed. Quan Vo signs copies of his book and gives them to guests at the Journey of Exporting Knowledge talk in Ho Chi Minh City, July 5, 2024. Photo: Supplied Sharing knowledge, giving inspiration Exporting the book, or figuratively "exporting knowledge," is his strong wish, as he desires to share his insights and understanding with others in need. I decided to disperse the knowledge from the book to young people by giving it to universities, he said. He called on 12 other authors to donate 1,000 copies of his book and other relevant tomes to the libraries of 20 universities in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Da Nang. I hope that by reading the books, students from these universities will have a brighter future after their graduation," Quan Vo said. He revealed that he would maintain the book donation to spread more knowledge to students. In addition, he presented copies of his English version to 12 universities in Ireland, where he received higher education. The author earned a master's degree in management at Trinity College Dublin. The 36-year-old is planning to put his book in several libraries of universities in other countries in the coming time. He sees the book donation as an effective way to 'ship' his knowledge to foreign markets and popularize it among members of the public. With the release of the book, he did not intend to make money from it, but he wished to spread his knowledge to enterprises, especially small and medium firms. His book could help firms save a huge amount of money set to be channeled into marketing and digital marketing. Through the book, enterprises can be equipped with digital marketing skills, he elaborated. To create a valuable book and make it a universal one, authors should carefully research the global market and audiences, deliberately target groups of readers, and spend much time on their writing, Quan Vo underlined. The book has turned me from a businessman into an author, he said, stating that nothing is impossible. He encouraged local writers to be confident in creating their own volumes and exporting them. Writing a book is not a short-term process; it often takes authors several years to complete one, he noted. During this time, authors might face discouragement and uncertainty about whether their efforts will pay off. However, they should persist in writing, set clear goals, and continue to pursue their passion. Motivation should be strong enough to help authors ride out the hardship, Quan Vo noted. Through his presentation at the 'Journey of Exporting Knowledge' talk, he aimed to inspire other local writers to achieve global recognition. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Chinese vice president addresses 12th World Peace Forum Xinhua) 10:10, July 07, 2024 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) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Kou Jie) Shown is Tropical Storm Beryl over the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday. This weather satellite image shows the rotating center of Beryl within 200 miles from the Texas Gulf Coast. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Forecast updates about Tropical storm Beryl since Saturday continue to show the projected path of the storm pulling eastward. Even a subtle shift of 25 to 50 miles will result in noticeable differences in how Houston fares when Beryl makes landfall Monday. Continued easterly shifts in the forecast track mean more significant rain, wind, tornado potential, and coastal storm surge in Southeast Texas. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The exact track of Beryl may still shift until landfall, so its important to continue closely monitoring future forecast updates. Hurricane warnings were in effect Sunday from Baffin Bay to San Luis Pass Sunday as Tropical Storm Beryl spins in the Gulf of Mexico. Away from the immediate coast, tropical storm warnings were in effect for Greater Houston and Harris County. What a closer track means for Houston Freshwater flooding is the deadliest aspect during any landfall of a tropical storm or hurricane, and Beryl is no different. While forecast winds have increased in the Houston metro area, Beryls potential for flooding is the most significant threat to peoples safety. Rain: Rain bands associated with Beryl first arrived along the Upper Texas Gulf Coast late Sunday morning. As rain bands continue to push in from southeast to northwest, Houston will eventually see tropical downpours move in through Sunday afternoon. Any last-minute preparations need to be done by 7 p.m. Sunday as heavier rainfall is forecast to move in through the evening. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Shown are forecast rainfall totals through Wednesday morning, according to the Weather Prediction Center. Between 4 and 8 inches of rain are expected as Beryl tracks through Southeast and East Texas. Higher rainfall amounts will be possible closer to the coast. Weather Prediction Center / Pivotal Weather As Beryl comes ashore early Monday morning, widespread and heavy rainfall is likely to cover much of Southeast Texas. Embedded areas of locally heavier rainfall are possible and some of these could train over the same locations, thanks to Beryls northward track. Monday will feature the heaviest rainfall, particularly along and west of Interstate 45. The National Weather Service has a flood watch in effect across much of Southeast Texas as rainfall totals from Beryl are forecast to be between 4 to 8 inches near and north of Houston. Totals of up to a foot or more are possible along the coast between Galveston and Matagorda Bay. The potential for flooding is highest Sunday into Monday, as highlighted by the Weather Prediction Centers excessive rainfall outlook. A level 3 out of 4 risk of flooding, exists across much of Southeast and East Texas through Monday. Remember, to avoid driving through flooded roadways. If you can work from home Monday, avoid traveling on Monday. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Wind: Along the coast, forecast winds of 39 mph and higher are expected to arrive Sunday evening. As Beryl inches closer to a Monday morning landfall, tropical storm-force winds will first arrive in Sugar Land, Pearland and Wharton by 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. Houston will see wind gusts of 39 mph or higher arrive between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. Monday, with peak gusts of 60 to 70 mph between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. Through Monday morning, places like The Woodlands and Conroe will see winds of 60 to 70 mph most likely between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Shown is the projected progression of forecast wind gusts as Beryl makes landfall Monday morning and moves into East Texas by Monday afternoon, according to the High Resolution Rapid Refresh model. Winds in Houston will peak Monday morning. Forecast wind gusts in excess of 70 mph are possible. Pivotal Weather Hurricane-force winds of 74 mph and higher are most likely along the coast, specifically from San Luis Pass toward Matagorda Bay. The region between Victoria to El Campo to Angleton will be most likely to see hurricane-force winds. While a few hurricane-force wind gusts cannot be ruled out further inland, they are not likely to be a widespread issue. Nonetheless, power outages should be expected across Southeast Texas, thanks to heavy rainfall and winds. Tornadoes: Landfall for tropical storms and hurricanes is known for producing tornadoes. While tropical tornadoes tend to be weak and short-lived, they can spin up with little to no warning. Tornado watches will likely begin first along the coast Sunday night before being issued for areas farther inland through Monday morning. Tornado warnings will likely start first on Sunday night and last through the day Monday across Southeast Texas. If a warning is issued, its important to seek shelter immediately inside and away from all windows in the lowest part of your home. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Storm surge: A storm surge warning is in effect from the north entrance of the Padre Island National Seashore to Sabine Pass. This would include Corpus Christi Bay, Matagorda Bay, and Galveston Bay. The highest storm surge is forecast to be from San Luis Pass southward to Matagorda Bay, where water could get to 4 to 6 feet above normally dry ground. Former Seven News journalist Robert Ovadia has lodged an unfair dismissal claim against both network and news boss Anthony De Ceglie. Last month he confirmed to media he had been sacked by the network after 23 years over allegations of inappropriate conduct. No formal complaint has been lodged against him, nor been reported as proven. High-profile employment and media lawyer John Laxon tells The Australian, A general protections application against the Seven Network and Anthony De Ceglie has been filed. It reports Ovadia is seeking orders of compensation for his dismissal, reinstatement to his job and pecuniary penalties. Seven management reportedly only became aware of the exchange when it was brought to their attention by Four Corners, which is working on an investigation into allegations of a toxic culture. A Seven spokesman told The Australian: Seven takes very seriously any allegations in relation to sexual harassment, bullying and other behaviours deemed to be inappropriate within the workplace. We take complaints seriously, manage them confidentially and deal with any breaches decisively. Ovadia joined Seven News in 2000, just after the 2000 Olympic Games. Tonight on Stuff the British Stole, Marc Fennell travels to kunanyi / Mount Wellington and the opulent halls of Government House to unravel a story of heartbreak and injustice, and also to London. In 2022, a tattered and bruised black doll was sent from Britain to the First Nations people of lutruwita / Tasmania, carrying with it a devastating story of a stolen child. Marc Fennell takes you from London to the mountain of kunanyi and the opulent halls of Government House to unravel a story of heartbreak and injustice that will leave you reeling. From the early 1820s to about the mid-1830s, wars raged between the settlers and the Indigenous people of what we now call Tasmania. In the aftermath of this conflict, Sir John Franklin was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemens Land (Tasmanias former colonial name) in 1837 for a four-year term. During his time in office, he and his wife, Lady Jane, requested an Aboriginal orphan child for their daughter. Mathinna, an Indigenous child and daughter of a chieftain, was not an orphan, but she was still stolen and sent to live with the Franklins for four years. However, just four months before his term as Governor was due to end, the Franklins abandoned Mathinna and left her at the orphan asylum in Hobart, taking her doll with them to England. The story of Mathinna and her doll goes to the heart of one of the major injustices of colonisationthe forced removal of children and subsequent displacement. It portrays the tenderness of the girls connection to her doll and memories of her family, and the visceral sense of loss when it is taken. The loss of the doll symbolises the loss of innocence, displacement, and theft. At the same time, Marc ventures to the UK to understand the Franklin family: Why did they want this girl in the first place? Was there ever a chance of taking the girl with them? Why did they abandon her? To understand the girl, we need to understand the family that took her in and ultimately abandoned her. 8pm Monday on ABC. gayaadhuwi.org.au One of the more unusual acting luxuries for Tasma Walton in new Binge / Foxtel drama The Twelve was having no lines to learn for the extensive court room scenes. Asked to sit back and observe the drama, those playing jurors got to watch some of the countrys top performers at work. Crazily most of our time spent on set was in the courtroom, she tells TV Tonight, where you have front row seats to watching the incredible Sam Neill, Francis OConnor and Fayssal Bazzi, and all of the amazing guest actors coming through as witnesses. But you dont say a word, because youre a jury member. Obviously as the jury, youre there to observe and take in information. So most of my time on set was in this passive (mode). Youre still listening and engaging, but in many ways, without the pressure of dialogue. Which meant you could really just actually enjoy everything that was happening around you. Walton, whose credits include Mystery Road, Cleverman, How to Please a Woman, Sweet As and Blue Heelers, plays juror Thelma Connell in the story of a murder trial enveloping a small WA town. After a local landowner is found dead at the bottom of her farm well, two ex-lovers stand accused of her murder. The second season of the legal drama embarks on a new locally-created story after season one was based on Belgian drama of the same name. I was a big fan of season one. It had me completely hooked. I really enjoyed the hook of the mystery and the crime storyline, but also the ensemble nature of it an taking these side paths into such a diverse group of peoples lives, she explains. It doesnt disappoint. Its actually a slightly shorter a run than season one. I think they did ten eps and weve done eight. Its so engaging. It just holds you, full throttle from the start. I play a character by the name of Thelma, who is selected for jury duty. She lives in the region, in the civic service as one of the admin people at the local council. She sees herself as a very good citizen, follows the rules, does everything as she perceives to be right and has a really structured, regular kind of life. Shes grown up in the town that shes always lived in, now married with her partner and at the moment has her mother living with them. Her mother is slowly falling into dementia, and it progressively gets worse throughout the timeframe of the story. A topline cast also includes Kris McQuade, Amy Mathews, Erroll Shand, Shareena Clanton, Josh McKenzie, Anthony Brandon Wong, Stefanie Caccamo, Sharon Johal, Luke Pegler, Adriano Cappelletta, Nelson Baker, Greg McNeill, Suesha Rana, Brad Francis, Isabelle Basen and, in his final role, Keith Robinson. The series also allows for sub-plots involving the jurors own lives as well as the tense jury room negotiations. As Walton explains, these involved scenes within scenes capturing private moments between the twelve jurors. I think they were probably the most difficult scene is to shoot, she continues. Its really similar to back in the day on Blue Heelers, actually. You had multiple small scenes within one larger scene, if that makes sense. Youve got a conversation here, youve got people making tea and coffee over there, another small group by the whiteboard its one scene, but there are multiple different scenarios occurring within it. That is a real challenge to shoot and make fluid within that one space. It was almost in terms of shooting, like three different shows, in a way: the jury sitting in the courtroom was one particular dynamic, then the jury room was really intense and long days and then all the location stuff where your your personal characters journey is squeezed into one or two day shoots. Walton, now filming another Easy Tiger production, Scrublands S2, confirms she has never sat on a jury herself but has been approached on two occasions. The first time was when I was an actor on Blue Heelers and and the production basically said, Thats not happening. We cant afford to lose one of our core cast. So they got me out of that one, she notes. The second time was when we moved to the States. When you get a drivers licence over there, you must go on some sort of register..I told them Im not American so I dont think I qualify, so I got very quickly dropped from that list. The Twelve screens 8:30pm Thursday on Showcase / Binge. French voters deliver a win for the left, a blow for Le Pen and a hung parliament By Juliette Jabkhiro, Layli Foroudi and Zhifan Liu PARIS (Reuters) -France faced potential political deadlock after elections on Sunday threw up a hung parliament, with a leftist alliance unexpectedly taking the top spot but no group winning a majority. Voters delivered a major setback for Marine Le Pen's nationalist, eurosceptic National Rally (RN), which opinion polls had predicted would win the second-round ballot but ended up in the third spot, according to pollsters' projections. The results were also a blow for centrist President Emmanuel Macron, who called the snap election to clarify the political landscape after his ticket took a battering at the hands of the RN in European Parliament elections last month. He ended up with a hugely fragmented parliament, in what is set to weaken France's role in the European Union and elsewhere abroad and make it hard for anyone to push through a domestic agenda. The election will leave parliament divided in three big groups - the left, centrists, and the far right - with hugely different platforms and no tradition at all of working together. What comes next is uncertain. The leftist New Popular Front (NFP) alliance, which wants to cap prices of essential goods like fuel and food, raise the minimum wage to a net 1,600 euros ($1,732) per month, hike wages for public sector workers and impose a wealth tax, immediately said it wanted to govern. "The will of the people must be strictly respected ... the president must invite the New Popular Front to govern," said hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon. The RN has worked under Le Pen to shed a historic reputation for racism and antisemitism but many in French society still view its France-first stance and surging popularity with alarm. There were hugs, screams of joy and tears of relief at the left's gathering in Paris when the voting projections were announced. Republique square in central Paris filled with crowds and a party atmosphere, with leftwing supporters playing drums, lighting flares, and chanting "Weve won! Weve won!" "I'm relieved. As a French-Moroccan, a doctor, an ecologist activist, what the far right was proposing to do as a government was craziness," said 34-year-old Hafsah Hachad. The awkward leftist alliance, which the hard left, Greens and Socialists hastily put together before the vote, was far from having an absolute majority of 289 seats in the 577-seat assembly. Official results were trickling in, with the results from most, if not all, constituencies likely in the early hours of Monday. Polling agencies - which are generally accurate - forecast the left would get 184-198 seats, Macron's centrist alliance 160-169 and the RN and its allies 135-143. The euro fell on Sunday after the vote projections were announced. "We should get a brief respite in the market ... because we're not seeing an extremist RN majority take place, but it's likely to lead to political gridlock at least until the autumn of 2025," said Aneeka Gupta, macroeconomic research director at WisdomTree. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said he would hand in his resignation on Monday but would stay on in a care-taking capacity as long as needed. 'DIVIDED' A key question is whether the leftist alliance will stay united and agree on what course to take. Melenchon, leader of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI), ruled out a broad coalition of parties of different stripes. Raphael Glucksmann, from the Socialist Party, urged his alliance partners to act like "grown-ups." "We're ahead, but we're in a divided parliament," he said. "We're going to have to talk, to discuss, to engage in dialogue." The constitution does not oblige Macron to ask the leftist group to form a government, though that would be the usual step as it is the biggest group in parliament. In Macron's entourage, there was no indication of his next move. "The question we're going to have to ask ourselves tonight and in the coming days is: which coalition is capable of reaching the 289 seats to govern?", one person close to him told Reuters. Some in his alliance, including former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, envisaged a broad cross-party alliance but said it could not include the far-left France Unbowed. RN DISAPPOINTMENT For the RN, the result was a far cry from weeks during which opinion polls consistently projected it would win comfortably. The left and centrist alliances cooperated after the first round of voting last week by pulling scores of candidates from three-way races to build a unified anti-RN vote. In his first reaction, RN leader Jordan Bardella called the cooperation between anti-RN forces a "disgraceful alliance" that he said would paralyze France. Le Pen, who will be the party's candidate for the 2027 presidential election, said however that Sunday's ballot, in which the RN made major gains compared with previous elections, had sown the seeds for the future. "Our victory has been merely delayed," she said. Voters punished Macron and his ruling alliance for a cost of living crisis and failing public services, as well as over immigration and security. Le Pen and her party tapped into those grievances, spreading their appeal way beyond their traditional strongholds along the Mediterranean coast and in the country's northern rust belt, but it was not enough to win power. ($1 = 0.9236 euros) (Reporting by Tassilo Hummel, Gabriel Stargardter, Sudip Kar Gupta, Michel Rose, Elizabeth Pineau, Blandine Henault, Zhifan Liu, Sybille de La Hamaide, Richard Lough, Dominique Vidalon, Benoit Van Overstraeten; Writing by Ingrid MelanderEditing by Gavin Jones and Frances Kerry) To use a phrase synonymous with Formula Ones most successful driver, still he rises. It has been 945 days since Lewis Hamiltons last victory, in Saudi Arabia, a week before the 2021 season finale which played havoc with the British superstars mindset. There is no doubt, in a painful off-season, that retirement entered his thoughts. Mercedes demise in the two-and-a-half years since triggered his shock decision to join Ferrari next year. But it was dreaming of days like this, amid the near-misses in the past 31 months, that kept him going. And at his final home race for Mercedes, in a 52-lap thriller of the wet-dry conditions he so craves, Hamilton secured the sweetest of Formula One victories. There were tears. Plenty of tears. This victory Hamiltons 104th was perhaps his most emotional, such has been the agonising wait for the rich taste of success once more. As he held off his great rival from that infamous 2021 season, Max Verstappen, for a famous ninth win at Silverstone after a stunningly mature and expert drive, he could hold in his emotions no longer. The 39-year-old embraced his father, Anthony, after the victory lap with the emotion and attachment of an infant. In typical fashion, he ran out onto the grass banks at the final corner waving the British flag in front of an adoring crowd. Still, helmet off now, the sheer sensation of the triumph was overwhelming for a man who perhaps thought hed never feel such a thrill again. Since 2021, its been every day getting up trying to fight and train and put my mind to the task, he said, with third-placed Lando Norris looking on, incandescent, in the distance. This is my last race here with the team, I wanted to win this so much for them. The important thing is how you continue to get up, keep digging deep when youre at the bottom of the barrel. There were days since 2021 when I thought I wouldnt be back here. With rain a constant factor throughout this afternoon of twists and turns, you fancied Hamilton to prevail on this Sunday in July. Yet a race of such weather-impacting, lead-changing drama actually started without relative incident. Pole-sitter George Russell, who would be the victim of unfortunate mechanical misfortune late on, kept the lead smoothly from Hamilton and, contrary to many years gone by at the home of British motor racing, all the cars lining up made it smoothly through lap one. Norris did drop a spot to fourth as Verstappen pounced on an error from the McLaren driver at turn four. Unfortunately for the Bristolian and his team, it wouldnt be the last. Lewis Hamilton claimed his first win since December 2021 with victory at Silverstone (Reuters) Yet by lap 20, as drops started to fall from the inconsistent Northamptonshire sky, the superior McLaren pace came to fruition. Within the space of five minutes, Norris had surged from fourth to first, overtaking new race leader Hamilton on the start-finish straight named after Britains greatest racing driver. Dare say, the seven-time world champion did not forget it. Yet this grand prix had five different leaders, and Oscar Piastri grasped his moment out front, before McLaren took it away from him. While all the frontrunners pitted on the same lap as the precipitation intensified Verstappen, at this point, was not really in the leading equation Piastri stayed out a lap too long and dropped to sixth, with Norris taking the lead. Hamilton was emotional as he stood on top of the podium (Reuters) The Mercedes driver waved to the adoring crowd while holding a British flag (Reuters) As the rain steadied, so too did the course of the race until Russell, out of nothing, was forced to retire due to a water system issue. Despondent, he swore over team radio, and stormed out of the garage. For the pole-sitter, a week on from his second F1 win in Austria, it was the most bitter of pills to swallow. Yet for Mercedes, there was still a race to win. Verstappen gambled first as the rain eased, switching to the more durable hard compound tyre, while Hamilton went the other way, switching to soft tyres. Norris also switched to softs a lap later but a slow 4.5-second pit stop as Norris misjudged his pit-box distance meant that by the time the McLaren rejoined the track, he was two seconds behind leader Hamilton. Hamiltons long-term Mercedes engineer Peter Bonnington informed his driver that Norris was on the same tyre. And so came the classic Hamilton response: Leave me to it, mate. As it turned out, the threat would not be from Norris. With five laps left, Verstappen stormed past a stodgy Norris and the chase was on. It was 2021 again, two F1 greats going hammer and tong to the chequered flag. But Hamilton, 31 months since that day in Jeddah, his last victory in the sport he loves and refuses to leave, was zoned in and with a two-second advantage, the crowd at Silverstone rose for their favourite son. It wasnt to be Norriss day. It wasnt another win for Verstappen. Instead, a record ninth triumph at Silverstone for the indomitable Hamilton, the most wins by any driver at any circuit in the history of Formula One. There were tears, there were hugs and there was the podium. On a tremendous weekend for British sport, it was the most ideal of finales. British Model of Democracy and Lesson for India The British model of electoral system or simply First Past the Post System (FPTP) is not reflective of the real verdict of the people. It is basically manipulative of the power elite and therefore most of the time legitimize a minority government as majority Sunday July 7, 2024 12:42 PM , Vidya Bhushan Rawat The smooth and quick transfer of power in UK speak volume on the great democratic tradition in that country. Election results came out during the day and by the afternoon outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak went to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation. By the time, he stepped out, Labour leader Keir Starmer was appointed the Prime Minister by the King, and within minutes, he addresses the nation at the historic entrance of No 10-downing street. The Prime minister paid tribute to his predecessor Rishi Sunak and acknowledged his contribution to Britain. Within hours, the Prime Minister announced his cabinet and the transfer of power was completed without any pomp and show. Britain, that way, is a great example unlike United States where the new President takes oath nearly two months after the results are out in November in a great pomp and show, though both the forms of governments are based on majoritarianism and revolve around the white power elite of these countries. The outcome of result might sound music to many who might dance on hearing the word labour as in most of the world, the term is almost deleted in the vocabulary of political discourse. In the United States, there is no Labour. There is the fight between two parties of white ruling elite dominated by the corporate interest with little interest for the common person. Now, Labour party returned to power after 14 years and with massive majority but are the Conservatives decimated in UK? Has the Labour anything to do with the left politics? What brought Labour to power in UK? The fact is that the historical route of Conservative Party does not indicate the growth of left wing political forces in Britain. The fact is this landslide to Labour party is more to do with the faulty electoral system that UK has been following, termed as First Past the Post System which result in huge gap between the vote share and the number of seat got. FPTP can be useful if there are only two to three parties as well as a high voter turnout. In the absence of it, the mandate can always be haunting though at the end of the day, it does not matter, how much is the vote share, it is the number of seats that matter. The fact of the matter is that out of 650 seats, Labour Party has won 412 seats which is almost 65% of seats though the vote share was merely 34%. Its rival Conservative Party with 24% vote share acquired 121 seats. Liberals got 71 seats with 12% votes. Another right wing under the name Reformist Party, though, only got 4 seats but with 14% vote share. Led by Nigel Farage, Reformists are being blamed for the route of the Tory government. Conservative, Liberals and Reformists mostly hail from the same variety of political ideology of right wing. Their combine vote share is much powerful than that of Labour. The left leaning groups are mostly independent and Green Party. Interestingly, Labour could only increase its vote share of about 2% from 2019 when it fought under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn who contested as an independent candidate and won from Islington North constituency by over 7,000 votes defeating the nearest Labour Party rival. Corbyn has been representing this constituency since 1983 and has won for a record 11 times. Many people might be happy to see the return of a Labour government after one and a half decade. But is it really so? Leave aside the vote share and seat got issue, the fact is most of the western electoral system particularly influenced by British and American models are already captured by the right-wing capitalist forces. The quality of the western democratic model is in its propaganda and comparison with the Russian and Chinese system despite the fact that both the countries are today a power house and rising high economically. Look at the rise of other powerful groups in UK like Liberal Democrats and Reformists both ideologically close to Conservatives but is Labour truly dedicated to left or the working classes? The problem with the liberal democracies in the world is their hypocrisy on human rights issues. If Labour Party was truly dedicated to the idea, as its name suggest, then how come powerful leaders like Jeremy Corbyn thrown away from the party? Is it because he was considered more radical and a threat to the Empire and its elite? How is the current leadership of Labour different than the Conservative? The brazen shamelessness of Kier Stramer in refusing to condemn the Israeli brutalities and assault on Gaza shocked all those who filled the streets of the United Kingdom demanding a complete ceasefire in Gaza. It was Kier responsible for humiliating and ousting Jeremy Corbyn and other left leaning leaders from Labour Party. Most of these leaders fought independently won with a handsome margin and defeated their nearest Labour rivals. The poll result suggest that British electorate are swinging between different conservative forces and Labour got acceptability because it threw away radical left forces led by Jeremy Corbyn. So essentially, British political system is highly dominated and controlled by the Conservatives who may not be Conservative Party but also Labour, Liberal and Reformists. The Crisis of Electoral System The British model of electoral system or simply FPTP is not reflective of the real verdict of the people. It is basically manipulative of the power elite and therefore most of the time legitimize a minority government as majority. All the colonies of the Empire has this system which is used by the power elite of those countries using or misusing the contradiction among different groups. The difference between vote share and seat won is too high. The Labour got nearly 34% of total vote polled out of 60% votes that were polled during these elections. Which simply mean 40% people did not vote during the election. Now, in terms of seat, the party got 412 seats out of 650 which is nearly 64%. Under the Proportional Electorate System, Labour with 34% vote share would have just got 221 seats much below the majority mark. Conservatives with 21% vote share would have got 156 instead of 121 which they have at the moment. Liberal with 12% vote share got 71 seats while Reformists with 14% vote share got just 4 seats. Under the Proportionate system, Liberals could have got 78 and Reformists 91. Even a 4 seat Green Party with 7% vote would have got nearly 46 seats. How credible is the electoral system where party getting 34% votes which also mean 66% votes that were polled did vote against you. Interestingly, a party with 14% vote share get just 4seat while that with 12% vote share 71 seats. Now, how can such a system be justified as democratic. We all have the same crisis and the result is that the ruling parties and government actually rarely listen to peoples voices. The amount of massive street protests that London witnessed in support of Palestine was always looked down upon by the power elite and the media. The governments these days speak through the power elite and opposition leader spoke the language of the prime minister when he openly supported the previous governments stand on Palestine. No change in Foreign Policy Actually, western democracies are liberal to the large extent related to individual freedom, right to faith, criticism of the government and allowing protests in the streets but at the same point of time we need to understand why a leader like Jeremy Corbyn was ousted from Labour ? Why he has been a persona non grata for the liberal circles. A similar thing happened in United States where Bernie Sanders is despised by the ruling elite. The liberal democracies cant accept Julian Assange and felt him the biggest threat. It needs to be understood why these democracies do not listen to the voices of protests in the streets. Broadly, the western democracy will remain pro capitalist and market driven and nothing much is expected to change on the foreign policy matters though the new Prime Minister as already rescinded the Rwanda policy for refugees which is a great step in right direction. The Tory government wanted to privatise the prestigious National Health Services but could not do so. The railway network is already in distress. Will the new government take initiatives to strengthen these services or will it be the same government that was headed by Tony Blair ? The issue of minorities and immigrants are extremely important and resulted in victory of four independent candidates who defeated Labour candidates. The party has to see whether it will follow the right tilt of Tony Blair or really work differently particularly on the issue of Palestine. It needs to understand that the combine vote share of the right-wing parties is much higher than it and if it ignore wider concern of minorities and immigrants then it might loses the support of progressive forces as well as ethnic minorities then Britain might see rise of radical left forces in the coming years. Unlike the United States, Britain still has got space for minorities and immigrants in the political structure. Will Jeremy Corbyn and other leaders emerge more powerful in the coming years or the pressure of capitalist Lesson for India A democracy is successful when its institutions are robust. Britain has a powerful legacy in that regard. The election process is extremely simple and voting opens at 7 am and continue till 10 pm. The parliament still is responsible and debates there are worth watching. Prime Ministers Question hour with leader of opposition is extremely fascinating but then we cant have that in India. The New Parliament has 23 Muslim members (A big country like India has just 24) and over 60% of the members belong to ethnic minorities reflecting Britains diversity. One thing need to be clarified. A criticism of the British system does not mean we are better than them. They have a robust system and more over basic curtsies among the political class there remain far superior than us. The swiftness with which the new government took charge with in a day remain remarkable. Everything was done without any chest thumping or victory speeches. It is also important to understand the difference of right wing or Conservatives in Britain, Europe and India. The Conservatives or Right Wing there are mostly against immigration policies of the government but none of them have ventured inside the personal lives of people. Right wing in India and its neighbors are basically religious fanatics who have issues with your personal choices whether food, faith or marriage. There are no hate speeches and diversity of representation is always a plus point for political parties. Britains elections have big lessons for us and our political class. That elections in vibrant democracies today is on ballot paper and not through EVMs is a reality. Secondly, we did not hear any complaints of electoral malfunctioning or fraud. The counting and declaration process was simple and Prepoll surveys or Exit polls were not hyped. The prime minister did not take time in vacating his official bungalow and gone to submit his resignation to the King when results were just coming in and he conceded his defeat gracefully. The transfer of power was so swift and meticulous that there was no time for any confusion and uncertainty. Yes, electoral system has issues of representation\ and vibrant democracies find their own solution. Brittain will certainly have to look into it as this might become a major issue in the coming days. Let us hope new government will fulfill the aspirations of the people but expecting a different perspective on Ukraine and Israel will be next to impossible as foreign policy matters in these countries are mostly static and fixed with United States. A change in its Ukraine or Palestine policy will need Jeremy Corbyn at the helm of affair which does not seem a possibility in the near future. [The writer, Vidya Bhushan Rawat, is a political commentator.] Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. BINH INH The Trade and Industry Promotion Centre of Binh inh Province is investing VN3 billion in a project to promote sustainable development within the local wood processing industry. This project is for a group of four businesses in Binh inh, including Phuong Nghi General Co, Ltd which produces furniture. Also included, An Sinh Forestry Products Exploitation and Processing Co, Ltd which produces composite wood for factories manufacturing interior and exterior products, Minh Quan Trading Co, Ltd which also makes wooden furniture and Hoai Son Wood JSC which makes wood chips pellets. The project aims to support the rural area in wood production, introducing modern machinery and equipment in production, reducing production time and costs and increasing production capacity, quality and competitiveness in both the domestic and export markets. According to a representative of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, the group project will help the provincial wood processing industry to increase added value of products and contribute to the sustainable economic and social development. At the same time, it creates favourable conditions for organisations and individuals of all economic sectors in sustainable development of industrial and handicraft production, contributing to accelerating transformation of economic structure towards gradually increasing the proportion of industry and services. According to the Binh inh Statistical Office, in the first five months of 2024, the province's export of timber and wood products reached US$215.9 million, up 22.5 per cent over the same period of last year. Interior and exterior wooden products exported to the US market stood at $110.7 million, up 6.3 per cent on year. According to Le Minh Thien, chairman of Binh inh Wood and Forest Products Association, the provincial wood industry in the first five months had growing exports thanks to increased demand for importing wood chips and pellets to China and Japan. Thien said the wood industry's businesses in Binh inh have not only improved product quality but also created better production chains in order to meet the higher standards of demanding markets in the world, helping to enhance the Binh inh wooden furniture brand. o Xuan Lap, chairman of Viet Nam Wood and Forest Products Association, said Binh inh's wood processing enterprises have researched and produced products according to consumers' demand in the context of tightening spending. Many newly launched products are both affordable and convenient for consumers. This year the market is expected to be warmer and businesses will try to increase orders and develop new markets. However, the Binh inh wood industry is still worried about its dependence on imported raw wood. Therefore, it is also looking at developing large timber forests associated with sustainable forest management under FSC certificate and carbon certificates. By 2030, the area of large timber plantations in this province will reach more than 50,000 hectares. Binh inh now has a large number of wood processing factories, concentrated in Phu Tai and Long My Industrial Parks with around 245 businesses. VNS HA NOI ak Nong Geopark in the Central Highlands province of ak Nong has been validated as a member of UNESCO Global Geoparks Network for another four years, from 2024 to 2027. The decision has been approved by the UNESCO Global Geopark Council within the framework of the 10th International Conference on UNESCO Global Geoparks held in Morocco last year. The certification will be granted to the province at the 8th Asia Pacific Geoparks Network Symposium, scheduled to take place in September this year in the northern mountain province of Cao Bang. The revalidation reflects ak Nongs efforts to protect and promote the values of the geopark and offers an opportunity to attract resources for the provinces sustainable socio-economic development. The ak Nong Geopark was recognised by UNESCO as a global geopark in July 2020, becoming the third to obtain this title in Viet Nam, after ong Van Karst Plateau Geopark in the northern mounain province of Ha Giang Province and the Non Nuoc Cao Bang Geopark in Cao Bang. The geopark covers more than 4,700 sq.km, stretching through six districts and cities, Krong No, Cu Jut, ak Mil, ak Song, ak Glong and Gia Nghia, equivalent to two-fifths of the provinces total area. It is home to 65 geological and geomorphological heritage sites, including a system of nearly 50 caves with a total length of more than 10,000 metres, craters and waterfalls. With a tropical forest ecosystem, the geopark holds immense biodiversity values. This land also preserves many unique cultural, geological and natural features as well as traces of prehistoric activities. The history of this land goes back 140 million years ago, when it was part of the ocean with traces found such as sedimentary rocks, ammonite fossils and other fossils. The tectonic movement of the Earth's crust caused this area to raise and volcanic appearance. Volcanic eruptions covered half of the area with layers of basalt lava. As a part of the poetic and majestic M'Nong plateau, the geopark is the convergence of typical geological, archaeological and cultural and biodiversity values of the region. The special feature in the ak Nong Geopark area is the cave system in basalt rock located in the ray Sap-Chu R'Luh area, which was discovered in 2007. This volcanic channel has been recorded as the longest one in Southeast Asia by the Japan Volcanic Cave Association in terms of scale, length and uniqueness. These caves still contain many secrets about formation mechanisms, mineral complexes, biodiversity and archaeological sites. In the geoparks area, there is also ancient geological heritage such as fossils of ammonites, natural lakes like Ea Sno, West Lake and a system of beautiful and majestic waterfalls like Gia Long, Trinh Nu and ray Sap. In addition, it also boasts a variety of bauxite, antimony, tin placer deposits, puzzolite and precious stone mines, especially opal chalcedony semi-precious stones. The archaeological findings of prehistoric people in the volcanic cave area of the geopark have attracted the attention of domestic and foreign researchers and visitors. Initial research suggest that the area dates from the Late Stone Age and Early Metal Age dating back to 6,000-3,000 years ago. The findings included stone tools such as stoneware, dish-shaped tools and short axes. Animal bones, fragments and prehistoric human bones were also found. Regarding ceramics, there are many types of items, with different thicknesses and thinness, made from sandy clay. The patterns on the ceramic pieces are quite sharp and diverse such as dots and dashes, and rope patterns. The geopark is also home to tangible and intangible cultural values, in particular the UNESCO-recognised 'Gong Culture Space' intangible heritage and the Ho Chi Minh Trail special national relic. Visitors to the geopark can also experience the diverse spiritual life of local ethnic groups, reflected through folk beliefs, rituals and folk art which should be well preserved and promoted. The flora and fauna system in the park is diverse with many rare species, listed in Viet Nam and the world's red books such as elephants, tigers, bison and some types of primates, namely vooc en ma trang (Trachypithecus francoisi), cha va chan en (Pygathrix nigripes), reptiles, chim Hong Hoang (Great Hornbill) and ga tien mat o (Germains Peacock Pheasant). VNS Pete Moya carries ice out to his truck as Tropical Storm Beryl approaches the Texas coast Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Point Comfort. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A person walks towards land from a fishing pier as outer bands from Tropical Storm Beryl bring rain and wind to the Texas coast Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Palacios. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A sign reading Beryl Beryl Go Away is seen at The Gumbo Diner just before hurricane Beryl is expected to make landfall on Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Galveston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Blake Braun loads his dog Dolly into his familys vehicle as outer bands from Tropical Storm Beryl begin to hit the coast Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Port O'Connor. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Gary Hafernick drives his 1926 Ford Model T through the rain as outer bands from Tropical Storm Beryl hit the Texas coast Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Palacios. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A cow grazes as outer bands from Tropical Storm Beryl hit the Texas coast Sunday, July 7, 2024, near Palacios. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Clyde George jokes as he boards up his home before the expected arrival of Tropical Storm Beryl on Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Port O'Connor. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer People evacuate and move belongings out ahead of the expected landfall of Tropical Storm Beryl on Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Port O'Connor. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Lifeguard Sebastian Gonzales watches over people at the beach as tides rise and clouds loom overhead just before hurricane Beryl is expected to make landfall on Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Galveston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Storefronts are boarded up ahead of the expected landfall of Tropical Storm Beryl on Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Port Lavaca. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Daniel Fernandez looks out at Lavaca Bay as he fishes ahead of the expected landfall of Tropical Storm Beryl on Sunday, July 7, 2024, at the Port Lavaca fishing pier at Bayfront Peninsula Park in Port Lavaca. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A flare burns ahead of the expected landfall of Tropical Storm Beryl on Sunday, July 7, 2024, near Port Lavaca. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Tristum Mitchell wipes away sweat as he boards up his home ahead of the expected landfall of Tropical Storm Beryl on Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Port Lavaca. He said he was hurrying to board up his home before he had to go back to work. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Tristum Mitchell pets his neighbors dog Jax as he boards up his home ahead of the expected landfall of Tropical Storm Beryl on Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Port Lavaca. He said he was hurrying to board up his home before he had to go back to work. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer J.B. Fernandez, left, fishes with his cousin Daniel Fernandez, right, and uncle, not pictured, ahead of the expected landfall of Tropical Storm Beryl on Sunday, July 7, 2024, at the Port Lavaca fishing pier at Bayfront Peninsula Park in Port Lavaca. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Clyde George shows off his necklace as he prepares his home for the arrival Tropical Storm Beryl on Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Port O'Connor. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Julie Brauns barometer is seen as outer bands from Tropical Storm Beryl begin to hit the coast Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Port O'Connor. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Clyde George, left, and his son Chris George board up their home ahead of the arrival of Tropical Storm Beryl on Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Port O'Connor. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Businesses along The Strand use sand bags to protect their windows and entrances from the incoming hurricane Beryl just before it is expected to make landfall on Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Galveston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Flooding begins in the residential shore front neighborhood of Jamaica Beach just before hurricane Beryl is expected to make landfall on Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Galveston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Lifeguard Juan Jaimes patrols the beach to ensure no one is swimming just before hurricane Beryl is expected to make landfall on Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Galveston. We cant let anyone swim, there are a handful of dangers, from rip tide to animals like sharks potentially coming closer to shore. Jaimes shares. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer People enjoy the beach just before hurricane Beryl is expected to make landfall on Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Galveston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Local business owners and friends Fred King and Ryan Connor support neighboring business, Strand Brass, in taking down hanging signs in preparation for the incoming hurricane Beryl just before it is expected to make landfall on Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Galveston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer A home is boarded up as Tropical Storm Beryl approaches the Texas coast Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Point Comfort. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Tides rise and clouds loom overhead just before hurricane Beryl is expected to make landfall on Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Surfside Beach. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Tides rise around homes just before hurricane Beryl is expected to make landfall on Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Surfside Beach. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Gary Hafernick smiles after driving his 1926 Ford Model T through the rain as outer bands from Tropical Storm Beryl hit the Texas coast Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Palacios. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Gary Hafernick backs out his 1926 Ford Model T before driving in the rain as outer bands from Tropical Storm Beryl hit the Texas coast Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Palacios. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer You can find Monday's live updates on Hurricane Beryl here: Beryl makes landfall in Texas. Hurricane Beryl was expected to make landfall somewhere in Texas near Matagorda Bay early Monday as a Category 1 hurricane. Houston started seeing the effects of Beryl Sunday night, including gusty winds, heavy rain and possible tornadoes. Beryl's path will come across some of the western local suburban areas. Hurricane and storm surge watches and some voluntary evacuation orders are in effect for much of the Texas Gulf Coast. A tornado watch is in effect for Harris county and 9 others across the region until 10 a.m. Monday. For photos of storm preparation across the Texas coast and the Greater Houston area, see the Chronicle's visual essay. Take a minute to fill out out this survey to tell us how you are preparing for the storm as it nears the coast. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Follow along below for live updates on Hurricane Beryl from Houston Chronicle reporters and meteorologists. For real-time flood updates in the Houston region, live weather radar and storm surge threat check our interactive Texas Flood Map and Tracker. Track Beryl's path as it makes its way through the Gulf of Mexico with our hurricane and tropical storms tracker. To support our journalism, please consider subscribing to the Chronicle for unlimited digital access. Hurricane Beryl got stronger late at night, as its maximum sustained winds grew from 75 mph as of 11 p.m. Sunday to 80 mph as of 1 a.m. Monday, the National Hurricane Center said. Despite the increase in wind speeds Beryl remains a low-end Category 1 hurricane. Beryl was close to making landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast Monday morning. Its rotating center was within 30 miles of the coastal town of Matagorda and heading north-northwest at 10 mph. Mayor John Whitmire's office announced his plans late Sunday to provide a briefing Monday morning at the Houston Office of Emergency management at 9 a.m., if the weather conditions from Beryl's pass over Houston permits. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The briefing was previously slated for 6 a.m. but was rescheduled. Earlier Sunday, Whitmire held a news conference where he urged residents to take the storm seriously and prepare for potential outages and dangerous weather conditions. - Elizabeth Sander Western Harris County and Houstons closest western suburbs, including Sugar Land, Katy and Cypress, will be in Beryls path after the storm comes ashore Monday morning near Matagorda Bay as a low-grade hurricane, according to the latest forecast track from the National Hurricane Center. Advertisement Article continues below this ad After landfall, the center of Beryl is expected to head inland toward Sugar Land and cross Interstate 10 just east of Katy, then continue north for several hours toward Cypress, then Conroe. As a tropical storm, Beryl would then cross Interstate 45 near Huntsville before banking northeast near Crockett around 7 p.m., all the while dumping rain across Southeast Texas. Overnight into Tuesday, the storm would reach Longview in East Texas about 24 hours after landfall. - Roberto Villalpando Videos posted to social media late Sunday night show the high winds and heavy rain bands beginning in Sargent. They will soon make their way inland as Beryl stretches over the last few miles of the gulf, heading toward landfall. Advertisement Article continues below this ad This video on X, formerly known as Twitter, shows the surf swelling against the shore aggressively, with winds lashing the camera. Other videos captured the rain bands as they swept through the area - Elizabeth Sander Advertisement Article continues below this ad A rejuvenated Beryl has transformed itself once again into a hurricane, only several hours away from an anticipated final landfall near Matagorda Bay, the National Hurricane Center said Sunday. As of 11 p.m. Sunday, the rotating center of Hurricane Beryl was about 65 miles south-southeast of the coastal town of Matagorda, heading north-northwest at 10 mph. The low-end Category 1 hurricane was spinning with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, according to data from the National Weather Service Doppler radar near Houston and reports from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft. Additional strengthening is expected before landfall on the Texas coast, the hurricane center said in an update. The hurricane centers latest forecast map of Beryls projected path shows the storm making landfall as a hurricane. WHAT IT MEANS FOR HOUSTON: Beryl strengthens into hurricane again ahead of Monday landfall. What we can expect next? - Roberto Villalpando The National Weather Service put a tornado watch into effect late Sunday night, as Tropical Storm Beryl nears landfall. The following counties in Texas are included in the tornado watch from 10:45 p.m. until 10 a.m. Monday morning: Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Hardin, Harris, Jefferson, Liberty, Matagorda and Montgomery. Beryl is expected to make landfall overnight and before Monday morning, models show, and with it will likely come high winds, heavy rains, storm surges, flooding and scattered tornados and hail, according to the NWS. A tornado watch means that conditions are favorable for the development of strong storms capable of producing tornadoes. Those under the tornado watch need to be prepared to seek shelter immediately if a tornado warning is issued for their location. The safest place to be during a tornado is in a basement or storm shelter. If you do not have a basement or storm shelter, seek shelter in an interior closet in the lowest level of your home. Putting as many walls between yourself and the outside as possible is crucial to staying safe if a tornado is in your area. An interior bathroom is also an excellent option, as sturdy plumbing around the bathroom will fortify your shelter. If possible, grab a bike helmet or pillows to seek shelter with. Do not waste time opening the windows to your house. If you are caught in your car during a tornado warning, seek safe haven in a sturdy building like a grocery store or a fast food restaurant. If you are not near sturdy structures, stay in your car with the seat belt on and attempt to get below the windows. Cover your head with your hands, a blanket, or a bike helmet. If you can safely get below the level of the roadway in a ditch, leave your car and seek shelter there, keeping your head covered as best as possible. - Justin Ballard United flights will depart out of Terminal C as of Sunday evening, as flights at George Bush Continental Airport continue to be affected by the evolving weather from nearing Tropical Storm Beryl, according to an update posted Sunday on the airport's X, formerly known as Twitter, account. Terminal B will be closed to "streamline operations" during the tropical storm. TSA checkpoints at Terminals A and C are both open, but Terminal D will be open at a reduced capacity due to the "irregular operations" at the airport. Airport leadership advises all travelers to check their flight schedules before heading to IAH, as schedules have been impacted by the storm. - Elizabeth Sander The City of Houstons Solid Waste Management department released its plan for the week with potential damages from Tropical Storm Beryl to contend with. On Monday, all trash collection will be suspended, such as storm debris operations, garbage, recycling, yard and tree waste collections, due to forecasted weather conditions. On Tuesday, collection is expected to resume and the department will also conduct a city-wide survey of the damages, according to a release sent Sunday evening. Mondays garbage, recycling, yard, and tree waste will be collected on Tuesday, alongside a second-pass for storm debris collections. Tuesdays garbage will be collected on Wednesday, including recycling, yard and tree waste, but by Thursday, normal schedules are expected to resume. The department said to still expect some delays Thursday, as the backlog of tree debris will likely continue into the end of the week. - Elizabeth Sander The National Weather Service has upgraded tropical storm warnings issued for Wharton and parts of Brazoria county to hurricane warnings, according to a 7:30 p.m. update from the agency. For areas under a hurricane warning, the NWS is forecasting wind speeds of around 50-70 mph down from their earlier estimate of between 60 and 80 mph. For counties further inland, the NWS now expects speeds of as high as 50 mph. Beryl is still expected to reach hurricane status just ahead of its projected landfall near Matagorda Bay later this evening. The NWS said residents in areas along the storms path should anticipate power outages and possible flash flooding. Isolated tornadoes and other wind-related events remain a concern through Monday morning. - John Lomax The eye of the hurricane will make its way north near Harris County starting midnight, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said. So were on the dirty side of the hurricane, the toughest side, Hidalgo said at a Sunday evening press conference, adding the county is already experiencing the outer bands of the hurricane. Hidalgo cautioned people against being out from midnight until noon Monday and recommended people be sheltered starting 10 p.m. Sunday. She said Beryl is expected to move fast through the region. And so just be prepared. Be prepared for the worst and the various contingencies, Hidalgo said. All county buildings will be closed Monday. The county is at Level 1 maximum readiness, Hidalgo said. She noted potential flooding and widespread power outages. Paul Lock, a CenterPoint spokesperson, said CenterPoint has approximately 2,500 mutual assistance crews on standby to help. Hidalgos press conference at Houston TranStar follows an afternoon press conference hosted by Houston Mayor John Whitmire. Whitmire emphasized collaboration between multiple levels of government and praised the senior directors and first responders with him. Ahead of Harris Countys press conference, people from Harris County agencies reported to the building with bags of food and necessities for an overnight stay. Organizations present include Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and Harris County Flood Control, an Emergency Management spokesperson said. - Nusaiba Mizan Beryls latest forecast track from the National Hurricane Center, as of 7 p.m. Sunday shows a northerly path that leads to the Gulf Coast in Southeast Texas and grazing the western side of Houston. National Hurricane Center Tropical Storm Beryl has gotten stronger in the past 24 hours, as its maximum sustained winds have grown from 60 mph on Saturday to 70 mph as of 7 p.m. Sunday. Such wind speeds put Beryl closer to achieving hurricane-level strength. Beryl was closing in on the Texas Gulf Coast Sunday night, its rotating center within 100 miles of the coastal town of Matagorda. The National Hurricane Center said Beryl would reorganize into a hurricane again soon as it took a north-northwesterly course at 12 mph through the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. - Robert Villalpando The City of Houston's Solid Waste department sent out a reminder on X, formerly known as Twitter, for residents to secure all trash bins before Beryl makes landfall by Monday morning. The predicted high winds across the Houston area may cause trash bins to fall over and open up, sending loose trash into the streets and gutters, making debris harder to clean, according to the post. It can even cause increased flooding, if trash begins to clog the sewers. - Elizabeth Sander Robin Mayberry planned on walking along the Galveston Seawall near 43rd street for as long as her family was game on Sunday. With the wind blowing, and the light spray of salt water in her face, Mayberry, 61, felt at home even if she was just visiting while staying with her daughter in the Clear Lake area. Tides rise and clouds loom overhead Galveston beach just before hurricane Beryl is expected to make landfall on Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Galveston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer I love this, she said. Im here on the island for every storm. I can see a beautiful sunny day any day, I cant see this every day. Look at the waves, feel the windand feel the temperature change. For Mayberry, who said she is no storm chaser, the brewing storm had all the perfect elements of the islands moody charms. I love the island, and when you love a place, you love all of it the good, bad and the ugly, she said, snapping photos of the waves that were crashing increasingly harder. Mayberry, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, wasnt leaving the island Sunday until the predicted heavy rain started to come in. I hope no one gets injured, or loses anything, but Im here for the weather event, she said. I feel most alive here. - Yvette Orozco Whether it be stocking up on water in case of outages, boarding up windows to protect from storm damage, evacuating certain areas voluntarily or not preparing at all, take a minute to share with the Chronicle all the things you are doing leading up to Tropical Storm Beryl. - Elizabeth Sander H-E-B Houston area stores will have normal hours Sunday night, but will not open until noon Monday, said Lisa Helfman, managing director of H-E-B Public Affairs Houston. This includes all H-E-B, Joe V's, Mi Tienda and Central Market stores in the Houston area, and all gas stations and pharmacies in those stores. The only exception is H-E-B Lake Jackson, which closes at 10 p.m. Sunday. Individual store hours could also be adjusted further depending on local conditions, and H-E-B leadership will continue to monitor the situation, Helfman said. - Dana Burke Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale pledged his support to the city of Houston Sunday in a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, giving out his personal cell phone number to those in need. Mack recalled previous weather disasters like Winter Storm Uri, Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Imelda, where his store, Gallery Furniture, opened its doors to house the public and distributed water and other supplies. A docked Carnival Cruise ship welcomes guests to board just before hurricane Beryl is expected to make landfall in the area on Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Galveston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer "If things get bad, give us a call," Mack said. - Elizabeth Sander Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas, scheduled to return to port Monday, will now return Tuesday, said Port of Galveston spokesperson Kathy Thomas. The port closed to vessel traffic at 4 p.m. Sunday, and the cruise ship would not have made it back in time, according to Galveston Mayor Craig Brown. - Yvette Orozco On Sunday afternoon, Shirley Russell was still trying to dry off from the wet clothes she had worn during church services that morning. Russell, 81, had played piano and organ at Gospel Missionary Baptist Church on Ball St. and Sunlight Missionary Baptist Church on Ave. J just like any other Sunday. When I went into my first church, it was sunny and when I walked out it was pouring, she said. You just never know whats going to happen. You cant tell because storms and hurricanes are unpredictable. In the 79 years shes lived on the island, Russell has left because of a weather event only a handful of times, and she always returns. When Hurricane Ike gutted her home on 35th Street in 2008, she had to temporarily relocate. Hurricanes and tropical storms, she said, are part of life there. Russell, a retired Galveston County precinct judge, did her grocery shopping early, and she has her nuts, cereals, apple juice and bananas. For now, she said she will be home Sunday evening, watching and waiting. I will probably stay from now on unless theres a mandatory evacuation, she said. - Yvette Orozco Tides rise around homes just before hurricane Beryl is expected to make landfall on Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Surfside Beach. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer CenterPoint Energy has mobilized its 4,500 person restoration workforce, with crews pre-positioned to quickly respond to areas impacted by Beryl. This includes skilled lineworkers and workers trained to remove trees, branches and any other vegetation impacting power lines, the company's media relations team said in a news release. CenterPoint's natural gas operations crews are also ready to respond to emergency calls for meters under water and other issues. CenterPoint will provide updates every 15 minutes at centerpointenergystorm.com/stormcenter and via its Power Alert Service app. - Dana Burke The last 24 hours have been interesting to say the least, County Judge Mark Keough said about Beryls path toward Texas during a joint press conference Sunday at Conroe city hall. We are asking people to pay attention to this. Keough said he signed an emergency declaration for Montgomery County, following Gov. Greg Abbott's Friday announcement of a similar declaration for 40 counties in Beryls path. City official Nancy Mikeska said buses are scheduled to run as of Sunday evening but if conditions become unsafe, the service will be suspended until the weather improves. The city will also have no garbage service Monday, Mikeska said, and if there is debris after the storm it will be addressed at that time. Norm McGuire, director of Public Works, said crews have been working for several days to ensure drainage ditches and points where debris gathers are clear so water can flow. Conroe Fire Chief Ken Kreger urged residents to stay home and prepare for the storm. Make sure you stay safe, Kreger said. Expect high winds and expect high water. - Catherine Dominguez Metropolitan Transit Authority will suspend service Sunday night, as strong weather slashes the Houston region. Final trips on local buses and trains will start around 10 p.m., officials said. After that, riders should not expect trips, though some buses and trains will make their final trips to their normal depot locations. Transit officials will decide whether to resume service Monday morning, but plan to do so by 8 a.m., Metro said in a release. All park and ride service, HOT lanes and ride store locations will remain closed Monday. - Dug Begley Tristum Mitchell pets his neighbors dog Jax as he boards up his home ahead of the expected landfall of Tropical Storm Beryl on Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Port Lavaca. He said he was hurrying to board up his home before he had to go back to work. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Freeport LNG, a natural gas liquefaction producer and exporter, has powered down its massive natural gas liquefaction plant in Quintana, across the jetty from Surfside Beach, the company said Sunday in a statement. "We have safely ramped down production at our liquefaction facility and intend to resume operations once it is safe to do so after this weather event," a spokesperson said. - Amanda Drane People across the Texas Gulf Coast and the Greater Houston area are preparing for Tropical Storm Beryl to make landfall by early Monday morning by boarding up windows, stocking up on water at the grocery store, filling up gas tanks and voluntarily evacuating from areas. See photos of the lead-up to Beryl in the Chronicle's visual essay. - Elizabeth Sander Mayor John Whitmire, joined by Harris County Precinct 2 and 3 Commissioners Adrian Garcia and Tom Ramsey Sunday afternoon, praised the collaboration between multiple levels of government in preparation for Beryl. Tides rise and clouds loom overhead Galveston beach just before hurricane Beryl is expected to make landfall on Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Galveston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Emergency and public works crews will mobilize through the night in Houston, officials said at the news conference. Residents are urged to stay home, and if they must drive, to avoid driving into any water on roadways. City of Houston employees except first responders tier one will work from home Monday, Whitmire said at the press conference. Weve all worked on projects like this successfully, and we know what were doing. But were all in this together, Whitmire said. Garcia cautioned people against traveling on roads at around 10 p.m. Ramsey said 16 crews in his precinct are positioned in areas that are expected to flood. Whitmire also said he has been in contact with the acting governor, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Houston Fire Department Chief Samuel Pena said additional water strike teams and high-water vehicles are prepared. Whitmire requested Houstonians stay off the road tonight and said METRO will suspend service at 10:30 p.m. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo will hold a separate conference later Sunday evening. - Nusaiba Mizan City officials have issued a voluntary evacuation of the west end of the island of Galveston unprotected by the seawall that went into effect at 10 a.m. Sunday morning. The City of Galveston staff, public works and emergency services will remain on standby as the storm moves to head towards the north of Matagorda Bay. The further it comes up the coast here, the more concerns we have in Galveston, said Mayor Craig Brown. The two reasons for the voluntary evacuation are due to the low-lying areas on the west end that can directly and quickly be affected by storm surge, and it is also an area where there is a large concentration of tourists still in town for the Fourth of July weekend. We wanted to make sure those staying on the west end visiting were aware of the issues that happen on the west end, and therefore we wanted to alert them and give them time to get off the island, he said. The city put up barricades downtown to keep traffic from out of the flood-prone areas and opened its emergency operation center to take calls from residents experiencing high water issues. The Port Coast Guard shut down at 4 p.m. Sunday while cruise lines were moving on schedule. The Salvation Army, Brown said, will be open as the storm moves through for those seeking shelter. The city is not currently considering expanding volunteer evacuations. Businesses along The Strand gather sand bags to seal their windows and entrances from the incoming hurricane Beryl just before it is expected to make landfall on Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Galveston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer - Yvette Orozco Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough announced Sunday he has issued an emergency declaration for the county on the heels of Gov. Greg Abbott issuing a similar declaration Friday for 40 counties in Beryls path. Keough said winds up to 73 miles per hour are expected across the county which could create tornadoes. We are watching this storm very closely, Keough said from the county Emergency Operations Center. Take it seriously. You do not want to be out driving around later tonight. - Catherine Dominguez The town of Quintana has been issued a mandatory evacuation in Brazoria County, according to the county's Facebook page. On Saturday, Brazoria County Judge Matt Sebesta declared a voluntary evacuation for low-lying areas south of the Intracoastal Canal in the country with Hurricane Beryl approaching the Texas coast. Quintana has been one of the towns announced for a mandatory evacuation. Galveston issued a voluntary evacuation for low-lying areas not protected by the Seawall, as well as the island's West End. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said she was returning to town Sunday afternoon after a pre-planned Fourth of July weekend trip. "As soon as I became aware that the forecasts changed and the storm had again shifted more in Harris County's direction," she said in a statement. Hidalgo will return by 4 p.m. Sunday "barring unexpected delays." Hidalgo said she has activated a level 1 maximum readiness for county emergency response teams. Her team plans to work with first responders, agencies, cities within Harris County and state government to "help keep residents safe," she said. The Swift gas station in Point Comfort off State Highway 35 has never closed since it opened more than two years ago, according to manager Shawn Devid. Thats not changing with Beryl barreling down, even with the windows boarded up. Devid has made sure people know the gas station is staying open. Earlier Sunday, he wrote WE ARE OPEN 24/7 in white spray paint on two different sections of plywood. Otherwise nobody knows, Devid said. - Peter Warren Eddie Tyler, left, a supervisor for Port Lavacas parks department, and Juan Rodriguez try to lower the Texas flag as Tropical Storm Beryl approaches the Texas coast Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Point Comfort. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Sunday again urged residents and vacationers along the Gulf Coast to prepare for Beryl's arrival, noting the storm would soon become a hurricane and its trajectory could still change. "Let's pray nothing happens where you live," Patrick said. "But something is going to happen where some of you live." The storm was expected to become a hurricane around 7 p.m. Sunday before making landfall just east of Matagorda Bay early Monday morning. Patrick, who is leading the state while Gov. Greg Abbott is in Asia for a pre-planned trade mission, said the storm could bring 85 mph winds and cause major flooding, including in the western suburbs around Houston. State officials were not projecting Beryl to be as big as Hurricane Harvey in 2017, or for it to linger as long. Still, its path was likely to sweep through densely populated areas, including beach towns with heavy tourism. Patrick said the roads along the coast did not appear heavily trafficked Sunday, which could mean people aren't evacuating who need to. "You don't want to be on the road tomorrow tomorrow will be a back day for weather," Patrick said, urging viewers to contact their friends or family along the coast and warn them about the storm. Those staying in the area should stock up on food and gas as soon as possible, he added. "This storm has already left nine deaths in the Caribbean," Patrick said. "We don't want number 10 to be in Texas." Several Houston area officials have announced closing their buildings and operations head of Beryl. The Harris County Tax Office locations will be closed Monday in what they believe will be "hazardous weather conditions." The Harris County District Clerk's Office said they will also close and jury service be canceled as well. The Houston Zoo officials announced closing noon Sunday and will continue to be closed Monday. A decision on whether to reopen on Tuesday will be made later, officials said. Space Center Houston will also close with cancellations of tours, experiences, camps and events Monday. Port Houston facilities plan to close operations Monday. Officials said on X they will update about Tuesday's operations soon. In Galveston, officials are closing all city buildings on Monday and postponing trash service out of an abundance of caution, city officials said in a statement. This means police and fire services will continue as normal, as will emergency operations and select municipal services, officials said. Our public works crews will be working in force to address storm-related infrastructure issues. However, the recreation centers, public buildings, municipal court, and City Hall will all be closed Monday. Galveston previously urged residents west of the seawall and those in low-lying areas to evacuate. If you are staying in your home, be sure you have all medications and supplies to last to Tuesday without leaving the house, officials warned. The Rosenberg Library in Galveston will also be closed Monday and plans to reopen Tuesday. The bay and beach side of Galveston Island State Park will also close until July 12. League City facilities and parks have a delayed opening until noon Monday, as of a Sunday afternoon announcement. Helen Hall Library and city parks will be closed starting at 4 p.m. Sunday. - Dug Begley, Octavia Johnson, Nusaiba Mizan Richard Stastny and a crew of workers have spent Sunday on a farmland, north of Port Lavaca in Calhoun County preparing for Beryl's arrival and the potential destruction of the Milo crop they were tasked to harvest. This is our last patch that we actually had to do, said Stastny, dressed in a well-worn denim shirt and jeans. We have been harvesting about a week already. Stastny estimated they harvested about 400-to-500 acres of crops already, including cotton and corn. It was too wet to harvest the milo crop, which totaled about 150 acres. He said it is a good probability that the wind and rain coming soon from Beryl will destroy the crop. Its not just the crops that could be ruined but the equipment as well. All they can do with the equipment is orient it in a position that will make it less likely that the windows will be blown in. - Peter Warren Lifeguard Sebastian Gonzales watches over people at the beach as tides rise and clouds loom overhead just before hurricane Beryl is expected to make landfall on Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Galveston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Tropical Storm Beryl is packing sustained winds of 65 mph with gusts of 75 mph. It is expected to become a hurricane by 7 p.m. Sunday before making landfall along the Texas Gulf Coast near or just to the east of Matagorda Bay between 4 and 6 a.m. Monday. The heaviest and most widespread rain arrives after 8 p.m. Sunday. Rainfall of 6 to 8 inches is expected through Tuesday morning, for Greater Houston, with rainfall totals of between 10 and 15 inches possible between Galveston and Matagorda Bay. North of Interstate 10, rainfall totals between 4 and 6 inches are expected. A flood watch is in effect through Tuesday morning for Southeast Texas. Wind gusts will top out between 60 and 70 mph in the Houston area. The strongest winds will be felt along the immediate coast, where gusts of 90 mph will be possible as Beryl comes ashore early Sunday. Houston should expect to see the strongest gusts between 8 and 11 a.m. Monday. As Beryl curves north and east between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., wind gusts could be as high as 80 mph in The Woodlands and Conroe. A storm surge of between 4 and 6 feet is expected from San Luis Pass to Matagorda Bay as Beryl nears landfall early Monday morning. For Galveston and Galveston Bay, storm surge is forecast to peak between 3 and 5 feet through Monday. Areas that dealt with coastal flooding or storm surge during Tropical Storm Alberto will likely see a repeat of that as Beryl arrives. Flood-prone or storm surge-prone areas should be prepared accordingly for inundation. - Justin Ballard Around mid-morning Sunday, Amanda Wordekemper, 38, and her family had just arrived from a weeklong trip aboard the Carnival Dream when the wind and a drizzle started to pick up as they stood near the cruise terminal parking garage for their ride home. We want to get of dodge, Wordekemper said. The family is familiar with blizzards and tornadoes back home in Aurora, Colo., but the threat of a potentially nasty tropical storm was unknown. Galveston was still under a hurricane warning issued by the National Weather Service. Weather reports they had been following for the last two days were forecasting the different routes the storm could take and they werent exactly sure if they needed to be concerned. I dont know what to expect because Im a little naive to this kind of thing, Wordekemper said. Her mother, Leslie Wordekemper, who celebrated her 60th birthday during the trip, was not worried about their safety so much as what would happen to their cars in the parking garage during a possible storm surge. But as the wind picked up more, and the drizzle turned into a brief downpour, she was ready to leave. I can actually feel (the weather changes) and yeah, right now, I want to leave, Wordekemper said. Amanda Stevens, manager at the V.I.P Indoor Cruise Parking, said the people making their way to the cruise terminal were filing in like clockwork. Stevens, 46, lives on the island, and she was planning to work her regular shift through the afternoon, go home and put sandbags in the front door of her first-floor apartment. I was here for Ike, and I dont expect anything like that, she said. Its just like any other day. - Yvette Orozco Highway officials are urging people to stay off roads as powerful storms roll in from the Gulf of Mexico, as some major routes used to evacuate coastal areas are already seeing heavier traffic. With the likelihood of high water impacting the roadway network at any moment during this weather event, motorists are strongly urged to stay vigilant from today through Wednesday, said Raquelle Lewis, a Houston-based spokesperson for the Texas Department of Transportation. Crews along the Gulf Coast have been preparing critical roads, both to protect them and to ensure key routes remain open as long as possible. TxDOT opened its emergency operations center today in advance of Tropical Storm Beryl reaching Texas, likely as a category one hurricane. Local business owner Fred King supports neighboring business, Strand Brass, take down hanging signs in preparation for the incoming hurricane Beryl just before it is expected to make landfall on Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Galveston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Traffic along Interstate 45 out of Galveston was heavy prior to noon, as many fled the island and other low-lying areas. Between Galveston Island and Tiki Island, south of Dickinson and from Webster into Houston were already backed up. Officials stress as others leave, inland residents can stay in place, but be cautious of local flooding and monitor advisories from local officials. For traffic information, go to Houston TranStar or TxDOTs Drive Texas site. - Dug Begley Houston-area officials and longtime residents suggested having these items inside the home prior to Beryl. They believe it is essential to stock food and water when preparing for a disaster. However, it's best to purchase nonperishable food items in case a person loses power and water. Residents should also have the necessary toiletries, and power sources and pharmaceutical supplies on hand as well. Most importantly, residents should also have a bag prepared in case they need to evacuate the area. More than 120 lineworkers and a support team from AEP Ohio, an energy delivery company, have traveled to Texas to assist in restoration efforts. They left Ohio Saturday morning for the two-day trip before Beryl moved into the Texas Gulf Coast. "Thank you to our AEP Ohio family for sending crews to Texas as we await the arrival of Tropical Storm Beryl," AEP Texas wrote on its Facebook page. Several Houston area school districts planning to close before Beryl's landfall Monday. Districts including Houston Independent School District and Brazosport ISD plan to close on Monday and Tuesday. Fort Bend ISD, Waller ISD, Crosby ISD, Cleveland ISD and more plan to close on Monday as they continue to monitor the storms. The rain bands are expected to come across the middle Texas Gulf Coast from Galveston to South Padre between Sunday morning and noon. In the Houston metro area, the rain brands could be within the region from the southeast by the afternoon. The Houston Chronicle's weather team said there will be periods when rain picks up, but will also back off for a short time period. Fourth of July is like Christmas for the Braun family, matriarch Julie said, spending the holiday celebrating at their summer home on the coast of Matagorda Bay in Port OConnor. Their holiday celebration ended Sunday morning as they packed their cars, shuttered their windows and drove back to their home in Karnes City. Clyde George will also be driving on Texas Highway 185 out of the small coastline community. But before hitting the lone road out of Port OConnor, George and his son Chris first boarded up their vacation home with plywood painted to look like the Texas flag. Its time to go, George said. - Peter Warren Ferries in Galveston will keep running, so long as it is safe, officials with the Texas Department of Transportation said. TxDOT operates the ferries between Galveston and Bolivar, 24 hours per day, but can halt trips for safety based on maritime conditions and visibility. The Galveston area remains under a hurricane warning issued by the National Weather Service. A storm surge warning of 4-to-6 feet for the Gulf of Mexico also extends from south Texas to the Bolivar Peninsula. - Dug Begley Tristum Mitchell boards up his home ahead of the expected landfall of Tropical Storm Beryl on Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Port Lavaca. He said he was hurrying to board up his home before he had to go back to work. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer The western suburbs in the Houston area, including Sealy and Hempstead, will be in Beryl's path once the storm makes landfall Monday near Matagorda Bay. Several other suburban Houston counties along and west of Interstate 45 were placed under a flood watch Sunday through early Tuesday by the National Weather Service office overseeing Houston and Galveston. Some may not know the terms and phrases used to describe severe weather and hurricanes in the area. The Houston Chronicle's weather team provided some insights into words such as the difference between a hurricane "watch" or "warning," and a "storm surge." They also include phrases such as "cone of uncertainty," "dirty side of the hurricane" and more. October is still months away but Tristum Mitchell spent his Sunday morning putting up some Halloween decorations. The 38-year-old Port Lavaca resident drilled in plywood boards adorned with Halloween images such as a Jack-o-Lantern and ghosts to protect his windows. His wife Sabrina painted the images the last time the boards were up, which was during the Halloween season. They couldnt put up traditional decorations so they improvised. J.B. Fernandez fishes with his cousin and uncle, not pictured, ahead of the expected landfall of Tropical Storm Beryl on Sunday, July 7, 2024, at the Port Lavaca fishing pier at Bayfront Peninsula Park in Port Lavaca. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer The Mitchells might have had the most colorful plywood in town but they werent the only ones protecting their property that way. A number of businesses in Port Lavaca had already boarded up their storefronts by the time Mitchell finished his work and headed inside to rest before his next shift at the plant. Businesses from gas stations and liquor stores to restaurants all had plywood covering up windows. But just because the businesses are boarded up doesnt mean they are closed. A McDonalds on Highway 35 that had been boarded up had a line at its drive-thru Sunday morning. - Peter Warren J.B. Fernandez, his cousin Daniel Fernandez and uncle Arthur Daniel Fernandez, said they werent worried about Beryl early Sunday morning as the sun rose off the coast of Port Lavaca. They were just focused on casting their fishing lines into the gulf. J.B. Fernandez said theyd been fishing in this spot since his childhood, catching trout and red fish in the Port Lavaca waters. Theyd already caught about 50 fish although theyve tossed a good amount back into the water. I think the storms bring them in, J.B. Fernandez said. Port Lavaca is a small coastal city in Calhoun County that sits in the path of Beryl's forecasted U.S. landfall as a Category 1 hurricane. With about 12,000 residents, it is known for its world-class saltwater fishing and its reputation as a low-key coastal community. It is about 130 miles southwest of Houston. They plan on heading inland to Victoria when the storm hits, and dont expect much damage when it does arrive. But even as stray raindrops started to fall, they kept casting their lines off the pier at Bayfront Peninsula Park. There was still plenty of time to enjoy their Sunday before Beryl comes close to the Texas coast. Were doing this 'till it comes, Daniel Fernandez said. - Peter Warren With Beryl set to strengthen into a hurricane, CenterPoints power outage tracker remains down, leaving Houston without the handy map for tracking neighborhoods without electricity. CenterPoints main public information site, its Outage Tracker map, crashed in May from a combination of high demand from customers and widespread outages due to storms. CenterPoint recognizes the inconvenience to its customers and will continue to provide general outage information in the interim updated every 15 minutes, the company said in a news release. By the end of this month, CenterPoint plans to replace the outage map with a redesigned cloud-based platform that can be more easily scaled for increased customer traffic. TAY NINH The southeastern province of Tay Ninh is taking measures to help its farmers adopt technology. The locality plans to develop 22 high-tech agricultural zones spread over 15,000-20,000ha each between next year and 2030, according to its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Nguyen inh Xuan, its director, said the zones would grow vegetables and fruits in concentrated and specialised farming areas. The province targets high-tech agriculture accounting for 50 per cent of produce value and yielding VN180 million (US$7,000) worth of output per hectare per year by 2030, he said. With its large tracts of farmlands, abundant water from the Sai Gon and Vam Co ong rivers and Dau Tieng Reservoir, the countrys largest for irrigation, the province has ideal conditions for developing high-tech agriculture. It has support policies to assist farming, encourage companies to invest in agriculture and support the development of small irrigation works and efficient irrigation and seed production. It also provides soft loans to farmers to implement good agricultural practices and high-tech agriculture, and helps them link up with other stakeholders in the supply chain to sell their produce. Le Thi Mai Huyen, Vice Chairwoman of the Tay Ninh Business Association, said the province has many policies to help farmers adopt technology, but since they are not coordinated, the area under high-tech farming is not large. The linkages between companies and farmers are not close, and production costs are high as a result, which makes farmers reluctant to change their production methods, she added. According to the department, the linkages remain modest because farmers lack the habit of linking with companies, and the capacity of companies and co-operatives with whom they could potentially link is still limited. Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Vice Chairwoman of the Tay Ninh Farmers Association, said links between stakeholders in high-tech agriculture offer benefits to farmers, who are important stakeholders. Farmers should participate in co-operatives and co-operative groups to achieve effective linkages, and authorities would offer support for seeds and other inputs, she said. Participating farmers would be instructed in advanced farming techniques to grow produce that meet market requirements, she added. The department said only 14.5 per cent of agricultural output benefits from such linkages. The province has developed linkages for key products such as pig, chicken, cattle, sugarcane, custard apple, banana, rice, and durian, it said. The province plans to strengthen advocacy about the linkages and the benefits of creating them, it said. More and more farmers in the province have adopted advanced techniques in recent years to improve their efficiency. They have applied automatic irrigation for polygreen and net houses to grow vegetables and honeydew melon on 35ha and 20ha. The province has 1,503ha under grapefruit, banana, custard apple, mango, longan, jujube, avocado, and other fruits with origin traceability. It has granted production codes for 100 fruit growing areas to export to the EU, the US, Australia, New Zealand, and China. It has attracted investments in large agricultural projects in recent years, including 146 animal breeding projects that are operational. Its agricultural sector has been growing at 3 - 3.4 per cent a year in recent years and accounts for 20 per cent of its economy. VNS HCM CITY A local court in Khanh Hoa Province has ruled against a private bank after uncovering multiple unauthorised withdrawals totaling VN46.9 billion (US$1.83 million) from a client's account. The first-instance court on Thursday ordered Sacombanks Cam Ranh branch to reimburse VN36.2 billion, including accrued interest and compensation, to Ho Thi Thuy Duong, the plaintiff in the legal case. The sum includes the principal amount of VN26.9 billion after deducting the previously advanced VN20 billion at the plaintiff's request, as well as accrued interest of VN7 billion and compensation of VN2.3 billion for damages suffered by the plaintiff. The court also ordered the bank to return two land ownership certificates that were held as collateral for the previously advanced amount. The plaintiff initiated legal action against the bank in mid-2022 after the funds from her account at the bank's Cam Ranh transaction office "disappeared under suspicious circumstances." The woman had sought the full return of the amount along with accrued interest and compensation for damages incurred. An investigation by the Khanh Hoa provincial police uncovered a total of 12 unauthorised withdrawal transactions, including cash withdrawals outside of business hours and internet banking transfers to unknown recipients, all without the account owners consent. The plaintiff denied any involvement in these transactions, as she and her family were traveling in Phu Quoc at the time. The Procuracy supported the plaintiffs lawsuit, seeking the return of the principal amount, accrued interest, and the two land use rights certificates, citing the unauthorised nature of the transactions and deficiencies in the banks withdrawal procedures. The bank rejected the ruling, claiming the plaintiff had signed all 12 withdrawal documents, a claim refuted by the plaintiff. The bank defended the advance of VN20 billion as assistance in response to the plaintiffs financial difficulties. Following embezzlement charges against four officials from Sacombanks Cam Ranh branch, multiple customers, including Duong, have reported instances of financial fraud. The Vietnamese banking sector has been facing criticism for inadequate management, leading to customer losses from unexplained fund disappearances. Banks typically disclaim responsibility for such losses and advise customers to await police investigations, a lengthy process that often takes many years. VNS After the success of 'Shrek: The Musical' in Ha Noi Opera House last November, the production will be brought back this summer on a larger scale. The Broadway-style musical 'Shrek: On National Tour' will be staged in both HCM City and Ha Noi in July and August, respectively. The resident director of the musical, Jesse Donaldson-Jarrett, shares his involvement in the production with Viet Nam News. Inner Sanctum: This is the second time the play has been performed in Viet Nam. How do you approach directing a well-known story like "Shrek" to make it fresh and engaging? The most important part when working with well-known works is to identify what are the most important elements of the show and what you can play with. For Shrek, the important part is the balance of comedy and drama and the relationships between the characters as written in the scripts. So, how we keep this fresh is to embrace the unique idiosyncrasies and senses of humour of our cast members. This has been an easy job for me because half of our cast are new and everyone who was involved with the show before has grown so much from what I saw in the recordings of last year. I just embraced that in the rehearsal room and created spaces for play to bring a whole life to Shrek: The Musical. Hopefully, well have the audience laughing, then crying, then laughing again, Inner Sanctum: How is a Broadway production different from a normal play? A Broadway musical is completely different from a standard play. The biggest and most obvious difference is the super liminal presence of music and dance. This is the key acting challenge to our performers on stage for Shrek: How can I act while I am singing? What I am doing while I am dancing? This is where I come in as the director and help them find who they are singing to, what they are feeling at this moment that could bring them to dance. There is a quote from the writers of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast that I think sums it up pretty well. In musical theatre a character talks until they feel so much, they have to sing, and when that singing is no longer powerful enough to express that emotion. They dance. So what we bring to Shrek is that knowledge that everything happens for a reason, every note, and every move is important. Everything that we do comes from this idea of character. Only when we treat it as such can we live up to professional standards. Inner Sanctum: What challenges have you faced in the production process? An adaptation of the film Shrek, which is a meta comedy lampooning famous Disney fairy tales, as a show has a difficult balance of comedy and drama. Shrek: On National Tour is a comedy that parodies big Broadway musicals. Like any comedy, it only works when the characters take everything seriously. Comedy works because the characters believe they are in a drama. So the biggest difficulty in performing this show is to find that balance. To take everything seriously so that we can hit those jokes and the beautiful and touching moments these shows have. Inner Sanctum: All the cast of the musical are young amateurs. How do you approach working with them? Whenever I work with anyone new to the art form, especially the young people, the rehearsal room also becomes a classroom. I try to incorporate exercises into our warm-ups that help them build the skills (or sometimes the fitness) that are necessary in this art form. I am a massive believer in play. The idea that theatre is fun, and we need that childlike sense of play to explore any work to its fullest extent. So, what I have been trying to impart to my cast is the usefulness of rules. Theatre has many rules. How to stand, how to talk, how to move, how to sing, and its when we embrace these rules and play within the script (without breaking it) that is where we discover the exciting potential that is creativity. It is the creativity that comes from the wonderful young people in Viet Nam where we find what I would call This Show. I want them to take ownership of their ability to perform so they can continue to grow. Inner Sanctum: How do you ensure the essence and quality of the original Broadway production? Its all about the basics and hitting the core principles of the show, within the believable boundaries of our abilities. We cant expect our performers to dance like professional dancers. We have been blessed with some incredible vocal talent, but we cant expect everyone at that level. In a similar vein, I cannot sit there in the director's chair and expect them all to give in-depth performances from the get-go. So we focus on what we can do within the professional standard. We might not be able to have big fancy dance jumps, but we can hit clean lines, we can focus, we can learn our motivations and act accordingly onstage. I often say to my cast: Its not about getting it right, its about giving 100 per cent of yourself to it. I will never get mad if you mess up. I will only be disappointed if I see that you arent trying. Its the little things that make a show run smoothly. Inner Sanctum: What do you expect this experience will bring to these young Vietnamese actors in terms of personal and artistic growth? I hope I can share some of my love for the work with them. I hope that through working with me, I can help them build their love of the art form whilst building some of their foundational skills so that they may go and work in other rehearsal rooms and have something to build their skills upon. I have already seen immense growth from this cast in the short time I have been working with them. Its very exciting to imagine where they will be in a few years. I would be over the moon to eventually share the stage with any members of the cast in the future. I hope that what I can give to this group to take out into the Vietnamese art environment, is a greater sense of giving yourself up to the work. Core skills like identifying what you want in any given scene. I think if we can keep spreading these kinds of ideas and skills, there could be an evolution in Vietnamese theatre. VNS Hong Linh It's been a while since I last travelled to the wonderful Mekong Delta city of Can Tho. The city still amazes me as it used to in my memories. The city is well-known for its high level of development while still preserving some of its Southern traditional sites, such as Cai Rang Floating Market, Ninh Kieu Wharf, and a rice noodle craft village. After visiting some locations in the morning here, I decided to have lunch at Lua Nep Restaurant, a popular stop for tourists. The restaurant is part of the Lua Nep complex of resorts and restaurants, famous for its distinctive Southern Vietnamese dishes and massive view by the Hau River. It is located in a peaceful spot, separated from the city centre. The path from the entrance to inside is shaded by two rows of tall green trees, providing a very cool and ideal environment, especially at noon when the sun is harsh. The first thing you see when you walk in is an open kitchen. Here you can witness all the processes a dish goes through as it is prepared and presented before being served. Then you notice the two dining areas. The first one was a huge dining area beneath a charming dome-shaped thatched roof, a very traditional southern style. This was where I chose my seat because it was the only table left. The second part consists of a row of long tables placed next to the picturesque Hau River, from which you can see the Can Tho Bridge not far away. It would be best to choose a place next to the river, where there is a beautiful view and it's cooler with the natural breezes, giving a greater sense of connection with nature. The menu features all types of Southern dishes, from savoury items like fermented fish hotpot and braised fish to a variety of desserts such as red bean sweet soup, cassava cake, and steamed layered cake. Each serving here is quite generous, suitable for three to four people. I made my order as any traditional Southern local would: sweet and sour soup with fish balls (VN195,000), salty caramelised pork ribs (VN175,000), and a bowl of rice (VN40,000). The golden clarity of the broth in the sour soup is a highlight for me about the sweet and sour soup. It carries all the essential flavours of the dish, with a mild sourness from the tomato and tamarind blended with a subtle sweetness from the pineapple and sugar. The other ingredients are also handled quite well. The okras, bean sprouts and elephant ear stems are cooked enough, which is not too soft, still retaining a bit of crunch and the distinct flavour of each. The accompanying herbs, such as sawtooth coriander and rice paddy herb, combine to create a fragrant and refreshing aroma that enhances the overall taste of the dish. The tomato is soft and it feels like it melts in your mouth. The slices of chilli, on the other hand, seem to serve mainly as decoration because I couldn't detect any spiciness from them. The fish balls are quite large, with a taste of basa fish and well-seasoned. They are chewy, and I believe they are made in the restaurant rather than being frozen. Then, the salty caramelised pork ribs arrived with golden-coloured ribs, white onions and a glossy caramel sauce, garnished with a bit of coriander on top, all arranged in a metal wok. The ribs offer a salty flavour with a slightly sweet aftertaste and a hint of fish sauce aroma. The meat remains tender, and you can still taste the umami flavour, thoroughly absorbing the savoury caramel sauce. Moreover, the sweet white onions help to balance and mitigate the salty taste of the dish, contributing to an overall harmonious flavour of this dish. These are the two best dishes to enjoy with white rice or otherwise. You might find their flavours to be quite intense if eaten on their own. This is a great restaurant for families, tour groups, or gatherings with friends. It includes a riverside photo area, a playground for children, and a Southern-style lotus pond with single-trunk bridges. However, on holidays or weekends, the place is often fully booked, and the service can be a bit slow. But when I asked a local about the service on a weekday, they said everything was fine. So if you need an eatery with traditional Southern flavours in Can Tho, this might be the place for you. VNS Lua Nep Address: The embankment area along Song Hau Street, Cai Khe Ward, Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho City Opening hours: 10am to 10:30pm Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/luanep.ct/?locale=vi_VN Phone: 0973 606 979 & 0852 280 089 Comment: A destination for Southern traditional flavours with a beautiful view of the Hau River. Donald Trump speaks during his event at Trendsetter Engineering on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer For more than a year, John Adams had been a decisive presence among 65 delegates to the Second Continental Congress. Convening at the Pennsylvania State House in May 1775, delegates discussed and debated with no sure outcome the nature of the relationship between Great Britains 13 American colonies and the mother country. On July 2, 1776, the Congress voted unanimously in favor of independence. Two days later, a declaration to that effect, crafted primarily by Virginia delegate Thomas Jefferson, was approved and sent to a Philadelphia printer. I am apt to believe that it (July 2) will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival, Adams wrote. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. And so, two days later than Adams predicted, it has been, for nearly 250 years. Advertisement Article continues below this ad And, like Adams, whose joy was tempered by deep concern over the Toil and Blood and Treasure it would take to support and defend these States, we find ourselves again in crisis. Our future is befogged as we contemplate the very real possibility that the next president will be an elderly convicted criminal with autocratic inclinations, a man bereft of a sense of history or respect for the nations foundational principles, including the rule of law. Our attention at last focused by President Joe Bidens dismal performance in the June 27 debate and by polls showing that hes falling farther behind, we now contemplate with deep foreboding what it means to elect a man who could break the nation we love. To think that we have brought this looming catastrophe on ourselves is almost beyond comprehension. Donald Trumps inflamed reality to borrow a phrase from the novelist Marilynne Robinson is an existential threat. Buttressed by a Republican Party that has transmogrified into a compliant cult of personality one mans charlatan is the next mans messiah, Robinson notes and a U.S. Supreme Court willing to grant him kingly powers that would have outraged the Founding Fathers, Trump anticipates a grand revanche, or as he calls it, retribution. The Democratic Party, unless it remedies its current disordered state, will cede power to an unscrupulous man who ranks as one of the most dangerous political figures in American history. Relying (for now) on an elderly incumbent president of sound character but obviously in mental and physical decline as their standard bearer, Democrats face the baleful prospect of voters abandoning the Biden-Harris ticket in droves, surrendering the nation to the whims, resentments and prejudices of a would-be strongman who proudly disdains the will of the voters. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Heres just a taste of the bitter blue pill Trump threatens to administer: Trump plans to weaponize the Justice Department, the Internal Revenue Service and other agencies with policing powers and sic them on his critics. He has talked of seeking retribution against Biden and members of his administration, as well as former members of his own administration. Trumps allies have said media organizations, businesses and corporations who dont kowtow will be targeted. A lackey devoted to Trump, not the rule of law think Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will head the Justice Department. Those who dare challenge Trump by marching in the streets should prepare to be met by local police or the National Guard. (This is the fellow, remember, who inquired about cops stopping protesters in the wake of George Floyds murder by shooting them in the legs, according to Mark Esper, who served as Trumps defense secretary.) Former Trump administration officials and allies at the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation will urge him to implement their now-infamous Project 2025, a 1,000-page road map for undermining American democracy from the ground up. It could lead to the purging of tens of thousands of civil servants and replacing them with Trump loyalists. We are in the process of the second American Revolution, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts has said, adding that it will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be. Trump on Friday claimed to disavow Project 2025, saying at once that I know nothing about it but also that I disagree with some of the things theyre saying. Reassuring. Trump has threatened to withdraw the U.S. from NATO and no longer guarantee support to allies, leaving Ukraine and perhaps other European nations to the ravages of the Russian predator. Following through on his toxic notion that every ill of society can be traced to illegal immigration a notion he repeated ad nauseum in his recent debate with Biden Trump has said he will use the National Guard and even the military to deport millions of people who may be in the country illegally. He will pardon many of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, including himself. None of the other federal trials he faces will ever come to fruition. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Again, he will withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accords and seek to repeal every climate-change initiative the Biden administration managed to enact. Drill, baby, drill is his mantra. The man who once pretended familiarity with Two Corinthians wouldnt know the reference, but Trumps dictator for a day musings remind us of the Old Testament warrior Joshua. Battling to finish off the Amorites, Joshua beseeched the Lord to make the sun stand still so he and his army could vanquish the enemy before nightfall. Trumps day would likely last four years. John Adams was a worldly man, a man well acquainted with the vagaries of human nature. Thats why he and his fellow architects of American government included checks and balances in the Constitution in an effort to thwart charlatans, crooks and would-be kings seeking elective office. Whether those restraints are strong enough to prevail against not only a rogue president but also a compliant Congress and a politicized Supreme Court is a question we have to consider in these remaining months before the November election. The choice before the American people is not, at its heart, between Democrats and Republicans, between conservatives and liberals or those in-between. The choice is between a candidate whether Biden or someone else the Democratic Party in its desperation chooses who presumably respects the wisdom and sacrifices of our forebears, who feels a sense of responsibility for the world were building for our children and our childrens children versus a malicious individual who feels neither of those obligations. We the people people paying attention, people participating are the ultimate arbiter. Advertisement Article continues below this ad John Adams put it this way: The People will have unbounded Power. And the People are extremely addicted to Corruption and Venality, as well as the Great. I am not without Apprehensions from this Quarter. But I must submit all my Hopes and Fears, to an overruling Providence, in which, unfashionable (as) the Faith may be, I firmly believe. Construction will begin Monday on bridges in Winona County that carry state highways, according to a press release from the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Work will include sealing to help extend the life expectancy of the bridges and will proceed to Wabasha and Goodhue counties as weather permits. Crews will be working Monday through Saturday during daylight hours, the release says, and the DOT expects work to be completed in September. Projects in Winona County include the Highway 43 bridges over the Mississippi River in Winona, the Highway 61 bridges near Minnesota City and the Highway 74 bridge near Elba. Among other projects are: Highway 61 bridges near Red Wing. Highway 63 over the Mississippi River, Highway 61 and Bluff Street in Red Wing. Highway 52 bridges at Hader, northbound bridge over the North Fork Zumbro River, south junction of Highway 60. Highway 60 over the Mississippi River at Wabasha. Highway 61 bridges near Kellogg. Highway 60 bridge west of Zumbro Falls. Motorists should expect traffic delays through the work zones, the release says, especially on two-lane bridges. The Thompson Fire, near Oroville, is now 100% contained at 3,789 acres. The Thompson Fire broke out before noon Tuesday about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Sacramento, sending up a huge plume of smoke that could be seen from space. CAL FIRE says more than 30 structures have been destroyed or damaged. Four firefighters reported injuries, all from heat. The cause of the blaze was being investigated. The Thompson Fire broke out before noon Tuesday about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Sacramento, sending up a huge plume of smoke that could be seen from space. CAL FIRE says more than 30 structures have been destroyed or damaged. Four firefighters reported injuries, all from heat. The cause of the blaze was being investigated. The region is familiar with catastrophic events. The deadliest and most destructive wildfire in state history nearly wiped out the town of Paradise in Butte County in 2018. And in 2017, both spillways of the Oroville Dam the nation's tallest failed, mandating the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people. (The Associated Press contributed to this report.) FLORENCE, Ky. (AP) Four people were killed and three others were wounded in an early Saturday shooting during a party at a home in northern Kentucky, police said. The shooting suspect later died after fleeing the home and leading police on a vehicle pursuit that ended with the suspect's car falling into a ditch, police said. Police heard shots being fired when they arrived at a home in Florence at about 2:50 a.m., said Jeff Mallery, the city's police chief. Police found seven shooting victims at the home, Mallery told media during a news conference. Four people were found dead, police said. Three people were taken to a hospital in Cincinnati in critical condition. They were expected to recover, Mallery said. The suspect, identified by police as Chase Garvey, 21, led officers on a chase that ended after his vehicle went off a road and fell into a ditch. Garvey had a self-inflicted gunshot wound and died at a hospital, police said. Police said the suspect acted alone, and there was no ongoing threat to the public. People had gathered at the home for a birthday party for the 21-year-old son of the homeowner, Mallery said. The homeowner, identified as Melissa Parrett, 44, died in the shooting, the police chief said. It appeared that Garvey knew people at the party but he had not been invited, Mallery said. The others killed in the shooting were Shane Miller, 20; Hayden Rybicki, 20; and Delaney Eary, 19, police said. A motive was under investigation. I know what's going on throughout the nation, but this is the first time that we've had a mass shooting in Florence, Mallery said. Yeah, it is very emotional. My emotions are for the victims, their families, the officers that responded, everybody that was touched by this situation. A neighbor, Leah Moore, told The Associated Press that she heard what she thought was firecrackers at about 2 a.m. Later, she was awakened again by police lights. I saw crime tape, I saw a bunch of cops, I saw all the kids in one of my neighbors' yards across the street, Moore, 23, said in a phone interview. Moore said she knew Parrett and her family well, describing them as great, amazing people. She is so wholesome, so welcoming, and she is the best person I've ever met, Moore said. Florence is a city of about 36,000 people located about 12 miles (19 kilometers) south of Cincinnati, Ohio. (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.) The Pay Fire, burning near Placerville in California, remains 65% contained at 77 acres. CAL FIRE says the El Dorado County fire started last Saturday afternoon prompting evacuations. At one point, the fire moved towards the Placerville Airport along Country Club Drive, and some buildings were threatened on Country Club Drive and Dueden Drive. CAL FIREE says all evacuation warnings have been reduced to safe to re-enter. The fire also knocked down some power lines near the area where the fire started, temporarily leaving about 2,000 PG&E customers without power. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. For an updated map of evacuations, click this link. Just before midnight on July 4, Carson City Deputies were called to a report of shots fired at an apartment complex at 20 College Parkway. Deputies found that a party of minors had been broken up by gunfire. One victim who was shot in the leg was taken to Renown Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. CCSO says the suspect fired several rounds into two nearby apartment units, with one round entering a bedroom and striking right above the beds of two children sleeping. Deputies and Detectives quickly identified the suspect and a female minor who helped the suspect while leaving the scene. The suspect was a 17-year-old boy, who is a documented gang member and was on supervision with youth parole for a different gang-related crime. Detectives continued to search for the suspects overnight and found them around 5 p.m. on July 5. Search warrants were executed near Tiger Drive and Dori Way. The suspect and the accomplice complied and were both taken into custody. They were both booked at the Carson City Juvenile Detention Center on the following charges: Battery with a Deadly Weapon Assault with a Deadly Weapon Discharging a Firearm into an Occupied Dwelling Child Endangerment with a Deadly Weapon Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person Youth Parole Violation The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information on the shooting should contact the Sheriffs Office or Secret Witness at (775) 322-4900. Too overwhelmed by the number of killer SF restaurants to pick a spot to eat? We looked to the stars for help. If astrology can predict a daily horoscope, its gotta have something to say about where to get dinner, right? Using a super-sophisticated methodology (or, the opposite of that), we filtered the citys restaurants through the zodiac, in search of matches that made sense. From bold and fiery Aries to dreamy and creative Pisces, heres where to eat in San Francisco according to your star sign. Aries (Mar 21-Apr 19): Copra (Chad Santo Thomas) Bold, fiery Aries will feel right at home at Copra, chef Sri Gopinathans passionate send-up to his childhood in southern India. Fearless in flavor and heat , the restaurants menu of favorites from home, street, and coast is Aries-level ambitious and vibrant (think shrimp roasted in chili chutney, varuval spice-crusted hamachi collar, and pork belly curry). So too is Copras decor, an enchanting forest of living and fiber-woven vines, and layered with traditional baskets, jugs, and jars. One of the citys most dynamic restaurants from kitchen to dining room, this place is drenched in the creativity and energy that Aries just cant get enough of. // 1700 Fillmore St. (Pac Heights), coprarestaurant.com Taurus (Apr 20-May 20): Tartine Manufactory (Nicola Parisi) With a beautiful airy space and a serene upscale vibe, Tartine Manufactory is Taurus in culinary form. The offspring of SFs most lauded bakery, theres no shortage of finery at the Manufactory. Indulgent pastries, artisan breads, impeccably selected wineseven the restaurants fermented-dough pizzais luxe, made with the kind of dedication and quality a Taurus cant help but fall head over heels for. // 595 Alabama St. (Mission), tartinebakery.com Gemini (May 21-Jun 20): Shuggies Trash Pie + Natural Wine (Erin Ng) Arguably the most playful, spontaneous and outgoing restaurant in town, Shuggies Trash Pie + Natural Wine is a Geminis happy place. The pizza joint doesnt just show off its creativity in its maximalist, monotonal vibe or its clever serveware. Almost everything that comes through its kitchen was once destined to be food waste but, like Gemini, Shuggies deploys a boundless creativity and curiosity to upcycle ingredients into irresistible eats like sexy shroomy pizza puffs, beef-heart meatballs, and sausage party pizza made with guanciale, sausage, and upcycled whey vodka sauce. // 3349 23rd St. (Mission), shuggiespizza.com Cancer (Jun 21-Jul 22): Greens (Courtesy of @greensrestaurant ) Sensitive Cancer has a dedicated friend in Greens, Fort Masons ground-breaking vegetarian restaurant. After 45 years, Greens is finding creative new ways to serve compassionate meat-free dishes of local, seasonal ingredients. If California-inspired dishes like cauliflower quinoa griddle cakes and spring vegetable piccata with lemon caper sauce dont deliver the nurturing and nostalgia a Cancer requires, just wait to see what some of the citys most trusted chefsFrancis Ang, Spencer Horovitz, and Brandon Jewhave in store when they take the helm during Greens 2024 guest series. // 2 Marina Blvd., Bldg. A (Fort Mason), greensrestaurant.com Leo (Jul 23-Aug 22): Empress by Boon (Courtesy of @empressbyboon) Like Leo, Empress by Boon is a born star. The dramatic Cantonese restaurant, a gorgeous space evocative of the glamorous Chinatown of yore, is as charismatic as the dishes developed by Michelin-starred chef Ho Chee Boon. Seasonal menus have the passion Leo craves, with modern takes on classic dishes including scallop and caviar rolls; smoked pork ribs with plum and watermelon, and chocolate and black sesame cremeux. // 838 Grant Ave. (Chinatown), theempresssf.com Virgo (Aug 23-Sep 22): One Market (Courtesy of One Market) With a proven 30 year track record of attention to detail and a practical location at the crossroads of Market and the Embarcadero, One Market is a midday no-brainer for logical Virgo. Whats more sensible than an all day happy hour Monday through Friday (11:30am to 8pm)? Or getting to select from two different menus, one farm-to-table-inspired, one New York deli-style? In every choice from One Markets fried chicken to its famous butterscotch pudding, perfectionist Virgos will delight in the restaurants meticulous preparation. // 1 Market St. (Financial District), onemarket.com Libra (Sep 23-Oct 22): Early to Rise (Dave Bazzano) Early to Rise is exactly what Libra, a lover of harmony and balance, needs to start their day off on the right foot. The comfortably charming neighborhood brunch spot approaches the meal with impeccable attention to detail, preparing everything from hot sauce to bacon in house, and an authentic desire to cultivate meaningful connections over shared plates. Easy-going Libra will also love Easy to Rises new brunch in a bag, a mini morning feast for a picnicking with friends in nearby Alamo Square or the Panhandle. // 1801 McAllister St. (NoPa), earlytorisesf.com Scorpio (Oct 23-Nov 21): 606 (Courtesy of 606) With all the confidence and ambition of a Scorpio, Chinatowns former New Sun Hong Kong rebranded this spring to excellent effect. Now in the hands of the family-owned restaurants next generation, 606 is earning rave reviews for its revamped menu of dim sum, noodles, and other Hong Kongstyle eats. Despite its minimalist atmosphere, the restaurants craveable classics are as magnetic as the scorpion itself. 606 is a newly hidden gem Scorpio wont be able to resistbut it wont be for long. // 606 Broadway (Chinatown), 606sf.com Sagittarius (Nov 22-Dec 21): Fiorella (Ekaterina Izmestieva) Like Sagittarius, Fiorella is boundless. With an ambitious new location in Noe Valley to add to those in the Richmond, Inner Sunset and Russian Hill, the friendly neighborhood Italian juggernaut is nothing if not ambitious. But through it all, Fiorellas enthusiasm for wood-fired pizzas and house-made pastas has never waned. Like fair-minded Sagittarius, the restaurant is the ideal partner whether youre out for a date night or a family gathering. // 4042 24th St. (Noe Valley) and other SF locations, fiorella-sf.com Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 19): Foreign Cinema (Courtesy of @foreigncinemasf ) No restaurant better encompasses Capricorns discipline and determination than Foreign Cinema. An SF essential for 25 years, Foreign Cinema is so dedicated to its craft, so loyal to its community, its even had a day named in its honor: September 18th is Foreign Cinema Day in SF. Despite its longevity, the restaurants menus still have the ambitious nature a Capricorn admires, with complex seasonally-inspired dishes like Monterey Bay calamari with Oaxacan mole and such cocktails as the Indian-spiced Madras Bloody Mary. // 2534 Mission St. (Mission), foreigncinema.com Aquarius (Jan 20-Feb 18): Merchant Roots (Courtesy of @merchantroots ) With its revolutionary immersive take on unexpected themes that go so deep even the music is carefully curated, Merchant Roots is kindred spirits with water sign Aquarius. But its more than just innovative world-building to which intellectual, creative Aquarius will be attracted. Humanitarianism is integrated directly into the restaurants model, with $6 from every meal donated to a specially selected nonprofit like Food Not Bombs. With new themes (think time travel, Vanity Fair, and into the forest) released quarterly, Merchant Roots is as independent, unconventional and unpredictable as the zodiacs penultimate star sign. // 1365 Fillmore St. (Fillmore), mechantroots.com Job openings in Alabama are on the rise, especially for retail workers and supervisors, nurses, fast food workers, and truck drivers. Nearly 80,000 job ads were active online across the state in May up 1.3% from the previous month, according to new data from the Alabama Department of Labor. Thats nearly 16 job ads for every 1,000 residents in the state. More than half of the ads didnt list experience as necessary. Jonathan McNair, public relations officer for the Alabama Department of Labor, pointed out that healthcare and transportation are areas where there is often a need for more workers. Alabama being agricultural as a big part of what we do here, as well as we have large healthcare centers, that lends itself for us to have a high percentage of openings, he said in an interview. We slot in two of the biggest demand areas in the nation right now. Restaurants, and the hospitality industry more broadly, have had more postings in the last few months as employers prepare for the busy season amid summer tourism and a surge in high school and college students who are available for seasonal work, McNair added. The Birmingham metro area claimed the most job postings (26%) in May, according to the most recent data. That larger share is typical for the region, McNair said. Three letters, UAB, is what factors in there, with the large medical center here, as well as the university, McNair said. I think they want to change their mascot from a dragon to a crane, just because theyre always building and doing more there. Tatianna Turrentine-Long, market intelligence manager for the Birmingham Business Alliance, said that the most common openings in the region include healthcare diagnosing and treating practitioners, business operations specialists, computer workers, sales representatives and material moving workers. For some of the jobs with a high demand, there is a high presence of workers within that occupation group that can meet the demand, she said in an email. The region also has a large skill gap between employers within industries that require computer occupation-related roles and employees who work in these industries. After Birmingham was Huntsville, with nearly 19% of the states total postings. Both metros claimed an outsized share of the new job openings, with nearly half of the states total ads. When adjusting for population, the Birmingham metro had roughly 18 ads per 1,000 residents; the Huntsville metro had roughly 28 ads per 1,000 residents. The open jobs for the Huntsville metro is driven by its fast-growing population, McNair said. Its just a huge technology center there, and the health center there has also been doing a lot of expanding just to accommodate that new population thats moving there, he said. Youre seeing so much more energy out of the space sector in general, with that being one of the hubs that hold Huntsville together. Theyre going to have, I think, an increasing need for workers going forward. Both Montgomery and Mobile had about 9% of the job openings in the state. Thats about 19 ads in Montgomery per 1,000 residents, and 17 ads in the Mobile metro per 1,000 residents. Meanwhile, Baldwin County claimed about 5% of the openings, or about 17 ads per 1,000 residents. All of those listed metros had more job ads than in the whole state combined, when factoring in population. The states employers who posted the most ads in May include: 1. Walmart: 1,059 ads 2. Huntsville Hospital: 923 ads 3. UAB Medicine: 845 ads 4. The University of Alabama at Birmingham: 707 ads 5. Auburn University: 574 ads 6. Baptist Health: 511 ads 7. Taco Bell: 496 ads 8. USA Health: 432 ads 9. The University of Alabama: 424 ads 10. Jacks Family Restaurants: 416 ads Walmart is already the largest employer in Alabama. The company employs about 42,000 people at 149 facilities across the state, including Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets, Sams Clubs and distribution centers, said Walmart spokesman Matt Joyner. Almost 30,000 of those jobs were salaried: with 24% of them $70,000 and above; 17% of them between $50,000 and $69,000; about 27% of them ranging between $35,000 and $49,000; and 32% of job ads with salaries below $35,000, according to the labor department. But who will fill all these openings? During May, the state had just 70,679 residents who were unemployed. Thats an unemployment rate of just 3% -- and thats down from March and April. The state has 57 career centers that work directly with companies that are recruiting employees for open jobs scattered across the state. McNair emphasized the resource for people who are looking for jobs. There are more positions than we have workers, he said. There are a lot of advantages for someone whos job seeking right now. Tropical Storm Beryl got a little stronger on Sunday night as it closed in on the Texas coast. The National Hurricane Center still expects Beryl to become a hurricane before moving onshore Monday morning, and forecasters didnt rule out the possibility of rapid intensification just before landfall. Forecasters said the center of Beryl will likely make landfall along the middle Texas coast roughly between Matagorda Bay and Freeport early on Monday morning. As of 10 p.m. CDT Sunday, Tropical Storm Beryl was located about 110 miles east of Corpus Christi, Texas, and was tracking to the north-northwest at 10 mph. Beryls winds were at 70 mph late Sunday. Hurricane-force winds begin at 74 mph. The hurricane center said Beryl should track to the north-northwest through tonight, with a turn toward the north on Monday. On the forecast track, the center of Beryl is expected to make landfall on the middle Texas coast early Monday. Forecasters said hurricane conditions will be possible in the hurricane watch areas by early Monday, and tropical storm conditions could begin by tonight. Here is a look at the warnings in effect late Sunday: * A hurricane warning is in effect for the Texas coast from Mesquite Bay northward to Port Bolivar. * A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Texas coast south of Mesquite Bay to Port Mansfield and the Texas coast north of San Luis Pass to Sabine Pass. * A storm surge warning is in effect from Mesquite Bay to Sabine Pass, including Matagorda Bay and Galveston Bay. The hurricane center said 4 to 7 feet of storm surge will be possible in areas along the Texas coast. Areas as far east as Cameron, La., could get 1 to 3 feet of surge. 7/7 10PM CDT: There is a danger of life-threatening storm surge inundation along the Texas coast from Mesquite Bay to Sabine Pass, including Matagorda Bay & Galveston Bay. Residents should follow any advice given by local officials & follow evacuation orders! pic.twitter.com/vlT3HLi6no NHC Storm Surge (@NHC_Surge) July 8, 2024 Beryl is expected to bring 5 to 10 inches of rain with localized amounts of 15 inches is expected to areas along the Texas coast and eastern Texas. That rain will begin today and last through Monday night. Considerable flash flooding will be possible in localized areas, forecasters said. If that wasnt enough, tornadoes will be possible overnight for parts of Texas, especially east of where the center approaches the coast. The anticipated landfall for Beryl will be the third one for the storm. It made its first landfall on July 1 in the Windward Islands as a Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph winds. The second landfall was July 5 on Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula as a strong Category 2 hurricane with 110 mph winds. Beryl strengthened to a Category 5 for several hours after moving into the Caribbean, making history as the earliest Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic on record. Apparently life really was like a box of chocolates, when it came to the marriage proposal that Furiosa actress Anya Taylor-Joy got from a suitor with Alabama connections. Taylor-Joy is an actress who soared to fame in the central role of the Netflix Series Queens Gambit and who recently starred in the Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa. In 2022, Taylor-Joy she married Malcolm McRae, a musician and model who grew up in the Birmingham area. (The private 2022 ceremony in New Orleans was followed by something a little flashier in Venice in 2023.) More recently, Taylor-Joy revealed that she got an accidental proposal from McRae as the two sat on a bench in Savannah, Ga., that was prominently featured in the movie Forrest Gump. Taylor-Joy made the revelation while appearing in a clip for the film enthusiast site Letterboxd. In the Four Favorites segment, hosted by actor Chris Hemsworth, Taylor-Joy got to speak about four of her favorite films. One was Forrest Gump, the Tom Hanks vehicle about an amiable Alabama dimwit who leads a charmed life. Did something special happen on the Forrest Gump bench? Hemsworth asked. Yes, said Taylor-Joy. My husband accidentally proposed to me on the Forrest Gump bench in Savannah. Complete accident and hes a boy from Alabama and Im blonde. So, just happened. I hear that music and I cry like a baby, the actress said. Hemsworth followed up by plugging his Thor movies, and Anya-Taylor didnt explain exactly how that accidental proposal popped out of McRae. But if youre a Forrest Gump fan, happy accidents kind of come with the territory. Upcoming projects for Taylor-Joy include the action-romance film The Gorge. McRaes band, more*, has released two EPs and he reportedly has been cast in a secondary role in a film based on the life of musician Jeff Buckley. According to Savannah.com, the park bench scenes from Forrest Gump were shot in the citys Chippewa Square. According to the site, They actually used at least four fiberglass benches while filming these scenes and one was donated to the city and moved to a museum. The sharks are back. Shark Week is bringing its week full of programming back to Discovery Channel. The event starts tonight on Sunday, July 7 at 8 p.m. and runs through Saturday, July 13. You can watch live as the event airs via the DIRECTTV Stream (free trial) or Philo (free trial). Best of all, the free trial means you can watch even if you don have cable. This years host John Cena will guide viewers through 21 hours of new programming. Host John Cena will guide viewers through 21 hours of new programming and preview each nights top moments alongside interviews with fan-favorite shark experts. This years event includes the next chapter of the hit show Belly of the Beast, that offers a terrifying and fascinating real look at a Great White shark feeding frenzy; Monster Hammerheads: Species X, that follows a potential new hammerhead species; and Great White Serial Killer: Sea of Blood, that investigates a massive shark who decapitates its victim and terrorizes a local village. John Cena will be hosting Discovery Channel's Shark Week 2024.Discovery Heres a complete programming guide. Sunday, July 7, 2024 Belly of the Beast: Bigger and Bloodier premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery One of last years most popular Shark Week shows returns. Marine biologist Dr. Austin Gallagher, marine scientist Liv Dixon, and legendary cameraman Kina Scollay travel to a new location and head back into the belly of a 29-foot whale decoy with new shark attractant features to create the biggest feeding frenzy ever with 18-foot Breeder sharks in New Zealand. Jaws vs Leviathan premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery Orcas and other toothed whales are attacking Great Whites in record numbers, marking the latest chapter in a 60-million-year battle between Sharks and Whales. This rivalry began with The Leviathan, a prehistoric whale that once went tooth to tooth with the greatest predator to ever swim the oceansThe Meg. Now, Dr. Tristan Guttridge, Dr. Sona Kim, and Kina Scollay recreate these epic battles and study orca tactics to discover the ultimate predator. Makozilla premieres at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery A wave of savage assaults against the sea lion population off Californias coast has sparked fears of a monstrous predator dubbed Mako-Zilla. Recent discoveries, including a 600-pound mauled sea lion with massive gashes, hint that a 16-foot-long predator could be responsible. A team of shark experts, including bite specialist Jeff Harris and Dr. Craig OConnell, embark on a mission to unveil the identity of the colossal predator haunting the coast. Sydney Harbor Shark Invasion premieres at 11PM ET/PT on Discovery Returning to the site of his own 2009 shark attack for the first time, Paul de Gelder joins Madison Stewart to investigate a recent Great White Shark attack that occurred near Sydney Harbor, Australia the first fatal incident in the region in almost 60 years. The dramatic encounter, which was captured on camera, was the sixth attack to occur in as many weeks. Within this aquatic arena, Great Whites contend with Bull Sharks, Tiger Sharks, and even humans in a colossal battle for supremacy. The unfolding saga raises the compelling question of who will emerge victorious in this intense struggle for dominance. Monday, July 8 Big Shark Energy premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery Shark experts Dr. Riley Elliott and Kori Burkhardt put on a one-of-a-kind shark competition to determine which male Great White Shark is the alpha in a pack of massive adults. In the waters off New Zealand, they compare the sharks speed, hunting ability, and fearlessness to determine who has the swagger to swim away with a female shark. Shark Frenzy: Mating Games premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery Dr. Craig OConnell explores the love lives of Oceanic White Tips & Tiger Sharks, suggesting that feeding frenzies spark romance vital for species survival. Armed with advanced gear, he orchestrates feeding events to uncover the mating link, which is crucial for species protection. Great White Serial Killer: Sea of Blood premieres at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery After three fatal Great White shark attacks occurred off a small Mexican fishing village including one in which a victim was decapitated - shark attack survivor Paul De Gelder joins shark investigator Brandon McMillan and local biologist Gador Mutaner to launch a plan to ID the killers and keep the villagers in the Sea of Cortez safe. Encores run at 11PM ET/PT on Discovery. Tuesday, July 9 Deadliest Bite premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery Using cutting edge technology, Dr. Tristan Guttridge, Annie Guttridge, Paul De Gelder and Skye Minnis unveil the secrets of Bull, Tiger, Hammerhead, Great White, and rare shark species jaw mechanics and delve deep into how these sharks jaws and teeth deliver lethal attacks. 6000lb. Shark premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery Marine Biologists Tom The Blowfish Hird and Leigh de Necker go searching for the fattest Great White Sharks off the coast of New Zealand and attempt to obtain their poop to study what they are eating. Using cutting-edge science, they aim to weigh a great white accurately for the first time, revealing if they can reach a staggering 6,000 pounds. Monster Hammerheads: Species X premieres at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery Dr. Austin Gallagher and his team of researchers including Liv Dixon, Zandi Ndhlovu, and Dr. Tristan Guttridge, investigate an aggressive population of Hammerhead Sharks in Turks and Caicos, which they believe could be an entirely new species. Encores run at 11PM ET/PT on Discovery. Wednesday, July 10 Great White North premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery Theres a growing population of aggressive White Sharks in an unlikely location, Canada. Shark expert Andy Casagrande heads out on an expedition along Nova Scotias coast to investigate a surge of Great White Shark encounters and figure out if this new population could be the largest in the world. Expedition Unknown: Sharks vs. Nazis in Paradise premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery " premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery Global adventurer Josh Gates and shark biologist Tristan Guttridge team up with natures deadliest predator to search for a lost wreck sunk by a Nazi U-Boat during World War II. Alien Sharks: Ghosts of Japan premieres at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery Japans waters are home to the largest diversity of shark species on the planet, most of which take otherworldly forms. Wildlife biologist Forrest Galante, along with deep-sea marine scientist Christina de Silva and deep-water surveyors, track down and study these alien sharks in their mission to uncover whether the critically endangered Angel Shark remains in Japans waters. Along the way, Forrest will uncover 17 different and unique species and witness the births of little-known Velvet Dogfish sharks. Encores run at 11PM ET/PT on Discovery. Thursday, July 11 Monster of Oz premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery In southwestern Australia, an unknown predator with a taste for Great White and Mako Sharks ignites fears of sea monsters in the abyss. Filmmakers Dave and Jennene Riggs join Dr. Tristan Guttridge and Rosie Moore in attempt to track down the killer. Caught! When Sharks Attack premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery Researchers are witnessing an unusual amount of shark aggression and attacks. A team of experts will analyze the most intense shark encounters Caught! on camera, unveiling mysterious new behaviors within these dangerous interactions. Great White Danger Zone premieres at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery Alison Towner and her team investigate a new Great White hotspot off the coast of South Africa. Equipped with cutting-edge fin cameras, tracking tags, and underwater surveillance, researchers unveil unusual behavior in these massive apex predators. Encores run at 11PM ET/PT on Discovery. Friday, July 12 The Real Sharkano premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery Shark advocate and attack survivor Paul De Gelder visits an ultra-remote island of shark-worshiping natives to see if their secret ways of swimming with deadly sharks holds the secret to humans and sharks living together in peace. Sharks of the Dead Zone premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery Significant marine pollution and algal bloom outbreaks are creating eerie dead zones in North Americas most biodiverse estuary. Dr. Tiara Moore, along with Dr. Craig OConnell, explores whether Bull Sharks can persist in the Indian River Lagoon, a vital nursery, despite the oxygen-depleted waters. Her mission could unlock the secrets to shark survival in changing oceans. Shark Attack Island premieres at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery A South Pacific paradise has become a shark attack hot spot with Bull, Tiger, and Great White sharks moving closer and closer to the resort beaches, fatally attacking seven people in the last five years. Dr. Riley Elliot, Paul De Gelder, and Kori Burkhardt conduct experiments to identify the species responsible and find out why they are attacking. Encores run at 10PM and 11PM ET/PT on Discovery. Saturday, July 13 Sharktopia premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery In Indonesias Raja Ampat Islands, a team of researchers hunt for one of the regions last living leopard sharks. But as they venture deeper into the unknown, the journey brings them face to face with some of the weirdest and wildest sharks on earth. Mothersharker: Hammer Time premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery Using the latest underwater ultrasound and birthing tag technology, researchers Dr. James Sulikowski and Beckah Campbell aim to solve the mystery of where the elusive pregnant scalloped hammerheads give birth and it may be closer than anyone realizes. Encores run at 10PM and 11PM ET/PT on Discovery. An investigation is underway after a 14-year-old was taken to UAB Hospital early Sunday with a fatal gunshot wound. Just before 7 a.m. Sunday, south precinct officers were dispatched to a report of a person who showed up at UAB Hospital with a gunshot wound. Once at the hospital, they learned that a minivan arrived at the emergency room with the 14-year-old victim inside. The boy was pronounced dead on the scene. Officer Truman Fitzgerald said police learned the shooting possibly took place in the area of Roebuck or Huffman. East Precinct officers began to coordinate with South Precinct officers who had responded to the hospital and found a possible scene in in the 9200 block of Parkway East. More specifically, the scene appeared to be between Walmart and Wells Fargo, near a small strip of businesses. We know that there were several juveniles out in this area, Fitzgerald said. We know there was a gun involved and this 14-year-old victim ended up getting shot and killed. What we dont know at this time is, how did this happen? he said. Police have at least four juveniles detained. They will be undergoing questioning, with their parents present, at police headquarters. Police are investigating the July 7, 2024, shooting death of a 14-year-old boy in the 9200 block of Parkway East.(Carol Robinson) The juveniles all between the ages of 14 and 17 remained at the hospital where they brought the victim. Were going to try to uncover what happened, Fitzgerald said. We do believe there was at least five to six juveniles in the vehicle. Our detectives have to do a ton of investigating to learn what led to the 14-year-old being shot and killed, he said. Fitzgerald said its too soon to know if the fatal shooting was accidental or intentional. Just about everyone who was involved is in custody, he said, so were hoping to learn from them what happened. He said he doesnt yet know why all the juveniles were out and in that area at 6:30 a.m. Each of the juveniles knew one another, Fitzgerald said. The sad fact is this another narrative we keep pointing out about people, places, and behaviorand now weve lost a 14-year-old kid due to gunfire. Fitzgerald said this is the third incident in three days where a community member has stepped up and provided police with crucial information about an investigation. We just want to commend our community members for that, he said. Its been incredibly beneficial. Its a major win. Anyone with additional information is asked to call detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. An Atlanta doctorate student missing in Birmingham since the Fourth of July was found dead Saturday. The body of Deundray Cottrell, 31, was discovered at 78th Street and Fifth Avenue South. Police said they could not release more information because of the ongoing investigation. Officer Truman Fitzgerald said Cottrells death is unclassified at this point, which means it was not immediately clear how he died and if foul play was involved. Investigators are searching for Cottrells partner of three years, who was last seen Friday morning. Cottrell was last seen about 10 p.m. Thursday in the 7000 block of Fourth Avenue South. His sister, Angelica Harris, said Cottrell and his partner got to Birmingham about 6 p.m. Thursday to celebrate the holiday. It was her brothers first time seeing the new home she shares with her husband and children. Cottrell lives in Atlanta where he worked in marketing and was working toward his doctorate degree. About 10 p.m., Cottrell said he was going upstairs to check on his dog, because of the fireworks. He went and checked on the dog and I never saw him again, Harris said. Deundray Cottrell(Contributed) The family was then told by his partner, Julian Morris, that he had left and took off running through the back yard, and they did find some of his belongings there, including one of his shoes and his cell phone. Morris, family said, was acting eratically and not like theyve known him to act for the past three years. The family immediately began a search and eventually called police to file a missing persons report. Harris said they later learned he wasnt actually entered into the system as missing until Friday morning. Cottrells family searched for him throughout the day and night, but to no avail. They did track down Ring camera footage at several homes that showed Cottrell running through yards, and even jumping over a gate. Deundray Cottrell, 31, disappeared July 4 while celebrating the Fourth of July with his family in east Birmingham.(Special to AL.com) It looked like he was looking for refuge, Harris said. He was running for his life. Morris then possibly went missing on Friday. Cottrells family saw Morris Friday morning, but did not see him after that. Officer Truman Fitzgerald said officers found some clothing items Friday, and a resident provided security footage of who they believed to be Cottrell. The family launched another search Saturday, as did Birmingham police. Just before 3 p.m., officers found Cottrell dead. The events leading up to his disappearance are, in fact, suspicious,' Fitzgerald said. Fitzgerald said police are now looking for Morris for questioning since he was the last person to see Cottrell alive. Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. The CEO of a company that makes AI-powered ammunition vending machines says the removal of one of two in the state was strictly a business decision, and more will be coming to Alabama grocery stores. American Rounds smart retail automated ammo dispensers use artificial intelligence technology to verify a buyers ID and age using facial recognition software. Al.com reported July 3 the company had installed ammunition vending machines at Fresh Value locations at 4200 McFarland Blvd. in Tuscaloosa and 1009 Martin St. in Pell City. Tuscaloosa City Councilor Kip Tyner raised questions about the machine during a Public Safety Committee meeting last week, according to a Tuscaloosa Thread report. Tyner posted on social media Friday, The vendor decided to remove his machine from the grocery store. American Rounds CEO Grant Magers told Al.com on Saturday the decision was made due to sales volume at the McFarland Boulevard grocery store. We are still happy to be working with Fresh Value, Pell City, and we have plans to expand with Fresh Value to their other locations, he said via email. The city of Tuscaloosa has been very supportive, and we are thankful for that support. American Rounds has ammunition-dispensing machines at four locations in Oklahoma as well as in Pell City, according to its website. We strive to bring safe, secure, ammo sales to the market in support of responsible firearm ownership, Magers said. By Colin Warren-Hicks The Virginian-Pilot (TNS) VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. They glow like fading stars and have made memories of shimmering summertime backyards for generations. Whether called a firefly, glowworm, or Latin lampyridae lightning bugs are part of American life, particularly in Southern culture. Theyve been sung about by Taylor Swift and flown into the prose of William Faulkner. And while 40% of the worlds insect species face extinction, no one knows how healthy the firefly species are, said Virginia Tech entomologist Eric Day. There just isnt enough data. Without more well-funded, long-term studies, Day said, it is impossible to determine the species health or to categorize them as threatened, endangered or robust. Out of the approximately 130 species of fireflies in North America, Virginia has close to 30. Theres none that I know of that are endangered in Virginia, Day said. There are a lot of them that the numbers are low. For many Virginia species, theres little to no preexisting data. So, thats really the missing factor, that if we find low numbers, we dont really know what that means because there are no previous studies of it. Most scientific literature lists lightning bugs as DD: data deficient. I dont have the funding to do firefly research. I would love to have that kind of a grant, Day said. But thats not where the money is. Anecdotal evidence suggests, however, that firefly numbers have fallen in developed areas and remain in better shape in more rural environments. Fireflies will always be more attracted to open fields, especially those near rivers or streams. The flies are carnivorous and depend on healthy ecosystems for good hunting. They spend the early part of their lives with their legs on the ground, eating other insects and sometimes, even, slugs. The males take to the air in mass after evening temperatures rise above 70 degrees. When theyre flashing, they kind of only have one thing on their mind: Boy meets girl. Every lightning bug species has a unique flash pattern. The males will flash while in flight and the females will respond with the same pattern from the ground. Faulkner mentioned the bugs in his 1957 novel The Town: Then, as though at signal, the fireflies lightning-bugs of the Mississippi childs vernacular myriad and frenetic, random and frantic, pulsing; not questing, not quiring, but choiring as if they were tiny incessant appeaseless voices, cries, words. 2024 The Virginian-Pilot. Visit pilotonline.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. A Duncanville man was killed Friday evening in a single-vehicle crash in Tuscaloosa County, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Nathaniel T. West, 61, died when a 2009 Toyota Matrix he was driving left the roadway, struck a culvert and overturned. The crash happened about 7 p.m. on Slayton Road six miles east of Tuscaloosa near Double Gate Estate, the ALEA said in a news release Saturday. West was not wearing a seat belt and was pronounced dead at the scene, troopers said. ALEAs Highway Patrol Division continues to investigate the incident. Alabama State Sen. Garlan E. Gudger, seriously injured in a Fourth of July jet ski crash with his son, made his first public statement Sunday, thanking all who helped him that day on the lake and the medical staff who have treated him in the days that followed. If it had not been for the bystanders at the dock, the first responders who treated me at lakeside, the emergency helipad that had been installed by Trident Marina, Alabamas Air Evac Flight Team, and an amazing group of UAB doctors, nurses, and administrators, I am certain that the outcome of this accident would have been much different, Gudger said in a statement released by the Alabama State Senate. The 49-year-old two-term senator from Cullman was driving a 2024 Sea-Doo GTI Thursday 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. 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. Gudger III was evaluated by paramedics and released on the scene. Gudgers injuries included three fractured vertebrae, six fractured ribs, a punctured lung, and internal bleeding. The state senator said Sunday he remains in UABs Intensive Care Unit but said he has been able to walk down the hallway. The physical recovery will be a difficult one for our family, he said, but it will be made easier by the intercessory prayers being sent by friends, family, constituents, colleagues, and even total strangers who understand that healing comes from God. At this time, I must focus on getting better and will not be able to accept visitors, but please know how grateful my family and I are for everyone who has reached out to offer help and concern, Gudger said. His mother, Dot Denning Gudger, previously posted on Facebook that her son was, doing remarkably well considering that he was run over by a JetSki. 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. Formal charges have been filed against the suspect in the Friday shooting death of a 55-year-old man in southwest Birmingham. Kishande Jamarrius Huckabee, 24, is charged with murder in killing of Renard Keith West. Huckabee was taken into custody within minutes of Wests slaying, and still had a gun on him, police said. He was held in the Birmingham City Jail until the warrant was obtained. He was then transferred to the Jefferson County Jail Saturday afternoon. Shortly after 4:30 a.m., the citys gunfire detection system Shot Spotter indicated several rounds fired in the 1000 block of Cotton Avenue. Police then received a call that someone had been shot. Officers arrived to find the victim in the front yard of a home. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced him dead on the scene. Officer Truman Fitzgerald said community members were able to provide a description of the suspect. Police found Huckabee walking not far from the crime scene and took him into custody without incident. He was armed at the time of his capture, Fitzgerald said. A 55-year-old Birmingham man was shot to death Friday morning when police believe he went to investigate a commotion outside the home where he was living.(Carol Robinson) The suspect was handcuffed and photographed at the scene, and then taken to police headquarters for questioning. We dont know the motive, Fitzgerald said. The victim may have been trying to see what was going. There may have been a commotion nearby and he stepped outside his residence to see what was going on. West had been staying at a cousins house on Cotton Avenue and often slept on the porch. Its so hurtful, said Wests brother, Rufus Ricks. He was a big-hearted person, Ricks said. Hed give you anything he had. It did not appear that West was initially targeted, and police said they dont believe the two men knew each other, or at least knew each other well. We dont have any indication the suspect knew the victim, which is very alarming, Fitzgerald said. Huckabee, who has multiple prior arrests and felony convictions, remains held without bond. Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville said Sunday that he foresees an interesting presidential race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Tuberville was a guest on the Fox News program Sunday Morning Futures with host Maria Bartiromo. In the main topic of discussion, he made hay of President Joe Bidens poor performance in a recent presidential debate, portraying the president as a doddering show horse who hadnt really been in control for at least a couple of years. Oh theres no doubt about it, Maria, they would bring Joe Biden to the Capitol walk him around, he said. Hold his arm, hold his hand, lead him around, kind of show him off. But theyre making all the decisions, theres no doubt about that. The real decision-makers, he said, were Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and the Deep State. Since the debate, there has been discussion among Democrats about whether Joe Biden should step down as the partys 2024 presidential candidate, and who might step in if he does. Biden has said he has no plans to withdraw. Tubervilles stance on Sunday was not new: Since the debate he has described Biden as a dementia-ridden puppet. He doesnt know what day it is, he said Sunday. Its unfortunate for Joe Biden. Hes sick. Nobody can help that. People, they do get sick. This is all about the Democrats power. Kamala Harris will probably be the candidate running against Donald Trump. That will be interesting. Bartiromo asked him who might be Harris running mate, in that case. Were just going to stay out of their way and let them cut their own throats, to be honest with you, Tuberville said. Its a disaster. Bartiromo and Tuberville also discussed the issue of border security. Tuberville said that on a recent visit, unspecified operatives had told him that Africans linked to the terrorist organization ISIS were flooding into the U.S. Bartiromo translated operatives into officials. There is going to be a national disaster with some people coming across this border and its going to be all on the backs of the Democrats, Tuberville said. This is an opinion column. What are we doing? What are we doing to each other? Sadly, the answers far too easy, tragically too easy: Too many of us are shooting each other. Shooting our own. Shooting people we know. Shooting and too often killing people we know. Far, far too often, were shooting and killing people we dont know, too. Shooting and killing young people and children. People in wheelchairs. People stepping through the front door in the early-morning hours to see about all the commotion outside. Shooting and killing and leaving behind far too much painpain that never heals. Far too many broken familiesfamilies that never mend. Far too many children without a parents lovea love that is never replaced. Leaving behind far too much emptiness that will never be filled. Over foolishness. Over a beef. Over money. Over a dice game. Over ego. Over a man or woman. Over a drug deal gone, well, where drug deals often go Over nothing worth dying. Nothing worth The End. Nothing worth spending the rest of your (likely short) life in fear of retaliation. Nothing worth being a life-long guest of the Alabama prison system (which may or may not be safer than the streets left behind) and ending almost any prospect of a productive life. Im sickened by it alland sick of it. Im sure you are, too. Sadly, were off to a grim start in 2024. Thats especially disheartening in Birmingham, which in 2023 saw the number of homicides (135) drop for the first time in five years. Yet between January and June this year, there were 75 homicides in the city, as reported by my colleague Carol Robinson. Thats 15 percent higher than the same period last year. In Jefferson County, there were 98 homicides in the first six months of 2024, two more than in 2023. If that wasnt sickening enough, July hit us like a hail of automatic gunfire: Five homicide shootings in the first five days of the month. The fifth death was 55-year-old Renard Keith West. A big-hearted man, his brother told Robinson, who struggled with personal issues but was harmless to anyone. He apparently was awakened early Friday by noises outside and stepped through the front door to see about all the commotion. Now, hes dead. As are too many others. (Likely even more by the time you read this column.) Birmingham isnt alone. Late last month nine people were hit by gunfire in a mass shooting at a Sunday afternoon neighborhood party in Montgomery. On Mothers Day, on another Sunday afternoon, 64-year-old Gloria Crews was fatally shot in front of her grandchildren at a family gathering in the backyard of her own Montgomery home. Sickeningand Ive been sick of it for a long time now. Ive variously written about crimes perpetrated by us against us. Its never easy. Hard truths never are. More than two years ago on Dr. Martin Luther King Day, I challenged us to stop killing each in honor of the slain leader. Challenge not accepted, sadly. What are we doing? What is being done about it? Birmingham in recent years has launched myriad initiatives and partnerships aimed at stemming gun violence. Labeled Common Ground, the efforts include a conflict resolution curriculum in Birmingham City Schools; a hospital-based intervention program created to guide those whove been wounded out of violent environments; mental health services in schools to support and teach de-escalation strategies to students whove endured trauma due to violence, a juvenile re-entry program for youths 16-19 currently engaged with the state Department of Youth Services; and after-school education and personal services at 14 rec centers in the city; and a nine-week workforce training program in partnership with the National Training Institute for Healthcare Technicians; and a re-entry pilot program to reduce recidivism. There are also several independent programs aimed at addressing violence and inspiring hope in young people and adults. Among them: The Surge Project, ZeroZero Foundation, Second-Chance Hiring Fairs hosted by the district attorneys office, and Renew Birmingham. Its a lot, I know. At times it seems as if were the elderly uncle who engulfs two handfuls of meds daily, yet remains sick. Sick and tired. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin and Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed are clearly sick and tired of the gun violence plaguing their cities, as they should be. On Friday, Woodfin unleashed a verbal can of clear frustration on those among us making deadly decisions. Hear me Birmingham, he said in a statement, we must learn how to walk away. We need to de-escalate situations before guns are drawn. Enough with arguing over petty stuff. Stop trying to live out your TV fantasies by attempting to rob drug dealers. End the needless retaliation that creates a never-ending cycle of back and forth. Murder cannot, must not, be a solution to petty, trivial problems. Last month, Reed said: [W]eve got to make sure that in our city, theres a greater appreciation for life, a greater appreciation for conflict resolution, a greater appreciation for de-escalating situations without pulling guns. This cannot continue to happen. We will not stand for it. This senseless violence just has to stop. There should be hope in the national decline in homicides in large U.S. cities. Earlier this year, Boston, with a Black population of 28.6%, was lauded for its staggering 78 percent year-to-year drop in homicides through early July. There have been only four homicides in the city over that period. Experts and city officials tout an array of efforts dating back to the 1990s, including partnerships between police and communities, hospital intervention, and school conflict resolution programs, as well as gun laws maybe a tad stricter than in the gun-happy South. Boston, and Massachusetts generally, has low gun ownership rates, which contributes, Northeastern University Assistant Professor Jacob Stowel told WCVB-TB in Boston. Alabamas overwhelmingly Republican state legislature has zero interest in new laws that might temper the flow of guns throughout the state. In 2023, it famously made it easier to possess a gun by passing a law repealing the requirement for a permit to carry a handgun concealed or in a vehicle an action opposed by law enforcement. Rising homicides in Birmingham and Montgomery, perhaps in small part due to easy access to guns? Not our problem, they believe. Sickening. There may also be another contributing differential between the national trends exhibited in cities such as Boston and Dallas, and Birmingham and Montgomery: poverty. The overall poverty rate in Boston and Dallas, according to the U.S. Census, is 17.5%. In Birmingham, where almost 70 percent of residents are Black, more than one in four families lives in poverty. In Montgomery, the poverty rate is 21.5%. While poverty isnt the only contributor to rising homicide rates, numerous studies and experts have proven the economic and psychological stresses of poverty significantly impact decisions and often lead to desperation. [W]hen resources are unequally distributed, individuals may have incentives to undertake high-risk activities, including lethal violence, in order to secure material and social capital, writes the Cambridge University Press. As I noted, Birmingham isnt lacking in efforts to address the many factors that lead to deadly shootings and killings, including many that mirror those that have worked in Boston and other major cities. Alas, its impossible to calculate how many lives those programs may have saved or will save because someone learns how to handle anger differently, how to settle differences without deadly decisions, and how to avoid violent circumstances and emotions. Or because someone poured into them skills and a vision for a hopeful future with opportunities too many among us still cannot yet see. So, we remain sickened, and sick of it. Sick of this hard truth, too: Deadly violence among us wont stop until those with their finger on the trigger are sick of dying, too. Roy S. Johnson is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame, an Edward R. Murrow Award winner, and a Pulitzer Prize finalist for commentary. His column appears on AL.com, and digital editions of The Birmingham News, Huntsville Times, and Mobile Press-Register. Tell me what you think at rjohnson@al.com, and follow me at twitter.com/roysj, or on Instagram @roysj. A fatal all-terrain vehicle accident was discovered early Sunday morning in Washington County, according to local first responders. The McIntosh Volunteer Fire Department said via Facebook it responded at about 2 a.m. to a reported accident on a hunting road about two miles off Topton Road, which runs westward from McIntosh. Arrived to find the ATV flipped over with the driver pinned underneath, the post said. Unfortunately it was a fatality. No details about the deceased person were released. The McIntosh VFT post said that ASAP EMS, McIntosh Police and the Washington County Sheriffs Office had assisted with the situation. In the rush to know everything about Joe Bidens road to or away from the White House, we may be forgetting what it is we actually know, and what it likely means: the dramatic recurrence of an insider play we have seen many times before. On Thursday before last, the president of the United States had what was deemed the worst debate performance of a presidential contender in history. On Friday and Saturday, supportive messages came from politicos, including President Obama, whereas a series of pleas to drop out of the race came from establishment journalists. On Monday through Thursday, as reports came out that the president was determined to continue in the race, lesser known House Democrats went on record opposing his candidacy, and prominent Democrats sounded cautionary notes. Meantime, The Washington Post reported that former president Barack Obama has privately told allies ... a harsher assessment of Bidens chances. Polling authorities, op-ed columnists, worried reporters, and respected legal professionals all made or continued to make their anti-Biden voices heard, sometimes multiple times. Democrat donors were reported, a few publicly and many privately, discussing pushing the president to step aside. After last weeks interview of the president, these voices increased in numbers, volume and insistence. There is always a danger of over-reading a succession of events like this, seeing the twists as preordained by whatever narrative (failing president supported by delusional operators; vulturous overthrowers making an inside play) the reader imports. Still, underlying interests in power and in status undeniably shape actions in ways that can make events like these pre-ordained. In this case, the unmentioned connections of key Biden insiders, and the way Democrat donors determination to push him off the ticket intersects with the needs of establishment journalists, suggest that thats whats happening here. * * * The evidence begins with a Washington Post article last week, one of many that aired criticism of members of Bidens inner circle, chief among them Anita Dunn and her husband Bob Bauer, for mis-preparing Biden for the debate or for shutting out post-debate dissenting voices despite what was now, essentially overnight, described as his dementia. The article ended with a quote by Hilary Rosen, identified as a longtime Democratic strategist who criticized what was perceived to be this groups low-key response to concerns over the presidents debate performance. According to Rosen: [The Biden operation] would have been better off sticking with honesty. You cant tell people they didnt see what they saw. To try to turn this around and try to make it be everybody elses fault its not only offensive, it just isnt going to fly. Rosen, though The Post did not mention this fact, was a decade-long colleague of Dunns at her powerhouse Washington public relations-political strategy firm, SKDK (she left on good terms in 2022), as well as a consultant to the Obama White House, where Dunn also served. (Dunns husband Bauer, according to The Times last year, counts two American presidents Mr. Biden and Mr. Obama among his clients.) The Dunn-Rosen relationship raises logical questions. Was Rosen criticizing her longtime colleague or giving her public advice? Why would she do this, as opposed to giving her a call? Or was she pushing an anti-Biden strategy that Dunn, nominally a Biden loyalist, did not necessarily oppose? Certainly, Dunn has played both sides before. Just one year ago, in 2023, NPR revealed that Dunn ... provided crisis communications assistance to Michael Madigan, the then-Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives over sexual assault claims. She did this even as Alaina Hampton, who was suing Madigan over these claims, received support in her case from Dunn's firm. Once Hampton found out about this conflict of interest inadvertently, during an FBI wiretap featured at a trial that was part of a long-running federal corruption investigation into Madigan she began poring through her emails, trying to determine what information she shared with her contacts at SKDK. Hampton said she felt sick and betrayed. Today, Bidens family apparently blames Dunn for the debate, and one of Bidens most vocal loyalists is publicly calling her a liar and a grifter. * * * Probing deeper into the networks of Dunn and Bauer does not make the questions disappear. Both are walking rolodexes of Washington, and Dunn has become close to seemingly every major centrist Democrat (pro-conglomerate, profree trade, pro-lobbying) in the city, as well as to several left-leaning liberals who are still reliable party players including, interestingly, Lloyd Doggett, the first House Democrat to call for Biden to step aside. Overall, she is a handler of the politicos backed by the corporate-nonprofit-administrative interests that have edged out private-sector labor unions and city parties as the main players in the Democrat party. This closeness has had policy effects. When leftist Democrats frustrated at the Biden White Houses mixed progress on its one genuinely anti-authoritarian priority, antitrust, point to people to blame, it is Anita Dunn at the White House and Lisa Monaco at the Justice Department longtime corporate operatives now serving a president pushing to rein corporations in. Other members of the Biden circle are cut from the same cloth. One is Mike Donilon, whose brother, Tom, is the former national security adviser to President Obama and a longtime Obama loyalist. Another, Ron Klain, is a longtime lobbyist and Democrat fixture always there in a breach, including as Al Gores point man in the Florida recount. These insider Washington players whose careers depend on their access to party donors and nonprofit leaders, lobbyists, and staffers are natural endorsers of a loose anti-Biden play, probably with the tacit assent of President Obama, who has taken the nearly unprecedented step of living in Washington, D.C. after his presidency; who reportedly meets regularly with White House aides; who is treated as the de facto president when he visits the White House; and whose wife has notably not campaigned for Biden for unpersuasive reasons aired the day of the debate. The anti-Biden plays purpose would be to set up, or allow, a president unwilling to hand over power to make a very public fall. This would then lead to a media-generated furor, making his stepping aside seem like the result of his campaigns mistakes or his decrepitude, not an insider-enabled play. * * * A play like this depends on the willing release of damaging information about Biden by establishment media. Inside players are well placed to prime this particular pump because they are aware of Washington journalists main concern: like all monopolists, to keep their hold on their product, in this case factual truth off inside information. This concern has meant journalists spending several years pushing or not vocally combating facts from inside sources (donors, politicos, staffers, lobbyists) supporting one narrative (an in-touch Biden as defender of democracy), then working overtime to switch to another (Biden as decrepit threat to world peace) when the interests of these sources change. Meantime, the prosaic reality (Biden as a latter-day Leonid Brezhnev, the gerontocratic Soviet figurehead minded by handlers) has been noted since 2020 in less connected venues from The Guardian to The Tampa Bay Times. Then, like now, voters in swing states dont seem to mind if Biden is at the wheel; its the policies they care about. But the insider players have other interests in mind namely, stopping the Democrat antitrust agenda begun under Biden. They also have other ideas about what will win an election: not policies, but personality politics. And the insiders journalistic connections amplify these agendas for reasons of their own. Indeed, the function served by the sheer amount of information released this past week is not to inform voters. Instead, the gaudy stories of decrepitude, the spectral photos, and the personal stories of Jill Bidens class resentment and malevolent influence reinforce for readers the importance of journalists lock on insider information, the currency of their realm. There are 2 conversations in Washington right now, The New Yorkers Jane Mayer wrote this Saturday, distilling this approach into a tweet: The public one is that Bidens ok. The private one is the same people telling reporters its a disaster. Biden fans are blaming reporters but the press is just letting the public in on whats really being said. Meanwhile, real information (e.g., Rosens or Doggetts relation to Dunn), which is publicly available and thus not dependent on journalists letting the public in via insider connections, goes unmentioned. * * * All of this is par for the course for the company town that is modern Washington, D.C., where power is the ultimate commodity and the people who exercise it publicly the ultimate disposables. In the past, public players perceived as uncooperative, threatening, or aged out have seen their reputations destroyed and their personal lives made public Bill Clinton in the 90s, Donald Trump in the 2010s, and Dianne Feinstein in the 2020s. Those operators doing the destroying are the real threats to representative government: the people in the institutions who never leave the minders, and the makers, of the Deep State. Matt Wolfson, an ex-leftist investigative journalist, tweets at @Ex__Left and writes at Oppo-research.com. Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0. Sren Kierkegaard once said that every assertion suggests its opposite. Shakespeare implied the same thing when he had Queen Gertrude in Hamlet say, The Lady doth protest too much, methinks. Protesting too much is what today we would call gaslighting repeating a bald lie with such assurance that one might expect it to be accepted without question. Biden and his aides have been gaslighting throughout his presidency and long before it. Now there are the lies about Bidens performance in his disastrous debate. His spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre, said on Wednesday that Biden was jetlagged before the debate (despite eleven days since significant travel), that he had a cold (despite looking perfectly well during appearances the night of and the day after the debate), that he had a bad night (just one?), and that he was burdened with the duties of his job (isnt everyone?). The fact is, as Carl Bernstein put it, Biden displayed signs of similar dysfunction dozens of times before the debate. Biden did not suffer an off night on Thursday he has been off for years, making horrible decisions that have resulted in the deaths of American servicemen and endangered overseas forces and those of our allies while harming our economy at home. Now comes the biggest lie of his presidency: the assertion that he is not considering withdrawing from the presidential race. Whether or not he actually withdraws or resigns, it is ludicrous to pretend that Biden has not contemplated doing so. During her Wednesday press conference, KJP repeated a dozen times that the president is not considering withdrawing from the race. Protesting that much, over and over and without any qualification, is as much as admitting that Biden is weighing his options. It would have been more believable had she said, Given his poor performance and mental decline, he is considering a withdrawal but is leaning toward continuing in the race. That would have put an end to the questioning; an outright denial, attempting to foreclose further questioning, simply encouraged more questions. It didnt help that the New York Times published an article on Tuesday claiming that Bidens lapses have recently grown more frequent, more pronounced and more worrisome. On July 5, Biden held an interview with ABCs George Stephanopolos. In a piece on vox.com, Andrew Prokop wrote that anything less than a dazzling performance will imperil his political future further. I suspect that the president and his advisers, including his family, have already weighed his options in great detail and may have already decided on an exit plan, including a full pardon for Hunter and other members of his family and assurance that he, Joe Biden, will receive a full pardon from his successor, Kamala Harris. That was the arrangement the last time a president was forced to resign, and Nixons successor, Gerald Ford, was roundly criticized for his pardon. That full and unconditional pardon may well have cost Ford the election against Jimmy Carter. Can Biden trust Harris to carry through with the pardon? I doubt it. Harris is inarticulate, socially clumsy, and apparently rather unintelligent, but she is politically ambitious. Pardons of unpopular figures dont go down well, and they are memorable. As to whether Biden will actually withdraw, those who pretend to know (because Jill wants to remain in the White House, because Hunter needs protection, because Joe has a huge ego) cannot know. What we can know is that, if he is going to withdraw, it makes sense to do so sooner rather than later. An immediate withdrawal would give the party time to settle on someone else and for that someone else to begin campaigning and raising money. Waiting until the convention in late August or, even worse, after being nominated, would amount to a huge betrayal of his party. Another alternative is a slow, unremitting pressure from donors and supporters forcing Biden to withdraw, but that might take weeks or months and would divide the party even more. I would expect a decision, one way or another, in the next two weeks. Biden will either withdraw his name as a candidate, resign immediately (unlikely), or state unequivocally that he is staying in the race until the end. He can hardly wait until late August to withdraw. That would be a fatal blow to whatever reputation he still possesses. It may be that Biden will remain in the race, try to counter the impression of his debate weakness with multiple public appearances (as he is already doing, using the teleprompter), recover his footing if he can, find an excuse not to debate again in September (as already agreed), and hope that enough votes can be harvested from illegal aliens and fraudulent names to squeak by in November, as he did in 2020. But then, if he is re-elected, things will get far worse. I have witnessed senility many times among friends and family members, and I know that it does not get better and often rapidly gets worse. A completely incapacitated president could be hidden from sight in 191920, when the effects of Woodrow Wilsons stroke were covered up by his wife, who, in effect, served as president of the USA. That kind of cover-up would be impossible today in the age of cell phones, media leaks, and public expectations of a visible leader. Within a year, Biden would be forced to resign, and we would be stuck with Kamala Harris. The White House is attempting to mask all of these probabilities with their loud chorus of denial, protesting that the president is not weighing a withdrawal. But as Kierkegaard understood, every assertion suggests its opposite. Jeffrey Folks is the author of many books and articles on American culture including Heartland of the Imagination (2011). Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0. Poll analyst Nate Silver lists the signs that a party is getting rid of a president under the 25th Amendment. He says were about halfway up the ladder, which has these as the starting rungs: Back-channel conversations Anon leaks to press Influential non-electeds and donors saying he should resign Backbench elected officials saying he should resign Signals from senior party leaders saying he should resign with plausible deniability Megadonors saying he should resign and withholding funds Normie senators or representatives saying he should resign Im seeing all this right now, not yet as a march to the 25th Amendment removal from office, but certainly in an effort to get him to withdraw from the 2024 race. The latest such sign is reports that the White House visitor logs show that President Bidens doctor Kevin OConnor met with a Parkinsons disease specialist and a nurse who coordinates Bidens care nine times since July 2023. (Now, I dont think it a leap to suggest that sources just whispered to people like Alex Berenson and Jonathan Levine what to look for. Maybe they didnt. Maybe someone wanted to take hours to pore through the logs, but maybe not.) Theres plenty of information supporting Silvers view that were halfway up the ladder, and over at the Wall Street Journal, Kim Strassel lists a lot of it. Heres a summary: Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett on Tuesday became the first elected Congressional Democrat to respectfully call on Mr. Biden to withdraw from the race. Maine Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, fighting one of the tightest House races in the country, did the functional equivalent with an op-ed that explained it didnt matter what Mr. Biden did after his poor performance because it has been clear for months that Donald Trump is going to win. An unidentified House Democratic lawmaker told CNN that his caucus wants to give [Mr. Biden] space to make a decision [to step aside], but we will be increasingly vocal about our concerns if he doesnt. More calculating Democrats are readying lifeboats, should ship abandonment become necessary. Democratic governors publicly sought a Wednesday meeting with the president to air concerns. Sen. Peter Welch (D., Vt.) publicly reprimanded the Biden campaign for its dismissive attitude toward the worried. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi conceded it was legitimate to ask if Mr. Biden had an episode or a... condition. South Carolinas Rep. Jim Clyburn said hed support Kamala Harris... should Mr. Biden make way. And Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.) said Democrats want reassurance that the debate was a real anomaly, and not just the way he is these days. If Mr. Whitehouse feels the need to cover his bases in blue Rhode Island, panic really has set in. The polls merit this alarm. Were now getting the first post-debate surveys and, while the top-line gains for Mr. Trump are mixed, the internals for Mr. Biden and the Democratic Party are uniformly abysmal and getting worse. Numerous polls show Mr. Bidens approval rating at all-time or near-to-all-time lows. A WSJ poll shows that 80% of voters now say the incumbent is too old to run, while several polls show a growing number of Democrats want him replaced at the top of the ticket. Newsweek provided more relevant signs that the presidents party continues to climb the Silver ladder: Following a report that Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, is at odds with President Joe Bidens reelection bid, a novelist's cryptic post on Friday about the senator is raising eyebrows on social media. According to a Friday report by the Washington Post, Warner is attempting to assemble a group of his Democratic colleagues to ask Biden to conclude his presidential run. The Post said it spoke to two people with direct knowledge of Warner's effort as the senator believes that Biden can no longer remain in the race against former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, following his highly criticized debate performance last week. In a world of uncertainty, theres one thing Im certain of: Political officeholders and their well-heeled donors always consider their personal interests first and foremost, and if sticking with a failing candidate hurts those interests, they turn on him. In this case, its really bad luck for them, because there is no sign of a candidate in the wings who can reverse their sinking fortunes. In any event, theres every reason to believe Biden is digging in and refusing to withdraw from the race. He said so in his interview on ABC the other night, the first of his flailing efforts to undo the damage of his poor debate performance. He said clearly that MAYBE hed withdraw from the race if the Lord Almighty came down and told him to do so. His adherents have continued to act as if they think they can hide his decline by managed appearances and scheduled not only the ABC sitdown with fluffy questions by George Stephanopoulos, but followed it up with local radio interviews. The hosts of those radio shows revealed to CNN that the questions were scripted and provided by the White House. What Bidens team has chosen to do then is host thinly attended rallies, speak to Democrat officeholders, have Biden chat with Stephanopoulos, and participate in these scripted radio shows. What Biden declines to do -- a decision his team apparently supports -- is to take a cognitive and neurological test. Which is the only means to persuade those who have seen him that our eyes deceive us and hes really fit for the highest office. As long as this game continues, I predict his party and donors will keep climbing that ladder. He has only one way to stop the move to push him out of the race -- or maybe even the office -- take and pass the damn test! We now have a trend on the left: confusion. Leftists have fallen into an abyss. They are in the middle of full-throated chaos. Couldnt happen to a nicer group. There has been this idea the left never makes mistakes, never falls into the whirlpools of self-destruction. Some on the right had begun to think of leftists as infallible. Thats one reason we are so feckless in countering their nonsense. They make themselves appear smarter and more powerful than they really are. And here they are, caught. Their timing couldnt be worse. Even better, they are facing choices that are not just difficult, but each choice will cause more problems. Look at the confusion since the debate. Many of the party media apparatchiks immediately shared the truth: Joe had been a disaster. They became gloomy, donning sackcloth and groveling. Then Obama came out with his one bad debate line. Party bigs began using that same talking point, and all was well...really... Hillary said she was behind Joe all the way. The campaign said Joe had a cold. Jill scolded America and her Cabinet for believing there was a problem. Then it changed. Nancy Pelosi asking if this was an episode or a condition. It was reported that Obama was fine with an open convention to pick the nominee. Many other Democrats continue to say Joe may not be up to it after all, and he should step down. Confusion reigns. This has no easy fix mainly because all their choices in this matter have negatives. Each one carries deep, difficult problems. If they get rid of Joe, Kamala is next in line. Possibly the only Democrat who could do worse than Joe is his V.P. Lets just say her cluelessness, her lack of speaking capacity, is as big a problem as Joes. The Trump campaign would easily pigeonhole her. She is a disaster, as Tulsi Gabbard showed in her famous debate performance. If they get rid of Kamala, they send a terrible message to their DIE-saturated base. They cannot easily rid the ticket of the first female V.P. of color. Plus she is the only one who can legally control the current campaign money. A mess, foisted upon themselves. Their own stupidity and uncodified rules did this. Even worse, if they look to an entirely new person to run, Pandoras box is opened. Chaos will reign even more. Gavin Newsom has the biggest profile of the pack, along with amazing hair and slick salesmanship. But hes a he. And hes white. Heaven forbid! Those features are issues in the Democrat party. Even worse, his state has become a huge mess under his watch. The train to nowhere fiasco. Reparations. A sanctuary state where illegals and the homeless are destroying life for all. The numerous tent cities, the crime, the filth, the high taxes, the ludicrous spending will destroy him outside the half-dozen most left-leaning states. And his personal history is a disaster. Not that he would be very different from Biden its just he cannot pretend to be blue-collar, cannot pretend hes conservative to the mass of American voters. Not good. Gretchen Whitmer? Her over Kamala? Possibly. At least shes not a he. But for all her buzz, shes got issues. Her COVID policies were horrifying. Mandating patients to nursing homes, killing thousands, is a problem. That she was caught breaking her own awful rules shows badly. Her so-called kidnapping story has entrapment problems. She seemingly had foreknowledge, while likely helping the FBI to entrap the poor suckers the FBI set up. She is no longer that popular in Michigan, having instituted a lot of unlikable radical policies; she cannot guarantee winning Michigan, and her strong support of Biden will be a hanging albatross. She would not be ready for a drastic change. They dont know if she can go national, with lots of known, and too many unknown, problems to deal with. Not good. There are some governors and senators not as widely known as these two, all of which could add fuel to the fire of confusion. Many of these do not have national recognition; many of these do not have national vetting. If it goes to an open convention, there will be a lot of, how do I say this, confusion among the delegates trying to pick whom to vote for. The time between now and the convention would make for a lot of infighting between the two governors and all the rest, a lot of dirty play, and a lot of opportunity for continuing to make gaffes and make ploys to the radical leftists who will choose. There are deep factions in the party, factions that will press for advantage to aggrandize influence. It will be a messy convention. The clock is ticking. We should know better in the next few weeks, but be aware that there are Biden voters and loyalists, and Jill to deal with. They want the charade to continue. They control a lot of power in the party. They know who knew (likely the vast majority of their party leaders) and have blackmail power if they need it. They have been successful in the pretense that Joe is fine while they run the country and will hope to continue with the power they have. They have strong reasons to want to convince us all to keep Joe going. They wield the levers of power, will want to continue doing so, and wont go easily. If the party chooses against him, there will be trouble. Heck, there is trouble now. Caught between a rock and a hard place, there will be power plays galore here. Pandemonium will reign as this is sorted out. It may sort out in a couple of weeks, or at the convention. Then there will be RFK convincing Democrats to vote for him. Such fun. They have a short time to decide approximately seven weeks before the convention. The pressure is on. This will be bantered about, with sides being chosen, and people of all Democrat stripes weighing in and maybe changing their minds every week or so. Or daily. As intimated above, this will be complicated. The more it gets discussed, the more we can rightfully interject the reality that they all knew, that they all lied, that they were all complicit in this charade. Fighting a unified right while being fractured will breed further trouble. Other than constant reminders that they all lied, we should step aside and watch the infighting and the finger-pointing. Its going to be epic. They are not used to dealing with this kind of confusion, not used to fracturing, not used to this kind of daily cognitive dissonance. The probability of a deeper, more intense upheaval is certain. The leftist coalition has always been infused with whining and finger-pointing. Leftists have a contentious spirit. This crisis has unleashed it. The choices to keep a dementia patient and quell what has been said, his disastrous V.P., or picking someone new at this late juncture will magnify the contention. The factions will roar, and none of them will admit to the obvious: that they all knew. They will blame one another. They will denounce one another. They will second-guess and prevaricate. There are several Old Testament stories of the foes of Israel being infected with a spirit of confusion and fear, leading to their self-destruction. We are watching as the left repeats these stories in front of our eyes. The spirit that is the ugly essence of the left has been let loose on the leftists. Thats justice at its finest. Image: kolyaeg via Pixabay, Pixabay License. In November 1863, while traveling on a train from D.C. to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and experiencing the early stages of a mild case of smallpox, Abraham Lincoln handwrote the Gettysburg Address. Joe Biden is no Lincoln, and you can bet your bottom dollar that hes not writing his own speeches. Instead, he has a staff that puts words into his mouth. Thats why a photo posted by the White House Director of Broadcast Media showing his communications staff goes a long way to defining the Biden White House. I believe that Revolver News published the original viral tweet: This is reportedly Bidens speechwriting team pic.twitter.com/8w7pUbOQVd Revolver News (@RevolverNewsUSA) July 6, 2024 That is a fascinating photo. Because its so crowded, I broke it down by apparent race and gender (although, nowadays, one can never tell how people identify): Of the 15 people crowded into that shot, I see five white women and three white men; three black women and one black man; one possibly Hispanic woman and one possibly Hispanic man; and one woman who might identify as Asian. All look to be near or under 30 years old. The room looks exactly like a staff meeting at the Harvard Crimson or some other campus newspaper. Or perhaps its a staff meeting at SNL. In other words, it is a microcosm of the young left. We know who these young people are. Theyre college graduates with degrees in journalism, political science, communications, or some sort of studies (e.g., gender, womyns, etc.). They are committed to open borders, DEI, CRT, BLM, LGBTQ+, climate change madness, a government-controlled economy, Ukraine, socialized medicine, unlimited abortion, and Free Palestine. And the women are crazy. Yes, maybe that last sounds like a stretch, but weve seen what leftism does to women, and its not pretty. The picture is such a painfully obvious stereotype that I assumed it was a fake. However, Ive traced its origin, and it seems to be real. The original image comes from the personal account of Muriel Chase: As you can see, the image is dated March 7. As it happened, March 7 was Joe Bidens State of the Union address, something that a speechwriting team would celebrate. So, who is Muriel Chase? Shes a White House Special Assistant to the President and Director of Broadcast Media: The two people she tags in the tweet are also in the White House communications department. Jennifer Molina is the Deputy Communications Director and Erika Trombley is the Director of Consumer Media. Id say, then, that the image is real. These people are the ones putting words in Bidens mouth. They are both foot soldiers and, at a guess, policymakers. I say the last because they are the living embodiment of the modern Democrat party: shiny pretty Marxists who are mostly cat ladies. The image, of course, is going viral because everybody understands what they are seeing. These are the people in charge in America. Its a terrifying thought: That feeling when Bidens speechwriting team looks exactly how you thought it would. pic.twitter.com/JZiAUqM9Z2 Autism Capital (@AutismCapital) July 6, 2024 BIDEN'S ALLEGED SPEECH WRITING TEAM RAISES EYEBROWS A photo circulating on X purportedly shows Biden's speech writing team. And let's just say, if this is indeed the group responsible for crafting the president's remarks, it certainly provides an, ahem, interesting pic.twitter.com/fDp6rd0nt4 Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 7, 2024 Biden's speechwriting team. Very soon some of them will start leaking the secrets pic.twitter.com/kZlq6K4Y5r Russian Market (@runews) July 7, 2024 Bidens speechwriting team looks like the type of team that would write the final season of Game of Thrones pic.twitter.com/HbkZqtb3pw Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) July 7, 2024 Remember: In November, a vote for anyone other than Trump is a vote for Bidens speechwriting team. For all his supposed fastidiousness, France's President Emmanuel Macron knows how to make a mess. He first surprised himself in the first round of French parliamentary elections, which called on a dare to voters, after conservatives' strong showing in Europe's parliamentary elections in early June, he did indeed win the conservatives significant power in the National Assembly on the first round. That prompted him to go to plan B, which was to 'suicide' his own centrist Ensemble party and pull many of its candidates from the election, effectively throwing his support to the far-left, which had placed third in the first round last week. Anything but allow the conservatives led by National Rally leader, Marine Le Pen, to win the election. According to CNN: The result of Sundays parliamentary election runoff comes as a huge surprise, with France appearing to be on the verge of a major political shift but not the one everyone was expecting. No pollster predicted before Sunday that a left-wing alliance would win and that the far right would come in third place. This is a shocking reversal of the outcome of the first round of voting, if tonights results match the projections. For now, France seems ungovernable. With no party projected to get close to clinching a majority, the parliament will be in a state of paralysis, split between three blocs. The political maneuvering by French President Emmanuel Macrons centrist party and the left-wing alliance this week was clearly successful. Two hundred candidates dropped out of the race in an effort to block the far-right National Rally. But the left-wing alliance, which has seemed shaky, is going to have a hard time speaking with one voice. Macrons centrist bloc seems to have held up quite well. Even though it is projected to lose roughly 100 MPs and finish second, that is still a much better result than what we were anticipating. Now he's got left-wing crazies in his majority and has to answer to them, much as Britain must now answer to its Labour party far left based on its election last week. In each of those countries, the center did not hold. Macron is going to have a tough time governing now that he's got radical leftists to deal with, over the conservatives led by Le Pen. And he will have no one to blame but himself, having attempted to manipulate the system by yanking his own candidates running for office, prefering the radical left over the populist right, which voters gave him. What we are looking at here is a French version of Trump derangement syndrome in Europe, demonstrating the depths of contempt for ordinary voters held by the political elites. It need never have happened, had he not panicked and called his snap election daring the voters once, and had he not tried to manipulate the vote again by pulling his own candidates from the second round, this never would have happened. But since he was too clever by half, he now gets the vast horde of leftists as his political bunkmates. Couldn't happen to a nicer RINO who considers conservatives the most dangerous thing in the world. Whatever happens now, France isn't going to like the result, any more than Britain is with its vote for Labour's radicals. Anything that's bad in France, whether of unchecked migration, migrant campouts befouling Paris, sexual assaults on women by these unassimilated foreigners, is simply going to get worse now. France's voters gave it to Macron all right when he pulled those centrists they were going to vote for, and voted left instead, giving it to Macron good and hard. Image: Faces of the World, via Flickr // CC BY 2.0 The puppeteers of the still-living-in-Washington Mummy decided that one shameful performance by the disobedient ex-favorite was not enough. The first episode the debate with Donald Trump did not put an end to it. In the second episode, entitled The Interview, the Clinton clan chose a functionary and part-time ABC journalist, George Stephanopoulos, as the political executioner. However, Stephanopouloss interlocutor has long been living in the world of his own fantasies. Therefore, he did not even understand that within 22 minutes, the remnants of his political capital were methodically destroyed. The network recorded Stephanopouloss interview instead of broadcasting it live. This implies that some high-ranking apparatchik looked at the recording and gave the go-ahead. That means that the narcissistic maniac Bidens words, I run the world!, spoken during the interview, had to be made public. It means that this was a pre-coordinated campaign to excommunicate the former party leader from the cult of leftism. So what was the result? The White House Mummy received marching orders from an obsessive nurse named Jill, who for some reason haunts him day and night, stating that they must carry on with the race. That is why Jills husband declared on July 5, 2024 that he would defeat Trump again in the 2020 election. From a functional point of view, the White House Mummy is not only decrepit, but also mentally disabled. What conclusions can be drawn from all this? The most significant conclusion is that Bidens candidacy now needs to be supported in every possible way. Our readers must call their Democrat relatives and friends and tell them that Biden is Americas future. That he should continue the race. That he is our last opportunity. More precisely, all hope lies in Jills stubborn reluctance to leave the apartment where she has been accustomed to command for the last three and a half years everything, from the color of the curtains to the withdrawal of troops to the betrayal of Israel to the non-supply of weapons to Ukraine. Lets count on that slogan All in for Biden!, proposed by American conservatives, for the summer of 2024 will finally unite a divided America. We all should support the lip-slapper who, according to him, created NATO (the alliance was founded in 1949, when Biden was seven years old). Indeed, how can one be against a pioneer who proudly announced that he is the first black woman to serve with a black president? In 2019, 350 American psychiatrists sent a letter to the United States Congress. They argued that Trumps mental health was dangerously deteriorating, that he was mentally unstable and a threat to our countrys security. Where are these 350 psychic authorities now? Why are they silent? Has Trump really recovered? How, exactly? Isnt Trump still a threat to our country in 2024? Has American punitive psychiatry finally outdone Soviet psychiatry? We have to rule out any malicious intent on the American psychiatrists part. It is highly plausible that they did not receive the latest DNC directive. Nevertheless, sixteen Nobel laureates in economics got it and swiftly concocted a letter. It was only thanks to them that Americans finally learned with relief that Bidenomics is significantly better than Trumponomics, and life under Trump was considerably worse than under the dear leader and lover of sniffing children, Biden. So, from now until November of this year, we all need to support Jill Bidens genuine aspirations of not moving anywhere. However, the ruthless civil war between Democrat party factions is gaining momentum. It may happen that the amorous Vice Mummy, with clinically questionable mental capacity, will be thrown overboard along with the Mummy. That will lead to a state of political chaos, the consequences of which only a convicted felon (Trump) can cope with. Gary Gindler, Ph.D. is a conservative columnist at Gary Gindler Chronicles and author of the book Left Imperialism (2024). Follow him on Twitter/X. Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0. In the immediate wake of Joe Bidens heroically disastrous debate performance, Barack Obama tweeted that nobody should worry. It was just one bad night. However, behind-the-scenes gossip held that Obama wants Biden gone. Now, David Axelrod is bringing out the big guns, which means that Obama has spoken. Id say its now a sure thing that Joe is off the ticket in a few days. Wisely, Barack Obama has kept to the shadows for the last three and a half years. Now that its been confirmed Biden is just a sock puppet, that knowledge lends credence to the belief that it is Obama, not Biden, whos been calling the shots that harden all of Obamas policies (in effect, Obamas third term). Still, Obamas too wily to make that obvious. Low profile or not, following Bidens debate disaster, Obama (the grand old man of the Democrat party) felt compelled to calm the masses. It was just a little glitch, he assured us. Things happen. Ignore the evidence of your own eyes. Everything is just fine: Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. 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 Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 28, 2024 Democrat insiders, however, know that everything is not just fine. Their finger-pointing reminds me of the song Its Your Fault from Stephen Sondheims Into the Woods, which is built around characters in Grimms Fairy Tales (e.g., Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, etc.). This song happens when several characters are dead: (I dislike Sondheim music, but the songs point is perfect for todays Democrat party infighting.) Despite Obamas attempt to prop up the faithful and prevent them from turning on each other, insiders knew that Obamawho always despised Bidenwas furious. Just days after the debate, Tucker Carlson tweeted that he had insider information that Obama was planning to dump Biden: From an unusually good source: Obamas tweet supporting Joe Biden was disingenuous. In private, Obama is telling people Biden cant win, and he is therefore in favor of an open convention. Obama will not say whom he supports, nor as of yesterday afternoon had he met personally Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) July 1, 2024 Today, we can say that Project Dump Joe Biden has officially begunnot because Democrats are squawking and worrying, but because Obama has sent out his top henchman to deliver the message. That henchman is David Axelrod, who was the architect of Obamas victory in 2008. In a long essay at CNN about the situation after Bidens interview with Stephanopoulos, Axelrod brings out the big guns against Bidens continued presidential run: But on the big question that now threatens his campaign whether he still has the stamina and mental acuity to serve for four more years in the worlds toughest job the 81-year-old president offered little reassurance beyond a proud recitation of his impressive first-term accomplishments. [snip] Three separate polls conducted by CNN, The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal after the debate all showed Biden trailing Trump by six points nationwide. Previous polls have shown Biden trailing in nearly all the battleground states he narrowly won in 2020. And now a handful of other states he won Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Virginia appear to be in play. At this rate, Biden is likely headed for a landslide defeat to a lawless and unpopular former president. [snip] Only the Lord Almighty could persuade him to give up the race, the president said, as a growing chorus of Democrats, fearful of an electoral disaster, call for him to step aside. Denial. Delusion. Defiance. In modern political terms, that essay is the political equivalent of the blood sacrifices on the guillotine or by firing squad that Jacobins and Bolsheviks demanded of those revolutionaries who failed to match their ideological purity test. Biden is lucky that the big guns are merely metaphorical, not real. And just to make sure that this Dump Biden message sells to those who arent in the habit of reading their news, Axelrod used CNNs Sunday morning political show to double-down on his Biden, youre politically dead message: Again, this message isnt David Axelrods. Hes just a messenger carrying Obamas orders, all while Obama keeps his hands clean. With Obama working to rid himself of a troublesome, senile president, I expect Biden to drop from the campaign within the week. The more interesting questions remain: (1) Given his manifest impairment, will Biden be the subject of a 25th Amendment ouster. And (2) whether Kamala gains the desk in the Oval Office or not, will she be the eventual Democrat nominee? Regarding that second question, Tuckers claim that Obama wants an open convention suggests he has someone in mind other than Kamala. Perhaps he hopes to change Michelles mind despite her official insistence that she wont run (or he already knows that that insistence was untrue). Remember: In November, if you vote for anyone other than Trump, youre voting for Barack Obamas fourth term. Image: The Obamas and Bidens. Public domain. In early 2019, I listened to a Scott Adams podcast during which he opined that the tech tyrants would never let another 2016 outcome happen againnamely, that a non-Democrat would win the presidential election. He was right. In 2020, Twitter (before Elon Musk) and Facebook went into full censorship mode. Twitter/X under Musks aegis is better now (although imperfect). Facebook, however, is back at its old tricks. The method is superficially different from that used in 2020, but the result is the same: conservative ideas are censored. You all remember the old Facebook fact-checking approach, which was especially useful during the COVID era. This funny meme reflects how Facebook used to (and, I must say, still does) shut down conservative commentary: The new approach holds that conservatives who post statements that are popular with conservatives are improperly seeking likes and follows. Although I never post on Facebook, I still follow it and have repeatedly seen this pattern. One of my friends sent me an example of what happened to him. My friend linked to Scott Johnsons essay entitled The Kamala Correlative, which looks at the problems the Democrats are currently having with the man they once so assiduously protected. The Johnson post is a very simple one. In it, Johnson notes reports that Hunter prepared Biden for his disastrous interview with George Stephanopoulos, and Johnson comments that this prep might have accounted for some of the things Biden said. Johnson also suspected that it was Biden himself who came up with the idea that if the Lord Almighty comes down, that might drive him from the race. Johnson suggested, too, that Biden might be faking his madness to avoid addressing substantive questions. Thats an intriguing theory, although I disagree with it. Ive been around people with dementia often (it happens when you have the blessing of parents who live to old age), and they can be very canny in the early stages at avoiding questions they cant answer, but theyre still suffering from dementia. Another thing Johnson did was to include the cover page from the New York Posts paper edition, which had a marvelous pun: Joe adds insult to infirmary. Finally, Johnson said that Stephanopoulos represented the Democrat party writ large. In other words, nothing in Johnsons post was untrue or outside of the Pale. It was standard Republican commentary on the Democrats candidate and the problems Democrats are facing. And then there was Johnsons last paragraph, which my friend copied verbatim into his attempted Facebook post: There is a correlative to the Lords imminent descent to whisper in Bidens ear. That is the Kamala correlative. Vice President Harris is to be greeted as their (and therefore our) savior. The end times is nigh. Almost instantly, Facebook shut my friend down: If the image is blurry, let me restate here the reason that Facebook refused to allow my friends post: It looks like you tried to get likes, follows, shares or video views in a misleading way. In other words, Your post is spam and/or clickbait. I want you to review Johnsons post and think hard about whether there is any reason whatsoever for the Facebook algorithm (or some Facebook-trained, low-wage worker in a squalid backroom office in a Third World country) to have shut down my friends post as spam and/or clickbait. If theres a reason, Im missing it. Again, my friends experience is not a one-off. I belong to a conservative Facebook group and people in the group are frequently reporting that the same thing is happening to them. Despite Mark Zuckerbergs chastened affect during congressional testimony, he is not chastened at all. He and his team of far-left lunatics are as determined as ever to keep Donald Trump out of the White House. During non-election seasons, these operatives milk all Facebook users for information that Facebook sells to advertisers and otherwise turns into a profit. And during the election season, Facebook shuts down conservatives to ensure Democrat victories. As a reminder, weve been on the receiving end of direct and indirect Facebook censorship for years. Google, too, has been a problem. It substantially downgrades our posts in internet searches, and Google accounts for over 90% of all searches. In addition, directly or indirectly (that is, through Google or ad brokers), Google accounts for 90% of all Internet advertising. Google used COVID as an excuse to decrease the revenue percentage sites get from the ads on their site. We used to get enormous amounts of traffic from Facebook and Google searches. This traffic, in turn, translated to a healthy revenue from advertising. Now, our traffic comes from loyal readers and lots and lots and lots of ads. So, yes, we know all those ads are incredibly irritating, but without them, we cannot pay our server or staff costs. That leaves our loyal readers with two choices: Suffer the ads or get a subscription, which gives subscribers both an ad-free experience and the ability to leave comments. Personally, I hope you can and do choose the latter option. In the fast-paced world of tech, its easy to miss out on some of the juiciest stories and the most groundbreaking announcements. Fear not, for weve got you covered! From the latest in smartphone innovations and AI advancements to the hottest news in the social media realm, weve sifted through the noise to bring you the highlights of the week. So sit back, relax, and catch up on everything you might have missed in our latest episode of News You Probably Missed and Shouldnt Have! The iPhone 16 Pro Max features a bigger battery The iPhone 16 Pro Max could be the energizer bunny of phones, lasting you like a whole day of Netflix episodes on a single charge (dont try that). All thanks to a fancy new stainless steel battery case thats practically bursting with juice (but hopefully not literally). Imagine never having to fight your friend for that last charger port at the coffee shop again. This phone will basically have its own built-in solar panel. Apples solving iPhone battery woes like a pro. You can now share your Samsung SmartThings routines Imagine your friend struggling to remember their morning routine: fumbling for the coffee pot, tripping over the cat, and blasting heavy metal instead of morning news. Samsung SmartThings to the rescue! Now you can share your perfectly-tuned routine like a digital handshake. No more burnt toast symphonies, just smooth jazz and a perfectly brewed cup for your sleep-deprived friend. Sharing is caring, and with Samsung, sharing is automated bliss. Opera GX gets new AI features to power up gamers Operas gaming-oriented GX web browser just got a power-up with more AI features. It is now your personal gaming co-pilot, helping you out with all sorts of cool stuff. Were talking next-level image generation, where you can describe what you want and the AI whips it up in a flash. Need a fire-breathing cat riding a rocket for your new Twitch stream? No problem! The AI can now understand images too, figuring out whats going on in any picture you throw at it. More time for epic wins and less time for browsing black holes! Galaxy S25 leaks begin with battery certification It looks like Samsungs internal sieve struck again, this time leaking info on the Galaxy S25s battery. No word on how long theyll last, but hey, were just getting started. The never-ending flow of Samsung leaks has picked up another stream and will continue to flow. So, stay tuned folks, because the only shocking thing we know for sure is that these phones will need to be plugged in eventually, no matter how big their batteries are. The Apple Watch Series 10s rumored radical redesign was probably a hoax The Apple Watch Series 10 is looking like that friend who promised a whole new look for a night out but just shows up with a slightly bigger shirt. Maybe new bands? The latest rumor is that the upcoming watches wont get a radical redesign. So much for rumors about a fresh new look! It appears Apple gave up on the redesign midway after seeing people troll Samsungs Watch Ultra. Hey Apple, people get used to a new design quickly. The trolls only last so long. Google Chrome might be joining the FAB party Google Chrome might be following the FAB trend! The company is considering adding a Floating Action Button (FAB) to its popular browser app. The new button will help you start a new tab in a flash from the tab overview menu. Currently, the New tab button sits at the top, so the change makes it more accessible and visible. Many Google apps already boast FABs. This may be a move to keep things streamlined so users dont get confused. YouTube lets you remove your AI copy you never approved YouTube is getting hip to the whole AI-fake-me-out game. It is letting users fight fire with fireyou can now flag videos that use fancy AI to make you say or do things you never did! So, if you see yourself giving a speech about the virtues of polka-dotted socks, but you secretly despise them, you can get that video outta there. Just remember, with great flagging power comes great responsibility! Dont go overboard and report videos that are clearly satire or just mean-spirited fun. Google breaks Nest Wifi Pro with an update Oh dear, looks like Googles Nest Wifi Pro update went about as smoothly as a greased pig wrestling competition. Users are reporting all sorts of woes since the update, from slower speeds than a sloth on vacation to spotty connections that make online gaming about as fun as watching paint dry. Some folks are also having trouble with their fancy smart home gadgets, like printers that suddenly decided they only speak gibberish. So, if youve got a Nest Wifi Pro and things seem wonky, youre not alone. Lets hope Google wont behave like a plumber on a coffee break and patch things quickly. Samsungs Galaxy AI will translate your WhatsApp calls Imagine youre chatting with your friend abroad using walkie-talkies, but instead of sounding like gibberish, it magically translates to your language. Thats basically what Samsungs Galaxy AI is trying to do for WhatsApp calls! Get ready for future arguments where you cannot blame language barriers for forgetting your anniversaryor maybe finally understand what your in-laws are gossiping about. Galaxy AI will also translate your calls on Google Meet, WeChat,you name it. Microsoft brings ads to its weather app Microsofts love affair with ads has hit a new low: the weather app! Users are experiencing more frustration than sunshine thanks to a recent update. Imagine checking your phone for rain showers and instead getting bombarded with promotions for, well, who knows what. Its like Microsoft is saying, Hey, you want to know if itll rain? Great! But first, a word from our sponsors This whole situation is about as welcome as a pop-up ad during a thunderstorm. LG buys smart home platform Homey to compete against Samsungs SmartThings LG just stole a page from its compatriot Samsungs book, buying into the smart home platform Homeyit acquired an 80% stake in Homeys parent company Athom and plans to acquire the remaining 20% in three years. The firm is hoping to turn your home into an LG-powered wonderland, with Homey users potentially controlling their fancy LG gadgets soon. Homey promises to stay independent, but this could be the start of a new smart home empireor a confusing mess. Google Message prepares for iPhone RCS support in group chats Looks like Google Messages is throwing a party for iPhones joining the RCS group chat club! This means better photo sharing, read receipts, and all that good stuff for mixed-OS chat groups. Theres no official date yet, but RCS on iPhones is still a few months away, so Google has time. Google Messages might welcome the iPhones with a notification. Hopefully, this is the end of the green bubble blues! Samsung receives an industry-first display certification from Pantone Samsung Display just won the gold medal in color accuracy! Its fancy new monitor and laptop screens are like super-powered chameleons, blending colors so perfectly that it got a special handshake from Pantone, the color experts. Its a first-of-its-kind Pantone certification in the display industry. Get ready for more realistic colors and graphics on your new Samsung gadgets. Creators are gonna love this, and so are consumers. Netflix is phasing out its cheapest ad-free plan Netflix is ditching its cheapest ad-free plan, saying adios to those sweet, sweet budget-friendly streams. Subscribers need to upgrade to a pricier plan or pick up an ad-supported plan, which is like having a movie interrupted by a surprise game show host selling dish soap. Canada and the UK are the first guinea pigs, forced to choose between ads, a pricier ad-free plan, or giving Netflix the boot. The rest of the world can probably expect the same treatment soon, so get ready for some internal debates about whether you really need to see that commercial for wrinkle cream. New Apple iPads are on the way, of course Surprise, surprise! New iPads might be on the horizon. Website detectives spotted hints of four new iPads in code. This suggests an 11th-gen iPad with Apples A16 chip, a 7th-gen iPad mini with the A17, and possibly two new Pro models with the next-gen flagship M5 chip. The fresh discovery also lifts the lid on some models Apple scrapped mid-way through development or planning, including an A14 model and two M3 iPad Pros. Russian hackers tried snooping on US government agencies via Microsoft Uh oh! Looks like Russia pulled a fast one on Microsoft and some US agencies. Hackers from Russia infiltrated Microsofts system and used that access to snoop around emails in some US government agencies. Bummer! The good news? It seems they werent looking for super sensitive stuff like social security numbers, or maybe couldnt find any. This is still a black eye for Microsoft though, and a reminder to be extra cautious online. YouTubes Erase Song removes copyrighted music, doesnt affect other audio YouTubers rejoice! Struggling to remove that pesky copyrighted song from your video without killing the whole soundtrack? YouTubes got your back with its upgraded Erase Song tool. Its like magic, it silences the unwanted music while keeping your hilarious commentary or fire soundtrack intact. No more awkward silence or scrambling to replace the audio. Now you can focus on creating awesome videos, copyright woes are gone! Maybe not entirely, but certainly up to an extent. Google Messages improves photo captions in chats Google Messages is giving a makeover to how photos with captions appear in RCS chats! Imagine this: you send a pic of your adorable cat with a hilarious caption, and now the photo and caption cuddle up together on the screen, looking all cute and organized. This tweak makes captions look like captions rather than separate messages. Its a small change, but it adds a touch of polish to your conversations. Qualcomm has yet to finalize the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4s price Qualcomms hot new Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip is like that super fancy restaurant everyones talking about, but no ones making reservations yet. No phone maker is nearing mass production of the next-gen Snapdragon, so no orders. This mystery is making the price anyones guesssuper expensive or a waiting game for a bargain? Guess well have to wait to see if this chip lives up to the hype! Its a waiting game for the smartphone superstar of the future. Samsung flags off the July update train Looks like Samsungs forgotten the Galaxy S24 Ultra and foldables! The Galaxy A55, the often-ignored middle child, is surprisingly the first Samsung phone to get the July 2024 security update. Is this the update A55 users have been waiting for? Not really, its just the security patch and nothing more. But hey, at least its something, right? Maybe Samsung is making amends for all those times it delayed the phones updates. In the meantime, S24 Ultra and Galaxy foldable users can console themselves with some new Paris 2024 Olympic accessories The HMD View is an upcoming budget phone from the Nokia maker HMD, the Nokia maker, is preparing a new budget phone under the HMD brand. A new leak gives an early view (pun intended) into the HMD View. Its got a decent camera that wont make your cat look like a blurry mess, a good screen that properly shows the cat photo you captured, and a battery that wont die halfway through your cat video binge-watching session. No official word yet, but this could be a good option for those who want a phone that wont break the bank. Heres what it looks like. Britain will provide extra weapons to Ukraine and fast-track efforts to deliver previously committed military support, according to the Defence Secretary. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said John Healey has directed officials to ensure a package of support pledged in April by the last government should be delivered in full within the next 100 days. More artillery and 90 Brimstone missiles are included in the new package announced by Mr Healey during a visit to Odesa, a port city in southern Ukraine. Ukrainian Navy Day. Odesa. We honor the memory of our warriors who gave their lives for Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/Px7DTEx52R Volodymyr Zelenskyy / (@ZelenskyyUa) July 7, 2024 He held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who posted a photo showing Mr Healey taking part in a remembrance service on the countrys annual navy day. The announcements came after Foreign Secretary David Lammy said UK military, economic, political and diplomatic support for Ukraine will remain ironclad under the Labour Government. The UK has provided more than 7.6 billion of military assistance to Ukraine since Russias full-scale invasion in 2022. Mr Healey said: As the new Defence Secretary, I will ensure that we reinvigorate Britains support by stepping up supplies of vital military aid. Our commitment to stand with the Ukrainian people is absolute, as is our resolve to confront Russian aggression and pursue Putin for his war crimes. This Government is steadfast in our commitment to continue supplying military assistance and will stand shoulder to shoulder with our Ukrainian friends for as long as it takes. The MoD said the new package of support includes ammunition, 90 Brimstone missiles, 50 small military boats to support river and coastal operations, 40 demining vehicles, 10 AS-90 artillery guns and support for previously gifted ones, and 61 bulldozers to help build defensive positions. The department said the UKs commitment in April included 400 vehicles, 1,600 strike and air defence missiles, 4 million rounds of ammunition and 60 boats, including offshore raiding craft. Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, Chief of the Defence Staff, said: The recent milestone of 500,000 Russians killed or wounded is a reminder of how badly this war has gone for Russia. Over the past year, with British help, Ukraine has driven the Russian fleet from Crimea and reopened the Black Sea for exports. The battle on land is much tougher but Ukraines future as a sovereign nation is not in doubt. He added: By continuing to support Ukraine, and by helping to ensure Russia loses, Britain and Europe will be stronger and safer over the long term. Mr Healeys visit to Ukraine within 48 hours of taking on the role is likely to be viewed as a signal from the Government about its commitment to supporting Ukraine. Former prime minister Rishi Sunak, the outgoing Conservative Party leader, had claimed during the General Election campaign that multi-year support to Ukraine would be put at risk under Labour. I met with the newly appointed Secretary of State for Defence of the United Kingdom. We discussed the implementation of the security agreement and the preparation of a future 100-year cooperation agreement between Ukraine and the UK. Our defense cooperation enables Ukrainian pic.twitter.com/IPo3Eqbdio Volodymyr Zelenskyy / (@ZelenskyyUa) July 7, 2024 Mr Zelensky said he had discussed the planned 100-year partnership with the UK, which was first proposed under the Tories. The Ukrainian leader said: I met with the newly appointed Secretary of State for Defence of the United Kingdom. We discussed the implementation of the security agreement and the preparation of a future 100-year cooperation agreement between Ukraine and the UK. Our defence cooperation enables Ukrainian warriors to effectively defend against the aggressor both at sea and on land, particularly with the help of long-range weapons. I thank the United Kingdom for its strong support of our country during this time of war. The Health Secretary has announced he will meet junior doctors on Tuesday in an effort to end strike action and discuss reform. Wes Streeting will first meet the British Dental Association on Monday over changes to the dental contract and to kickstart 700,000 more urgent dentistry appointments. He will then hold face-to-face talks with the British Medical Association (BMA) Junior Doctors Committee on Tuesday for negotiations to end their long-running dispute over pay. Medics in training across the NHS went on strike for five full days from June 27. Junior doctors have been staging strike action (Jordan Pettitt/PA) The walkout was the 11th by junior doctors in 20 months. Junior doctors in England have said their pay has been cut by more than a quarter over the last 15 years and have called for a 35% increase. Labour pledged to create an extra 100,000 urgent dental appointments for children in a bid to clear backlogs in England as part of its manifesto during the General Election campaign. The additional appointments will be delivered on evenings and weekends while the proposals will cost 109 million a year, the party said. Mr Streeting said in a statement on Sunday: When I said the NHS was broken, I was being honest with the public about the scale of the challenge. It will take time to fix it, so theres no time to waste. It is now the policy of the Government that our NHS is broken. It will be the mission of my department, every member of this government, and the 1.4 million people who work in the NHS, to turn our health service around. That work starts now.pic.twitter.com/G6tJlOWuLf Wes Streeting MP (@wesstreeting) July 5, 2024 I am meeting with junior doctors early this week to discuss the end of strike action, and on Monday I will meet the British Dental Association to begin rescuing NHS dentistry. I will also continue to meet with officials and NHS leaders to agree plans for providing an extra 40,000 operations, scans and appointments a week as soon as possible to cut waiting lists. This is what we promised in opposition, so it is what we are doing in government. It will be the mission of this government to build an NHS fit for the future. Im delighted that the Prime Minister will chair the mission delivery board to drive through that change, renew the NHS and build a healthier Britain. Mr Streetings first visit in his new role will be to a GP practice alongside NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard, the Department of Health and Social Care said. An audience member said it was incredible to watch England win against Switzerland with James Corden, who delayed the start of his theatre performance to watch the penalty shootout with the audience. The Gavin and Stacey star brought out an iPad to watch penalties before the start of The Constituent, a new political play in which he is starring at The Old Vic in London. Footage filmed by audience member Carla Feltham, 37, shows Corden propping up the iPad on a table on stage for the crowd and his co-star to see and narrated the action for the audience. Ms Feltham explained to the PA news agency: (Corden) walked out shortly after 7.30pm with his iPad and said England penalties are happening and we could watch together and then do the play after. Everyone clapped and cheered. In the video filmed by Ms Feltham, the audience is heard gasping as Mr Corden informs them that England is one ahead. If we score this, were through. If we score this, were through, and then a very serious, intense, political play, he says to laughter, before shouting, Come on Trent. The audience then erupts into cheers after Trent Alexander-Arnold scores, securing Englands place in the Euros semi-finals. Ms Feltham, a customer service worker from Bristol, said: It was incredible watching the penalties with the cast and the atmosphere was amazing. Its not every day something like that happens and the entire audience loved it. It was amazing that England got through. I heard that a few shows in London struggled with audience members trying to look at their phones for the score so this was perfect and avoided that. Ms Feltham said the play started around 10 or 15 minutes late but no one at all minded. Lewis Hamilton claimed his first win in 945 days and took a record-extending ninth British Grand Prix victory on a wet, wild and emotional afternoon at Silverstone. It looked as though Lando Norris would secure his maiden success on home soil but he was left exposed by his flat-footed McLaren team in the changeable conditions. As the Northamptonshire track dried out following a splurge of rain, Hamilton, trailing Norris by two seconds, peeled into the pit-lane to switch from intermediate tyres to the soft rubber. Norris was critically left out one lap longer and when he emerged from the pits after a sluggish 4.5 sec pit-stop fellow Briton Hamilton had taken the lead to huge roars from the 164,000 sell-out crowd. Hamilton rolled back the years over the remaining dozen laps to take his first victory since the penultimate round of the 2021 campaign in Saudi Arabia. Max Verstappen finished second with Norris third as pole-sitter George Russell retired following a water system failure on his Mercedes. Get in there, Lewis, yelled Hamiltons race engineer, Peter Bonnington. You are the man, you are the man! I have been waiting for this. Hamiltons voice cracked as he replied: Thank you so much, guys. It means a lot to get this one. I love you guys. Crying in his cockpit, Hamilton said: I love you, Bono. GET IN THERE!!!! LEWIS HAMILTON WINS THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX!!!! What a moment. Incredible! pic.twitter.com/ucamrUBTGq Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 7, 2024 With Hamilton heading to Ferrari next year, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said over the radio: We will prevail. We never give up and what a sign-off for our last race at the British Grand Prix. We couldnt wish for anything better. For a large chunk of the topsy-turvy 52-lap affair, Norris looked to have done enough to win. Norris slipped behind Verstappen to fourth on the opening lap as Russell blasted away from Hamilton. But the McLaren drivers race came alive when spots of rain began to fall on lap 15. Norris was crawling all over the back of Verstappens Red Bull machine before blasting ahead of his rival on the Hangar Straight and into Stowe. The crowd stood in salute of Norris as the British one-two-three was restored. Up front and Hamilton was now within range of Russell and he took the lead with a fine move on the inside of his team-mate at Stowe. The afternoon ended in disappointment for George Russell (David Davies/PA) But the rain took its toll on the circuit with both Hamilton and Russell running off the track at the beginning of lap 19 with Norris moving ahead of Russell at Copse and then Hamilton heading into Abbey at the start of lap 20. Norriss McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri was also on the move, taking Russell at the outside of the Loop and heading into the Wellington Straight before passing clear of Hamilton at Stowe. Suddenly it was a McLaren one-two with Hamilton and Russell relegated to third and fourth respectively. With the rain worsening, Verstappen rolled the strategy dice to move to the intermediate tyres. Remarkably, he was five seconds faster than his rivals in the second sector with Norris, Hamilton and Russell immediately switching to the wet rubber. As McLaren serviced Norris, Piastri was left out on dry tyres and his afternoon as a contender was over. On lap 33, Russell was told to retire the car from third place following a water leak failure with Norris seemingly on his way to victory. But with the track drying out, Mercedes pulled Hamilton into the pits for a set of softs and Verstappen, now back up to third, following his one-time rival in for dry rubber, too. Norris was left out on old intermediate tyres and when he stopped at the end of lap 40 his lead had been wiped out with Hamilton swooping into first place. Further back, and Verstappen was suddenly on the move with the Dutch driver taking Norris for second place with four laps remaining, but he had no answer for Hamilton as the 39-year-old crossed the line 1.4 sec clear. Piastri finished fourth ahead of Ferraris Carlos Sainz. After stepping out of his Mercedes machine, an emotional Hamilton embraced his father Anthony. The hug lasted for nearly 20 seconds before Hamilton removed his crash helmet, and balaclava before wiping away his tears. He then leapt over a barrier before standing in front of the record crowd draped in a Union Jack flag. I am still crying, said Hamilton. There is no greater feeling than to finish at the front here. It is so tough for anyone. But the important thing is how you continue to get up and dig deeper than ever even though you are at the bottom of the barrel and there are days since 2021 where I didnt feel I was good enough or I would get back to where I am but I have had great people around me. A new-look Scotland side hit back from an early deficit as they bagged a 73-12 win over Canada, debutants Arron Reed and Gus Warr each claiming a brace of tries. Reed and Warr were two of five uncapped players in Scotlands line-up with a host of key players rested at the start of their Americas tour and they fell behind to Lucas Rumballs early try. But any prospect of an upset was snuffed out from the moment Josh Bayliss went over for the first of Scotlands 11 tries at TD Place Stadium, Ross Thompson adding five conversions and Ben Healy four. Dylan Richardson bagged a first-half double on his first international appearance since November 2021 as Scotland, at sixth in the world ranked 15 places higher than Canada, went in 24-5 ahead at half-time. Wing Reed struck in either half and scrum-half Warr touched down twice after the interval, while Harry Paterson, Jamie Dobie, Stafford McDowall and Kyle Steyn added gloss to the scoreline as Scotland ultimately ran out comfortable winners. However, they were given an initial wake-up call in Ottawa as Canada came storming out of the traps, capitalising on several errors from their opponents. The hosts were camped inside the Scotland 22 in the opening exchanges and were duly rewarded after eight minutes when captain Rumball burst over following a driving maul. Spurred into action, Scotland hit back four minutes later with their first real attack as Paterson punctured the defensive line and offloaded to Currie on the left wing, his pass back inside allowing Bayliss to go over unopposed. Canada 12 Scotland 73, Ottawa, July 6 United States v Scotland, Washington DC, July 12 Chile v Scotland, Santiago, July 20 Uruguay v Scotland, Montevideo, July 27 Richardson had his first try after a quarter of an hour having collected an offload from Thompson, who converted both of Scotlands opening scores to put them 14-5 ahead. Thompson failed to split the posts when Richardson dotted down from a surging maul and was again wayward with his kick when Reed marked his international bow with a try before half-time, Paterson the architect of the move with an offload out the back of his hand which freed the debutant to score. Warr reinforced Scotlands lead after the break, first dancing through the line and while Canada briefly held out, the scrum-half collected the ball again and dived over the ruck for a debut try. Kyle Baillies converted try gave Canada respite from the Scotland onslaught, but the impressive Paterson and Warr combined for the latter to shrug off a couple of challenges and touch down. Scotland looked a threat every time they pushed forward and Reed grabbed his second of the match after barrelling down the left wing, barging past a couple of defenders, before going over. Scotland breached the 50-point barrier just after the hour mark when Paterson deservedly got on the scoreboard following some excellent interplay, while Dobie touched down underneath the posts after being teed up by Reed. McDowall also went over underneath the posts after some deft footwork to evade several challenges while Steyn gratefully accepted Healys offload to round off the scoring. Police have launched a murder investigation after a man was stabbed in east London. Officers were called to reports of a stabbing on Lea Bridge Road, Waltham Forest shortly before 3pm on Saturday, the Metropolitan Police said. The London Ambulance Service and Londons Air Ambulance joined officers in attending the incident. A 33-year-old man died at the scene, and his next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers, the force said. A knife was recovered from the scene while a crime scene remains in place. Images shared on social media site X appeared to show a cordon and forensics teams around several local businesses, including restaurants and a barber shop. No arrests have yet been made. A post-mortem examination will be held in due course and formal identification has not yet taken place. Detective chief inspector Linda Bradley of the Mets Specialist Crime Command said: My team is working around the clock to establish exactly what happened and what led to a man tragically losing his life. While we have spoken with a number of witnesses, we need to hear from anyone who saw the suspect running away. Where did he go? If you were driving in the area and have a dash cam, please review the footage in case you captured something that can help us. In addition, we strongly believe that people in the area may have information which could assist the investigation and we implore you to make contact with us and tell us what you know. Anyone with information has been asked to call police via 101 quoting reference CAD 4049/06Jul, or to get in touch anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner wears a cap sleeve midi dress by ME+EM - ME+EM/ i-Images Picture Agency Angela Rayner, the new Deputy Prime Minister, has worn an outfit from a brand with close links to the Labour Party for the third consecutive day. Her wardrobe choices echo those of Sir Keir Starmers wife, Lady Starmer, who also sported clothes by ME+EM for three days on the trot. ME+EM was founded by Clare Hornby in 2009 and boasts close links to senior Labour figures. Mrs Hornby is married to Johnny Hornby, managing director at TBWA, the marketing company responsible for managing Sir Tony Blairs successful 2001 election campaign. The Hornbys were named in this months edition of Tatler as one of the nations power couples. Angela Rayner in a bright green ME+EM trouser suit - ME+EM/ i-Images Picture Agency Mr Hornbys half-brother is author Nick Hornby and his brother-in-law is novelist Robert Harris, a friend of Labour grandee Peter Mandelson. On Friday, Ms Rayner opted for a bright green ME+EM trouser suit, costing 550, to stride up to the doors of 10 Downing Street to meet the new prime minister and secure her position in the Cabinet. On Saturday, she attended her first Cabinet meeting in an orange 227 ME+EM dress, while on Sunday, she arrived for a meeting with Sir Keir in a red cap sleeve ME+EM midi dress costing 325. Angela Rayner in an orange ME+EM dress - ME+EM/ i-Images Picture Agency Meanwhile, Lady Starmer wore a 295 ME+EM cream short-sleeved crop jacket at the election count on Thursday night, a poppy-red short-sleeved gown at Downing Street on Friday and a green flower-print dress at Sandown races on Saturday. The label appears to be benefiting from such high-profile outings. ME+EM 275 midi dress worn by Lady Starmer - ME+EM/ i-Images Picture Agency When Lady Starmer wore a red ME+EM midi dress featuring contrasting white stitching, which costs 275, a spokesman for the brand was quoted as saying traffic to that particular dress was up by more than 300 per cent. ME+EM said it had seen increased traffic across all outfits worn over the past few days. Joe Biden with physician Kevin O'Connor during his time as Barack Obama's vice president - David Lienemann Joe Bidens doctor met with a leading Parkinsons disease specialist at the White House earlier this year, it has emerged, amid ongoing questions about the US presidents health. Dr Kevin OConnor, Mr Bidens physician, met with Dr Kevin Cannard, a top neurologist, on Jan 17 and Dr Cannard has visited the White House a further seven times in the last year. Mr Biden has refused to take a cognitive test amid speculation about the state of his health, following a television debate last week, in which he appeared to freeze and forget his lines. The White House has denied that Mr Biden has a degenerative mental condition, and the president himself has said his debate performance was just a bad night. Dr Cannard, a movement disorders specialist, works at the Walter Reed Medical Centre, a military hospital in Maryland where Mr Biden receives his checkups. The visit was revealed by the New York Post, which reviewed the White Houses visitor logs. They show that Dr Cannard also met with Megan Nasworthy, an official who liaises with the Walter Reed Medical Centre, in March. Mr Bidens health has become a major threat to his reelection campaign after some Democrats called for him to step back from the 2024 election and make way for a younger nominee. Four senior Democrats privately told colleagues on Sunday they thought Mr Biden should quit the race. Jerrold Nadler, Adam Smith, Mark Takano and Joseph Morelle, all of whom are ranking members of congressional committees, said the campaign should be suspended, the New York Times reported. The 81-year-old acknowledges that he does not talk as smoothly as he used to, but says he remains at the top of his game in private meetings about government policy. In an interview with ABC News on Friday, he said only the Lord Almighty could tell him to stand down from the campaign, stressing the importance of beating Donald Trump in Novembers election. Asked repeatedly by the network whether he would take a cognitive test to disprove his critics, 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 said they said Im good. His mental state has faced increased scrutiny in recent days, and Mr Biden has further fuelled speculation by making further gaffes. In a radio interview on Thursday, he said he was proud to be the first black woman to serve with a black president. Miatta Fanbulleh, the new Labour MP for Peckham, south London. Photograph: Andy Hall/The Observer Torsten Bell A former adviser to Alistair Darling during his time as chancellor, he has since become one of the most respected surveyors of the British economy in the country in his role as director of the Resolution Foundation thinktank. His recent book on improving the economy was Starmerite in outlook, putting economic growth at its heart. However, he did call for a rewriting of fiscal rules to allow for long-term investment in infrastructure. Expect Bell to have a significant policy job at the centre of a Labour government that has staked everything on securing economic growth. Josh Simons Simons has seen Labour in several guises at close quarters. He was a policy adviser to Jeremy Corbyn during his time as party leader. After a stint in the US completing a PhD and working for Meta, Simons returned to UK politics at the helm of the Labour Together thinktank, which was formed out of Starmers successful leadership campaign and has been close to the Labour leaders political project ever since. Labour Together has seen many of its team seconded to Labour for the general election, while Simons has been an outrider for Starmers message. One to watch. Miatta Fahnbulleh Fahnbullehs personal story has been a dramatic one, even before she reaches Westminster. Her family fled civil war in Liberia, settling in Britain. She became an economist and has experience in government at the Cabinet Office. She went on to advise Ed Miliband during his Labour leadership and led the New Economics Foundation thinktank until last year. The group is seen as sitting on Labours left. Fahnbulleh has pushed hard for serious action on the climate crisis and has advocated more urgency in the UKs response. She is likely to be the big brain of the partys soft left. Mike Tapp Labour put time and resources into holding on to the strategically significant seat of Dover and Deal, which fell into its hands after the surprise defection of former Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke shortly before the general election was called. However, Tapp had been working the seat hard and remained the Labour election candidate. With Channel small-boat crossings likely to remain an issue in the new parliament, Tapp could become an important voice. In an area that is targeted by Reform UK, Tapps military background and work with the National Crime Agency also make him a compelling figure. Kirsty McNeill McNeill is part of a newly enhanced cadre of Scottish Labour MPs who have made it to Westminster, with the party recovering from its return of one Scottish MP at the 2019 election. She has years of political experience as a former special adviser to Gordon Brown during his time in No 10. Before the election, McNeill had risen to become one of the most senior figures at Save the Children UK. As a result of her work, she has said that she will dedicate her attention to child poverty, and she should have the intellectual heft to push for it to be a priority in government. Chinese troops entered the Baranovichi military airfield in Belarus - Belarus Military of Defence Chinese soldiers have landed in Belarus to take part in anti-terror military drills on the border with Poland. Belarus Ministry of Defence said that the 11-day joint anti-terrorist exercise would start on Monday and improve coordination between Belarusian and Chinese units. Chinese media said the exercises would be held in Brest, on the Polish border. Photographs from the Baranovichi air base on Saturday, about 100 miles south-west of Minsk, showed Chinese soldiers wearing forage caps as they unloaded their equipment from a single Xian Y-20, a heavy strategic airlifter nicknamed Chubby Girl. They were greeted by a military brass band, which played as the Belarusian and Chinese commanders engaged in the custom of breaking a piece of bread. Belarusian and Chinese commanders engaged in the custom of breaking a piece of bread - Belarus Military of Defence China and Belarus count Russia as a mutual friend and since the invasion of Ukraine have edged closer together. Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian president, met Chinese leader Xi Jinping twice last year in a bid to expand trade ties and revive an economy crippled by Western sanctions over his support for Vladimir Putins war. On Thursday, Belarus was admitted to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), an economic-military group focused on Central Asia and headed by Beijing and Moscow. The SCO also includes Iran, India and Pakistan as members. At the SCO summit in Kazakhstan, Mr Xi called on member states to join hands to resist external interference by increasing military and intelligence contact. The Belarusian Ministry of Defence did not give further details about its joint exercises, but Chinas state-run Global Times reported that they would be held at a training base near the EU border. The joint exercises will last for 11 days - Belarus Military of Defence China and Belarus will conduct joint military training near Brest, it said. Set against the backdrop of counterterrorism operations, this joint exercise will feature integrated training and mixed-unit drills. One of Belarus largest military training grounds is situated outside Brest on the eastern bank of the Bug River and opposite the small Polish town of Terespol. Mr Lukashenko has resisted pressure from the Kremlin to join its invasion of Ukraine, but allowed Russia to use Belarusian territory as a launchpad for attacks on Kyiv in February and March 2022. Since then, he has also accepted a deployment of Russian nuclear missiles in Belarus and has allowed Russian fighter jets to fire missiles at Ukrainian cities from Belarusian airspace. Annalena Baerbock, the German federal foreign minister welcomed David Lammy, the British Foreign Secretary on his first trip abroad as minister - THOMAS KOEHLER/COVER IMAGES David Lammy has said his talks with EU nations this weekend are just the beginning of his attempt to reset relations with the bloc. The new Foreign Secretary has embarked on a tour of Europe on his first overseas visit on the job, with trips to see his counterparts in Germany, Poland and Sweden. Labour has insisted it has no intention of rejoining the EU single market or customs union or restoring free movement. But the party does want to improve the UK-EU trade deal agreed by the Tories in 2020. In particular, Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, has said that Labour would look to strike deals in the chemical and veterinary sectors. Writing for The Local, a European news website, Mr Lammy said his talks over the weekend were just the beginning of Labours efforts to rebuild Britains partnership with the EU. He said: Over centuries, our individual and national stories have come together to tell a wider story of shared progress. Today, we all share a commitment to democracy, human rights and international law. Tragic experiences in our continents shared past have helped us to understand how our shared security and prosperity depend on these shared values. And I believe these values also offer a foundation for closer partnership in the future. My visit this weekend is just the beginning. I look forward to seeing Britain reconnect with our European neighbours in the years ahead. Mr Lammy vowed to 'reset relations with Europe as a reliable partner, a dependable ally and a good neighbour' - BEN DANCE/FCDO This comes after Simon Harris, the Irish premier said the EU wanted to work more closely with Sir Keir Starmer, the new Prime Minister, on relations with the UK. The Taoiseach said that there would be a willingness in Europe to work with a Labour government to deliver veterinary agreements and student mobility. He told Skys Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: Is there space to have a veterinary agreement, is there space in terms of student mobility, is there space to work closer together on issues? I think there absolutely is. And I do think there would be a willingness in Europe to have those conversations in due course, should that be the wish of the British government. Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, said that he welcomed the constructive attitude from European partners. He told Sky: Weve got the same standards as the European Union, if we can sell more whiskey, more salmon, to a market which is so significant to us, of course we should explore an opportunity like that. But he insisted that the Government was not open to the free movement of people, insisting that they would not be revisiting the issue. Putting Brexit years behind us 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. In his article for The Local, he vowed to reset relations with Europe as a reliable partner, a dependable ally and a good neighbour. That is why I am travelling immediately to some of our key European partners. Sitting down with Germanys Annalena Baerbock, Polands Radek Sikorski and Swedens Tobias Billstrom, my message will be simple: let us seize the opportunity for a reset, working even more closely together to tackle shared challenges, he said. The Foreign Secretary also said Labour will champion EU holidays and school exchanges, which critics argue have been hindered by Brexit. He said: We must do more to champion the ties between our people and our culture. Holidays, family ties, school and student exchanges, the arts, and sport (I was of course cheering on England in the Euros). Thanks to this, our citizens benefit from the rich diversity of our continent. The destruction in Rafah on July 5 - Anadolu/Anadolu A top Hamas official said on Sunday that the Palestinian militants were ready to discuss a hostage deal and an end to the Gaza war without a complete and permanent ceasefire. The apparent easing of the Hamas position comes amid renewed mediation efforts by the United States, Qatar and Egypt to tempt the rivals into talks to halt nine months of war and secure a deal to release hostages held by Hamas and prisoners detained by Israel. Hamas had previously required that Israel agree to a complete and permanent ceasefire, the official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. This step was by-passed, as the mediators pledged that as long as the prisoner negotiations continued, the ceasefire would continue, he added. Israel has previously strongly opposed Hamass demands for a permanent ceasefire, officials said. Israeli army vehicles inside the southern Gaza Strip on July 3 - OHAD ZWIGENBERG/AFP Benjamin Netanyahu, Israels prime minister, has made the destruction of Hamas and the return of all of the hostages the central aim of Israels military campaign launched after the Oct 7 attacks. US President Joe Biden outlined a plan on May 31 that he said was proposed by Israel and promised a roadmap to an enduring ceasefire and the release of all hostages. An Israeli negotiator went to Doha for talks with the mediators on Friday. Israel said there are still gaps in counter-proposals made by Hamas, but that the negotiator would return to Doha this week. An official with knowledge of the mediation said US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director William Burns would go to Qatar this week. The Hamas official said Egypt and Turkey would also step up their efforts in coming days to reach an accord. If full negotiations start, Hamas expects them to take two to three weeks, according to the official. Israeli soldiers during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip on July 3 - OHAD ZWIGENBERG/AFP Biden said Israels plan proposed a first six-week truce with an Israeli withdrawal from populated areas of the Gaza Strip and an initial release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for some hostages seized on Oct 7. The Hamas official said that if a ceasefire started it would want up to 400 trucks of aid to enter the besieged Palestinian territory each day. The war started with Hamass Oct 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. Hamas also seized 251 hostages, according to Israel. Of the 116 hostages who remain in Gaza, 42 are believed by the Israeli army to be dead. Israels retaliatory offensive has killed at least 38,153 people, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. IDF vehicles on the border with Gaza last October. Photograph: Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images In the initial chaos of the Hamas attack on 7 October, Israels armed forces employed what is known as the Hannibal protocol, a directive to use force to prevent the kidnapping of soldiers even at the expense of hostages lives, according to a report. The Israel daily Haaretz reported on Sunday, nine months to the day after the assault in which about 1,200 people were killed and another 250 abducted to the Gaza Strip, that the operational procedure was used at three army facilities attacked by Hamas, potentially endangering civilians as well. Another message given to Israels Gaza division at 11.22am, about five hours after the attack began, ordered: Not a single vehicle can return to Gaza. A southern command source told the paper: Everyone knew by then that such vehicles could be carrying kidnapped civilians or soldiers Everyone knew what it meant to not let any vehicles return to Gaza. Related: Israeli government accused of trying to sabotage Gaza ceasefire proposal Haaretz said it was still unclear whether civilians or soldiers were harmed as a result of these orders, or how many, but documents and testimonies of soldiers, as well as mid-level and senior Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officers, suggested the practice was used in a widespread manner on 7 October amid a lack of clear information as the IDF struggled to respond to the attack. In response to the report, an IDF spokesperson said internal investigations into what transpired on 7 October and the preceding period were under way. The aim of these investigations is to learn and to draw lessons which could be used in continuing the battle. When these investigations are concluded, the results will be presented to the public with transparency, the statement said. The Haaretz investigation is the latest reporting by Israeli media shedding light on failures in military intelligence and operational responses around the Hamas offensive, the deadliest single attack on Israeli soil since the founding of the state in 1948. Israels ensuing campaign in Gaza has still to achieve several of its stated objectives, leading to fears the conflict is on the brink of morphing into sustained insurgency-style warfare. More than 38,000 people have been killed by Israeli operations in the Palestinian territory, according to the local health ministry, and almost all of the 2.3 million population have been displaced from their homes in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Allegations first surfaced in January that the IDF may have used the Hannibal protocol to prevent Hamas fighters from returning to Gaza with hostages. While the directive has only ever been used in relation to soldiers, a high-profile incident at the Beeri kibbutz, in which a brigadier general ordered a tank to fire shells at a house with Hamas militants and 14 Israelis inside, killing 13 of the hostages, has raised questions about operational procedures causing civilian casualties. The Israeli military probably killed more than a dozen of its own citizens during the 7 October attack, a UN investigation found last month. Also on Sunday, Israels Channel 12 reported that a sophisticated early-warning system on the Gaza border developed by Unit 8200, part of the IDFs military intelligence directorate, had not been properly maintained and was known to frequently malfunction. A dossier presented by Unit 8200 officers before 7 October detailed Hamass elaborate invasion plans, including raids on Israeli towns and military posts, hostage scenarios and potential outcomes, the report said. In November, members of the women-only spotters unit deployed at two points along the Gaza perimeter said they had tried to warn their superiors on numerous occasions about unusual activity along the border fence before Hamass attack, but had been ignored. Fifteen spotters were killed on 7 October and another six taken hostage. Stricken Iranian destroyer Sahand An Iranian warship capsized while undergoing port repairs, killing two officers and injuring several others. The navys Sahand destroyer was in the southern port of Bandar Abbas near the Strait of Hormuz when it sank, state media reported. The official news agency IRNA, citing a navy statement, said: As Sahand was being repaired at the wharf, it lost its balance due to water ingress. Fortunately the vessel is being returned to balance quickly. Sahand, named after a mountain in northern Iran, took six years to build and launched into the Persian Gulf in December 2018. The 1,300-ton vessel was equipped with surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft batteries and sophisticated radar and radar-evading capabilities. Its capsizing is the latest misfortune to befall the Iranian Navy. In January 2018, a naval destroyer, Damavand, sank in the Caspian Sea after crashing into a breakwater. In June 2021 Irans largest navy ship at the time, the Kharg, sank after catching fire in the Gulf of Oman. Though local media has described the incident as an accident some analysts say it could be the work of an Israeli cyber attack. Vulnerable to hacks Enmity between Israel and Iran has intensified since Israel declared war on Hamas in October, leading to an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus and a wave of missile attacks by Tehran in retaliation. Ronen Solomon, an Israeli security analyst, told The Telegraph, the ships system is vulnerable to hacks as it is controlled by remote devices. He added: We know because Iran is the one that developed a cyber attack against Western cargo ships in 2021, including British ships, based on the same concept. This latest incident has what he said are all the elements that could point to a sophisticated operation with a space of denial that suits both sides, Israel and Iran. One of Israels most high-profile hacks occurred in 2020 on the Iranian port of Shahid Rajaee. It sent the port into disarray causing disruptions at the port for several days. The US laid the blame on Israel, saying it was in retaliation for an attempted Iranian cyber attack on their port facilities. The UK foreign secretary says the security pact could cover areas such as energy, the climate crisis, pandemics and even illegal migration. Photograph: Tytus Zmijewski/EPA Labour is seeking a sweeping joint declaration with the EU to usher in a wide-ranging security pact covering defence, energy, the climate crisis, pandemics and even illegal migration, the foreign secretary, David Lammy, has said. As part of the new governments plan to reset its relations with the EU and bring an end to the Brexit era, Lammy told the Guardian that a broadly defined security deal would not undermine Labours commitment to remain outside the EUs single market and customs union. Under Labour plans, the pact would see the UK work more closely with the bloc on a slew of areas related to security, ideally without the need for a legally binding deal, which could take years to agree. Related: David Lammy: Britain has to start reconnecting with a dangerous, divided world Lammy has also accepted an invitation from the EU foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, to attend the October meeting of the EU foreign affairs council something that was rejected by the previous Conservative government. It is rare for non-EU states to attend the foreign affairs council, and Labour thinks it may be possible to go on an irregular basis if the planned security pact develops. In an interview during his first trip to Europe as foreign secretary, Lammy said: We said in our manifesto we wanted an ambitious security pact, and thats because we have been speaking to Europe about this for the last few years, and I think there is an appetite, particularly following the war in Ukraine and the challenges that EU faces in relation to energy and climate, to go broader than just defence. So you have to obviously get into discussions with Europe and find those issues of mutual interest. My hope is that once, of course, the new European leadership is in place, we can progress this with a joint declaration of some kind. Obviously, underneath that would be buckets of work streams. Labour is said to be leaning against a legally binding joint document that, as well as taking years to negotiate, could also start to conflict with separate work on reviewing the UK-EU Trade Cooperation Agreement, a negotiation that may last until 2026 and is unlikely to begin until a new EU Commission has been appointed. Labour thinking in relation to a security pact is to see if it can establish something similar to the EU-US technology council that has a number of subcommittees, and holds an annual summit. The UK is one of the few external partners with which the EU holds no annual summit. Asked whether the security cooperation could extend to issues such as cybersecurity, illegal migration, pandemics, decarbonisation and access to critical minerals, Lammy said: Yes, it could. Related: David Lammy faces a world in turmoil: five key concerns for foreign secretary He added: Particularly on critical minerals, we do need to cooperate with our European partners. And post-pandemic, we are very aware of our capability in health, in pharmaceuticals and in higher education. So there, I think we are talking about things that Europe wants to talk to us about. Ive said that Im very keen for us to get to a place where weve got structured dialogue with the EU, so I hope we can arrive at that. After Labour won a landslide victory in Thursdays election, Lammy embarked on a trip to meet his counterparts in Poland, Germany and Sweden. He said: Im serious about a reset. I sensed in Poland and Germany they were delighted to have a new [UK] government. We are absolutely clear that we want to look to the future. I think theres a lot of issues that we have to coordinate on, but it is all a matter of negotiation and discussion. But Ive set the direction of travel. The broad issue was raised by Lammy with the Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who said they had discussed some creative ideas on future cooperation. Poland holds the presidency of the EU next year, and is likely to be a key ally in persuading other EU states that the UK is not seeking a back-door way into accessing the single market without taking on its responsibilities. Within the EU, the need for greater defence cooperation alongside Nato has normally been championed by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the UK is aware that Anglo-French bilateral defence cooperation is in a period of flux, as Macron fights for his political survival. Lammy was reluctant to commit on whether he would revive plans for a EU-wide youth mobility scheme. Both the previous government and Labour had rejected EU plans to make it easier for 18- to 30-years-olds in the bloc and the UK to study and work abroad. Under the scheme, UK participants would be able to stay only in the first EU country that accepted them. But he said the German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, had raised with him the issue of school visits. Theres lots of concern in Germany, for example, about the fall-off in our young people meeting one another. If this goes on, you can have a generation of people that really have no contact. She herself was a student of LSE. I hope we can fix that school visits issue, but issues about mobility are broader issues that do raise more complex issues. He insisted that Labour remained clear that it was not going to return to a system of free movement of labour. He said there were problems with the European Commission proposals, but added: In the spirit of openness, I am very happy to hear what they have to say. Senator Lindsey Graham speaks to reporters about a bill to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, at the Capitol in Washington DC, on 20 June 2024. Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham added his voice on Sunday to a chorus calling for cognitive and physical evaluations for Joe Biden but also called for the same for Donald Trump and others. The Republican lawmaker recommended such tests for all future presidential nominees as well as those who may take over from a president or a nominee. All nominees for president going into future should have neurological exams as part of an overall physical exam Lets test Trump. Lets test Biden. Lets test the line of succession, the 68-year-old Graham told CBS Face the Nation on Sunday. This is a wake-up call for the country, he added. We need to make sure that the people who are going to be in the line of succession are capable of being commander-in-chief under dire circumstances. Grahams call for cognitive tests came after California Democrat Adam Schiff said hed be happy if both Biden and Trump took tests and predicted: frankly, a test would show Donald Trump has a serious illness of one kind or another. Schiff also said Biden should pass the torch if he cant win overwhelmingly. The issue of presidential cognitive testing comes as Biden, 81, the oldest US president in history, struggles to free himself from claims that his admittedly bad debate performance against Trump 10 days ago was not symptomatic of a broader mental decline and that he was fit to remain the presumptive Democratic nominee for reelection this November. Graham added: Im offended by the idea that he [Biden] shouldnt take a competency test, given all the evidence in front of us, Graham said, adding that he thinks Biden is in denial and thats dangerous. Asked if Trump, 78, should, too, Graham said: Yes, yes, I think both. With pressure mounting on the White House, Graham said: Most of us are concerned with the national security implications of this debate about President Bidens health, adding: Im worried about Biden Biden being the commander in chief for the next four months. Graham also predicted that Biden will most likely will be replaced as the Democratic nominee with the US vice-president, Kamala Harris, being the most obvious choice. If she does become the nominee, this is a dramatically different race than it is right now, today. I hope people are thinking about that on our side, he said. Senator Mehreen Faruqi said she was very proud of Fatima Payman as another Muslim woman for standing strong on her convictions. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP The deputy leader of the Greens, Mehreen Faruqi, has hit back at claims Fatima Paymans resignation from Labor was orchestrated, insisting that Muslim women are often stereotyped as unable to make their own decisions. Faruqi said she had been in touch with Senator Payman over the past few weeks and also way before that and believed the first-term senator made up her own mind after following her moral compass and listening to the community. Im very proud of her as another Muslim woman for standing strong on her convictions, Faruqi told the ABCs Insiders program on Sunday. Payman resigned from the Labor party on Thursday, saying she was leaving with a heavy heart but a clear conscience as she argued her own governments response to the bloodshed in Gaza amounted to indifference. The 29-year-old senator had previously been suspended from Labors federal caucus after warning publicly that she might cross the floor a second time to support a motion to immediately recognise Palestine as a state. Anthony Albanese said on Friday there had been meticulous timing of events and he had heard a month ago, where this was going to go. A day before Paymans resignation, Albanese told parliament he expected further announcements in coming days which will explain exactly what the strategy has been for more than one month now. Much of the commentary that suggested there must have been a level of coordination pointed to reports that Payman had taken informal advice from the controversial political strategist and so-called preference whisperer Glenn Druery. The government services minister, Bill Shorten, told Sky News on Sunday: The Senate is littered with people who have taken advice from Glenn Druery. Sometimes they get up, ultimately they flame out. Im not going to give Fatima Payman advice. I hoped that she wouldnt leave Im disappointed, but thats her call. Faruqi said she had not encouraged Payman to think about joining the Greens. She said it had been really bugging me over these last few weeks that there is a question about Senator Paymans agency. That comes down to how Muslim women are stereotyped in this country, how they are boxed into this person who cant make up their own minds, that they are led by someone else someone else forced them to do this. Faruqi said that throughout her own political life she had been a target of Islamophobia. I think being the other brown Muslim woman in that Senate, I can understand far better than most what Senator Payman has been going through, not just over the last few weeks, but just in general, Faruqi said. Asked about the emergence of the organisation the Muslim Vote, Faruqi said people of colour and Muslims have for too long been ignored in this country and the major political parties had for decades used us as tokens, as photo opportunities at our religious events. Related: Rebel with a cause: inside the moment Fatima Payman quit the Labor party So I dont find it surprising at all that communities are organising and communities are saying, well, we want our voices heard, she said. Albanese said on Friday he did not want Australia to go down the road of faith-based political parties, because what that will do is undermine social cohesion. The Coalition frontbencher Bridget McKenzie also told Sky News on Sunday: We dont want to see sectarianism take over Australian politics at all. But Faruqi said Fred Niles Christian Democratic party once held the balance of power in the New South Wales parliament and the major parties were very happy to do deals with them. Faruqi said the Greens were not encouraging any protests that are violent, but she characterised the unfurling of the banner from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free on the top of Parliament House on Thursday as a peaceful protest. Four people have been charged with trespassing over the incident. Faruqi called on the government to immediately recognise Palestine as a state. She declined to say whether Hamas should be dismantled, saying its not up to me to say who should be gone or not. But she said the Greens were not proposing to repeal Australias designation of Hamas as a terrorist organisation. Hamas has nothing to do with recognising Palestinian statehood, she said, arguing the latter was about upholding the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. The Australian government has said Hamas should play no role in the future governance of Gaza. The internationally recognised Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule over parts of the Israeli occupied West Bank, is dominated by Fatah, a rival to Hamas. The co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Peter Wertheim, criticised Faruqis remarks. Hamas is indisputably a terrorist organisation and it is therefore ludicrous to prevaricate about whether it might play a legitimate political role in the Middle East, he said. A Nato flag The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) was born out of the rubble of the Second World War and consolidated just as a conflict broke out on the Korean peninsula, 75 years ago. The anniversary is to be marked at a summit in Washington this week, with the alliance under greater pressure than at any other time in its history. It will also mark the first foreign foray by Sir Keir Starmer, and the host, Joe Biden, will be watched closely for any further signs of impairment to his faculties. The alliance has much to celebrate this week. It will welcome Sweden into its ranks as the 32nd member of the club, an expansion brought about by Russias invasion of Ukraine, occasioned by Moscows hostility to its efforts to join Nato. The European member states are now spending more on their own security, with 23 now meeting the target of spending 2 per cent of GDP on defence. Just a few years ago, only three did so. Pressure from America, starting with president Obama and increasing under Donald Trump, has made Europe face up to its obligations. But the obvious threat from Russia means the continental members will have to do even more. Sir Keir has committed to spending 2.5 per cent on defence, but only as soon as resources allow, and without defining when that might be. Yet the most important development regarding the future of Nato will not take place at this summit, but at the ballot box in November. The possible re-election of Donald Trump to the US presidency could bring Nato under unprecedented pressure. The former president does not favour spending increasing sums on Ukraines defence, most of which has been provided by America. Moreover, when he was asked if he would withdraw from Nato, Mr Trump made no commitment either way. Some European countries, such as Germany, are also lukewarm about supporting Ukraines accession to Nato. Hungarys leader, Viktor Orban, even visited Putin in Moscow last week, a meeting that has been heavily criticised by EU leaders. Diplomatic observers seriously doubt Mr Trump would take the US out of Nato, but he might seek to push Ukraine into agreeing a deal with Russia that allows Vladimir Putin to keep some of the land it has taken. This weeks summit will issue statements in support of Ukraine and pledge to continue supporting Kyiv for as long as it takes. But until the presidency is decided later this year, the future is uncertain. Robert Glenister stars in The Night Caller - Channel 5 The Night Caller begins in dramatic fashion. A man in the shower, washing away the blood, then staring in the mirror at his battered face. Thats what I like about Channel 5 dramas: theres no messing about. Youre straight in with a wallop. The man is Robert Glenister. He plays Tony, a former teacher who, after an incident glimpsed in flashback that seems to involve a pupil in a swimming pool, lost his career and is now reduced to driving a black cab at night. Twenty-seven years loyal service so they could just throw me on the scrapheap, he laments. Hes miserable, lonely and nursing a deep sense of betrayal. There is nobody in his life, so he confides in a late-night radio DJ named Lawrence, who becomes in his mind the closest thing he has to a friend. As is the way with this kind of drama, Tony is about to get drawn into a terrible chain of events. Its a pretty simplistic plot, and the show (told over four episodes) has a heightened tone common to all Channel 5 thrillers. The villains are verging on cartoon baddies. You never quite believe in the swimming pool where Tony completes his laps without ever seeing another soul. But its grounded in Glenisters performance, which digs right into the pain of a sixtysomething man who feels that, as an older white man, society no longer wants him. Tony believes in Lawrence, but we can sense that theres something false about him. He promises that he is there to lend an ear, and to foster a sense of community among his listeners. But hes subtly whipping up their grievances and stoking their fears. Sean Pertwee is the radio DJ, no doubt cast because he has such a fabulously rich voice. Its a voice so associated with MasterChef: The Professionals he has narrated it since 2011 that you cant listen to it without imagining him talking about spiced duck breast with an octopus veloute. Pertwee succeeds, through tone alone, in making Lawrence slippery and unlikeable. I have no idea if Lawrence meets a sticky end, but itll be satisfying if he does. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to stop people smugglers - ANDY RAIN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock/Shutterstock Hundreds of police officers will be deployed across Europe to stop people smugglers as part of Sir Keir Starmers new UK Border Security Command. Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, announced on Sunday the first steps in setting up the command by kickstarting the search from Monday for a former police, military or intelligence chief to head it. It will also see up to 1,000 extra officers recruited by the National Crime Agency (NCA), Border Force and MI5 specifically to target smuggling gangs. A significant number will be based across Europe working with Europol and European police forces. Ms Cooper told Graeme Biggar, the head of the NCA, on Sunday that she wants to start deploying the extra officers to break the business model of the gangs as soon as possible, with the summer months set to bring a surge in Channel crossings. The new command will be funded by the money saved by scrapping Rishi Sunaks Rwanda scheme, which is expected to generate some 75 million pounds in the first year. The officers will bolster those already based in transit and border countries including France, Belgium, Turkey, Bulgaria, Italy and Greece, as well as places such as Kurdistan, where some of the people smuggling networks originate. The summer months are set to bring a surge in Channel crossings - SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP Ms Cooper has commissioned an investigation by the Home Office and the NCA into the latest routes, methods and tactics used by people smuggling gangs across Europe, so that officers are properly targeted. The Home Office said the new head of the command will be appointed within weeks and will coordinate the work by law enforcement, reporting directly to Ms Cooper. The command is modelled on the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism set up by the last Labour Government to overhaul and coordinate the approach to national security. It is understood that Neil Basu, a former head of counter-terrorism policing in the UK, is expected to apply for the job and is likely to be a frontrunner. Mr Basu was overlooked by the previous government to head the NCA and the Metropolitan Police. Legislation in Sir Keir Starmers first Kings Speech, due next week, will give officers and investigators counter-terorism style powers. They will include enhanced stop and search powers to carry out personal searches, examine and seize mobile phones and copy any data on the devices. Like terrorism police, officers will be able to get warrants to search suspected people smugglers premises and seize items before an offence is committed, and apply to courts for early access to financial information on suspects. They could also use serious crime prevention orders to restrict access to the internet, banking and travel of suspected people smugglers before they were convicted. A core team in the Home Office is establishing the commands precise remit, governance and strategic direction. Ms Cooper said: Criminal smuggling gangs are making millions out of small boat crossings, undermining our border security and putting lives at risk. We cant carry on like this. We need to tackle the root of the problem, going after these dangerous criminals and bringing them to justice. The Border Security Command will be a major step change in UK enforcement efforts to tackle organised immigration crime, drawing on substantial resources to work across Europe and beyond to disrupt trafficking networks and to coordinate with prosecutors in Europe to deliver justice. Ms Cooper will also use a meeting with European leaders in the UK on July 18 to seek a new deal with the EU to opt-in to its fingerprinting system used to identify asylum seekers and illegal migrants on the continent. This will enable Border Force to identify where an individual has previously applied and been rejected for asylum in another European country and fast-track their removal. The so-called Eurodac fingerprint system could pave the way for a new returns deal with the EU under which Britain would send Channel migrants back to Europe. In return, Britain could take asylum seekers or at least unaccompanied children from Europe with a family connection to the UK. Shifting voting patterns suggest a significant change in the makeup of the UK electorate. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA A Labour landslide after the Conservative partys collapse was the big takeaway from Thursdays election, but beneath the headlines, shifting voting patterns demonstrated just how much the UKs electorate has changed. Smaller parties achieved record vote shares, while independent candidates broke through in many places and the Liberal Democrats saw a return to their status as the third largest party. Below are some of the key takeaways showing how the smaller parties upset both the Conservatives and Labour in the polling booth. A breakdown in first past the post The 2024 election was one of the most disproportionate results in recent history, according to the Electoral Reform Society, with Labour winning 63% of seats from only 33.8% of the vote. The UK uses a first-past-the-post system, which tends to exaggerate the representation of larger parties in parliament in order to create majorities, and often leaves smaller parties clutching on to a handful of seats relative to their vote share. If the UK used a more proportional system, Reform UK would expect to have 93 MPs, the Green party 44, the Lib Dems 79, the Conservatives 154, and Labour would have only 220. A Gaza election saw a rise in independents Related: UK general election results in full: Labour wins in landslide As well as in the four seats that Labour lost to pro-Palestinian candidates, the results show that the Labour party saw its vote share fall across the board in constituencies with large Muslim populations. Those included Ilford North, where the shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, held on by just 528 votes against the independent challenger Leanne Mohamad. Keir Starmer was heavily criticised for comments he made early on in the Israel-Gaza war to the effect that Israel had the right to withhold power and water from civilians in Gaza. He later sought to clarify the remarks. Tactical voting may have helped the Lib Dem surge The Lib Dems won 72 seats a big improvement on their 2019 performance, when the party returned just 11 MPs. The partys strong performance may have been aided by Ed Daveys unorthodox campaigning, which included him visiting Thorpe Park, going bungee jumping and whizzing down a waterslide. However, the results show that tactical voting between Lib Dems and Labour probably also played a part. In seats that the Lib Dems won, Labours losses correlated strongly with Lib Dem gains, suggesting that some voters switched as part of an anti-Tory strategy. Reform UK and the Greens are now future challengers The rise in small parties and the Conservative collapse means the next election will be fought on a very different battleground from any in recent history. Reform are now second place in 103 seats, 93 of which were won by Labour this time. Meanwhile, the Greens are second place in 47 seats, 45 of which returned Labour MPs on Thursday. The Conservatives will hope that their 298 second-place finishes (222 of them to Labour) will enable them to bounce back when Britain next heads to the polls. Thursdays vote could have gone a lot worse for them of Labours 100 second-place finishes, 87 were in constituencies won by Tories. Ukrainian infantry in a trench 100 metres from Russian lines - Libkos/Getty Images Europe Russian forces have advanced into the southwestern suburbs of New York, a town in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Ukrainian and Russian sources said that Moscows forces have taken up positions on Petrovskyi Street, which is roughly half a mile from the centre of the town. Ukraines general staff confirmed that fighting had taken place within New York, also known as Niu York, in its mid-afternoon situational report. On Saturday, Ukrainian media reported that soldiers in the area were complaining of a lack of mechanised support, and that that had led to Russian advances into the town. The attack is understood to be part of a larger Russian offensive aimed at capturing the coal-mining city of Toretsk, which is around six miles north of New York. Toretsk is also facing a Russian assault from the east, where the Ukrainian military has confirmed that fighting is ongoing in the citys outskirts. Russia continues to make incremental gains across the front. On July 4, Ukraines army confirmed it had retreated from a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Chasiv Yar, a strategically important town in eastern Donetsk. New York was established by German Mennonite settlers in 1892. It is said to have taken its name from the birthplace of a wife of one of the founders: New York City, USA. The town was known as Novgorodske from 1951-2021, but changed its name in a bid to distance itself from the Soviet era. 06:26 PM BST Todays live coverage has ended. Todays live coverage has ended. Heres a roundup of the days events: Russian forces advanced towards the centre of New York, a town in Donetsk. Russia said it would respond to Ukrainian attacks on its territory carried out with Western weapons. Moscow said it had destroyed two Ukrainian Patriot missile launchers Ukraine said they were decoys. A pregnant woman was taken to hospital after a Russian strike on Kherson. A Ukrainian drone strike hit an ammunition dump in Russias Voronezh region. 06:01 PM BST Pregnant woman injured in Russian attack on Kherson, officials say A pregnant woman has been taken to hospital after being injured in a Russian strike on the city of Kherson, local officials have said. The Kherson regional administration said: Russian forces have once again targeted residential areas of Kherson. Korabelnyi district came under fire. Houses have been damaged. A casualty has been reported. An ambulance crew took a pregnant woman, 32, to hospital, who was suffering from symptoms of poisoning caused by combustion fumes. She is currently under medical supervision and in a satisfactory condition. The attack also reportedly destroyed the cafe Lito, which was said to have been an integral part of life in the city. 04:33 PM BST SBU behind Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil depots Ukraines security service (SBU) was behind overnight drone attacks on two oil depots in Russias Krasnodar Krai region, Ukrainian media has reported, citing a police source. Yesterday, the Russians couldnt extinguish the massive fire all day, which started as a result of a nighttime drone attack on the oil depot near the Pavlov community in Krasnodar Krai, the source said. Earlier, Russian new outlets reported that the drone strikes had started large fires and damaged a communication tower on the night of July 6. Ukraine has ramped up strikes on Russias oil industry in recent months in a bid to drive up fuel prices and limit Moscows ability to supply its forces on the frontline. 03:56 PM BST Russia will respond to Ukrainian attacks carried out with Western weapons Russia will respond to Ukrainian attacks on its soil carried out with the use of Western weapons, Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, has said. The president [Vladimir Putin] has said that we would respond. And I am convinced that you will see it in the foreseeable future, Russian news agency Tass quoted the foreign minister as saying. They the United States and Nato keep on saying that they are not at war with Russia. This is not a brave face on a bad situation, thats what Ill say, Lavrov added. The US has authorised Ukraine to use its weapons to strike within Russian territory, but only on Russian forces that are attacking or preparing to attack Ukrainian forces. 03:38 PM BST Pictured: Russians show alleged Storm Shadow missile debris Russians show debris from what they say is a Storm Shadow missile that the UK supplied to Ukraine - @THEEURASIATIMES/X 03:27 PM BST Pokrovsk sees heaviest fighting of the day, Ukrainian military says The Pokrovsk front has seen the heaviest fighting of the day, the Ukrainian military has said. In a statement, the military said that Russian forces attacked the region 27 times on Sunday. It added that 19 of these attacks had been repelled, while eight were ongoing. The military also emphasised that its forces in Pokrovsk had shot down a Russian Su-25 attack jet (see our post at 2:51pm). Across the entire frontline, 78 clashes with Russian forces were recorded. Pokrovsk is a small Donetsk city that lies around 37 miles east of Avdiivka, which Russia captured in February. The frontline is currently around 18 miles from the citys suburbs. 03:07 PM BST Pictured: Ukrainian farmers collect grain between trenches Ukrainian farmers collect wheat grain 8 miles from the frontline against the background of military fortifications - Libkos/Getty Images Europe 02:51 PM BST Ukraine shoots down Russian Su-25 jet, military says Ukrainian forces on the Pokrovsk front have shot down a Russian Su-25 attack jet, a military spokesman said. In a post on social media, the military said: On the Pokrovsk front, our Ukrainian servicemen shot down a Russian Su-25 aircraft that was firing at the positions of the [Ukrainian] Defence Forces. The aircraft is now burning in the steppes of Ukrainian Donbas, the post added. The Su-25 is a Soviet-era, single-seat, jet designed to provide close air support for ground forces. The Russian air force operated over 100 of the aircraft prior to the invasion of Ukraine, although around 30 are believed to have been shot down since then. Ukraine also uses Su-25 jets, and was reported to possess around 40 of them in February 2024. 02:32 PM BST Ukrainian oligarch flees country using forged documents A Ukrainian billionaire has fled the country using forged documents, Ukrainian media has reported. Citing sources within Kyivs prosecutor generals office, Ukrainska Pravda (UP) said that Hennadii Boholiubov, a co-founder of Ukrainian bank PrivatBank, travelled to Poland on the night of June 23-24 via train using false papers. According to UP, Mr Boholiubov made the trip after discovering that Ukraines economic security bureau intended to open an investigation into financial misconduct within PrivatBank. UP also reported that a Ukrainian border guard who assisted the businessman in crossing the border was taken into custody on July 6. 02:18 PM BST Watch: Alleged Russian strikes on Ukrainian Patriot missile launchers Russias ministry of defence says the footage shows the destruction of two Ukrainian Patriot launch systems. Ukraine says that Russia hit decoys. Did the Russians attack the mock-ups? Russia's defense ministry claims that an Iskander attack destroyed two Ukrainian Patriot launchers and a Giraffe radar installation in the Odesa region. The Ukrainian side denies these reports. Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk pic.twitter.com/83jv7ix2sN Belsat in English (@Belsat_Eng) July 7, 2024 02:11 PM BST Orban promises more surprise meetings after Putin visit Victor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, has promised more surprise meetings after visiting Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, in Moscow on Friday. You mentioned the warheads, but you know, the territory, the people, the whole enormous geographic treasury, what they have. So its a real empire. A man who rules a real empire, Mr Orban said of his meeting with Putin. The Hungarian prime minister said the trip to meet Putin was planned in the strictest secrecy. More surprise meetings could take place next, Mr Orban added, but did not specify who with. 01:35 PM BST The race to save stolen Ukrainian children held by Russia Joe Barnes today reports on how activists are racing to free Ukrainian children taken by Russia before they turn 18 and are lost in Moscows adult penal system. Officials and charity workers are using sophisticated software to scrape Russian adoption databases, image recognition tools and public records to confirm these findings. Bringing the children home is considered a race against time. With many of them abducted before their first birthday, they will have no recollection of their parents or Ukrainian heritage. Even more urgently, as they grow up it becomes harder to identify them. You can read the full story here. 11:49 AM BST Russia says it has captured a village in Donetsk Russia has captured a village in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, Moscows defence ministry said. The Russian Federation has liberated the settlement of Chigai in the Donetsk Peoples Republic, Tass, a Russian state-owned news agency, quoted the ministry as saying. Chigari is an alternate Russian name for the village of Pivdenne, a frontline settlement west of Russian-controlled Horlivka. Ukraine has not yet commented on the Russian claim. 11:07 AM BST Russia says it destroyed Patriot missile launchers, Ukraine says they were mock-ups Russian Iskander ballistic missiles destroyed two Ukrainian Patriot missile launchers in the Odesa region, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday. The attack took place near the port of Yuzhne and also destroyed a radar station, the ministry added. Ukraine, however, said that Russia had hit decoy launch sites. Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of the Ukrainian air force, shared Russian footage of the attack on social media and said that his air force personnel had 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. 10:27 AM BST Russian attacks on Ukraine kill 8, injure 16 Russian attacks on Ukraine killed 8 people and injured a further 16 over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian authorities said. In Kherson, four people were killed in a spate of attacks on 17 settlements, the regional governor said. In Donetsk, one person was reportedly killed in the town of Niu-York and another in Ukrainsk. A 65-year woman was killed in Dnipropetrovsk, the regional governor reported. While in Kharkiv, a 47-year-old man was killed after Russian forces struck the village of Odnorobivka, according to the areas governor. 10:09 AM BST Ukraine shoots down 13 Russian drones, air force says The Ukrainian military shot down 13 Russian Shahed drones launched at the country overnight, Kyivs air force said. It also said that Russia fired two Iskander ballistic missiles, but did not confirm if they had been intercepted by Ukrainian air defence. Shahed drones are Iranian-developed, unmanned kamikaze weapons that can be fitted with a warhead of up to 50kg and have a range of 1,240 miles. They are typically launched in swarms and are flown into targets where they detonate on impact. 09:55 AM BST Pictured: The funeral of a British volunteer in Kyiv Peter Fouche, 49, from Fulham, died on June 27 after being badly injured in combat against Russian forces. Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, revealed work had already begun on a rescue plan for the Grangemouth plant - Jane Barlow/PA Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to save hundreds of jobs at Scotlands last oil refinery as he set Labours sights on defeating the SNP at the next Holyrood election. The Prime Minister, who travelled to Edinburgh on Sunday for his first official engagement since his historic landslide win, said he was very concerned at the situation at the Grangemouth plant and revealed work had already begun on a rescue plan. The operator of Grangemouth, Petroineos, has warned operations at the refinery could cease as early as next year, which would result in the loss of at least 400 jobs. The refinery, part of Sir Jim Ratcliffes Ineos empire, produces 215,000 barrels per day and is seen as vital to UK infrastructure. Closure of great concern Should it close, Scotland would become the only major oil-producing country in the world not to have its own oil-refining capacity. Sir Keir revealed his new government had already begun discussions about Grangemouths future, saying the refinerys threatened closure was of great concern. He described saving jobs as a real priority for me and pledged to ensure the plant had a prosperous future. The pledge came as Sir Keir vowed to usher in a new era of cooperation with the Scottish Government, even as he said part two of Labours resurgence was to take power at Holyrood in 2026 from the SNP. Anas Sarwar (left), the leader of Scottish Labour, said he had already held discussions with Ed Miliband, the new energy secretary, about Grangemouth - Andrew Milligan/PA Labour returned 37 MPs at last weeks election, while the SNP has plummeted to just nine leading to bitter nationalist infighting. We will also start more immediately with discussions about Grangemouth, which is obviously a source of great concern to me, in terms of what steps we can now take to preserve jobs and ensure the future, Sir Keir said. So there are immediate steps we can take that will make a big difference to peoples lives. I wont go into the detail but obviously, Im very concerned about the situation at Grangemouth. Im now the Prime Minister. Its my duty to do what I can to ensure that jobs are preserved and that the future is good, as Im sure it can be. I wont go into the details but it is a real priority for me. Discussions Anas Sarwar, the leader of Scottish Labour, said he had already held discussions with Ed Miliband, the new energy secretary, about Grangemouth. Under current plans, Petroineos intends to turn the site into a fuels import terminal. The refinery supplies much of Scotland and northern Englands petrol and diesel. However, Ineos has previously said Labours plans to ban new oil and gas projects in the North Sea pose a further threat to Grangemouths future. There is an adjacent petrochemical and plastics plant at the site, which relies on oil and gas from the North Sea for energy and raw materials. It is fed by a direct pipeline linking it to 80 of the UKs offshore oil and gas fields. Labour won three seats unexpectedly in the Grangemouth region, including Falkirk, which was previously the SNPs safest seat in Scotland. Mr Sarwar told journalists: I had a detailed conversation with Ed Miliband this morning, who really quickly wants to move on pulling people together around the issue at Grangemouth, as well as get cracking to deliver GB Energy. Hes on it, he genuinely cares about it. Sir Keir told an audience of jubilant Labour activists and several of his new Scottish MPs that he would immediately start delivering for Scotland. He said his election win last Thursday was part one of Labours resurgence and that part two comes in 2026 with the next Scottish Parliament elections. However, he declined to attack the SNP and its beleaguered leader John Swinney. The Prime Minister has vowed to reset the relationship between the Westminster government and the Scottish Government and hand SNP ministers a genuine seat at the table. Sir Keir declined to attack the SNP and its beleaguered leader John Swinney (right) - Scott Heppell/REUTERS Meanwhile, a former senior advisor to Alister Jack, who until the election was Scottish Secretary, said the SNP would risk a backlash from voters if it continued to foment phoney grievances with the UK Government in an effort to boost support for independence. Writing in The Telegraph, Magnus Gardham, a former special adviser in the Scotland Office, said the scale of Labours victory in Scotland had dramatically changed the political dynamics between the UK and Scottish governments. He claimed that any attempt to stoke division with gripe and grievances would be exploited by Labour and boost Anas Sarwars chances of winning the next Holyrood election, which is just 22 months away. The vast bulk of the Tories time in power pitted a UK Government that was unpopular in Scotland against a Scottish Government that was wildly popular, Mr Gardham said. It was easy for the SNP to do what they enjoy best: generate friction and foment phoney grievances as a means to drive support for independence. It will be far harder for them to pursue the same approach with a Labour Government that has proved its popularity in Scotland by gubbing them in an election. The SNPs moans will get much shorter shrift than they once did. Starmer in Scotland more about laying down the law over the appearance of civility By Magnus Gardham Sir Keir Starmers tour of the UK nations, starting in Scotland on Sunday, is a smart move. Going all the way back to David Camerons respect agenda, Conservative leaders understood the importance of positive, constructive relations with the devolved administrations in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. Everyone knows that everyone wants their two governments to work together, to set aside political differences and to Get Things Done. In practice it often proved difficult to forge a strong working relationship between a UK Government and a Scottish Government that did not want to be in the UK. But co-operation or, failing that, the appearance of it remained the goal. I suspect the new Prime Ministers meeting with John Swinney in Edinburgh was about more than just the optics. Of course, the official post-talks communique would not reflect it but I would be amazed if Sir Keir did not take the opportunity ever so respectfully to lay down the law to the Nationalist Scottish Government. This may come as a surprise to the so-called muscular Unionists in the Conservative Party who feared an incoming Labour Government would bend over backwards to accommodate all manner of demands from the SNP. They feared and still fear a combination of naivete and eagerness to please would see Labour appease the Nats rather than challenge them. Labours electoral coalition, after all, is built on the votes of many independence supporters who have not signed up for an all out assault on a party they backed as recently as the 2021 Holyrood election. Sir Keirs talk of giving the Scottish Government a genuine seat at the table will have done nothing to ease the muscular Unionists sleepless nights. But Im quietly confident they can rest a bit easier. Why? Because the election has dramatically changed the political dynamics between the UK and Scottish governments. The vast bulk of the Tories time in power pitted a UK Government that was unpopular in Scotland against a Scottish Government that was wildly popular. It was easy for the SNP to do what they enjoy best: generate friction and foment phoney grievances as a means to drive support for independence. It will be far harder for them to pursue the same approach with a Labour Government that has proved its popularity in Scotland by gubbing them in an election. The SNPs moans will a get much shorter shrift than they once did. Consider a couple of gripes that surfaced during the election campaign. A constant refrain from Mr Swinney was the Tories supposed full frontal attack on devolution which, to a large extent, was aimed at the post-Brexit UK Internal Market Act. UKIMA, to apply the compulsory civil service acronym, does two things. It ensures a degree of regulatory harmony across the UK and it allows the UK Government to spend money directly in Scotland on devolved policy areas such as transport or the arts. This is perfectly sensible, which means it is anathema to the SNP and, sure enough, Mr Swinney demanded during the election that a new Labour government repeal the Act. Did he repeat it on Sunday? If so the Prime Minister might well have choked on his tea and shortbread as he struggled to suppress a guffaw. His new Scottish Secretary, Ian Murray, has already spoken of the Scotland Office becoming a spending department (a significant step that would complete what was unfinished business for his predecessor Alister Jack) and expanding the current 3 billion programme of direct UK Government spending in Scotland. Both men know they need not pander to the SNP and have discreetly signalled as much. As for Mr Swinney, Im sure he gets that the goalposts have moved. It is why, in his election defeat speech on Friday, he gritted his teeth and embraced future cooperation. The political threat hanging over him is clear. Gripe and grievance from the SNP would provoke a simple response from Sir Keir: Weve tried our best but these guys really are impossible to work with. What Scotland needs is different government at Holyrood. Which is exactly what Anas Sarwar will want to be saying in the run-up to the Scottish election now less than two years away. Magnus Gardham was special adviser to former Secretary of State for Scotland Alister Jack Former Tory veterans minister Johnny Mercer - CHRISTOPHER PLEDGER Sir Keir Starmer has failed to appoint a veterans minister to his Cabinet despite personal promises to do so. The former Minister for Veterans Affairs, Johnny Mercer, used X to point out that the position remained vacant. Mr Mercer, who lost his Plymouth Moor View at the general election, posted on Sunday: You will note already that, despite his explicit personal promises in the election campaign, Keir Starmer has not appointed a veterans minister to his Cabinet. He added: If you understand what veterans need from their Government, this matters very much. The Army veteran, who served three tours in Afghanistan, has been praised for introducing laws to protect veterans from prosecution overseas and in Northern Ireland. As part of his message, Mr Mercer referred to programmes including Operation Fortitude, a government funded hotline to end homelessness among veterans and Operation Courage, an NHS mental health specialist service designed to help serving personnel due to leave the military, reservists, armed forces veterans and their families, among his achievements. Mr Mercer said such programmes, among others, initiated change because of the Veterans Ministers ability to have cross-government capability and position outside of the Ministry of Defence. Army veteran Johnny Mercer served three tours in Afghanistan - FAEBOOK He said: Those now in power, paraded around by Starmer for their various military experiences, must mark themselves on how they too now actually change the lives of those who need them in the serving and veteran community. In his role as veterans minister Mr Mercer attended Cabinet meetings. However Sir Keir is yet to appoint his equivalent figure at the top table. Asked at a campaign question-and-answer session whether he would have someone in his Cabinet responsible for veterans, Sir Keir replied: Yes, we will. I think its very important. The Veterans Minister is responsible for all veterans issues, Afghan accommodation and cross government support. Mr Mercer also reflected on areas he said some felt he had not done enough, acknowledging that he had focused on some areas more than others. He said: Veterans rights, mental healthcare, rough sleeping, prosthetics and of course protecting Northern Ireland veterans. I was unsuccessful in some areas too some issues remained outside my control, like Vets UK and compensation. I wear all the criticism. I did my best and often felt broken myself in the process. I am comfortable I could not have done more in the time and political space that I had. The opportunity for others to step up is always there. Surrogates have double the chance of dangerous pregnancy complications - JLco - Julia Amaral Surrogates have double the chance of dangerous pregnancy complications such as high blood pressure and heavy bleeding compared to natural mothers, a study suggests. Canadian researchers looked at the records of nearly one million births and found that although babies born through surrogacy are no worse off, their birth mothers were at risk of health problems. Around seven per cent of surrogates suffered severe complications, compared with just 2.4 per cent of women with natural conceptions and 4.6 per cent of people undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Researchers are unsure what is causing the effect, but say that carrying someone elses child may bring physical and psychological impacts. Marina Ivanova, study author from Queens University, in Kingston, Canada, said: There are several potential mechanisms that might explain the increased risk of severe maternal morbidity among gestational carriers (surrogates). These include differences in baseline health or socio-demographic characteristics of those who choose to become gestational carriers, potential differences in prenatal care and monitoring, the physiological and psychological impact associated with carrying a pregnancy for another person, as well as the effects of the treatments used during the IVF process. Surrogacy is legal in Britain, but is not legally enforceable, so a birth mother cannot be forced to give up a child. It is also illegal to pay a woman anything more than reasonable expenses. The number of parents having a baby using a surrogate in England and Wales has almost quadrupled in the last 10 years. Parental orders, which transfer legal parentage from the surrogate, rose from 117 in 2011 to 435 in 2021. One in seven The new findings showed that one in seven surrogates suffered postpartum haemorrhages (heavy bleeds after birth) compared with just one in 17 women who had conceived naturally. Likewise, one in seven surrogates had high blood pressure disorders compared with just one in 15 unassisted conceptions. In both cases, IVF treatment also had a higher risk of complications, but not as high as surrogacy. Because surrogates must undergo IVF, it is likely that assisted reproduction is adding to some of the risk, but researchers said it did not account for all of it. Dr Maria Velez, study supervisor and senior author said: [Surrogates] were also less likely to be in the highest income bracket, and we know that lower socio-economic status is associated with higher serious maternal morbidity rates. However, sociodemographic characteristics were accounted for in the analysis, and the results were similar, which suggest potential different mechanisms. Despite the elevated risk, the study did not find any significant difference in health outcomes for babies. The research was presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) annual meeting in Amsterdam, and the results published in the journal Human Reproduction. Nigel Farages Reform party got 14% share of UK votes, but due to the first past the post system won only five parliamentary seats. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images Labours landslide victory was hailed as a beacon of hope for progressives worldwide after a surge in support for far-right parties in Europe, and with Donald Trump currently slight favourite to become the US president in January. But Britains bulwark against the populist, extremist tide sweeping through European capitals may be as much practical as ideological. Nigel Farages rightwing Reform party got a 14% share of votes nationwide, not far behind the 16% claimed by Germanys far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) in recent elections for the EU parliament. AfD is now sending a significant bloc of MEPs to Brussels. By contrast under the UKs first past the post system, which rewards only the winner in each constituency, more than 4m votes for Reform produced just five seats in parliament. Reforms small grouping will try to pressure the government and certainly influence the Conservative party as it reconstitutes its leadership in the wake of last weeks crushing defeat, but wield little real power. If the UK had a different [polling] system, we would be seeing a level of fragmentation similar to other places in Europe, said Marta Lorimer, lecturer in politics at Cardiff University. Some tendencies are just masked by the way the electoral system works. The nature of Britains voting system doesnt only dent the political impact of votes cast for smaller parties whether Reform or the Green party it likely also deters some potential supporters from backing them in the first place. In European elections, voters know that even a few legislators from a small party can form part of a coalition, giving them more incentive to choose with their hearts rather than their heads. Coming out of 14 years of Conservative government, if [British] voters were looking for change, they knew they had to choose between left and right, Lorimer added. Stefanie Walter, professor for international relations at the University of Zurich, said: The relative success of smaller parties in the UK election despite these structural constraints on them achieving power are driven by the same political trends that are reshaping Europe. Even though there are such strong electoral incentives to vote for the two main parties in the UK, the vote is splintering more, and with more impact. She said: This reflects a wider splintering we see across Europe, where the political spectrum used to be uni-dimensional, with parties lined up on the left and right. In the last 20 years a second dimension opened up, around nationalism and openness in particular, so there is more room to compete, more room for parties with different political profiles. This, however, does not only benefit populists or the right. The UKs Green party and Liberal Democrats made significant gains on Thursday, and systems of proportional representation have also recently returned leftwing governments in Europe, even if the rise of the far right has been a focus of media attention and political concern. Spains socialists held on to power last year after a snap election gamble in the wake of damaging local polls, and in France a leftwing/Green alliance was projected to form a majority in Emmanuel Macrons snap election, with Marine Le Pens far-right National Rally consigned to third. Farage has also been largely a single-issue campaigner, albeit one who has been extraordinarily successful in pushing for a Brexit referendum, said Prof Amelia Hadfield, founding director of the Centre for Britain and Europe. He may draw inspiration from the success of populists in Europe, and has vowed to create a mass national campaign by the 2029 elections. But counterparts across the channel spent years expanding their appeal, accumulating experience in government and shaping broader policy platforms. Hadfield said: The question is, can Farage transfer some of the impetus from Brexit. He now needs to convert what is a leadership and individual driven construct. It will be a top down attempt by Farage to build it along the lines of more established populist parties. If the election result was not a straight-forward victory for progressives, or shift away from populist trends, the handover of power that followed on Friday morning was an unequivocal triumph for democracy. Rishi Sunak, the outgoing Conservative prime minister, and Jeremy Hunt, the outgoing chancellor, acknowledged both Labours win and Starmers commitment to public service despite their political differences on how best to serve. Starmer responded in kind. Surging support for the far right has been accompanied in many places by assaults on the institutions of democracy. The 6 January attack on the US Capitol appears to have done little to dent Trumps chances in Novembers presidential election. So these mutual, perhaps even choreographed, statements of respect for British democracy and the will of British voters are likely to have been welcomed in the bipartisan spirit in which they were made. A sense of cordiality has long been a part of British politics, Hadfield said. We have not seen it very much in evidence in recent years, and the British populace has a long memory and they resent the loss of civility. Victoria Atkins could be in line to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader - Belinda Jiao/Belinda Jiao Victoria Atkins has appeared to pitch herself as a unity candidate for the Conservative Party amid speculation about a leadership run. The former health secretary said that the Tories must talk as a unified party as she appeared days after the Conservatives historic defeat on Thursday. She insisted that the public was still instinctively Conservative and wanted lower taxes and to thrive in their personal lives and their livelihoods. She added that her absolute focus at the moment was genuinely not to talk about leadership because it was too soon after the result, but refused to rule out standing. Ms Atkins told the BBCs Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday: I think one of the issues is going to be the issue of trust, and as part of that, we need to ask ourselves some very hard questions about delivery, about integrity, and also about our values. But underlying all of this, of course, we have to talk as a unified party, because Im very, very conscious we lost a very many, very many wonderful colleagues and friends on Thursday night who worked their socks off as MPs and as candidates; but also, of course, other candidates and our volunteers who did so much work over the six-week period to try to elect more Conservative MPs. Atkins reflected on the Tories' election defeat on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show - JEFF OVERS/AFP Her remarks came just days after a recording emerged of Sir Oliver Dowden describing Ms Atkins as the only star of his generation capable of leading the Tories other than Rishi Sunak. Before the election took place, the former health secretary said she was not entertaining questions about standing as leader, and was instead focusing on the campaign. Ms Atkins told the BBC on Sunday: I hope and expect that in due course, when a leadership contest is held, that everybody involved is going to be uniting around the central message that we are all in this for our constituents, and for the electorate of the United Kingdom. Ms Atkins held onto her seat of Louth and Horncastle in Lincolnshire, but with a majority reduced by more than 10,000 since the 2019 election. She was first elected in 2015, having previously been a criminal barrister, and has served in the Home Office, Ministry of Justice and the Treasury. Meanwhile, Suella Braverman said that she was having lots of conversations with colleagues surrounding a potential leadership run. Suella Braverman could also be in the mix to replace Sunak as Tory leader - ANDREW MATTHEWS/PA She told Camilla Tominey on GB News: Im very flattered and very encouraged by what people are saying to me. But this is a really difficult time for our party, there are lots of things to think about. We need to agree on the diagnosis of the problem before we reach a resolution on the prescription. Both she and Robert Jenrick, the former Home Office minister, emphasised the Conservatives failure to tackle migration as the reason for their partys defeat. Mr Jenrick said that migration was at the heart of the loss of trust in the Conservatives, citing the number of votes the party had lost to Reform UK. He also refused to rule out a leadership run, but said that it was not right to have self-indulgent conversations on the issue three days after the result. Echoing the words of Mrs Braverman, he said: Ive been a member of this party since 1997 when I was 16 years of age. Ive been with it through thick and thin. I want to ensure that it has the right diagnosis of whats gone wrong, and that diagnosis is not about personalities. Its about principles and ideas. Marine Le Pen said 'the tide is rising. It didn't rise high enough this time' - CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock The champagne had been laid out along with the petits fours and Marine Le Pens troops were in buoyant mood at National Rally campaign headquarters in Paris after a first round of snap elections in which they came out way in front. Polls had suggested for the past week that they would repeat the performance in Sundays run-off, perhaps winning an outright majority of 289 out of 577 seats and crowning 28-year-old Jordan Bardella prime minister. Such an outcome would leave French president Emmanuel Macron a lame duck for his remaining three years in office and see him challenged in his only remaining roles: foreign and defence policy. Well either get an absolute majority or be a few seats off, one young recruit, a law student who joined the party to rein in rampant immigration and rising living costs, confidently predicted. But by 8pm local time, the champagne fizzled out and boos erupted around the room as shock initial results beamed onto blue screens. National Rally had been beaten by a ragtag alliance called the New Popular Front - comprising Jean-Luc Melenchons hard-Left France Unbowed, Communists, Greens and Socialists. But even more humiliatingly Le Pens party appeared to have been beaten by Mr Macrons centrist Together alliance, which polls had predicted would founder in third place. This is not what we were expecting to see, said Julien Durand, 45, who put his head in his hands as the announcements came on French television. Clearly people are still afraid of the old stereotypes about the far-Right, which are no longer relevant. Meanwhile, cries of joy and tears of relief broke out at the Leftist alliances gathering in Paris when the estimates were announced with people spontaneously hugging strangers and several minutes of non-stop applause after the projections landed. At the Greens headquarters activists screamed in joy, embracing each other. Im relieved. As a French-Moroccan, a doctor, an ecologist activist, what the far-Right was proposing to do as a government was craziness, said 34-year-old Hafsah Hachad. As for Mr Macron, they called him the sorcerers apprentice, even unhinged, but the French presidents decision to dissolve parliament and call snap elections appears to have partially paid off. There was disbelief at the National Rally headquarters in Paris - Carl Court/Getty Images The first round of these legislative elections amounted to a referendum for or against Mr Macron. The French electorate clearly came out against the president. The second round was framed as a referendum for or against the National Rally, and the French clearly came out against handing power to the hard Right. The result was helped along by some canny politicking, with deals done to withdraw candidates so Le Pen politicians could be defeated by a messy coalition of voters. True, the result still amounts to historic gains for the Le Pen camp but there is no doubt that they also constitute a slap in the face for the RN and its slick young TikTok king, Mr Bardella, who walked the walk but failed to impress when it came to credible policy. The result could also seriously put the brakes on Ms Le Pens ambitions to be president in 2027. On Sunday night, she claimed her victory was merely deferred, stressing that RN was the leading party in France. The tide is rising. It didnt rise high enough this time, but it continues to rise and, as a result, our victory is only delayed, she said on French television, adding: I have too much experience to be disappointed by a result where we double our number of MPs. However, her seemingly inexorable rise has lost key momentum. The main victor is what has been called the Republican front, namely all those French who chose to vote tactically in 200-odd constituents to keep the RN out. As Alain Duhamel, the respected political analyst put it: This the most spectacular surprise in modern French politics by a mile. Undeniably, Mr Macron has also been sorely chastened, with his Ensemble group losing around 100 seats in the space of two years. But it will remain a force to be reckoned with in the national assembly. Jordan Bardella, National Rally's president, was expected to be celebrating on Sunday night - REUTERS/Kevin Coombs The question now is who will join forces to form a coalition government and who will be prime minister? Gabriel Attal, his 35-year old head-of-government who ran his campaign, last night offered his resignation. In a message after the result, Mr Macrons office said that the president would wait for the new national assembly to organise itself before making any decisions. The Macron camp and Mr Melenchons LFI party have already ruled out joining forces. Indeed, Mr Melenchon called on the president to step down last night. Meanwhile, the Left may have been united during the campaign but have displayed huge differences in the past; a similar alliance of parties fell apart over the Israel-Gaza war and has also divided over Nato and the war in Ukraine. Crucially, power will now move away from the Elysee Palace to the French parliament as Mr Macron enters a period of co-habitation. Mr Macron who theorised his role as Jupiter, the Roman God of Gods, now finds himself confined to a far lesser role, in charge or foreign and defence affairs. Meanwhile, often dubbed door mats when the president has a parliamentary majority, French MPs will now call the shots and several heavyweight politicians will enter parliament, including socialist ex-president Francois Hollande. Raphael Glucksmann, a leading Left-winger whose socialist-backed list came third in European elections, said that France is having to make political compromises via coalitions in parliament, much like in Italy or Germany. Were in the lead, but were in a divided assembly and so were going to have to behave like adults. As Mr Attal, the outgoing prime minister, put it: Tonight, no absolute majority can be driven by the extreme. And this is because of the French spirit. As for Mr Macron, on Wednesday he travels to Washington for the Nato summit, and the waiting congratulations of his fellow leaders. Nicki Minaj has pulled out of a festival in Romania hours before she was scheduled to perform because of planned protests in the area causing safety concerns. The US rapper, 41, said as a mother she had to make sound decisions so that she made it home to her son and her team returned to their families. She was scheduled to perform on the main stage at Saga Festival on Sunday in Bucharest from 10.55pm to 12.10am local time. Out of concern for the well-being of our team and myself, I have been advised by my security detail not to travel to Romanias festival tonight due to safety concerns regarding protests in the area. I look forward to seeing you all at another time. As a mom, I have to make sure Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) July 7, 2024 She announced the news in a post to X, formerly Twitter, writing: Out of concern for the wellbeing of our team and myself, I have been advised by my security detail not to travel to Romanias festival tonight due to safety concerns regarding protests in the area. I look forward to seeing you all at another time. As a mom, I have to make sure Im making sound decisions for me to make it home to my son and for my team to make it home to their families. To not heed the advice of security at this time is simply not what I think I should be doing. I love you and thank you for your understanding and support. The US star, who has a son with her husband Kenneth Petty, added that she is very excited to return to London for another headline show at Wireless Festival on Friday. The gates at her 2022 Wireless appearance had to be closed early because of overcrowding issues, leaving some fans disappointed as they were denied entry despite having a ticket. Minaj later organised a spontaneous meet and greet at Cafe Koko in Camden for the following day to make it up to fans, but that was also plagued with issues. She initially told her millions of Instagram followers that she would arrive at midday, this was later pushed back to 2pm and when she tried to enter the venue just before 6pm police had to form a wall around her as masses of fans rushed to see her and she was escorted away before entering the venue. Her latest cancellation also comes after she pulled out of a show in Amsterdam last month following on from her arrest at the citys airport the weekend previous on suspicion of trying to take soft drugs out of the country. The delay from the arrest forced her to miss her show at Manchesters Co-op Live Arena that was due to take place that evening, with the concert later being rescheduled. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he discussed a constructive working relationship on the economy, energy and future of the Grangemouth refinery in his first official visit with Scotlands First Minister John Swinney. Sir Keir travelled to Edinburgh as his part of his first tour of the four UK nations since taking on the top job on Friday. Speaking after his meeting with Mr Swinney at Bute House, the Prime Minister said he aimed to make good on his campaign commitment to reset the relationship between the Scottish and UK Governments. He told broadcasters the economy and energy were high on the agenda as the two leaders met but accepted there were clearly differences of opinion on the constitutional issue of Scottish independence. But Sir Keir said: The point of this meeting was to reset the relationship in a respectful way, in a constructive way, and to recognise that on the economy, energy and very pressingly on Grangemouth, there is room for us to have a constructive way of delivering for very many people across Scotland. Pro-Palestinian protesters gather as the convoy carrying Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer leaves Bute House in Edinburgh following his meeting with First Minister of Scotland John Swinney (Andrew Milligan/PA) He added the pair had a joint view of working constructively, adding: I am absolutely clear that during the campaign I made a commitment that my Labour Government would deliver for Scotland. Thats why Im back here making good on that commitment, that promise, and starting the work of change across Scotland with the First Minister and deputy First Minister (Kate Forbes). The Prime Ministers visit did not go as planned as pro-Palestinian protesters lined the streets outside Bute House in anticipation of his arrival. However, once inside the two were pictured chatting and smiling as they met for the first time in their official capacities. Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes and Scottish Secretary Ian Murray also joined the discussions on the economy and net zero. Mr Swinney said: I was pleased to welcome Sir Keir to Bute House so soon after his appointment as UK Prime Minister. We continued our conversation about areas of shared interest. I believe there is an opportunity for collaborative working that can make a difference to peoples lives and I hope to work with Sir Keirs new government to deliver progress for the benefit of people in Scotland. Following our talks, I am confident we have established the foundation for a productive relationship between our two governments based on renewed respect for the devolution settlement. On a personal note, having been First Minister for two months and a minister for many years, I am very aware of the demands of office. I again offered Sir Keir and his family my congratulations on his appointment and my best wishes for what will be a demanding start to his term in office. Stormont will have to look at income generation to tackle cash crisis Benn The Stormont powersharing Executive will have to look at raising its own revenue to help deal with public sector budget pressures, new Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn has said. In his first visit to the region since taking up office, Mr Benn said Stormont has historically not been as good as it might be in income generation. He also said that a priority had to be given to ensuring that the current budget was being used in the most effective way, adding there is an urgent need for public sector reform. Mr Benn visited St Georges Market in Belfast on Sunday morning where he spoke to traders and members of the public. If followed meetings that he had in Hillsborough Castle in Co Down on Saturday evening with the main Stormont political parties. Northern Irelands First Minister, Michelle ONeill, said she made the case for fair funding for public services during her meeting. Speaking to the media, Mr Benn pointed out that public spending in Northern Ireland is higher than in England. Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn speaks with a market trader (Niall Carson/PA) The region receives about 124 per head for every 100 per head spent in England. Mr Benn said: Those (funding) discussions about the future will continue and there will be additional money when the main estimates are published which I anticipate will be in the near future. But I would also say this. There is a question for the Executive about how the money is spent. All public bodies, governments, institutions have to look at what theyve got coming in, whats going out and how they can make the most effective use of that. Historically, government in Northern Ireland has not been as good as it might be in income generation. That is something the Executive is going to have to look at. Hilary Benn meeting First Minister Michelle ONeill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly at Hillsborough Caste on Saturday (Kelvin Boyes/PA) Mr Benn added: Through the process of reform which we are very keen to assist withthat is also a path to a better future because if there ways in which the money which is currently being allocated, which is more than the constituency that I represent in Leeds (receives), using it most effectively to get the best public services should be an urgent priority for all of us. The Northern Ireland Secretary said: The really urgent task for now is public services, the longest waiting lists in the whole of the United Kingdom. This was an election in which people voted in all parts of the United Kingdom for change and that is why I am so keen to work with the Executive. They have a big responsibility to undertake public service reform because with more funding per head than say my constituents receive, Northern Ireland has the worst waiting lists in the whole of the UK. I think everybody recognises there is a need for reform. We stand ready to give advice and expertise and support because it is a very big task but it is an urgent one for the people of Northern Ireland. Speaking following her meeting with Mr Benn on Saturday, Ms ONeill said: We strongly made the case for fair funding to be provided urgently for health, education and public services here. The cuts our people and public services have endured under the Tories must end now. Mr Benn said it was a great privilege and an honour to be appointed Northern Ireland Secretary. He said: I was very keen to come here as soon as possible and that is why I arrived yesterday. I am determined that we are going to build a new relationship with the parties in Northern Ireland. I was a very strong supporter of the restoration of the (Stormont) institutions because Northern Ireland needs its government to function above all in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland who, in recent years, have been without a government for far too long. I am greatly encouraged by the way in which the Executive has started its work. 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. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com President Biden will deliver remarks at a trio of events focused on key themes and voting blocs for his reelection bid during the week of the Republican National Convention, the White House announced Sunday. The series of speaking engagements, which includes travel to the battleground state of Nevada, is the latest indication its full speed ahead for Biden even as a growing number of Democratic lawmakers urge him to step aside as the partys candidate in November. Next week, President Biden will continue traveling the country to discuss the extraordinary progress the American people have made in the past three and a half years, lay out his vision to ensure the promise of America reaches all communities, and make clear that we must resist attempts by Congressional Republicans to take us backwards, a White House official said in a statement. Biden will deliver remarks on July 15 in Austin, Texas, at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. The landmark legislation outlawed discrimination based on race, religion or sex. The presidents speech will take place on the opening day of the GOP convention in Milwaukee, Wis. Republicans will gather there that week to outline their policy platform, deliver speeches and formally nominate former President Trump. Biden will deliver remarks in Las Vegas at the 115th NAACP national convention on July 16. The president will speak on July 17 in Nevada at the UnidosUS annual conference, which is described as one of the largest gatherings of Latinos and allies in the country. While all three speeches are official White House events, they are directly connected to key themes of Bidens campaign. He has aggressively pushed back on Republican efforts to roll back basic rights on the heels of the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and affirmative action, and the president and Vice President Harris have courted Black and Latino voters who helped put them in the White House in 2020. The president has ramped up his travel schedule in the wake of a disastrous debate performance in late June that triggered calls from some elected officials for him to step aside out of concern that he cant beat Trump in November. Biden visited Wisconsin last week and spent Sunday in Pennsylvania, both key battlegrounds he will likely need to win in order to secure reelection. The president will spend the upcoming week attending events for the NATO summit taking place in Washington, D.C. But his more active schedule may not be enough to assuage Democrats who are concerned he cant effectively make the case against Trump over the next four months and convince voters hes up to the job for another four years. A Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll of battleground state voters, published Saturday, showed Biden leading Trump in Michigan and Wisconsin. Trump leads Biden in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, though the races remain close in all states. 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. Rescuers race to strengthen embankment at China's second-largest freshwater lake Xinhua) 10:19, July 07, 2024 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. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Kou Jie) When Allan Fawcett decided to retire from his career in computer science in 2011, he knew he wanted to spend at least a few years traveling, particularly around Europe. After decades working in tech, he was ready, as he says, to give his mind a rest. "Computer programming destroyed my brain," he tells Fortune. "I needed an escape." What he didn't know is that that escape would become permanent. He met his now-wife, Elisabeth, shortly after he retired, and eventually took the leap to move permanently to Spain with her. Fawcett, now 67 and a Spanish resident through marriage, couldn't be happier about his decision. Though his wife still works, he spends his days playing tennis, reading, and going to the beach or cafes with expat friends in Barcelona. He and his wife are able to travel around the continent, even planning a trip to Paris for the Olympics this year. The same lifestyle wouldn't be possible in the U.S., Fawcett says. Housing is much more affordable, food is inexpensive, and the wine is even less so. The mass transit system is a godsend; Fawcett doesn't have a car and doesn't need one to get around. Walkability is also a major benefit. "It's a good life here," says Fawcett, who became a resident in 2019. "Outdoor dining is everywhere, the weather is amazing. Everything is very cheap." Fawcett is part of a growing trend of retirees, spurred by America's retirement crisis, who are moving abroad instead of spending their golden years in the U.S. In December 2022, there were over 700,800 people receiving Social Security payments abroad, according to the most recently available data from the Social Security Administration. In 2000, that figure was less than 400,000. Some move abroad because they simply cannot comfortably live on a fixed retirement income in the U.S., where the costs of housing and healthcare, especially, are becoming increasingly unaffordable. A substantial number of retirees rely almost completely on Social Security payments to make ends meet in the U.S., which average around $1,900 per month. A growing portion of elderly Americans live in poverty, with social services few and far between, if they are accessible at all. Others always dreamed of travel and immersing themselves in other cultures. And still others could afford to stay in the U.S. but realized how much more they could get for their money abroad. 'It costs us next to nothing' The latter is true for Susan Keenan Sweeney and her husband, Joe, who moved to Hungary in 2015 (Joe was born in Hungary, but moved away as a child). Though Sweeney, 69, had done well for herself in a career in banking software in the states and even retired early in Florida, she was put off by the increasingly high costs of housing and health care. When she and her husband visited Hungary before the move, they looked at the affordable cost of living and slower pace of life and decided, almost "on a whim," to move. They now own a home in the countryside, about two hours outside of Budapest, surrounded by vineyards. Sweeney gardens and revels in the seasonal fresh produce that's available at the nearby market, making jams and jellies at home; the couple spends their winters in Spain, and travels extensively around Europe the rest of the year. Susan Keenan Sweeney and her husband, Joe Horvath, in Budapest. Sweeney also points to the extensive public transit system as a major plusit is free to use for those over 65, and there is a train station at the base of the hill they live onas is the sense of safety and community they feel. They save thousands a year in property taxes compared to Florida, and expat health insurance is a fraction of the cost of American health insurance, she says. One of their biggest monthly expenses is their U.S. Hulu subscription, which they watch via VPN. "Id like to think Im on the cutting edge of where to retire," says Sweeney. "It costs us next to nothing to live here." The trade-offs of living abroad There are drawbacks, of course. The rest of Sweeney's family is in the states, so they need to plan trips to see each other. The cultural differences can be difficult to manage, at least at first, and Sweeney is still learning the basics of Hungarian. There's not the same level of individual wealth in Spain as in the U.S., Fawcett points out; the typical salary is far lower than the six-figure jobs you can find in the states. And of course, the income tax burden is much higher. Sweeney and Fawcett wouldn't have been able to save the amount of money they did throughout their high-paying careers in the U.S. had they spent their careers in Europe. Most of their investments are still in U.S. financial institutions because of the difficulty to move them. And there is plenty of other bureaucracy and red tape to move through to move abroad. Sweeney and her husband enlisted a lawyer to help them buy their home; "The first couple of years are taking care of bureaucracy more than anything," says Fawcett. "Anything you want in Spain requires a ton of paperwork." But the standard of living is much better for a wider swath of the population than it is in the U.S., Fawcett contends. There are the small things, like fresher, less expensive groceries and concert tickets being much more affordable and accessible. And then there are the larger benefits, like months of paid maternity leave, inexpensive secondary education, and affordable health care. On the road to Susan Keenan Sweeney's home in Hungary. "Its not the U.S.," says Sweeney. "They do things differently here, and thats why were here." And while universal health care systems like those in Hungary and Spain are often criticized for long waiting times and the potential for subpar care compared to the U.S., both Fawcett and Sweeney are satisfied with the standard of care they've received, including through surgeries and major procedures like colonoscopies. One drawback is that many providers don't necessarily speak English; Sweeney says if something major happened, they'd consider flying back to the U.S. for care because of the language barrier. "If you walked in here as an American and went to a doctors office, I'd have to pick you up off the floor," says Sweeney of the culture shock. "Theres none of the dealing with the insurance. Its walk in, see the doctor, walk out." Mindy Yu, director of investing at Betterment, warns those interested in retiring abroad to take the time to plan for the considerable financial, legal, and logistical pitfalls. "Its crucial to avoid seeing retiring abroad as the cheaper option and instead begin saving as early as possible, while diversifying your portfolio to avoid risk," says Yu. "Consulting a tax professional with international expertise is crucial, as living abroad may also come with new tax obligations, both to the U.S. and your new country of residence." Fawcett plans to remain in Spain with his wife, especially as she is the caretaker for her 91-year-old mother and has grown children in the area. Sweeney, too, says she and her husband are in Hungary for the long haul, though they may eventually move from the vineyards to Budapest. "I would urge anybody who is going to do it, go on vacation and rent a house and look around. You find yourself in some places where you never would have dreamed youd be," says Sweeney. "If youre retired and you have a few months, what the hell?" This story was originally featured on Fortune.com Downstream The Supreme Court has given Donald Trump immunity for most if not all of the actions related to his effort to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 election. And thus to future presidents. So, when a president gives an obviously illegal order to the military, within his or her exclusive constitutional authority for which he or she has immunity, what do the military commanders and troops do? We all understand that they do not have immunity for that illegal act. Do we execute the general who refused a direct command from the commander in chief? Arrest the soldiers who carried out the illegal action or court-martial them for not obeying the commander in chief? When we look at Trumps wide-ranging corrupt objectives, we should all be quaking in our boots if he gets back into the presidency. - David Rondeau, Aledo Another way The presidential debate left me saddened by the major-party candidates, disappointed by journalists lack of effort and fearful for American democracy. Two candidates are backed by millions in corporate financial support. That alone should make us ask: What do those corporations seek to gain by buying the office of president? It is time for a candidate who has spent 40 years as a social and environmental advocate. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a legitimate, vibrant and vocal candidate for president. His personal and professional history offers a glimpse of the honesty, enthusiasm and intelligence he would bring to the institution. It is now up to voters to search out the options, listen carefully to all the candidates and make a choice they would proudly share with future generations of Americans. - Marjorie L. DeJongh, Universal City New blood now I am a die-hard Democrat, but I am done supporting Joe Biden. We need a new candidate. The Democrats need to be bold and select a younger candidate to attract a vastly bigger voting group. - R. Andrew Cook, Pflugerville Its payback The Democrats are experiencing karma. In an effort to stave off any challenge to Joe Biden in the primaries, they changed the primary schedule, putting South Carolina ahead of the two traditional primaries, New Hampshire and Iowa. Iowas caucuses and New Hampshires cheaper media buys allow candidates to break through. Early wins in such states gave us Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter. Now, after Bidens meltdown in the debate, some Democrats and pundits are suggesting Biden withdraw. Had they not tried to stack the deck in favor of Biden, they might not have wound up in this predicament. - James Cunningham, Fort Worth What we know Democrats have the preferred position of knowing the GOP candidate when they go into their convention. I predict they will steadfastly support President Joe Biden until after the Republican convention, then come out of their own convention with someone other than Biden. And whoever they nominate will probably beat Donald Trump and be the next president. I think the Democrats have been running a bait-and-switch campaign. The party leadership cannot honestly believe Biden is hale enough to handle the demands of the Oval Office for another four years. - Jack DAmario, Granbury Already here I am a student covered by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The last few years have brought a lot of fear to many of us Dreamers about our status. I wish people would see that immigration helps the U.S. economy. Every two years, I have to pay $550 for an application that may or may not get approved. Help the people who are here before helping other countries with their issues. - Kimberli Dismuke, Fort Worth "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Costco has become known for its premade dinner options, offering everything from chicken street tacos and gyro kits to their famous rotisserie chickens and food court pizza. Now, the members-only warehouse has a new meal available, and it has the internet divided. Costco's new chipotle chicken bowl is surely intended to rival the offerings at Chipotle. The simple kit comes with cilantro lime rice with black beans and corn, seasoned chicken, and shredded cheese. It's paired with a cup of salsa, two individual servings of guacamole, and two lime wedges. The package includes instructions for microwave and oven preparation. Some commenters online found the rice to be undercooked, but that wasn't the case in our kit. All of the ingredients seemed fresh and flavorful, and it made for a super-easy lunch option. Sizes vary, but the price is $4.99/pound. We were able to get 4 servings out of our 3.7-pound container, which brings each serving to about $4.60. Katie Bowlby Popular Tik Tok account Costco Buys shared news of the new meal on their account, and their video got nearly 500,000 views. Costco shoppers left their thoughts in the comments section, most of which concerned the price. "How do you guys fall for this lol buy the ingredients yourself its half the price" "These meals are never that great of a value" "get a whole chicken and some cheese, $10 max" "Its really good and you get a lot for that price! Definitely recommend!" "Well I guess I have a reason to get a Costco membership " "Eating this for lunches this week, it's good for sure. and definitely worth it." As with any prepackaged meals, you're paying for the convenience. You could buy the ingredients to make this at home and save money, but if you have a busy week and need a quick dinner or a lunch option to keep you out of the fast food drive-thru, we think this is a great choice. You Might Also Like NEW DELHI/ GANDHINAGAR: Setting the tone for an intense political battle in Gujarat, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that the Congress will defeat the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the state. Mr Gandhi dared the BJP on a day when Union home minister Amit Shah was also present in Gujarat to participate in the "Sahkar se Samriddhi" programme. Interacting with the party workers in Ahmedabad, Mr Gandhi said that the Congress will defeat the BJP in Gujarat in the next Assembly elections "just the way it defeated the saffron party in Ayodhya in the recent Lok Sabha polls". Mr Gandhi said the Congress has been challenged and threatened by the BJP. He was addressing party workers days after the Congress and the BJP clashed outside the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) office when the BJP workers went there to protest against his (Mr Gandhi's) remarks on Hindus. "They (the BJP) have challenged us by threatening 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 the Congress will contest in Gujarat and defeat Mr Modi and the BJP in Gujarat like we did in Ayodhya," he said. "The Congress will win Gujarat, and from this state, it will make a new start," he said. Mr Gandhi targeted Mr Modi over the BJP's defeat at the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh, where Ayodhya is located. "By defeating the BJP in Ayodhya, the INDIA bloc has defeated the Ram Mandir movement that was launched by BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani. What I am saying is something big... The Congress party and INDIA bloc defeated them in Ayodhya," Mr Gandhi said, adding that the Congress will defeat the BJP in Gujarat because the "balloon of Mr Modi's vision has burst". "You could not have imagined that the BJP will get defeated in Ayodhya or that Mr 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 ask the people of Gujarat not to 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. "Mr Modi wanted to contest from Ayodhya, but his surveyors advised him against it, saying he will be defeated and his political career will end," he said, quoting the newly-elected SP MP from Faizabad Awadhesh Prasad. Mr Gandhi said that the people of Ayodhya were angry with Mr Modi because he did not pay them compensation for their land, shops and houses. On Saturday, the former Congress president also met the family members of those who lost their lives in various tragedies in Gujarat in recent years. He promised to raise their grievances in Parliament. Relatives of the victims of the TRP game zone fire in Rajkot, a boat capsizing incident in Vadodara, the Morbi bridge collapse of 2022 and the 2016 Una Dalit flogging case met the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha at the Gujarat Congress headquarters in Paldi area here. Addressing the Sahkar se Samriddhi programme organised to mark the 102nd International Day of Cooperatives in Gandhinagar, Mr Shah, who is also the Union cooperation minister, declared that the policy on cooperation will be out in a month's time". The Union minister said the Centre has set a target to have a co-operative bank and a milk producers' union in each district of the country and also establish in the next five years multipurpose primary agriculture credit societies (PACS) in 2 lakh panchayats that have no cooperative institution. The Centre will soon bring a national cooperative policy, he said, adding that 1,100 new farmer producer organisations have been formed in the country and more than 1 lakh PACS have accepted the new bylaws. The National Cooperative Development Corporation will be able to work for the welfare of more cooperative institutions with the issuance of bonds worth '2,000 crores, Mr Shah said. Mr Shah also thanked the Gujarat government for announcing a subsidy of 50 per cent on nano-urea and nano-DAP and said that their use will increase production and save the soil. He also paid homage to BJP ideologue Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his 123rd birth anniversary and Jagjivan Ram on his death anniversary. Later, Mr Shah visited a cooperative pilot project in Mahuliya village in Panchmahal district after distributing Rupay credit cards to women dairy farmers at 0 per cent interest at Changda village in Banaskantha. NEW DELHI/ Hathras: The prime accused in the Hathras stampede Devprakash Madhukar was on Saturday sent to 14-day judicial custody by a Uttar Pradesh court. The Uttar Pradesh police, which arrested Mr Madhukar late on Friday night from Delhi, had applied for his police custody to probe Narayan Sakar Hari's, alias Bhole Baba, political links and sources of funding. While politics over the incident continued unabated, a three-member judicial panel began its investigation of the Hathras stampede incident. According to the UP police, Mr Madhukar is the only person accused in the FIR, as he had applied for permission for the July 2 event. He was arrested from Delhi's Najafgarh area by a special operations group. His lawyer, however, claimed that Mr Madhukar had surrendered to the police in Delhi, where he had gone for medical treatment. Briefing the media on Saturday, the UP police claimed that some political parties had recently contacted Mr Madhukar and suspected that self-styled godman Bhole Baba's events were "funded" by some political party. Hathras superintendent of police Nipun Agarwal said, "Mr Madhukar worked as a fundraiser for events of godman and collected donations. His financial transactions and money trails are being looked into and call detail records are also being checked. A detailed probe 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, Mr Aggarwal said, adding, All the bank accounts, movable and immovable properties and money trail related to Mr Madhukar are being probed. Assistance will be taken from other agencies as per the need. According to UP police, Mr Madhukar worked on contract as a junior engineer in MNREGA in Etah district. He has been associated with the godman for over a decade and is his close aide. Days after the stampede incident, the godman Bhole Baba finally broke his silence on Saturday. Speaking with a news agency, he said, "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..." Earlier in the day, the judicial inquiry commission, led by retired Allahabad high court judge Brijesh Kumar Srivastava, alongside former IAS officer Hemant Rao and former IPS officer Bhavesh Kumar Singh, reached Hathras and commenced its probe. Upon arrival, the commission first held a meeting with the local police and administrative officials and later inspected the site. Speaking to the media, Mr 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. Amid the ongoing probe, politics over the tragic loss of 121 lives in the stampede intensified. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the state government of trying to hide its failure by making minor arrests. In a post on X in Hindi, Mr Yadav said, "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. If this happens, it will mean that no one has learnt any lesson from the administrative failure in such events and such accidents will keep repeating in the future." The BSP chief Mayawati demanded strict action against the godman and others. The Labour Partys victory, impressive in terms of seats won but not overwhelming in terms of the vote share gained, is the first sign of hope for a beleaguered Britain. For close to a decade, Britain has been forced to deal with the consequences of an entirely avoidable referendum. Four Conservative Party Prime Ministers -- Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak -- have had to devote their lacklustre tenures to cleaning up the mess left by David Cameron. The 2016 referendum on Brexit was an elaborate bluff that got called. In its wake, Britain has been adrift. Given the shape of the economy, that even a finance whiz kid like Rishi Sunak could not significantly improve, and the emerging deep social and political divisions within, it will require considerable wisdom and energy on the part of Sir Keir Starmer for the country to stabilise and move forward. Many factors went into Mr Starmers impressive victory but none more important than the sheer incompetence of the Conservative Party in addressing the real challenges facing a declining power. By the end of the 20th century, membership of the European Union gave Britain a salience in world affairs that neither its membership of the United Nations Security Council nor its nuclear power status nor indeed its leadership of the Commonwealth were able to. In an act of utter mis-judgment of the public mood, Prime Minister Cameron took a step that was much like pushing Humpty Dumpty off the wall. Britains fall from the high horse that Margaret Thatcher mounted, and Tony Blair successfully rode, occurred after Mr Blairs contemptuous decision to play second fiddle to US President George W. Bush and the American neo-cons by going along with the fiction about Saddam Husseins weapons of mass destruction. The Iraq campaign ended Mr Blairs and Britains post-Cold War place in the sun. A divided island reposed faith in a set of spoilt rich kids. Their party ended last week. Rattled by the incompetence of an entitled elite, best symbolised by Boris Johnson, the Conservatives finally turned to a smart, rich Indian boy, Rishi Sunak, who prayed to English cows and Indian gods, to try to bail them out. What Britain needed was not a money manager but a peoples man. Sir Keir Starmer fits the bill. A typical Labour Party type -- left of centre, liberal and born into a family of simple folk, Mr Starmer promised to be the kind of guy that ordinary folk hope would deliver them out of the mess left by the rich brats. Prime Minister Starmer has his work cut out for him. Britain may be unable to turn the clock back on Brexit, but it can still pull itself up by its bootstraps. Britain has young people, it has brains, it has global reach and it still has some clout. All it needed was a political leader whom people could trust and feel comfortable with. Mr Starmer has the potential to deliver. While the political left and right are knocking at the door of Britains political centre, the Labour Party victory gives hopes to Europes centrists who are all panicking at the prospect of a swerve to the right. The message from Britain to Europe is that political leadership matters. Smart managers can run governments in normal times, but when politics becomes contentious parties require political leadership. Centrist parties in Europe are at present saddled with unimpressive political leaders while right-wing parties have rambunctious, if not charismatic, leaders. Of course, Mr Starmer was not the type who could set the Thames on fire, but he is way more charismatic than smart Rishi Sunak. Mr Starmers real work in the foreseeable future will be at home. He has to focus on employment, education, healthcare, public infrastructure and government finances. As for Britains place in the world, like for so many other countries, what it does at home will determine what it can do overseas. To begin with, it is unlikely that Britain can reverse the clock on Brexit. It will wait to see the results of the elections in the United States to get a measure of the future of its so-called special relationship with America. Managing China and Russia will remain an area of major concern. Hence, in the Indo-Pacific region, Mr Starmer can be expected to stay the course set by his Conservative predecessors. That is, membership of AUKUS (Australia-UK-US defence alliance) and closer strategic partnership with Japan. However, on Ukraine, Britain needs to rethink its role. Mr Sunak showed excessive enthusiasm in his support for Ukraine. Maybe he was compelled to do so by the British and US Deep State. As a political leader with a fresh mandate, Mr Starmer can afford to take a political view, independent of the pressure exerted by MI6 and other state agencies, and decide how far Britain would go in its support for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Mr Starmer has assured Indian interlocutors that he would seek friendly relations with India. He may deliver on that front, giving the Labour Party a new direction on South Asian affairs. How new remains to be seen. Conservative Party PMs have had a tendency to focus too much on foreign affairs, partly because that makes them feel they still belong to Great Britain. Labour Party governments have tended to focus on domestic affairs to make Britain feel Great. Tony Blairs mistake was to acquire that Conservative affliction of having an exaggerated view of Britains place in the world. Mr Starmer would benefit not just from focusing on the home front but also from acquiring a realistic assessment of British influence globally. This means: (a) London having a mind of its own and not turning to Washington DC for guidance; (b) restoring balance in relations with Europe and the Commonwealth; and, (c) stabilising the economy. All said and done, Britain is a most interesting country. Despite the deep divisions within along class, race and religious lines, it remains a liberal and creative society that still attracts bright young people from all over the world, including from India and China. Britain has made and continues to make significant contributions in the world of science, technology, literature, art, architecture, music and cinema. Therefore, it was sad and tragic to see this nation led by the likes of badly behaved Boris, dumb Liz and Johnny-come-lately Rishi. Sir Keir Starmer is more reassuring. by Giorgio Bernardelli By the end of the year, two priests and three nuns from Italy, India and Myanmar will set up a new outpost in the Diocese of Tanjung Selor, Indonesian Borneo, together with other congregations established elsewhere in the world inspired by PIMEs charism. For the Institutes Superior General, Fr Brambillasca, this is a project to renew in everyone the desire to leave for the mission. Missionaries from the Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions (PIME) are getting ready to travel to Indonesia, a huge Asian nation where they have never been present before. But they will not get there alone. By the end of the year, PIMEs first mission should be up and running in the Diocese of Tanjung Selor, on the island of Borneo, thanks to a joint journey with the Bounded Missionaries Families (BMF), a body that has brought together over the past few years various male and female congregations from around the world centred on PIMEs charism. PIME Superior General Father Ferruccio Brambillasca announced the new initiative in a letter sent to all the confreres on Easter Sunday. For PIME, Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world with almost 280 million people and with the largest number of Muslims, will become the twentieth nation in which its missionaries are present. Borneo is an extremely important place today. The large island is shared with Malaysia and the Sultanate of Brunei, and it is where Indonesia is building its new capital, Nusantara, which will be officially inaugurated next August. Some 15 Church groups are part of the BMF, from China, Myanmar, Italy, the Philippines, Brazil, India, and Bangladesh. Their journey began with a shared intuition from PIME general directorates and the Missionaries of the Immaculate, which led to a first meeting in 2019 in Hyderabad to get to know each other. A second meeting was held three years later, again in India, at the house of the Catechist Sisters of St. Ann, a congregation founded in 1914 by Father Silvio Pasquali. At this event, the idea of a shared missionary presence emerged. Criteria were identified back then to choose the site of a mission, writes Father Brambillasca in the letter. It had to be new for every BMF group, in a place where no one was already present, but one that was relatively well-known and a typically missionary area, without the presence of other institutes. The first team for this joint project had to be inter-congregational, made up of at least five people provided by our institutes, congregations, and organisations. After initially examining a number of venues, the choice fell on the Indonesian Diocese of Tanjung Selor, in North Kalimantan province. Bishop Paulinus Yan Olla asked for the presence [of missionaries] to serve in Apo Kayan and Pulau Sapi, a remote area of his diocese, reachable only once a week by a small plane, writes Father Brambillasca. He laid out in clear terms the priorities of the missionary area that he wants to entrust to BMF missionaries. This would see the creation of a Christian community, the empowerment and improved conditions of women and children, youth education, migrant care, ecumenical dialogue, and dialogue with Islam. With this in mind, two PIME missionaries, Father Xavier Lourdh of the General Directorate, and Father John Berchman, visited the Diocese of Tanjung Selor in October 2022, where they learnt about the local Church, where Christians represent about 11 per cent of the population, but can count only on 17 priests in a vast region with many small communities. Catholics are mostly migrants from other parts of Indonesia, who work as day labourers in the palm oil sector; their situation appears very vulnerable and they are often victims of exploitation. The first five missionaries will leave for Indonesia next December. This team will include members from different countries and congregations, led by a member of the PIME general directorate, who has a long experience in missionary work in Thailand and India. He will be accompanied by a young Indian PIME missionary; an Indian sister of the Missionaries of the Immaculate from Hyderabad province; and two other religious sisters from Myanmar, one from the Sisters of Reparation,[*] and the other from the Zetaman Sisters of the Little Flower.[] In the coming months, these five missionaries will be busy getting to know each other and preparing for their departure. The project in Indonesia is fascinating. It is ad gentes, according to our charism, which has given rise over time to other institutes, congregations, and organisations. It is above all a response to the needs of a local Church that asks for help in the field of evangelisation, said Father Brambillasca. There is certainly no shortage of challenges and difficulties, including material ones. This is an inter-congregational project, not only PIMEs, on which we work together, in a synodal style, which is the real challenge but at the same time a real need for the Church today. I entrust this new project to each of you and to your prayers," the PIME Superior General added in concluding. In addition to being a project that responds to the particular needs of a Church that still needs missionaries, it is also a project that I hope will help rekindle the desire to leave for the mission, and proclaim the Word where it has not yet been proclaimed. ECCLESIA IN ASIA IS THE ASIANEWS NEWSLETTER DEDICATED TO CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES IN ASIA. WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE IT EVERY SUNDAY? TO SUBSCRIBE, CLICK HERE. [*] A congregation founded in Italy by Father Carlo Salerio, one of the missionaries who returned from the first unfortunate mission in Melanesia in the mid-19th century. [] A Myanmar-based congregation founded in 1961 in the Diocese of Taunggyi at the initiative of the then Bishop Giovanni Battista Gobbato. 7 July 2024 08:30 (UTC+04:00) Elnur Enveroglu Read more Shusha, the cradle of the culture of Azerbaijan, once again hosted a great event, the Informal Summit of the Heads of State of the Organisation of Turkic-speaking States. Taking a brief look at recent events, it can be considered more logical to say that Shusha is the honor and dignity of not only Azerbaijan, but also the entire Turkic world. 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 Garabagh, 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, said the Azerbaijani President in his address at the Informal Summit of the Heads of the State of the OTS held in Shusha. However, this was not limited to the prestigious events listed above. Shusha also witnessed a more important event, the inking of the Garabagh Declaration. This important document, signed with the participation of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkiye, and even Hungary, sent new messages to the world the other day. The Garabagh Declaration, in fact, reflected the essence of the Shusha Declaration from a wider perspective. Because if the letter of approval signed in 2021 is only confined with the unity of Turkiye and Azerbaijan, then it is possible to talk about the unity of the entire Turkic-speaking geography. This statement, jointly signed by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirzoyev and Vice President of Turkiye Cevdat Yilmaz, contained 31 articles. 1. Emphasize the historical value of the 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 the potential of Turkic States in global scope, put in force relevant mechanisms and regulations to effectively implement the OTS tasks and purposes for building a 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 the 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, and 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 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 the 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 the 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 the development of cooperation in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency and welcome the recent developments in the 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 the immense potential of renewable energy in the Turkic States and to use opportunities for development of extensive energy systems for the 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 the 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 of 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 a cooperation mechanism of the relevant authorities of the Member and Observer States to cooperate in the field of the protection of the 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. Welcoming the valuable contributions of Hungary, Turkmenistan and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to the OTS in their capacity as observers gives another boost to strengthening relations between the members of the OTS as well as growing its influence worldwide. Being a European country, Hungary will enjoy its observer status and these mutual relations will help to extend the power capacity of this union spanning between the east and the west. Another important aspect of this approval is the creation of an initiative for member states to show their joint efforts in the field of defense industry. Azerbaijan completely reduces dependencies in terms of the development of the defense industry in the South Caucasus and prioritizes the joint efforts of the Turkic-speaking states participating in the agreement. The Karabakh Declaration is not only focused on the region, this document also focuses on Gaza, the most painful problem in the Middle East. Azerbaijan recognizes Palestine as a sovereign state and, based on the UN resolution of May 10, 2024, supports the country's becoming a member of the UN, as well as the recognition of the Palestinian state by other states based on the call of the UN General Assembly. Having solved the Garabagh conflict on its own in 30 years without the help of any international institution or organization, Azerbaijan clearly wants to establish peace in the world. The Middle East crisis is not only about Israel and Palestine, this conflict is also a common problem of the South Caucasus and Central Asia. Therefore, according to the joint agreement, it was considered important to include the conflict among the articles of the Garabagh Declaration. Thus, the Karabakh Declaration will ensure that the OTS member states approach what is happening in the world not only from one aspect but from a broader and more comprehensive aspect. This will also keep in mind the power ratio of the member countries of the union in the global framework. --- Elnur Enveroglu is AzerNews deputy editor-in-chief, follow him on @ElnurMammadli1 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 7 July 2024 16:43 (UTC+04:00) On the third day of the successfully continuing Shaki "Silk Road" XIII International Music Festival, on July 7, at noon, the audience was presented with a concert of artists from TURKSOY countries and the Turkish "Inegol" Folk Dance Group, Azernews reports. Officials of the organizing bodies of the festival, guests of the event, as well as music lovers, took part in the concert held at the Heydar Aliyev Center in Sheki. At the beginning of the concert, information was given about the activities of the dance group. It was reported that the folk dance group established in Inegol in 2021 successfully represents Turkey at events and festivals held in the country and abroad. The repertoire of the group, which has successfully staged the dances of Inegol, Bursa, Trabzon, Thrace, Izmir, Artvin, and 14 other regions, is very wide. The team that successfully represented Turkey at the "Lezgi" International Folk Games Festival, which was held in Khiva, Uzbekistan in April 2024 and was attended by 30 countries, took the third place and proudly waved the flag of its country. It has been brought to attention that a collective of 40 people participates in the Shaki festival with 12 dancers. The artistic director of the collective is Atilla Mert, his adviser is Fatih Sen. During the concert, interesting, playful, cheerful Roman, horon and halay dances were presented by the dance group, as well as Kazakh, Turkish, and Azerbaijani songs performed by the People's Artist of Kazakhstan, winner of international festivals, Bakhtiyar Taylakbayev, and the Cultural Worker of that country, Lara Rysbay, were welcomed by the audience. At the end of the concert, the artistic director of the festival, chairman of the Union of Composers of Azerbaijan, professor, correspondent member of ANAS, People's Artist Firangiz Alizade and the representative of Azerbaijan in the TURKSOY organization Elchin Gafarli spoke and expressed their gratitude to the collective and artists for the colorful concert program. In the end, on behalf of the organizers, the "Inegol" Folk Dance group and the artists were presented with the symbolic symbol of the festival, as well as commemorative gifts of TURKSOY. On the evening of July 7, the closing ceremony of the 13th Sheki "Silk Road" International Music Festival will be held in the Summer Theater of the "Marxal" complex. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 7 July 2024 11:32 (UTC+04:00) The crime incident in the Surakhani settlement of Baku resulted in the death of a policeman, Azernews reports, citing Azerbaijan's Internal Ministry. Mammadov Mehman Salahaddin oghlu, born in 1983, who was previously convicted 8 times under various articles of the Criminal Code and wanted for theft, resisted with a knife when he was detained by a police officer in Surakhani district of the capital on July 6. M. Mammadov injured a police officer on duty with the knife and tried to escape. Despite having been seriously injured, police captain Fakhraddin Nasirov prevented the attempt detained the criminal, and handed him over to other police officers. Although the injured police officer was taken to the hospital, it was not possible to save his life. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 7 July 2024 15:51 (UTC+04:00) On July 7, a meeting was held in the Caucasian Muslims Office (CMO) regarding the beginning of the month of Muharram. Citing the press service of CMB, Azernews reports that Sheikhulislam A. Pashazadeh, who opened the event with the recitation of the Koran, noted that this month, which is an example of respect for the Ahl-Bayt, is a holy moment for commemorating the martyrs of the Patriotic War, and said that it is an indicator of the existence of Imam Hussain's school of martyrdom. Sheikhulislam A. Pashazadeh, who emphasized that the author of Karabakh Victory was the victorious President of Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani people led by him with wisdom, and the brave Azerbaijani Army, emphasized that the main strengthening factors of our victory in the Patriotic War were state-people unity, close unity around the head of state, and national and religious-spiritual unity within our society. drew The chairman of the CMB stated that the protection of these values is important for us to move towards future victories, and he specially mentioned the moral duties of the clergy. Saying that the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev, who laid the foundation of the high level of state-religion relations, always treated the national and moral values with care and concern, Sheikhulislam A. Pashazadeh, in his historical speech to the religious people of Azerbaijan during the Ashura ceremony on June 20, 1994, came to the Tazpir Mosque. He reminded that Imam Hussain, peace be upon him, expressed his importance at a high level. Sheikhulislam A. Pashazade proudly emphasized that the path of higher spirituality started by the National Leader Heydar Aliyev continues and develops at the highest level today by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. A film reflecting the National Leader's respect for national and moral values was shown at the event. At the meeting, the appeal of the Council of Qazis of CMB regarding the beginning of the month of Muharram was read and accepted. The appeal contains specific tasks and recommendations regarding Ashura ceremonies. In particular, information was given about the blood donation campaigns held traditionally as one of the examples of appropriate charity. Chairman of the CMB Sheikhulislam Allahshukur Pashazadeh gave recommendations and tasks to the members of the Board of Judges, authorized representatives, and imams regarding the month of Muharram. Organizational issues were discussed at the meeting. Changes have been made in the composition of the CMB Council of Judges. The Council of Judges was informed about the appointment of 2 new judges and 5 new authorized representatives of the CMB. Later, Sheikhulislam A. Pashazade informed the religious leaders about the meetings and events carried out by the Caucasian Muslims Department to serve the interests and interests of our people and our state at the level of interreligious dialogue and cooperation. He said that the source of trust and respect for our country in the world is the successes and victories of Azerbaijan's statehood. Sheikhulislam A. Pashazade told about the importance of meetings of religious leaders in Baku and Shusha within the framework of the VI World Intercultural Dialogue Forum held in Baku in May of this year, the reception of religious leaders by the President of Azerbaijan, the visit of religious leaders to the liberated territories, the construction works in Karabakh and the visit to the restored religious and spiritual monuments. , talked about the historical value of the adopted Shusha Declaration. Sheikhulislam A. Pashazade pointed out that Azerbaijan will host the globally important COP29 event in November of this year, and spoke about the duties and responsibilities of the Caucasus Muslims Office in the framework of this globally important climate conference, which will visit Azerbaijan and the high level of this event. It was emphasized at the meeting that Azerbaijan is on the verge of an important socio-political event. Extraordinary elections to the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan will be held in our country on September 1. The CMB called on all religious figures to actively participate in these elections. Sahib Naghiyev and Gunduz Ismayilov, deputy chairmen of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan, who participated in the meeting, gave their recommendations to the clergy. Emphasizing that clerics showed a high example of patriotism during the days of the Patriotic War, the officials of the Committee reminded them of the responsibility of conveying the values of our religion to the people during the Muharram celebrations and advised them to be careful not to include elements of superstition. It was stated that the recommendations reflected in the application of the CMB Council of Veterans should be strictly followed. The continuation of cooperation in all matters between the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Administration of Caucasian Muslims was especially emphasized. Mufti Salman Musayev and Qazis spoke at the meeting, imams' questions were heard, and comments were made on issues of interest to religious leaders. At the meeting, prayers were read for the souls of the martyrs of the Motherland, and Allah's mercy was asked. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 7 July 2024 08:00 (UTC+04:00) Saudi Arabia's king and crown prince congratulated Masoud Pezeshkian on his election as Iran's president, state news agency SPA said on Saturday, Azernews reports citing Reuters. "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. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 7 July 2024 10:19 (UTC+04:00) The new foreign minister of Great Britain, David Lammy, made his first foreign visit to Germany, Azernews reports, citing foreign media outlets. "It is time to restore our relations with our European allies. That is why I am on my first visit to Germany as the foreign minister," said Lammi. He added that he intends to stand against common threats and support Ukraine together with German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock. It should be noted that on July 5, the chairman of the Labor Party, Kir Starmer, received the right to form a cabinet from the King of the country, Charles III, and assumed the position of the Prime Minister of Great Britain. He appointed David Lammi as foreign minister in the new government. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 7 July 2024 14:25 (UTC+04:00) Hungarian Prime Minister Orban did not represent the European Union at the informal Summit of the Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS/TDT) held on July 6 in Shusha, Azerbaijan. Azernews reports, citing Azertag that this was stated in the statement of the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell. In addition, the European Union, as stated by the European Commissioner, condemns the OTS's attempts to legitimize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) as an observer in the organization. Note that Hungary presides over the EU Council from July 1 to December 31, 2024. The logic of such a denial by Brussels is not entirely clear, because the OTS organization itself has never considered the European Union as its "Turkish" partner, to have a representative from the entire European Union among its members and even observer states. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 7 July 2024 15:19 (UTC+04:00) The ongoing political tension in France, street protests, and the inexperience of government officials have already begun to seriously worry investors and businessmen. According to the opinions of experts, it is inevitable that a trend leading to serious recession will be observed in the country in the coming months. Regarding the elections, the scandals of the political parties are increasing. Thus, left-wing parties launched a new coalition when snap elections were called and since then they have been calling for citizens to make a democratic front against the far right, fearing a far-right victory could reduce civil liberties. Corporate leaders gathered on Friday and Saturday in the southern city of Aix-en-Provence for France's annual answer to Davos have been among the main beneficiaries of President Emmanuel Macron's pro-business reforms since he was first elected in 2017. Far-right and left-wing parties want to roll back some of Macron's reforms, ranging from raising the retirement age to scrapping a wealth tax on financial assets. Voters are set to derail his drive to ease taxes and other constraints on business when as it is widely expected they hand Macron's party a decisive defeat in an election that polls suggest will give the far right the most seats in parliament. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz UPDATE: With all votes counted, Farage's Reform Party won 17% of the vote nationally and five seats in the House of Commons. As the Conservative Party starts the process of finding a new leader, the longest serving Tory MP called for trying to bring Farage and Reform into the Conservative Party. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13606689/Tory-Reform-Nigel-Farage-Priti-Patel-Kemi-Badenoch-Suella-Braverman-Tugendhat.html _________________________________________________________________ Brexit hero Nigel Farage and his populist nationalist anti-immigration Reform Party won its beachhead in the British parliament in elections yesterday. Reform exceeded expectations on its vote percentage with 14% of the vote, compared to the winning Labour Party which had 34%. It beat more established parties like the Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party, and Green party in vote share, although because Reform's votes were more widely distributed across the country and the Liberal Democrats more concentrated, the Liberal Democrats won more seats. Farage won his own seat of Clacton by a wide margin over the Conservative incumbent and Lee Anderson, who had won his previous election as a Conservative and switched to Reform was easily reelected. Reform has won at least two other seats. They have also finished in second place in almost 100 other seats. A split in right of center votes let Labour win an overall majority, although they would have clearly lost if Conservative and Reform votes had been cast for one party. The Conservatives had won a thumping majority five years ago under Boris Johnson, a small "c" Conservative, but he was ousted as leader in an intra-party coup by Rishi Sunak, a more moderate type, who raised taxes, dithered on immigration, failed to cut all ties with the EU, and pushed the green agenda. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/05/nigel-farages-reform-uk-party-shocks-with-significant-gains-expected.html https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1919289/number-of-seats-tories-nigel-farage-reform-uk https://conservativehome.com/2024/07/03/piers-mckenzie-baker-the-conservatives-need-farage-if-they-want-a-new-generation-of-voters/ Here is one of Farage's campaign videos from the election: Now that Kamala Harris has been coronated the Democratic Socialist designee for nomination as their candidate for President of these United States, after that political party's contrived primary process "democratically" elected Joseph R. Biden: What are your feelings about this party's progressive posture within their self-styled exercise of "Saving Democracy for America," and how truly critical the outcome of this presidential election will be? 8.7% I am ecstatic that this "Democracy's" First partially Black, First partially Indian, First female Co-Parent, and this nation's primary necessity is to her elect our First woman president.26.09% I really do not care about all these "Firsts." I will continue to pray, and work for this Representative Republic to elect someone competent, and brilliantly patriotic to be our next president.65.22% I will never vote for any politician that "first" does not have the core values to understand how dire this Constitutional Republic's situation has become. Simon Harris said the question of a referendum on Irish unity doesnt currently arise (David Young/PA) The question of a referendum on Irish unity is not a priority and does not arise currently, Simon Harris has said. Irelands premier said it was more important for the new UK Government to work with Ireland in supporting the powersharing institutions at Stormont. Following the General Election, Sinn Fein emerged for the first time with the largest representation among Northern Ireland parties at Westminster. The republican partys president Mary Lou McDonald took the opportunity to urge new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to embrace the right of Irish self-determination and constitutional change toward Irish reunification. However, Sir Keir has previously stated that the issue of a united Ireland is not on his horizon. Speaking on Sunday, new Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said he believed the prospect of a vote on Irish unity is off into the distance. Taoiseach Simon Harris said it was no surprise there were different views in Ireland and the UK on Irish unity (Gareth Chaney/PA) Taoiseach Mr Harris told Sky News Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips show that it was no surprise that there were differing views on the constitutional question. He said: The fact that we have different views on the constitutional future of Northern Ireland is not earth shattering news. And actually its because we have differences in relation to the constitutional question that we must find practical ways of working together. The Good Friday Agreement allows us both have those legitimate, differing aspirations, and theres a structure in place to address that. For me, though, the focus and priority isnt on a referendum, the focus on priority has to be on delivery. Mr Harris added: People in Northern Ireland, people in Ireland, people in Britain, I believe, want to see real delivery when it comes to things like public services, their economy, prosperity, the economy in terms of how it impacts on their family and their businesses. And we have an opportunity now that the (Stormont) institutions are back up and running and I think we have people now in key leadership positions in Northern Ireland, in Dublin and in London who are fully committed to that. Mr Harris was asked if the prospect of a unity referendum had moved further away following Labours election win. He said: I just dont think it arises currently. I think the most important thing here is as we have ministers back at their desks in Northern Ireland, and that they get on with the work, and that the British and Irish governments, as co-guarantors of the peace process, play our role in supporting that too. Its absolutely appropriate to have legitimate constitutional aspiration, my party is called Fine Gael, the united Ireland Party. Thats my legitimate constitutional aspiration for the future of this island. It doesnt arise today, though. What arises right now is a moment to reset Anglo-Irish relations after what was a very turbulent period of time, and Im very excited about the opportunities that that presents. Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn speaks to the media outside Waterfront Hall during a visit to Belfast (Niall Carson/PA) Speaking to the media in Belfast, Mr Benn said the criteria for a unity referendum in the Good Friday Agreement was very clear. He said: It is when the Secretary of State, whoever he or she is at that time, comes to the view that in the event that if a border poll was held, the people of Northern Ireland would vote for a united Ireland. Now, there is no evidence that that condition has been met. I said previously I am not going to set out further criteria because there is the one criteria. It speaks for itself. I think it is off into the distance myself, because of what I have seen about opinion here in Northern Ireland at the moment. Fintan McDwyer was described by his family as a gentle giant (Greater Manchester Police/PA) A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder, with police wanting to speak to anyone who saw a man dressed all in black wearing a balaclava near the scene. Emergency services attended a property on Platt Lane in Fallowfield, Manchester, at 8.50am on Monday July 1 where they found the body of Fintan McDwyer. Mr McDwyers family have paid tribute to him as their own gentle giant who was a true gentleman with a wonderful sense of humour. Officers believe a violent assault took place at the property, with Mr McDwyer suffering fatal injuries thought to have been caused by a sharp instrument, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said. A 30-year-old man was arrested in Longsight, Manchester, on suspicion of murder and has been taken to custody ahead of police questioning. Detectives are urging anyone who saw a man walking in the area of Platt Fields Park, Fallowfield, and Birchfields Park, Rusholme, at around 4am and 4.30am on June 30 dressed in all black and wearing a balaclava to contact police. Fintan was our own gentle giant, with a calm and reassuring presence, Mr McDwyers family said. He had the most wonderful, soft, Irish lilt. He was a true gentleman, had a wonderful sense of humour, and always had a twinkle in his eye. There isnt anyone who would say a bad word about Fintan, and it breaks our hearts that he has been denied years to be with his sons and grandchildren. Detective Inspector Lee Shaw, of GMPs Major Incident Team, said: This is a shocking murder of a much-loved family man. As the investigation progresses at pace, we have specially trained officers who have been deployed to support them and keep them updated throughout the investigation. Our investigation is moving quickly, and we continue to work round the clock to capture a picture of what happened to Fintan. I ask anyone who may have seen something suspicious in the area that evening to come forward and know that information will be treated with the strictest confidence. Information could benefit our investigation massively, so please do not stay silent. Those with information or footage that could assist the investigation are asked to contact GMP on 0161 856 5415 quoting log 695 of 1/7/24, via the forces website or anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Plans are already under way to deliver additional capacity in the National Crime Agency to go after criminal smuggling gangs (Gareth Fuller/PA) 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. France is heading to the polls on Sunday in pivotal runoff elections which could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pens far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision. Sundays snap elections, which could also produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock, have potential impact on the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy and Europes economic stability. They are almost certain to undercut President Emmanuel Macron for the remaining three years of his presidency. Racism and antisemitism have marred the electoral campaign, along with Russian cyberattacks and more than 50 candidates reported being physically attacked. The government is deploying 30,000 police on voting day. Far-right National Rally party president Jordan Bardella, right, leaves with far-right leader Marine Le Pen after a press conference (AP) The heightened tensions come while France is preparing to host the Olympic Games and the Tour de France is racing around the country alongside the Olympic torch. Meanwhile, 49 million voters are in the midst of the countrys most important elections in decades. France could have its first far-right government since the Nazi occupation in the Second World War if the National Rally wins an absolute majority and its 28-year-old leader Jordan Bardella becomes prime minister. The party came out on top in the previous weeks first-round voting, followed by a coalition of centre-left, hard-left and Green parties, and Macrons centrist alliance. The outcome remains highly uncertain. Polls between the two rounds suggest that the National Rally may win the most seats in the 577-seat National Assembly but fall short of the 289 seats needed for a majority. If it wins the majority, Mr Macron would be forced to share power in an awkward arrangement known in France as cohabitation. French President Emmanuel Macron (AP) Another possibility is that no party has a majority, resulting in a hung parliament. That could prompt Mr Macron to pursue coalition negotiations with the centre-left or name a technocratic government with no political affiliations. Both would be unprecedented for modern France and make it more difficult for the European Unions second largest economy to make bold decisions on arming Ukraine, reforming labour laws or reducing its huge deficit. Financial markets have been jittery since Mr Macron surprised even his closest allies in June by announcing snap elections after the National Rally won the most seats for France in European Parliament elections. Many French voters, especially in small towns and rural areas, are frustrated with low incomes and a Paris political leadership seen as elitist and unconcerned with workers day-to-day struggles. National Rally has connected with those voters, often by blaming immigration for Frances problems, and has built up broad and deep support over the past decade. Ms Le Pen has softened many of the partys positions she no longer calls for quitting Nato and the EU to make it more electable. But the partys core far-right values remain. It wants a referendum on whether being born in France is enough to merit citizenship, to curb rights of dual citizens and give police more freedom to use weapons. The second round of voting began on Saturday in Frances overseas territories from the South Pacific to the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and North Atlantic. The elections wrap up on Sunday at 8pm local time in mainland France. Initial polling projections are expected on Sunday night with early official results expected late on Sunday and early on Monday. Regardless of what happens, Mr Macron said he will not step down and will stay president until his term ends in 2027. The actor was on his way to Donegal to attend the launch of a distillery at The Muff Liquor Company on Tuesday when he started to feel peckish, so he popped into Pauls Butchers on the Culmore Road for a steak sandwich. Cowardly cage fighter jailed for vicious attack on MMA fiancee Thug knocked his ex-partner out, then choked her when she came around Carter Coulter Paul Higgins Sun 7 Jul 2024 at 08:14 A cage fighter who punched and choked his fiancee, blaming her for ruining my life during a drink and drug filled argument has been jailed for a year. Courts Man accused of choking partner who used to be his stepmum in fit of jealousy not safe to be released, judge rules I knew shed kill daddy one day: Daughter of murder victim on why she feared worst from his evil girlfriend Murdered dad-of-three was terrified of abusive Wiktoria Maksymowicz from start of relationship, say family Tony Browne. Inset: Wiktoria Maksymowicz John Toner Sun 7 Jul 2024 at 08:27 The grieving daughter of Tony Browne has said she knew callous Wiktoria Maksymowicz would murder her dad one day. Former grandee says party would have won Lagan Valley at a canter but for allegations Former DUP health minister Jim Wells has blamed the partys ballot box bloodbath on the sexual abuse allegations against former leader Jeffrey Donaldson. His damning criticism came as Donaldson, who denies the 18 charges against him, was spotted dining out near his sprawling Co Down home, which sources say he is planning to sell to fund a permanent move to London. Nick Ball is brilliant, but to be the complete article he needs to improve on one particular area If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom. WINDSOR Daunted by the rules and regulations the Cannabis Control Commission has put into effect, the Planning Board is recommending that Windsor just say no to commercial cannabis. The Planning Boards recommendation entails two steps to reverse Windsor's currently open stance to such operations. The first is for the town to revoke a bylaw that supports commercial cannabis operations. The second is to adopt a bylaw that prohibits such operations. Both actions, if they get support from the Select Board, would need to win approval from voters at town meeting. If Windsor ultimately makes this move, it would not be the first community in Berkshire County to ban commercial cannabis operations. Alford did so in 2021. But if Windsor takes action, it may be the first to do so in direct response to the new regulations. Planning Board member Ben Bederson forwarded to the Select Board notes he took from a Massachusetts Municipal Association webinar on the Cannabis Control Commissions new regulations for host communities. Those regulations include teeth of up to $50,000 in fines for host communities that dont comply. The new regulations took effect March 1. Windsor has a population somewhere in the 800s and its municipal staffing resources are small. Those changes increase the effort, expense and risk for the town, Bederson told The Eagle. For a small town like Windsor, most of our work is done by volunteers. And so things that take effort and money and increase risk, we just need to think about whether theres value to that. Put simply, it doesnt make sense to put in the effort to attract cannabis businesses and to enable a commercial activity that doesnt appear to be happening. Windsor doesnt have any applicants in the pipeline seeking licenses to do business in cannabis at the moment. And the last time it did was several years ago and that applicant withdrew. But the compliance rules still apply as do the potential for fines even for towns that have no current applicants, unless a community opts out of being a host community. Noting that Windsor is a right-to-farm community under Massachusetts law, Bederson said, We want to let people do what they want to do." He said the costs might not be as significant for a larger community that doesnt rely as heavily on volunteers as Windsor does. Bederson said any action the town takes regarding commercial cannabis businesses would have no impact on an individuals right to grow their own marijuana for personal use. Its not a decision we took lightly, Bederson said of the Planning Boards unanimous vote. If things change, well be happy to reconsider. When the new rules were proposed, the state Municipal Association and the Municipal Lawyers Association filed comments jointly. In their Sept. 8, 2023, letter, Geoffrey C. Beckwith, then executive director and CEO of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, and Karis L. North, president of the state Municipal Lawyers Association raised objections to the regulations, which were then in draft form. They called the regulations "unduly burdensome for municipalities in order to meet equity requirements," adding that they believed the regulations violate both the Contract Clause of the U.S. Constitution, "and that the administrative burden would create an unfunded mandate on municipalities in violation of Proposition 2 1/2." In addition, they wrote, "[T]he end result would stifle growth of the cannabis market and jeopardize the true intent of the legislation to increase equity in the industry." Ali DiMatteo, senior legislative analyst for the Municipal Association, said she had not heard of other towns taking the step that Windsor may be about to undertake, but she also noted "significant frustration" and "angst" among communities with the Cannabis Control Commission's new regulations. "This felt like an overstep," she said. Noting that the chilling effect of the new regulations is unfortunate, she said, "Cannabis industry in this state is a very important industry. It makes a lot of money." The Windsor Select Board meets at 7 p.m. Monday in the town offices. Public participation is by Zoom only. BillOReilly.com is not available in this country. We apologize for any inconvenience. Pope Francis presides over a mass in the monumental square "Piazza dell'Unita' d'Italia". Photo: Vatican Media/IPA via ZUMA Press/dpa Keystone Pope Francis has expressed his concern about the state of democracy in many countries. "Let's be honest: in today's world, democracy is not in good health," said the head of the Catholic Church at an event in the northern Italian city of Trieste on Sunday. At the same time, he called on people to take part in democratic processes, for example by going to the polls. The Pope said: "Indifference is a cancer of democracy." He expressly warned against the "lure of populism". SDA Francis was speaking at the end of a week-long series of events in which the Catholic Church had focused in particular on social issues. In front of around 1,200 participants, he said: "Everyone must feel part of a community project. No one should feel useless." Behind the distancing from social reality often lies indifference. The Pope did not go into detail about which countries his criticism of the state of democracy referred to. Francis also expressed concern about the declining voter turnout in many countries. "Democracy demands that conditions are created so that everyone can express themselves." He expressly appealed to the members of the Catholic Church to also take responsibility in politics. "We cannot be satisfied with a private faith," he said. "In particular, this means having the courage to make proposals for justice and peace in the public debate." The 87-year-old pontiff, who is in poor health, has not been on a longer trip abroad for almost a year. In recent weeks, however, he has visited various cities in Italy, including Venice, Verona and now Trieste. In addition, Francis - who is also head of state of the Vatican - took part in the summit of the Group of Seven (G7) major democratic industrialized nations in southern Italy in mid-June. In September, he plans to travel to Southeast Asia and the Pacific region for twelve days, his longest trip abroad to date. Stops include Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. Shortly afterwards, a trip to Luxembourg and Belgium is on the agenda. SDA People demonstrate in Tel Aviv against the government of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Photo: Maya Alleruzzo/AP/dpa Keystone Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is coming under increasing pressure nine months after the massacre by Islamist Hamas in his country. At nationwide protest rallies, tens of thousands of people demanded that the indirect negotiations on the release of the hostages and a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which have been restarted, finally succeed. "Agreement now!" chanted demonstrators in Tel Aviv, as a reporter from the German Press Agency (dpa) reported. SDA New hope According to the media, there were clashes with the police and arrests on the sidelines. The protests were fueled by reports that progress had been made in the negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the USA after a long standstill. "For the first time in many long months, we have hope," said one demonstrator whose son was abducted to Gaza during the Hamas terror raid on October 7, 2023. "This is an opportunity that we must not miss!" she shouted, according to the Haaretz newspaper. Addressing Israel's head of government, the mother said: "Netanyahu, we have seen how you have repeatedly torpedoed the agreements at the moment of truth and torn our hearts to shreds every time". She urgently pleaded with the Prime Minister: "Don't you dare break our hearts again!". Netanyahu governs together with ultra-religious and far-right coalition partners who refuse to make concessions to Hamas and whom Netanyahu must take into consideration. A step-by-step plan is on the table, which initially provides for a temporary ceasefire and the exchange of female, elderly and sick hostages for a larger number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. During the ceasefire, the sides are to negotiate an end to the war and the release of the remaining hostages. Until now, Hamas has made it a condition that Israel commits to ending all hostilities in advance. According to the media, it is said to have backed away from this core demand. Hamas wants guarantees At the same time, however, the Islamists would insist on a written commitment from the mediators that the negotiation phase - and thus the temporary ceasefire - will continue without time limit if no agreement is reached within the specified period. This demand by Hamas is a crucial point before the mediators can sit down at the table to negotiate the details of an agreement, reported the US news portal "Axios", citing two Israeli officials. Nine months ago to the day, Hamas and other terrorist groups attacked southern Israel, murdering 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage in the Gaza Strip. The unprecedented massacre triggered the Gaza war. According to Israeli estimates, around 120 hostages are still being held by their kidnappers, but many of them are probably no longer alive. According to the office of the Israeli Prime Minister, the indirect negotiations are to continue next week. A video featuring a former hostage was shown on a large screen at the rally in Tel Aviv. In it, 22-year-old Almog Meir Jan, who was freed by Israel's military a month ago, says: "We need a deal so that all mothers can hug their children and husbands, just as I now hug my mother every morning." The fact that Hamas is now apparently showing more flexibility gives many people hope. According to the office of Israel's head of government, however, there are still points of contention between the two sides. Report: Palestinians hope for imprisoned Barguti The question of what will happen to Gaza after the end of the war is also uncertain. According to a report in the "Wall Street Journal", many Palestinians are pinning their hopes on the politician Marwan Barguti, who is imprisoned in Israel. He is a member of the Palestinian party Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority (PA) that governs the West Bank, and was an advisor to the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Fatah and Hamas are the two largest Palestinian organizations - and bitter rivals. However, reconciliation talks have been taking place between the two organizations for several years. Barguti was sentenced to five life sentences for murder in Israel in 2004. For his supporters, Barguti is a freedom fighter like Nelson Mandela, according to the Wall Street Journal. His popularity among Palestinians is based on his image as an advocate of violence against Israel, but also as a pragmatist who strives for a lasting peace agreement. Barguti's importance is reflected in the demand by rival Hamas to release him as part of an exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, the newspaper reported, citing Arab mediators. The USA wants an autonomous authority in Gaza In 2007, Hamas seized sole control of the Gaza Strip by force and expelled Fatah from the area. Since then, Mahmoud Abbas, President of the PA and Chairman of Fatah, has de facto ruled only in the West Bank. As Israel's most important ally, the USA wants the PA to be restructured and to take back control of the Gaza Strip in future. However, Netanyahu rejects this. Barguti is the only Palestinian leader who enjoys broad support in Gaza as well as in the West Bank, in contrast to the decimated Hamas and the PA, according to the Wall Street Journal. This was also shown by a recent Palestinian poll in the West Bank. Despite his past, some in Israel also see Barguti as a possible key to peace, it continued. "If we are really looking for a solution, we should look for him," the US newspaper quoted a former director of the Israeli secret service Mossad as saying. However, Israel's consistent refusal to release Barguti from prison shows how far both sides are from reaching an agreement, the newspaper wrote. The dying in Gaza continues Meanwhile, the fighting in Gaza continues for the time being. According to Palestinian reports, 16 people were killed in an airstrike on a refugee shelter in the central section of the sealed-off area. It was a former school of the UN refugee relief organization UNRWA, according to reports. The Israeli military announced that it had attacked several Hamas fighters in the area of the UNRWA school. The building had served the terrorists as a hiding place and base of operations for attacks on the Israeli military. In the run-up to the attack, steps had been taken to minimize the risk to civilians. The claims of both sides could not be independently verified. SDA Travelers gather information on working or canceled connections at Rome's Termini station on Sunday. Keystone A rail strike on Sunday put a strain on the start of the vacation season in Italy. The independent trade union CUB called the strike for more safety at work and better wages. SDA The strike began on Saturday evening at 9 p.m. and was due to end at the same time on Sunday evening. Long-distance, intercity and high-speed trains were particularly affected by the strike, in which not only employees of the state railroads FS but also of the private rail company Italo took part. Train cancellations and delays were reported in the major cities of Rome, Milan, Naples, Florence and Bologna. At the main stations in Rome and Milan, long queues of passengers formed at the counters looking for information about their train journey. The rail workers' representatives in Italy are calling for an appropriate employment plan and a reduction in the workload of staff. In addition, technological investments and more professional training are needed. SDA She worries Republican donors, has name recognition, and Democratic Party heavyweights are beginning to line up behind her. US vice president Kamala Harris would be president Joe Biden's natural successor if he bowed to growing pressure and stepped aside as the Democratic candidate in the 2024 election, top Democrats say. Advertisement Now party donors, activists and officials are asking: Does she have a better chance than Biden of beating Donald Trump? Mr Biden has said repeatedly he is staying in the race. Ms Harris, 59, a former US senator and California attorney general, would be the first woman to be president of the United States if she becomes the party's nominee and prevails in the November 5th election. She is the first African American and Asian person to serve as vice president. Her 3-1/2 year White House tenure has been characterised by a lacklustre start, staff turnover, and early policy portfolios including migration from Central America that did not produce major successes. As recently as last year, many inside the White House and the Biden campaign team privately worried Ms Harris was a liability for the campaign. The situation has changed significantly since then, Democratic officials have said, as she stepped forward on abortion rights and courted young voters. Advertisement She "is proud to be his running mate and looks forward to serving at his side for four more years," the Biden Harris campaign told Reuters. Some polls favour Harris Recent polls suggest Ms Harris could do better than Mr Biden against Mr Trump, the Republican candidate, although she would face a tight contest. A CNN poll released on July 2nd found voters favour Mr Trump over Mr Biden by six percentage points, or 49 per cent to 43 per cent. Ms Harris also trailed Mr Trump, 47 per cent to 45 per cent, within the margin of error. It also found independents back Ms Harris 43 per cent-40 per cent over Mr Trump, and moderate voters of both parties prefer her 51-39 per cent. Advertisement A Reuters/Ipsos poll after last week's televised debate between Mr Trump and a faltering Mr Biden found Ms Harris and Mr Trump were nearly tied, with 42 per cent supporting her and 43 per cent backing him. Only former first lady Michelle Obama, who has never expressed any interest in joining the race, polled higher among possible alternatives to Mr Biden. Internal polling shared by the Biden campaign after the debate shows Ms Harris with the same odds as Mr Biden of beating Mr Trump, with 45 per cent of voters saying they would vote for her versus 48 per cent for Mr Trump. Backing of senior Democrats Influential Democrats including US representative Jim Clyburn, who was key to Mr Biden's 2020 win; representative Gregory Meeks, a New York congressman and senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus; and Summer Lee, a House Democrat from Pennsylvania have signalled Ms Harris would be the best option to lead the ticket if Mr Biden chooses to step aside. Advertisement House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries has also privately signalled the same to lawmakers, a Congressional aide said. Ms Harris is taken so seriously, two Republican donors told Reuters they would prefer for Mr Trump to face Mr Biden than her. "I would prefer Biden to stay in place", rather than be replaced by Ms Harris, said Pauline Lee, a fundraiser for Mr Trump in Nevada after the June 27th debate, who said she thought Mr Biden had proved himself to be "incompetent". And some on Wall Street, an important Democratic fundraising centre, are starting to indicate a preference. Advertisement "Biden is already behind Trump, and is unlikely to be able to overcome that gap given where his campaign is currently. Having VP Harris likely improves Democrats' odds of taking the White House," said Sonu Varghese, global macro strategist at Carson Group, a financial services company, after the debate. "There's potentially more upside for her chances than Biden's at this point." A majority of Americans see Ms Harris in a negative light, as they do both men running for president. Polling outlet Five Thirty Eight said 37.1 per cent of voters approve of Ms Harris and 49.6 per cent disapprove. Those numbers compare to 36.9 per cent and 57.1 per cent for Mr Biden, and 38.6 per cent and 53.6 per cent for Mr Trump. Women, black voters, Gaza Since the Supreme Court repealed women's constitutional right to abortion in 2022, Ms Harris has become the Biden administration's foremost voice on reproductive rights, an issue Democrats are betting on to help them win the 2024 election. Some Democrats believe Ms Harris could energise Democratic-leaning groups whose enthusiasm for Mr Biden has faded, including Black voters, young voters and those who do not approve of Mr Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas war. "She would energise the Black, brown, and Asian Pacific members of our coalition ... she would immediately pull the dispirited youth of our country back into the fold," said Tim Ryan, a former Democratic congressman from Ohio, in a recent op-ed. Democratic and Republican suburban women may also be more comfortable with her then Mr Trump or Mr Biden, he said. As vice president, Ms Harris's public Israel strategy is identical to Mr Biden's, although she was the first senior leader of the US government to call for a ceasefire in March. "Simply swapping out the candidate does not address the central concern" of the movement, said Abbas Alawieh, a member of the national "Uncommitted" movement that withheld votes for Mr Biden in the primary based on his support of Israel. If Mr Biden were to step aside, there could be a competition between other Democrats to become the nominee. If the party were then to choose another candidate over Ms Harris, some Democrats say it could lose the support of many Black voters who were critical to Mr Biden's election win in 2020. "There is no alternative besides Kamala Harris," said Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of Black voter outreach group BlackPAC. "If the Democratic Party thinks that they have problems now with their base being confused ... Jump over the Black woman, the vice president, and I don't think the Democratic Party actually recovers." Left-leaning, targeted attacks However, Ms Harris may struggle to reel in moderate Democrats and the independent voters who like Mr Biden's centrist policies, some Democratic donors said. Both parties seek independents to help pull them over the finishing line in presidential elections. "Her greatest weakness is that her public brand has been associated with the far-left wing of the Democratic Party ... and the left wing of the Democratic party cannot win a national election," said Dmitri Mehlhorn, a fundraiser and adviser to LinkedIn co-founder and Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman. "That is the challenge that she will have to overcome if she is the nominee." Ms Harris would take over money raised by the Biden campaign and inherit campaign infrastructure, a critical advantage with just four months before election day on November 5th. But any Democratic campaign still needs to raise hundreds of millions of dollars more before November to be successful, strategists say. And there, Ms Harris could be a liability. I can tell you we have a really tough time raising money for her. "I can tell you we have a really tough time raising money for her," said a source at the Democratic National Committee. As a presidential candidate ahead of the 2020 election, Ms Harris lagged Mr Biden in raising money. She dropped out of the race in December 2019, the same month her campaign reported $39.3 million in total contributions. Mr Biden's campaign reported $60.9 million in the same period. However, Mr Biden's campaign raised a record $48 million in the 24 hours after he named Ms Harris as his running mate in 2020. Ms Harris' prosecutorial background could shine in a head-to-head debate against Mr Trump, some Democrats said. "She is incredibly focused and forceful and smart, and if she prosecutes the case against the criminality of Donald Trump, she will rip him apart," said Mr Mehlhorn. Ireland Biden needs strong public appearances to show deba... Read More Republican attacks on Ms Harris are ramping up as she has been floated as a possible Biden replacement. Conservative talking heads are re-circulating criticism leveled at her during the 2020 race, including from some Democrats, that Ms Harris laughs too much, that she is untested, and unqualified. On July 6th, the New York Post, owned by the conservative News Corp, ran a column headlined "America may soon be subjected to the countrys first DEI president: Kamala Harris," that said her political rise was because of her party's diversity, equity and inclusion "stranglehold". Kelly Dittmar, a political science professor at Rutgers University, said the attacks are part of a long history of objectifying and denigrating women of colour in politics. "Unfortunately, the reliance on both racist and sexist attacks and tropes against women running for office is historically common and persists to this day," said Prof Dittmar. Support for Fine Gael has increased significantly in recent months as speculation builds that Simon Harris will call an election before the end of the year. Fine Gael jumped up to 26 per cent support in the latest Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks poll, while support for both Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein was at 19 per cent. Advertisement The drop in popularity for Mary Lou McDonald's party this year has opened up a path to re-election for the current Government. Below you will find the latest estimated public support for the main political parties based on an average of recent polls. Advertisement Fine Gael has seen a sustained rise in support following the appointment of Simon Harris as leader. Mr Harris took over Fine Gael in April after a slump in popularity under Leo Varadkar's leadership, with support now averaging about 25 per cent. Fianna Fail and the Green Party have remained steady at about 20 per cent and 5 per cent support respectively. If the Coalition between Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and the Greens runs its full term, a general election must be held by March 22nd next year. Advertisement Sinn Fein has seen support plummet from a high of 36 per cent in the summer of 2022, to about 20 per cent now. Meanwhile, support for Independent candidates jumped significantly this year in the lead-up to the local and European elections, but has since dipped. Between the end of October 2023 and June 2024, the estimated support for Independent candidates and other parties increased by around nine percentage points to reach 21 per cent. Advertisement Support for Independents fell back over the summer months to now average at 17 per cent. The breakingnews.ie poll tracker combines voting intention surveys published by major Irish pollsters into one estimate of support for each party. The data is sourced from the Irish Polling Indicator, which is maintained by UCD academic Stefan Muller. All polls are based on a sample of people interviewed, typically more than 1,000, which is then weighted to be representative of the country. Listed below are the polls that are currently used to calculate the polling averages. A man who subjected his niece to a lengthy campaign of harassment, including posting sinister, lewd and depraved messages on social media, as well as threatening to burn her home down has been jailed for 10 years. William Phelan (57), a farmer from Paddock, Mountrath, Co Laois, pleaded guilty to two charges of persistently pestering his adult niece through phone calls, voice messages and posts on Facebook on dates between February 15th, 2023, and July 5th, 2023, contrary to Section 10 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act. Advertisement The court heard he had engaged in a series of derogatory and sexual posts on social media which became unhinged over time, as well as expressing a desire for wanting a sexual relationship with his niece. However, his victim, who lives just 4.5km from her uncle, stressed that he had never raped or done anything of an inappropriate nature to her physically. Judge Keenan Johnson said Phelan seemed infatuated with his niece but also got a kick out of, in the accuseds own words, scaring the shit out of her. At an earlier hearing in the case at Portlaoise Circuit Criminal Court last month, the woman said she was not seeking her pound of flesh in coming to court but only wanting peace for herself and her family. Advertisement She said the accused had repeatedly ignored all advice and bail conditions about leaving her alone. On one occasion, she recalled being devastated after he called her on the day he had been released from prison. The court heard that Phelan had been conducting a campaign of harassment against his victim for 15 years where he had demonstrated hatred and obsession through his posts about his niece on Facebook. The woman described how she feared for her safety all that time because of the way she had been terrorised by her uncle. She told the court that she had mistakenly believed that if she ignored him, he would eventually leave her alone. Instead, she claimed her silence became a motivation". Advertisement She claims his posts on social media had demonstrated his total disregard for her family. His sinister, lewd and depraved posts have left scars which will never heal, she observed. She added: He has proven time and time again that he has no intention of ever leaving me alone. He has no regard for laws or the judicial system. 'Hidden vendetta' She accused her uncle of conducting a hidden vendetta against her and noted he would sometimes leave her 30 voice messages per day. The victim also described her fear when Phelan said he was like an atom bomb ready to go off". She said her uncle was also filled with anger and rage at being asked to stay away from the funeral of her brother who had died five years ago. Advertisement The woman said she could not describe the heartache it caused her when he would subsequently call her from her brothers graveside. She fought back tears as she recounted how one of her children had been subjected to whispers in a school corridor about her uncles social media posts which could be seen by everybody. She told the judge that she felt untold guilt and would never forget what her uncle had put her through. The court heard she had to install CCTV at her home because of his threats to burn the property down, while gardai kept a watch on her house while she took a family holiday to Italy. Advertisement In one message, Phelan said he knew people whom he had met in prison who would finish her husband and son if she continued to ignore him. The woman said Phelan regarded himself as a victim who had never shown any remorse for his actions. She claimed she would always carry a sense of guilt that she did not deal with the situation earlier because of the public humiliation he had brought on their lives. Judge Johnson praised the woman for her truly powerful yet understated victim impact statement and expressed enormous sympathy for her. 'No moral compass' The judge said it was unbelievable that someone could be treated in such a fashion for such a long period of time. It was a horrific experience, he observed. The judge said the accused had no social conscience or moral compass". The court heard Phelan, who had 64 previous convictions, is a chronic alcoholic. He told gardai following his arrest that Facebook was no fun unless you were drunk. Phelan said he would never attack or rape his niece but expressed a desire that he could be her boyfriend. Phelan also pleaded guilty to a charge of arson on a storage facility at the rear of Phelans takeaway on Main Street, Mountrath, Co Laois on May 23rd, 2022. On the same date, he also pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage to the windows of a car parked on Main Street, Mountrath which belonged to his nephew, Jason Phelan. Judge Johnson said the owners of the takeaway, who are unrelated to the accused, had to close the outdoor catering side of their business as a result of over 224,000 damage caused by the fire. He observed that the members of the family business had suffered mentally, physically and financially and it was fortunate that nobody had died or been seriously injured. The judge noted the damage by Phelan to his nephews car, which was estimated at 1,100, was linked to the issue over being prohibited from attending his other nephews funeral. He also observed that Phelan had committed the truly, shocking harassment offences while out on bail for the arson and criminal damage charges which meant he would be receiving consecutive sentences. Judge Johnson said his threats to burn his nieces home was more worrying given at that stage he had proven himself to be an arsonist. The court heard a probation report assessed Phelan as being at a high risk of reoffending, if he was consuming alcohol, although the judge observed that he was free of drugs and alcohol since being placed in custody. Sentencing Phelan to six years in prison for the arson charge and another six years for the harassment charges to run consecutively, the judge suspended the final two years on a number of conditions for a period of five years. They include that he places himself under the supervision of the Probation Service for a period of 18 months on his release from prison, staying free of alcohol and drugs and having no contact with either his niece or nephew. Taoiseach Simon Harris has said the next generation will never forgive us if the opportunity to reset British-Irish relations is not seized following Labours landslide victory in the UK general election. Mr Harris acknowledged there had been clear policy differences and difficulties and challenges between the UK and Ireland in the years since Brexit, but said he was eager to work with new British prime minister Keir Starmer. Advertisement In one of his first acts in power, Mr Starmer had a telephone conversation with the Taoiseach and invited him to Downing Street on July 17th. Mr Harris told the Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme on Sky News that the British-Irish relationship is really strong. Advertisement He said: At the end of the day, were neighbours, were friends, in many cases were family as well, and theres an opportunity now, a real opportunity that we must seize and that the next generation will never forgive us for if we dont, to press reset, to say yes its been a difficult few years, but you know what? We have so much more in common than divides us. We have so many issues of mutual concern. We are two islands side by side. Lets work together and lets fulfil the promise of the Good Friday Agreement and a Good Friday Agreement that I know is very much in the DNA of the British Labour Party. Advertisement And thats something that I really, really want to talk to, to Keir Starmer about. Keir Starmer has invited Simon Harris to Downing Street. Photo: Claudia Greco/PA The Taoiseach said one of the priorities of his meeting with the Labour leader later this month would be discussing ways of improving the structures for engagement between the two leaders following Brexit. Advertisement It used to be that whoever the Irish taoiseach and British prime minister was would meet regularly through their membership of the European Union. Theyd meet on the fringes of European meetings. Those structures obviously arent there now. I respect that fact. But we do need to look for new ways of making sure that regular engagement happens. He said: I think when the relationship has gotten particularly challenging on occasion between Britain and Ireland, it has sometimes been through a lack of those structures. Advertisement So thats the first thing I wanted to talk with him about, because I believe if we get that right, so much good can flow from that. Mr Harris said people didnt need a history lesson over why the relationship has been difficult in recent years. He said: Obviously, Brexit did make life challenging and challenging in relation to the relationship between the two islands and also, I suppose, changed that in many ways because no longer will be two countries within the European Union. Weve also had a situation where up until recently, there was a vacuum in Northern Ireland in terms of the institutions not functioning. Thankfully, thats now been been settled, and I think the fact that we now have a new British prime minister and indeed a new Irish taoiseach does present a real opportunity for both of us, both myself and the British prime minister, to dig deep in terms of resetting Anglo-Irish relations and both of us to show some leadership in that regard, because the relationship between our two countries, the relationship as close neighbours, our closest neighbours, it matters and it matters to people on both of our islands. He added: But there were clear policy differences and difficulties and challenges over, over the last number of years. Mr Harris insisted he had a very good professional relationship with Rishi Sunak. He also said Ireland would be an ally in any discussions the UK had in improving its relationship with the European Union. Referring to Brexit, he said: That decision has been made and my understanding is theres no British government that intends to revisit that in any manner or means. However, it is obviously important that Britain and the European Union continue to be good neighbours and it is absolutely in Irelands interest that we facilitate that in every way we can around any European table. Taoiseach Simon Harris "threw the Defence Forces under the bus" with his comments after a serving soldier was sentenced for the assault of a woman in Limerick, according to an employment lawyer and former army officer. Cathal Crotty pleaded guilty to assaulting Natasha OBrien in 2022, and was handed a fully suspended sentence, prompting public outcry. Advertisement Following the case, the Taoiseach said: There are people in the Defence Forces who clearly knew this was happening, why did they do nothing? These are very serious questions and as Taoiseach I am not satisfied in relation to this, I am not satisfied at all. Barry Crushell is an employment law solicitor and former army officer, who served with the United Nations on multiple deployments. In an interview with BreakingNews.ie, Mr Crushell pointed out that regulations prevent the Defence Forces from taking action against an individual before the criminal/civil courts before a case has concluded. With this in mind, he argued that the criticism from Mr Harris and other politicians was unfair. Advertisement "It feels as if Harris deliberately threw the Defence Forces under the bus." "The outcry, in particular from Harris, has not gone down well within the Defence Forces or among its former members. It feels as if Harris deliberately threw the Defence Forces under the bus. "He will be well aware the Defence Forces has no power to suspend Crotty. The Defence Forces could not intervene at an earlier stage because to do so might have prejudiced the criminal case." He also said criticism of the commanding officer who attended the court case was unfair, as an appraisal report is different to a character reference. Advertisement "Concerning the Crotty case, what has caused a lot of consternation within the ranks of the Defence Forces, particularly among officers, is that the commandant who was instructed to attend that criminal case was required to provide a most recent performance appraisal to the judge. "Having done so, that performance appraisal was misconstrued by many members of the press as constituting a character reference when it was not. It was simply a reading of Crotty's previous performance appraisal. It was described as a character reference, which was wrong. "Defence Forces regulations, which are drafted by politicians, provide that an officer will attend the court proceedings and provide such a statement if requested to do so." Tanaiste and Minister for Defence Micheal Martin had suggested a practice called "local leave" could be used for suspension, but Mr Crushell said this was not what the procedure was for. Advertisement Tanaiste Micheal Martin suggested the use of local leave for suspension. "In relation to the issue of suspending Crotty pending an investigation, Micheal Martin has spoken about individuals being placed on 'local leave'. Local leave was provided for in the regulations, but it was never intended to constitute an alternative to suspension. In an ordinary workplace, an employer can suspend an employee if conduct is bordering, or actually, criminal in nature. "The Defence Forces is one of the most highly regulated workplace environments in the State. In circumstances where an individual is being placed on trial in the criminal courts, what typically arises is the Defence Forces will hold off any internal process or sanction until such time as the civil/criminal proceedings have concluded. "In this instance, the calls to use local leave is an ad hoc request. Local leave is intended to provide a discretionary power to officers, when a request is made for leave in exceptional circumstances. A typical example would be a soldier attending a funeral, a medical appointment, or some other unforeseen family event. Advertisement "It was never intended to constitute an alternative to a power to suspend, which is entirely different. I would question the validity of a commanding officer placing a soldier on long-term local leave as an alternative to suspension, primarily because of their being called forward for a criminal trial." When Mr Harris was challenged on his comments by army representative associations and Independent TD Cathal Berry, who served in the Army Ranger Wing, he defended his position. I dont need anybody to explain this to me or write me long tweets to tell me I dont understand this, I understand it very well," Mr Harris said. There are already regulations in place. I think that within the parameters of whats already there, it is entirely possible to have an effective dismissal of anybody convicted of a serious crime, but I also think that we have to go further than that." On this, Mr Crushell said: "I think at the outset, that initial knee-jerk reaction might have been justified. The difficulty is Harris continued the furore over this issue, having been informed by the representative associations and Cathal Berry, doubled down on his assertion that he was unhappy with the way this matter had been managed by the Defence Forces. "That was despite being informed of the limitations the Defence Forces had to take the actions he would have otherwise desired." Natasha O'Brien speaking to the media as she joins protesters outside Leinster House in Dublin. He added: "We've got a full-time minister for justice, but not for defence, it's a junior role that has been passed from politician to politician without any of them giving it what most members believe it deserves. "If the Defence Forces need to be reformed, so be it, members are willing to engage in that reform and make it a better place for all personnel concerned. "Every member of the Defence Forces abhors the actions of Crotty and has huge sympathy for Natasha O'Brien. What they don't want is for the Defence Forces to be made a scapegoat for incidents like this, when in reality they were effectively powerless to do what politicians, and the general staff, would have liked to have done in any event." US President Joe Biden was attending a black church and rallying union members on Sunday in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania, trying to project enough strength for his re-election campaign to quell a growing clamour from within in his own party for him to bow out of the race. Mr Biden urged supporters to stay unified behind him at a rousing church service where the pastor referenced biblical teachings in declaring never count Joseph out, and blamed jealousy for intensifying pressure from some Democrats to abandon his re-election bid. Advertisement Speaking from a stage at Mount Airy Church of God in Christ in northwest Philadelphia, the 81-year-old Mr Biden laughed off concerns about his age, joking I know I look 40 but Ive been doing this a long time. Advertisement I, honest to God, have never been more optimistic about Americas future if we stick together, Mr Biden said. He did not use a teleprompter, which has become more common since his disastrous debate performance last month but spoke from a prepared speech. His remarks followed Pastor Louis Felton likening Mr Biden to Joseph and the biblical story of his coat of many colours. Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers, only to eventually obtain a high place in the kingdom of the pharaoh and have his brothers beg him for assistance without initially recognising him. Never count Joseph out, Mr Felton implored. Then, referring to Democrats who have called on Mr Biden to step aside, he said: Thats whats going on, Mr President. People are jealous of you. Jealous of your stick-to-itiveness, jealous of your favour. Jealous of Gods hand upon your life. Mr Bidens appearance came after he joined a Saturday call with campaign surrogates, and reiterated that he has no plans to step aside, while urging unity among top Democrats. Advertisement But he also listened to concerns and feedback, according to two people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. The president pledged on the call to campaign harder going forward and to hit the road more frequently, taking his message to voters more directly. He was attending a church service at Mount Airy Church of God in Christ in northwest Philadelphia, then going to the state capital of Harrisburg to speak at an organising event with union members and local Democrats. US President Joe Biden, standing in back row at second from right, attends a church service at Mount Airy Church of God in Christ in Philadelphia on Sunday (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) Advertisement Later, Mr Biden visited a campaign office in Philadelphia, telling those assembled we need you to continue for the next 121 days before the election. Also on hand was Senator John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat who won a tough 2022 race while recovering from a stroke and offered a forceful endorsement of Mr Biden, saying: Thats our president, thats your president, thats my president. There is only one guy that has ever beaten Trump and he is going to do it twice and put him down for good, Mr Fetterman said. On Sunday evening, Mr Biden returns to Washington, where leaders from Nato countries will gather for a three-day summit beginning on Tuesday to mark the military alliances 75th anniversary. Advertisement The focus could shift more to Russias war in Ukraine than questions about Mr Bidens re-election campaign, but the 81-year-olds political situation remains precarious. Five Democratic lawmakers have called on him to abandon his re-election bid ahead of November, and more could do so in coming days, as Congress reconvenes. And director Rob Reiner, who has helped organise glitzy Hollywood fundraisers for Mr Biden in the past, posted on X, formerly Twitter: Its time for Joe Biden to step down. Meeting in person will give congressional Democrats a chance to discuss concerns about Mr Bidens ability to withstand the remaining four months of the campaign not to mention four more years in the White House and true prospects of beating former Republican former president Donald Trump. The presidents campaign has announced a 50 million-dollar (39 million) ad blitz throughout the month meant to target large-audience moments such as the upcoming Olympics in Paris. Still, Mr Bidens campaign team is quietly bracing for the chorus of those calling for him to leave the race to grow in coming days holding the call with surrogates and calling and texting politicians to try to head off more potential defections. Mr Biden got a weekend boost from other key Democrats who had raised previous questions but now have moved to support him, led by Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina. Still, with the Democratic convention approaching, the short term is especially critical. Since his disastrous debate performance late last month donors, strategists, politicians and their constituents have urged Democrats to replace him at the top of the ticket before, they argue, it is too late. Mr Bidens interview on Friday with ABC has not convinced some who remain sceptical that he can resurrect his campaign. Appearing on CNN on Sunday, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut said that Mr Biden needs to answer those questions that voters have. But he added: If he does that this week, I think he will be in a very good position and we can get back to what this campaign needs to be. Mr Murphy also said he did not know if a cognitive test would be impactful for voters worried about Mr Bidens potential decline. During his Friday interview, Mr Biden rejected undergoing such testing, arguing that the everyday rigours of the presidency were proof enough of his mental acuity. But California Democratic Representative Adam Schiff told NBC that he would be happy if both the president and Donald Trump took a cognitive test. Mr Trump, during his own campaign rallies, has said Mr Biden should undergo such testing while boasting about his own mental and physical stamina. Mr Schiff added that the president opting to stay in the race is going to come down to what Joe Biden thinks is best and that he could run hard to beat Mr Trump or if his decision is to pass the torch, then the president should do everything in his power to make that other candidate successful. Mr Biden has insisted he is not yielding to any other Democrat, saying he is the Democrats best shot to beat Mr Trump. His visit to a black church gives him a chance to energise African-American voters, who are Democrats largest and most loyal bloc of support. It could also send a message to members of the Congressional Black Caucus, whose endorsement the president will need as he works to quell potential rebellion on Capitol Hill. At the Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans on Saturday, Mr Biden got enthusiastic support from four of the caucuss members, including Representative Joyce Beatty, of Ohio, who told attendees dont get out there and turn your back on this president. California Democratic Representative Maxine Waters, who is 85, drew a standing ovation by declaring: People say Joe Bidens too old. Hell, Im older than Biden! It aint gonna be no other Democratic candidate, Ms Waters said, and we better know it. Democratic National Committee member Alan Clendenin of Florida said on Sunday US president Joe Biden should step aside as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate and allow vice president Kamala Harris to take over. "Joe Biden will be remembered by historians as one of the finest presidents in American history, but this election is about the next four years, not the last three and a half," Mr Clendenin said in a statement on social media platform X. Advertisement Mr Biden was attending a black church and rallying with union members on Sunday in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania, trying to project enough strength for his re-election campaign to quell a growing clamour from within in his own party for him to bow out of the race. The pair of appearances come after Mr Biden joined a Saturday call with campaign surrogates, and reiterated that he has no plans to step aside, while urging unity among top Democrats. Five Democratic lawmakers have called on him to abandon his re-election bid ahead of November, and more could do so in coming days, as Congress reconvenes. Meeting in person will give congressional Democrats a chance to discuss concerns about Mr Bidens ability to withstand the remaining four months of the campaign not to mention four more years in the White House and true prospects of beating former Republican former president Donald Trump. France is heading to the polls on Sunday in pivotal runoff elections which could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pens far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision. Sundays snap elections, which could also produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock, have potential impact on the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy and Europes economic stability. Advertisement They are almost certain to undercut President Emmanuel Macron for the remaining three years of his presidency. Racism and antisemitism have marred the electoral campaign, along with Russian cyberattacks and more than 50 candidates reported being physically attacked. The government is deploying 30,000 police on voting day. Far-right National Rally party president Jordan Bardella, right, leaves with far-right leader Marine Le Pen after a press conference (AP) Advertisement The heightened tensions come while France is preparing to host the Olympic Games and the Tour de France is racing around the country alongside the Olympic torch. Meanwhile, 49 million voters are in the midst of the countrys most important elections in decades. France could have its first far-right government since the Nazi occupation in the Second World War if the National Rally wins an absolute majority and its 28-year-old leader Jordan Bardella becomes prime minister. The party came out on top in the previous weeks first-round voting, followed by a coalition of centre-left, hard-left and Green parties, and Macrons centrist alliance. Advertisement The outcome remains highly uncertain. Polls between the two rounds suggest that the National Rally may win the most seats in the 577-seat National Assembly but fall short of the 289 seats needed for a majority. If it wins the majority, Mr Macron would be forced to share power in an awkward arrangement known in France as cohabitation. French President Emmanuel Macron (AP) Advertisement Another possibility is that no party has a majority, resulting in a hung parliament. That could prompt Mr Macron to pursue coalition negotiations with the centre-left or name a technocratic government with no political affiliations. Both would be unprecedented for modern France and make it more difficult for the European Unions second largest economy to make bold decisions on arming Ukraine, reforming labour laws or reducing its huge deficit. Financial markets have been jittery since Mr Macron surprised even his closest allies in June by announcing snap elections after the National Rally won the most seats for France in European Parliament elections. Advertisement Many French voters, especially in small towns and rural areas, are frustrated with low incomes and a Paris political leadership seen as elitist and unconcerned with workers day-to-day struggles. National Rally has connected with those voters, often by blaming immigration for Frances problems, and has built up broad and deep support over the past decade. Ms Le Pen has softened many of the partys positions she no longer calls for quitting Nato and the EU to make it more electable. But the partys core far-right values remain. It wants a referendum on whether being born in France is enough to merit citizenship, to curb rights of dual citizens and give police more freedom to use weapons. The second round of voting began on Saturday in Frances overseas territories from the South Pacific to the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and North Atlantic. The elections wrap up on Sunday at 8pm local time in mainland France. Initial polling projections are expected on Sunday night with early official results expected late on Sunday and early on Monday. Regardless of what happens, Mr Macron said he will not step down and will stay president until his term ends in 2027. The UK government has ruled out the introduction of digital ID cards after former prime minister Sir Tony Blair called for the documents to help control migration. Mr Blair, who championed ID cards when he was in office only for the idea to be killed off after Labour lost power, said the world was moving to a digital form of the document. Advertisement UK business secretary Jonathan Reynolds initially said home secretary Yvette Cooper would look at all sources of advice on the issue. Sources close to Ms Cooper said ID cards were not Labour policy and that has not changed, with Mr Reynolds later publicly ruling them out. UK business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the government would look at all sorts of advice on ID cards (Jeff Overs/BBC) Advertisement Writing in The Sunday Times, Mr Blair said: The only game-changer is the full embrace of the potential of technology. He added: We need a plan to control immigration. If we dont 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. Advertisement Mr Reynolds told Sky Newss Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: The new Home Secretary will be looking at all sources of advice when it comes to that. But I would just say we have backed the points-based immigration system, we made difficult decisions, particularly when we thought legal migration was too high and it has to come down. Pressed again on ID cards he said: Well look, my colleague Yvette Cooper and the rest of the home affairs team will be looking at all sorts of things. Im not going to pre-empt things they may or may not want to do. Advertisement Mr Reynolds later told Times Radio: We can rule that out, thats not something thats part of our plans. A village in a border region of western Russia was evacuated following a series of explosions after debris from a downed Ukrainian drone set fire to a nearby warehouse, local officials said. Social media footage appeared to show rising clouds of black smoke in the Voronezh region while loud explosions could be heard in succession. Advertisement Governor Aleksandr Gusev said that falling wreckage triggered the detonation of explosive objects. No casualties were reported, but residents of a nearby village in the Podgorensky district were evacuated, he said. Roads were also closed with emergency services, military and government officials working at the scene. A Ukrainian security official said that a strike had been carried out on a warehouse storing ammunition in the village of Serhiivka in the Voronezh region. Advertisement The enemy stored surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, shells for tanks and artillery, and boxes of cartridges for firearms, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. It is from this warehouse that the occupiers supply ammunition to their troops in Ukraine. A Russian self-propelled mortar 2S23 Nona-SVK fires toward Ukrainian positions in an undisclosed location in Ukraine.(Russian Defence Ministry Press Service/AP) Advertisement Russias ministry of defence did not address the strike in their morning briefing, but said that air defence systems had destroyed a Ukrainian drone over the Belgorod region. Authorities in Russias Krasnodar province on Saturday said a fire at an oil depot had also been caused by falling drone debris. Russias emergency services said the blaze was extinguished on Sunday morning. The strikes come after a Ukrainian military spokesperson said Kyivs troops had retreated from a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Chasiv Yar, a strategically important town in Ukraines Donetsk region that has been reduced to rubble under a month-long Russian assault. Advertisement Russian forces have for months tried to grind out gains in Ukraines industrial east, in an apparent attempt to lock its defenders into a war of attrition. In a joint investigation published Friday, independent Russian news outlets Meduza and Mediazona reported that Moscows forces were losing between 200 and 250 soldiers in Ukraine each day. Military analysts say Chasiv Yars fall could also compromise critical Ukrainian supply routes and put nearby cities in jeopardy, bringing Russia closer to its stated aim of seizing the entire Donetsk region. Russian strikes have also heavily targeted Ukraines energy infrastructure. Advertisement Officials in Kyiv said Saturday that the city had restored two-thirds of its power generation capacity after recent Russian missile attacks destroyed key power plants. Colossal work has been carried out, said deputy head of the Kyiv city administration Petro Panteleev. The citys energy facilities, which were built mainly in the Soviet period, are being modernized and become much more efficient. Russia sent overnight into Sunday two ballistic missiles and 13 Shahed drones, Ukrainian air force officials said. All were shot down but the officials did not elaborate on the impact of the missiles. Eight people were killed in Russian attacks across Ukraine in the past day, according to local regional authorities. Four people were killed in the Kherson region, said governor Oleksandr Prokudin, while in Donetsk, governor Vadym Filashkin said another two people had been killed in the towns of Niu-York and Ukrainsk. In Dnipropetrovsk, a 65-year-old woman was killed in a Russian attack in the Nikopol district, while a 47-year old man was killed in the Kharkiv region, Governors Serhii Lysak and Oleh Syniehubov said in their respective statements. Elsewhere in Ukraine, 14 people died after a bus collided with a cargo vehicle, leaving a single survivor, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said. The victims included a six-year-old child. French political parties faced a daunting task to put together a government on Sunday after the second round of elections threw up a hung parliament, with a leftist alliance unexpectedly taking the top spot ahead of the far-right. The results, based on pollsters' projections, were a setback for Marine Le Pen's nationalist, eurosceptic National Rally (RN), which opinion polls had predicted would be the largest party, but which placed only third. Advertisement They were also a blow for centrist president Emmanuel Macron, who called the ballot after his ticket was trounced in a European Parliament election last month. The election will leave parliament divided in three big groups - the left, centrists, and the far-right, with hugely different platforms and no tradition at all of working together. What comes next is uncertain. The left, which wants to cap prices of essential goods like fuel and food, raise the minimum wage to a net 1,600 per month, hike wages for public sector workers and impose a wealth tax, immediately said it wanted to govern. Advertisement "The will of the people must be strictly respected ... the president must invite the New Popular Front to govern," said hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon. But the awkward New Popular Front (NFP) alliance, hastily put together before the vote, is far from an absolute majority. The euro fell on Sunday after the vote projections were announced. "There's really going to be a vacuum when it comes to France's legislative ability," said Simon Harvey, head of FX analysis at Monex Europe. Advertisement A key question is whether the leftist alliance, which gathers the hard left, Greens and Socialists will stay united and agree on what course to take. The constitution does not oblige Mr Macron to ask the group to form a government, though that would be the usual step as it is the biggest group in parliament. Leftist alliance Mr Melenchon, leader of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI), ruled out a broad coalition of parties of different stripes and said Mr Macron had a duty to call on the leftist alliance to rule. Mr Macron's centrist group "Together" looked set to come second, just ahead of the RN, according to the pollsters' projections based on early results. Advertisement The Ipsos polling agency forecast the RN would get 120-134 seats, and its allies 14-18, out of the 577 seats in parliament. Elabe pollsters projected the RN and allies would win 136-144. That was a far cry from weeks during which opinion polls consistently projected the RN would win comfortably, before the left and centrist alliances cooperated by pulling scores of candidates from three-way races to build a unified anti-RN vote. In his first reaction, RN leader Jordan Bardella called the cooperation between anti-RN forces, known as the "republican front" a "disgraceful alliance" that he said would paralyse France. 'Victory delayed' Marine Le Pen, who will be the party's candidate for the 2027 presidential election, said Sunday's ballot, in which the RN made major gains compared with previous elections, had sown the seeds for the future. Advertisement "Our victory has been merely delayed," she said. The leftist alliance, whose parties have long been at odds with each other, was forecast to win between 171 and 187 seats in the Ipsos poll. Elabe pollsters saw the leftist alliance with 182-193 seats. Cries of joy and tears of relief broke out at its gathering in Paris when the voting projections were announced. At the Greens' headquarters activists screamed in joy, embracing each other. "I'm relieved. As a French-Moroccan, a doctor, an ecologist activist, what the far right was proposing to do as a government was craziness," said 34-year-old Hafsah Hachad. In Mr Macron's entourage, there was no indication of his next move. "The question we're going to have to ask ourselves tonight and in the coming days is: which coalition is capable of reaching the 289 seats to govern?" one person close to him told Reuters. Some in his alliance, including former prime minister Edouard Philippe, envisaged a broad cross-party alliance but said it could not include the far-left France Unbowed. On the more moderate left, Raphael Glucksmann, from the Socialist Party, urged his alliance partners to act like "grown-ups". "We're ahead, but we're in a divided parliament," he said. "We're going to have to talk, to discuss, to engage in dialogue." Official results were trickling in, with the votes from most, if not all, constituencies likely to be in by the end of the day or the early hours of Monday. Voters punish Macron Voters have punished Mr Macron and his ruling alliance for a cost of living crisis and failing public services, as well as over immigration and security. Ms Le Pen and her party tapped into those grievances, spreading their appeal way beyond their traditional strongholds along the Mediterranean coast and in the country's northern rust belt, but their gains compared with previous elections proved insufficient to win power. The children have experienced things on their travels that most adults wont in their whole lives, she said. The Allards, now based on the northern Gold Coast, put their three children in a mainstream school at the start of 2023, but still take breaks during the term. We know firsthand the benefits of travel for our children, so within reason, we take our kids out of school during the school term and hit the road for extra-long weekends or an extra week or two outside the holidays, Kerry said. Its much less busy and you get a better experience. Its also much cheaper travelling outside of the peak periods. Brisbane state primary and high school attendance data, analysed exclusively by Brisbane Times, reveals attendance at most schools was lower in 2023 than in 2021, but last years data showed an improvement on 2022. However, attendance rates have not recovered to the levels before the pandemic. Reasons included everything from illness, medical appointments, family reasons and bereavement, disciplinary reasons and holidays. Queensland University of Technology education researcher Dr Rebecca English said it seemed families had a different relationship with schools post-COVID. It seems theyre probably less likely to think, well wait until the next holiday, a few months, next year any more because, as we saw with COVID, we might be trapped here and grandma/the kids/we arent getting any younger, she said. I wouldnt be surprised if COVID hadnt had a radical effect on parents willingness to just say stuff it, pack your bags, were off. It is a global phenomenon, with The New York Times reporting in March a sharp increase in student absenteeism in the four years since the pandemic closed schools in the US, with families setting off on trips with the assumption children could keep up with schoolwork online, while heightened anxiety kept others away, as the relationship with school became optional. Struggles to bring children back to the classroom also mirror difficulties bosses have bringing employees back into the office. English said families took trips during the school term because of cheaper airfares, cruise tickets and accommodation during low season, but in some cases, it might be the only time they could take leave, or attend a relatives funeral overseas. She said children learnt a lot from travel. For example, on a driving holiday from Brisbane to Canberra that includes a trip to parliament, Questacon and the National Gallery, they would learn about various towns, how long it takes to drive that many kilometres, budgets for petrol, accommodation and food, covering elements of maths, English, humanities, science and the arts via lived experiences. And if you go overseas, as some families will, you can add in different cultures, you can add in languages, she said. But, also there are life lessons. Managing the fatigue of travel navigating different spaces that arent like home. Getting along with the family when youve been trapped together for so long. Loading English said working with schools was important to ask what students would miss, but talking to your children was also important. If theyre in year 11 or year 12, or even in year 9 or 10, they might have a lot of concerns about missing out and getting behind. Parents with children at Western Australias most prestigious private schools have some of the highest median incomes in the nation, new data has revealed. Christ Church Grammar School, Methodist Ladies College and St Hildas Anglican School for Girls top the list and are not far behind in median parent earnings to Sydney schools, where annual fees can be almost double. Parents at Christ Church have the 12th-highest median family income in Australia. This is the first time median family incomes for private school students have been published, in response to a Senate estimates question. Previously, only income ranges were available. India is planning to finalise a pact with Zambia on geological mapping and mineral exploration in the resource-rich African nation endowed with precious stones, copper, zinc, nickel, gold, and cobalt. This initiative aims at securing access to these resources and bolstering bilateral ties. Last month, a delegation from the Ministry of Mines met with Zambian officials to initiate negotiations. We have discussed cooperation in geological mapping and mineral exploration with the Zambian government and are confident of signing a pact soon, a government official said. Through geological mapping and mineral exploration in Zambia, India seeks to gain Chinese doctors in Ghana successfully treats orphans with umbilical hernias Xinhua) 10:47, July 07, 2024 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. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Kou Jie) The merger between UBS and Credit Suisse (CS) has emboldened Swiss banking plans in India. GAUTAM CHHAOCHHARIA, managing director and head of global markets in India at UBS, says this is an opportune time given the long runway for growth. In an interview with Samie Modak and Sundar Sethuraman in Mumbai, Chhaochharia discusses factors impacting the markets and the economy. Edited excerpts: Markets globally have had a good run this year. Are there any global headwinds that could spoil the party? While markets have had a good run, uncertainty has remained elevated and may persist. Geopolitical tensions have Telugu Desam Party Minister Satya Prasad emphasized the formation of the committees to address the issues of the Reorganization Act | Photo: X@ncbn Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu met with his Telangana counterpart Revanth Reddy in Hyderabad on Saturday. The two states decided to form committees of officials and ministers to resolve issues between the Telugu-speaking states, a decade after their bifurcation. Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said ministers from both states discussed several issues during the meeting. "We have discussed the unresolved issues from the Andhra Pradesh bifurcation over the last 10 years. While we do not expect all issues to be resolved immediately, we recognize the need for action. Therefore, we have made this decision," Vikramarka said during a press conference. The Deputy Chief Minister announced that a committee of higher officials, including the Chief Secretaries and three officials from each state, would be formed. "If some issues are not resolved by the officials' committee, a committee of ministers from both states will be formed. If any issues remain unresolved, the Chief Ministers will discuss them," Vikramarka added. The Deputy Chief Minister also said that both states would cooperate in combating drugs and cybercrimes, with the Additional Director Generals from each state working together on these issues. "The Telangana government is driving efforts against narcotics and cybercrimes. Cooperation between both states will enhance these efforts. The Additional DGs will collaborate on this," Vikramarka stated. Telugu Desam Party Minister Satya Prasad emphasized the formation of the committees to address the issues of the Reorganization Act. "Telangana was formed after a significant movement. To ensure all benefit and to resolve the issues of the Reorganization Act, we have established a high-level officials committee and a ministers' committee," Prasad explained. The Andhra Pradesh Minister also mentioned the formation of a committee with Additional DGs from both states to address concerns about drug production in Andhra Pradesh and its sale in Telangana. "We have formed a committee with Additional DGs from both states to eliminate the drug culture. The Telangana Chief Minister was concerned about drugs being prepared in Andhra Pradesh and sold in Telangana," he said. The Chief Ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh met at Jyotirao Phule Praja Bhavan in Hyderabad on Saturday. photo by Dallas Bay VFD photo by Dallas Bay VFD photo by Dallas Bay VFD photo by Noah Lewis photo by Dallas Bay VFD Previous Next A Soddy Daisy home suffered extensive damage in a fire on Sunday afternoon. A neighbor called 911 reporting a residential fire at 1415 N. Winer Dr. (High Ridge subdivision). At 1:47 p.m., the Dallas Bay Volunteer Fire Department arrived on the scene reporting heavy fire pouring out of the side windows and roof area. Dallas Bay firefighters quickly confirmed no one was inside the home while other teams conducted an interior and exterior attacks. Hamilton County EMS responded to the scene and checked vital signs of firefighters for heat exhaustion. Dallas Bay VFD used the cooling chairs which were purchased with a grant to help cool firefighters down quickly. Due to extensive hot temperatures, Dallas Bay VFD requested a Mutual Aid response for additional manpower. Soddy Daisy Fire Department responded to the scene. Chief Markus Fritts, Dallas Bay VFD, reported, The fire started on the outside of the home and spread quickly to the backyard and shed due to the dry terrain. No injuries were reported. Fire caused significant damage to the home. The cause of the fire will be under the investigation by the Hamilton County Sheriffs Office. The American Red Cross was called to assist one adult and one child with their emergency needs. Was the Trojan Horse real? Or is it nothing more than a popular myth that has served as inspiration for thousands of years? The story of the Trojan Horse is quite well-known, and the very first mention of it was in Homers Odyssey. It describes how the ancient Greeks infiltrated the city of Troy by concealing themselves within a giant, hollow wooden horse. However, there is little evidence to suggest that the event actually happened. Legend has it that the Achaeans spent 10 long years trying to take the city of Troy without success. Finally, they pretended to accept defeat and sailed to a nearby island. There, they left behind an enormous wooden horse with a bunch of soldiers inside it. The Trojans mistakenly believed that the horse was an offering to the goddess Athena, so they hauled it back to town. At dark, the Greek soldiers emerged from the horse and destroyed the city, bringing an end to the war. So far, archaeologists have not uncovered any solid proof that confirms the reality of this military strategy. Dr. Armand DAngour, a classicist at Oxford University, explained that there is archaeological evidence that Troy was indeed burned down; but the wooden horse is an imaginative fable, perhaps inspired by the way ancient siege-engines were clothed with damp horse-hides to stop them from being set alight. What experts know for certain is that Troy was likely a Bronze Age city located at a site called Hisarlik in what is now western Turkey. Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox. Home News Gateway Church settled lawsuit after multiple pastors accused of covering up sexual assault of minor Just two months before Gateway Church founder Robert Morris resigned over an explosive allegation of child sex abuse, the megachurch settled a lawsuit in which at least five Gateway Church pastors and a youth leader were accused of concealing the sexual assault of a minor by another member. The initial lawsuit was filed in Tarrant County Texas in August 2020 on behalf of a minor identified as A.D. and her mother, who The Christian Post doesn't name in this piece. Gateway Church, Denise Edwards and youth leader Logan Edwards were all named as defendants, along with Doug Vaughn and Gateway Church pastors: Kelly Jones, Rebecca Wilson, Samantha Golden, Mondo Davis and Sion Alford. The plaintiffs in the case were both members of Gateway and sought damages of more than $200,000 but not more than $5,000,000. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe In settling the case on April 18, Gateway Church and its pastors, who were accused of gross negligence and breach of their fiduciary duty to the plaintiffs as members, admitted no liability and stated that they only settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount to buy peace. All parties having waived a jury, it was announced to the court that an agreement for settlement of all matters in controversy, approved and recommended by the parties and the Guardian Ad Litem, had been entered, subject to the approval of the Court; ..." The parties entered into a confidential compromise settlement agreement and release in full settlement of all claims of plaintiff against defendants. It was further announced that said compromise settlement agreement and release was being made on disputed claims against defendants and that defendants denied any liability to the plaintiff, the final judgement on the matter said. Defendants agreed to enter into the compromise settlement agreement solely to buy peace, without admitting any liability. According to the allegations in the case, prior to the sexual assault, the minor and her mother frequently attended worship services and participated in various ministries and church sponsored functions. On or around March 14, 2018, the minor was sexually assaulted by an unnamed member at the member's personal residence. In his capacity as a youth leader at Gateway Church, defendant Logan allegedly became aware of the sexual assault through conversations with the alleged perpetrator and other youth who attended Gateway. Logan went on to share the allegations with other pastors and defendants named in the lawsuit. Defendants Samantha, Sion, Kelly, Rebecca, and Mondo were all informed of the sexual assault accusations to which Plaintiff Doe subjected to as being the central leadership of Gateway. Although Defendants were made aware of the sexual assault accusations made by Plaintiff Doe, a minor, none filed a formal complaint with the necessary child protective agencies, law enforcement agencies, or even alerted Plaintiff Does mother, to the existence of the alleged assault, the lawsuit states. The Gateway pastors and other defendants in the case allegedly engaged in many conversations with the accused member and their parents. As soon as the minors mother eventually learned what happened to her daughter, she filed a report with the Haltom City Police Department. After the victims mother did that, the Gateway pastors were accused of trying to discredit the plaintiffs. The defendants who were ordained pastors of Gateway, embarked on a concerted campaign to conceal, misconstrue, and discredit the assault accusations while the active criminal investigation was ongoing. Defendants encouraged other members of Gateway to ostracize (minors mother) and had her removed from the various ministries of which she had served dutifully, the lawsuit claims. The minor and her mother claimed they were forced to endure immense shame and embarrassment, and emotional distress by the defendants who used their influence to taint the police investigation. Due to the weeks of active concealment by defendants, significant evidence of the alleged criminal assault was allowed to waste and degrade, further hindering law enforcements ability to accurately investigate the original assault, the lawsuit adds. Just last month, 54-year-old Cindy Clemishire reported that Gateway Church founder Robert Morris began sexually abusing her on Dec. 25, 1982, when she was just 12 years old. Morris was a young adult married traveling evangelist at the time. Clemishire says the abuse continued for four-and-a-half years before Morris was found out, but he was later allowed to return to ministry. Clemishire contends that officials at Gateway Church were informed of her allegations against Morris years ago. However, Lawrence Swicegood reiterated in a statement to The Christian Post that the current board of elders did not know that the megachurch founder had been accused of child sex abuse. The Board of Elders called a special meeting and accepted the resignation of Pastor Robert Morris several weeks ago. Gateway Church is committed to protecting people first and foremost children and the most vulnerable. Abuse simply cannot be tolerated, he said. The Board of Elders has retained the law firm Haynes and Boone, LLP to conduct a thorough and independent inquiry so that the facts can be understood. Even though this abuse occurred many years before Gateway was established, the Elders are committed to finding the truth and holding people accountable, he added. Regrettably, prior to Friday, June 14, the current Elders did not have all the facts. The Board of Elders is deeply committed to walking in integrity and finding the truth. Having this inquiry done by an independent and unbiased outside law firm is best practice. This review has begun, and the Board of Elders pledges its full cooperation. Home News Divine judgment: Pastor John MacArthur on Biden, Trump, immorality and the Church Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church articulated a stern view of President Joe Bidens leadership during a recent interview, framing it as a divine judgment and a reflection of societal moral decline. America is a nation reaping the consequences of its moral choices, he declared. During his interview with Breitbart News Daily, MacArthur spoke about the Biden administrations vocal support for trans ideology as emblematic of a society straying from biblical teachings. When a society turns to sexual immorality, homosexual immorality, and a reprobate mind, God gives them up, MacArthur said, suggesting that the current leadership exemplifies the punishment described in Romans 1. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe When He gives them up, it means he gives them up to the consequences of their choices, the pastor said. If you follow that pattern, what you get is Joe Biden, who is the epitome of all those things that I just talked about. The pastor did not mince words when discussing the personal and familial aspects of Bidens life, claiming immorality ran rampant at an epic level. MacArthur said societal redemption is possible, but only by returning to scriptural principles and genuine Christian conversion. He criticized the contemporary Church for its perceived failure to challenge societal norms and confront sins that lead to divine judgment. The church has miserably failed, he lamented, pointing to its inclination to conform to external expectations rather than uphold biblical truths. He dismissed the notion that political figures like former President Donald Trump could be the solution to the nations moral and spiritual decline, although he considered a second Trump presidency a huge move in the right direction. MacArthur stressed that change must come internally from individuals through the Gospel of Christ, which he said can transform hearts and, by extension, cultures and nations. The transformation that He brings can change a family and change a community and change a nation, MacArthur concluded. During a Q&A at his church in March, MacArthur addressed the topic of Christian nationalism. He clarified his stance against the conflation of Christian doctrine with political power, asserting, The Kingdom of God is not of this world. He also views the spiritual advancement of Gods Kingdom as separate from earthly political processes. Despite the separation of church and state, MacArthur stressed the importance of Christians engaging in the political process to uphold righteousness, especially as voting becomes increasingly challenging in a landscape where options often do not align perfectly with biblical values. Addressing misconceptions about Christian dominance in worldly affairs, MacArthur pointed to the scriptural predictions of worsening conditions for believers before Christ's return. MacArthur, a premillennialist, suggested that Christians who believe they can assist God in establishing His Kingdom by seizing the reins of political power are misguided and often driven by a mistaken postmillennial eschatology that believes Jesus will return following an extended period of Christian political and cultural dominance. What Scripture teaches is what we're learning from the book of Revelation: Things are going to get worse and worse and worse, and the end of human history is not the Church triumphant, reigning in the world and taking over the structures of human kingdoms. Thats not what happens. At the end of human history, the believers are persecuted and murdered. And thats the very opposite of what Christian nationalism would anticipate. Home Opinion Can Netanyahu still be a hero? In the fog of war, if we are honest, we often find it difficult to determine who is a hero and who is a war criminal. There is no better situation to illustrate this than the present Hamas-Israeli conflict. One can argue that the Israeli bombardment of Gaza has been quite over the top to quote President Biden. No one really knows the exact casualty figures as the information coming out of the conflict area is mostly from Hamas operatives, a questionable source indeed. However, one thing that cannot be denied is that most of the flak taken for the alleged 30,000 plus dead, and many wounded, has been Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He is viewed by many in the international community as an out-of-control despot ethnically cleansing the Gaza strip, not so much to protect his country, but to grab more land for the notion of Greater Israel. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Considering the situation and the man himself, is this an accurate portrayal? One would think that this would be an easy question to answer since the International Criminal Court has actually issued an arrest warrant for him. Case closed? Not so fast. There are a number of issues one must understand in order to arrive at the best conclusion, apart from partisan manipulations. The first is the man himself. This is not a wild-eyed tyrant acting on his own behalf, although many who oppose him, even in the Knesset, think so. Rather, this is, whether you like his conclusions or not, a thinking man looking to the future. Ironically, as dark as the situation in Gaza is presently, even the Palestinians might eventually benefit by having the noose of Hamas removed from their necks. Indeed, one might argue that they voted Hamas in as their own government and thus deserve the consequences, but collective minds can be changed. Netanyahu lived in the USA for part of his life (his family briefly lived in Pennsylvania where he attended High School he also attended MIT), and he knows full well the western values that would be expected as a leader. He was later drafted into the Israeli military. This is not a man who is not unaccustomed with war and death; his own brother was killed in the raid on Entebbe, Uganda in 1976. Yet, his past actions show that he is not, as many think, a steel willed man not willing to give an inch. During his first tenure as Prime Minister in 1997, he agreed to a partial Israeli withdraw from Hebron. In 1998, he held extensive peace talks with Yasser Arafat that led to an exchange of land in return for diminishing terrorist acts. So, the canard that the Middle East is dealing with an out-of-control Caesar bent on erasing an ethnic population simply does not play out. Keep in mind both he and the Israeli government is reacting to a major terrorist action on their own soil over 1,200 Israelis killed and hundreds taken hostage. Was this a time to quietly negotiate? No one, except on the wildest fringe of pacifism, would say so; it was a time for decisive military action. Which brings us to the tactics itself. Consider: What action do you take when your enemy is embedded in the general population, and is hiding in schools, hospitals, bedrooms, in extensive tunnels, and uses women and children as shields? Obviously, in such a situation, your military plans and strategies are limited. To displace the enemy, you would have to strike where they are. The IDF, facing a foe that was nearly invisible because of where their lair was, had no choice but to strike in heavily populated areas. No sane human being delights in such methods or the innocent victims of such, but, as we mentioned, choices were limited. We would be amiss if we did not mention that there are many Israelis that, in fact, oppose Netanyahu. Of course, there are general political oppositions to his office simply because of a differing political bent. But we are talking about Israeli citizens demanding more action to release the hostages. Their feeling is that the Israeli government in general, and Netanyahu in particular, are not negotiating with enough urgency that they are more focused on heavy military engagement than getting their citizens back. Moreover, a lot of the underlying fear is that there will be a land for hostages deal, in which case, there is the fear that Netanyahu et al, are letting the country go. One would have to be sympathetic to both the families of the hostages, and any Israeli family that lost a loved one to protect the land that may be given away to a terrorist entity. Yet, no one really knows how all this will play out and who will blink first. Moreover, no one really knows how Netanyahu is negotiating, or what he feels is the best way to get those hostages back. We would have to assume that there are back-channel talks being held, and while we know that there is a pensive feeling throughout the Israeli population, cooler heads must prevail in order for the country to demonstrate a united front and not a country coming apart at the seams. Considering the complexities of the current crisis, it remains to be seen how ultimately Netanyahu will be seen by Israel and the world once the dust has settled and the peace, temporarily or permanently, arrives. It could be that Israel will be fighting an insurgent war for many years to come. Greater challenges may be ahead. They say that history is written by the victors, and if that is so, only a consensus of Israelis will be the final judge of Netanyahu. But, as they say, the jury is out until this segment of Middle East history plays its final note. That, as many concede, may be quite a while. Experiencing the peace of God in the midst of infertility Lucy West in her debut book, The Wait, shares the pain and anguish she and her husband Lindz felt when they were diagnosed with 'unexplained infertility'. After an eight-year journey of trying to start a family, the couple went on to adopt their two 'chosen children', thus fulfilling their dream of becoming parents. Christian Today spoke with West to hear more about their journey, the misconceptions surrounding infertility, and how the church supported them through their difficult season. What went through your mind when you were diagnosed with 'unexplained infertility'? For some people, to be told their infertility is 'unexplained' can feel like an enormous relief. It gives hope that it could still happen if they just keep on trying. Sadly for me, it kind of prolonged the agony, it suddenly threw away any signposts that told me where I was going would someday end and what help we could get, and threw a long empty road ahead of us, with no answers along the way. Strangely, we have been told that we could still get pregnant any day, so there has never quite been closure on it, although I am completely at peace with that now. The subtitle of your book is 'finding peace when facing the challenge of infertility'. What does peace in the midst of challenging times look like to you? I remember Bill Johnson from Bethel church preaching once on Jesus sleeping in the boat as a storm raged all around. He talked about how, if we can have peace in the middle of that storm, then the storm ultimately has no power over us. Now, I have huge respect for anyone walking through pain who can declare they have a deep, unexplainable peace. I believe it can just come, but most of the time we have to choose to walk into it, choose to put God first, choose to lift our hands and worship even as they tremble. Not an easy call, but there's far more security in Jesus rather than our difficult circumstances. You have chosen to share your story because there are still so many misconceptions and misunderstandings surrounding infertility and childlessness. What misconceptions did you encounter? There is very little understanding about infertility and childlessness if you haven't been through it yourself before. Even walking with someone, I don't think you can ever feel the whole array of emotions, so there are still views held that can be very painful, but I know they only come through a lack of understanding. I felt from comments we heard that some people thought we were putting work first, and that we were being selfish because of this. We had people asking if we had spoken something negative over ourselves so it was our fault we weren't getting pregnant. There were the views that it was embarrassing for us, or awkward for others to talk to us. Like any form of grief, it is too easy for people to cross the road or pretend they haven't seen you in the supermarket (yes, we had that many times, a quick look away and busying themselves with reading a cereal packet!). All of these attitudes I understood, but they did cut us deeply, and I believe it led to me feeling so different to everyone else. This in turn brought a deep sense of shame that clouded a lot of my journey and stripped away so much of who I was, or believed I was, during those difficult years. I would love infertility and childlessness to be talked about more, brought into the open and seen as more 'normal' if you like. I think this would take some of that shame away. Did you feel supported by your own church and do you feel the wider Church more generally knows how to meet the very specific pastoral needs of women living with infertility? We were definitely supported by individuals within the church. The pastor and his wife were good friends and prayed with us a lot over those years. I think though, the Church as a whole isn't great at supporting those with differences like we had. The Church is naturally very geared around family as we talk lots about all being part of God's family, and stepping up and supporting people with children as it is a hard job raising them. These are all beautiful things in themselves, but when you are desperate for your own children, any talk of families, or openly celebrating the mothers or fathers' on those special days for example, can be very painful. There are still subjects that are not regularly addressed by the Church - we are getting better as a whole, but I do believe more testimony should be invited from the front. To hear how someone copes day to day in a wheelchair, for example, gives us insight into how the world is generally not built for those with a disability like that, and how we can help to take away stigmas or physical difficulties. Talking about childlessness means we address the elephant in the room and allow conversation, rather than others being afraid to go near it. I wish people had talked to me about grief more before this happened to us. I had no idea this would be a type of grieving and would knock us down so hard. I didn't feel I was 'allowed' to grieve as we hadn't lost a physical person. With education, and hearing people's stories of navigating their own pain, we can bring more understanding to the wider population and help people to feel less alone in their struggles. In your book you document the frustration you felt when your rounds of IVF failed. Frustrations and faith can exist at the same time. How important is it for people to hear this? It's ever so important! I used to believe that you were either stuck in a valley, climbing a mountain, or enjoying the beautiful views, never stopping for long, always moving to the next part of your journey in life. Now I believe that pain and joy can be waving along at exactly the same time, almost like two roller coasters simultaneously passing each other. I knew that writing my book, I needed to talk about the depths of pain reached, as I wanted to show how resilience and hope can get you through anything, but I knew it would be harder to incorporate the element of joy that can hit you even within the darkest moments. For me, an example was after IVF, suddenly realising the next day that I had more time alone with my precious husband, I could have more lie-ins and money to spend frivolously on ourselves! This euphoria didn't last long before the reality of our situation hit again, but I do believe that joy can be found in the hardest of times. I remember walking round a park with my heart a melted, broken mess, and a robin hopped up to me and I cried tears of pure joy. I believed and still do, that was God's smile, He chose to inject that joy just when I needed it most. It's important to know both can co-exist so we don't feel guilty when we feel joy. If we are grieving a loved one, then have a day where you smile and laugh. This can hit us hard after the event and the guilt can overwhelm us, but it's important for the healing process to still find joy in life around us. You and your husband Lindz decided to adopt and you believe this was God's will for you all along. What impact did this have on your walk with God? On so many levels we have seen God through the adoptions. Just seeing how perfectly we all fit together blows my mind. They have been hand-picked for us, and we were hand-picked for them! It says to me: if they are so us, then we were supposed to go through all of that pain to get to the point we were at when they were ready to be adopted. Then I feel that it was all worth it or we would never have met our children. Pain, as many who have walked it know, is best gone through if we use it to help others. I feel so grateful now that I can truly enjoy these children. We are grateful for them every day of our lives, whether it is a hard day or not - and there are plenty of hard ones I must add!) I also feel grateful that I know I am strong enough to go through hard times. I am a resilient woman who is willing to fight for what she believes has been promised. All of this has led me further into God's outstretched arms. Looking back, I can see that God was with us at every turn, not necessarily removing the pain, but helping us navigate it, stand upon it, flex our faith muscles and move on stronger. When you are through the other side (it's hard to see when you enduring), you realise that James was very wise when he said the words, 'Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing' (James 1:2-4). I do trust God more deeply now, and feel He can trust us not to walk away from Him when things get tough. What has your experience with adoption been like and what advice do you have for women living with infertility? Adoption has been incredibly wonderful and incredibly difficult at the same time. Wonderful because I am aware of the huge gift we have been given. For example, if you save and save for that bike, you will treasure it, clean it, protect it, perhaps even enjoy it a little more, than if that bike was just one of many things sitting in the garage. Every adoptive parent I have spoken to tells of this deep sense of gratitude for what they have been given: a gift, we believe, straight from God. It is difficult because I never got to carry my children or hold them as a newborn, and there are lots of unknowns about health, character and other things they may inherit genetically. Many studies have confirmed that children who have been adopted, however young, hold some form of separation trauma which can show itself in different ways as they get older. In fact, I am writing my second book about adoption - a guide for those with questions, and a resource talking about the science behind brain connections and traumas children can go through. It just fascinates me so I wanted to create a resource with all the information we need in one place. As for advice, every person going through infertility has a road to walk, and there will be grief in some form to be experienced. It has helped me to learn from others about 'sitting' with our grief, feeling every bit of it and not trying to rush through it, but grief is the most horrible thing that can be all-consuming at one moment, and seem to disappear the next. I would say, even if you want to keep your journey a secret, make sure you have a few people around you who can really support and love you through this. People need to know that you are grieving, so being vulnerable and reaching out is so important. And ultimately, I want people to know they have nothing to be ashamed of. They are not broken, they are just going through something incredibly tough. Everyone has something they are going through, so giving yourself grace and kindness at this time is so important. You are stronger than you think, and even if you feel incredibly weak right now, there really is light at the end of the tunnel. Republican presidential candidate former U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic Party presidential candidate U.S. President Joe Biden speak during a presidential debate in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., June 27, 2024 in a combination photo. President Joe Biden is entering a decisive week where he must assure voters that he can defeat President Donald Trump in the November election, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Sunday. "The clock is ticking," Murphy, a close ally of the president, said on CNN's "State of the Union." "This is going to be a really important and vital week for the country and for the President." Since Biden's fumbling debate performance on June 27, the chorus of Democratic lawmakers, strategists and donors calling on him to bow out of the presidential race has only grown louder. And while voter polls have delivered mixed results, several have shown the president falling further behind Trump. The week ahead is crucial with the House and the Senate back in session after a holiday recess, giving Democrats the chance to discuss their concerns in person. Five House Democrats so far have publicly called on Biden to drop out of the race, but more lawmakers have expressed worry behind closed doors. As the drop-out pressure mounts, Biden has been in damage control mode as he staunchly pledged to remain in the race. On Wednesday, five days after the debate disaster, the president held a variety of phone calls and meetings with Capitol Hill allies, Democratic governors and campaign staff to reassure them of his commitment to the race and ability to win. On Friday, Biden did an unedited, 22-minute sit-down with ABC News, his first televised interview aimed at reversing some of the damage of his debate flop. But the interview did little to ease voter concerns, Murphy said. "Friday night's interview did not answer all the questions that people in my state have," he added. "They need to see more from the President and I hope that we see that this week." Also on Friday, Biden made a campaign stop in the key battleground state of Wisconsin. On Sunday, Biden was in Pennsylvania holding several other campaign events, looking to quiet the Democratic panic. US President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the Supreme Court's immunity ruling at the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington, DC on July 1, 2024. Two Democrats with a powerful network of friends are circulating a proposal for President Joe Biden to bow out of the 2024 race and launch an expedited Democratic primary to choose a new nominee before the August convention. Rosa Brooks, a Georgetown University law professor who previously served in both the Obama and Clinton administrations, and Ted Dintersmith, a high-dollar Democratic donor, co-authored the proposal, a copy of which was obtained by CNBC. Semafor was first to report the memo. The proposal comes as pressure builds on Biden to exit the race following his stumbling debate on June 27 against former President Donald Trump. The president's debate performance triggered alarm bells for Democratic strategists, lawmakers, donors and voters, escalating lingering concerns about Biden's age and ability to beat Trump. Brooks said that she and Dintersmith initially sent the memo on Tuesday to dozens of powerful Democrats, including significant donors, Biden appointees and campaign officials. As Brooks put it in an interview with CNBC, they sent the plan to "Everybody who we thought might have the ear of anybody who has any influence over the president's decision-making." The proposal lays out several key steps, beginning with Biden announcing that he will exit the race in mid-July in a "speech for the ages," as the memo's authors envision it. "Overnight, Biden is hailed as a modern-day George Washington, not an octogenarian clinging to power with a 37% approval rating," the proposal reads. "From goat to hero." The next phase of the plan is a "blitz primary," where prospective Democratic candidates submit their bids and delegates to the Democratic National Convention ultimately narrow down the list to six contenders. The hypothetical accelerated primary would involve a massive social media content campaign to engage voters, including forums between the candidates moderated by celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift or Stephen Colbert, according to the memo. Brooks and Dintersmith's vision ends with delegates voting on the final nominee at the DNC, which would theoretically benefit from boosted viewership and donations from the viral hype of the preceding blitz primary. Brooks, who noted that she is not a political strategist, said that the proposal should be treated as more of a living document and that many of the details of the plan have changed as the Democrats who saw the memo hypothetically toyed with its ideas. "We know we're not in any position to define what actually happens, but we're so encouraged by the uniform reaction: 'Wow! If something along these lines happened, America would be lifted up from our current doldrums,'" Dintersmith said in an email to CNBC. Since initially sending the proposal on Tuesday, Brooks said they have received dozens of responses, most of which liked the plan, even if it has a slim chance of actually being executed. "The tone has very much been, 'Oh my God, this is probably impossible, but what a great idea,'" Brooks said. She added that the more time that goes on, the more she feels that people are beginning to see the plan as viable: "It's gone, in a few days from, 'Oh, this would be so great if only it could happen, but it probably can't,' to 'Why can't it?'" In response to a request for comment on the proposal, the Biden campaign said that July fundraising had so far been its "strongest grassroots start to a month ever." The campaign also pointed to Biden's remarks in Wisconsin on Friday: "I'm not letting one 90-minute debate wipe out three and a half years of work. I'm staying in the race, and I will beat Donald Trump." Supporters of the French National Rally in Henin-Beaumont, northern France, on June 30, 2024. Francois Lo Presti | Afp | Getty Images French voters are heading to the polls on Sunday for the second and final round of voting in a snap parliamentary election. After an initial ballot suggested the far-right National Rally (RN) group would become the biggest party in France's National Assembly, parties on the center-right and left have joined forces to try to block RN's advance. Both President Emmanuel Macron's "Together" (Ensemble) alliance and the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) have called on voters to reject the party in the second round, and have withdrawn candidates in many constituencies where another candidate was better placed to beat the RN. By offering voters a starker choice and fewer candidates, RN's opponents hope that the electorate will opt for the non-RN candidate. Analysts predict that National Rally the nationalist, anti-immigrant and euroskeptic party led by 28-year-old Jordan Bardella and party figurehead Marine Le Pen is now less likely to be able to achieve an absolute majority (of 289 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly) but is still likely to gather the most votes. 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 The so-called "republican front" strategy being pushed by pro-Macron and left-wing parties has the primary aim of making it substantially more difficult for the RN to obtain an absolute majority. Still, it's unclear how voters will react to a) being told who to vote for by the political establishment; b) being asked to vote for party candidates they might instinctively oppose; and c) to mixed messages from political leaders who are now telling them to vote for rival candidates they were disparaging just a few days ago in the campaign race. "Several senior figures from the pro-Macron camp have provided different suggestions on what their voters should do," Antonio Barroso, deputy director of Research at consultancy Teneo, said in a note Wednesday. "For instance, former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has said voters should vote neither for the RN nor candidates from the far-left France Unbowed (LFI) party. At the same time, current Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has called for everyone to vote against the RN." An opinion poll published by Ifop on July 3 suggested voters might tend toward the centrist pro-Macron or leftwing candidate rather than the RN candidate if that was the choice they were presented with on the ballot paper. If the choice was between a far-left and far-right candidate, however, the picture was more nuanced, showing a split vote. Teneo's Barroso also sounded a note of caution that the poll data related to "attitudes at the national level, ignoring the local dynamics in each constituency." What could happen The first poll to be published after the creation of a cross-party anti-RN alliance showed RN and its allies would get 190 to 220 seats, far short of the 289 needed for a majority. The Harris Interactive poll for Challenges magazine, published Wednesday and reported by Reuters, also showed that the center-right Republicans were likely to win 30-50 seats, meaning that even in the best-case scenario, a rightwing-led minority government would be hard to form. The Harris poll showed that the leftist NFP alliance would win 159 to 183 seats, while Macron's Together alliance would win just 110 to 135 seats. Various other parties would win 17 to 31 seats, Reuters reported. French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) attend the sixth meeting of the Franco-Chinese Business Council at the Marigny Theater in Paris, France, May 6, 2024. Mohammed Badra / Pool | Via Reuters It's unclear whether Macron would consider forming a cross-party coalition with the NFP in the event of a hung parliament. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal suggested this week that moderates in the National Assembly could work together to pass legislation on a case-by-case basis, but little else has been said on the matter as parties focus on maximizing their own vote share. Political analysis by Teneo assesses the chance of a hung parliament is at 35%, a result it said "would not allow it to negotiate an alliance with other parties in this situation." "Such a scenario would be the most uncertain one, as there would be no easy solution leading to the formation of a government. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has suggested that the 'republican forces' in the National Assembly (i.e., non-RN parties) could coalesce to support a government. However, such a coalition would be difficult to assemble given the differences between the parties' policy preferences." Teneo believed there was a 35% chance RN will get close to an absolute majority, in which case it's likely Marine Le Pen would try to court MPs from the The Republicans (LR), a center-right party, and other independent right-wing lawmakers. They put the chance of RN gaining an absolute majority at 30%. How we got here Macron shocked the electorate in early June when he called the ballot after his Renaissance party suffered a drubbing in European Parliament elections at the hands of the National Rally. Jordan Bardella gives his electoral card to vote at a polling station in the first round of parliamentary elections in Garches, in a suburb of Paris, on June 30, 2024. Julien De Rosa | Afp | Getty Images Expats living in the U.S. say the best part of living here is having plenty of career opportunities, but for many, a high cost of living makes it a challenging experience. The U.S. ranks as the No. 35 best country for expats out of 53 global countries, according to the latest Expat Insider report from InterNations, the global community for people who live abroad. The report, which considers survey responses from more than 12,500 expats around the world, covers their satisfaction across five broad indices: quality of life, ease of settling in, working abroad, personal finance and "expat essentials" like the ability to find housing and navigate the local language. Out of these indices, the U.S. ranks highest for "working abroad." The U.S. stands out for its local job market and career prospects for expats, according to survey respondents. Expats say the local business culture supports flexibility, and 65% of people are happy in their job, compared with 60% of people who feel the same way globally. However, foreigners say American work culture isn't great. Expats working full time in the U.S. say they work an average of 43.7 hours per week, versus the 42.5 hours global average. They also point to limited vacation time as a factor that negatively impacts their experience. Outside of work, about half, 52%, of expats in the states say they're dissatisfied with the overall cost of living, compared with 39% of expats who feel similarly around the world. The biggest financial barriers are the costs of housing, health care and transportation, especially in areas without a robust public transit infrastructure where people must rely on cars. Only 31% of expats in the U.S. say they're happy with their living expenses, versus 40% globally. Newcomers say Americans are friendly overall but also express difficulty making friends and settling into a social life. Overall, expats in the U.S. rate the country highly for its robust digital access (ranging from high-speed internet to the use of digital payments), ease for navigating the local language, leisure options, and a welcoming culture. The average expat in the U.S. is about 48 years old, according to the InterNations survey data. Their top reasons for moving here are to attend school or university (16%), because they were sent by their employer (12%), or because of their partner's job (10%). For those working in the U.S., they're most likely to work in finance, health care or information technology. The top countries for expats this year, meanwhile, are Panama, Mexico and Indonesia, according to InterNations. Want to land your dream job? Take CNBC's online course How to Ace Your Job Interview to learn what hiring managers really look for, body language techniques, what to say and not to say, and the best way to talk about pay. Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It's newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life. In this article ABNB Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT When a woman in her early twenties requested to book Vicky Borman's one-bedroom Heritage-listed cottage in the English village of St Neots last summer, something didn't feel right. The user had no reviews on her Airbnb profile, so Borman, who has 'Superhost' status on the platform, took to social media to investigate. There it was an advertisement on the woman's Facebook profile for a party in St Neots. The intention was clear: the party was to take place in Borman's cottage. She declined the request. Half an hour later, Borman received another booking request through Airbnb, this time from an older woman inquiring on behalf of her son. Suspicions raised, Borman checked out her social media profiles too, and pieced together that the second requestor's son was friends with the would-be party host Borman had previously declined. She declined this booking too. The experience has made her more selective about who she allows to stay in the cottage, Borman said. She said she feels checking potential guests' social media profiles is warranted if she thinks their stay could cause problems. watch now "I know there are some Airbnb hosts that literally stalk every guest. I did wonder if I was turning into some kind of super detective, but I'm definitely not that person," said Borman. "If someone has good reviews, I don't feel I need to do anything other than make sure they have a pleasant stay. But unfortunately, over the last few years, there have been at least three situations where I felt the need to check people's social media beforehand." Digging through social media A survey of 247 rental property managers from the United Kingdom, United States, France, Germany and Canada by home safety company Minut shows that Borman's instinct was right. Some 43% of property managers had dealt with noise complaints at their rentals, while 25% have had the police called to a property because of the noise. Borman, however, is part of the 8% who said they look at guests' social media profiles prior to accepting a booking. It's a key part of the vetting process for Sebastien Long, CEO of the Texas-based company Lodgeur, which offers short-term, fully furnished apartment rentals across Houston. "We delve into social media as a more advanced check when we have suspicions about somebody," he said. "We will look to see if their story matches up to the information that they're giving us as to why they're booking with us." Long said he also performs an online news search of potential guests to check for negative headlines and even arrests. Credit card problems Long said his company takes these steps to solve one of its biggest problems people using stolen credit cards. "There are a lot of people who will stay a few days, then leave before the actual cardholder has a chance to dispute the credit card transaction," he said. "One of the big things we're looking for, is whether the person who is booking is using their own credit card." Source: X Long said Lodgeur's vetting process has meant blocking about 2% of nearly 1,200 bookings a small but crucial step in its commitment to uncovering credit card fraud. The company's efforts have resulted in around 10 arrests out of some 9,000 guests in the past five years. "There's a trend of 'digital shoplifting' where someone will just have a weekend away on someone else's credit card, basically petty criminals living it large," he said. "The first time it happened in 2019, we were outside one of the properties waiting for the police to show up, and we watched them go in and arrest the guy, dragging him out in his underwear." A 4.5-star rating isn't enough Airbnb superhost Crystal Shell, who manages short-term rentals in Alabama under the management company Bailey-Trace, doesn't check renters' social media profiles, she said. But she is strict about only accepting bookings from guests with five-star reviews on Airbnb or similar platforms. Shell learned her lesson, she said, after initially accepting bookings from guests with 4- or 4.5-star reviews, only to find they didn't adhere to the check-out procedures, like stripping all linen from beds and placing it in the laundry room, or exiting the property by 10am. It's one of the reasons she set up her other business, Hello Guest Screen, which provides check-out and other relevant information on property TV screens. Sebastian Long, CEO of the Texas-based short-term rental company Lodgeur. Source: Sebastian Long "The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. If a guest breaks something or tears up your place, it takes forever for Airbnb to pay out any insurance claims. Then if you have back-to-back bookings, which mine generally are, then you have to cancel another reservation, because something has to be repaired. So I put in my listings, 'please do not attempt to book if you have less than five stars, or zero reviews'," said Shell. An Airbnb spokesperson told CNBC Travel: "Stays rarely lead to issues, but we offer free AirCover for hosts and for guests, and have 24/7 support and strict policies in place." AirCover provides damage protection for hosts, and reimbursements are paid, on average, within two weeks or less, Airbnb's spokesperson said. Airbnb also said .03% of global bookings resulted in a property damage claim that exceeded $1,000, and that it encourages hosts and guests to communicate about their trip before confirming bookings. Shell said she requires her guests to send a message before booking, so she can confirm the nature of the stay something she advises all hosts to do. "Having people message before booking has saved us more often than not," she said. "I decline at least three inquiries a day based on the response which usually involves wanting to have a party. We also don't allow locals to stay for that reason." 'Looked good on paper' The Senate has issued a comprehensive report on the rising issue of hoarding disorder among older Americans, calling the need for immediate national intervention. This marks the first instance of Congressional attention directed toward the mental health condition that affects a significant portion of the aging population. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Penn., chair of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, spearheaded the report, which aimed to shed light on the growing crisis. "My report is a first step to raising awareness of hoarding disorder," Casey told news website Axios. Hoarding disorder, characterized by a persistent difficulty in discarding possessions, reportedly affects about 2% of the general U.S. population and a notably higher 6% of adults over 70. With America's population rapidly aging, experts anticipate a significant rise in the prevalence of this disorder, compounding the existing public health and safety concerns, according to FOX16. The disorder can lead to severe consequences, including hazardous living conditions that pose serious health risks, exacerbate social isolation, and hinder emergency response efforts. Additionally, hoarding can contribute to broader public health issues, such as mold infestations or vermin that may affect neighboring properties. The Senate report criticized the current lack of targeted action by federal agencies. It pointed out that the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Administration for Community Living (ACL) do not offer specific programs addressing hoarding disorder. Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has not updated its online resources on the topic in recent years. To combat the growing concern, the report outlined several recommendations: Enhanced Data Collection: There is a pressing need for better data on hoarding's impact, especially on older adults and the challenges faced by first responders dealing with these situations. Public Awareness Campaigns: Increased public education is essential to destigmatize the disorder and encourage those affected to seek help. Federal Training and Local Support: Training programs and federal assistance should be provided to local service providers to improve their ability to address hoarding situations effectively. Expanded Coverage for Treatment: Medicare and Medicaid should extend their coverage to include treatments for hoarding disorder, making it more accessible to those in need. Direct Engagement: Active involvement with affected individuals and their families is crucial to develop effective intervention strategies and provide adequate support. The report emphasized that with the anticipated demographic shift, it is imperative for the federal government to prioritize emerging issues that have previously been overlooked, with hoarding disorder being a prime example. Addressing this condition comprehensively will not only improve the quality of life for older Americans but also alleviate the associated social and economic burdens. A Florida woman posed as a licensed therapist online, offering unauthorized counseling to hundreds of patients over two years, state health department records recently revealed. The fraudulent activity, which went unnoticed until her death, involved Tammy G. Heath-Randolph, 58, who, with the complicity of her wife, real social worker Peggy A. Randolph, conducted therapy sessions under false pretenses. According to an investigative report by the Florida Department of Health, Heath-Randolph operated this scheme with the support of Randolph, her wife, in what was described as a "coordinated effort." The elaborate ruse included Heath-Randolph impersonating Randolph, using her login credentials to access a telehealth platform, and providing therapy services over the phone despite lacking any formal license or training in mental health. Randolph, a licensed social worker in both Florida and Tennessee, was employed by Brightside Health, an online mental health service based in San Francisco, from January 2021 to February 2023. During her employment, Randolph was responsible for providing therapy to numerous clients via video calls. However, in a settlement agreement with the Tennessee Department of Health, it was disclosed that while Randolph managed patients in person, Heath-Randolph illicitly treated clients through phone consultations, unbeknownst to them. The deception came to light after Heath-Randolph's death on Feb. 11, 2023. A patient of Randolph discovered via social media that she had been covertly treated by Randolph's wife instead of Randolph herself. This revelation prompted the patient to report the incident to Brightside Health, which subsequently launched an internal investigation. Brightside's inquiry revealed that Randolph had shared her login credentials with her wife, allowing Heath-Randolph to masquerade as a licensed therapist. As a result, Randolph's employment with Brightside Health was terminated on Feb. 28, 2023. Randolph, residing in Ellenton, Florida, then voluntarily surrendered her social work licenses in both Florida and Tennessee and agreed not to reapply for them, according to the Tennessee settlement document. She was also fined $1,000 and held responsible for the costs associated with the investigation. In response to the scandal, Brightside Health expressed deep disappointment in Randolph's actions. "We're extremely disappointed that a single provider was willing to violate the trust that Brightside and, most importantly, her patients had placed in her, as trust is the foundation of the patient and provider relationship in both telehealth and in-person care," the company stated. Following the exposure of the fraud, Brightside reassigned affected patients, issued full reimbursements for the treatments, and reported the case to federal authorities for further investigation. Attempts to contact Randolph for comment by the New York Post were unsuccessful. The best moments when Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia showed the kind of self-awareness that its characters could never have If the Emmys had an award category for Best Meta Episode in A Sitcom About Psychotic Pennsylvania Bar Owners, theyd still find a way to snub Its Always in Philadelphia. When youre the stars, producers and writers of the longest-running live-action sitcom in American television history, every now and then, you have to take a good, hard look at your own formula and see what works and what doesnt. Then, you have to take that self-examination and turn it into one of the best episodes in the history of TV comedy. Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton understand this charge well, and throughout Its Always Sunny in Philadelphias record-breaking 16 seasons, theyve created some of the finest meta comedy ever with enough meta episodes to make up an entire meta season. Don't Miss Here are the top five times Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia got meta, starting with 5 The Gang Does A Clip Show The first and easily most surreal entry on the list is this Season 13 experiment in sitcom deconstruction as the gang muddles their memories and parodies Seinfeld in a feverish send-up of traditional TV comedy and its most tired tropes. At the same time, the complicated plot structure lifted from Inception further blurs the line between delirium and reality, and the credits on The Gang Does A Clip Show close with about as unsatisfying a conclusion as the one from the film. Advertisement 4 Paddys Pub: The Worst Bar in Philadelphia All the way back in Season Four, Always Sunny acknowledged a running theme in the cultural discussion surrounding the show that continues to this day critics simply arent impressed by their loud, crass and chaotic operation, and the snobs are not afraid to express their less-than-enthusiastic feelings toward the show over a glass of white wine. In Paddys Pub: The Worst Bar in Philadelphia, Charlie Kelly does what Charlie Day probably wishes he could do and forcefully invites one critic to change his tone after Paddys Pub gets a particularly nasty (and probably accurate) evaluation. Advertisement Advertisement 3 The Gang Makes Lethal Weapon 7 Every other Always Sunny episode and special concerning the gangs additions to the Lethal Weapon series has been blacklisted by streamers over blackface concerns unlike the film franchises actual star, Mel Gibson, who has never had a project pulled from Hulu and is famously so sensitive toward the Black community. In The Gang Makes Lethal Weapon 7, the gang tries, and fails, to make a Lethal Weapon movie that is both watchable and woke enough to be included in a library catalog. Just wait until Mac makes Lethal Weapon 8 Advertisement Advertisement 2 The Gang Tries Desperately to Win An Award As the most obligatory entry on the list and the most overt meta episode in Always Sunny history, The Gang Tries Desperately to Win An Award is a hilarious send-up of the shows status as an anti-awards-darling. Through the rival bar Sudz, Always Sunny fans get a taste of what the show would be like if Emmy voters ran the series instead of McElhenney, Howerton and Day, and, frankly, we prefer the grimier, grosser and much less romantic version better spiders and all. Advertisement Advertisement How's your brave new socialist dawn going? Mines a bit soggy, to be honest. Still, I cant help thinking: thank God thats over. The baton passes to a new government, and though I did not vote for Keir Starmer, I wish him and his Cabinet every success. As someone who has witnessed the agonies and responsibilities of power, and who has more than once paid the price when things have gone wrong, I cant help feeling relief that its come to an end for the time being, at any rate. Its someone elses problem now. Im sad, of course, for all those people not just MPs but campaigners and special advisers and other political folk who have lost their jobs, and perhaps more importantly, their identities. The empty diary, the silent phone, the falling away of close friends, the removal of familiar routines, the final farewells, the recriminations, the petty acts of revenge... I know well how that feels, and its never easy. My advice: stay off social media, read novels instead of the news and try not to fill the abyss with too much cheap plonk. The Prime Minister holds his first Cabinet meeting yesterday, following Labour's landslide victory Sir Keir Starmer waves outside 10 Downing Street as he poses alongside his wife Lady Victoria Some cope better than others. I was struck by Nigel Evanss sweet resignation message, defeated after 32 years a lifetime as the MP for the Ribble Valley. There was a lot of that, including Jeremy Hunts classy speech. Nice also to see one or two fresh young faces bucking the trend for the Conservatives Gyles Brandreths daughter, Aphra, for example. Good luck to them all theyll need it. The truth is that the Tory administration had, after 14 years, run its course. All governments end in failure. Most people arent especially political in their day-to-day lives they only become so when things arent working. And, as I wrote at about this time last year, Britain under the Conservatives had turned into a shambles. Roads full of potholes, rail and air strikes, pollution in rivers, machete-wielding nutters on our streets, soaring bills and crumbling public services, crippling mortgage rates, migrants housed in four-star hotels, absurd culture wars, stealth taxation, curbs on business, constant day-to-day frustrations the list is endless. There was just an overriding sense that nothing was working properly. And things had not improved since. All the reasons you might choose a Conservative government over a Labour one economic competency, building infrastructure, allowing people to keep more of their own money, controlling migration, helping businesses and entrepreneurs just didnt seem to apply. For many, especially Conservative voters such as myself, it felt like a Labour government in all but name. The Prime Minister celebrates his election with a reception at the Tate Modern in London And then there were all the scandals, unbecoming of anyone in public office. I had hoped that Rishi Sunak, with his strait-laced lifestyle and ex-bankers brain, would guide the party back to first principles, but in the end, he wasnt up to it. Or maybe it was too far gone. Either way, it doesnt really matter now. Now we have a Labour government led by a proper, dyed-in-the wool Lefty lawyer and stacked with die-hard socialists every bit as intractable as the old Tory Right-wingers, and they are hitting the ground running. In yesterdays press conference, Starmer stressed his intention to deliver economic growth. But also, with lawyerly skill, he laid the ground for much more. He projected a distinct more in sorrow than in anger demeanour, the sense that the actions that his government will need to undertake will be borne more out of necessity than tribal desire. When politicians put their hands in front of themselves in this way, its always a bit of a red flag. Something radical is on the cards. Wes Streeting has already seeded that idea with his the NHS is broken statement: his way of justifying whatever comes next. Starmer did the same on prisons, declaring them broken and preparing the ground for tough decisions. No doubt there will be more of the same. Housing, I sense, is next. It is possible, of course, that tough decisions will turn out to be the right decisions. Streeting has floated the idea of working with the private sector on the NHS and if that happened I would welcome it. As Starmer keeps saying, important national matters transcend political allegiances. Downing Street Cat Larry walks outside No 10 ahead of the new Prime Minister moving in Sir Keir and Lady Victoria walk into 10 Downing Street with an arm around one another But there is one underlying problem, nothing to do with government policy, that still needs urgently addressing. Yesterday, Starmer made much of the fact that his government has support from all four nations of the Union. That may technically be true, in terms of seats but away from Westminster, the nation is more fragmented than ever. Labour achieved fewer votes than David Cameron did in 2010, which resulted in a hung parliament. Starmers voter share was less than 34 per cent of a 60 per cent turnout. That means that just over one-fifth of those on the electoral register voted Labour. Starmer won because people were sick of the Conservatives, and because of the first past the post system, not because of overwhelming public support. Thats not to say his victory isnt valid it is most definitely so under the terms of our democratic system. But to claim the entire nation is behind them is simply not true. Politically and culturally, as a nation we are atomised. Whether the reason is because we no longer all watch the same TV programmes or because we dont have any unifying beliefs or customs, or because the modern world seems to encourage extreme expression at all costs, or because social media has turned people into narcissists, I dont know. Perhaps a factor is the passing of our dear Queen, who was such a unifying force, someone who invoked the same feelings of love and loyalty across all social and political divides. When she was alive, we had a solid, fixed point and it felt the country always had something in common. Now everyone seems at loggerheads, screaming and shouting at each other, fighting over nothing, unable to see others points of view. This is revealed in the return of sectarian politics, in the aggressively pro-Palestinian marches and anti-Israel/anti-Semitic sentiment that accompanies them. We see this in the rows over gender identification and the rights of women, in the disagreements over how to tackle immigration, legal or otherwise, in the behaviour of climate change protesters, in bear-baiting reality TV programmes. Its no coincidence that one of the most popular shows last year was The Traitors, where contestants compete to see who can do who over most successfully. Humiliating others and watching them suffer seems to have become a national pastime. Britain used to be such a civilised place. Not any more. In fact, Id go so far as to say its become quite unpleasant and intolerant. Everyone thinks they know best even if in reality they know nothing. All this poses a huge challenge, and one that any government of any political stripe would struggle with. To govern successfully, you need a majority not just in Parliament but also out there in the country, in hearts and minds and I just dont think that is the case. The circumstances of Starmers win make him vulnerable to the whims of a testy, disloyal electorate which as weve seen can pivot at a moments notice. No wonder hes a man in a hurry. Winston Churchill woke up on July 26, 1945, with what he described as a sharp stab of almost physical pain. A hitherto subconscious conviction that we were beaten broke forth and dominated my mind... The power to shape the future would be denied me. When the results of the General Election were announced later that day Labour 393 seats to the Conservatives 213 his wife Clementine said it might well be a blessing in disguise. At the moment, Churchill replied, it seems quite effectively disguised. One could forgive Rishi Sunak if he has a similar feeling. But those who shrilly describe this as an existential moment for the Conservative party are no more correct than their counterparts were in 1945. Prime Minister Keir Starmer walks up the staircase of his new residence, 10 Downing Street This is not Torygeddon. Labours vote share in this weeks election was only 34 per cent, in the lowest turnout for 20 years. Which means that more than 80 per cent of the electorate did not vote Labour (if you include those who didnt vote at all). Millions of Tories stayed at home, and much of Labours majority derives from the collapse of the SNP and the size of the Reform vote rather than any discernible enthusiasm for Sir Keir Starmer. With the size of the anti-Labour Islamist vote and the election of Reform and Green MPs, the election was very unusual more like a gigantic by-election; all about protest voting rather than a choice of a plan for government, about which Labour stayed notoriously vague. The prospect for a phoenix-like resurrection of Toryism is, therefore, excellent if led successfully. The prospect for a phoenix-like resurrection of Toryism is, therefore, excellent if led successfully. The Tories will come back, as they have before, most recently from the shellacking they received under John Major Labours 419 seats to the Conservatives 165 in 1997. There is a phase of an election cycle when the public mood turns from objective to, frankly, sadistic. That has what has happened here. As Boris Johnson said of Tory MPs deserting him on the last day of his premiership: When the herd moves, it moves. The electorate moved decisively against the Conservatives. But that does not mean that given the right leaders, policies, principles and much more party unity than seen recently the herd will not move back once they see what Labour in government really means. The Prime Minister holds his first Cabinet meeting today, following Labour's landslide victory Just as trees dont grow to the sky, political parties dont win five consecutive General Elections, and that is no bad thing for democracy. The other side has to bat occasionally, and it is well to look at the positive aspects of this Tory defeat, because they do exist. First, we are fortunate that they lost to a centre-Left rather than a Corbynite Labour Party; however Starmer turns out, he will not be driven by Marxist-Leninist, anti-British and anti-Semitic ideology. Second, the result in Scotland means the break-up of the Union inherent in a SNP victory has been averted, at least for now. Third, proportional representation (PR) is on the back-burner since it is not in Labours interest, and the exposure during the campaign of the presence of extreme Islamists in the Green Party and neo-fascists in Reform UK will remind voters what a terrible idea PR is, for it could bring such individuals to positions of power. History provides plenty of relief for the Tories, and shows they must not panic. After the 1906 Liberal landslide, there were two elections in 1910, in both of which the Tories and Liberals were neck and neck. In the election after 1945, Labour won 315 seats to the Conservatives 298 in 1950, yet Churchill was back in power the following year. The volatility in British politics is only likely to grow, as social media, the erasure of class-based political loyalties, and the speed of the 24/7 news cycle increase. Politics has become more febrile, and swings are getting larger as the electorates attention span shortens. That will now work against Starmer in government as much as it has worked for him in Opposition. For all Labours enormous majority, there is surprisingly little enthusiasm for its policies, and Starmer is unlikely to have a long honeymoon before the people recognise him for the vacillating, virtue-signalling bloviator that he is. Lady Victoria wears a red dress with silver heels as she greets Labour supporters yesterday If Wes Streetings much-heralded NHS reforms work, we will have a cheaper, better NHS. But if as is far more likely they are stymied by the health unions and Streeting waters them down, people will reach their own conclusions. Starmers weasel-phrase working people, for whom Labour promised not to raise taxes, will start to infuriate countless Britons who work extremely hard but do not fit the new Prime Ministers definition of the term as people without savings. When it turns out that Labours new Border Security Command isnt as impressive as its name, and underlying immigration has not fallen, Starmers scrapping of the Rwanda scheme will look like a dreadful mistake, especially as other European countries are adopting similar schemes. Gaza will expose the fault-lines between those who think Israel has the right to exist, and thus defend itself, and the many in Labour who wish it didnt. The 1960s and 1970s provide endless examples of government schemes such as Labours new Great British Energy scheme turning into boondoggles. This multi-billion-pound attempt to spot winners in the green energy sector better than the free market can, will cost taxpayers huge amounts. The first moment that millions are invested in a company runby or owned by or advised by Labour donors or ministers friends, there will be trouble. And people will be reminded of the Wilson and Callaghan years industrial strategy of intervening in the private sector to prop up failing companies such as British Leyland, which was partly nationalised in 1975 and why, for all its imperfections, the market can be trusted better than politicians to pick commercial winners. Labour are similarly unlikely to be able to deal with the inexorable rise in power of lawyers, not least because so many of their MPs come from that profession. Sir Keir Starmer speaks during a press conference after his first Cabinet meeting today The Tory party did all too little to prevent the rule of law turning into the rule of lawyers look at the legal challenges to expanding Heathrow and proposed routes for HS2, the Rwanda hold-ups, the 94 million and counting Covid Inquiry, and the 191 million Bloody Sunday Inquiry. But Labour is even less likely to tackle judicial overreach before it strangles democratically-supported initiatives. Hundreds of Labour MPs will soon find that the sheer size of the majority means theyll never get a job in government and are mere lobby-fodder. It leads to trouble, political scandals and happens to all governments with big majorities. Once Labour begin building on the Green Belt, force children out of independent schools, and are held responsible for delays and cancellations in a re-nationalised train service, their lead over the Conservatives will melt away. Perhaps anticipating this, Labour plan to lower the voting age to 16 in the belief that the young are more likely to vote for the Left. But in France, America and Italy, the youth vote has swung more to the insurgent Right in recent times. Without a stake in the country that home-ownership and steady jobs offer, teenagers are instinctively anti-Establishment and as of now, Starmer will personify the Establishment. This time next year, Rishi Sunak will be recognised as the hard-working, ferociously intelligent and honourable PM he undoubtedly was. What the Tory party must not do is panic, and assume that the way back to power is to embrace Reform as a party, as opposed to trying to win over its voters. Nigel Farage is not out to convert the Tory party but to destroy it. He must be stopped by Conservatives who cleave to their basic principles, most of which were enunciated by Margaret Thatcher, and speak to the needs of the British people, who are small c conservatives and who for 70 per cent of the past century have elected large C Conservative governments. The Prime Minister walks into 10 Downing Street with an arm around his wife Lady Victoria yesterday These principles include low taxation, which it has proved impossible to deliver immediately after the greatest peacetime emergency in a century, when the taxpayer had to pay 80 per cent of the wages to 80 per cent of the workforce for almost two years. Historians will be shocked at the way that this obvious, overwhelming fact explaining the present tax burden was almost waved away by an electorate determined to punish the Conservatives. Soon, Labour will hike whichever of capital gains tax, inheritance tax, a mansion tax, a wealth tax, property re-rating or something else that they did not tell us about before the election. Labour always raise taxes. Its in their DNA in the way that lowering them is in is the Tories, except in the circumstances of a once-in-a-century global pandemic. The odds on the same extraordinary set of circumstances and personalities that have destroyed Tory fortunes since 2019 recurring are so long that we must not learn the wrong lessons. It will require an exceptionally skilful leader with a combination of guile and rock-solid principle to defeat Reforms aspirations to destroy the Conservative Party. With such a leader, the Tories belief in lower taxes and a smaller state, in deregulation, the protection of British sovereignty from creeping Europeanisation, in higher defence spending, common-sense values over the culture wars (where Kemi Badenoch will be particularly strong), in defence of the monarchy and Constitution and a love of the countryside, will then ensure that clear blue lines emerge in areas with the majority of the electorate on the Tories side. The Tory party must also learn discipline. No future leader should put up with the constant sniping from its own backbenches seen in recent years. This could be enforced by raising the level at which leadership contests are triggered from 15 per cent to 33 per cent of MPs. It is also imperative that the choice of leader returns to MPs, who know and work with their colleagues, rather than letting it stay with the party membership. The anti-Tory landslides of 1906, 1945, 1997 and now 2024 must not panic the Conservatives. Unless they analyse what has happened in a sober way, they will fail to come up with the correct solutions in time for the next election. The party is the most successful election-winning machine in European political history, and will have its day in the sun again. Like the giant redwoods, where occasional wildfires that destroy some trees are nonetheless necessary for the regrowth of the forest, occasional electoral disasters can make political parties stronger. So it will be with the Conservative Party. Andrew Roberts is the author of Churchill: Walking With Destiny. Most Labour voters believe that the question of Britain's EU membership is not settled. Many would like to reopen the issue. Is our new PM one of them? After all, in 2016, he said: 'The EU referendum result was catastrophic for the UK, for our communities and for the next generation.' A little later, during his period in Jeremy Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet, Sir Keir called for a second referendum to give the people a 'confirmatory vote' on any deal with Brussels. While his open flirtation with Remainers ended after he became Labour leader, our new premier may even so still have a yearning for Brussels. We shall see, in practice, over the coming years. But an early indication is the fascinating gathering of the European Political Community (EPC) at Blenheim Palace. Former leader of the Labour party Jeremy Corbyn pictured with Sir Keir Starmer in 2019 The fascinating gathering of the European Political Community (EPC) at Blenheim Palace was originally convened by Rishi Sunak Labour leader and incoming Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and wife Victoria wave to supporters as they enter 10 Downing Street The venue is Winston Churchill's birthplace and triumphantly celebrates one of the Duke of Marlborough's many 18th century victories over the French. But the EPC is a wonderfully misty body, embracing the EU but not part of it, which might have been designed for the putting out of feelers. And the meeting, originally convened by Rishi Sunak in another age, may now serve such a purpose. The new government is expected to discuss 'dynamic alignment' between the UK and the EU, allowing a renewed closeness to the Single Market and the Customs Union without us actually having to join them. This may look attractive, especially to travellers affected by increasingly pernickety border controls on such things as pet passports. But in every case, the main adaptations will need to be made by London, turning us into a rule-taker rather than a rule-maker, undoing the purpose of Brexit. Prime Minister Keir Starmer walking up the staircase of 10 Downing Street Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria, greet supporters as he enters 10 Downing Street following Labour's landslide election victory on July 5, 2024 The EU is sternly opposed to what it regards as cherry-picking, by non-members, of which rules they will accept. How far might such a process go? The struggles over the Northern Ireland/Ireland border have shown that the EU is a tenacious negotiator and ready to use any opportunity to assert itself. Now the British Government is far less committed to Brexit than the Tories (to put it mildly), events will need careful watching. Of course Sir Keir has won a decisive parliamentary majority and we must all respect that. But that majority is based upon a startlingly small 33.8 per cent of those who voted. By contrast, the majority for Brexit was 51.9 per cent. Sir Keir Starmer has held many opinions on Brexit, and may hold a few more as time goes by. But that decisive majority still binds him to support the will of the people. The new Health Secretary Wes Streeting clearly hoped to catch attention with his proclamation that the NHS is 'broken'. This is now his 'policy'. Apparently, we all know that. But it's not quite true. Overworked frontline staff will be insulted by the remark. And thanks to decades of enormous spending, the NHS is often effective and sometimes miraculously good. The new Health Secretary Wes Streeting clearly hoped to catch attention with his proclamation that the NHS is 'broken' That said, it is also often failing and unsatisfactory. If Mr Streeting is to fix it, he must grasp this complexity. The Prime Minister's plan to monitor the NHS with a 'Mission Delivery Board', which sounds like something out of the 1940s, is, alas, unlikely to make much difference. But Mr Streeting has crafted his official permanent excuse for everything that goes wrong: 'Well, we said it was broken.'For a generally creditable politician, this is a bad start in office. Labours victory was a phenomenal achievement, despite the low turnout. But now is not the time for triumphalism, however tempting. Turning Britain round will require a national effort. I am confident we can build a better future, but am certain this will happen only if we work together and the Starmer government embraces all people of goodwill, including the millions who did not cast their ballots for Labour. The road ahead is rocky and the obstacles enormous. Nothing, for example, is more important than tackling climate change while ensuring a supply of clean, affordable energy through wind, nuclear, hydroelectric and solar power. Labour is committed to achieving a national electricity generation system that emits zero carbon within six years. But that is a big stretch. 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 Britain's new leader and his wife - Lady Victoria Starmer - were all smiles as they waved to the public before entering No 10 on Friday The couple were clapped by staff as they crossed climbed the steps into the historic building on Downing Street We also need to tackle the problem of delivering the power. The national grid is woefully inadequate. Power blackouts are a growing possibility, and the likely reaction to pylons appearing across peoples horizons is a headache for any government. The fact is that our reliance on electricity will only grow. You cant operate heat pumps, charge electric vehicles or run phones and computers without it. Get this wrong, and everything will be at risk. Also, theres our ability to build the houses we need, to insulate them and connect them to the grid. As things stand, we simply lack the skills. We need to talk about carefully managed legal migration to help achieve the economic growth needed. The issue of immigration including the small boats wont go away in a hurry. We must find creative solutions with the French, whatever the outcome of their Assembly election today. The problem of caring for our ageing population is huge and building. We all want to grow old with dignity. We want to be independent as long as we can, but need a responsive and well-organised care system to make that possible. Another problem is the ineffective bureaucracy of the NHS and its integrated care boards. What we need is rapid decentralisation, to get health services and local government working together. On the latter, no political party has spelt out ways of providing a fairer or more effective way of paying for it. Some local authorities are already bankrupt, and within two years many more will join them. The services they provide have deteriorated to a frightening degree. There is another crucial area on the verge of collapse: the criminal justice system. Decisive action and bold policies are critical to deal with the disaster overtaking our courts, prisons and probation service. Equivocating now will lead to impossible and unpopular action later. The inside of HMP Reading, which was closed in 2014 and is listed as a Grade II building The world's second largest offshore wind farm located eight miles from the coast in Liverpool Bay An NHS staff member helping a patient walk through the ward at Ealing Hospital in London Labour is committed to addressing concerns about standards of behaviour in political life and to establishing an Integrity and Ethics Commission. This must be a priority. Liz Truss trashed our economy and our reputation in her brief reign, but she was right on one thing: the Treasury has a mindset rooted in the past. Setting a new direction will be a major challenge. These enormous changes demand huge political skill because there will be losers as well as winners. Labour cannot be complacent. In five years, voters might seem unforgiving and fail to give the Party the time needed to implement change. But in a democracy, it is their judgment that counts. You cant blame someone else when youre in government. So, Labour must be honest with the electorate about the limits to what can be achieved and about the time-scales involved. Offer realism and clarity about what lies ahead. Above all, accept that the government cannot do it all, that this must be a collaborative venture. It would be tempting for the Prime Ministers team to show the same control and discipline in office it had in Opposition. A group of individuals believed to be migrants brought in to Dungeness, Kent by the RNLI in January 2022 An energy base of solar panels producing green energy in the Tengger Desert in Zhongwei, China But that wont cut it. If decisions are not to be log jammed in Downing Street, ministers, must be given the freedom to do their jobs. Its in the community, town or city that people feel the difference and can tell whether public services are delivering. Thats why the new government should empower local representatives to help wield into reality their key missions, which includes tackling crime, reforming the NHS and breaking down educational barriers. Labour approached the election with caution. It campaigned with an eye to dampening down unrealistic expectations. But now it must rebuild confidence, to start believing as a nation that we really can do better. An ex-Mormon has detailed her fascinating theory about why so many members of the church turn into influencers. Alyssa Grenfell, 31, grew up within the confines of an ultra-strict household but escaped the uptight lifestyle and began to focus on reclaiming her body when she was in her late 20s after moving from Utah to New York in 2017. The former member of the Mormon church has since been sharing tidbits about her transformation and her journey to freedom. Recently, Alyssa took to YouTube to unveil her shocking hunch on why members of the church turn into social media sensations - including Taylor Frankie Paul, Rachel Parcell and Hannah Neeleman. She explained that she believed that the church, also known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was 'sponsoring influencers through travel and meals' - adding that the organization was 'funneling money around the term Mormon.' An ex-Mormon has detailed her fascinating theory about why so many members of the church turn into influencers Alyssa Grenfell, 31, grew up within the confines of an ultra-strict household, but escaped the uptight lifestyle and began to focus on reclaiming her body In a clip titled, 'Why Are There So Many Mormon Influencers,' Alyssa lifted the lid on her theory. She first dove into the most thrown around explanation, which is that Mormons like to journal. 'One of the most common reasons for this phenomenon is that Mormon girls like to journal,' Alyssa said. She explained that most Mormon women tended to have the same looks - adding that they represented the ideal women. 'It's [made up] of white and blonde women,' she added. Alyssa noted that she had a different theory about why so many members turned into social media stars. 'I don't think it's because Mormons are good at journaling, I think it's because they are backed by a church that has millions of dollars that's been able to funnel into them,' she claimed. 'This is how the Mormon church pays Utah influencers and how the church pays them without them even realizing where the money is coming from. Recently, Alyssa took to YouTube to unveil her shocking hunch on why members of the church turned into social media sensations She claimed that she thought the church was funneling money into the search word Mormon and helping to sponsor these influencers She claimed that the church didn't want people to know that they were sponsoring these influencers (Taylor Frankie Paul seen left and Hannah Neeleman seen right) 'The church sponsors influencers through travel and meals, not through cash. This is so they don't leave the church and then speak poorly about it. 'They fly influencers out to private events, pay for flights, hotel rooms and food. So they are paying their way through expenses, but they aren't being monetarily reimbursed for the content they post. ' She claimed that the church didn't want people to know that they were sponsoring these influencers because current members would become enraged that their money was going to social media icons. 'The church needs to figure out how to get money into the hand of these influencers without creating a PR nightmare,' Alyssa said. The former member revealed that she believed the church was using targeted ads and throwing money at Google to help support the influencers in a discreet manner. 'I believe the organization is funneling money around the term Mormon,' she said. 'The church pays money to Google to make sure you see an ad about the Mormon church. 'The cost per click for the term Mormon is $24.71. Meanwhile, Mormon missionaries costs $31.81.' However Alyssa gave no evidence that the Mormon church is paying for any ads, and it should be noted that anyone can pay for a Google ad. The former member of the Mormon church has since been sharing tidbits about her transformation - including the first time she wore a tank top Alyssa (seen at 28 when she first wore a bikini) has previously opened up about her glow-up after leaving the church and the truth about 'Mormon face' Alyssa revealed that because of these targeted ads, Utah influencers earned double the funds than New York and Los Angeles-based social media stars. She claimed that that church's goal was to bring more people into the church. By making people more aware with ads, this helps drive the amount of people that are coming into the church. Alyssa revealed that this was why the church didn't mind backing tainted Mormon influencers who have faced scandal, such as Taylor, who made headlines after she reportedly entered a drunk rage and got arrested for throwing a chair at her boyfriend. In her clip, the former Mormon claimed that while Taylor didn't represent the ideal member of the church, it still drove people toward it. She said at the end of the clip: 'Despite Taylor Frankie Paul not being the "perfect Mormon" that the church wants to be represented by, they are still fine because she is bringing in a lot of ad revenue that Google AdSense is going to target into finding new converts. 'By driving familiarity with the church, they know people are more likely to join.' DailyMail.com has contacted The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Taylor for comment. Alyssa has previously opened up about her glow-up after leaving the church and the truth about 'Mormon face.' Dr. Reid has since started The Midnight Order - a team of investigative women She has built an expansive database of serial killers and their victims A group of female true crime sleuths are the subject of upcoming docuseries Sasha Reid and The Midnight Order which is set to follow their efforts to hunt down serial killers and find justice for victims. The leader of the group is Dr. Sasha Reid - an academic and professor at the University of Calgary, who holds a PhD in developmental psychology, plus two masters degrees, in the areas of applied psychology in human development, and criminology and socio-legal studies. Over her career, she's also established one of the world's largest databases on serial killers, which also tracks a vast range of psychological metrics. In the debut episode. Dr. Reid described that her research has considered aspects including how serial killers develop, what their backgrounds are, abuse they've experienced and who their victims are - as well as how to mitigate the risks that serial killers pose. Dr. Sasha Reid, who holds a PhD in developmental psychology plus two masters degrees, founded The Midnight Order, a group of women who use their expertise to solve violent crimes The Midnight Order uses Dr. Reid's database of serial killers, which tabulates myriad psychological metrics to form comprehensive profiles Along with this, she's also developed one of the country's largest databases of 'missing and murdered' people in Canada. Dr. Reid's interest in crime and murder originated in her teens, when she lost a friend, who was ethnically indigenous, who went missing and was later found dead. She eventually came to recognize how indigenous women were disproportionally kidnapped and murdered in her country, apparently being 'prime target' for serial killers. Today, Dr. Reid's 'missing and murdered' database contains nearly 12,000 entries - many of whom are from marginalized populations. An early major breakthrough for Dr. Reid came when she used her database to correctly identify Bruce McArthur as the serial killer behind the murders of eight gay men, mostly of South Asian descent, in Toronto between 2010 and 2017. To amp up her investigation efforts, Dr. Reid launched The Midnight Order, an all-women club of experts with specialties including psychology, data analysis and forensics. 'At The Midnight Order, women are the heroes - not the victims,' described Dr. Reid in the first episode of the group. Describing who she brought in to The Midnight Order, Dr. Reid described: 'I was looking for people who are truly compassionate, and victim-focused and -oriented.' Many of the members of The Midnight Order come from marginalized backgrounds and witnessed abuse and subjugation of women first-hand Among the other members of the group is Ayah, a psychotherapist born in Cairo, Egypt, raised in a fundamentalist religion. Florence, a daughter of Malaysian immigrants, is a data analyst from Toronto, who's long fostered an interest in psychopaths and mass murderers. Then there's Anjali, a forensic psychiatrist-in-training from a 'rough' area of Calgary who's in her second year of medical school, and who loves 'studying the dark corners of the human mind.' 'I was always really curious why some individuals end up going down a really tragic path,' Anjali described, adding that serial killers are on the most 'intense' part of the spectrum. Aspiring detective Marina fled with her mom from her abusive father in Kazakstan. Now, she lives a 'double life,' working at a grocery store by day and pursuing her 'true passion' of forensic psychology in her personal time, also volunteering for the police. Hasti is a victim advocate originally from Iran, where there are 'so many doors closed to women,' she said, circumstances that 'inspired' her mother to get her and her daughter out of the country. 'A huge part of my own advocacy work is hearing from the people who have not been heard before,' Hasti said of what motivates her. Last but not least, Hana is a database expert specializing in criminal profiling and crime-scene analysis, whose thesis is focused on 'body disposal in sexual homicide cases.' She's also the project coordinator on Dr. Reid's database of serial killers. In the first two episodes, The Midnight Order gets to work studying a box of evidence gathered by a woman who is convinced that her ex-husband is behind a series of murders of women in the 1980s. Subsequent episodes follow the gang as they revisit the murders of Robert Pickton, a pig farmer who lived and worked on an enormous farm in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. The farm was also likely the site of the murders of close to 50 women, many of them indigenous women, addicts, and sex workers. Pickton was ultimately convicted for six murders in 2007, and sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 25 years. However, he was killed by another inmate by May of 2024. Prior to Pickton's death, The Midnight Order was alarmed on hearing that the police were readying to destroy in the range of 14,000 pieces of evidence in the cases - which would make justice impossible for his yet-to-be-identified victims. From there, they went about taking stock of the murders likely connected to Pickton, speaking to the families of the victims and beyond - rallying to make sure the outstanding cold cases 'still have a chance of being solved.' Sasha Reid and The Midnight Order premieres on Freeform on July 9, and will be available July 10 on Hulu. A woman who was misdiagnosed for months says doctors told her she had hemorrhoids - while cancer was 'eating away' at her bowel. Lisa Snooks, 43, from Barry, South Wales, was repeatedly told by doctors to carry on with hemorrhoids treatment until her pain got so severe that she pushed for cancer tests. Following an endoscopy and MRI in February 2022, she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of anal cancer which had 'eaten away' parts of her bowel and was protruding externally. In March of that year, she had a colostomy bag fitted and then underwent an 11-hour surgery to remove her pelvic floor, rectum and vagina leaving a cavity wound which must be repacked daily by nurses. Despite now being in remission, the treatment she underwent has left her struggling with low platelet count due to damage to her bone marrow. Lisa Snooks, 43, from Barry, South Wales, who was misdiagnosed for months says doctors told her she had hemorrhoids - while cancer was 'eating away' at her bowel. Pictured in hospital following surgery Tragically, she lost her brother to the same condition in February 2021 and says she's terrified of the future. Lisa is now struggling mentally because of the stress and the open cavity wound left behind by surgery. Lisa said: 'If I had been seen earlier and I wasn't wrongly treated for six months, my bowel wouldn't have been eaten away. 'To have anal cancer is not something I've ever heard of - as soon as you notice the smallest symptoms go to the doctors straight away. 'I don't remember much after being told I had cancer, I started crying and thought I was going to die and my life was over - I was just broken. 'It's terrifying, I lost my brother to low blood platelet count which I now have - I have the same faulty gene. 'I'm wondering if I'm going to beat this or die the same way as him, it's scary to beat cancer and still be in the same position.' Lisa, who used to work as a lettings branch manager, first went to the doctor after experiencing hemorrhoid-like symptoms in June 2021. Lisa was repeatedly told by doctors to carry on with hemorrhoids treatment until her pain got so severe that she pushed for cancer tests In March 2022, she had a colostomy bag fitted and then underwent an 11-hour surgery to remove her pelvic floor, rectum and vagina Following an endoscopy and MRI in February 2022, she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of anal cancer which had 'eaten away' parts of her bowel and was protruding externally However, after following prescribed treatments such as suppositories for five months, her symptoms had only grown worse and she pushed for further tests. And in February 2022 she underwent an endoscopy before being rushed for an MRI - which confirmed her worst fears of a cancer diagnosis. She was diagnosed with anal cancer which was deemed 'aggressive' and was told it had 'eaten away' large parts of her bowel. Symptoms of anal cancer include bleeding from the bottom, small lumps, itching and pain, discharge of mucus and incontinence. A permanent colostomy bag was fitted in March 2022 and soon after she began chemotherapy and radiotherapy undergoing six weeks of radiotherapy seven day a week and chemotherapy four days a week. However, chemotherapy left her with neutropenic sepsis which saw her whole body reacting to an infection. After finishing treatment in April, she was booked in for surgery in October - but asked for the procedure to be postponed as she felt she wasn't mentally ready. Lisa - pictured - was snapped nine months after her life saving surgery using a repose cushion. She is now in remission Lisa, pictured, spent 11 hours in theatre, followed by a further two emergency surgeries. She admits she is now nervous for her future Lisa had long blonde hair before she started cancer treatment however it all fell out during chemotherapy Lisa's hair fell out during chemotherapy and she was forced to wear a wig . She is now in remission In April 2023, Lisa was bedridden for her birthday following the long surgery. She says she is now 'mentally drained' Lisa beamed as she rang the bell at Velindre Cancer Centre after being discharged from hospital Lisa has been in remission for a year, she beamed with her boyfriend Gareth seven months after her surgery While waiting for surgery, Lisa said she experienced high levels of pain and was hemorrhaging blood every day and required regular blood transfusions. What is anal cancer? Anal cancer is an uncommon type of cancer that occurs in the anal canal. Most people are treated with a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. Symptoms of anal cancer include: Bleeding from the anus or rectum Pain in the area of the anus A mass or growth in the anal canal Anal itching Sources: Mayo Clinic Advertisement In February 2023 she spent 11 hours on the operating table while surgeons removed her pelvic floor, rectum and vagina leaving a cavity wound which she says has not healed and has to be repacked by nurses daily. Doctors also removed a large strip of muscle from underneath her right rib cage and skin tissue from her tummy to try and rebuild her vagina and create a cover for the wound - but the surgery was unsuccessful. Now, Lisa has been in remission for a year but says she's still terrified of the future. She says she's waiting to undergo a second bone marrow biopsy to establish a cause and treatment path for her low platelet count. 'It started as something which looked and felt like hemorrhoids, it was painful to wear underwear and sit down and in the end it was painful to walk,' said Lisa. 'It started bleeding and then I became incontinent which was horrific. 'It's been 16 months since I got out of hospital but I'm still seeing nurses every day to pack the large cavity in between my legs which never healed up. 'I lost all my hair [during chemotherapy] and have been wearing wigs for two years. 'Mentally now I'm struggling, the last two years have been traumatic and I'm still living it every day. 'I'm drained and tired and scared for the future now, every day I'm scared of what's next. 'I've been in remission for a year, but I don't know how future looks yet.' An Australian woman has expressed her concern for Brits' 'casual attitude towards tanning and sun damage'. Charlotte Rose Hallett, who recently moved from Sydney to London, says she's been shocked by the amount of people using sunbeds and being dismissal of stepping outside without slapping on any SPF. 'Obviously you don't see as much of the sun here you have a working ozone layer but it doesn't that the sun isn't going to come for you,' she said in a TikTok shared this week. The influencer added that her wariness for the sun is rooted in being 'scared out of her mind as a child' with skin cancer awareness ads. She shared a snippet of a video campaign from Cancer Institute NSW, dubbed The Dark Side of Tanning. Charlotte Rose Hallett, who recently moved from Sydney to London, says she's been shocked by the amount of people using sunbeds and being dismissal of stepping outside without slapping on any SPF One clip shows a man on the beach tanning, before beginning a haunting narration: 'Tanning is skin cells in trauma tying to protect themselves from cancer. 'But a melanoma just one millimetre deep can get into your bloodstream and spread. 'So even if a melanoma is cut out the cancer can reappear months or years later, often in your lung liver or brain... and you haven't even started to burn yet.' 'Imagine you're like eight going to watch Bridge To Terabithia and you get one of these ads before the movie,' Charlotte told her viewers. 'Obviously that struck the fear of God into me as a child and it's worked. And I thank the government for that - at least even for anti-aging purposes.' In a final plea to Brits, she stressed that there is 'nothing healthy about a tan'. 'You can still get vitamin D if you're wearing SPF protection,' the content creator added. 'You can buy fake tan - amazing these days - and some amazing SPFs. Stay safe outside and if the UV is above three on your weather app, put SPF on.' The influencer added that her wariness for the sun is rooted in being 'scared out of her mind as a child' with skin cancer awareness ads Britons and Australians alike commented on Charlotte's TikTok with their thoughts on the matter The Dark Side of Tanning campaign was developed by the Cancer Institute NSW for the summer of 2007-2008. It was then adopted by other organisations including Cancer Council and run in other states and territories over the following years. Britons and Australians alike commented on Charlotte's TikTok - with one poster explaining: 'It's because we barely get any sun okay.' 'We are obsessed with getting tanned cause we never see the sun,' another added. 'I think it's so bad in the UK because it's so rare to see the sun consistently and everyone just loses their minds when it's out,' a third also agreed. The Dark Side of Tanning campaign was developed by the Cancer Institute NSW for the summer of 2007-2008 then adopted by Cancer Council and run in other states and territories But other Aussies were equally horrified, with one sharing that her housemate goes to a sunbed. 'I almost died when I heard!' she exclaimed. Another added that the same problem exists across the pond too. 'I literally gasped when I saw a US influencer promoting a tanning oil,' they said. 'They would be shamed so hard in Aus.' 'I went to a midsummer roof top work party on a sunny London day when I lived there and as I was putting sunscreen on someone walked up to me and said you must be Australian,' one recalled. Earlier this year, dermal clinician Madeleine O'Brien, from Melbourne, shared the nostalgic commercial online triggering the memories of thousands. Cancer Council's five steps to protect your skin from sun damage Wear protective clothing that covers as much skin as possible. Wear a hat, not a cap, that's broad brimmed so the ears and neck are protected. Apply sunscreen - and make sure it's SPF30 or higher, broad spectrum and water resistant. Sunscreen needs to be applied before heading outdoors and reapplied every two hours or after swimming, sweating or towel drying. Seek shade if you are outdoors and be clever in timing your activities so if possible, you don't get caught out during high UV periods. Wear sunglasses to protect the skin around the eyes and your eyes too. Source: Cancer Council Advertisement Cancer Council Australia Director, Cancer Control Campaigns and Communications Melody Chew told FEMAIL the campaign made a huge impact on young Australians but there is still a long way to go with many prioritising vanity over skin health. '(Cancer Council Australia) absolutely popped off with this campaign! It haunts me. Maybe a little too terrifying for 10-year-old me to see but hey, look at me now preaching sun safety. It clearly worked,' Madeleine captioned a TikTok clip. Madeleine said the campaign 'haunts' all Australians born before the 2000s. She called it her 'Roman empire', meaning she still thinks of it regularly. Melody said because the ad was so 'shocking' it was very successful in achieving high recall. '(The Cancer Council) did some research late last year with young people aged 18 to 30 and we found they were still quoting the line from that ad: 'There's nothing healthy about a tan',' she said. 'We also saw in that research that there's a really strong understanding among young people of the risk of skin cancer and how to protect themselves against skin cancer and we can thank that particular campaign for that.' Melody said while young people are well aware of the risks of tanning and sun exposure, there is a strong attitude towards ignoring the advice for appearance's sake. 'We need to focus on social media and in particular influencers that are targeting young people, aged 18 to 30, and driving these attitudes that are all image related,' she said. Melody said the shock value of the 2007 'Nothing Healthy About a Tan' ad isn't as effective these days with social media. 'They won't work unless we can convince young people that a tan doesn't make them look more beautiful, that their clothes don't look any better on them with a tan, and that they can feel confident without a tan,' she said. 'That's what the Cancer Council and the Australian Government have been working on, and it's a long game.' The Cancer Council teamed up with more than 60 influencers who have been promoting the benefits of staying out of the sun and avoiding tanning. 'They've been really fantastic at driving conversations about tanning culture and making sun protection look glamorous and aspirational. Just seeing all of the comments on their posts out there and the way that people are starting to question these really rewarding to watch,' Melody said. 'It fills me with a bit of hope that we actually might be able to climb this big uphill battle. Obviously, this cultural change is not going happen overnight but we're seeing really good early signs of success.' Dear Jane, My husband and I moved into a new house last month, leaving behind our apartment and city life in favor of a much more spacious home in the suburbs. To say its been a culture shock would be a big understatement But I vowed to myself that I would embrace the positives of suburban life and made a big effort to introduce myself to people in our neighborhood, specifically our neighbors on each side. There isnt really a huge sense of community when youre living in a high-rise apartment building and thats something I was really excited about with our move. The couple on our right are so sweet, but very elderly (speaking to them requires a very raised voice, if that makes sense), and I confess I was a bit concerned that my visions of backyard hangouts with our neighbors were going to evaporate when I met them. Thankfully, the couple on the left were just a few years older than us, very friendly, and seemed incredibly eager to welcome us into the neighborhood. Dear Jane, my neighbors have been doing some incredibly weird things in their backyard - I want to call the police but my husband won't let me On our first weekend in the new house, they hosted us for a barbecue and invited us over to spend July 4th with them, said we could use their pool whenever we wanted it honestly felt like my sitcom-style dreams of neighborhood best friends had come true. But the night of that barbecue, we heard some horrifying screams coming from their backyard. I have never really understood the term blood-curdling but this terrifying noise made me realize exactly what theyre always going on about in the movies. Im not joking when I say I RAN our of the door and into our yard to peer over the fence and check that everything was OK but there was nothing to be seen. The next day, I went round to make sure nothing was wrong, and when I mentioned the screams, they looked at me with completely blank stares, said they hadnt heard anything, and asked if it was maybe a nightmare? By that point I was so nervous and frazzled that I just shrugged it off. Days later, the screaming started again. Once again I ran outside, once again there was nothing there. Two days after that, a bright light started shining in our bedroom window on and off. Almost like a police search light from a helicopter? When I looked out, it seemed to be coming from their backyard, but when I went outside it had once again disappeared. Again I went over to ask them if theyd seen anything, and again I got blank stares. Then the screams came back last night. International best-selling author Jane Green offers sage advice on DailyMail.com readers' most burning issues in her Dear Jane agony aunt column I know I sound like a crazy person here, but I cant help but feel like theyre playing some kind of twisted prank on us? Theres no way that theyre not hearing the same screams that we are in fact Im surprised the whole neighborhood hasnt complained at this point. They seem so nice on the surface, so I feel ridiculous even blaming this on them, but this whole thing is really starting to freak me out. Ive told my husband I want to call the police and have them check things out, but he is worried doing so might alienate us from the neighborhood entirely Do you think Im being insane or do I have a legitimate cause for concern? From, Mystery Mania Dear Mystery Mania, This does rather sound like the beginning of either a horror movie, or a psychological thriller. I can imagine how unsettling and upsetting this must be, but dont understand why your husband doesnt want you calling the police. At the very least, you must start recording this with your phone. Rather than blame the neighbors, think of this as a mystery that needs to be solved, and bring the neighbors in to help solve the conundrum. Unless you are hallucinating, it would seem that other neighbors must have heard something. Talk to them, explain youre becoming an amateur sleuth in order to get to the bottom of the mystery, rather than assigning blame on one family. I dont see how anyone in the neighborhood could blame you for calling the police, and, as said earlier, encourage you to gather evidence. Wishing you much luck and future peaceful evenings. Dear Jane, A couple of years ago I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and while I have accepted it and learned to live with it, my closest family however has cut off all contact with me since my diagnosis. Mental health is a taboo in my family and it feels as though they are all deeply ashamed of me because of what Im going through, and because I took steps to actually deal with my mental health rather than simply pretending like nothing was wrong. Rather than accept me for who I really am and therefore accepting that mental health illness is a real thing they have decided its easier to just remove me from their lives. The first time I saw my mom in two years, she refused to talk about how I was doing, and when I asked if she would be open to joining me for a therapy session, she acted as though she hadnt heard the question and then quickly changed the subject. I am proud of how far I have come and the work Ive done to deal with my bipolar, but the situation with my family is making every day feel like a struggle. And truthfully, it makes me feel unloved. Holidays are spent alone, my birthdays pass by without so much as a text, and Im living in constant fear that the people who are still in my life could abandon me at any minute. I feel like Im stuck in limbo; in reality, I dont have a family, but I cant seem to let go of the hope that theyll one day come back into my life. Dear Jane's Sunday service I have never seen people defining themselves by labels in the way that they are today, particularly with issues to do with mental health or neurodivergency. Whether its ADHD, the Autism spectrum, depression, it doesnt have to define you, nor do you have to discuss it with everyone you know. Its so easy to fall into the trap of seeing everything in life through the lens of your specific disorder, when in fact, its just a part of you, not the whole of you. Which is the problem when we talk about these things repeatedly. Far better to deal with it privately and with the appropriate professionals, so we continue to be seen as a whole person, rather than someone solely defined by their condition, which limits not just how people see us, but what we then believe we are able to achieve. Advertisement Is there any hope or am I deluding myself? From, Lone Ranger Dear Lone Ranger, I am so sorry youre going through this, and applaud you for taking such good care of yourself in dealing properly with your bipolar disorder. One of the most difficult things to accept in life is that we are powerless over other people. However much we would like them to behave in the way we want, the way we believe they should, people are always going to let us down. It is helpful to remind ourselves that generally people are doing the best they can with the knowledge that they have. Your family clearly has enormous discomfort with mental health issues, so perhaps try and meet them where they are, rather than where you wish they could be. This would allow you to see your mother, and quite possibly your family, without needing to bring them in to your journey, without asking them to come to therapy with you. It means leaving your mental health issues by the door when you are with them. This may sound like a difficult task, particularly given that we are living in an age where we have a tendency to define ourselves by our issues, wanting everyone to know, wanting support. I believe you can have a relationship with your family, and, that you do not have to be defined by bipolar disorder. If you are taking your medications and the symptoms are under control, I would live your life, invite your family in to it, and leave the discussions about your mental health with the professionals. Rob Delaney has revealed that he was worried he wouldn't be able to love his fourth son - because his heart was 'destroyed' after losing his two-year-old child Henry to cancer in 2018. The comedy star, 47, who is from Massachusetts but lives in north London, opened up about losing his little boy, depression, alcoholism and working alongside Carrie Fisher on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs with host Lauren Laverne. In the candid interview Rob admitted he worried that he wouldn't be able to love Henry's younger brother after his death, saying his heart was 'torn to pieces'. He said: 'I remember thinking, when he was about to be born, ''well my heart has been destroyed, it has been torn into pieces and destroyed, and it's just garbage, so I will take care of this kid, I will feed him, I will put him in clothing that fits, am I going to be able to love him? I don't know if I can do that anymore.'' 'But the nanosecond he exited my wife's body, I looked at him and started weeping, and I was so in love with him...I love him desperately. But you have to feel and honour your pain. When the feelings come it's best to let them.' Rob Delaney revealed he worried he wouldn't be able to love his fourth son because his heart was 'destroyed' after losing his two-year-old child Henry (pictured) to cancer Eight years ago, Rob's one-year-old son Henry was diagnosed with a brain tumour and after undergoing surgery and intense treatment Henry died in 2018. Before Henry died, his parents told him they were expecting another child. He said: 'He had to know that this family that loved him was alive and was growing and that there was somebody that we were going to tell about him. 'We knew that they would not overlap corporally on this Earth, even though Henry's younger brother was born in the same room that Henry died in, our living room.' Rob said he would like to spend his own last moments in that living room were he said goodbye to his child in 2018 and welcomed his fourth son later that year, but they no longer live in the home. Rob, whose credits include Catastrophe and Deadpool 2, said: 'We don't live there anymore but when we moved out I asked the landlord, "Listen, if you are ever going to sell this place will you let me know first because I would like to buy it", so when I'm 81 I can crawl in here and die, in the same room that my son died in, that my other son was born in.' In the emotional interview, the American-born star spoke about Henry's last few months. He said: 'He did have a good death. His final months we had four-and-a-half of them where we knew he was going to die his brothers were just so into him. The comedy star, 47, who is from Massachusetts but lives in north London , opened up about losing his little boy, depression, alcoholism and working alongside Carrie Fisher on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs with host Lauren Laverne. Pictured with his late son Henry Rob previously shared on Instagram a photograph of his late son Henry sleeping, taken when he was only 15 months old and had just started chemotherapy 'They all loved each other so much I watched a four and a six-year-old hold their brother's dead body, I watched them take unbelievable care of him and learn difficult things because he required really intense things to take care of him. 'I just hate thinking about them not having him. I really hate it. 'They talk about him all the time and they love him, and they smile when they talk about him and they love to look at pictures of him and he is very much part of our lives.' Rob also revealed he still spoke to his 'funny and clever' son. He said: 'I don't know what words to use, don't care. I talk to him. I don't know if he hears me. It doesn't matter... He is my son, I am his dad and I love him.' Delaney said he and his wife Leah had been unable to leave London 'for so many reasons... one of which is I like to go put my hands on the slide at the playground that Henry slid down'. 'I like to see [the] nurses, periodically bump into them, that took care of him. So London is very important to me and London took very good care of him,' he added. Elsewhere Rob opened up about his struggles with alcoholism, saying he had his first drink at just 12 years old. Rob revealed his other sons still speak about their 'funny and clever' late brother (Henry as a baby) Rob said 'London is very important to me and London took very good care of him', referencing the nurses who looked after Henry in his last months In December 2018 Rob revealed his wife Leah had given birth to their 'magical' fourth son that August, seven months after Henry passed away He said: 'Drinking made me feel better, happier, complete, relaxed, anytime I took a drink I thought "this is it". I first got drunk at 12, and then began to drink more regularly at 14. I had alcoholism on both sides of my family so then I got it too.' The actor has had more than two decades of sobriety following a car crash in 2002 that prompted him to give up drinking. Speaking about the accident, he said: 'It really got scary, at this point I'm drinking to alleviate the previous nights hangover and becoming more of a maintenance drinker. 'One night I passed out on a friends floor after a party and then in the middle of the night, I have no memory of this, I got up thought ''I should go for a drive'' and I did, and thank goodness nobody else was involved, but I did drive my car into a building, terrifying. 'I woke up being admitted to the hospital by multiple cops and there was an element of relief because I knew then I could no longer hide from people what my drinking resulted in.' Rob was offered a stint in rehab instead of jail time and he has recently marked 22 years of sobriety. The comedian admitted he suffered with depression after he stopped drinking which he sought treatment for. He said: 'I started treatment for very serious depression. There was a very physical component to it, I would wake up, brush my teeth in the morning and when the toothbrush touched my tongue I would vomit, my libido disappeared, I can not sleep at all that was the worst part, my body really hurt and then mentally my brain was telling me to kill myself all the time.' Rob described working with Carrie Fisher, when she played his mother in Catastrophe back in 2014, as 'beyond spectacular.' He added: 'I remember being so nervous, like shaking with nerves when she first came on set, she did such a great job, she was the only person on the show that we let improvise and she done such a great job. 'We know she is funny and we know she is great but she was also so kind, she was a wonderful person to talk to about Henry and she knew all about him. 'She was very sensitive and thoughtful and she would hold my hand and ask me questions, and give me little presents for me and my kids. 'There is the Carrie Fisher that everyone knows from TV and movies that is incredibly funny, and in real life happy to report that she was such a beautiful presence and made everyone feel warm to be around.' Desert Island Discs aired on BBC Radio 4 and is also available on BBC Sounds When it comes to natural sleep aids, most of us are familiar with the old, common-sense advice. Have a bath, avoid heavy meals and try not to look at screens. But experts say there are many more tweaks to your evening routine that you may be less familiar with. A lot of these changes involve avoiding certain behaviors you may have been doing for most of your life. For instance, forgoing that curry for dinner can be the difference between a fragmented and restful night sleep, Dr Ankit Parekh, an assistant professor of sleep medicine in the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai told DailyMail.com. Below, the sleep expert reveals his most important dos and don'ts for getting a good night's rest without any medical intervention. Getting a good nights sleep is easiest when you train your body to keep a consistent rhythm. Some studies have shown that people who sleep around the same time every night are healthier, Dr Parekh said DON'T eat chocolate and spicy food, or do cardio Firstly, choose your evening meal wisely. You might be aware that eating late after 8pm is associated with weight gain and a higher risk of obesity. But what you eat later at night can also impact your sleep. Specifically, eating spicy or fatty foods in the hours before bed can lead to indigestion, commonly known as heartburn. The symptoms which include a feeling of acid rising up from the stomach and into the throat can wake you up, wrecking your sleep quality. Next, consider keeping your coffee intake for morning hours only. Some research has shown that the stimulant effect of caffeine can remain for about six hours after you consume it. Dr Ankit Parekh studies how people deal with sleep apnea deal with the effects of a poor nights rest This means your body may feel hyper-alert as you're preparing to go to bed, making it difficult to wind down. Dr Parekh suggests quitting the java before 3pm. And while you might think that a couple of beers will send you to sleep, don't be fooled it is known to reduce the quality of shut-eye. When people drink alcohol, it reduces the amount of time they spend in deeper stages of sleep- this is generally the period that your body takes to repair, according to the Sleep Foundation. So losing out on this stage could mean you're missing out on the health benefits of quality sleep. Regular booze intake also increases your likelihood of developing sleep apnea, a condition that causes people to stop breathing while asleep. Alcohol can cause the throat and tongue muscles to relax, which can block the flow of oxygen. This wakes people up repeatedly, making for a poor nights sleep. Next, although exercise is generally thought of as good for sleep, avoid intense cardio after 7pm, Dr Parekh said. That's because cardiovascular exercise can ramp up your heart rate and internal temperature making it difficult to fall asleep soon after. Dr Parekeh also emphasized the importance of avoiding all things screens in the hour before bed be it your cell phone, laptop or tablet. DO turn on your AC, clean your room and take some deep breaths The most important part about your sleep environment is that it should be dark, quiet and a comfortable temperature. But you can also practice mindfulness, meditation or yoga before bed, if it helps you, experts say A handful of simple tricks can make your bedroom as sleep-friendly as possible. First, if you have air conditioning, set it to the ideal, sleep-inducing temperature of 66-72F (18-22 C), Dr Parekh said. You should also ensure that your bedroom is a relaxing, tidy environment. De-cluttering one's bedroom was found to help insomniacs get to sleep more quickly and consistently, one 2017 study of 1,052 volunteers found. Research suggests that stretching, practicing mindfulness or doing breathing exercises will also help calm the mind before sleep. As for your nighttime routine, begin winding down two hours before you plan to go to bed. Whatever you particular routine is, keeping these steps consistent will signal to your body that it's time to start winding down, and you will naturally notice yourself becoming sleepy, Dr Zweig said. 'We need to transition slowly to sleep,' Dr Zweig said. This includes going to bed at roughly the same time every night. Studies have shown that people who have consistent sleep schedules are healthier overall, Dr Parekh said. Surprisingly, experts say it's not just what you do or don't do in the evening that has an impact on your sleep. Getting plenty of sunlight during the day helps cement your body's circadian rhythm the natural cycle of hormones that rule your wakefulness, Dr Parekh said. Bombarding the body with sunlight during the day triggers a natural wakefulness that will help make sure you're tired when the lights go out at night. If you do all this, you should be in a good position to get a good nights sleep, Dr Parekh said. Voters have been raising concerns about Joe Biden's age since he launched his 2019 bid for President at age 77. But doctors tell DailyMail.com an alarming deterioration began in 2021. After his disastrous performance in last week's debate, many have been left wondering how long the now-81-year-old's faculties have been diminished and how long his team has known about it. We asked several doctors to review a Mail time-lapse of the ailing President over the decades and also to consider his public appearances. The consensus was that there was a sharp decline both in his appearance and cognitive abilities beginning in 2021, according to the experts, who spoke on and off the record due to lingering fears their comments could cause reputational damage. They told this website the photos revealed a 'glassy', vacant look in Biden's eyes as well as 'blank' facial expression and paler skin beginning around three years ago. Biden at a Democratic nominee debate in 2019 looking sharp (left) and the ailing president in 2024 Dr Stuart Fischer, an emergency medicine physician in New York City, said: 'Reviewing all these photos of Joe Biden, the only unqualified success he has had is his hair transplant it still looks great! 'But from 2021 onwards, there is a shift in the expression in his eyes he starts to look a bit like a zombie which has a blank stare. 'This is particularly evident in June 2023 with Vice President Harris, where he starts to look blank and stops moving, which has alarmed people.' He added: 'People decline at different rates normally, and in their 80s you would expect to see some sort of decline. 'But at 81 years old he is youngish to have such severe problems. If you think of Mick Jagger who is 80 years old, for example, he is still performing on stage with ease.' President Biden had the classic signs of aging in the late 2000s and early 2010s when he was vice president to Barack Obama, the experts said. He had bags and grooves under his eyes, a receding hairline and sagging skin, to name just a few features. But the doctors DailyMail.com spoke to said that around 2019, when Biden was preparing for his successful presidential run, his face transformed. The doctors DailyMail.com spoke to said Biden had been aging normally up until 2021/2022 - when the decline became sharper His skin appeared much tighter, which they said was likely due to plastic surgeries including a facelift and treatments with filler. Dr Smita Ramanadham, a plastic surgeon in New Jersey, said: 'There appears to be a battle going on with Biden, where he is aging and his team are trying to counteract that [the rapid aging and frailty] with various treatments. 'All the treatments he has had mean he no longer really shows his emotions below the eyes, which can make it difficult to establish what is going on internally because his emotions are not clearly displayed on his face.' Dr Ramanadham said she too noticed a change in 2021 this time with the president appearing much older and frailer. She said: 'Observing the eyes and the expression around them, they do appear to have a glassy and foggy type of appearance in later images. They also have this wide-openness. 'On his skin, over time it also appears to lose color which is a sign of [advanced] aging.' She added that it was also important to consider his movements, as well as his expressions. Dr Ramanadham said: 'If you just watch him, he is moving a little bit slower and he is slower to respond too, you can see him almost processing the information and sometimes there is this glazed blank look too. Biden looking slick in 1991 versus at last week's debate against Donald Trump, which could prove to be the downfall of his presidency 'I think this is what is triggering all the questions about his candidacy.' Many doctors have suggested privately to DailyMail.com that he is likely suffering from some sort of condition, rather than just aging. The White House has downplayed suggestions that Biden is suffering from neurological issues, claiming the President simply had a 'bad night' and was suffering from 'a cold'. The WH has said, however, that Biden functions perfectly well during the hours of 11am and 8pm, but can become gaffe-prone later in the evening. Seven in ten voters now say that they do not think Biden is mentally fit to serve as President - compared to around half who think the same about Trump. Dr Sanjay Gupta, chief medical correspondent at CNN, today called for Biden to undergo a cognitive test in a sign that even corners of the media normally friendly to the president are turning. He wrote: 'For me as a brain specialist, it was concerning to watch President Joe Biden, and it quickly became clear that I was not along in my reaction. 'We often hear that observing a candidate on the campaign trail is the best assessment of the individuals physical and cognitive health. 'The country is watching now, and that assessment gives cause for concern and a need for transparent testing.' Biden in his heyday (left) and a video of the president with a blank stare on the White House lawn last month which sparked concern Many doctors are calling for Biden to take the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, or MoCA, a screening test used to pick up concerning cognitive decline. It is the test that Trump has taken twice and says he aced both times, scoring a 30 out of 30. The test's creator, Dr Ziad Nasreddine from Canada, has also called on Biden to take the assessment telling DailyMail.com he couldn't keep silent after watching him in the debate last month. It comes as the ailing president goes into a 'make or break' weekend of campaigning while his presidential bid teeters on a knife edge. Reports from anonymous sources say that Biden is aware that if he messes up the events then he will reconsider his decision to run in the race. Esther Shoebridge has never been someone to trouble her GP without reason. A gym-goer and long-distance walker, the 59-year-old former optician, from Beverley in East Yorkshire, prides herself on being fit and independent. But when a nagging ache in her neck in the autumn of 2020 wouldnt budge, Esther did seek a medical opinion and was reassured it was nothing serious. The advice was to go home, take painkillers and rest until the discomfort subsided. When it didnt subside, a second visit to the GP a few weeks later yielded the same advice painkillers and rest. In fact, it was another five months before Esther discovered the shocking truth that she had broken a bone in her neck which was the root cause of her agony. Esther Shoebridge was told that her fractured neck was due to myeloma, an incurable blood cancer that put her at risk of severe injury from any minor slips or falls But there was much worse news. The fracture, doctors at Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham told her, was due to the fact she had an incurable blood cancer which would almost certainly kill her within five years. Called myeloma, it had spread around her body, punching millions of holes in her bones, skull and spine and leaving her at severe risk of even more damage from the slightest slip or fall. And it was likely, she later discovered, that had her neck problems been taken seriously at an earlier stage, she could have had treatment to prevent the bone damage, buying her more time to enjoy a decent quality of life. It was the height of the Covid-19 restrictions, says Esther, so it meant my husband Philip was not allowed to be with me when I got the bombshell news. I was in floods of tears I didnt want to leave Philip, my daughter Grace or my four beautiful grandchildren. There was so much I still wanted to do. The doctor who broke the news said, I expect youve never heard of myeloma. But I told him I was only too aware of it Id just spent a year helping a good friend care for her mum whod died from it. One of Esther's first symptoms was a raging thirst, with her drinking up to four litres of water every day Experts say if Esther had been diagnosed earlier, they could have prevented the debilitating injuries that occurred as a result of the myeloma Yet not for one minute did I think thats what I had. I felt I was too young to get anything like that. Myeloma affects about 4,500 people a year in the UK, mainly over 65s. It develops when DNA damage occurs in bone marrow, the spongy material inside the bones where blood cells mature. This damage leads to the growth of abnormal cells that release a harmful protein which causes bones to easily break. Symptoms vary, ranging from bone pain and fatigue to kidney damage and nerve pain. In Esthers case, a raging thirst was she later realised one of the first signs. This is because myeloma also attacks the kidneys, stopping them from clearing excess calcium from the bloodstream the body then ups fluid intake drastically to try to flush the calcium out. Esther was drinking up to four litres of water a day. It started with me feeling strangely weak and dizzy, unable to walk as far as usual, or go to the gym as much as I normally would, she says. Then I developed an incredible thirst and started losing weight, dropping from nine stone to seven. I had also had insomnia and regular infections. It got to the point where Esther had to support her head to stop it falling down. Esther's first two rounds of chemotherapy failed but a third attempt has stabilised the cancer Id bought myself a neck brace, imagining Id strained it. Just knowing Id soldiered on with these symptoms for months while the cancer riddled through me it was utterly awful. Experts say if Esther had been diagnosed earlier, they could have prevented the debilitating injuries that occurred as a result of the myeloma though the cancer itself could not have been cured. Treatments such as chemotherapy slow the diseases progression and limit damage to the bones. Myeloma leaches the strength from your bones, so with Esther there was more damage done because of the five-month delay, says Professor Graham Jackson, a myeloma specialist at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. With myeloma, you can live up to 15 years if diagnosed early. Professor Graham adds: The longer it goes untreated, the greater the chance of fractures and breaks. Yet one in four patients wait ten months from symptoms to diagnosis the longest time of any cancer. Chemotherapy is not a cure but can reduce the number of myeloma cells. For Esther, the first two rounds of treatment failed but a third attempt has stabilised the cancer. Although there are promising treatments in the pipeline such as CAR-T therapy, a type of immunotherapy that helps the bodys defence systems target the cancer these are not yet approved for use in myeloma. Esther says: I refuse to let this beat me. In August 2022 I walked four miles every day for five days to raise over 2,500 for Myeloma UK not bad for a person with a broken neck. I feel better now than I have for years, and this summer Im flying to the US to visit my daughter Grace and the grandchildren in Florida. Fast Ford fanatics have a chance to get their hands on a very unique and collectable 1970s Escort steeped in heritage. Heading to the auction block next month, registration 'NUF 6I7P' is a 1976 Escort MkII RS2000 finished in a unique bronze paint with white and gold pinstripes and the only version ever produced in right hand drive with an automatic gearbox. But thats not what makes it special It stands alone from any other Escort produce because it was bespoke built for - and first registered to - Henry Ford II so that the car company boss could tour Europe and the UK in the seventies. Having fallen off the radar for around 20 years before being snapped up by a collector, it is now predicted to sell for a staggering sum when the hammer drops at a UK auction on 24 August. A Ford Escort like no other: This 'Bronze Roman' 1976 RS2000 is not only a unique colour combination - featuring a cream leather interior - it's the only UK-spec version with an automatic gearbox The 'one of one' ex-Henry Ford II Escort RS2000 was long believed to have disappeared. While experts say it had previously been displayed at Ford's heritage centre for a number of years, the car was in hiding for almost two decades. However, the unique motor - finished in 'Roman Bronze' metallic paint with a cream leather interior - has resurfaced and is being offered to the highest bidder at a UK sale. It is expected to sell for a price in the region of 50,000 and 60,000, according to auction house Iconic Auctioneers. Henry Ford II, sometimes known as 'Hank the Deuce', was the eldest grandson of Henry Ford, the founder of the US car giant. Head of Ford Motor Company for 34 years between 1945 and 1979, Ford II is generally credited with reviving the firm's fortunes. This very 1976 Escort RS2000 was built to order for Ford's President at the time, with the company's special vehicles division tailoring it to his request to rip out the manual 'stick shift' and replace it with an automatic transmission. It heads to a UK auction in August offering a unique opportunity for Fast Ford collectors Henry Ford II (pictured), sometimes known as 'Hank the Deuce', was the eldest grandson of Henry Ford, the founder of the US car giant. Head of Ford Motor Company for 34 years between 1945 and 1979, Ford II is generally credited with reviving the firm's fortunes During his spell as President, Henry Ford II modernising Ford as a company, introducing many successful models, including the Thunderbird and even the Mustang. This image is taken from 17 April 1964 at the official unveiling of the all-new Mustang Following the unexpected death of his father in 1943, he was released from Naval duty to take over as Ford Vice President. After a two-year crash course in industrial management, he succeeded to the Presidency of the ailing company in 1945. He promptly set about modernising the company, introducing many successful models, including the Mustang and Thunderbird. By the mid-1950s, Ford II had restored Ford Motor Company to rude financial health, becoming part of the bedrock of the modern autoindustrial age. With his Presidency over Ford of Europe, he found himself spending increasing amounts of time in Britain and, in 1974, decided to buy a property in the UK. Married to his second wife, Maria Cristina Vettore, they fell in love with and bought Turville Grange, a stunning Grade II listed property in Buckinghamshire. The estate was the former home of the younger sister of Jackie Kennedy, Lee Radziwill, who lived at the property with her European husband, HSH Prince Stanislas Radziwill in the 1960s. Whilst living at Turville, Ford II was often required to make longer trips for factory visits and meetings across the country. To do so, he would borrow cars from the local Ford dealer or would be collected by a chauffeur. However, wanting for more independence and to be able to pop into the village occasionally on his own, Ford II contacted his good friend and Vice President of Ford of Europe, Walter Hayes, and asked him to find him 'something special, a bit unusual' to run as his private motor. His only request was that it had an automatic transmission - despite the fact he was more than capable of using a manual gearbox. With his Presidency over Ford of Europe, he found himself spending increasing amounts of time in Britain and, in 1974, decided to buy a property in the UK. Henry Ford II pictured in 1976 with a Fiesta S Needing his own car while living in Buckinghamshire, Ford II contacted Vice President of Ford of Europe, Walter Hayes, and asked him to find him 'something special, a bit unusual' to run as his private motor. His only request was that it had an automatic transmission Registration 'NUF 6I7P' is the only UK-spec MkII Escort RS2000 with this paint and featuring an auto transmission. It has covered just 44,500 miles, having been displayed in Ford's heritage centre and hidden away for the best part of two decades. In August, it will go to auction and sell for a price predicted to be in the region of 50,000 to 60,000 - well above average value Ford's then new RS2000 - powered by a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder Pinto engine - fit the bill as 'something special', with its notable power output and distinctive looks, specifically the 'droop snoot' polyurethane nose. However, it wasn't available with an automatic gearbox in the UK. After some thought, Walter decided to instruct Ford's special vehicles team to create a bespoke, one-off, RS2000 for the company boss - after all, he was one of the most influential people in the history of Ford. The car was duly built with an automatic 'box, luxuriously trimmed leather interior with deep carpets, and a unique paint not available to Ford customers. It was registered to Henry Ford II for his sole use on 8 June 1976 featuring the same number plate it retains today. The odometer shows it has covered 44,495 miles in its 48-year history. Ford II's name on the logbook is predicted to drive a big premium for this particular seventies Fast Ford. Hagerty UK, which tracks sale prices of classic cars, says a 1976 Escort RS2000 in 'excellent' condition today is valued at 34,100, while one that's pristine with low mileage is worth up to 48,100. If it goes for its higher guide price, it will eclipse the average sale value by more than 10,000. 'We are delighted to be able to offer this unique RS2000 that was once enjoyed by one of the most influential figures in the history of the automotive industry,' the auction house said. Gary Dunne from Iconic Auctions added: 'To have a Ford that was the personal car of Henry Ford II while living in the UK is driving living history. This is also such a one off vehicle that it just adds to its potential collectability and value.' The car will be sold at the Silverstone Festival on 24 August along with four Focus RS hot hatches across three generations from the same vendor's collection. A huge Ford aficionado, he was said to be 'hell bent' on acquiring the Escort to add to his garage due to its wonderful history. Back in 2021, Henry Ford II's bespoke Ford Capri 2.8i injection - unique also for being equipped with an automatic gearbox by Ford's SVE department - went under the hammer in a seven-day online auction and sold for 25,250. Political party leader killed in India's Tamil Nadu Xinhua) 10:48, July 07, 2024 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. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Kou Jie) Business is often criticised for being short-termist. Compared with the constant churn of ministers in the past decade under the Tories and the coalition, however, many FTSE 100 boardrooms look like models of stability. The average tenure of a FTSE 100 boss is five and a half years, according to research by investment experts at AJ Bell. That is significantly longer than the shelf-life of most of the politicians with whom business leaders have had to deal over the past few years and indeed longer than the full term of a parliament. Around a fifth of FTSE 100 bosses have been in post for more than a decade. The best ones Simon Wolfson at Next and Pascal Soriot at AstraZeneca spring to mind are also among the longest-serving. This is not coincidence. Nigel Wilson, who recently retired as chief executive of Legal & General after more than ten years at the top, attributed his ability to take a radical approach to investing in UK infrastructure to his faith that he would be in the job for a long time. 'Stable' mates?: The new Government must find a way to stop the constant ministerial churn By the time most businessmen and women reach the pinnacle, they are highly experienced in their field. Contrast that with politicians. As our sister paper The Mail on Sunday reported yesterday, since 2015 there have been seven chancellors, eight City ministers, nine business secretaries and nine work and pensions secretaries, before the new Labour appointments. The ever-changing dramatis personae makes relationships with business harder. Explanations need to be given and cases made on a seemingly endless loop. I popped in to see Grant Shapps in his office in Victoria in the autumn of 2022, when he was for a fleeting four-month period the business secretary. Paintings of bewigged gentlemen belonging to his predecessor Jacob Rees-Mogg, who served an even shorter stint of less than two months, were still hanging on the walls. I hope the new Government will find a way to stop this constant churn. In fairness, many of those taking key positions have been shadowing their roles for some time. There have also been interesting appointments of experts such as Sir Patrick Vallance as science minister and James Timpson at prisons. As boss of the shoe repair chain, he has taken a huge interest in rehabilitating offenders. The drawback with this approach is that 'outsiders' may know their subjects inside out, but are not familiar with the dark arts of politics. But however smart people are, it is crazy to expect them to master overnight a fiendishly complex brief such as pensions. Building relationships with civil servants, working out requirements then making them happen also takes time. The revolving door creates constant friction and confusion. It is also harder to hold here-today-gone-tomorrow ministers to account. Former Tory leadership contender Rory Stewart, who held five ministerial jobs between 2015 and 2019, has spoken out against the 'pass the parcel' ethos and suggested a minimum two-year term for ministers. The recent merry-go-round is linked to Tory upheavals post-Brexit, but the underlying problem is deeper. People are often shuffled around, for reasons of ideology or in-fighting, rather than ability. The UK subscribes to the cult of the gifted amateur in politics and much else. Labour says it will sort out the national finances through growth. To stand any chance of success it will need steady commitment and focus from ministers, not a motley parade of characters. Peak holiday season is currently in full swing, and with school summer holidays beginning, airports are set to be teeming with crowds heading away for a holiday abroad. However, flight cancellations and delays are also on the rise, with thousands of holidaymakers left stranded after dozens of flights were cancelled by British Airways and Easyjet on Sunday. The airlines blamed the axed flights on air traffic control issues and bad weather in Europe. A total of 64 flights were called off by the two airlines at Heathrow and Gatwick. Airports across the UK having faced problems in recent weeks, with a power outage at Manchester Airport seeing some 140 flights cancelled and 90,000 passengers left in the lurch, while others had their flights delayed but arrived at their destinations only to find that their luggage had been left behind. Peak season: Flight cancellations have increased as we head towards school summer holidays Birmingham and Liverpool Airports have all also faced heavy cancellations over the past few weeks. With countless more flights likely to be cancelled during the remainder of the holiday season, and the next batch of those already on the horizon as hurricane Beryl continues to batter the Caribbean, thousands could be left wondering what they can do if they face delays or cancellations. What can I do if my flight is cancelled? If your flight is cancelled then your airline will be responsible for finding a solution, whether this means booking you onto a new flight or issuing you with a refund. In the case that the flight has been cancelled more than 14 days before take off, then you aren't entitled to compensation, but will be given a refund or booked onto a new flight. If it is cancelled with less than two weeks to go, you could get between 110 and 520 depending on the length of the flight and how long you have to wait for a replacement flight. In order to qualify for compensation, the flight must have been cancelled for a reason that is within the control of the airline. For example, if a pilot is late, the flight is cancelled due to under-booking or there are technical difficulties, then the airline will be at fault, and complaining passengers will be able to get compensation. What about strike or bad weather cancellations? If the airline does not offer you alternative transport, you have the right to book a new, significantly more expensive flight at your own expense and have the costs reimbursed by the previous airline. Flightright legal expert Adam Johnson If your flight is cancelled as a result of bad weather, national employee strikes or the actions of non-airline employees, such as an air traffic controller strike, then the airline is not liable to pay you compensation. You should be able to get compensation where it is only the airline's employees that are on strike. Both strikes and bad weather are considered to be extraordinary circumstances, as are air traffic issues - meaning compensation won't be paid. However, in order to qualify as extraordinary, the severity of the bad weather must be beyond what could be reasonably expected by the airline. What if my flight is delayed? Depending on the reason for your flight's delay, you may be able to claim compensation. Adam Johnson, Flightright legal expert, said: 'If your flight is delayed you may be entitled to compensation. The airline must also provide care, including free refreshments, meals, and accommodation if necessary.' For flights of less than 1,500km, a two-hour delay means that you will be entitled to food and drink, as well as access to phone calls and emails if you don't have a phone or it is out of charge. Your carrier should give you vouchers to spend within the airport, but if they don't then it is wise to keep receipts for your expenses in order to claim these back later. For flights between 1,500km and 3,500km, you will need a three-hour delay for these services, while a four-hour delay is needed for flights of over 3,500km. At fault: If a pilot is late, the flight is cancelled due to under booking or there are technical difficulties, then the airline will be liable for the delay or cancellation If your delay is overnight, an airline must provide accommodation and transport to and from your hotel. Johnson said: 'If flight problems necessitate an overnight stay, the airline is obliged to cover hotel costs for your overnight stay. This applies if the delay or cancellation is the airline's responsibility and results in an overnight delay.' While the carrier will pay for your accommodation and food, they are unlikely to be willing to cover expensive hotels or meals, as these will not be deemed 'reasonable' expenses. If your flight is delayed for more than five hours, you can choose not to take the flight and your airline will have to give a full refund for the flight; a refund for an onward or return flight you will no longer use, and a flight back to your original airport if you are mid-journey. If you choose to go ahead with the flight, you could claim up to 520, depending in the length of the flight and the distance. Much like with cancellations, this will depend on whether the airline is at fault for the delay. Will an airline pay you back if you decide to book with another carrier because of delays? With certain airports offering only limited flights to some destinations, your carrier might not be able to offer you a suitable replacement flight if your flight is cancelled or heavily delayed. Johnson said: 'If the airline cancels your flight or causes significant delays and does not offer you an alternative, you have the choice between reimbursement of the ticket price you originally paid or alternative transport provided by the airline.' 'However, if the airline does not offer you alternative transport, you have the right to book a new, significantly more expensive flight at your own expense and have the costs reimbursed by the previous airline.' That said, the class of the flight should be like-for-like as your carrier won't stump up the cash for more expensive flights just because you want to choose better seats. Will they refund your hotel costs if you don't make your holiday due to flight problems? Unless you booked your holiday as part of a package deal, you are unlikely to be able to get any money from your airline for the costs of your hotel or accommodation if you are unable to go ahead with your holiday. Airlines are not liable to cover consequential costs related to your holiday. This also includes a loss of earnings if you return to work later than planned, something that your insurance policy is also unfortunately not likely to pay out for. However, you may be able to recover some of your accommodation losses depending on the refund policy of your accommodation. If you have taken out travel insurance, then you will most likely have a safety net that will cover some of what your airline won't - though it is vital that you check what exactly your policy covers before booking it. What will my insurance cover when it comes to flights? If your flight is cancelled or delayed under circumstances that are beyond your airline's control, then it can be difficult to get compensation for the time and money you might have lost. Helen Phipps, director at Compare the Market, said: 'If your airline has been forced to cancel a flight because of circumstances outside of their control, then they may not be obligated to offer you compensation. 'In this case, it is important that you speak to your travel insurance provider as you could be able to make a claim through your policy.' 'Insurance policies offering coverage for flight cancellations may allow you to get your money back if your flight has been delayed for over 24 hours or if it has been cancelled and the airline does not arrange an alternative flight within 24 hours. 'Equally for those abroad and unable to return home, some insurance policies will cover the cost of your accommodation too. 'Insurance plays a particularly important role if your holiday is not booked as a package deal as it can cover every leg of the journey, from your flight and accommodation to pre-planned trips.' Time and again, millions of us have seen our carefully laid plans for retirement thrown into chaos by incessant tweaks and tinkering to the pension rules by previous governments. Sir Keir Starmers government will be no different. There will be a review of the pensions system that we know for sure, as a key pledge in the Labour manifesto. But with Labour securing a huge majority, their promised pensions review has the potential to be far more radical than previously expected, industry experts have warned The Mail on Sunday. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves outside Downing Street for her first Cabinet meeting with new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer The party now has a serious mandate to pursue drastic reforms to some of the thornier pension issues. Economists say that a Labour government will come under pressure to increase wealth and pension taxes to get national debt under control and meet funding targets. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said Labour would not raise income tax, National Insurance or VAT. She has also pledged to uphold the state pensions triple lock. However, she has made no such commitment over private pensions. Nor have there been assurances on other extreme pension reforms that have been previously floated by key members of the Labour Party. There are fears she could mount a pensions raid on the retirement savings of nine million workers. She could cut the 25 per cent tax-free lump sum that people can take from their pensions, make pensions taxable upon death, slash tax relief on employee pension contributions, lower the cap on how much can be put into a pension each year or over a lifetime. The partys silence has done nothing to put these fears to bed. And history should serve as a stark reminder of how quickly these changes can be pushed through. In 1997, one of New Labours first acts was to axe the tax relief on the dividends pension funds received on investments. That tax raid, which was not mentioned in its manifesto, swallowed 5.6 billion a year out of the pensions system and led to the downfall of final salary-based pensions in the private sector. So, what can you do to protect your retirement savings if Labour pushes ahead with drastic reform? 1. Pay as much as you can into your pension The amount you are allowed to pay into your pension each year could be slashed. At present, you can contribute up to 60,000 a year into your pot and receive tax relief. This is known as your annual allowance. Similarly, the amount of tax relief you receive for every 1 you put into your pension could be cut back. Currently, you receive tax relief on any money you contribute at your marginal rate of income tax. This means, for example, that a basic rate taxpayer receives 20 per cent tax relief on any money that goes into their pension, a higher rate taxpayer receives 40 per cent and an additional rate taxpayer 45 per cent. Rachel Reeves has previously indicated she would consider replacing this with a flat rate of tax relief at 30 per cent. A Labour spokesman has in recent weeks said that the party had no plans to change the current tax relief system, but no promises have been officially made. Top tips to protect retirement savings Inject as much as you can up to 60k a year If you are under 40, consider a Lifetime Isa Over 56? Keep an eye on your tax-free lump sum Michelle Holgate, a financial planning director at wealth manager RBC Brewin Dolphin says: One potential outcome of the Labour Government is a flat rate of tax relief being applied on pension contributions. 'Should this be reduced from the current relief level which is applied at someones highest marginal rate of tax, then this could lead to a double tax position for those in the higher or additional rate tax thresholds. If you are concerned, you could increase the amount you pay into your pension to make use of your allowances ahead of any potential changes. This means that if the amount you can pay in each year is slashed or tax relief is cut back, you will have been able to make a larger contribution and receive the full amount of tax relief beforehand. You can also carry this allowance forward if you havent used it all for the past three years and use this loophole to pay more in today. Jason Hollands, of wealth manager Evelyn Partners says: Make hay while the sun shines. It makes sense to utilise pensions as fully as possible while the current attractive tax reliefs continue to exist and not to take them for granted. If you have got the funds available to make a contribution you shouldnt hold back from doing that now. You can currently contribute up to 60,000 a year into your pension pot and receive tax relief 2. Speed up plans to access tax-free cash In a worrying gaffe that the Tories pounced on ten days ago, Starmer mistakenly said he would scrap the tax-free lump sum on pensions if he won the General Election during an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live. Labour has insisted the Prime Minister made an old fashioned mistake and that there were no plans to get rid of the allowance. However, it has stoked fears that the cut may be on the cards in future, as the effect would be disastrous to the retirement plans of millions of workers. The tax-free lump sum is a cherished rule in the pension system that allows anyone over the age of 55 to cash out the first 25 per cent of their pot without any tax liabilities. The most you can take is 268,275. Calculations for us by wealth management firm True Potential show that if Labour decides to scrap this, pensioners could be left 23,000 worse off over the course of their retirement. This is based on a pension pot of 460,000, which the wealth manager claims would secure you with a comfortable retirement. However, any higher earners who took the 25 per cent as a lump sum in one go, cashing out 115,000, could face an immediate tax bill of over 45,000 that they would not have otherwise paid. This is because all money drawn out of a pension would be subject to a persons marginal rate of income tax. Scrapping this allowance could mean that many pensioners exceed the personal allowance threshold the level at which you start to pay income tax leaving them at risk of a higher income tax burden, True Potential warns. Neil Rayner, head of advice at the group, says: While Britons should be wary of withdrawing large sums from their pension pots prematurely, scrapping the tax-free cash allowance could leave pensioners vulnerable to an increased tax burden. For those already on low annual incomes, this could have a significant impact on their livelihoods, especially as they may have structured their finances around current rules. Scrapping the tax-free cash allowance could also remove flexibility for pensioners who might like to use their allowance to pay off mortgage or other debts. Economists have warned that Labour will come under pressure to increase wealth and pension taxes to get national debt under control and meet funding targets Rayner adds: The ability to access this tax-free amount provides a crucial safety net, and without it, pensioners could face unforeseen financial challenges that could diminish their quality of life in retirement. Those who planned to withdraw their lump sum in the coming year or two, for example to pay off a mortgage, should consider biting the bullet and taking the money now, says Hollands. It makes sense to take the money if your intention was to cash it in anyway and you are simply accelerating plans, he says. However, it is important that you do not make any knee-jerk reactions and cash out your pension lump sum if you had no pre-existing plans for the money as you could forego inheritance tax privileges, says Holgate. You may be giving up better investment returns too, particularly if you leave the money in a low-paying savings account. 3. Consider IHT planning against death duties Pensions are not currently subject to any inheritance taxes upon death, as they do not form part of your estate. This has made them incredibly tax-efficient vehicles for passing wealth down to the next generation. But experts warn this could soon come into the Chancellors crosshairs. Tom Selby, director of public policy at stockbroker AJ Bell, says: The one area where Labour could say the rules are quite generous is the taxation of pension on death. It isnt beyond the realms of possibility that they will look into taxing that. This would have a major impact on many peoples inheritance plans, Hollands says. If some steps were taken to levy inheritance tax on the transfer of pension assets, this would probably lead to a widespread draining of drawdown pots, and a lurch towards other assets and tactics that mitigate against IHT, which at 40 per cent is quite significant. If announced, you could start to draw more out of your pension today and make lifetime gifts to your family to try to shield the savings from death duties, he advises. 4. Lifetime Isa to shield you against changes Younger savers under the age of 40 can increase their retirement savings with an account called the Lifetime Isa (Lisa). Sarah Coles, of Hargreaves Lansdown, suggests opening one of these as an alternative to a pension to mitigate any changes to tax relief. These accounts are designed to be used to save for retirement or to buy a first home worth up to 450,000. The government adds a 25 per cent bonus onto any savings you make, up to 1,000 a year. She says: This way you have secured your access to the Lisa, and if anything changes around pension taxation, you will have an additional option for retirement saving. 5. Ignore the noise and plan for the long term A pension fund is built across the whole of a working lifetime and must be viewed through a long-term lens. It is crucial that you do not make any sudden decisions that cause damage, especially based on speculation. Any overhaul of the pensions system would take time to implement and is unlikely to be sprung on savers, Hollands says. This means you still have time to make decisions and do not need to rush into anything. Selby says: It is vital savers and investors ignore the noise ahead of Reeves first major fiscal set-piece, likely in September or October, and focus instead on their long-term goals. Britain's wealthiest households rushed to make swift but sweeping changes to their finances before the General Election, fearing the spectre of a Labour tax raid, from hikes to capital gains tax and the end of generous pension allowances to an attack on families precious inheritances. Tax advisers and wealth managers who work with some of the richest households tell The Mail on Sunday exactly what those in the know have been doing behind the scenes. Investors with large profits on shares have already seen a Tory capital gains tax raid and now fear higher rates under Labour Sell up your shares to avoid capital gains hit Wealthy individuals have been selling off investments in shares in recent weeks, amid concerns that Labour will target capital gains tax to raise funding. In the lead-up to the election, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said her party had no current plans to raise CGT, but she would not rule out increasing the level during a Labour governments full term. Chris Shepard, partner at wealth management firm Evelyn Partners, says the tax rates on non-residential property have been stable for some time and could be viewed as modest by Labour. Most people I speak to accept there is a strong likelihood that CGT rates will go up and we can assume that they will probably increase. When that will be we dont know, but individuals may not have the luxury of waiting until it is announced, he says. This is because, historically, changes to CGT rates have been brought in mid-year, which means reform could be effective immediately. Shepard says: I already have a number of clients who, before the election, had decided to sell their assets. For example, some clients who had invested in shares in the Magnificent Seven American stocks and made significant returns in recent years are now saying its an appropriate time to take the money out of those stocks and cash in the gains. Instead, they will hold the money in cash for a while. The Magnificent Seven is the nickname commonly used among investors to describe a group of high-performing tech stocks: Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Tesla. Act now to make most profit from property While investments in the stock market may be quick to offload, the same cannot be said of property assets. However, this means some wealthy families are taking urgent action to put properties up for sale in the hope that they can realise the gains before Labour can make changes to the current CGT rules. Shepard says: A number of people I know who have had investments in more than one property, either as a holiday home or buy to let, have put in place arrangements for them to be sold. The Labour party has indicated there would be greater pressure on landlords than there has been so far. For this reason, a number of people have made the decision to sell their property investments, Shepard adds. The regulatory burden that is going to be placed on landlords is such that people are saying they dont want to be part of it any more. Broadly, tax rates are not likely to come down and therefore if a client is considering an event that will result in a tax burden, there is no point in delaying. But the tax tail should not wag the dog. Pay school fees early to avoid VAT charge Grandparents who pay for their grandchildrens private school fees are making payments for future terms ahead of time in a desperate bid to mitigate Labours VAT plans. Sir Keir Starmer plans to start charging VAT on private school fees, adding 20 per cent to the total bill for thousands of parents and grandparents. Shepard says a number of grandparents have already been making lump sum payments to schools to get around the VAT increase. However, he advises caution on this as any changes could be backdated, so the efforts to pay early may not make a difference. Michelle Holgate, a financial planning director RBC Brewin Dolphin, says that a number of her clients have also been asking about making early payments. We have had an increase in requests from grandparents looking to part-fund or fully fund school fees to help their children. For some this is in addition to having helped with house purchases and other requirements. Leave the uk and take up the non-dom life Wealthy households are also fleeing Britain over fears about Starmers tax raids, experts warn. Jason Porter, of Blevins Franks, a financial advice firm specialising in cross-border wealth management, says there was an influx of calls from families planning to relocate outside of the UK ahead of the election. He says: There were certainly a lot of people coming to us with big concerns over changes to CGT and inheritance tax and what their situation could soon be like if they stayed. In most cases they were people in the middle bracket of wealth, with a couple of million pounds, for whom it can take time to move their assets. Many are looking at going to Cyprus or Malta, which are very attractive from a CGT perspective and are easier to get visas for. Thats not where they might end up but they can go there for a few years and sell their assets. Shepard echoed this, claiming non-dom clients have said they are looking at moving abroad because its the best way for them not to be exposed to UK taxation. The term non-dom refers to a person who lives in the UK but is not legally domiciled here, which can mean they keep tax advantages in their country of residence. Robert Brodrick, private client partner at law firm Payne Hicks Beach, agrees that from a private wealth perspective the spotlight is on the non-doms. And these people have been leaving the country. The one thing advisers and clients alike are all hoping for is some certainty, because ever since the Conservatives announced their intention to abolish non-dom status, which Labour has pledged to follow, international clients have been left in a vacuum, trying to make decisions without knowing whether the changes that have been announced will become law. Non-doms who contribute vast amounts to the economy are definitely moving to Italy, Brodrick says. Its not the fact that they are going to have to pay more tax that is making people leave, its the uncertainty which makes it impossible to plan. Once they have left, they are unlikely to come back until they know that it is safe. Beef up your pension while you still can In a key pledge in its manifesto, Labour promised to make pension reforms. This has awakened fears among many that the new Government could begin to limit the amount of money you can put into your pension each year. Currently, you can pay up to 60,000 into a pension each year, known as the annual allowance. Similarly, the amount of tax relief you receive for every 1 you put into your pension could be cut back. Currently, you receive tax relief on any money you contribute at your marginal rate of income tax. This means, for example, that a basic-rate taxpayer receives 20 per cent tax relief on any money that goes into their pension, a higher rate taxpayer receives 40 per cent and an additional rate taxpayer 45 per cent. Shepard says some wealthy clients have been maximising the amount they are putting into their pensions in case any of these changes are made. Some are saying to me they want to get all their contributions paid early this tax year, he says. This is to ensure that they can maximise their current allowance but also receive the higher and additional rates of tax relief while they are still in place. Find ways to avoid any inheritance tax raid Inheritance is a key battleground for wealthy individuals, who go to great lengths to shield their assets from the taxman. Speculation about looming changes has spurred the rich into preventative action, Shepard says. Families that own a trading company have been gifting shares in the company to the younger generations into a trust. They are making these inheritance gifts early so that they are exempt from tax, where they qualify for business relief for inheritance tax. Nick Ritchie, senior director of wealth planning at RBC Wealth Management, says: Those who have decided the new Government will raise taxes, including increasing the scope of CGT and IHT, are accelerating the disposal of assets, gifting or relocating already. Did you make changes to your finances ahead of Labours victory? Email jessica.beard@mailonsunday.co.uk A Pennsylvania 'election judge' has major concerns about interference in the upcoming November election. Emily Carr, who has only been old enough to vote in one general election in her lifetime, tells DailyMail.com that electronic voting machines, outdated laws and bad actors could impact the outcome in the battleground state. Carr, 24, has been an election volunteer for years despite her young age, steadily climbing the ranks from clerk to minority inspector and onto majority inspector before being appointed as a judge of elections in her home county. Americans are sworn in as election officials with no experience and no background checks - something she says is cause for concern. She expressed concern over just how chaotic and unorganized election day can be - and the many mistakes that could lead to improperly counted ballots. Emily Carr, 24, works as a judge of elections in north east Pennsylvania. She detailed exclusively to DailyMail.com some of her top concerns over election security The chaos - combined with poor staffing levels due to volunteer shortages - have made the job uncomfortable at times, she said, something that she has apparently seen repeatedly since starting as a poll worker years ago. Though she has never done anything unlawful or suspect in her capacity as an election worker, she says, she revealed to DailyMail.com how the system has potential flaws that could lead to its manipulation. 'I could sign people in and cast the votes all day if I wanted to,' Carr shockingly disclosed about the amount of power some unvetted election officials have in a sit-down interview with DailyMail.com. Shortages of poll workers, at times, has resulted in ballots having just one official in charge. While Pennsylvania laws require multiple election supervisors, according to Carr, that does not always happen on election days - resulting in shocking lapses in mandated oversight and opening a pathway for election interference. On the day of Pennsylvania's 2024 primary elections on April 23, Carr said she was the only worker who showed up. Carr showed Daily Mail envelopes of votes sealed and held by election officials like her until they may be needed for recounts or verifying ballots A voter prepares to cast a ballot on an electronic voting machine inside a vote center on Election Day during the Nevada 2024 presidential primary election. Carr expressed concerns over voting official's power over such voting machines and how tallies could be manipulated A voter drops off a mail-in ballot at a box in Maricopa County, Arizona, during the state's 2022 elections 'I was the only person at that polling place all day. I could have sat there and signed scribbles in the names in the books because no one goes back and looks at those books to double check the signatures.' 'That's our job as we sit there and check you when we're supposed to make sure that the signature you scribble matches the signature printed out on the piece of paper.' 'So if no one's watching me and checking me, and I'm the only person at that polling place, 100 percent I could have opened those polls,' Carr told DailyMail.com. 'I could have messed with ballots.' 'A lot of the insecurity in the election system comes from the people that are working it and they either need to make these actual jobs and pay people to do it, if that's what it takes.' In addition to scant oversight due to low volunteer turnout impacting election security, mail-in ballots also pose a concern. 'There could be a pile of ballots that got lost and never counted and I could see them being found months later and someone being like, 'well, the election already happened' and whatever and just toss it,' Carr said. 'I wouldn't be surprised if I heard that that was a thing that happened. It's a mess. It's chaotic.' The disorganization has also meant that voting places can lack necessary supplies and broken voting machines remain inoperable. And the election headquarters in her precinct often struggles to keep up. 'The scariest thing is just probably how unorganized it all is. Just everything from like, the machines are never working properly. So we're missing supplies. It seems like every election there's issues and everyone's calling to the government building, Carr said. She told DailyMail.com the problems she sees every election have not been solved. A worker scans ballots cast during the 2022 U.S. midterm election in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., November 10, 2022. Voting locations require multiple officials to operate, Carr said, to ensure that there is oversight of election officials by their peers and poll watchers 'The government building is just kind of like scrambling trying to put band aids on like all these little issues. And after now working so many elections and seeing the same issues happen every single election over and over again ... I'm like you guys have months in between these elections.' 'Why are we not taking the time to like find like real solutions for them?' While working the 2022 Pennsylvania elections - in which the governor was up for reelection - Carr experienced a paper shortage at her voting place. That same year she also had to keep polls open late. It was also a year where they had few volunteers staffing her precinct. 'Why are we like just slapping band aids on every election because those cracks that are being covered up with band aids are ultimately where the ability for mistakes to happen and issues happen or people with you know, negative intent. to slip in,' she bemoaned about the voting process. 'I think that's probably most concerning,' she continued. 'It's very disorganized, and it doesn't seem like anyone really cares about how disorganized it is.' In this year's election, she is concerned that many of the problems she has experienced will remain unsolved, adding an additional burden on election workers. Pennsylvania was a battleground in 2020 and is again in 2024. Recent polling shows Donald Trump ahead of Joe Biden in the state that the later won in their last matchup Biden won Pennsylvania by just over 80,000 votes in 2020 Donald Trump tried to contest Pennsylvania's vote count in 2020 but his attempt was struck down by a federal judge Donald Trump narrowly lost Pennsylvania in the 2020 election by 80,000 votes. Afterward the former president challenged the election's results, alleging irregularities in mail-in ballots may have impacted the votes. A federal judge rejected Trump's bid to challenge the results in November 2020, but the state is believed to be a red-hot competition for the two presidents again. Current polling analysis compiled by FiveThirtyEight shows the Republican ahead of Biden by 2.4 points. Though Key Stone state boasts Democratic leadership in the governors office and US Senate, its delegates seem up for grabs. Pennsylvania may yet again decide the presidential election with a slim margin of votes. Carr also noted how the state, and many others, have loose restrictions when it comes to who can sign up to be an election official. In Pennsylvania, for example, a minor aged 17 could sign up to be an election poll worker (with parental permission), despite not being old enough to vote. This is fairly common and 16-year-olds in other battleground states like Arizona, Michigan, Georgia and Wisconsin can also work as election officials. 'I know that we definitely have like volunteers that are like high school kids and stuff like that can't vote,' Carr said. Though she added she has not seen anyone that young sign up for the upcoming election in her county. Further, there are not required background checks for poll workers in Pennsylvania, a practice that is also shared by many battleground states. Biden's fundraising groups are focused on battleground states like Pennsylvania in the 2024 election 'We're the people that are supposed to be keeping an eye on things and no one's really keeping an eye on us.' 'We are just volunteers, no one did a background check on me, no one vetted me to make sure that I was like cleared to be like a judge of elections.' The 24-year-old told DailyMail.com that though she has not seen any election interference herself while working in Luzerne or Lackawanna Counties, she does believe that the voting system is due for reform. 'I'm just a regular volunteer who is very into politics and thinks that voting is important.' And, she added, for those wondering: 'You know, we definitely need more volunteers.' The beauty queen who was slammed by a judge for launching a 'terroristic' campaign of harassment against a rival has landed a job with the Girl Scouts of America, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal. Victoria Vespico issued a torrent of abuse and death threats to Robyn Kass-Gerji under a cloak of anonymity. The 28-year-old sent threats so vicious to Kass-Gerji, 27, that a Superior Court judge in Washington DC granted a two-year Anti Stalking Order (ASO) against her. In issuing the ASO, Judge John McCabe found Vespico had committed '15 acts of terroristic threats and stalking'. Despite this, Vespico has managed to land herself a role as a Program Partner Coordinator at Girl Scouts, according to a jubilant announcement she made recently on LinkedIn. She is the point of contact given on the Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania's website as an organizer of Girl Fest at Camp Archibald, an event taking place this October. Victoria Vespico, the Miss Pennsylvania beauty queen whose campaign of harassment caused another competitor to withdraw now works for the Girl Scouts of America, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal Robyn Kass-Gerji, a contestant for the Miss Pennsylvania pageant, pulled out of the competition after receiving bloodcurdling death threats from her rival, saying she fears for her safety The event promises girls they can immerse themselves in activities that highlight the Scouts' four pillars: entrepreneurship, life skills, outdoors and STEM. She has also been bragging about using the pageant scholarship money to go to Harvard. Speaking when she was crowned Miss Lancaster County 2023, Vespico shared that she had been a Girl Scout for more than 19 years and noted, 'Within the Girl Scout Law, we promise to use our resources wisely and make the world a better place.' But a DailyMail.com investigation has unearthed more of the blood-curdling comments made by Vespico across hundreds of texts submitted as evidence in the case. In the messages, she threatened to kill her rival by stabbing her or running her over with her car, told her to 'just kill yourself' and threatened to murder her boyfriend, her mother and her dogs. She also said she would burn down Kass-Gerji's house, saying she would enjoy watching 'the life leave your eyes as I crush your whole world'. Despite receiving the ASO, Kass-Gerji who qualified for the Miss Pennsylvania pageant after being crowned Miss Susquehanna Valley ultimately withdrew from the competition over continued fears for her safety. DailyMail.com's attempts to contact Vespico both at her home and by phone were unsuccessful. Kass-Gerji claims the beauty pageant organizer provided no plan to ensure her safety at the state title pageant at which her tormentor was also competing. But while Kass-Gerji felt compelled to bow out, Vespico, this year's Miss Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, was allowed to continue to compete. She was crowned second runner-up on June 15, despite organizers' awareness that she is the subject of the ASO and a mountain of evidence seen by DailyMail.com. The evidence tranche proved that both local directors and the Miss America Organization had received complaints about Vespico from other girls alleging bullying and harassment dating back to 2020. Speaking to DailyMail.com Kass-Gerji said, 'Miss America is an organization that is meant to uplift and empower women. 'Instead, I have been shamed and revictimized over and over again and while I support my friends [who continue to compete] I don't think I have to support the organization to do that.' Vespico (in yellow) was crowned second runner-up in the contest that was won by Miss Greater Pittsburgh Page Weinstein, 26 Vespico (pictured) has managed to land herself a role as a Program Partner Coordinator at Girl Scouts, according to a jubilant announcement she made recently on LinkedIn A DailyMail.com investigation has unearthed more of the blood-curdling comments made by Vespico across hundreds of texts submitted as evidence in the case Kass-Gerji went on to reveal that she is now looking to press criminal charges against Vespico after her Washington DC apartment and her car were broken into on the eve of the state title competition held in York, Pennsylvania. She said, 'I was really upset but I have come to terms with it that giving up my local title was the best option for my safety and the safety of my loved ones because my life, and theirs, is worth a lot more than competing. 'They've known this was going on since March, so I don't know why they didn't have an idea in place as to how to protect me during the competition.' Instead, Kass-Gerji sent emails seen by DailyMail.com to the Miss Pennsylvania organizers requesting reassurance that she would be kept safe and separate from Vespico at the week-long state competition went unanswered. Meanwhile, Vespico appears to have received little to no censure from the board who told Kass-Gerji that the onus was on the two girls to abide by the conditions set down in the ASO, minimized the risks and dismissed her concerns. Breathtakingly, when she shared her fears and the nature of the abuse with two local Miss Pennsylvania directors at first they flat out refused to believe that Vespico sent the messages and told Kass-Gerji the best thing to do was not talk about it and not share it. In a recorded conversation heard by DailyMail.com, local director Charles Kasko can be heard telling Kass-Gerji, 'You get a message you don't like, don't share it, don't talk about it, block the number. It's that simple and move on.' Fellow director Dawn Cinti added, 'It's not Victoria, I can tell you that.' The Miss Pennsylvania beauty queen whose campaign of harassment caused another competitor to withdraw now works for the Girl Scouts of America, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal Vespico, 28, has an anti-stalking order against her after harassing contestant Robyn Kass-Gerji, 27. DailyMail.com can reveal she works for the Girl Scouts Victoria Vespico was the second runner up for Miss Pennsylvania earlier this month To this day, Kass-Gerji doesn't understand why the directors refused to accept the evidence being presented to them by her and others evidence that, in her case, convinced a court that the risk to her safety was real and present. Certainly, texts sent by Vespico and presented as evidence in court appear to show her belief that she is untouchable. In one message she wrote, 'It's not like I will get caught. I mean look. You couldn't get anyone to believe you.' In another she ranted, 'I'm prettier And smarter And nicer And I do more community service than you. Duh You could never be Miss America That crown is mine.' She said that Debbie Green Butcher, the Executive Director of Miss Pennsylvania Scholarship Foundation and official Pennsylvania licensee to the Miss America Organization 'loves' her, texting, 'Otherwise I would have been banned already. 'They warned me but they won't do anything because they know I am the real winner.' She told her, 'You'll never win. You don't deserve to be miss Pennsylvania. Those scholarships are mine. I'm going to use them at HARVARD BECAUSE I AM BETTER THAN YOU.' She referred to Kass-Gerji as 'piggy b***h' asking 'Are u ready to die now? Just so you know no one is going to protect you. No one believes you.' She called her a 'fat piece of s**t' and threatened, 'I will come to DC and set your house on fire and what you [sic] scream as your stupid dogs die. It'll be so funny.' The pageant was held in York, Pennsylvania on June 15 Kass-Gerji held the position of Miss Miss Susquehanna Valley 2024 The former pageant contestant was hoping to earn scholarship money through the competition Screenshot shows an example of the kind of text messages Kass-Gerji received from one of her fellow contestants, which led her to withdraw herself from the Miss Pennsylvania contest Messages Kass-Gerji received included death threats to her, her boyfriend and her pets And she mused, 'You should just kill yourself. Unless you want me to do it for you. How should I do it. Knife. Hit you with a car. What's slower and more painful. I'll think about it. If you compete at miss Pa this year I'll do it then.' For her part Kass-Gerji said she had been on the receiving end of this sort of harassment for four years during which Vespico had also bullied her in person to the point of tears. But while she feels disappointed and let down by the pageant organization, she draws strength in the knowledge that she is not alone in her experience, nor without the support of many fellow titleholders. One, who spoke to DailyMail.com on condition of anonymity, has resigned her title in protest saying she cannot be part of an organization that fails to act on such behavior. This former teen pageant titleholder recalled one incident in which Vespico 'hit me as hard as she could in the arm and stood up in the restaurant with her crown on and started screaming at me and calling me all sort of vile names'. Some years later, she said, 'When I had finally gotten to the age to compete in the Miss division, we had to compete against each other in a local competition. 'In the dressing roomshe was talking about her sex life. I had asked her to stop and in response she asked me if I was still a virgin. 'I was 17 years old and had just been raped three months prior. I said, 'Um I guess it depends what you would count.' DailyMail.com has seen the email this competitor sent to the Miss America Board of Directors detailing her experiences and dated February 2020. Kass-Gerji ended up removing herself from the competition for her own safety According to the board's response her email was forwarded to the Miss Pennsylvania Board of Directors. She states that they told her she would have to come forward with her identity to file a grievance a stipulation to which she agreed while informing then she was 'terrified of this titleholder.' She said, 'They sent me a link. I emailed them informing them that the link to file a grievance did not work and I never got a response again.' She added, that she was choosing to share her experience now because, 'A change needs to be made.' Kass-Gerji agrees. She said 'About 16 girls came to me with stories [about Vespico]. Dawn (Cinti) and Charlie (Kasko) called me and told me not to come forward with any of it.' When she did, she says, the organization's response was 'very victim blamey.' Last week the Miss America Organization issued a statement implying that the reason for Kass-Gerji's withdrawal from the competition was her ineligibility and that she had failed to provide proof of her residency in Pennsylvania. They wrote, 'The recent claims made by a title holder who withdrew from the competition citing concerns about feeling unsafe around another competitor have been reviewed with great care. 'The National Office is not able to mediate civil disputes, but we strive to ensure a safe and fair environment for everyone involved. 'A judge in Washington DC ruled that both contestants were eligible to compete. 'Unfortunately, the contestant who chose to withdraw had not provided any proof of eligibility to the State Organization in Pennsylvania. 'The national office was copied on all communications regarding this matter, including the extensive efforts made to ensure the safety of the contestant which were communicated to her.' Kass-Gerji is adamant that no such efforts were ever communicated to her leading to her decision to withdraw. She also pointed out that her non-profit victim advocacy organization is based in Pennsylvania, that she provided Pennsylvania tax records to the board and that she splits her time between there and DC. The former Miss Susquehanna Valley 2024 beauty queen spoke to CBS 21 News about her decision to step down from the competition She filed for the ASO in Washington, DC because Pennsylvania has no provisions for orders of protection unless you are a family member, living with the subject or in an intimate relationship with them. Despite implying that she was in breach of contract the organization has allegedly failed to address the fact that it has not acted on Vespico's breach of that same contract which includes an anti-bullying and harassment clause in which it states such behavior will not be tolerated. Kass-Gerji said, 'I will never regret competing. I'm a licensed victim advocate and sexual assault and domestic abuse survivor. 'I speak about my experience as a survivor going from surviving to thriving, competing was part of that and advocacy was a huge part of why I did it. 'It opened up a whole new world to me, put me in touch with senators and people I would never have reached otherwise. 'But I haven't felt supported by the organization I supported for years. This was my last year to compete, there's $70,000 of scholarship money at stake. I want to go to law school, I'm completing my doctorate, that would have gone a long way. 'I just wish this had all been handled differently. I think they thought I'd kind of just let it go but I'm not letting it go because this has been going on for years and they have to be held accountable.' House Republicans are unified on the same talking point to describe Speaker Mike Johnson's performance: 'He's doing the best he can.' Lawmakers settled on the conservative Louisiana Republican after three tumultuous weeks without a speaker. Every faction seemed happy with the decision at the time - from Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and his cohorts who ousted Johnson to moderates. But it didn't take long for the 'Kumbaya feeling' to unravel. In March Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., filed a motion to vacate Johnson. Eleven Republicans ended up voting to advance the motion - more than they eight that voted to oust McCarthy - but Democrats voted to table it. 'I think he's doing the best he can in the situation he was given,' Oversight Chairman James Comer exclusively told DailyMail.com. 'We've got some difficult members to deal with, if you will not committee. It's tough to go in there midstream, but I think he's doing the best he can. And I think he's a honorable man.' Comer, along with Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, have led the impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Johnson has been supportive of their efforts and led the charge to court over audio of special counsel Robert Hur's interview with the president. 'Mike's been doing a good job and I support the speaker. There's been some things I disagree with, but it's a tough job and he's doing fine,' Jordan told DailyMail.com in a tepid defense of the top House Republican. Oversight Chair James Comer, left, and Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, right DailyMail.com reported about moves that could suggest Jordan might go for Johnson's job next Congress. Others have been critical of the speaker over spending. Greene has railed against the two-part spending bill that funded the government for fiscal year 2024, a bill that reauthorized spy tool FISA without warrants and a foreign aid package that did not include border security. Rep. Chip Roy called the spending deals an 'abomination' and said the speaker 'blew it' in getting conservative priorities into the negotiated deals. Johnson spearheaded a $95 billion foreign policy bill that passed recently with Democrat support authorizing nearly $61 billion to Ukraine, along with billions to Israel and Taiwan. He was forced to rely on support from Democrats as he presides over a tiny one-vote majority in the House, and it's challenging to get the unruly GOP conference in line. 'Excuses like 'this is just how you have to govern' and divided government are pathetic, weak and unacceptable. Even with our razor thin Republican majority, we could have at least secured the border,' Greene said. House Republicans are unified on the same talking point to describe Speaker Mike Johnson 's performance: 'He's doing the best he can' Greene accused Johnson of 'aiding and abetting Democrats' to 'destroy our country,' as Democrats booed her and Johnson shook hands and smiled at the Republicans who support him. Johnson has insisted he wants to lead Republicans again next Congress. But his political future could depend on what happens in the next election. A narrow GOP majority could put him in a position to win: Republicans would need the votes of nearly all of their party to elect a speaker and get a majority on the House floor. A Republican loss could make an opening for Jordan: it would make it easier for him to overcome the handful of 'never Jordan' Republicans if he only had to win a majority within the GOP conference, not on the House floor where Democratic votes are counted. 'I predict hat we come back with pretty much the same scenario we have now a three or four seat majority,' Comer told DailyMail.com. 'I think we are going to win, keep the house and increase our majority,' said Jordan, 'Most importantly, I think we're gonna win the White House.' 'We need President Trump back in there so desperately.' Jordan, whose star power shot up with the rise of Donald Trump, ran for speaker before Johnson. He gave up when it was abundantly clear the 'never-Jordan' cadre of House Republicans would remain obstinate: 22 still opposed him for speaker on the second ballot on the House floor. Prior to Jordan being elected House GOP speaker nominee and trying his hand on the floor, Majority Leader Steve Scalise had beat him out for the nomination. He'd run into a similar conundrum: right-wing anti-establishment lawmakers who continued to vote for Jordan even though he wasn't the nominee. While Jordan publicly supported Scalise, behind the scenes he made no moves to encourage his own devotees to do the same. But since then he's seemingly made amends with some of his moderate detractors, criss-crossing the country for fundraisers and town halls for members from across the Republican spectrum. While Jordan publicly supported Scalise, behind the scenes he made no moves to encourage his own devotees to do the same One senior House GOP aide said their boss, who runs in a more pragmatist circle, was taken aback when Jordan invited them to lunch out of the blue. Jordan has close to $10 million on hand, and has offered over $200,000 to dozens of different Republicans' campaigns so far this cycle. Since campaign season began heating up late last year, Jordan has criss-crossed the country for town halls and fundraisers for at least 34 members from across the ideological spectrum. A California mother-of-two who falsely confessed to the savage murder of a newspaper columnist has finally been exonerated after shocking evidence revealed the real killer. Connie Dahl, then 19, and her boyfriend Ricky Davis, then 20, were wrongfully convicted of the 1985 murder of journalist Jane Hylton, 54, who had been beaten and stabbed nearly 30 times at Davis' El Dorado Hills home where they were staying. Disturbing transcripts obtained by The Los Angeles Times have now revealed the shocking interrogation tactics used by detectives to coerce Dahl into a false confession. The real killer was later identified through DNA with the help of the Northern California Innocence Project as 54-year-old Michael Green. Then 17, he had followed Hylton's daughter, Autumn Anker, home after meeting her at a park and brutally stabbed her mother to death. Speaking to DailyMail.com after his mother was exonerated last Friday, Dahl's son Nick Lange, 30, said he only wished she could be here today to see justice take place. Dahl died in 2014 after being released from prison on probation in 2006. Connie Dahl was wrongfully convicted of the 1985 murder of journalist Jane Hylton, 54 Foothills Times newspaper journalist Jane Anker Hylton was murdered on July 7, 1985. She was stabbed nearly 30 times and brutally beaten Michael Green, 54, was identified as the real killer in Hylton's 1985 murder. He was sentenced in 2022 and is serving a 15-year-sentence Hylton, a writer at the Foothills Press, and her 13-year-old daughter Autumn Anker, had been guests at Wilma Klein's home, in the exclusive development of El Dorado Hills, approximately 30 miles from Sacramento, in July 1985. Hylton, a mother of six, was having marital problems and took Klein up on her invitation to stay at her home while she was out-of- town for a few days. Described as a 'vivacious' woman Hylton stayed behind in the house to relax when her daughter went out for a walk to check out her new surroundings. It was during this outing that she met three boys at a local park - one of which was Michael Green who was later identified as her mother's killer. Dahl, originally from Oregon, was in California visiting extended family, and also staying at Davis' home. She and her boyfriend Davis had gone out partying until the early hours of July 7. It was close to 4am and Autumn, who was also drinking, feared she'd get in trouble with her mother so waited for Davis and Dahl to arrive home. When the trio entered the house Davis noticed the front door had been opened and one of the bedroom doors was shut. It was there he discovered Hylton's butchered body and immediately called 911. When deputies from the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office arrived at the crime scene detective Bill Wilson and his partner detective Larry Hennick aggressively questioned the terrified trio, who all denied any involvement. Despite having no evidence or a murder weapon detectives focused on Davis as a suspect. Autumn told detectives about the boys she had met in the park hours earlier, but the officers appeared more interested in getting Autumn to admit Davis was the killer. Detective Hennick told the teen, according to interrogation transcripts reported byt he LA Times: 'You know Ricky's lying. And we know now. And we want the truth.' He continued: 'Ricky's a violent guy. He attacked a man with a tire iron because he was upset with him. I've known Ricky along time. So does Bill. We know what he's capable of.' His partner Wilson tried to convince the woman that the blood on the clothes at the crime scene and the hair found in Hylton's hands were Davis'. Dahl disputed the claims and told the detective, 'No way. You cannot pin this on Ricky because I was with him all night long.' Wilson responded: ' You watch.' The case went cold due to lack of evidence and remained unsolved for 14 years until 1999 when it was reopened. Dahl had returned to her native Oregon and became a mother of two young sons. Autumn, married and also became a mother. Davis was in federal prison for robbing a bank. Connie Dahl, 19, pictured with her boyfriend Ricky Davis, 20. Autumn Anker was Hylton's 13-year-old daughter Ricky Davis lived at this home in El Dorado Hills with his mother and where Jane Hylton was murdered July 7, 1985 A drawing of the upstairs bedroom where Hylton's butchered body was discovered In 1999, the case was re-opened when the El Dorado County Sheriff's office set up a cold case division. Two El Dorado County detectives, Richard Fitzgerald and his partner Richard Strasser, took up the case and traveled to Oregon to interview Dahl. 'We know that you were present in the house when this happened,' Fitzgerald said, according to transcripts reported by the LA Times. Dahl insisted: 'Oh no, I was not.' Detectives moved onto Autumn using the same aggressive line of questioning. Transcripts revealed Fitzgerald told Hylton's grieving daughter: 'I expected you to be some crack whore in San Jose or something.' Autumn, however, pushed back, telling detectives she had nothing to do with her mother's murder. During a visit to Davis in federal prison detectives showed him devastating photos from the crime scene, but he maintained his innocence. Over the next 18 months, the detective focused on Dahl - as the weakest link - and worked on trying to break her down and confuse her so her story would eventually match their narrative. One of the tactics detectives used was convincing Dahl that the bite mark found on Hylton's shoulder had been made by her. 'You tell me. I can't give you the answers here. I don't want to give you the answers,' Fitzgerald said. Dahl replied: 'You're right, you can't. I know, and I'm trying to remember. I, I do remember them fighting. I do. But the ... I'm... it must have been when we came home 'cause I was drunk. I was ... how could I ....' 'You were there. You saw it,' Fitzgerald said. Dahl responded: 'Wait a minute. I'm gonna... I'm trying to remember. I, I, you what, i think they did get into an argument up in the, up in the top but ... I'm so confused about this.' 'You're not confused. You're afraid to tell us the truth,' Fitzgerald retorted. Hylton, a mother of six, and newspaper columnist, was staying as a house guest with her 13-year-old daughter Autumn Anker before the brutal murder After the false confession Dahl was charged with manslaughter but took a plea deal. She spent three years in jail until the trial where she testified against Davis. During this time, Davis wrote letters to Dahl pleading with her to change her story, but she did not and he was later convicted. In 2006, Dahl was released and placed on probation. She returned to Oregon to be with her family and rebuild her life. Detectives Fitzgerald and Strasser were granted an 'Investigative Excellence Award' from the state Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training,' according to reports. The stunning twist in the case was revealed after The Northern California Innocence Project reopened the case and found new evidence that linked Green to the murder. Green's DNA was found on the victim's nightgown and fingernails. A bite mark found on Hylton's body was also a key piece of evidence that implicated him. In 2019, Davis' murder conviction was reversed and in 2020 he was exonerated after spending 15 years behind bars. Days later, Green was arrested and pleaded no contest to second degree murder and was sentenced to 15 years to life. In 2020, all the charges against him were dropped, and he was officially declared factually innocent. He was the first person in the state of California to be absolved based on genetic genealogy. He received $480,000 in compensation from the state, and filed a lawsuit against El Dorado County Sheriff's Department, The Record Courier reported. Dahl who died in 2104 was never fully exonerated until last Friday when she was finally declared innocent by a California judge. Dahl's two adult sons Nick Lange, 30 and Jarred Lange, 25, were present along with Davis. In February 2020, Davis was exonerated, after serving 15 years in prison for a crime he did not commit Ricky Davis, center, is greeted by family and friends after he was released from custody at the El Dorado County Jail in Placerville, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020 El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson announces Ricky Leo Davis is innocent in the 1985 cold case murder of Jane Hylton on February 13, 2020 in Placerville, California A press conference was held by El Dorado District Attorney Vern Pierson after Davis' release. Pierson said Dahl and Davis' convictions were based on outdated methods of police questioning and interviewing tactics, he explained, 'that employ pseudoscience and psychological coercion,' KCRA News reported. 'Mistakes were made, and it is my moral and ethical duty to acknowledge the error, take responsibility, and apologize to those affected,' he said. 'I made a commitment to Mr. Davis that I would do everything I could to change the type of interviewing training that led to his wrongful conviction,' Pierson said in a news release. ' 'We will continue teaching and encouraging these new techniques, so we do not have any more individuals falsely convicted like Mr. Davis and Ms. Dahl.' Earlier this year, the El Dorado County District Attorney's office filed a motion to vacate Dahl's 2005 manslaughter guilty plea at the request of the Times reporters. It was a victory for Dahl's children to learn that their mom was no longer deemed a convicted killer. Last Friday, Dahl's two children flew from their home in Oregon to the El Dorado Court House where they met with Davis for the first time and DA Pierson. Judge Larry E. Hayes presided over the hearing and exonerated their mother, the LA Times reported. Nick, who is now a father of twin one-year-old boys told the judge how he wished his mother could be here to see this take pace. He told DailyMail.com he was only nine when his mother went to prison and never really knew the whole story while growing up - and his mother never spoke to him or his brother about the case. He said: 'I think there may have been some shame.. she might have been worried what we would have thought about her if we had known. 'We grew up our whole lives not really knowing that our mom had that label [convicted killer] attached to her. I was angry. I was heartbroken'. He added: 'She had a really good soul, and a good heart and she didn't deserve any of that. She couldn't find a job. She couldn't find housing because of that charge on her record.' He admitted that he and his mother sometimes struggled in their relationship. 'She did the best she could with what she had.' For Dahl's sons meeting Davis for the first time was a special moment. Nick said Davis 'felt bad for what happened to my mom too.' 'I expressed to him how sorry I was, what happened to him,' he shared. 'He lost so many years of his freedom. It was a very very good interaction. Very positive. I am happy he's out and living his life because he deserves it.' When asked to describe his mom, he laughed, and explained she was a bit of a 'wild card... in a good way.' When asked what she would do or say today, if she knew she was finally exonerated, he replied 'she'd probably celebrate - to be honest by having a couple of beers.' With Green behind bars and Davis a free man, the nearly 40-year old case was finally solved. Britain's cheapest cafe is serving up an all-day breakfast for less than a pound - but would YOU gobble it down? Nadine Grant, owner of Tastee in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, has pledged to support her hard-up customers by keeping prices low - despite being unable to turn a profit. Punters can grab a cooked breakfast of one rasher of bacon, a sausage, a fried egg, beans and tomatoes for just 99p. The dish has previously been marked up at 3.50 before Natalie, 52, slashed the price to help hungry customers in south Yorkshire. The cafe has sold dozens of the bargain brekkies since making the cut-price offering permanent in May - despite admitting that the deal stops her from making money. Nadine Grant, owner of Tastee in Sheffield, South Yorkshire has introduced a 99p breakfast She has pledged to support her hard-pressed customers by keeping prices low Mother-of-five Nadine said: 'We noticed a massive difference in people's spending habits. 'There were less people coming into the cafe, and and they were spending less. 'Quite a lot of our regular customers used to come in two or three times a week - then it became once a fortnight, or they'd stop coming. 'It just became apparent to us that a lot of people were really struggling to get by, and it was a problem that was getting worse. 'No-one seems to have a disposable income any more. 'So we felt that we wanted to do something to try and help people, even if it means taking a hit ourselves. 'In an ideal world we wouldn't have to offer a 99p breakfast. But unfortunately these are the times we're in. 'Everyone's struggling and it's nice to give something back. The cafe, in the working-class Gleadless area of the South Yorkshire city, sells a small Full English for 3.80. But the sole difference with the 99p version is that it comes with buttered toast. The cafe is situated in the working-class Gleadless area of the South Yorkshire city Punters can grab a cooked breakfast of one rasher of bacon, a sausage, a fried egg, beans and tomatoes for just 99p A full English consisting of two bacon, fresh mushrooms, two sausages and a fried egg with toast, beans and tomatoes, costs a little over 5 - making Tastee potentially Britain's cheapest cafe. Poll Would you eat a 99p breakfast? Yes No Would you eat a 99p breakfast? Yes 524 votes No 103 votes Now share your opinion Waiting for his fry-up, roofer John Ward, 52, said: 'You can't grumble with the prices, can you? 'The breakfasts are cheap and the food's really good quality. 'I'd have three 99p breakfasts if I could - but apparently it's only one per person. 'It's a really nice thing they're doing. 'It's hard for a lot of people to put food on the table and kids are going to school in the morning hungry. 'This way parents will be able to get them some hot food.' Ordering a sausage sandwich, builder Paul, 57, added: 'I come here regularly, two times a week. 'They've always been great value for money. I don't think there's anywhere better.' Of the 99p breakfast he added: 'It's a good thing because people are skint at the minute. 'But it's a shame there's a need for it.' Nadine opened Tastee more than seven years ago and has refused to put prices up She told how canisters of gas used to fuel the kitchen stoves have surged from 15 to 40 each, while cooked hams have risen from 5 to 13 per kilo Nadine, who opened Tastee more than seven years ago, has refused to put prices up despite enduring rising energy and food costs herself. She told how canisters of gas used to fuel the kitchen stoves have surged from 15 to 40 each, while cooked hams have risen from 5 to 13 per kilo. Eggs last year increased to record highs, while the cost of sausages 'seemed to go up by 50p every week'. Nadine, whose husband is a builder, said: 'We don't make any money, we keep afloat. 'We make enough to keep going and pay our staff. But as long as we're doing that, we're good with it.' Nadine, who plans to hand out free packed lunches to local children during the school summer holidays, fears Labour will make the cost-of-living crisis worse. She said: 'Governments do nothing for the people around here so having Labour in won't make a difference. 'If anything I think it will hit people harder in their pockets when taxes start to go up, and that will have a knock-on effect on businesses like mine. 'I've put the prices up three times in seven years but I couldn't do it again. 'It would be unfair on the customers. There's nothing left to squeeze.' Cafe customer Lee, 54, said the change of government would not help tackle poverty and cost-of-living issues in the city. Ordering a fry-up, the local businessman said: 'Nothing will change in Sheffield with Labour. Hardly anybody's working and it's dead in the city centre. The council has got no money and what it does spend is never on the right things. 'If we had a proper functioning society, cafes wouldn't have to sell meals for 99p so children and pensioners didn't go hungry. 'I think it's sad that they've got to do it in the first place.' Vast majority of delegates are pledged to but if Biden exits it could be wild west President Joe Biden is attempting to combat escalating calls within his party to drop out of the presidential race as some Democrats fear he's not up for the job and beating Donald Trump. But if the president does make an exit in the coming weeks, there is no clear alternative replacement for the top of the ticket raising the possibility of a brokered convention for the first time in more than seventy years. Democrats head to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention in August, though due to deadlines to make it on some state ballots, there will be virtual proceedings to certify Biden as the nominee before in-person programming kicks off August 19. Biden as amassed nearly 4,000 pledged delegates committed to supporting him as millions of voters cast ballots for the incumbent president during the primaries. Biden speaking nearly four years ago on the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention in 2020 in Wilmington, DE The Democratic National Committee has emphasized that presently Biden is the only person eligible for nomination and delegates can either vote for the president or be marked present, according to talking points. And Biden and the White House on Wednesday reiterated the president does not plan on dropping out of the race. But if he were to change course in the coming weeks, it opens the door to a wild and a potentially exhausting nominating process next month at the convention with voting until a nominee is chosen by a majority of eligible voting delegates. A brokered convention is a presidential nominating convention where delegates fail to nominate a candidate on the first ballot. It means no candidate gets the votes of more than half of delegates in the first round. Once upon a time, brokered conventions happened regularly because the major parties did not hold primaries to award delegates the way they currently do. It lead to a series of complex negotiations playing out among some party power brokers, typically federal and state leaders including party officials, lawmakers and governors. The voting continues on a round of ballots until a candidate receives a majority of delegates. The last time there was a brokered convention was in 1952. Then Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson and Sen. John Sparkman at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1952, the last time there was a brokered convention Stevenson secured the Democratic party nomination in 1952 on the third ballot at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago In the end, Democrats were able to nominate Democrat Adlai Stevenson on the third ballot. Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower that year was just nine votes short on the first ballot, prompting some delegates to change their votes to make him the official nominee. The longest brokered convention to date took place 100 years ago in 1924 when Democrats took sixteen days and 103 ballots to nominate diplomat John Davis. It took Franklin Delano Roosevelt four ballots to secure the 1932 Democratic nomination. 'We really don't have any standards or benchmarks or known procedures,' said Leonard Steinhorn, professor at American University, of what a brokered convention would look like in 2024. 'We're sort of walking a little bit in the wild right now,' he said. While the terms brokered convention and contested convention are often used interchangeably, there is a key difference. A contested convention is one where the one candidate has done well but not enough to guarantee nomination on the first ballot, so another candidate tries to convince delegates to abandon the frontrunner. It has been more common in the modern era than a brokered convention, according to Elaine Kamarck from the Brookings Institute. With Biden in the race, the convention is more of a public relations event for the party and president because the nominee is already determined, and in this current case well known incumbent president. But if Biden were to exit the race before the convention, there is not a clear frontrunner, unless the president moves to pass the baton and makes an endorsement. Political parties have largely tried to avoid both brokered and contested conventions because history shows candidates who need multiple ballots to be nominated are less likely to win the White House. It is a pressing concern as Democrats ponder the best candidate to take on Trump this fall. Of the sixty Democratic and Republican nominating conventions from 1868 after the Civil War through 1984, eighteen candidates were nominated on multiple ballots according to Pew. Of those, only seven were elected president, and among those, four were running against other nominees who also faced multiple ballots to receive the nomination. The last time a Democrat vigorously argued for an open convention was late Senator Ted Kennedy in 1980. The senator challenged President Jimmy Carter for the nomination. Ultimately, delegates had to stay faithful based on their state results when voting. But Carter went on to lose the election that fall to Ronald Reagan. Before that, Republican President Gerald Ford went into the 1976 convention with a clear majority of delegates but not a necessary number to lock up the nomination leading to a serious challenge from then-Governor Reagan. He ended up winning on the first ballot but went on to lose the election to Carter. 'You want a party united behind the person who seems to be the popular choice of the members of that party, of the voters,' Steinhorn noted. Determining the candidate at the convention would force the party and campaign to scramble to introduce the nominee to the public, raise money and hit the campaign trail before Election Day. Donald Trump speaking at a rally in Chesapeake, VA on June 28. Republicans hold their convention July 15 to 18 where the ex-president will officially become the party's presidential nominee What could benefit Democrats if they were to face a brokered convention in 2024 is whoever their nominee is if not Biden, the opponent is Trump. 'This is going to be an unusual year because Donald Trump has very, very high negatives,' said Steinhorn. While Democrats would be playing catchup for November in their messaging and ground game, there could be a key difference. 'Because Donald Trump is so singularly unpopular as the opposing party nominee, it potentially does give the Democratic Party is small advantage,' he added. The most dangerous mile of highway in the entire U.S. has been revealed - and it's more than 50 times deadlier than the national average. Research conducted by Elk & Elk personal injury law firm pinpointed a harrowing segment of Interstate 95 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where a total of 24 people have died between 2010 and 2019 in 23 fatal car crashes. The data found that while the typical highway has roughly 0.0083 deaths per mile, this dangerous mile-long freeway in Fort Lauderdale averages out at 0.479. 'If you were to drive through it at 60 miles per hour, you would pass the site of a fatal crash every 2.6 seconds,' the joint study, which was done in collaboration with 1Point21 Interactive digital agency, revealed. Highway I-95 is the main north-south route on the East Coast, running nearly 2,000 miles from the Maine-Canada border all the way down to Miami. An overhead view of the deadliest mile of road in the US, which is a heartbeat away from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport The treacherous segment of I-95 is between Marina Mile Blvd (State Road 84) and I-595, both of which run east to west. Many of the most horrible accidents involve drivers exiting onto the ramp of Marina Mile Blvd at high rates of speed, unaware of the sharp 90 degree turn ahead of them. The study also blames the complexity of the interchanges in this area for the shocking number of fatalities. One of the most recent tragedies in this vicinity was a six-car chain reaction crash in February that claimed the life of a 23-year-old woman named Yanaisa Pulido. Pictured: The aftermath of a pileup involving six cars traveling on the southbound side of I-95 through Fort Lauderdale in February 2024 Pictured: Yanaisa Pulido, 23, was killed at the scene of the crash after she got out of her own car intending to help other victims Pulido, center, pictured with her fellow firefighters in the Hialeah Fire Department. She was also a trained EMT A driver of a red Kia Forte traveling south on I-95 near Marina Mile Blvd lost control and hit the concrete median, causing a black Mercedes-Benz SUV to strike it from behind, WSVN reported. Driving close behind in her black Kia Forte, Pulido stopped off to render aid since she was a trained EMT and a former cadet in the Hialeah Fire Department. Pulido was struck by a silver Cadillac ATS before she could help the injured and was later pronounced dead at the scene. Three others suffered major injuries, including a seven-year-old. Months before this in November 2023, a Nissan Altima crashed into the back of a tractor trailer sending it careening into the center median where it flipped over and burst into flames. The driver of the tractor trailer died, while the woman behind the wheel of the Nissan survived the wreckage, WPTV reported. Pictured: The deadliest mile in the U.S. is a stretch of Interstate 95 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that sees 50 times more fatal car crashes than the average highway Pictured: The fatal tractor trailer crash on northbound I-95 in Fort Lauderdale in November 2023 In May 2021, there were two serious, non-fatal accidents within two days of each other where drivers lost control and plunged twenty feet off Marina Mile Blvd's entrance ramp to I-95. One car fell and landed upside down, WSVN reported. Two pedestrians have also been killed within the deadly one-mile stretch this year, with one woman falling off an overpass and getting struck by multiple cars in May. Just last week, a Cadillac SUV hit and killed a 43-year-old black man crossing an I-95 exit ramp. To cut down on the fatalities, Florida officials have long planned to add 'speed warning signs with flashing beacons' among other safety measures as part of an interstate improvement project. Although the Federal Highway Administration allocates funds to improve interstate highways, individual states are in charge of maintaining the portions of road within their borders. DailyMail.com approached the Florida Department of Transportation to see what, if any, accident mitigation strategies have been pursued. The tragic scene where a Cadillac SUV hit and killed a 43-year-old black man crossing an I-95 exit ramp in Fort Lauderdale on June 27 After the driver lost control and broke through the median, this Cadillac SUV plummeted 20 feet off Marina Mile Blvd's entrance ramp to I-95 in May 2021 This car fell off the same exact spot as the Cadillac a mere two days later This angle shows the terrifyingly high drop the driver of this car faced The study also examined the deadliest 10-mile stretches of road in the US, concluding that Houston and Dallas are some of the most hazardous for drivers. Houston takes the number one spot with Interstate 45. Between exits 49B and 60A, there have been 148 deaths between 2000 and 2019. Over the same time period, five separate stretches of interstate highways in Dallas killed a staggering 639 people over that same time period. A separate analysis from Consumer Affairs confirmed that Texas is the most perilous state for motorists, with nearly 4,500 people dying in car wrecks in 2021 alone. California, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina rounded out the top five least safe states. Even though car crashes can happen anywhere, experts urge people to drive slower and without distractions especially in urban areas, where there is more traffic and more complicated on and off ramps. 'On Americas deadliest stretches of road, a little extra speed can make the difference between life and death,' the authors of the study warned. The internet is awash with videos that seemingly show UFOs flying dangerously close to high-speed planes, warheads and even nuclear reactors - and experts have an alarming theory. In 1976, British Airways aired an ad for their Concorde flight in which an orb-like UFO darts toward the aircraft at an incredibly high speed, stops to a halt next to the plane and then accelerates away. The unconfirmed UFO appearance - which has resurfaced on Reddit's UFOs subchannel, where videos of alleged craft are shared, debunked or given the upvote if they're deemed to be legitimate - is one of many that show the odd, almost inquisitive behavior of these unknown objects. In June 2022, at the Queen's Jubilee, the longest-serving royal monarch was honored by a cadre of nine fighter jets spewing streams of smoke in the Union Jack's red, white and blue colors and one unidentified disc spotted in the British airways. Despite the clip making the rounds on media, no clear answer has ever been provided as to what it was. In 1976, British Airways aired an ad for their Concorde flight in which an orb-like UFO darts toward the aircraft at an incredibly high speed, seemingly analyzes the plane and then accelerates away In June 2022, at the Queen's Jubilee, the longest-serving royal monarch was honored by a cadre of nine fighter jets spewing streams of smoke in the Union Jack's red, white and blue colors and one unidentified disc Even more curious are the nearly dozen UFOs that appeared above Japan's Fukushima lab after its nuclear disaster in 2011. Witnesses told the Netflix docuseries, Encounters, that the UFOs saved them by lowering radioactivity levels. Local outlets caught several glimmering white orbs above the plant dipping into the lab before emerging again, in a sort of assembly line. Some detractors have said they were birds, while others aren't as convinced. In pop culture, the History Channel's flagship show The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch has featured dozens upon dozens of spherical UFOs over their five seasons, with many making their cameo appearances after the team members on the show fired rockets up into the air. There has been a litany of explain-away reasons for these various occurrences provided by skeptics, from bugs to birds to balloons. But for researchers who have dedicated their lives to this phenomenon, the behavior is too repeatable to be ignored. The question emerges: are UFOs approaching high-speed aircraft because they are concerned they contain nuclear capability? Some experts in the field have come to the conclusion that whatever is up there is concerned about us, especially when it comes to the prospect of blowing ourselves up with nukes. Some dozen UFOs appeared above Japan 's Fukushima lab after its nuclear disaster in 2011. Witnesses told the Netflix docuseries, Encounters, that the UFOs saved them by lowering radioactivity levels UFO sightings over America's nuclear arsenal appeared to shift their interest from the making of the bombs to silos and bomber bases as the Cold War arms race grew (above) UFO activity and nuclear devices and sites have been intertwined since the invention of the Atom Bomb in 1945. And the phenomenon has been observed by civilians and military personnel alike. 'All of the nuclear facilities Los Alamos, Livermore, Sandia, Savannah River all had dramatic incidents where these unknown craft appeared over the facilities and nobody knew where they were from or what they were doing there,' investigative journalist George Knapp told History.com. The former head of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, Luis Elizondo, agreed that there 'seems to be a lot of correlation' between UFO appearances and nuclear sites - although he believes the motives of the phenomenon may be more sinister. And independent researcher Robert Hastings, who has been working toward full government disclosure of UAP activity, said in 2010, 'Declassified US government documents and witness testimony from former or retired US military personnel confirm beyond any doubt the reality of ongoing UFO incursions at nuclear weapons sites.' Now, new research in the form of three studies helmed by a retired US Air Force staff sergeant, Larry Hancock, and a data analyst affiliate with Harvard's UFO-hunting Galileo Project, Ian Porritt shows that not only has there been unusual activity around nuclear weapons and facilities, it's shifted over the years. At first seemingly interested in the production of nuclear weapons, UFOs later sprouted up around silos and bomber bases. 'You would see this interest' at silos when they were being installed before 'the activity would drop off,' Porritt previously told the DailyMail.com. Independent researcher Robert Hastings (pictured), who has been working toward full government disclosure of UAP activity, said in 2010, 'Declassified US government documents and witness testimony from former or retired US military personnel confirm beyond any doubt the reality of ongoing UFO incursions at nuclear weapons sites' These patterns in the historical UFO record, according to the researchers, was also accompanied by another clear trend: As the UFOs appeared more and more over armed and ready nuclear weapons sites, the apparent craft also started to appear more at night (above) And when a new arsenal of ICMBs was built in the 1960s, UFOs became 'much more intrusive' in their approach of ICBM bases, Porritt said. 'They're very low altitude, they penetrate the security perimeters of the base.' Two Air Force veterans previously told DailyMail.com they have testified to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) in June 2023 that UFOs turned off their nuclear warheads. On top of that, former US Air Force ICBM launch officer Robert Salas said he was contacted by the AARO in an email to gather information after he said he an orange flying disc shut off 10 warheads at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana in 1967. Despite thorough investigations by the military, no conclusion was drawn, but not before Salas said he was forced to sign an NDA on the matter by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. This echoes what former US Air Force First lieutenant Robert Jacobs said happened in 1964, when a UFO 'deactivated' an unarmed warhead in 1964. Ex-First lieutenant in USAF Robert Jacobs, pictured middle bottom row, with his crew 'Now remember, all this stuff is flying at several thousand miles an hour. So this thing fires a beam of light at the warhead, hits it, and then it moves up fires another beam of light goes down and fires another beam of light, and then flies out the way it came in. And the warhead tumbles out of space,' he said in a 2000 interview. Jacobs said he was later told to 'never speak of this encounter' again. Eerily similar to these encounters are the instances of UAPs following fighter jets that were disclosed by the UAP Task Force, including a 'giant Tic Tac' UFO witnessed by Navy veteran fighter pilot Commander David Fravor in 2004. Like the other craft pictured above, Fravor's fellow co-pilot Chad Underwood witnessed the 'perfectly white' wingless oblong object that was captured from his cockpit's in-flight video. Given the shared similarities, there seems to be a connection between the behavior of apparent UFOs toward aircraft and nuclear weapons and it may come from the very same reason. From squirting raspberry sauce on rival van's windscreens to carrying out mass murder, the Glasgow ice cream wars still remain today one of Britain's most notorious turf wars. Following a housing boom in the 1980s in the East End of Glasgow, ice cream vans were used to sell popular household items to families who were not near to supermarkets. But, criminal gangs soon learned that they could take advantage of this by selling illegal items, such as drugs and stolen goods, without attracting attention from the police. What transpired was a viscous feud between rival criminal organisations - that saw a mother and her 18-month-old baby murdered - all over van routes as gangsters became protective over their patches. An early example of a rival trying to gain an edge over their opponent included squirting sticky raspberry liquid on to somebody's windscreen to force them to pull over and clean it. Andrew Doyle (middle) pictured with Daniel Doyle (right) and a fireman holding a baby after the fire-bomb attack in 1984 Andrew Doyle was a driver for the Marchetti Brothers, pictured one of their vans, but he refused to be intimidated into selling drugs His family home in Ruchazie, Glasgow, was then set alight, killing six of the nine people inside Andrew Doyle is helped out of the inferno which killed six by firemen The victims of the fire bomb attack. From top left to bottom right, Christine Halleron, Jim Doyle, Andrew Doyle, Anthony Doyle, Mark Halleron and Jim Doyle Snr The notorious Glasgow ice cream wars shocked the nation for decades with its violence However, this soon transpired into physical violence, arson and eventually mass murder. Following numerous fights and bricks being thrown through people's windows, the violence culminated in the murder of six members of the Doyle family, including a mother and her 18-month-old baby. After Andrew Doyle, who was an ice cream driver for the Marchetti brothers, refused to be intimidated into selling drugs, his family home at the Ruchazie housing estate was set alight on April 16, 1984. Six of the nine people inside died, including James Doyle, 53, his daughter Christina Halleron, 25, and her baby son. Three of Mr Doyle's children were also killed. Stella McGuire, who was 12 at the time, phoned 999 at the time of the fire after hearing the Doyle family's screams and described feeling 'shell shocked' and 'helpless', The Sun reports. She said in a documentary: 'I opened the window and I shouted, "What's wrong?" and they shouted "Fire!". 'I went running to the living room and I phoned the fire brigade. I went back into the bedroom and I woke my younger sister up. 'Probably now I regret waking her up to see what she saw but I didn't... I think I felt afraid at the time.' Police linked the attack to the criminal gangs in the ice cream wars, but still to this day it remains a huge miscarriage of justice with those responsible for the fire still at large 40 years later. Several arrests were made and six people charged and convicted for gang-related offences, but two innocent men were convicted of murdering the Doyle family and spent two decades behind bars. Joe Steele (left) and Thomas 'TC' Campbell (right) were found guilty of the murders and spent 20 years in prison In 2004, both Steele (pictured) and Campbell's convictions were overturned after 20 years of campaigning Campbell (pictured) - who passed away in 2019 - was awarded 1.2million over the miscarriage of justice Joe Steele and Thomas 'TC' Campbell were found guilty of the murders after a witness claimed he heard them discussing the fire. Campbell also said that he was 'fitted up' and told to testify in exchange for staying out of jail, the Daily Record reports. This earned the Strathclyde Police the nickname of 'Serious Chimes Squad' for their failures. In 2004, both men's convictions were overturned after 20 years of campaigning and it is still not yet known who set fire to the Doyle home. Campbell - who passed away in 2019 - was awarded 1.2million over the miscarriage of justice. Steele said that he knew the person who killed the Doyles - but would never tell. It is thought that both Tam 'The Licensee' McGraw, a major crimelord and player in the ice cream trade, was involved in the killings. HM coastguard has been blasted for trying to ban families digging holes at a popular Cornish beach. Locals living near posh Padstow in Cornwall told the crews to 'get a grip' after they complained about a phantom digger on Facebook. HM Coastguard Padstow said the crater, carved out in Tregirls beach, was dangerous as it could collapse on beach goers. Coastguard crews called out a local farmer to fill in the crater with a digger. But the move has been slammed as health and safety gone mad by some residents who told the Coastguard to leave beachgoers alone. One fumed to MailOnline: 'You'd think these people had never been to the beach before, they'll be banning buckets and spades next. We all need to get a grip.' HM coastguard has been blasted for trying to ban families digging holes at a popular Cornish beach (Stock image) HM Coastguard Padstow said the 8ft crater, carved out in Tregirls beach, Cornwall was dangerous as it could collapse on beach goers The man added: 'Somebody dug a hole on a quiet beach? So what? I can't believe the emergency services would even care, let alone fill it in and tell people off.' The phantom digger carved out the 8ft deep and 9ft wide hole by hand - moving around nine tonnes of sand in the process last weekend. The coastguard called in TV farmer Charlie Watson Smyth who owns Padstow Farm and lives locally to fill in the hole using a telehandler. Mr Watson Smyth told MailOnline: 'It's quite bizarre, people are always digging holes in the sand but I have never seen anything on this scale. 'It was perfectly round and looked as if it was dug by something mechanical, they made it look as if it's been drilled out but it wasn't. 'If you think of the effort involved, you have to ask why? And nobody seems to know anything about it. 'Usually things get out and somebody knows but not this time, it's a mystery.' But while some locals thought the coastguard was overreacting, others were not impressed. Giorgia Guy, 56, from Wadebridge, Cornwall, said: 'Somebody must've spent hours digging it then to just get up and go home and leave it is so selfish and reckless. 'People have died from falling into holes dug on the beach, or what if it had collapsed in on somebody, whoever was responsible would have that on their conscience for the rest of their lives.' Locals living near posh Padstow in Cornwall told the crews to 'get a grip' after they complained about a phantom digger on Facebook. Pictured, Tregirls beach where the hole was found In 2005, three-year-old Abbie Livingstone-Nurse (pictured) died when she jumped into a 5ft deep sand hole dug by her stepbrother on Towans Beach, Hayle In July 2021 an 18-year-old boy had to be dug out of the sand on Fistral Beach, Newquay by the emergency services after a hole, which he had dug, collapsed on top of him. And, in 2005, three-year-old Abbie Livingstone-Nurse died when she jumped into a 5ft deep sand hole dug by her stepbrother on Towans Beach, Hayle. An HM Coastguard Padstow spokesman said: 'We are aware of the large hole that has been dug on Tregirls Beach and the danger this presents to the general public. We have arranged for a local farmer to fill it in using a telehandler. 'This particular hole is approximately 9 feet wide and 8 feet deep and had been dug by hand. The potential for it to cause injury to the unwary, or to collapse in on children exploring it should not be underestimated. Sand hole collapses can cause fatalities. 'Please do not dig holes like this on our (or any other) beaches, and fill in any small ones that your children dig before you leave. 'The fact that a telehandler is required to fill this particular one in speaks volumes about the danger it presents.' A 15-year-old girl who went behind her parents' back to get a boob job in Turkey had to get it fixed on the NHS when she got home, a top surgeon has revealed, in just one of many overseas surgery horror stories. Dr Marc Pacifico, president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), said an NHS colleague told him about having to treat the teenager whose surgery had not gone to plan. The plastic surgeon, who runs a private clinic, said doctors he speaks to in the public sector are constantly treating patients who have tried to get procedures done cheaply overseas, but have ended up botched. 'Every time I speak to colleagues they have at least one patient on their wards with complications from surgery overseas,' he said, adding that the issue has 'massively' worsened in recent years. He said that many patients who come back from Turkey use the NHS as a 'safety net' and are 'unfairly blocking beds' - with the taxpayer forced to pick up the bill, which has run into millions of pounds over recent years. Dr Marc Pacifico, president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), told MailOnline that an NHS colleague told him about having to treat the teenager whose surgery had not gone to plan There has been a 'boom' in surgical tourism in recent years, with the British Medical Association saying that more and more Britons are dying or requiring emergency care in the UK after jetting abroad for cut-price obesity surgery. The crisis is fuelling delays for routine care, such as hip and knee replacements, because these health tourists are increasingly occupying NHS beds, the unions annual meeting heard last month. An audit by BAAPS last year found 324 Brits have needed medical treatment or corrective surgery after having gone under the knife overseas since 2018, though the real figure is expected to be far higher. This figure has surged 94 per cent in three years, the organisation claimed, despite doctors repeatedly warning of the dangers of getting surgery at often unregulated clinics overseas. Doctors have shared stories of Turkish surgeries leaving patients with life-threatening infections, implants bursting through the skin and blood clots, among other issues. BAAPS has put the average cost to the health service of treating a Brit with issues such as these at about 15,000, with the total bill since 2018 at about 4.8million. This represents the cost of resources like medication and dressings, as well as the time surgeons and other NHS staff must spend on such cases. While the 15,000 figure is an average, surgeons have previously told this website more serious cases can cost upwards of 100,000 to the taxpayer. 'Because of the fact that it is so much cheaper to go abroad people are willing to play Russian roulette and take that chance,' Dr Pacifico said. 'That's combined with the mindset that "it won't happen to me, I'll be alright" and unfortunately it does happen to some people and they are not alright 'It's a psychological insurance policy, a lot of people are going out having the NHS as a safety net in case things go wrong.' 'I have heard many worrying and disturbing stories about how patients are being looked after in a way that is not acceptable. 'Patients have had stitches put into them without anaesthetic in their hotel rooms. 'People have been told to go back to to England to get the NHS to look after them. An audit by BAAPS last year found 324 Brits have needed medical treatment or corrective surgery after having gone under the knife overseas since 2018, though the real figure is expected to be far higher (stock image) 'People who were never candidates for surgery in the UK and are being turned away from it are having operations abroad and coming back to the UK with complications.' Unsuitable candidates include people with certain medical conditions, pregnant women, as well as young people under 18, who need to meet strict criteria to have aesthetic procedures under UK rules. For under 16s, it is illegal to perform elective plastic surgery on in the UK without written consent from a parent or guardian. Describing one case that stuck with him, Dr Pacifico said: 'I was told by one colleague about a patient requesting amendments to their breast augmentation, a boob lift, that didn't go as planned. 'Now that doesn't sound out of the ordinary, but when I tell you that the patient was 15-years-old and had gone out to Turkey without their parents knowing, now that is just shocking.' In summary, he said, the 'three big failures' at Turkish clinics 'are that inappropriate candidates are having surgery, the technical execution of surgeries, and huge concerns about the management and care given to people who have had surgery.' 'The correct recourse, the moral and ethical responsibility are with the people that carried out the surgery, but people are unlikely to get back on a plane to Turkey.' Dr Pacifico said that unlike patients who get elective surgeries done privately in the UK, who can then get support at private clinics, those coming back from Turkey with complications go straight to the NHS. 'If a patient had a tummy tuck at a UK clinic and had problems with a wound infection, that would all be done in the private sector here,' he said. 'But if someone comes off the plane from Turkey with the same problem they will be treated on the NHS at taxpayers' expense... They are unfairly blocking a bed in my opinion.' Dr Pacifico said private clinics, like his own in Tunbridge Wells, are also having to pick up the pieces when patients' surgery abroad goes wrong. 'I had one patient who lost half of each breast, which I had to reconstruct, following a breast augmentation procedure,' he said. 'Another had to repeatedly come back to have drainage of fluid build up from areas of liposuction that had been done so aggressively drained that they also got burns and damage. 'It was as if they were burned from the inside out.' BAAPS has put the average cost to the health service of treating a Brit with issues such as these at about 15,000, with the total bill since 2018 at about 4.8million (stock image) He caveated his warnings over foreign surgeries by pointing out that not every surgeon in Turkey, or any other health tourism hotspot is bad. 'There are some fantastic surgeons in every country, there are bad and unscrupulous in the UK,' he said. 'But top surgeons in Turkey are not involved in cosmetic tourism at all,' he said, adding that high-standard plastic surgeons there have comparable prices to UK doctors. Social media also plays a big part in tempting Brits overseas, Dr Pacifico said, with young people in particular wanting to look like celebrities they follow online and watch on TV. 'It's the misleading claims that are the main issue - the undisclosed roles of influencers who are either given free surgery to promote a particular clinic,' he said. He added that he had heard worrying stories about patients 'not being given their fit to fly certificates unless they write a five-star review' for the clinic, as well as 'threats being made to patients who give a one-star review.' He warned that while people may be tempted by the lower prices they can get abroad for popular procedures like BBLs, boob jobs and tummy tucks, 'it's a false economy, because while the surgery is cheaper it ends up being a massive cost to them and to their health.' The NHS is obliged to treat acute medical situations, with people coming back from abroad often requiring urgent care. One way to tackle this and deter people from going in the first place, Dr Pacifico suggests, is to make cosmetic tourism insurance compulsory, in order to either reimburse the NHS or get private care funded. Turkey was the largest source of botched ops, BAAPS figures suggested. Almost 80 per cent of Brits who needed corrective ops in 2022 were treated originally in surgical tourism hubs like Istanbul and Ankara. Other big surgical destinations for Brits included the Czech Republic and Lithuania, according to BAAPS. The fate of the world hung in the balance for 13 days. JFK had imposed a blockade on Cuba after surveillance revealed Soviet missile site being built on the communist island in 1962. War was only averted when Moscow turned back its ships, cementing Kennedy's image as a decisive leader who face down the Soviet Union. It had been a grueling experience. As first lady Jackie Kennedy later said: 'It seemed there was no waking or sleeping.' But now only one in four voters believes President Joe Biden has the endurance to do the same and stay up for 48 hours during a similar crisis, according to a new poll for DailyMail.com. It found that voters have become more concerned that his advancing age will impair his ability to do the job since we last asked the question in March. J.L. Partners polled 1000 likely voters on whether Biden could manage to fufill his presidential duties, such as absorbing national security briefings and keeping up with Vladimir Putin And it comes when he is under intense pressure to step down from the Democratic presidential nomination after a disastrous presidential debate with Donald Trump in Atlanta, Georgia. This week Biden even addressed his advanced age during a meeting with Democratic governors. Sources said he told them his aides would stop scheduling events after 8 p.m. so that he can get more sleep. When J.L. Partners asked 1000 likely voters whether they thought Biden could stay up through a Cuban Missile-type Crisis only 24 percent said yes. Only 38 percent said they believed he could remember the name of a world leader with whom he was talking (down from 46 percent in March), with a similar number saying they believed he could digest his daily national security briefings (down from 43 percent. Some 37 percent said they believed he could make it through a one-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin (from 43 percent in March). And only 35 percent believe he could remember the names of key staff (from 40 percent). Yet whoever is sworn in as president in January will face a string of national security crises and increasing global uncertainty. The war in Ukraine will be approaching its third anniversary, an increasingly assertive China is flexing its muscles across the Indo-Pacific region, and the Middle East will still be measuring the fall-out of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. President Joe Biden is fighting for his political life after a poor debate showing in Atlanta. He is seen here in the Situation Room with his national security team in January Whoever wins in November faces an uncertain world. Here, Israel's Iron Dome can be seen intercepting a missile fired from south Lebanon The war in Ukraine rumbles on. Soldiers test a UR-77 demining vehicle in Donetsk oblast In March, voters said Trump would be better able to handle a range of duties than Biden The result is that four in 10 likely voters in our poll said they feared Biden's age increased the chances of an attack on the U.S. James Johnson, co-founder of J.L. Partners, said the numbers were terrible for Biden. 'What voters are looking for most from their politicians is strength: Strength in standing up for America, strength in facing down Americas adversaries, strength in getting things done domestically,' he said. 'Biden was already performing badly on that metric, now he is performing catastrophically. 'It has taken focus away from Trump's conviction and completely dampened any negative effect of that. Biden's strategic aimremind voters of Trumps negatives through the aftermath of the conviction and then the debatehas failed. 'If voters do not think you can do the job, nothing matters even the unpopularity of your opponent.' The results of the online poll were complemented with a poll of 1000 likely voters that included phone calls. It showed that Trump has extended his lead over Biden, from four percentage points in March, to six points now. 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. The Scottish Conservatives were blindsided by a surge in support for Nigel Farages Reform party north of the Border, one of its MSPs admitted yesterday. In a move set to trigger a period of serious reflection from the Scottish Tories, troubling analysis shows that, in 23 Scottish seats, Reform secured a larger share of the vote than the Conservatives. Across Glasgow, the blue vote nigh-on collapsed as Reform gained more support in all but one of the citys constituencies. Yet it was in key former and current Conservative strongholds that the Reform surge was felt most. Former leader Douglas Rosss defeat in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East can be directly attributed to Reform splitting the vote. And margins in the Borders seats particularly where former journalist and special adviser John Cooper won were also too close for comfort owing to the surge in popularity for Mr Farages party. Douglas Ross was defeated as Reform split vote One source close to the Dumfries and Galloway campaign told The Mail on Sunday: The surge of the Reform vote was the story of the night, to be honest. Despite doing almost nothing during the campaign apart from delivering a few leaflets with Nigel Farage and Richard Tices face on them, they really did not do anything, but they managed to get a big share of the vote. It is extraordinary. They continued: Some of it will have been a protest vote against the Tories but there is also the issue of immigration, which people in rural Scotland care about. Reform fanned the flames of that debate and forced the agenda. Yesterday North East Scotland MSP Douglas Lumsden admitted the election had been disastrous for the party across the UK and admitted they misjudged how many voters who previously voted Tory would choose Reform. Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, he said: If you look at some of the areas that were quite Brexit-y like Aberdeenshire North and Moray where there was a big Brexit vote, we probably underestimated how many people would drift to Reform. I think thats why we lost the two seats in the North-East of Scotland. Thats something we have to address to get voters back onside for 2026. Mr Lumsden added: Without Reform wed have seen a much worse night for the SNP. Going down to nine was a disaster but that could have been a lot lower if it wasnt for Reform. He conceded the party has to win back voters to prevent more defecting to Reform, saying: Its something weve got to look at going forward, appeal to our voters based on 2019. A lot have deserted us in England across to Reform. We need to appeal to those but not as a party drift off to the Right. Of the 57 constituencies north of the Border, the Conservatives won five, down one on the 2019 election. Although some sources say the party ran a good campaign, it came under significant pressure from the Reform vote. Mr Rosss hopes for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East were dashed by the rise in votes for Mr Farages party. Reform secured 5,562 votes in the constituency a 14.6 per cent share which, if they had gone to the Tories, would have seen Mr Ross easily beat the SNPs Seamus Logan. On the night, however, Mr Logan won 942 more votes than Mr Rosss 12,513, handing him the Westminster seat and leaving Mr Ross to languish on the Holyrood backbenches as an MSP. Douglas Lumsden said Tories cant move to Right Mr Ross will resign as leader once a successor is appointed, after a backlash about his decision to contest the seat, having previously pledged to stand down as an MP to focus on Holyrood. The evening was brighter for former UK Government minister Andrew Bowie, who increased his majority in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine from the 2019 margin of 843 votes to 3,441. Yet despite retaining seats in the south of Scotland, Tory majorities were tested there too. Former Scotland secretary Alister Jack held a 1,805 majority in 2019, but his successor, Mr Cooper, managed only a 930-vote buffer between him and the SNPs Tracey Little. Many in the area opted for Reforms Charles Keal, who won 4,313 votes, 9.4 per cent of the total share. Before Thursdays vote, one Tory insider close to Mr Coopers campaign said someone in Mr Keals team had apologised to Mr Cooper while out on the doors, saying they knew his campaign was set to split the Tory vote something they claimed he did not want to do. What kind of muppet does that? the enraged source said. Click here to visit the Scotland home page for the latest news and sport A family has been left terrified after a homeless encampment sprang up in the back yard of their $800,000 historic home. Robin Bach and her husband have had to contend with death threats from vagrants living in woods they own just behind their stunning 19th Century Walker House in Concord, New Hampshire. And those threats are far from empty, with the Bachs - who have two children aged eight and 11 - hearing gunshots erupting from the backyard encampment. 'I can't even use my backyard. My kids can't go out there,' Bach told the Concord Monitor, explaining that they play out in front on the sidewalk. 'I would like my children to be independent and feel comfortable going outside and playing and they won't.' The couple bought the gorgeous home in 2018 and treated their sons to a backyard swing set in 2020. But its proximity to the nearby violent vagrant population who refuse to leave has left the children too frightened to touch it. Bach has called the police 37 times since she's lived in this neighborhood to report various encounters with the homeless population living mere feet away from where they all sleep. Several years ago, Bach's husband had an unnerving encounter with a man who they saw emerging from the woods in their backyard a few times. When he asked the man to leave, the man threatened to shoot him. Robin Bach, pictured, said her kids can't even use the backyard out of fear of the homeless people living in the woods nearby Pictured: Bach's nearly $800,000 home that's been overrun with a growing homeless population This same vagrant returned to their property several times after this, which led Bach to file a restraining order against him. Her children watched as police took him away for the final time. This comes as homelessness is on the rise all throughout the country, especially in New Hampshire where the number of people on the streets in increasing faster than anywhere else, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Supreme Court just last week issued a ruling on a case originating out of Oregon - its largest city an epicenter for the homeless - stating that camping outdoors is illegal and cities can enforce bans on it. Thus far, the city of Concord and the police department have had their hands somewhat tied when it comes to clearing out the encampments near Bach's and other people's homes. Cops need to work with shelters to make sure certain homeless individuals aren't on waitlists for housing and services before busting up these makeshift tent cities. They also have to strike deals with private property owners. Bach alongside her two children, who have resorted to playing out on the sidewalk in front of the family home Aerial shots of the New Hampshire State House in Concord at sunrise on a misty morning 'The city won't clean up any private property,' said Barrett Moulton, the deputy chief of patrol and police liaison on the city's homeless steering committee. And even if the homeless are set up on a government owned sidewalk or park, cost to the city is a major factor. 'But if it is city land then there is a whole process and it's often expensive,' Moulton said. The Supreme Court's decision on homelessness won't do anything about the costs associated with cleaning up trash and disposing of tents put up by homeless people, so it's unclear how the ruling might affect policy going forward. Bach is a progressive who has considerable sympathy for people facing homelessness. And while she'd like them off her property, she says she's concerned that evicting them will just move the issue elsewhere and turn it into someone else's problem. 'It's Whack-a-Mole. You can't just ask them to leave, they're going to go somewhere else,' Bach said. 'You have to give them someplace to go.' And the problem has only worsened since Bach's been living at what should be her New England paradise home, complete with five bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and a well manicured front lawn. She said when her family first moved in, one or two tents were usually visible in the woods behind her house. Now, there are at least half a dozen of them, some with large tarps and structures, she said. And when police have removed tents from Bach's backyard, people have moved back in days later and trash just continues to accumulate in the woods along her road. As recently as June 5, this area was filled with crushed cans, abandoned clothes, shopping carts and broken furniture. Trash and shoddy living structures litter the woods behind the street Bach lives on in Concord In front of the garbage, there's a 'no camping' sign on display Some areas have so much trash that the grass and dirt below are completely obscured In order to isolate herself from the growing trash, Bach tried to fence in her property until she learned it would cost her a whopping $50,000 Running out of options, Bach recently got a quote to fence in her property. It would cost her $50,000. 'I can't afford to clean it up. I can't physically do it myself,' she said. 'So the trash remains.' Moulton told the Concord Monitor that the sheer amount of trash and waste that's been piling up has been the main reason people are calling his office. 'It's hard to get past that image of these encampments,' he said. 'It's a bad look. It's a bad look for the city when you have as beautiful of an area as Concord is, to have it just loaded with trash, it is something that there's a focus on to right now. Since there are few, if any, public dumpsters in Concord, the trash issue will likely stick with the town of roughly 44,000. 'We have a pretty significant homeless problem,' Moulton said. 'They're going to be somewhere.' For the homeless population in Concord, this means camping outside in the variant weather of New Hampshire. Winters often bring snow and frigid temperatures as low as 12 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas this weekend will bring highs of over 90 degrees in Concord. Bach, who's been forced to deal with the homeless problem quite literally in her own backyard, still has empathy for those without a roof over their head. She's urging the city to enact a sanctioned camping area so people can get back on their feet. The Concord Coalition to End Homelessness is operating the only emergency shelter in the area, and it's only open from December through March. The nonprofit is harshly opposed to the recent Supreme Court ruling issuing the following statement. 'Penalizing the most vulnerable citizens in our community because of this country's housing shortage is unconscionable, and won't solve homelessness,' they wrote. 'The solution to ending homelessness is housing.' Even though Bach has certainly had some frightening encounters with the people trying to survive behind her home, she has talked to some of them in an effort to understand their struggle. Most recently, she spoke with a man who said he holds a 9 to 5 job and cleans up his garbage with contractor bags. She believes it would be better if the city created a sanctioned camping area somewhere away from where she lives, as its become clear to her that these people need a helping hand. Sporadic enforcement from police, she said, doesn't address the root cause of homelessness, nor does it permanently get rid of the tents or the garbage or the occasional threats of violence her family has to endure. 'We never locked our doors. We were pretty casual,' she said. 'Now we have a full-on security system.' 'This is the worst it's ever been.' The sister of a man who died in a mass overdose has made a heart-wrenching plea to Aussies to not risk their lives and avoid taking drugs. Michael Hodgkinson, 32, was one of four people found dead in the loungeroom of a unit in Broadmeadows, north Melbourne, just after 2am on June 25. Police on Thursday revealed a synthetic opioid had been found in the system of Mr Hodgkinson, Abdul El Sayed, 17, and an unidentified man and woman, aged 32 and 42. The Department of Health released a warning this week about cocaine in Melbourne being sold laced with the synthetic opioid protonitazene, which is 100 times more potent than heroin. Its strength and sedative effects can lead to respiratory depression - shallow breathing - or to an overdose, especially when paired with other drugs or alcohol. Mr Hodgkinson's devastated sister, Nicole Hodgkinson, pleaded with Aussies to 'not take the chance' with drugs. 'This drug is going to ruin so many families,' Ms Hodgkinson told the Herald Sun. 'Be aware of what you are putting in your body because, at the end of the day, it is your family who is going to suffer the consequences.' The sister of Michael Hodgkinson (pictured), Nicole, has pleaded with Aussies to 'not take the chance with drugs' after he and three others died from an opioid overdose Ms Hodgkinson said her family will forever carry the pain of her brother's death as they 'never got to say goodbye'. She remembered her brother as a good man who would 'try and make you laugh' no matter what he was dealing with in his own life. 'Our family will never be the same, Michael was a great person who sadly made a bad choice,' Ms Hodgkinson said. The plasterer was the eldest of six siblings and an uncle to five nephews and nieces. Ms Hodgkinson and younger sister, 26-year-old Jamie, said they had travelled home from Tasmania to start the gruelling task of collecting his belongings. Police are yet to confirm whether the four deaths can be directly linked to protonitazene as forensic results are not expected back for several weeks. The health department have linked the horror drug to overdoses across Victoria and interstate, including one death in South Australia. Mr Hodgkinson (pictured) was one of four found dead in the loungeroom of a unit in Broadmeadows, north Melbourne, on June 25 The opioid that killed the group is still unknown, but warnings have been issued over cocaine laced with protonitazene, a synthetic opioid 100 times more potent than heroin (pictured, police and family at the scene) Authorities there warned it was being mixed with other drugs, making it hard to identify where it had come from. 'There have been recent serious harms in Melbourne associated with a white powder sold as cocaine that contained protonitazene,' the department's warning stated. 'The product appears to produce such as loss of consciousness, respiratory depression, and life-threatening hypoxia (insufficient oxygen for normal functioning).' It added the drug's sedative effects and strength compared to cocaine's stimulant effects could lead to an overdose. The warning further stated respiratory depression also appears more quickly with novel synthetic opioids. Taking protonitazene with alcohol, other prescription drugs such as Xanax or Valium or recreational drugs such as GHB can also increase the risk of an overdose. The deaths are being treated as non-suspicious as forensic tests and investigations into the deaths remain ongoing. Joe Biden is said to be in 'denial' about having to withdraw from the presidential election following his dismal debate performance last week, as some of his campaign donors become ever more worried about his mental acuity. The 81-year-old commander-in-chief has insisted he is staying in the race amid calls from members of his own party to step aside and hand the reins over to a younger Democrat. But even those who are publicly vouching for Biden have admitted in private that there is no path forward with him at the top of the ticket, according to the Washington Post. A donor adviser has now estimated that 'for every 10 people who think he should exit, one thinks he should stay.' Others have suggested that even Biden knows on some level that he is doomed. Democratic insiders have suggested that President Joe Biden is in 'denial' about his chances of winning back the White House 'I think he's focused on recovering,' one person who spoke with the president on the Fourth of July told the Post. 'But I personally think he's still in the denial phase of grief.' For five days after the debate, the president had only given 32 minutes of combined public comments - all of which were scripted. At one of those appearances, at a $100million East Hampton mansion, donors were left stunned when Biden described a French cemetery in Normandy as 'Italian,' insiders said. He then only spoke for six minutes before leaving without taking any questions. When Biden then made an appearance at the New Jersey governor's private villa, sources said he spoke so softly that a crowd of 50 people had to crane their necks to hear him speak from a teleprompter. The 81-year-old commander-in-chief has faced calls to drop out of the race since his dismal debate performance on June 27 By Monday, those familiar with internal Democratic Party conversations say things started to turn - as members of his own party started to call for him to exit the race. 'Everyone lost confidence by Monday,' an unidentified Democratic member of Congress told the Post. 'I started hearing from donors, members, everyone on Monday. It was only getting worse.' Some independent Democratic strategists even built up plans to build up Vice President Kamala Harris, the Post reports. But Biden's campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez has been texting lawmakers and administration officials, encouraging them not to go public with their concerns about the president's electability, according to the Associated Press. The campaign has also noted that this past week saw the best grassroots fundraising than the start of any other month during the campaign. Still, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner is leading Democrats in the upper chamber to push to oust Biden as the presidential nominee in favor of a younger candidate. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is also assembling top Democrats to discuss the matter in a Zoom meeting on Sunday, Politico reports. Biden has insisted he is staying in the 2024 presidential election As of Saturday, five sitting Democrats have called for Biden to withdraw from the race - with another 13 members of Congress and governors expressing their concerns, according to a tally by the Washington Post. Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig - who is fighting to retain her seat in the battleground state - was the latest to speak up, following his one-on-one interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on Friday. 'There is only a small window left to make sure we have a candidate best equipped to make the case and win,' she told the 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.' Another Democratic lawmaker who previously endorsed Biden also told NBC they will be breaking their silence on Biden's fate 'soon'. 'It made me sad,' the politician said of the interview. 'Completely out of touch with reality and insulated from [the] truth.' It is believed First Lady Jill Biden is the driving force behind having her husband stay in the race, as some independent Democratic strategists started propping up Vice President Kamala Harris It is believed First Lady Jill Biden has been encouraging her husband to stay in the race. She has made a call to Vogue magazine insisting he will continue to fight for the White House. '[We] will not let those 90 minutes define the four years [Joe's] been president. We will continue to fight,' Jill, 73, told the magazine in an interview out later this week. One source has also claimed the First Lady 'has [the] ultimate influence' on her husband. '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.' The man responsible for murdering four people at a Kentucky pool party has been identified as a 21 year-old sex criminal who murdered his ex-girlfriend before turning the gun on himself. Police in Kentucky were called to the 2600 block of Ridgecrest Drive in Florence just before 3am in the early hours of Saturday morning. On arrival, police found four people dead and three other critically injured victims who were taken to the ICU at a nearby Hospital. The suspect in the shooting Chase Garvey, 21, fled the scene in his own vehicle before he crashed, with officers finding him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The four people Garvey is accused of killing have since been identified as Melissa Parrett, 44, Delaney Eary, 19, Shane Miller, 20 and Hayden Rybicki, 20. Sources told Channel3 NOW that Eary had been the former girlfriend of Garvey. The suspect in the shooting Chase Garvey, seen here, fled the scene in his own vehicle before he crashed and was found dead after taking his own life Sources told Channel3 NOW that Delaney Eary, seen here, had been the former girlfriend of Garvey The four people Garvey is accused of killing have since been identified. Melissa Parrett, right, and Hayden Rybicki,left, are seen here The home that the party was being held at had belonged to the Parrett family, who were celebrating a birthday with a pool party. During a press conference Saturday afternoon, Florence Police Chief Jeff Mallery said Garvey had not been invited to the party but had showed up. Mallery added that he was known to the partygoers, and that their initial investigation had revealed that Garvey had been acting alone. Images on his social media show him clutching a sniper rifle, a hand gun and a shotgun. Garvey was known to police before the shooting on Saturday, having been arrested and charged in 2021 for the rape of a 13-year-old girl. In April of last year, he was sentenced to five years of probation after pleading guilty to unlawful transaction with a minor in the second degree. According to a report at the time by Fox19, the victim told police she had been messaging Garvey on Snapchat weeks before the incident. Garvey was known to police before the shooting on Saturday, having been arrested and charged in 2021 for the rape of a 13-year-old girl Images on his social media show him clutching a sniper rifle, a hand gun and a shotgun The home that the party was being held at had belonged to the Parrett family, who were celebrating a birthday with a pool party On arrival, police found four people dead and three other critically injured victims who were taken to the ICU at UC Hospital The report says that the girl had told Garvey she was 13, and that they met at an apartment complex inside his vehicle. The girl told police that she said to Garvey that 'she didn't want to do anything sexual' when Garvey held her hands down and raped her. Garvey, then 18, admitted in a police interview to having sex with the girl and said the girl had performed oral sex on him prior. Police in Florence have said that the investigation into the mass shooting on Saturday is still under investigation. Mallery continued: '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. '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.' Health authorities have raised concerns about influenza rates in Queensland kids warning an unstoppable contagion could spread when school returns on Monday. Around 20 children are being admitted to hospital every day in the Sunshine State as influenza cases skyrocket. Queensland chief health officer Dr John Gerrard fears the rates will increase when school students return to the classroom on Monday. He warned as many as 50 children could be admitted to hospitals every day over the next two to three weeks, the Courier Mail reported. The figure is even more alarming as flu season is not expected to peak until mid-August. Dr Gerrard said schools and daycare centres would most probably be 'ground zero' for the highly contagious virus because there are already thousands of unvaccinated Queenslanders with flu symptoms. The chief health officer said these Queenslanders are already bombarding busy emergency departments across the state. Dr Gerrard is urging parents to vaccinate their family to curb the knock on effect of the virus that can spread quickly throughout a home and onto older and more vulnerable relatives. 'We can halt that momentum if people get their free flu vaccine now. It is not too late to get vaccinated,' he said. Health authorities have raised concerns about influenza rates in Queensland kids warning an unstoppable contagion could spread when school returns on Monday (stock image) The chief health officer said there's 'no excuse' to not be immunised as Queensland is the only state where the vaccine is free for people over six months old, and it's easily accessed not just at GPs but at pharmacies as well. Despite this, less than one-quarter of Queensland children have had the flu vaccine. 'There are two distinct influenza A strains spreading rapidly in the community at present. Both strains are covered by available vaccines,' Dr Gerrard said. Children have the highest amount of flu cases in Queensland and locations like Gold Coast, Brisbane, Darling Downs, Ipswich and Central Queensland are current hot spots of a flu outbreak. There were 24,256 cases of influenza in Queensland from January to the end of June, with 10 per cent admitted to hospital. In the last week of June alone, there were a whopping 2,666 cases. The flu isn't the only concern for Queenslanders this winter as Covid and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are still present, creating a triple threat to the sunshine state. The flu isn't the only concern for Queenslanders this winter as Covid and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are still present, creating a triple threat to the sunshine state (stock image) Although influenza has the highest infection rate, cases for RSV has doubled from the same time last year, and most patients hospitalised are under two years of age. Covid is continuing to mutate and will keep hitting the community in waves, Dr Gerrard said. And with the low uptake of flu vaccinations in the state, infectious disease expert Paul Griffin said Aussies have forgotten how dangerous the virus can be. 'It can kill. And we have seen that it not only kills people who are highly vulnerable, it has taken the lives of the healthy too,' he said. An elderly woman was brutally attacked without provocation in Oakland - just days after the city's mayor touted a decrease in crime. In a shocking video circulating on social media, the victim could be seen walking down the street behind another bystander while carrying a bag and piece of luggage by her side. The unidentified woman looks up at a man wearing a 'Wild Boyz' black zip-up hoodie, white shirt, and black pants before being savagely punched in the head and falling to the ground. After slugging the elderly woman, the maniac then takes a swing at the bystander walking in front of her, who was also carrying the suitcase. As the suspect stole one of the elderly woman's bags and the bystander's suitcase, four men who watched the altercation unfold chased after the perpetrator. Days after Oakland's mayor touted a decrease in crime , an elderly woman was attacked and robbed without provocation In the video circulating on social media, the woman is following behind another bystander with a bag and piece of luggage by her side. The woman looks up at the man wearing a black zip-up hoodie, white shirt, and black pants before being subsequently punched in the head and falling to the ground The identities of the victims and the suspect have yet to be revealed. It is unclear if the attacker was arrested. Just days earlier, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, 38, had been boasting of a reduction in crime in the city which has been blighted by violence in recent years. 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. Sheng Thao will face a historic recall election in November amid anger over her failure to get a grip on the situation in Oakland Thao, 38, is facing a recall election less than two years into her term as mayor, with the measure that could see her booted from 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 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. 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 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. Keir Starmer is looking to bring former Blairites back into the fold as he seeks to shore up relations with the US and drive forward reform of the NHS, sources say. Alan Milburn, a former MP and Health Secretary under Tony Blair, is set to help reform the National Health Service in an as-yet undetermined role, according to The Telegraph. The move is seen to indicate that the private sector will still be a core component of their vision for the service, with Mr Milburn allegedly advising new Health Secretary Wes Streeting to ensure they can 'hit the ground running', according to the newspaper. David Miliband is also pegged for a return to politics, with party insiders telling The Sun that Sir Keir has the new Energy Secretary's brother in consideration for the next ambassador to the United States - once the US elections conclude. David Miliband served as Foreign Secretary under Gordon Brown between 2007 and 2010, and spent a year as Minister of State for Communities and Local Government when the role was created under Blair. The Prime Minister has already taken strides in government with calls to foreign leaders and the appointment of a decorated cabinet of veteran politicians and field experts. In a glimpse into life inside Downing Street, Number 10 on Saturday shared photos of the Labour leader climbing the stairs of his new home in front of portraits of the former Prime Ministers. Mr Starmer was snapped between Major, Blair, Brown and Cameron - but the photograph cut off the last five years of leaders since May. Starmer walks up the staircase of 10 Downing St surrounded by photos of his predecessors Sir Keir has had a busy first two days, contacting world leaders and appointing a cabinet Sir Keir is reportedly eyeing up a number of people who played key roles in Tony Blair's cabinet Former home secretary Jacqui Smith has been appointed as an education minister in Sir Keir's Government While the new Prime Minister campaigned on 'change', his recent appointments have harked back to the past, drawing from a pool of talented Blair-era politicians. Two former cabinet ministers who served under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have been given junior minister positions, Downing Street announced on Saturday evening. Douglas Alexander has been appointed as a business minister and Jacqui Smith an education minister. Mr Alexander was the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South in 1997, when Blair won his landslide victory. He left politics after losing the seat in 2015, but staged a stunning comeback with his election as MP for Lothian East. Mr Alexander held several cabinet roles in the last Labour government, including International Development Secretary and Transport Secretary. Under Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet he served as Shadow Secretary for Work and Pensions and Shadow Foreign Secretary. Jacqui Smith was the MP for Redditch between 1997 and 2010, serving as Home Secretary under Gordon Brown between 2007 and 2009 - making her the first woman to hold the position. Trade magazine FE Week understands Mrs Smith will 'take the skills, further and higher education brief', although this has not yet be confirmed. This would position her to oversee Labour's reforms to skills from college to university age. Pat McFadden, made the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on Friday, was also previously a Blair minister. Sir Keir told The Independent that he regularly receives texts from Tony Blair with advice as he takes his first steps in governing the country. He said the advice was 'very helpful' and focused on transitioning from a party in opposition to governance. Wes Streeting likewise said Labour 'often' called on Tony Blair as they prepared to battle the Tories in the general election. The Independent claimed Lord Mandelson had given Sir Keir some advice in the run up to the election. David Miliband is on the cards for a comeback to politics, insiders told The Sun Alan Milburn (R), a former Health Secretary, is also expected to help drive NHS reform The image of Sir Keir positioned him between the last former Labour PM's, Tony Blair (top right) and Gordon Brown (top left) Keir Starmer holds his first press conference at 10 Downing Street on Saturday Keir Starmer previously brushed off attempts to pigeon-hole him as either a Blairite or a Corbynite in a 2020 interview with Sky. 'I'm often challenged, are you a Blairite, a Corbynista?' he said on the Sky News Ridge on Sunday programme. 'I don't need someone else's name tattooed on my head to make a decision or hug a historical figure.' Sir Keir also avoided describing himself as being definitively on the left or right of the party. 'I can think for myself, I don't need to hug Jeremy Corbyn, I don't need to hug Tony Blair or anybody else to make a decision,' he said at the time. The news came as Tony Blair last night said the British public's desire to 'punish' the Conservatives is what led to Labour's landslide election victory. The former PM said that Sir Keir has turned Labour into a 'credible instrument of punishment' by being 'focused, determined and ruthlessly effective' during his rise to power. Sir Tony, 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. Sir Keir Starmer insisted yesterday he had a 'clear mandate' despite only one in five of the electorate backing Labour. The Prime Minister rejected concerns that he had won in a 'loveless landslide', with the lowest vote share of any winning party in modern times delivering a stonking majority of 174. Speaking at his first Downing Street press conference, Sir Keir also said: 'I am restless for change.' Asked by ITV's Robert Peston what it meant for his Government that '80 per cent per cent of British voters didn't vote for you', Sir Keir said: 'We clearly got a mandate from all four nations. '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.' The new Prime Minister, Keir Starmer holding a press conference, following his first cabinet meeting at Downing Street Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Angela Rayner. She is the first housing minister to have lived in social housing Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband - a familiar political face to many having run against David Cameron in 2015 Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy who has held a dizzying number of shadow roles, including for energy, foreign affairs and levelling up He also said he had 'a mandate to do politics differently', adding: 'This will be a politics and a Government that is about delivery, is about service. Self-interest is yesterday's politics.' It came after Sir Keir used his first speech on the steps of No 10 to appeal to people who did not vote for him. 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.' Sir Keir's 33.7 per cent vote share was far below Boris Johnson's 43.6 per cent in 2019 or the 40 per cent recorded by Jeremy Corbyn when he lost in 2017. Tony Blair got 43.2 per cent of the vote in 1997 when he won his 179 majority only slightly higher than Sir Keir's. With turnout falling to 60 per cent, Labour's vote share means only one in five of those registered to vote backed the new governing party a record low. Polling expert Sir John Curtice said Labour's vote share was the lowest of any single-party government since the Second World War. 'This looks more like an election the Conservatives lost than one Labour won,' he added. Sir Keir said change would not happen 'overnight' but insisted it would come 'within the early months and years of the Government', not the end of the first term. David Lammy, the new Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs arriving in Downing Street to attend the first Cabinet meeting Secretary of State for the Home Department Yvette Cooper leaving Downing Street after attending the first Cabinet meeting Wes Streeting, the new Health Secretary. He is also the former president of the National Union of Students and has been a shadow minister for four years Secretary of State for Business and Trade and President of the Board of Trade Jonathan Reynolds standing outside No 10 After the new Cabinet met for the first time yesterday, Sir Keir said: 'I had the opportunity to set out to my Cabinet precisely what I expect of them in terms of standards, delivery and the trust that the country has put in them.' He added the Government would need to take 'tough decisions and take them early' and that there would be 'raw honesty' about what needed to be done. He insisted this was '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'. The Prime Minister said it had been a 'moment in history' when his top team received their privy seals on Saturday morning. He added that he was proud to have Cabinet ministers who 'didn't have the easiest of starts in life' and reflect the 'aspiration' at the heart of Britain. Claims that Sir Keir's Cabinet was the 'least qualified in history' went viral on social media yesterday alongside a list of the ministers' work experience before public office. The Prime Minister used the press conference to declare that Rishi Sunak's Rwanda scheme for asylum seekers was 'dead and buried', saying: '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 per cent, that it was never a deterrent. 'I'm not prepared to continue with gimmicks that don't act as a deterrent.' Sir Keir set out plans to travel today to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, meeting their first ministers as he seeks to 'establish a way of working across the United Kingdom that will be different and better to the way of working that we've had in recent years'. He will then travel to Washington DC for the Nato summit, where he will make his debut on the world stage as Prime Minister. Support for Ukraine will be high on the agenda. Sir Keir said: '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 also suggested he was taking a more informal approach to what he was called in the top job. Asked if he was getting used to being referred to as Prime Minister, he said: 'I'm very happy to be called Keir or Prime Minister.' The medical regulator will consider reviewing warning labels on alternative medicines after a young father allegedly died from a severe allergic reaction. Daily Mail Australia last month revealed father-of-two, Cale Agosta, allegedly suffered irreversible brain damage after taking BioCeuticals supplement, ArmaForce. Mr Agosta's wife, Tekita, has now been left with the task of raising their two-year-old and seven-month-old daughters alone. The over-the-counter supplement's ingredients include andrographis paniculata, olea europea, echinacea purpurea, zinc amino acid chelate and ascorbic acid vitamin C. The Therapeutic Goods Administration will review whether current warning labels on cold and flu supplements are sufficient to address safety concerns over one of the ingredients. A statement from the regulator last Sunday revealed reports of adverse reactions to andrographis paniculata had skyrocketed in recent years. More than 200 reports had been received by the TGA since 2019, while only about 100 had been filed in the 14 years prior. Those who had reactions to the ingredient reported suffering from anaphylaxis, seizure, swelling, nausea, throat tightness and dizziness. Cale Agosta allegedly suffered irreversible brain damage after taking ArmaForce, which is a supplement that can be bought over-the-counter at pharmacies Andrographis is commonly found in Indian and Chinese medicine to remedy cold and flu symptoms and immune support. Of the more than 32,000 medicines on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG), about 100 of which contain the ingredient. The TGA revealed reports of allergic reactions to the ingredient sparked a safety review in 2015 which led to supplements using andrographis to use a safety label. 'Andrographis may cause allergic reactions in some people,' the label must read. 'If you have a severe reaction (such as anaphylaxis), stop use and seek immediate medical attention.' A statement from the TGA revealed the regulator has 'continued to monitor reports of allergy and anaphylaxis for medicines containing andrographis'. 'Little is currently known about the risk factors for andrographis allergy,' the statement reads. 'We are evaluating this safety concern and is considering whether the current label warning for andrographis is sufficient to address this risk.' The regulator also urged those without reliable access to medical care or a history of allergic reactions 'should be cautious using a medicine containing andrographis'. A spokesman for Blackmores, Bioceuticals' parent company, said all of its products complied with current TGA regulations. The ingredient in ArmaForce has led to more than 200 reports of adverse reactions received by the regulator since 2019, while only about 100 had been filed in the 14 years prior A friend of Mr Agosta's family, Steve Brittain, launched a GoFundMe to help financially support Ms Agosta and her two children A friend of Mr Agosta's family, Steve Brittain, launched a GoFundMe to help financially support Ms Agosta and her two children. It has currently raised just under $220,000 from over 1,000 donations in just over a month. 'Cale is a loyal friend, a devoted husband and a loving father. An electrician by trade, he was the main provider for the family,' Mr Brittain wrote on GoFundMe. 'If the roles were reversed, I know Cale would give us the shirt off his back as I watched him do it weekly for 20 years. 'Forever helping others with odd jobs and asking nothing in return.' Mr Agosta's sister-in-law, Tegan, also shared a heartfelt message following his death. 'Cale, I don't have many words at this point. It doesn't seem real and I am still in shock,' she said. 'How incredibly lucky we all were to have such a kind and funny person in our lives for the time that we did and how cruel life can be to take you so soon. 'I could have never asked for a better brother in law and I will be forever grateful to have you as part of my life. You will be hugely missed each and everyday. 'Thank you for creating and nurturing such a funny kid in Violet, I know you were so proud of her humor and that will be our solace going forward.' The Therapeutic Goods Administration revealed they received a report of Mr Agosta's day and will investigate whether a warning label is sufficient to address the ingredient's risk ArmaForce is described as a 'comprehensive vegan formula combining andrographis and immune-supporting nutrients' that is used to treat mild common cold and flu symptoms. Andrographis decreases the severity of symptoms of mild upper respiratory tract infections, including sore throat, headache, runny nose, cough, fatigue and restless sleep. Zinc and vitamin C maintain healthy immune system function,' the website reads. Adults are told to take one tablet a day for a maximum of two weeks. A warning label on the bottle reads: 'Andrographis may cause taste disturbance, including loss of taste, loss of appetite, vomiting and abdominal discomfort. 'Andrographis may cause allergic reactions in some people. If you have a severe reaction (such as anaphylaxis) stop use and seek immediate medical attention.' Sydney University Professor Andrew McLachlan, who is the Head of School and Dean of Pharmacy, said the three main herbal ingredients in ArmaForce are also found in a range of other over-the-counter medicines. He reassured that ArmaForce was a 'safe and low risk' medicine and that the severe reaction to the ingredient was 'rare'. Prof McLachlan said what allegedly happened to Mr Agosta was a 'good reminder' that people can have allergic reactions to all types of medicine. A GoFundMe for Mr Agosta's wife and two daughters (pictured) has raised just under $220,000 from over 1,000 donations in just over a month Daily Mail Australia contacted BioCeutical's parent company Blackmores for comment. A spokesperson for Blackmores previously told this masthead: 'The health and safety of our consumers is our number one priority, and we take suspected adverse events very seriously. 'We have a strict pharmacovigilance system in place to investigate reports of suspected adverse events associated with our products. 'We have been made aware of the Go Fund Me page and are investigating the alleged adverse event. 'If consumers or their family members have experienced a suspected adverse event associated with our product, we encourage them to contact the BioCeuticals Naturopathic Advisory Team on 1300 650 455 or by email at advisory@bioceuticals.com.au.' A driver had to be rescued from a Utah mountain, after following a 'shortcut' on Google maps. The unknown man, 23, was rescued from Strawberry at midnight on Thursday evening according to the Wasatch County Search and Rescue. Officials said that the man was trapped in his Toyota Turcell on the west side of the peak and the rescue took them three hours. Images captured by rescue crews show the blue vehicle on a rocky dirt path, with crews having to use all terrain vehicles just to get to the driver. According to rescuers, the man had ended up on the hill as part of a recommended shortcut from Google maps. Officials said that the man was trapped in his Toyota Turcell on the west side of the peak and the rescue took them three hours Images captured by rescue crews show the blue vehicle on a rocky dirt path, with crews having to use all terrain vehicles just to get to the driver In a statement, they said: '911 Dispatch Center received a call from a stranded motorist. 'The 23 year-old male was stuck in his Toyota Turcell on the west side of Strawberry peak. 'This was the shortcut that google recommended between Springville and Vernal. 'The driver was uninjured but required transport off the mountain. SAR teams responded and rendered assistance.' It comes after Google fixed a part of their maps that had caused drivers in Utah to become stranded on another mountain. Emery Countys Sheriff Tyson Huntington told ABC4 that several times per month, they receive a call for help coming from a remote road on East Mountain. Huntington said that the problem had been people using Google maps and just entering the state name Utah, with it automatically taking them to a remote area. In every case, search and rescue teams were able to help them and their cars get off the mountain. An 18-wheel semi-truck carrying a 53-foot reefer trailer full of Red Bull (pictured) got stuck in the mud after its navigation system took the driver down the road A map of the road before Google made the correction on their navigation system Due to the issues, the sheriff's office contacted Google who eventually made the appropriate changes. The worst case according to the sheriff had been an 18-wheel semi-truck carrying a trailer got stuck in the mud after its system took the driver down the road. After the incident, the sheriff's department contacted Google, along with the news outlet, and were 'super excited' when they got a response. 'We use multiple sources to update the map including contributions from the community, information from local authorities, along with Street View and satellite imagery,' a Google spokesperson told News4. 'Weve updated this route on our map and it should be reflected in the coming days.' Huntington noted that the issue was fixed even before Google responded. READ MORE: Rashays forced to close down popular restaurant Business had been struggling for some time A cult seafood restaurant has made the heartbreaking decision to close their doors permanently due to soaring costs. Angler, which is located in Stirling in Adelaide's south-east, will stop trading on Sunday. Co-founder Amanda Prance told Daily Mail Australia the move was made because fewer customer were coming in. 'We've been here for five years and [we are] not renewing the lease due to the massive drop in local customer traffic,' she said. Ms Prance said the business would continue to operate in the Adelaide Central Market. Ms Prance took to social media last week to announce it had become difficult to keep the restaurant open. 'Unfortunately, our business is just not viable in this location,' she wrote. She said the restaurant had been struggling for some time due to rising rent and utility bills. Angler located in Stirling in Adelaide 's south-east will stop trading on Sunday after a decision was made by the owners not to renew the lease (stock image) 'Rent has gone up every yearwe've probably seen a ten per cent increase in electricity bills and gas is an issue for us.' Several eateries and corner shops in the area have closed in recent years due to reduced foot traffic. Locals are still reeling from a massive fire that damaged the Woolworths store inside the Stirling Shopping Village in October 2023. The blaze also damaged a number of businesses nearby including a butcher shop, which has led to the decline in the number of shoppers visiting the area. 'It is important not to ignore the 'slow death' of shops which were once a permanent fixture of our community,' Ms Prance wrote. 'While we can choose to blame our circumstances or defer responsibility, the simple truth is that local business cannot thrive without people in our community'. Angler was established in 2019 by Ms Prance along with chef Sam Prance Smith. The restaurant was known for serving sustainably sourced local seafood and became the first restaurant in South Australia to try dry-age fish. The cooking technique is used to extract moisture from seafood to create a better taste. The restaurant was known for serving sustainably sourced local seafood (pictured) and became the first restaurant in South Australia to try a dry-age fish Dozens of social media users said they were disappointed that the restaurant had to close and lamented the loss of shops and eateries in the area. 'Such sad news! It is crazy that such an amazing establishment is not thriving,' one wrote. 'I'm so sorry to hear this. We've lost way too many businesses here, and the main street is growing more and more boring by the day,' another person wrote. 'When will the community open their eyes and start supporting local businesses,' a third added. Ms Prance thanked staff and all the customers who have supported the restaurant. She said the business will work with seafood wholesaler Fair Seafood at the Adelaide Central Markets and they are investing in other areas. Sir Keir Starmer has handed a peerage to an expenses-scandal former Labour cabinet minister who said disgraced people should not go to the Lords. No 10 said last night that ex-Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was returning as an Education Minister and would be given a peerage. Ms Smith charged taxpayers for two porn films which her now ex-husband later confessed to watching and wrongly designated her sisters home as her main home for Commons allowances. She told BBC1s Question Time in 2009: I dont think people who have been disgraced should go to the Lords. Pressed on whether that included her, Ms Smith replied: Yes, I think, to a certain extent I have been. Government sources said last night those events were over a decade ago. Ms Smith was approached for comment. Ms Smith who is now making a comeback to politics as a peer, previously lost her seat in 2010. Sir Keir Starmer has handed a peerage to an expenses-scandal former Labour Cabinet Minister Jacqui Smith (pictured) who said disgraced people should not go the Lords She is one of a few familiar faces from the Tony Blair era being recruited into Sir Starmer's top team She held numerous titles whilst Tony Blair was at the helm of the UK in education and health - and at one point was his chief whip. During Gordan Brown's reign, she firmly established her place in the cabinet as home secretary. However Ms Smith was not the only familiar face from Tony Blair's era to be appointed to Keir's new cabinet. Douglas Alexander has also been ushered in as a business minister as the new Prime Minister beef's up his cabinet. He has stepped away from politics after being the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South for eight years between 1997 and 2015. However, last week he won over the electorate bagging his current position as MP for Lothian East. During the Blair era he was transport secretary, Scotland secretary and chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The Labour party are also said to be recruiting Alan Milburn - who previously served as Sir Tony's health secretary - in a bid to breathe a new lease of life into the NHS. Douglas Alexander has also been ushered in as a business minister as the new Prime Minister beef's up his cabinet The Labour party are also said to be recruiting Alan Milburn - who previously served as Sir Tony's health secretary - to help rebuild the NHS The new British Prime Minister has made several eyebrow raising moves whilst beefing up his new cabinet According to the Telegraph, Mr Milburn's re-introduction to the fold signals a possible focus on the private sector. This comes shortly after Starmer was quick to work in establishing his new cabinet on Friday afternoon. Angela Rayner walked the cobbles of Downing Street in a bright green power suit as she prepared to be appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Levelling Up Secretary. 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 have also 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 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. Although many of the newly promoted minister's looked forward to diving in the deep end, Sir Starmer decided there was no place for Emily Thornberry in his government. Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner was the first arrival this afternoon ahead of being named Deputy Prime Minister 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 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 David Lammy, Britain's new Foreign Secretary, was shown around the Foreign Office after being appointed Rachel Reeves, who is Britain's first female Chancellor, was applauded by Treasury staff as she made her first visit to her new department Jonathan Reynolds (left) was appointed Business and Trade Secretary, while Peter Kyle was named Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Lisa Nandy, the new Culture Secretary, and Louise Haigh, the new Transport Secretary Bridget Phillipson walked up to No10 before being named the new Education Secretary Although the politician had loyally served as shadow attorney general over the last few years, Starmer opted for Richard Hermer KC as his Attorney General whilst also handing him 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. Over three quarters of the Prime Minister's top team is likely to be state-educated when finalised. As his first act in Downing Street, Starmer has largely brought in ministers who come from working class backgrounds into his cabinet. Among the 650 of current MPs 63 per cent received a state education - the highest percentage on record. Her sporting passion is horse-racing, so Victoria Starmer dressed stylishly in a turf-matching floral green number rather than her trademark red chose a day at the races yesterday to escape the political drama in Downing Street. The mother of two was spotted checking the runners and riders at Sandown Park in Surrey before the Coral-Eclipse, one of British horseracings most prestigious flat races. It was won by Derby winner City of Troy. The Prime Ministers wife inherited her love of the sport from her mother Barbara, who was born and raised in Doncaster. Her grandmother lived on the edge of the towns famous racecourse. On the kitchen wall of the Starmer family home in Kentish Town, north London, there is even a photo of the finishing post at Doncaster racecourse, reflecting Victorias fondness for horses and her mothers roots. The Prime Minister said recently: Vics mum had horseracing in her blood and Vic loves it, too. She loves flat racing. Victoria Starmer, wife of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, attends Sandown Park Racecourse wearing a green floral-print maxi-dress The summery dress is by Me+Em Lantana, a popular designer amongst Westminster women Lady Starmer kept the sun out of her eyes with a pair of Gucci shades Wearing sunglasses and chatting cheerfully to other racegoers, Victoria cut a relaxed figure at the Esher course in an Me+Em Lantana flower-print, drawstring maxi-dress, retailing at 227.50. It was a notable contrast to the shades of red that she has sported since Sir Keir took over as Labour leader. Most notably, the lawyer-turned-NHS occupational therapist made a bold statement after Labours resounding General Election victory on Friday morning in a poppy red, contrast-stitch, short-sleeved 275 gown also by Me+Em to make her first photocall alongside her husband in Downing Street. Just 24 hours earlier, Lady Vic had cut a more casual figure, arriving at a polling station in North London wearing a crimson red shirt-dress from US designer Simkhai (445) paired with classic white trainers. After Labour's resounding General Election victory on Friday morning, she wore a poppy red, contrast-stitch, short-sleeved Me+Em gown She strutted into 10 Downing Street in a pair of Russell and Bromley silver slingback heels, retailing at 295 Lady Starmer stood out in her red frock as she walked along Downing Street At a campaign event in London a week before the election, she wore a softly-pleated red/pink floral dress (currently 255) with a V-neck and cinched waist by The Kooples alongside Sir Keir as he made a last-minute appeal to voters. She attended the Labour Party conference last year in a 1,200 red belted dress with fluted sleeves by designer label Edeline Lee. And in 2022, she stuck to a similar, if less bright, theme: wearing a pleated burgundy shirt-dress with black tights and pumps. Just 24 hours earlier, 'Lady Vic' had cut a more casual figure, arriving at a polling station in North London wearing a crimson red shirt-dress from US designer Simkhai She paired the red shirt dress with a pair of classic white trainers by Tommy Hilfiger Victorias style will stand her in good stead over the coming weeks and months as she finds herself increasingly in the spotlight. As Samantha Cameron observed of her time in No 10: You learn super-quickly to wear colour. Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi has repeatedly refused to answer whether she believes 'Hamas should be dismantled,' arguing it's not up to her to say 'who should be gone or not'. Ms Faruqi appeared on ABC's Insiders on Sunday morning following the party's failed attempt to have parliament recognise Palestinian statehood this week. The issue saw now-independent senator Fatima Payman resign from Labor after being frozen out when she crossed party lines to side with the Greens. Ms Faruqi called out Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his government for not supporting the motion without adding 'caveats'. When grilled on her stance however, Ms Faruqi could not say whether she wanted Hamas to be abolished as a condition to statehood. The NSW senator was asked five times whether the Islamic terrorist group responsible for the October 7 attacks needed to be either removed or disbanded. 'Hamas has nothing to do with recognising Palestinian statehood,' she told host David Speers. 'Recognising Palestinian statehood is about Palestinians being able to self-determine.' Greens deputy leader, Mehreen Faruqi, has dodged questions on if Hamas, a terrorist group in control of the Gaza Strip, should be dismantled to make way for Palestinian statehood When questioned further on the issue, the senator said: 'I can't keep repeating it again and again, (Hamas) has nothing to do with Palestinian statehood'. 'Palestinians need to decide where they want to go with their own region, not intervention from western countries.' Speers noted Hamas is listed in Australia as a terrorist organisation and told the senator 'surely you're able to say whether you'd like to see them gone or not'. 'It's not up to me to say who should be gone or not,' she replied. Ms Faruqi said she couldn't answer the question because it's based on a 'hypothetical situation' if Palestinians were to be granted statehood. She then turned her attention towards the Albanese Government who pulled support after their proposed amendments to the bill weren't taken on board. Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said the government would have supported the motion if Palestinian recognition was 'part of a peace process in support of a two-state solution and a just and enduring peace'. Ms Wong later told reporters that the Greens motion was strictly 'all about politics, not about change'. Ms Faruqi hit back at the claim and said she was 'really sick and tired of being gaslighted (sic) in that Parliament by the Labor Party'. 'I was flabbergasted that Labor wants to talk about peace while doing absolutely nothing.' It comes after the Labor Party opposed a Greens senate motion to recognise Palestinian statehood, sparking a protest on Parliament House (pictured) and the resignation of a senator Opposing the Greens' motion caused headaches for Labor with pro-Palestine protestors taking to Parliament House on Thursday. The protestors climbed to the roof of the capital building and unfurled banners of popular chants for the pro-Palestine movement, one including a Hamas symbol. 'That upside down red triangle is Hamas-symbology that is supposed to indicate IDF targets and Israeli targets in the context of the war in Israel and Gaza,' Liberal Senator James Paterson said. The party was left with one less seat in the upper house just hours later when WA senator Fatima Payman announced she was resigning to become an independent senator. Ms Payman was suspended indefinitely from her party's caucus meetings last Sunday after she revealed she'd have no qualms crossing the floor again on motions involving Palestine. The attention given to the rift within the ALP took steam out of Mr Albanese's tax cuts and cost of living measures the government has introduced. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday blasted Senator Payman's decision to leave Labor and warned parties against going 'down the road of faith-based political parties' because it undermines social cohesion. A male gorilla was born in Seattle about a week ago, only to be cast aside by the mother who carried him for nine months. The yet-to-be named newborn came into the world on the morning of June 28 at the Woodland Park Zoo, which would normally be cause for celebration among staff and attendees alike. Unfortunately, there was a tragedy of abandonment, as the boy's mother Akenji would not care for him as a mothers normally do. 'The zoo's gorilla and animal health staff closely observed the birth and post-birth behaviors in the off-view bedrooms,' the zoo wrote in a blog post. 'Unfortunately, Akenji did not show appropriate maternal behaviors despite the months-long maternal skills training the gorilla care team provided.' An hour after the gorilla was born, the zoo's animal care team stepped in for the baby's safety. The new baby gorilla born just a week ago at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle 'Although we have been encouraging maternal behaviors, Akenji still hasn't shown any promising signs of interest to bond with her baby,' said Rachel Vass, Interim Animal Care Manager at Woodland Park Zoo. 'Because she demonstrated capable maternal behaviors throughout her training program, we're disappointed and a little surprised those instincts haven't kicked in.' Despite Akenji having apparently no interest in her child, the baby gorilla weighed slightly above average at 4.4 pounds and was deemed healthy by the zoo's Associate Veterinarian. And not to worry, the newborn is being bottle fed human infant formula by staff, who are also doing everything they can to comfort him and keep him warm. In between those feeding sessions, the baby is kept on a warm bed of hay and Akenji is encouraged to visit him for short periods of time so she can bond. 'As we continue to hand-rear her baby for the short term, the positive news is that he remains healthy, he has a great appetite and strong grip, and he is getting bigger every day,' Vass said. Pictured: Akenji at the zoo while pregnant. Zoo staff were disappointed with her inability to be maternal with her baby once he was born The new baby was fathered by this silverback gorilla named Kwame This is the 16th gorilla to be born at the zoo since its opening in 1899. It's also gorilla Kwame's third child, his other two being a son and daughter born in 2020 and 2021, respectively. The staff working directly with the gorillas will continue trying to get Akenji and her son to get closer. 'We have a professional, highly dedicated team of gorilla experts at Woodland Park Zoo who have more than eight decades of collective experience...preparing expectant moms for motherhood and uniting moms and infants or introducing other gorillas to step in as moms,' said Martin Ramirez, Interim Senior Director of Animal Care. A White House staffer who has worked closely with President Joe Biden for years has revealed how the commander-in-chief's mental acuity has seemingly declined. The senior White House official who worked with the Biden during his presidency, vice presidency and 2020 campaign told the New York Times he no longer believes the 81-year-old has what it takes to defeat Trump. That official, who declined to be named so he could speak openly, said the president has shown more and more signs of his age in recent months - speaking more slowly, haltingly and quietly. Biden has also appeared more fatigued in private, the staffer said, concluding that he should not continue to seek re-election. Others in Biden's inner circle have noted that he seems to trail off mid-sentence and freeze in public. A senior White House staffer who has worked with President Joe Biden for years revealed how the president's mental acuity has been declining in private The White House staffer concluded that the president should not seek re-election Last month, the president apparently froze at a Juneteenth White House celebration. He was seen staring blankly ahead as Vice President Kamala Harris danced beside him. In a speech at the event, he also seemed to slur his words. Less than a week later, Biden again stopped abruptly at a fundraiser in Los Angeles, staring blankly over the crowd for several seconds. But a White House representative dismissed reports of a frozen reaction to DailyMail.com as 'fakes' and 'lies,' explaining his reaction was simply 'taking in an applauding crowd for a few seconds.' In more recent days, donors were left stunned when Biden described a French cemetery in Normandy as 'Italian' at a fundraiser in the Hamptons, insiders told the Washington Post. When Biden later made an appearance at the New Jersey governor's private villa, sources said he spoke so softly that a crowd of 50 people had to crane their necks to hear him speak from a teleprompter. Then on Thursday, Biden seemingly mixed himself up with his Vice President Kamala Harris in an interview with Philadelphia's WURD 'By the way, I'm proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, first black woman... to serve with a black president,' he said, confusingly. Biden wandered off during a demonstration by parachutists at the annual G7 meeting and was stage managed by the Italian prime minister '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.' He appeared to be highlighting his appointment of Kamala Harris as the United States first black female vice president. But Biden himself was previously vice president, which is likely what he was referring to in 'to serve with a black president.' Even politicians in other countries have apparently noticed the American president's mental issues. Last month, Biden wandered off during a demonstration by parachutists at the annual G7 meeting and was stage managed by the Italian prime minister. He then skipped out on a major dinner, as the Italian media reported that Biden was 'tired' after a full day of events. Three French officials who helped organize Biden's visit to France have said their US counterparts' reactions to the options offered for a state visit in Paris and D-Day commemorations in Normandy made them believe the president's health must be fragile. They were told the president needed some time to rest and they felt Biden's entourage was very protective of him. Biden aides have been trying to limit President Biden's on-air stumbles for years Aides have shortened the size of the staircase up to Air Force One after a series of falls For years, White House aides have been trying to reduce the president's on-air stumbles - shortening the size of the staircase to board Air Force One, with a Secret Service agent standing at the bottom of the stairs as an extra precaution. Aides have also built-in recovery stretches to his schedules - long weekends or extended stays in either his home state of Delaware or at the presidential retreat at Camp David. Biden's public interactions - especially those with journalists - have even been greatly reduced under a mandate led by one of his top advisers, Anita Dunn. At the same time, Biden's advisers have maintained that the president is in top shape, both physically and mentally, and will be able to effectively serve another term until 2028 when he would reach 86 years old. Medical experts have suggested the president may have Parkinson's But medical experts have suggested that Biden's constant freezing could be a sign of Parkinson's - which can also lead to thinking difficulties and cognitive problems, as well as depression and anxiety. More than 90,000 people in the US are diagnosed with the condition every year, most of who are men over 60. While symptoms such as tremors are well known, Parkinson's disease can also cause stiffness and problems with moving the limbs and face, as well as slurred speech. It is also known to cause cognitive impairment affecting memory, concentration and even mood. Symptoms of the disease worsen with time and there is no cure. The disease itself is not fatal, but patients can die from complications of it, such as pneumonia, heart disease, falls, choking or urinary tract infections. However, neither Biden nor anyone on his team have ever proposed or confirmed he has the condition. Meanwhile, concerns about his age and mental acuity grew after he gave an abysmal performance at the CNN debate last week. He trailed off mid-sentence at times, and stood slack-jawed while Trump spoke. Once the debate was finished, Biden was seen standing around his podium before First Lady Jill Biden eventually ushered him off the stage. Biden gave ABC News' George Stephanopoulos a 107-word stream of gibberish when asked to explain his car crash of a debate performance against former President Donald Trump The president later blamed 'exhaustion' and being 'sick' for his performance at the debate - claiming he even had to take a COVID test before the debate, he told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in a one-on-one interview. 'The whole way I prepared, nobody's fault, mine. Nobody's fault but mine,' the president said, before launching into a rambling explanation. '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 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,' he said of Trump. 'I couldn't - I mean, the way the debate ran, not - my fault, nobody else's fault, no one else's fault,' he went on. But Biden's performance in the interview 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, according to NBC. At least five Democrats have since called on the president to drop out of the race, and Virginia Sen. Mark Warner is pushing party members in the upper chamber to oust Biden as the presidential nominee in favor of a younger candidate. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is also assembling top Democrats to discuss the matter in a Zoom meeting on Sunday, Politico reports. Yet Democrats have admitted it would be difficult for another candidate to earn the nomination this year and if Biden doesn't agree to step aside, the prospects become essentially impossible. Delegates were finalized at a selection on June 22 and were chosen on a state-by-state basis to represent support for the president in the nomination process. There are 43,933 pledged Democratic delegates for 2024, and to win the presidential nomination a candidate must earn a majority of them estimated at 1,968 this year. Under Democrat party rules, delegates are 'pledged' to a candidate - meaning they 'shall in all good conscience' reflect the views of those who elected them. There is no official penalty if a delegate votes differently but if a Biden delegate simply sits out of the first round of balloting instead of backing the president, their vote would not count towards anyone. Two bodies have been found following an urgent search at a popular beach in Sydney's south-east. Emergency services responded to reports of a concern for welfare at Little Bay Beach at 11.10am on Sunday. An esky and life jacket were reportedly found on the rocks. 'A short time later, a body was found near the rocks. No further details are known at this stage,' a NSW Police spokesman said. The police search then found a second body near the rocks at about 1.40pm. Police are yet to divulge what items had been found. The bodies have yet to be formally identified. Police Marine Area Command and a helicopter from Polair kept searching the area for a short time after the second body was found. Marine Area Command and Polair are scouring the area at Little Bay (pictured) after answering calls for a welfare check and discovering two bodies Police found items ay Little Bay (pictured) before finding a body near the rocks. A second body was located hours later, also near the rocks But lifeguards have since told Daily Mail Australia the search has concluded. Local spearfisherman Sean Park said at least one person was swept off the rocks on the northern side of the beach. 'I was walking to the north side but walked back because the waves were too big,' he said. 'On my way back people just started screaming man in water.' 'About 20 minutes later a helicopter rocked up and one of them was taken up.' One local diver said they were pushed back by the helicopter as it descended to the surface of the water. 'One second I know I was standing up on the rocks, the next I was sitting down,' they said. The search (pictured) was prompted after a member of the public reportedly noticed an esky and lifejacket left on the rocks A local at the golf club said visitors frequently stood on the rocks besides its dangerousness. 'This happens all the time. The rockfishermen just never learn,' he said. Anyone with information about the incident are being asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Wildlife officials revealed to a frightened public the fate of the shark that maimed two people on a Texas beach on July 4th. The attack happened on South Padre Island, Texas, on Thursday morning, with the woman who got bit on the leg having to be hauled to shore by a team of rescuers. Following the bloody incident, South Padre Island and Cameron County Parks officials located the shark, harnessed it and moved it back out into deeper waters so it won't be an ongoing threat to beachgoers, KFDX-TV reported. New helicopter footage released by the Texas Department of Public Safety shows officials flying directly over the shark as it swims through shallow waters right after the attack. Identified as a bull shark, the animal was not harmed or physically injured over the course of this operation to get it back out to sea, according to Captain Dowdy from Texas Parks and Wildlife. This image provided by Texas Department of Public Safety shows a shark close to the share in South Padre Island, Texas on Thursday, July 4, 2024 The shark swims right near an incoming wave, shortly after biting two people and encountering two others Dowdy said the 'unusual' attack was likely caused by weather changes from incoming Hurricane Beryl, which will strike the Texas coastline sometime Monday as a Category 1 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center. Bull sharks can reach up to 11 feet in length and have one of the most powerful bites in the animal kingdom, stronger pound-for-pound than the infamous great white shark. A total of four people encountered the shark in the water, according to initial reports. Two people were bit and two people escaped with minor injuries. One woman had a serious wound to her leg. Footage of the attack shows the woman laying on the sand while a dorsal fin can be seen swimming back and forth near the shoreline. Blood from her wound can be seen turning the water a dark red, while first responders wrap a tourniquet around her leg. Blood from her wound can be seen turning the waters washing up on the beach a dark red, while first responders wrap a tourniquet around her leg A dorsal fin can be seen swimming back and forth near the shoreline as the woman lays on the sand The incident happened on South Padre Island, Texas, on Thursday morning and the woman had to be hauled to shore by a team of rescuers Due to the shark, officers deployed drones, boats and helicopters to locate the predator and the city was also considering closing the beach Later, this woman was identified as Tabatha Sullivent, who was in the water with her daughter and husband when the shark preyed on them. She said they were out past a sand bar when the shark followed her to shallow water and bit her calf, after which her husband Cary fought it off. 'I turned around and saw something dark in the water. And I thought it was a big fish, and I was going to kick it away. That's when it grabbed me,' Sullivent told FOX Dallas-Fort Worth from a hospital bed. The shark bit off her calf. 'My leg is pretty much gone,' she said. 'They flushed it out today. It's all the way to the bone. It did not go through the bone.' Her husband, too, was bitten throughout the course of the attack, but his injuries were minor in comparison. 'If my husband didn't jump into action and everyone else on the beach. If I didn't have people pulling me out - not just to pull me out but jumping between the shark and me - I don't think it would've stopped,' she said. Tabatha Sullivent sits in a hospital bed after her calf was bitten off by a bull shark. Her husband, who bravely fought off the beast, sits next to her Sullivent said that if her husband hadn't jumped into action, along with all the others on the beach who pulled her in, the shark likely wouldn't have stopped attacking her Tabatha was taken to a nearby hospital where she is in stable condition. Her husband Cary Sullivent (right) remains by her side The couple were at the beach celebrating their daughter Skylar's 15th birthday. Skylar set up a fundraising page on GoFundMe to help raise funds for her mother's recovery. More than $4,600 has been donated so far. Their daughter Skylar Sullivent shared an update on their condition later that evening on Facebook. 'My mom is trying to get as much rest as she can and figure out the road ahead. Recovery will be a long process but I know she will get through it,' Skylar wrote on Facebook. Immediately after the attack, Texas Parks and Wildlife released a statement telling beachgoers that authorities were patrolling the beach by land, by boat and by air. The city also considered closing the beach entirely to the public. In March, a 14-foot great white shark was spotted near South Padre Island, according to local radio station KNFM. But given that officials are reasonably confident that the culprit in the most recent attacks was a bull shark, it's likely that this great white wasn't involved. Elisabeth Foley, the victim of a shark attack on Florida's panhandle in June, is pictured left. Part of her arm had to be amputated Lulu Gribbin, was one of the teen girls attacked by a shark just hours after Foley was bitten. The bites were so severe that surgeons needed to amputate her 'right leg halfway up from her knee to her hip,' according to a Facebook post written by her mother This comes after two teenagers and a woman were attacked by a shark early last month in Walton Beach, Florida. According to the Walton County Sheriff's Office, 45-year-old Elisabeth Foley was bit by the marine animal in the water near Watersound Way and Coopersmith Lane at around 1:15pm. She sustained 'significant trauma to the midsection and pelvic area and amputation of her left lower arm,' according to South Walton Fire District Fire Chief Ryan Crawford. At around 3pm, officials responded to calls of another shark attack on two female teenagers, 15 and 17 years old that occurred four miles away from the first attack. The teens were later identified as Lulu Gribbin, who lost a hand and a leg, and McCray Faust, who suffered injuries to her foot. All three of the victims, who were visiting the area from other states, were attacked while they were swimming near the sandbar. Service NSW will slash thousands of jobs as part of a major restructure with staff furious over the mass layoffs. CEO Greg Wells informed staff earlier this week up to 60 per cent of jobs across most divisions would be slashed, 7News reported. The state government had previously announced publicly they would cut agency hire contractors by 25 per cent. The four areas affected by the job cuts are customer support, service delivery, partnerships and projects and cyber security. Around 125 full time roles are set to go, however the job cuts will mostly affect contractors, temporary workers and other staff. The agency will instead boost its online services to continue to support customers. Staff have lashed out at the move with some saying they are struggling to cope up with the workload. 'How are we supposed to do our job properly when we hang by a thread?' one staff member said. Service NSW will slash thousands of jobs as part of a major restructure with staff furious over the mass layoffs The employee claimed the agency is 'sacrificing the little people', while those in senior positions will not be affected. 'Each division will keep its own director and executive director,' the employee said. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Service NSW for comment. A company report found that departments at the agency, who assess eligibility claims and fraud control, would require their workforce to be reduced. The disaster preparation and recovery divisions would also need to cut jobs. The findings from the report found that the workforce could be increased during 'large-impact crisis and disaster events'. Meanwhile, the service finder function will be scrapped from the digital service division, but there will be 'minimal reductions' to the cybersecurity department. The Service NSW Business Bureau, which is a tailored resource for small businesses across the state who require assistance, will also be impacted. The Business Bureau will now provide more 'self-service' options to help businesses apply for support measures. Almost 5,000 people are employed by the agency across the state as of June 2024, while 2,860 were employed as of June 2019. The Public Service Association of NSW (PSA) expressed their displeasure at the redundancies. 'The PSA is highly concerned about the impacts of this drastic cut and will be fighting for members every step of the way,' they said. 'The PSA is pushing for all options to be explored, including vacant and temporary roles being released for ongoing employment'. A spokeswoman for the Minster of Customer Service and Digital Government Jihad Dib, told Daily Mail Australia the redundancies will not affect service centres. 'There will be no reduction to the current number of 117 Service NSW customer service centres through this process,' the spokeswoman said. The government services agency will cut their workforce by 60 per cent across four divisions over the next year 'An additional centre [is] opening in Tallawong this year to provide an extra option for people living in Sydney's north-west'. The spokeswoman said most of the job cuts are being made to services that were required during the Covid pandemic when more resources were needed. 'Many of the programs developed in response to the pandemic and natural disasters no longer require this intensive crisis support,' the spokeswoman said. 'The reduction in staff will include senior executives, in line with the NSW Government election commitment'. The exact number of workers, who will lose their jobs, will be determined at a later date. A California family's outrageous Trader Joe's bill went viral on social media, igniting a debate about affordability for families when it comes to stocking their pantries. A video on X capturing a mile-long, $444 receipt has racked up over 17 million views online. The hefty bill, filmed by a dad of six in the pricey area of Westlake Village sparked discussions about grocery shopping costs for families, especially given that Trader Joe's prides itself in its reputation for being a cost effective option. 'Here's what it takes to feed six kids [for] about a week and a half,' the father said in his video, where most of the items cost between $2.99 and $3.99. The video revealed the family's haul, including fresh produce like pricey strawberries ($4.49/lb), a multi-pack of avocados ($4.99), and individual cucumbers ($2.49 each). A California family's outrageous Trader Joe's bill went viral on social media, igniting a debate about affordability for families when it comes to stocking their pantries A video capturing a mile-long Trader Joe's receipt has racked up over 17 million views online The receipt also showcased a stockpile of frozen meals - Trader Joe's chicken & cheese tamales ($3.99 each), chicken soup dumplings ($3.49 each), and Margherita pizzas ($4.79 each). Luxury items weren't absent though, with the most expensive being frozen Korean-style beef short ribs at a hefty $13.99 each. Other pricier finds included breaded chicken tenderloins at $8.99 and a decadent rib-eye steak for $7.27. Users were quick to comment that the family should have gone to warehouse stores, such as Costco or Sam's Club, to save money as Trader Joe's is not designed to feed large families. 'Shopping at trader joes instead of costco with 6 kids is insane,' commented one user. 'Trader Joe's is cheap but this person didn't buy anything to cook, it's all prepared stuff which is always more. Buy ingredients and make food,' argued another. 'Trader Joe's isn't meant for a large family,' another user wrote. Others commented that the father bought unnecessary items and therefore his complaint was unwarranted. 'Nearly half of everything on the list is organic, which is a luxury. Also things like Gnocci Alla Sorrentina, surfine capers, and Brazil nut body wash (!)?' another argued. 'If he's going to cry about prices, at least have some buying discipline.' The total came to $444.38 Aldi, a discount grocery chain known for its low prices, was frequently mentioned as an alternative by commenters. "Would cost 1/3 that at Aldi," one person said. "Aldis got you for like $125," another chimed in. DailyMail.com reached out to Trader Joe's for comment. A quiet suburban neighbourhood has been rocked by the death of the man who was allegedly murdered by his wife. Emergency services were called to a Medina Street home Taperoo in Adelaide's north-westabout 8.40am on Sunday following reports a man had been injured. Upon arrival, police found the body of a 60-year-old man, who has since been identified as Simon 'Hoppo' Hopkinson. His wife, Caroll Ann Smith, 58, was arrested at the home and later charged with murder. Major crime and local officers have launched an investigation into Mr Hopkinson's death. It's understood that Smith was allegedly the one called emergency services. 'There's not thought to be anyone else involved in this matter,' Western Districts Detective Inspector Christie Matthews said. 'We understand the female at the home contacted emergency services.' Simon 'Hoppo' Hopkinson (pictured) was found dead inside an Adelaide home on Sunday When asked if the alleged incident was domestic-violence related, Inspector Matthews said that line of inquiry was being investigated. Police are yet to confirm the cause of Mr Hopkinson's death but are yet to rule out the use of weapons. Shocked neighbours were horrified to hear about the incident on what is usually a quiet suburban street. One woman said the couple were both psychiatric nurses and though she didn't know the pair very well, they 'seem lovely'. Her son had helped Mr Hopkinson move firewood for extra pocket money. Some neighbours saw Smith in handcuffs escorted from the home by police. 'I was sitting out the front and she came out in her nightie. She looked pretty nonchalant, not very bothered. She had her head down,' the woman told the Adelaide Advertiser. Caroll Ann Smith (pictured) was arrested at the home and later charged with murder Kyla Vermeulen, a resident of the street for 14 years was 'pretty shocked' to hear of the death, 'it's quite sad'. She added it was 'mostly older people and families' who lived in the area. Ms Vermeulen recalled hearing a 'bang that was like a rattle on a fence' the night before. Another local resident Matt Carr told the ABC that he heard sirens when he woke up and 'there was a bit of activity going on out the front'. 'You don't expect to wake up to that in your front yard on a Sunday morning,' he said. Smith was refused bail to appear in Port Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday. Police urge anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers. France is preparing for more protesting ahead of the second round of historic parliamentary voting that will take place this morning and is expected to be won by hard-right Marine Le Pen's National Rally. Voting began at 8:00am (6:00am GMT) and will continue until 6:00pm, or 8:00pm in major cities, when voting estimates will be released - with France's Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and President Emmanuel Macron spotted casting their votes earlier in the day. It comes as images from Paris last night showed dozens of popular high street stores including Zara and Pull & Bear barricaded behind wooden boards and shutters amid growing fears of left-wing riots exploding on the streets after rioting began engulfing the city last week. Several central areas within Paris are concerned with the possibility of protests erupting, including Rue de Rivoli, the Opera area, and the Champs-Elysees. The French Ministry of the Interior announced the deployment of 30,000 police officers across France, including 5,000 in Paris, to deal with the potential unrest. High street stores across Paris were seen boarding up this morning ahead of the second round of parliamentary voting amid fears of protests Several central areas within Paris are concerned with the possibility of protests erupting, including Rue de Rivoli, the Opera area, and the Champs-Elysees Demonstrators gathered 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 A barricade burned as protesters demonstrated against the French far-right National Rally party French President Emmanuel Macron (right) and his wife, French First Lady Brigitte Macron (centre-right) arrived at a Le Touquet polling station early this afternoon to cast their votes Your browser does not support iframes. Last week, thousands of enraged voters set light to rubbish, smashed up shop windows, and launched fireworks after Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN) steamed to victory in the first round of snap parliamentary elections, held on June 30. Hordes of riot cops were unleashed across Paris, particularly in Place de la Republique, where police were seen clashing with protesters into the early hours of the morning. The RN netted some 33 per cent of the vote, according to the Interior Ministry, followed by the left-wing New Popular Front alliance with 28 per cent - and incumbent president Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance lagging in a distant third on just 20 per cent. Following the shocking results, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said politicians from across the spectrum had faced verbal and physical abuse - often while putting up campaign posters. He told French broadcaster BFMTV that several of the attacks had been 'extremely serious' - with the three-week campaign overshadowed by violence that left some victims in hospital. Ahead of Sunday's tense second round of voting, Darmanin confirmed there will be a greater police presence on the streets of Paris as he warned: 'Outbreaks of violence are to be feared,' adding cops will be dispatched 'so that the far left or the far right' do not create 'disorder'. At least 30 suspects from 'extremely varied backgrounds' have been arrested so far - with RN candidates and left-wing politicians among those targeted. It comes as 'hated' and 'unpopular' Macron was urged by his own party to keep out of the spotlight of his campaign trial when government spokesperson Prisca Thevenot was attacked on Wednesday. Thevenot, a candidate for the centrist Ensemble Pour la Republique alliance led by Macron, said she and a deputy and a party activist were putting up election posters in Meudon near Paris when a group attacked them. Government spokesperson Prisca Thevenot revealed she had been subject to an attack on Wednesday while putting up election posters in Meudon near Paris Protestors smashed up shop windows in their own city following Marine Le Pen's far-right alliance storming ahead in the first round of voting last Sunday Bins were overturned and set alight, spreading acrid smoke into the air Anti-riot police officers pushed back protesters on Paris streets following the first round of voting on June 30 Young women trying to enjoy nights out in the city were forced to stand behind armoured cops Thousands of supporters of the Popular Front (Front Populaire, left coalition) marched in streets near Place de la Republique on June 30, 2024 in Paris, France People watched fireworks released during a demonstration against the French far-right in Paris Marine Le Pen gleefully declared that Macron's party had been 'wiped out' as she celebrated last weekend's victory, with the RN now set to prepare for the second and final round of the elections today Thevenot's deputy and the party activist were both dashed to a hospital following the attack. 'The symbolic violence of words quickly was replaced by physical violence,' she told reporters while back on the campaign trail Thursday, adding the motive behind the attack was still under investigation. Marie Dauchy, a RN candidate in Savoy, said she was assaulted Wednesday at a food market while campaigning and announced she was abandoning the race. Her party's leader and three-time presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, said on X, formerly Twitter, that two men had 'cowardly' assaulted Dauchy. Last week's post-vote protests saw bins uprooted with their contents littered across the tarmac as protesters flooded the streets waving banners and flares. Young women trying to enjoy nights out in the city were forced to stand behind armoured cops who forced back the activists with batons and tear gas as firefighters were called in to douse the blazes set by protestors. But today, as voting is underway, images from Paris have revealed centrist volunteers replacing campaign posters outside polling stations in a last ditch attempt to influence the vote from left to centre. Images show a pair of volunteers plastering a 'One Clear Choice for Government' poster on to a board - which displays support for Macron's centrist alliance Ensemble pour la Republique, while attempting to warn other voters of the left-wing New Popular Front. Photos of France's Prime Minister Gabriel Attal also emerged, showing Ensemble candidate arriving at a polling station in Vanves, ready to cast his ballot. Amid the current anger surrounding President Macron, Attal has taken on the prominent role as the face of the presidential party. Public sentiment against Macron was evident on June 17 in Val-de-Marne, where a passerby told Attal: 'You're fine. But you'll have to tell the president to shut his mouth'. President of National Rally (Rassemblement National, RN) Jordan Bardella gives a statement on June 30, 2024 in Paris, France. Bardella would be named Prime Minister if the RN wins an absolute majority on Sunday Volunteers were pictured this morning covering campaign posters with images depicting the 'One Clear Choice for Government' The new posters were in support of Macron's centrist alliance Ensemble Pour la Republique and warned against the left-wing New Popular Front French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal was pictured at a polling station in Vanves this morning after casting his ballot in the second round of parliamentary voting French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron leave the voting station on July 7, 2024 in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, France. The National Rally party was expected to have a strong showing in the second round of France's legislative election, which was called by the French president last month after his party performed poorly in the European election French far-right Reconquete! party leader Eric Zemmour (R) casts his ballot to vote in the second round of France's legislative election at a polling station in Paris on July 7, 2024 By noon, the participation rate for the second round of voting hit 26.63 per cent - the highest figure since 1981, according to local media Former French president and member of French left-wing Socialist Party (PS) and candidate for the left wing coalition Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) in the Correze department, Francois Hollande (R) with his wife French actress Julie Gayet as they arrived at a polling station in Tulle to cast their votes This interaction pushed Attal to further separate himself from the president and reiterate to the individual: 'You know, this is a legislative election, we are voting for the prime minister'. Macron was spotted alongside his wife Brigitte at a polling station in Le Touquet, earlier this afternoon, where he greeted local residents before placing his vote. The President of the Republic is set to arrive in Paris and the Elysee Palace, in the presence of leaders of the majority, including Prime Minister Attal, at 6:30pm to follow the election night, according to BFMTV. The meeting is set to take place an hour-and-a-half before the announcement of the results of the second round of the early legislative elections. Also pictured at the polling stations this morning was French far-right Reconquete! party leader Eric Zemmour and former French President Francois Hollande with his wife, French actress Julie Gayet. By noon, the participation rate for the second round of early legislative elections was at around 26.63 per cent compared to the 25.90 per cent in the first round on June 30, according to Le Parisien. By 5pm, the turnout for the second round was 59.71 per cent - the highest since 1981 which followed the election of Francoise Mitterrand to the Elysee. Last week, turnout in the first round was 59.39 per cent at the same time. If the far-right outfit scoop an absolute majority after the second round of voting today, Macron will be forced to appoint 28-year-old RN President Jordan Bardella as his Prime Minister. An RN victory would also represent the first time the far-right takes the reins of power in France since the Nazi occupation during WWII. The last far-right leaders of France were Philippe Petai and his prime minister, Pierre Laval, who headed the Vichy regime that collaborated with the Nazis during World War II. A total of 577 constituencies are being decided in the snap election, one for each seat in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament. A total of 76 lawmakers were elected in the first round - including 39 representing the RN and its allies - leaving 501 sets up for grabs in the run-off today. A convicted drug dealer who drove missing raver Jay Slater to a remote Tenerife AirBnB just before he vanished last month is the mystery 'Johnny Vegas', MailOnline can reveal. Ayub Qassim, 31, was tracked down last week and said apprentice bricklayer Jay, 19, 'arrived alive and left alive' at the apartment following an end of festival after party. But now TV sleuth Mark Williams-Thomas has told MailOnline he has also interviewed Qassim and coaxed out more details from him to flesh out the mystery which include him confirm the nickname Johnny Vegas is his. Jay has not been seen since June 17 when he left the AirBnB in the village of Masca, an hour from the heady party resort of Playa de las Americas in the south of Tenerife. He was driven away by Qassim and another man who have been deemed 'irrelevant' by Spanish police investigating the disappearance - and which has left Jay's family 'baffled'. Jay Slater, 19, went missing in Tenerife since June 17 after he left the AirBnB in the village of Masca Ayub Qassim, 31, (pictured far left with British rapper Potter Payper) was tracked down last week and said apprentice bricklayer Jay, 19, 'arrived alive and left alive' TV sleuth Mark Williams-Thomas (pictured in Tenerife) told MailOnline he has also interviewed Qassim and coaxed out more details from him An extensive search of the mountainside near Masca in the Parque Rural Teno close to where his mobile phone last pinged using drones, dogs and helicopters has failed to find any trace of him. A major breakthrough came last week when MailOnline found Qassim at his flat in East London after a comprehensive investigation and now he has spoken again in depth and revealed new details. Former Met Police officer Mr Williams-Thomas, who exposed Jimmy Savile, told MailOnline: 'In the last 24 hours I have spoken in detail with Ayub Qassim, who is also known as Jonny Vegas. 'He told me he was on the (Veronicas) Strip in Playa de las Americas and said that Jay wanted to carry on partying and that he hadn't anywhere to stay, so he (Qassim) invited him back to his rental. 'In the car they played music all the way, they stopped once to get a can of fizzy drink, and there was three of them in the car, Jay in the back and Qassim's friend in the front. 'Once at the property, his friend opened the door, and went to the left and went straight to sleep. 'Jay walked in, and Qassim walked in behind him, went upstairs, and got him a red blanket.' Jay, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, travelled to the Canary Islands for a musical festival with his friend Lucy and another friend Qassim booked the Airbnb, which Jay went back to with him and another man, under the name Ayub Abdul The 40-a-night Casa Abuela Tina holiday rental near the remote village of Masca where Jay spent his final hours before going missing 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 Mr Williams-Thomas added: 'Qassim said 'Yo bro, the sofa's for you there' and he gave him a towel if he needed a shower. 'Jay also asked for a cigarette and Qassim gave him a Camel cigarette and left it on the side. 'Jay then asked for a charger and then went into Qassim's friend room, while he was sleeping and got the charger.' Mr Williams-Thomas said that Qassim told him he then went to sleep and woke up to the sound of the door buzzing. He added: 'Qassim opened the door and spoke to a woman and man and they told, him to move his car, which he did and he said he could see Jay chatting to a woman. 'He said that after moving the car, he came back and saw Jay had his trainers on and he told Qassim that the woman had said he could get a bus 'every ten minutes'. 'Qassim said to him "Chill, mate, I'll drop you off later, when I wake up' but he said Jay said 'nah, I need some scran, I'm hungry" 'Jay said he had been told by the woman the bus to Los Cristianos was every ten minutes and Qassim said there was no bus and added "Do what you like' before going to sleep." Qassim invited Jay 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' Qassim, 31, was jailed nine years ago for being the mastermind behind a sophisticated operation to flood Wales with Class A drugs 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 Mr Williams-Thomas added: 'Qassim says the next think he remembers is getting a call from one of Jay's friends to say he is lying in a ditch somewhere and that he's been 'bitten by a cactus'. Qassim would not tell Mr Williams-Thomas the identity of the second man who was with him and refused to discuss an alleged theft of a Rolex which might have contributed to Jay's disappearance. Last week the TV detective, who has probed a string of missing persons cases, also said Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, had been 'anxious and scared' when he left the property. Qassim who has spoken to Spanish police was jailed in 2015 for nine years for being the ring leader of a London-based gang dealing heroin and crack cocaine in Cardiff. He is also closely connected to a legal cannabis cafe in Tenerife owned by his childhood pal , drill rapper Potter Payper. Initially it was thought Johnny Vegas was the nickname of the second man who was at the AirBnB but this has been ruled out by Mr Williams-Thomas new interview. However Qassim's story is still far from clear as Jay's apartment was just ten minutes from Papagayo's nightclub where the after party was being held. On Saturday Jay's uncle Glen Duncan, 41, searched the area for several hours with Jay's dad Warren, 58, and his brother Zak, 24. 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 After more than six hours under a blazing sun, he told waiting media he was 'baffled' by the decision to rule the two men out. He added:' I've been thinking third party involvement from the start. Why would these two lads hire a villa up here ? 'They're down on the strip, you know what it's like down there. There's millions of apartments and hotels down there in Los Cristianos and Playa de las Americas. 'Straight away, that's just suspicious in itself. Then apparently one who has been found came out and said he arrived alive and left alone. 'That line in itself is suspicious. The fact he has come out and said all his mates have left him and he had nowhere to go, he was ten minutes from his apartment in Los Cristianos. 'He's not stupid. If he didn't have a room key he could have gone to reception for a replacement.' Spanish police told MailOnline that although the search was over ' the investigation was continuing and there were many open avenues being looked into'. Prince William is set to star in an exclusive ITV documentary charting the first year of his campaign to end homelessness. The future king has set his sights on making rough sleeping, sofa surfing and temporary accommodation a thing of the past in his ambitious five-year initiative programme called Homewards. The Prince of Wales described it as a 'unique opportunity' to create lasting change, as he builds on the legacy of his late mother Princess Diana. The two-part series, which has the working title Prince William: We Can End Homelessness, will follow William as he launches Homewards across the country. It will involve stories from those who are currently experiencing homelessness or have previously been homeless. Well-known advocates of the programme and individuals leading projects across the UK will also feature. Pictured: The Prince of Wales during a visit to Tillydrone Community Campus, Aberdeen, to spotlight how joined-up community support services can improve early intervention and prevent homelessness, June 27, 2023 Pictured: People sleeping rough in tents next to the River Thames opposite the Palace of Westminster on June 8, 2022 Prince William (pictured) will star in the exclusive ITV documentary which will air in the Autumn Director Leo Burley said: 'Over the past year we have spent time following Prince William and The Royal Foundation through the first year of the Homewards programme. 'We've heard some incredibly moving stories from people across the country 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. 'Everyone we've filmed with has welcomed the spotlight that Prince William and Homewards are placing on the UK's homelessness crisis.' Prince William has long been passionate about the issue of homelessness and is royal patron of charity The Passage, after visiting one of their shelters with his mother when he was 11. In 2009 he spent a night sleeping rough to understand the plight of the homeless at Christmas and has joined a Big Issue seller at his pitch for the last two years in a row. Pictured: The Prince of Wales during a visit to the East Belfast Mission at the Skainos Centre, Belfast, as part of his tour of the UK to launch the Homewards project Pictured: Rough sleepers lay in their makeshift beds outside closed shops, at daybreak on Oxford Street in London on August 2, 2023 Homewards brings together a range of organisations to develop solutions in Newport, South Wales, three neighbouring Dorset towns, Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch, the south London Borough of Lambeth, Belfast, Aberdeen and Sheffield. Jo Clinton-Davis, controller of factual at ITV, 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.' Royal Foundation chief executive Amanda Berry 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 people's experiences and those who are coming together to support them, we can inspire action. 'This two-part documentary will help raise vital awareness and demonstrate that, by working together, it is possible to end homelessness.' The series will be shown on ITV1 and ITVX this autumn. Labour has announced plans to release the last two migrants detained as part of the Rwanda scheme after Sir Keir Starmer declared the Tory policy 'dead and buried'. Yvette Cooper, the new Home Secretary, confirmed that two people who had been held pending removal to the African country will be bailed over the coming days. At least 290million of taxpayers' cash had already been earmarked for the Rwanda scheme, despite no migrants ever being deported under the proposals. It is unclear how much of the UK funding promised to Kigali for the 'Migration and Economic Development Partnership' might be recoverable. The only people ever sent to Rwanda from Britain were a handful of failed asylum seekers who voluntarily chose to go under a separate scheme. Each were offered up to 3,000 in financial aid to help with relocation costs. Labour has announced plans to release the last two migrants detained as part of the Rwanda scheme after Sir Keir Starmer declared the Tory policy 'dead and buried' Yvette Cooper, the new Home Secretary, confirmed that two people who had been held pending removal to the African country will be bailed over the coming days A group of people are pictured on board a smuggler's boat in an attempt to cross the Channel near Dunkirk Your browser does not support iframes. Sir Keir, the new Prime Minister, yesterday confirmed the end of the Tories' flagship scheme to forcibly deport those arriving via small boats in the Channel to Rwanda. Speaking at his first Downing Street press conference, 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.' Sir Keir added: 'It's had the complete opposite effect and I'm not prepared to continue with gimmicks that don't act as a deterrent.' A spokesman 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, the spokesman 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 wouldn't have called an election before a flight went off,' they said. 'At this time, only two people remain in detention. These will be bailed in coming days.' On the day she was appointed, the Home Secretary briefed officials on Labour's first step to boosting border security - the setting up of a new 'Border Security Command'. Plans are already underway to deliver additional capacity in the National Crime Agency to go after criminal-smuggling gangs. Earlier this year, Rwanda's president Paul Kagame suggested British taxpayers' money could be repaid if the migration deal with the UK failed. Yolande Makolo, a spokesman for the president's administration, later said the country had 'no obligation' to return any of the funds, but if the UK requested a refund, she said: 'We will consider this.' But Ms Makolo 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 nation's economy. The ex partner of Gavin Plumb says he tracked her down and issued a chilling threat while he was plotting to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby. The 37-year-old, who faces a life sentence after being found guilty of the sick plot involving former This Morning presenter, had been ordered by a court not contact Laura Roberts following the end of their three-year relationship. However, she says he broke a 15-year restraining order by contacting her on social media and turning up at her front door 100 miles from his home. Ms Roberts, 38, claimed the twisted security guard messaged her 'watch your back' and warned that the two children they shared together would 'get hurt'. In another message he allegedly said: 'You have stopped me seeing my kids, now you are going to pay.' Laura Roberts says her ex Gavin Plumb broke a 15-year restraining order to contact her while he hatched his plot to kidnap and murder Holly Willoughby The security guard was found guilty of plotting to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby last week Plumb was caught hatching his plot against Holly Willoughby by an undercover police officer in the United States He even went so far as to travel from his home in Harlow, Essex, to where his ex was living in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, in June last year despite the injunctions against him. Ms Roberts, who described Plumb as a 'complete fantasist' and a 'true monster', said she was terrified to learn he had been hatching his kidnap plot at the same time he broke the court order to contact her. She told The Sun: 'When he was making his plan to go to Hollys house and kidnap her, he actually did track me and the kids down. 'That is terrifying to me. I had court orders and he broke them. He is an evil predator.' She previously told the same publication that she felt guilty as he displayed worrying behaviour during their time together, adding she was 'not surprised' when she was informed of the charges against him. 'I have seen the darkest side to him and he is capable of evil,' she said. '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 added that Willoughby was a 'loved lady' and she was heartbroken she had gone 'through hell' because of Plumb's actions. 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 Gavin Plumb being arrested for plotting to murder the Holly Willoughby Adrian Broad, the father of Gavin, said he lost contact with him after the marriage to his mother broke down Adrian Broad said he ws 'disgusted' by what his son had done but added he needed help It comes after Plumb's own father, Adrian Broad, branded him 'sick' and told the Daily Mail how he had rarely seen his son after his marriage to the mother broke down. He said: 'We split up and I had visitation rights for the boys. 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 '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.' 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.' 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'. He told jurors his online chats were 'massively regrettable' and that he was 'heartbroken, disgusted and shocked' that they had come out. 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 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. Police found equipment including a ball gag, ring gag, blindfolds and cuffs at his flat Plumb, 37, struck up an online relationship with a man who turned out to be undercover police officer 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.' 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 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?' 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. The father of a brave young Aussie who tragically lost his battle with cancer has hit out at heartless scammers who are trying to profit from his death. Levi Tracy, 19, passed away at Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth last week after a two-year battle from acute myeloid leukaemia. The disease is caused by an abnormal growth of white bloods cells which creates tumours in the body. The condition prevents the immune system from fighting germs and infection. Levi's battle with cancer captured the hearts of many Australians who followed his story in recent years. But now his father, Mark, has revealed that fraudsters have allegedly seized on his son's recent death, He's shattered that alleged online scammers have used his son's name and photo in an attempting to drum up donations from followers. 'It's in poor taste really,' Mr Tracy told PerthNow. 'I'm trying to be civil without losing my s**t.' Levi Tracy (pictured) lost his brave fight with acute myeloid leukaemia last week Administrators of the Lifeline for Levi Facebook group, which has 4,000 members, said that it was a 'pretty damn sad day when someone rides on the back of a young boy's death'. They alleged that the scammers approached members asking for 'any contribution, big or small'. 'I am reaching out to ask for your support in a difficult time,' one scam message read. 'Recently our beloved Levi passed away leaving behind a family in need of our help.' 'To assist them in this challenging period, I am seeking donations to cover funeral expenses and provide financial support.' An official GoFundMe page set up by family friend Deb Butler on their behalf, has so far raised more than $22,500. Levi's father, Mark, has revealed that fraudsters have allegedly seized on his son's recent death, attempting to drum up donations from followers They alleged that the scammers approached members asking for 'any contribution, big or small' (pictured: an allegedly fraudulent page) Mr Tracy said that the Go Fund Me was the only official channel for donations. 'We're very humbled and very appreciative of all the support we've been given, (but) we have never reached out and asked for a donation,' he said. 'Feel free to donate if that's what you want to do... we appreciate everything that comes our way, but we've never asked.' The devastated father also urged Australians to donate blood if they could, to help those in a similar situation to Levi. 'Levi was having multiple (blood) products a day, but right towards the end it was quite hectic,' he said. 'There was two particular days where he had eight or nine bags of different products, and that's got to come from somewhere. 'And Levi's just one of many people going through that type of situation (so) we just need everyone who's able take the time to help someone else, to save a loved one - because we understand firsthand how important that stuff is.' Levi (pictured) who lived in Perth, was first diagnosed with cancer when he was just seven before the disease was detected again ten years later The family of the 19-year-old (pictured left), were trying to find a blood stem cell match so that he could receive a life-saving bone marrow transplant Mr Tracy broke the news of his son's death on Tuesday last week. 'This day was never meant to arrive,' he wrote. 'We are broken beyond compare. We have no idea how to move forward and keep going, but we will find a way. Levi would want that.' 'He fought a massive fight and never gave up, the mountain was just too big.' Mr Tracy explained that doctors had struggled to stabilise him in the early hours of Monday morning before the family visited him later that day. Levi, who lived in Perth, was first diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins T-Cell lymphoma when he was just seven years old. After enduring several rounds of chemotherapy for two-and-a-half years, he was finally in remission before he turned 10. But Levi, who found a job as a FIFO worker before he was admitted to hospital, was dealt a cruel blow when he was diagnosed with cancer a second time at the age of 17. His family had been trying to find a blood stem cell match so that Levi could receive a life-saving bone marrow transplant. The procedure allows a person who is not producing enough healthy blood cells to receive the protein from a healthy person who can supply the essential fluid. Friends and loved ones were constantly providing updates on Levi's condition on social media. Levi's funeral will be held this Friday (July 12) at a time and venue yet to confirmed. A former Tory minister who lost his seat in the House of Commons during Thursday night's general election bloodbath has resigned from the party. Marcus Fysh said the Tories have 'no chance of ever being electable again with its current non-Conservative parliamentary composition' as he quit as a member. The 53-year-old, who was junior trade minister when Liz Truss was prime minister, vowed to 'move on', adding: 'Let's do something else.' Mr Fysh had been MP for Yeovil since 2015 until Rishi Sunak called the general election, in which he lost his Somerset constituency to the Liberal Democrats. The Tories' worse-ever defeat has seen bitter recriminations within the party's ranks, as various factions battle for control following Mr Sunak's pledge to resign as leader. In a sign of those deep splits, Mr Fysh was told he's a 'total' idiot by another former Conservative MP. Former Tory minister Marcus Fysh, who lost his seat in the House of Commons during Thursday night's general election bloodbath, has resigned from the party Mr Fysh said the Tories have 'no chance of ever being electable again with its current non-Conservative parliamentary composition' as he quit as a member Nicholas Soames, the grandson of Winston Churchill who was MP for Mid Sussex from 1997 to 2019, hit out at Mr Fysh's public resignation Nicholas Soames, the grandson of Winston Churchill who was MP for Mid Sussex from 1997 to 2019, hit out at Mr Fysh's public resignation. He wrote on X: 'I really don't think anyone will notice. The total idiot.' But Mr Fysh snapped back: 'Mate you are a total weapon.' As the post-mortem into the Tories' general election defeat continued, former home secretary Suella Braveman was scathing of Mr Sunak's 'idiotic strategy'. In an article in the Sunday Telegraph, she wrote: 'People didn't choose Labour, they rejected us. That is the simple truth. 'Labour polled three million fewer votes than they did under Jeremy Corbyn in 2017. Labour's Ming-vase strategy of 'don't move, don't speak, don't blink' worked. 'But only because it faced our idiotic strategy of intermittently and inconsistently making 'Tory Right' noises which disintegrated when set against our liberal Conservative record. 'I say again, whatever some of my colleagues think, the voters aren't mugs: they saw what we did in office and ignored what we insincerely said while campaigning.' Ms Braverman pointed to 'high taxes' and 'high immigration' as among the Conservatives' broken promises. An outback Australian town could be on the verge of another lockdown to combat a growing crime epidemic after four off-duty police officers were allegedly attacked. The Northern Territory Police Commissioner is considering introducing the snap curfew in crime-ravaged Alice Springs following an alleged assault on Sunday. One male and three female officers were allegedly assaulted by a gang of 20 male youths on the Todd River walkway in the Red Centre near the Stott Terrace bridge at about 2.15am on Sunday. The off-duty officers were heading back to their hotel when they were approached from behind by the youths who allegedly proceeded to allegedly assault them. One female officer was allegedly pulled to the ground and had her bag stolen, another female was allegedly punched in the face and kicked multiple times and had her mobile phone taken. The male officer was also allegedly punched and kicked multiple times. The group then left the area as the our off-duty officers returned to their accommodation where they contacted police. Two of the female officers were taken to hospital to be treated for minor injuries. The Northern Territory Police Commissioner is considering introducing another snap curfew in Alice Springs following the alleged assault of four off-duty officers on Sunday (stock image) The shocking incident comes after new legislation was introduced in May by Chief Minister Eva Lawler granting the Police Commissioner the power to enforce snap 72-hour lockdowns. Pictured is a previous incident in Alice Springs NT Police Minister Brent Potter condemned the attack and confirmed the Territory's Police Commissioner Michael Murphy may introduce a 72-hour lockdown to restore order. Mr Potter said the incident was 'criminal' and 'predatory in nature' and the four victims 'just so happened' to be police officers. He said Commissioner Murphy is considering every option and a decision would be made on Monday. 'I can tell you right now he is looking at the curfew,' Mr Potter said. Mr Potter said it had been a 'horror 72 hours' in Alice Springs, following an alleged stabbing in the CBD, and police officer was run over outside a bottle shop. Sunday's shocking incident comes after new legislation was introduced in May by Chief Minister Eva Lawler granting the Police Commissioner the power to enforce snap 72-hour lockdowns. A three-week nightly curfew was imposed in April, banning youths from Alice Spring's CBD between 6pm and 6am. A curfew was imposed on youth in Alice Springs for 14 days in late March, after 150 people allegedly rioted through the streets. A three-week nightly curfew was imposed in April, banning youths from Alice Spring's CBD between 6pm and 6am. Pictured is a previous incident at the Todd Tavern Northern Territory Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said in April he had observed a noticeable decrease in crime around the town's centre following the introduction of the curfew. 'We saw some burglaries in the suburbs and in some commercial premises but not on the same scale that we've seen previous to the curfew,' Mr Murphy said. 'The feedback from police officers and extra support providers has been overwhelmingly positive.' Northern Territory Police urge anyone who witnessed Sunday morning's incident on to contact Crime Stoppers. New health secretary Wes Streeting has called the NHS 'broken', but with only 2billion of extra spending promised so far he faces an enormous challenge to turn it around. The Government says it has already started to work on fixing the service and that the effort to get 40,000 extra appointments a week up and running as promised 'starts straight away'. Mr Streeting has also begun talks with junior doctors, who have been accused of holding politically motivated strikes ahead of the Conservative Party conference and the general election. But while Labour insists it has the policies needed to begin solving the NHS' problems, experts have warned the lack of money and the organisation's sprawling structure would make this task extremely challenging. The NHS is made up of more than 200 trusts, 42 regional bodies and an array of regulators and National Colleges, all with different leadership teams. New health secretary Wes Streeting (seen yesterday) has described the NHS as 'broken' Paul Corrigan, a former adviser to the Labour health secretary Alan Milburn who has met Mr Streeting's team, also warned of a lack of belief on the ground that real change was possible, telling The Times: 'The degree of inertia is really quite significant.' Meanwhile, hospital bosses are concerned that pressure from a new government to hit narrowly defined targets could have unintended consequences and distract from wider improvements. Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers - which represents hospitals - called for the government to be 'really clear-eyed' about the scale of challenges. 'That will require a comprehensive assessment of where we are right now, which may well go beyond the statements or the commitments that have been made so far,' she said. Sir Keir Starmer said yesterday that 'raw honesty' on the NHS was necessary and outlined proposals to change how hospitals operate. Labour's flagship NHS policy is tackling the near record waiting list with an additional 40,000 appointments each week. Some 6.33 million patients are stuck on the waiting list for routine hospital care in England, waiting for 7.57 million treatments, operations or procedures. Mr Streeting has also committed to getting the A&E waiting time back on track within Labour's first term in office. There will also be pressure for him to get a grip on cancer wait times, with the latest figures showing there has been a rise in the proportion of patients facing longer waits to have cancer ruled out or diagnosed, or start treatment. Labour's plan to slash waiting times relies partly on getting staff to work longer hours in return for 50 per cent more pay for the extra time worked. There are also plans for high-intensity operating theatres, where surgeons carry out procedures like knee replacements on weekends, and a 'short term' increase of private sector providers. Mr 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. Mr Streeting with Mr Starmer on a visit to a hospital in Worksop last month The bitter dispute over pay has lasted for 20 months and seen junior doctors go out on strike 11 times, causing widespread disruption across the NHS. Meanwhile, Mr Streeting also faces the threat of collective action by GPs across England - with family doctors currently being balloted by the British Medical Association on whether or not they are in favour of staging action amid a row over the new contract for GP services in England. This could potentially mean GPs limit the number of patients they will see each day to 25, or they may choose to stop performing work they are not formally contracted to do. Sally Warren, director of policy at the King's Fund think tank, said agency that resolving industrial action in the NHS should be the Health Secretary's 'first priority'. Other challenges faced by Mr Streeting include a 11.6billion maintenance backlog and preparing the health service for winter. Labour has pledged to end the 8am scramble for GP appointments by training more doctors and updating the NHS app so slots are easy to book and rearrange. Meanwhile, an adult social care workforce strategy is due to be launched mid-July setting out what the sector needs over the next 15 years on pay, training and career development. Sir Keir was asked on Saturday whether he was happy with the performance of NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard and if he will be keeping her on. He replied: 'This is not aimed at the chief executive of the NHS, it's a reflection on the failure of leadership of the last government, but it is a raw honesty about the state of the NHS because we will not fix it if we aren't honest. 'It's a tough thing to hear if you work in the NHS. Obviously my wife works in the NHS, as I may have mentioned, but it's tough because if you work in the NHS, you're putting a huge amount in in difficult circumstances. It's unrelenting. 'But, you know, we have to be honest about this. It's broken and our job now is not just to say who broke it, the last government, but to get on and start to fix it which is what we will be doing and (Health Secretary) Wes Streeting has already started on that work.' Sir Keir addressed the state of the NHS during a press conference yesterday Mr Streeting wrote after the Prime Minister's press conference: 'Following this morning's Cabinet meeting, I held calls with health ministers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and (Scottish Labour's health spokesperson Jackie Baillie) @jackiebmsp. 'A Labour government in Westminster will be a rising tide that lifts all ships and we'll work constructively with devolved administrations.' Questioned during the press conference on when he can commit to getting 40,000 additional appointments up and running, the Prime Minister said the work on that 'starts straight away'. He said St Thomas' Hospital in Westminster and other hospitals across the country, including Leeds, have already introduced these additional appointments 'of their own volition' by setting up schemes to work evenings and weekends. 'We've talked through with them how they did it... they will go across the country to be deployed to help set up the model in other hospitals as quickly as we can,' he said. 'So I can't say by day X it will happen, but we've already had quite some discussions about how that will be rolled out from day one.' While the NHS has faced its own difficulties in recent years, surveys show that the majority of the British public still believe in the founding principles of the service. Some 82% agree that the NHS should be available to everyone, 91% think it should be free of charge and 82% believe it should be primarily funded through taxes, according to the latest Social Attitudes Survey. Yet the poll showed that satisfaction with the service dipped to its lowest ever level in 2023, with some 24% of the public saying they were satisfied with the health service. Ukraine launched an overnight drone strike that has set a Russian munitions depot ablaze near the border region of Voronezh, it has emerged. A state of emergency was introduced in parts of Voronezh, Russia after the attack sparked a warehouse fire, local authorities said. Regional governor Alexander Gusev said Sunday that 'several drones were detected and destroyed' by Moscow's air defence systems. He added that local residents were bring 'evacuated'. Russia and Ukraine have used drones, including large explosive devices with a range of hundreds of kilometres, extensively since Russia launched its military operation in February 2022. Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russian territory this year, targeting both energy sites it says supply the Russian army and towns and villages just across the border. Ukraine launched an overnight drone strike that has set a Russian munitions depot ablaze near the border region of Voronezh, it has emerged A state of emergency was introduced in parts of Voronezh, Russia after the attack sparked a warehouse fire 'Several drones were detected and destroyed overnight by air defence systems above the Voronezh region,' regional governor Alexander Gusev wrote on the Telegram messaging on Sunday. 'Their falling debris set off a fire in a depot' in the Podgorenski district where 'explosives began to detonate.' Rescue teams were at the scene and Gusev said that some residents in the Podgorensky district of the region were being evacuated. He added: 'There were no casualties.' Ukraine has increased its retaliation against Putin's army and on Saturday night caused a fire in Russia's Krasnodar after carrying out a drone strike on an oil depot. Authorities in Krasnodar province - next to Russia-annexed Crimea - reported on Saturday that several oil depots were on fire in Pavlovsky and Leningradsky districts of the region in southern Russia. Debris from a drone strike sparked a fire at an oil depot, set fuel tanks ablaze in a separate location and damaged a cellphone tower, the reports said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Firefighters extinguished a blaze at an oil depot in the Pavlovsky district on Saturday. On Sunday, local authorities said on Telegram that the fire in Leningradsky had also been put out. Regional governor Alexander Gusev said Sunday that 'several drones were detected and destroyed' by Moscow 's air defence systems. He added that local residents were bring 'evacuated' Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russian territory this year, targeting both energy sites it says supply the Russian army and towns and villages just across the border. Pictured is the fire at the ammunition store in Russia's Voronezh region on Sunday Smoke fills the air on Sunday after a Ukrainian drone strike sparked a fire at an ammunitions depot in Voronezh, Russia The Russian military also claimed on Saturday that its air defence units had downed seven Ukrainian drones each on Saturday in the southern Belgorod and Kursk regions on the Ukrainian border. The Russian Defence Ministry said seven drones were intercepted over Belgorod region, which is subjected to nearly daily Ukrainian attacks. Alexei Smirnov, governor of Kursk region, further north and west, also reported seven drones had been downed over his region. He said Ukrainian forces had shelled about 10 villages over the course of the day. Meanwhile, Russian Iskander ballistic missiles destroyed two launchers for Patriot surface-to-air missiles systems in Ukraine's Odesa region, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday. The attack took place in the area of the port of Yuzhne, the ministry said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app, adding that a radar station was also destroyed. It was no clear when the attack on the Patriot launchers took place. A video released on Telegram by the ministry shows daylight explosions on uninhabited land near a coastline, after zooming onto difficult to identify objects. Reuters could not independently verify the Russian report. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Earlier on Sunday, Ukraine's air force said that Russia attacked Ukraine with two Iskander ballistic missiles, but it did not provide further detail. Local resident Natalia Latysheva, 60, stands inside her house destroyed by recent shelling, which local Russian-installed authorities called a Ukrainian military strike, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the town of Yasynuvata in the Donetsk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine on July 6, 2024 A Ukrainian soldier rests as Infantry secure the area for the 3rd Assault Brigade at sunset on July 1, 2024 in Kharkiv Region, Borovaya Directions, Ukraine An expert of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office records the destruction because of the Russian shelling on July 3, 2024 in Kharkiv, Ukraine It comes after Russian strikes on Friday night 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. Russian state agency RIA cited a local pro-Kremlin 'underground' leader as saying that Moscow's forces overnight hit a plant producing rocket ammunition in the city, which had a pre-war population of over 256,000. The report didn't 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. Russia is continually targeting Ukraine's badly damaged energy infrastructure, resulting in hours of rolling blackouts across the country. Ukrainian officials have warned that the situation may worsen as winter approaches. 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 morning 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 30 kilometers (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. A Ukrainian National Guard soldier waits for orders to fire artillery to Russian positions in Serebryansky forest of Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on June 26, 2024 An aerial view of the city damaged by the continuous attacks of the Russian army in the city of Toretsk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on July 5, 2024 A view of the destruction of buildings by the continuous attacks of the Russian army in the city of Toretsk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on July 5, 2024 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, after Kyiv's forces thwarted a cross-border push further north that briefly threatened Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv. A Ukrainian military spokesperson on Thursday said that Ukrainian forces had retreated from a neighborhood on the outskirts of Chasiv Yar. The town's elevated location gives it strategic importance, and military analysts say its fall would put nearby cities in jeopardy. It could also compromise critical Ukrainian supply routes and bring Russia closer to its stated aim of seizing the entire Donetsk region. According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Russian forces on Friday and overnight launched six rocket strikes and 55 airstrikes across Ukraine, and used more than 70 'glide bombs' - retrofitted Soviet-era weapons that have wrought devastation in the country in recent weeks. Khama Press, June 29, 2024 By Fidel Rahmati According to reports, staff from the Sihat-e-Tafal, Stomatology, Sheikh Zayed, and Wazir Akbar Khan hospitals have participated in the strike. Images released by the media on Saturday show dozens of women in medical uniforms gathering in front of these hospitals. Some of these women have criticized the Talibans decision to reduce the salaries of female employees as unjust, stating that 5,000 Afghanis is insufficient even for the most basic living expenses. In mid-last month, a letter addressed to the Taliban administration surfaced in the media, revealing that Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban leader, has set the salary for female government employees at 5,000 Afghanis. The letter from the Talibans administration to its finance department stated, All female employees of the previous government, whose salaries are now being paid, will receive 5,000 Afghanis in both budgetary and non-budgetary units, and all salaries will be equal. In recent weeks, the Talibans decision to reduce the salaries of female employees has drawn repeated criticism from women activists, who have labeled this action as part of the groups ongoing efforts to marginalize women. Earlier, Volker Turk, the UNs High Commissioner for Human Rights, had also objected to this decision. Amidst oppressive policies against women in Afghanistan, including severe restrictions on education and employment opportunities, the recent reduction of female doctors wages to 5,000 Afghanis has sparked significant outcry. Female employees from hospitals such as Sihat-e-Tafal, Stomatology, Sheikh Zayed, and Wazir Akbar Khan in Kabul have initiated a strike in protest against this wage cut, highlighting the dire financial implications for their livelihoods. The Tory post-mortem into the party's devastating election defeat began in earnest today as ex-ministers admitted they failed to deliver during 14 years in power. A slew of senior Conservatives led the inquiry into the crushing loss that saw Sir Keir Starmer's Labour storm to a massive landslide victory on Thursday night. Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister, this morning delivered his 'painfully honest' assessment of what went wrong for the Tories. Ahead of what is set to be a bitter internal battle between various factions over the coming weeks, he claimed the party was neither 'too left-wing or right-wing'. But Mr Jenrick acknowledged Tory governments 'failed to deliver on the promises we made to the British public' on immigration, tax and the NHS. Victoria Atkins, who was health secretary until last week, claimed Britain was still 'instinctively Conservative' but suggested her party had lost the trust of voters. She said Labour's support across the country was 'spread very thinly a little bit like margarine' as she vowed the Tories would 'rebuild' from their worst-ever result. In a more brutal verdict on the Conservatives' election campaign, former home secretary Suella Braverman was scathing of Rishi Sunak's 'idiotic strategy'. Ms Braverman, Ms Atkins and Mr Jenrick are all expected to be among those bidding to replace Mr Sunak after the former PM announced his plan to quit as party leader. But none have yet to formally confirm they will stand in the upcoming Tory contest. Ex-chancellor Nadhim Zahawi warned the biggest challenge facing an incoming Conservative leader would be re-uniting the party in the wake of the huge loss. Former Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick acknowledged Tory governments 'failed to deliver on the promises we made to the British public' on immigration, tax and the NHS Victoria Atkins, who was health secretary until last week, claimed Britain was still 'instinctively Conservative' but suggested her party had lost the trust of voters In a more brutal verdict on the Conservatives' election campaign, former home secretary Suella Braverman was scathing of Rishi Sunak 's 'idiotic strategy' Ex-chancellor Nadhim Zahawi warned the biggest challenge facing an incoming Conservative leader would be re-uniting the party in the wake of the huge loss Ms Braverman, Ms Atkins and Mr Jenrick are all expected to be among those bidding to replace Mr Sunak after the former PM announced his plan to quit as Tory leader Speaking to the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show this morning, Mr Jenrick acknowledged the Tories lost heavily because they 'failed to deliver' on key pledges. 'The reason we lost the trust of millions of people across the country is not because we were too left-wing or right-wing or had this slogan or that slogan,' he said. 'But fundamentally because we failed to deliver on the promises we made to the British public. 'In 2019 we promised we would get Brexit done and that we would deliver a strong economy, a strong NHS and secure borders. 'And although there are many things that I'll fiercely defend about the record of our party in government and we did get Brexit done. 'We did not deliver the level of growth and taxation that Conservatives expect, the quality of service in the NHS that the public need. 'And, above all, the secure borders and controlled and reduced migration that we promised and that we need to deliver.' Mr Jenrick - once dubbed 'Robert Generic' by critics - refused to say if he would seek to replace Mr Sunak as party leader, despite his appearance on the prime BBC slot. He said: 'I honestly don't think that three days on from the general election, in which we've just lost so many of our friends and colleagues, that it is right to have self-indulgent conversations like this. Pressed further, Mr Jenrick declined to talk about his own leadership ambitions before saying: 'The first step for the party is to have a proper honest diagnosis about what's gone wrong.' He supported a longer contest to choose a new leader, despite a push by some Tories for Mr Sunak's successor to be installed swiftly. 'I would support a longer campaign,' Mr Jenrick said. 'I think we as a party have to think very carefully about what's happened.' Ms Atkins also did not rule out standing in the leadership race during an appearance on the same programme - but said it was not yet time for candidates to declare. 'This weekend is not about leadership,' she said. 'The absolute focus at the moment, and the reason I came on today, was genuinely not to talk about leadership because this is not the moment for this. 'We need to show the public that we understand they have sent us some very, very loud messages, that we are listening, that we are reflecting and then we as a party need to get together and unite and work out what we want for the future.' Quizzed on what had gone wrong for the Tories, Ms Atkins said: 'For me, one of the messages - and please don't think I'm trying to turn away from the very loud, clear messages to us as a party. 'But I do observe that the support for the Labour Party in this election has spread very thinly - a little bit like margarine. 'And so I think there's a real opportunity for us as a party - once we have reflected, once we have absolutely taken on board those lessons and acted on them - I think there's a real job for us to do to rebuild our party and we will do that, we will get there.' Ms Atkins was challenged over her claim that Britain is 'instinctively Conservative' in the wake of Labour winning a 174-seat majority in the House of Commons. 'In terms of their values, their instincts, they are - I believe - still instinctively Conservative,' she said . 'They want lower taxes, they want build a better future for their children, they want us to help them thrive in their personal lives and their livelihoods.' In an article in the Sunday Telegraph, Ms Braverman agreed with suggestions that voters hadn't chosen Labour but had instead turned against the Conservatives. In scathing critique of the Tory campaign, she wrote: 'People didn't choose Labour, they rejected us. That is the simple truth. 'Labour polled three million fewer votes than they did under Jeremy Corbyn in 2017. Labour's Ming-vase strategy of 'don't move, don't speak, don't blink' worked. 'But only because it faced our idiotic strategy of intermittently and inconsistently making 'Tory Right' noises which disintegrated when set against our liberal Conservative record. 'I say again, whatever some of my colleagues think, the voters aren't mugs: they saw what we did in office and ignored what we insincerely said while campaigning.' Ms Braverman pointed to 'high taxes' and 'high immigration' as among the Conservatives' broken promises. Speaking to Sky News, Mr Zahawi said 'the biggest challenge is unity' for the next Tory leader ahead of what could be another divisive leadership contest. The former MP, who did not stand in the election, admitted the result for the Tories was 'pretty catastrophic' but said the party still had 'some serious talent' in Parliament. Asked who he would like to see as the new party leader, Mr Zahawi said: 'At this stage, I think the most important thing, whoever comes forward, is they come up with a plan of how to unite the party, (to) bring us back together. 'I think the biggest challenge for us is unity, and I think that the lesson if we haven't learnt it yet then we really will be in trouble is that we have to present a united front to the country. 'Rishi suffered badly in the campaign because there were voices from his own party coming out against (him).' Mr Zahawi said the electorate had reacted with their votes after the Conservatives' had 'formed a circular firing squad'. This nondescript building on a quiet side street in the Swiss city of Basel is the unlikely headquarters of a controversial suicide clinic where a US mother ended her life to 'punish' her estranged husband. Catherine Kassenoff, from Westchester in New York State, traveled to Basel last May to take her life at the Pegasos Swiss Association, which charges $11,000 (8,600) for what it advertises as death with minimal 'bureaucracy'. The 54-year-old lawyer claimed her husband, Alan, had been abusing her and their children for years, and that it led to her taking her own life amid their custody battle, although Mr Kassenoff has denied being abusive. While the far better known Dignitas clinic is located in a detached building with balconies surrounded by grass and a duck pond, Pegasos is housed in a bland three-storey block with anonymous white waiting rooms resembling a dentist's surgery. And also unlike Dignitas, Pegasos does not require people to be terminally ill to choose to die. Among the hundreds who ended their lives there last year was British chemistry teacher Alastair Hamilton, who took a lethal overdose of drugs without telling his family and had no discernable illness, and two American sisters who had become 'tired' of life. Pegasos Swiss Association, which was established in August 2019, has a nondescript exterior One of Pegasos's death rooms is pictured in a 2020 documentary about Laura Henkel (center) who chose to die there Catherine Kassenoff, 54, of Westchester, took to Facebook in May of last year to pen a note where she announced she would be 'ending my own life' The Hamilton family only learned Alastair had taken his life at the clinic after police examined his bank account statements and found that he had transferred thousands of pounds to Pegasos, leading his mother Judith to brand it a 'cowboy clinic'. Mr Hamilton told his parents he was visiting a friend in Paris when instead he was flying to Basel in Switzerland to end his life. Shockingly, it took the persistence of Mr Hamilton's devastated family, the Metropolitan Police, the Foreign Office and Interpol to discover what had happened to Alastair after he vanished last summer. In emails to Alastair's family, a frustrated Met Police sergeant criticised Pegasos's 'lack of compassion and lack of transparency' as 'completely unacceptable'. The clinic later vowed to change its procedures to ensure that relatives were always informed in future. In another controversial case, American sisters Ammouri and Susan Frazier decided to die at Pegasos in 2022 because they had become 'tired of life'. Dr Ammouri, a 54-year-old palliative care doctor, and Ms Frazier, 49, had been suffering from medical 'frustrations' including chronic insomnia, vertigo and back pain, a doctor they consulted told The Independent. Their grieving brother, Ammouri Ammouri, said he wanted answers over their deaths, telling the New York Post: 'They were so secretive, especially with me. 'Can someone tell me what happened? Do people snap just like that? It could be. You wake up one day and you don't feel like life is precious.' The Pegasos building is three stories high, with a hairdresser also occupying its first floor. There is no obvious indication outside that the building is also home to an assisted suicide facility. The not-for-profit clinic was founded by Ruedi Habegger, the brother of the Swiss suicide activist Erika Preisig. Habegger was inspired by the case of 104-year-old British born biologist David Goodall, who had to fly to Switzerland to end his life in 2018 because he could not do so in Australia, where he lived. The clinic prides itself on minimising bureaucracy and operates on a not-for-profit basis. Pegasos's death rooms are intimate, and at least one appears to be windowless, or have its curtains drawn for privacy. Images of one of the rooms shown on Australian and American documentaries about patients who previously traveled there to die shows breezeblock walls painted white, as well what appears to be a rug pinned to the walls. Laura Henkel, an Australian woman who allowed her filmmaker daughter to record her final moments at Pegasos, was seen laying on the death room's bed during her final moments in December 2019. She opted for death via intravenous injection, which can be seen beside her bed in an image from the documentary. Henkel had just turned 90, was not suffering from any terminal illness, and said she was mentally and physically healthy for her age. But she said she wanted to decide to die on her own terms, before suffering the type of illness commonly associated with very old age that could have prevented her from being able to make that decision. Henkel traveled to Switzerland because assisted dying is illegal in her home country of Australia. Pegasos is housed in a bland three-storey block with anonymous white waiting rooms resembling a dentist's surgery In the end, patients are instructed on how to provide themselves with a lethal drug cocktail that can be delivered through an intravenous drip or through a drink. Cindy Siegel Shelpler (right, pictured at the facility with husband David before the process) chose the IV option, commenting that it felt cold before falling asleep and dying While the Dignitas clinic (pictured) is located in a detached building with balconies surrounded by grass and a duck pond, Pegasos is housed in a bland three-storey block Dignitas (pictured) has helped thousands of people end their lives When the time comes, patients are instructed on how to kill themselves. They can either select a lethal drink or death through an intravenous drip. A doctor will hook the patient up to the drip, to insure the needle is inserted correctly, but the patient must push a notch to let its deadly contents flow into their body. Pegasos approves all adults of 'sound mind' regardless of their country of origin or residence, the company boasts on their website. A third party must be there to confirm and identify the person who took their own life. Pegasos advices patients who do not have a witness to contact another assisted dying organization called Exit for help. In order to use Pegasos services, individuals must be members of the organization and pay an annual fee of about $110 (86). Once a member, a person can apply for VAD. In order to apply for the process, Pegasos needs to know the reason a person is requesting a VAD as well as their current living situation and family background. Patients must also submit a brief biography, a birth certificate, marriage or divorce certificates, funeral instructions, health reports and proof of residence. Aside from the membership fee, which could be waived if a patient is already a member of Exit International, the average cost of a VAD with Pegasos is more than $11,000 (8,600). Pegasos has English, Swiss, German, French and Italian speakers on staff. It has no required waiting period for assisted suicide but does require consultations to be completed. 'Pegasos believes that for a person to be in the headspace of considering ending their lives, their quality of life must be qualitatively poor,' the company explains on their website. 'Pegasos accepts that some people who are not technically 'sick' may want to apply for a voluntary assisted dying. But this does not mean the person is 'well'. Professor David Goodall was one of these people. 'He was not sick but his eyesight was failing him, as was his mobility. Old age is rarely kind. The decision to end one's life is an intensely personal one. 'Pegasos makes every effort to fully understand the unique circumstances of everyone who makes contact with us.' Catherine Kassenoff travelled to the Pegasos Swiss in May last year after announcing on Facebook that she was 'ending my own life'. She had claimed her husband Allan Kassenoff had been abusing her and their children for years, and that it led to her taking her own life. Allan was given sole custody of their three daughters, with his wife opting to kill herself after she lost visitation rights and being diagnosed with terminal cancer. The clinic was founded by Ruedi Habegger, who was inspired by the case of 104-year-old British born biologist David Goodall (pictured) Mrs Kassenoff had claimed her husband Allan Kassenoff had been abusing her and their children for years, and that it led to her taking her own life amid their custody battle New details have since emerged about her suicide, as well as claims from former nannies that Catherine had punished her own adopted daughter by 'dripping water' on her all day so she couldn't sleep. She is accused of treating her other daughters who were later born via IVF in a much kinder way. As part of her Facebook post, Catherine also released thousands of court documents, alongside videos of her husband, in a now defunct Dropbox link. One of the reports seen by the outlet that was released was written by UK based former psychiatrist Colin Brewer. Brewer had written in his report for the Pegasos that Catherine was of a 'sound enough mind' to end her life. In Switzerland, it is legal to provide an individual the means to take their own life as long as the reason is not 'based on self-interest.' According to Swissinfo.ch, around 1,300 people died by assisted suicide in Switzerland in 2020. Prior to the pandemic, about half those were from oversees, the majority came from Germany and the UK. The process is primarily carried out with the assistance of Dignitas and Exit, the two largest assisted suicide organizations in the country. In the UK, under the Suicide Act 1961, anyone helping or encouraging someone to take their own life in England or Wales can be prosecuted and jailed for up to 14 years if found guilty of an offence. Section two of the act states that a person is guilty of an offence if they carry out an act capable of encouraging or assisting the suicide or attempted suicide of another person, and the act was intended to encourage or assist suicide or an attempt at suicide. In 2015 MPs including former prime minister David Cameron rejected a Bill to legalize assisted dying. Opposition to changing the law has come from faith groups, campaigners who say disabled people may feel pressured to end their lives and campaigners who fear assisted dying would become a business. The Campaign for Dignity in Dying, an anti-Dignitas group, estimates that nearly 350 Britons have died through Dignitas. Catherine Kassenoff's husband Alan was forced to quit his job as a lawyer following a leave of absence in June, because TikToker Robbie Harvey, an advocate for women in abusive relationships, started uploading videos Catherine had shared on her Facebook. Her videos were removed but her claims were circulated online and among over 3 million of his followers. Along with the details of their nasty legal woes and his alleged abuse, Catherine shared videos of Kassenoff throwing tantrums and calling her a 'fat, old loser.' Among the hundreds who died there at Pegasos last year was British chemistry teacher Alastair Hamilton, who took a lethal injection without telling his family and had no discernable illness His distraught mother Judith Hamilton, 81, called the facility a 'cowboy clinic' In another video, he was heard berating the mom-of-three, saying he hated her. Other clips show him allegedly screaming behind doors, yelling at his kids to 'shut up,' and dramatically leaving their home and refusing to take care of the children that remain in his custody. Meanwhile, a video of one of their daughters reveals the young girl crying and saying she doesn't 'want to go with that crazy guy.' Kasenoff sued Harvey last year for him sharing the clips, claiming they led to financial and emotional ruin. 'With a few clicks of his keyboard and a video uploaded to TikTok, Defendant Robert Harvey financially destroyed Plaintiff Allan Kassenoff,' his attorneys wrote in the filing. 'And, even worse, irreparably harmed Mr. Kassenoff's three young children by forcing them into a life where their identities will forever be associated with a bitter and ugly divorce and the suicide of their mother.' The lawsuit claims that Harvey's followers 'bombarded' the law firm with more than 7,000 calls and 500 emails accusing him of being the reason Catherine took her life. Allan had sought out $150m (117m) to compensate him for his loss of earnings and his 'destroyed reputation. They settled earlier this week for an undisclosed sum. Catherine shared videos of Kassenoff throwing tantrums and calling her a 'fat, old loser'. In another controversial case, American sisters Ammouri and Susan Frazier decided to die at Pegasos because they had become 'tired of life' The sisters traveled to Basel on February 3, staying a week in the city and completing a psychiatric evaluation before dying together on February 11 In another video, he was heard berating the mother-of-three and saying he hated her. Further clips show him supposedly screaming behind doors, screaming at his kids to 'shut up', dramatically leaving their home, and refusing to take care of the children that were in his custody. Allan Kasenoff sued Harvey last year for him sharing the clips, claiming they led to financial and emotional ruin. The lawsuit states that Harvey's followers 'bombarded' the law firm with over 7,000 calls and 500 emails accusing him of being the reason why Catherine took her life. Allan sought out $150 million to compensate him for his loss of earnings and his diminished reputation, and they settled at the start of the week, for an unidentified amount. Recently, Harvey released a nine-minute video apologising for the videos, stating the had 'made some mistakes in the reporting' of the divorce. He added: 'Catherine did not provide a complete record of what was happening. I echoed exactly what Catherine said. 'I wish I would have known the whole story at the time when I was reporting the Kassenoff case. But I did not. Now that more facts have been presented to me, I now see where I was wrong.' Outspoken academic Kathleen Stock has blasted the medical profession for 'experimenting' on teenagers by giving them hormones and allowing them to undergo gender reassignment surgery. The gender-critical professor, who resigned from her role at the University of Sussex in 2021 after a huge backlash over her comments on transgender rights, has called for people to be in their 'twenties at least' before undergoing procedures. Professor Stock described adolescent concerns over gender identity as often occurring during a 'playful phase' and said people should receive 'a lot of counselling' before making any firm decisions. The feminist, who worked at the university for 18 years, made headlines after opposing proposals for self-identification but has always denied being transphobic. Speaking on the Rosebud podcast, Prof Stock said society had made it more common for children to raise questions over their identity but that didn't necessarily mean they were transgender. Outspoken academic Kathleen Stock (pictured at Oxford University last year) has blasted the medical profession for 'experimenting' on teenagers by giving them hormones The gender-critical professor (pictured outside Oxford Union last year) resigned from her role at the University of Sussex in 2021 after a huge backlash over her comments on transgender rights Upon the professor's arrival in Oxford in June 2023 hundreds of demonstrators chanted and played loud music to try to drown out the academic 'It's much more prevalent now because children look around them and see it as a possibility where they didn't so much (in the past) but it's always been there,' she said. 'It's a playful phase where they're experimenting with identities and the fact that they're being given drugs on the basis of these thoughts is absolutely unconscionable. 'At the very least you give it enough time. The 18 year old who wants to get rid of their secondary sex organs, that's pretty soon in my book. I think it'd be great if you could wait until you're in your 20s at least.' Earlier this year in March, a landmark ruling banned children from being given puberty blockers on the NHS. The health service in England said it would no longer offer gender-questioning children controversial puberty blockers, saying its review found a lack of evidence on their 'safety or clinical effectiveness'. Puberty blockers, a class of medications called gonadotrophin-releasing hormone analogues, pause the physical changes of puberty such as breast development or the growth of facial hair. This gave gender dysphoria sufferers time to 'consider their options' and 'explore their developing gender identity' before potentially starting more permanent forms of treatment like sex hormones, according to now defunct NHS guidance. A protester, Riz Possnett, 19, glues their hand to the floor in front of Union President Matthew Dick (left) and Professor Stock (right) during a debate at Oxford University in June 2023 Guards walked the feminist to the debating society ahead of her talk Riz Possnett, who glued herself in front of the stage, posted on Twitter: 'Trans people in the UK are stigmatised, threatened, and harassed' The decision received backlash from those within the trans community who slammed the 'cruel' decision, arguing it would 'irreparably' damage the health of trans youth. Meanwhile, campaigners celebrated the move. One ex-patient given the powerful drugs as a child said it was 'insane' that kids were ever allowed to take them. Professor Stock also previously condemned proposals to ban conversion therapy and said it would 'rob' people of the 'chance to think again'. The academic went on to claim in the podcast that people should receive counselling before making any decision to formally transition. The professor added: 'You need a lot of counselling. You certainly don't need one or two half hour appointments in a gender clinic before you're given testosterone or an appointment with a surgeon - you need to seriously, seriously, seriously, think about this.' Professor Stock was forced to leave her role at the University of Sussex after she was hounded for saying biological males cannot be women. Last year, she was invited to Oxford University to speak the 200-year-old debating society on the issue. Upon her arrival, hundreds of demonstrators chanted and played loud music to try to drown out the academic. When inside the chamber her address was crashed by anti-royal trans activist Riz Possnett, who glued themselves to the floor as others ranted about 'no more dead trans kids'. She later revealed that she was bundled into a broom cupboard by security on campus ahead of her speech. Angela Rayner returned to Downing Street today as Britain's new Deputy Prime Minister continued her work after taking over a key Whitehall department. The 44-year-old was seen leaving No10 this morning after meeting with Sir Keir Starmer behind the famous black door for the third time in three days. Following Labour's general election victory, Ms Rayner was appointed both Deputy PM and Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. She is set to take the lead role in Labour's promised housebuilding blitz, following the party's general election pledge to build 1.5million new homes. Ms Rayner is expected to soon unveil a new ministerial office for her department in Manchester and split her time between there and London. It comes as Labour bosses face up to the threat posed by Reform UK, who won five seats at the general election and also came second in scores of others. It has emerged how Sir Keir plans to portray Nigel Farage's party as part of a 'coalition of chaos' alongside the defeated Tories. Angela Rayner returned to Downing Street today as Britain's new Deputy Prime Minister continued her work after taking over a key Whitehall department The 44-year-old was seen leaving No10 this morning after meeting with Sir Keir Starmer behind the famous black door for the third time in three days Labour bosses are said to be facing up to the threat posed by Nigel Farage's Reform UK, who won five seats at the general election and also came second in scores of others At Thursday's election Reform came in second place in 103 constituencies - the vast majority of which were won by Labour. Mr Farage today warned Sir Keir: 'We are coming for you.' According to the Sunday Times, Sir Keir will urge voters to reject Reform by swiping at the Tory governments of Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss and Boris Johnson and saying: 'We don't need a Reform government as we've already had the Reform-lite.' A source told the newspaper that Labour would attack Mr Farage's party as 'continuity chaos'. 'We cannot let these people loose on the country again,' they said. 'We don't want more of their experiments that brought Britain to its knees attention-seeking and headline-grabbing simplistic solutions.' Speaking to the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show today, Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds confirmed Labour would 'come for' Reform. 'We've got an outstanding mandate, but of course we take seriously and will analyse those results,' he said of the performance of Reform on Thursday night. 'I did meet in this election good people who were telling me they were thinking of voting Reform - that doesn't mean Reform are good people. 'When you were able to tell people 'well, look, this is what they believe - they support the economic policies of Liz Truss, they support the foreign policies of Vladimir Putin', people are horrified. 'But now a party like Reform, now it has MPs, will come under the kind of scrutiny that they maybe always should have come under. 'They will find that very difficult, and we will come for them - we will tell people what their agenda would mean for their economic security and their national security.' But, amid the warnings Labour would now turn its fire on Reform after defeating Mr Sunak's Tory government, Mr Farage today told Sir Keir: 'We are coming for you.' As well as winning five seats at Thursday's election, Reform came in second place in a further 103 constituencies - the vast majority of which were won by Labour. Last night, Lord Mandelson - one of the architects of New Labour - acknowledged the challenge facing Sir Keir. The former Cabinet minister gave a speech to the Cercle des Economistes think tank in France, on the eve of the country's second round of parliamentary elections. Marine Le Pen's hard-right National Rally party are hoping for a historic victory in the French contest. Speaking in Aix, Lord Mandelson said: 'Have no illusions, Britain is not immune to the political forces we are seeing in France this is a Europe-wide phenomenon. 'A populist, nationalist movement is growing on the right in the UK too and how we all respond to this will shape politics for a generation.' South Australia's top cop and his wife have opened about the heartbreaking loss of their youngest child and the last thing they ever said to their son. The pain for Police Commissioner Grant Stevens and his wife Emma is still brutally raw seven months on from the tragedy that rocked their family. Charlie Stevens, 18, was with friends waiting for a bus to head to Schoolies celebrations when he was struck by a car driven by Dhirren Randhawa in Goolwa, south of Adelaide, on November 17 last year. Charlie was airlifted to Flinders Medical Centre but died the next day from a severe brain injury surrounded by his family. Commissioner Stevens and his wife wept as they opened up about seeing Charlie in hospital after the crash and revealed their final words to him in a powerful interview aired on 60 Minutes on Sunday night, 'Some things I won't repeat 'cause I was cross with him,' Mrs Stevens recalled. 'I just think I said, "Love you. You're my baby and you always will be".' Commissioner Stevens added: 'It was good to spend time with him, but the hardest thing was leaving for the last time.' Charlie Stevens (pictured), the youngest son of SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens, was killed in a horror hit-and-run last November The couple acknowledged that not only had their lives changed forever, so had the life of the driver who killed their son. They expressed remarkable compassion and forgiveness for Rhandhawa, who was also 18 and on his P-plates at the time. 'You know he's going to have to live with this his whole entire life,' Mrs Stevens said. 'I think being a parent, being a mum of an 18-year-old, they're not that smart. They're 18. 'And I look at it and I think it also could have been Charlie.' Rhandhawa was initially charged with causing death by dangerous driving, aggravated driving without due care, leaving the scene of a crash after death and failing to truly answer question. However, in a plea deal, he admitted to a charge of aggravated driving without due care and leaving the scene of a crash. He will face court next month for sentencing. Commissioner Grant Stevens (right) and his wife Emma (left) fought back tears while remembering their son Rhandhawa's admission of guilt will save the Stevens enduring the pain of a trial. 'We're grateful for the fact that Dhirren has pleaded guilty,' Commissioner Stevens said. 'It gives us some understanding of the acceptance of his responsibility.' Rhandhawa penned a letter of apology to the Stevens for which they are very grateful. 'We appreciate it, we appreciate the fact that he's given us that apology,' Commissioner Stevens said. 'We think that's, obviously, it gives us some understanding of his acceptance, of his responsibility. 'But I think with what is left to occur in the court process, we'll just let that unfold.' His wife added: 'And he's written it, and that it's words from an 18-year-old,' Mrs Stevens said. 'I don't think he's been sat down and told what to write. I think it's him.' Ms Stevens then joked: 'In fact, I'm not so sure Charlie would be able to write something quite as good as that.' Charlie (pictured) was an organ donor and gave seven people a second chance of life Commissioner Stevens admitted that he never thought his family would be the one to hear the news a loved one had been killed. 'I always thought that delivering a death message was the hardest thing police officers have to do,' he told the program. 'And as much as you empathise with the families that you give that information to, you have no concept, no appreciation of just how tragic it is, and how it just rips your guts out. 'You never think it's going to happen to you.' The couple also revealed that, as an organ donor, Charlie had given seven people a second chance of life. They looked back on his memorable funeral service that was attended by nearly 2,000 mourners. Instead of sending flowers, the Stevens family requested mourners make donations to Operation Flinders, an outback adventure therapy program that has been running for more than 30 years. In that time, Operation Flinders has so far helped 10,000 at-risk teenagers. In an overwhelming response, close to $220,000 has so far been raised in Charlie's name as his legacy continues. Missing Jay Slater's father has questioned why two men who drove his son to a remote Tenerife Airbnb have been ruled out of having any involvement with his disappearance almost three weeks ago. Warren Slater, 58, spoke out after completing a gruelling eight-hour search in 25C heat under a blazing sun in a remote valley where Jay's phone last pinged on June 17. Just hours earlier Jay, 19, had been driven to the mountain village of Masca by a convicted drug dealer named by MailOnline as Ayub Qassim, 31, and another man who has not been identified and despite being among the last who saw him both have been deemed 'irrelevant' by Spanish police. 'Everything stinks. It's just a riddle and I don't know the outcome,' Warren said. Ayub Qassim previously said he had invited Jay back to his rented holiday cottage after a rave in in the hours before he vanished on June 17. He previously told MailOnline: 'He came to my Airbnb alive and he left my Airbnb alive.' Missing Jay Slater's father has questioned why two men who drove his son to a remote Tenerife AirBnB have been ruled out of having any involvement with his disappearance almost three weeks ago. Pictured: Jay Slater Jay's father Warren Slater, joined in the search by his other son Zak, 24, is pictured in Tenerife on Saturday. The pair were looking for Jay Warren told MailOnline: 'We're going round and round in circles. The Spanish police, you can't go screaming and shouting at them because they don't do anything. 'If you start screaming and shouting they won't do anything even more. If they want to go and search a house, they have to go to court first.' 'You need Columbo,' he added. 'So when you get home, get me a Columbo. Warren, who was joined in the search by his other son Zak, 24, is in Tenerife with Jay's mother Debbie Duncan, 55. All have vowed to remain there until the missing apprentice bricklayer from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, is found. He said: 'It's the fourth time I've done this. It was hard, I nearly put my eye out. Tell me where I look, I can only go off the last sighting, the woman in that restaurant saw him going the wrong way. 'Which human being lets a young boy go the wrong way?' Warren, 58, spoke out after completing a gruelling eight-hour search in 25C heat under a blazing sun in a remote valley where Jay's phone last pinged on June 17. Pictured are Warren, Zak and other searchers on Saturday in the valley in Masca Warren, pictured during Saturday's search, told MailOnline: 'Everything stinks. It's just a riddle and I don't know the outcome' Warren, pictured during the search, said: 'It's the fourth time I've done this. It was hard, I nearly put my eye out. Tell me where I look, I can only go off the last sighting' Warren also hit out at the turn out for last Saturday's 'final push' when a call for volunteers from Spanish police to search the remote area of the Parque Rural de Teno was answered by just six people. He said: 'I was quite disappointed last Saturday when they did the search, they said the whole island was going to turn out. 'Let all the big boys do it, the police told me the big, big search was Saturday. We got down in that valley at 2pm and there wasn't a soul. 'They might have been there I don't know, they might have been there before me. But I was quite disappointed because I expected every fire engine, ambulance, looky looky man and every prostitute to be looking for him. 'The way they made it out, when they said they were going to have the biggest ever search.' Venting his frustration he said: 'You've walked from that BnB at 9am, you've walked all the way up here - he's a young fit lad - all the way. Warren and Zak are in Tenerife with Jay's mother Debbie Duncan, 55. All have vowed to remain there until the missing apprentice bricklayer from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, is found. Pictured are Debbie and Jay together 'You're trying to tell me no car, no one's seen him at half past 10? Why would you go down there? You've got to end. Why go any further? 'Why would you leave this road? You haven't got a clue where you are. And no one else has seen him. One woman, he's knocked on her door, she said at 10 and he went the wrong way. 'This morning I've seen her, she didn't want to stop. It's somebody's son, you know if you're the last person to see someone's son, you try your damndest to help don't you? She must be a grandma. 'If your son was here what would you do? If he was at the top of that rock you'd climb it.' Missing Jay Slater's mother claimed local search crews needed to get permission from the Spanish Police to look for her son after he disappeared from Tenerife on June 17. Late on Saturday, the 19-year-old's mother, Debbie Duncan, gave the update on the GoFundMe page which has reached a staggering 50,000 in donations. She said: Hello everyone, I wanted to give you all an update on our continued efforts to find our Jay. We have been overwhelmed by the kindness and support we have received and would like to thank the local hiking group for all of their help planning the routes to find our Jay'. The devastated mother added that they have been contacted by locals who have volunteered to help continue the search for the missing apprentice bricklayer, but in order for the family to offer them supplies, they need permission from the Spanish authorities. Missing Jay Slater, 19, pictured with his mother Debbie Duncan, before he disappeared from Tenerife on June 17 Debbie wrote in a GoFundMe update that the family now needed permission from Spanish authorities to give the volunteer search crew supplies. Pictured: Day 20 of the search for Jay Slater. Dad Warren along with his brother Zak search the valley in Masca along with friends and locals one being Jaun Garcia, 53, and his dog Caperucita, four 'While they dont wish to accept financial help for their search, we will be supporting them with supplies and are so grateful for their willingness to help,' Debbie continued. We also continue to be contacted by experienced groups offering to support our search. We are busy talking to them about what they can do to assist. But in order for us to employ their help, they need to have permission from the Spanish authorities. We will be sure to keep you all updated on our progress and are so grateful for your continued support to bring our boy home. Please keep sharing and supporting our fundraiser however you can,' she concluded the update. Debbie's desperate message comes after Tenerife's Guardia Civil called off the search for the teen. The decision to end the search was taken at a senior level following a meeting between investigators and mountain rescue teams at the island's HQ i Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Jay had travelled to the Spanish Island on June 13 to attend the NRG music festival with two friends, Lucy Law, 18, and Brad Hargreaves, 19, before he mysteriously disappeared. It was the teenager's first holiday abroad without his parents. Jay travelled to the Spanish island on June 13 along with his two friends Lucy Law, 18, and Brad Hargreaves, 19 Jay's mother Debbie Duncan revealed her choice not to attend with Jay's father and brother in the search for Jay had caused her to be on the receiving end of vile social media trolls However, just four days into his trip, Jay vanished while walking back to his accommodation after travelling to an Airbnb in the village of Masca with two friends he met at the music festival. MailOnline today revealed that it was a convicted drug dealer, known as 'Johnny Vegas', who drove the missing raver to the remote Airbnb before he disappeared last month. But when Ayub Qassim, 31, was tracked down last week, he claimed Jay 'arrived alive and left alive' at the apartment following an end of festival after party. Now, TV sleuth Mark Williams-Thomas - a former Met Police officer who exposed Jimmy Savile told MailOnline: 'In the last 24 hours I have spoken in detail with Ayub Qassim, who is also known as Jonny Vegas. 'He told me he was on the (Veronicas) Strip in Playa de las Americas and said that Jay wanted to carry on partying and that he hadn't anywhere to stay, so he (Qassim) invited him back to his rental'. He also said that during the drive, Jay, Qassim, and Qassim's friend played music and made a pit stop to pick up a can of fizzy drink. 'Once at the property, his friend opened the door, and went to the left and went straight to sleep. 'Jay walked in, and Qassim walked in behind him, went upstairs, and got him a red blanket.' The teen then allegedly asked for a cigarette before heading outside to speak to a woman who told him he could get a bus 'every 10 minutes'. Qassim had then told him to 'chill' before offering to drive him back to his accommodation - but Jay apparently rejected the lift and said he needed food. Ayub Qassim invited Jay 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' TV sleuth Mark Williams-Thomas (pictured in Tenerife) told MailOnline he has also interviewed Qassim and coaxed out more details from him After partying on the final night of the three-day NRG festival in Tenerife's Playa de las Americas resort, Jay had gone back to an Airbnb in Masca with two men he had met on holiday 'Jay said he had been told by the woman the bus to Los Cristianos was every ten minutes and Qassim said there was no bus and added "Do what you like' before going to sleep." Mr Williams-Thomas added: 'Qassim says the next think he remembers is getting a call from one of Jay's friends to say he is lying in a ditch somewhere and that he's been 'bitten by a cactus'. It comes after police said they were investigating a scuffle outside Papagayo Beach Club, where Jay was seen partying on June 17. It is believed a fight - involving an Eastern European man who reportedly had his valuable Rolex stolen - broke out after the venue had closed. One of Jay's friends, who had travelled to Tenerife to help in the search told detectives the alleged incident could have led to his disappearance. Authorities were reviewing CCTV footage from the venue where the incident occurred. Another theory which is understood to be on the table is that the valuable watch had somehow wound up in the cottage where Jay had travelled - and that he then ventured into the wilderness in an attempt to steal it. When the alarm was initially raised on his disappearance, a search party including helicopters, drones and sniffer dogs were deployed to hunt down the missing teen - but to no avail. Jay's last known location was the Rural de Teno Park which was roughly an 11-hour walk from his accommodation. There has been no sign of Jay since he vanished on Tenerife on June 17 At around 8:30am on the morning of Jay's disappearance, he had called Lucy to tell her that he was in the middle of nowhere, as he was attempting to make his way home on one-per-cent phone battery which became the last moment anyone heard from him. Another friend, Brad Hargreaves, said he also spoke to Jay that morning and thought he had veered off the main road and may have slid down rocks. He told ITV's This Morning he had been on a video call with him before his disappearance when he heard him go off the road. He said: 'He was on the phone walking down a road and he'd gone over a little bit - not a big drop - but a tiny little drop and he was going down, and he said 'I'll ring ya back, I'll ring ya back' because I think someone else was ringing him.' He confirmed he could see his friend's feet 'sliding' down the hill and could hear he was walking on what sounded like rocks or stones. But, Mr Hargreaves said he and his friend were both laughing at that point. He added: 'He didn't seem concerned on the phone until we knew how far away he was.' He told the programme he still had hope for Jay and was 'praying' for him to come home. Debbie has described her son's disappearance and the wait for news as a 'living nightmare' as she remains in Tenerife with the hopes of finding her missing son. A California couple that was chased at gunpoint during a carjacking while on vacation in Hawaii have revealed chilling new details of the attack. Alex and Justina Lucero were in Maui for a work trip and decided to use their free day, June 4, to explore the island. They adventured through Paia and Hana when things took a turn for the worse and a masked gunman commandeered their rental car. The carjacker proceeded to chase the couple up Haleakala while firing shots at them and forced them to camp out overnight. 'We almost didn't make it home, and our lives are forever changed now after what has happened,' Justina told KHON2. Alex (left) and Justina (right) Lucero were exploring Maui when a masked gunman commandeered their rental car and hunted them up Haleakala The Luceros were driving a rental silver Ford Mustang on the Kaupo side of Haleakala on the advice of a local 'And we're lucky to have gotten through it together, but this could have gone so many other ways.' The Luceros were driving a rental silver Ford Mustang on the Kaupo side of Haleakala when they noticed a road closed sign that was pushed off to the side. 'We were told earlier that day by some local, 'Yeah, you can go all the way through. It used to be closed, but it's not anymore.' So we weren't suspicious of anything like that,' Justina said. 'And we were told that, you know, the locals there will use the same road, and if they come up behind you, just pull off to the side and let them pass, because they're going to be not looking at the same scenery the way that you will.' Shortly after they passed the road closed sign, they noticed a truck behind them and Alex pulled over to wave the other vehicle on to pass them. As they got around a blind curve, the truck was barreling at them and blocked off the road so they could not pass. '[The driver] jumps out and comes right at us with the gun and stops us in the middle of the street,' Justina said. The couple was in Maui for a work trip and decided to use their free day, June 4, to explore the island Alex waved on another vehicle to pass them, but as they got around a blind curve, the truck was barreling at them and blocked off the road Alex told the local news station their attacker was wearing a mask, a hood and a sweatshirt. '[He ordered us to] Leave all valuables, leave the keys empty your pockets, leave everything in the car, and start walking that way now,' Alex said. The couple obeyed and started to walk towards Hana when they heard the car start. 'Now, he's coming towards us. So we very, very quickly went from a fast walk to a sprint up this gulch,' Alex said. The Luceros made a split second decision to run up the volcano and find a place to hid while the gunman hunted them. 'He's yelling for us to show ourselves. 'Yeah, I'll find you. I'll find you.' And he, at some point, he counts down from, I don't know if it was 10 or I heard him at five. And at the end of it, he shot the gun off,' said Alex. A masked gunman hijacked their car then chased them up the volcano while firing shots at them As nightfall approached, the couple hiked higher into the summit district where temperatures are at least 20 degrees colder than at sea level 'At that point, we knew it was loaded. We knew he meant business,' said Justina. As the couple sought safety, they observed a white multi-passenger van with a taxi sign join their hunter. 'They rendezvoused. They came up with some type of, they had some type of interaction, this vehicle and our rental car, and we knew at that point that this guy was in on finding us,' Alex said. Justina said they were overwhelmed with 'this feeling of being hunted and not knowing the extent of, you know, what they would do, what they wanted and who he had at his fingertips to help.' As nightfall approached, the couple hiked higher into the summit district where temperatures are at least 20 degrees colder than at sea level and often drop below freezing. By daybreak the Luceros were unsure of who they could trust as they searched for help. Tour helicopters flew by without noticing them and they were worried two men they saw on horseback could have been helping their attacker. Finally, they were able to flag down a park ranger and their nightmare came to an end. The Maui Police Department arrested Christopher Helmer (pictured) in connection to the Luceros attack 'At this point, he had a suspect in mind who fits the profile, who fits the heinous act, because he is such a menace, that's what he said' Alex said. Four days later, the Maui Police Department arrested Christopher Helmer on warrants for a separate kidnapping and terroristic threat from May, reported HawaiiNewsNow. 'At the time of his arrest, Helmer was operating the stolen Mustang and had a loaded firearm. Following his arrest, further investigation resulted in the recovery of additional evidence linking him to the robbery and the recovery of the Tacoma, which was found to be a stolen vehicle,' Maui Police said. A grand jury indicted Helmer on June 21 for charges including, first degree robbery, firearm and drug offenses, along with driving a stolen vehicle. His bail has been set at $500,000 and he remains in police custody. Former This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield has arrived at Silverstone by helicopter ahead of this afternoon's Grand Prix. The fallen star, 62, arrived at the racecourse in Northamptonshire alongside his wife Stephanie Lowe and his two daughters, Molly, 30, and Ruby, 27. The family-of-four clambered out of a helicopter before emerging in what appeared to be an exclusive penned-off area close to the track. They were surrounded by security and staff members working at the course where George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris will go head-to-head today at 3pm. Phillip wore a dark brown jacket, paired with a light brown zip-up on top of a pink shirt, paired with beige chinos. His wife Stephanie wore a cream ensemble with a matching bag. Former This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield has arrived at Silverstone by helicopter ahead of this afternoon's Grand Prix Phillip arrived at the racecourse in Northamptonshire alongside his wife Stephanie Lowe and his two daughters, Molly, 30, and Ruby, 27. Phillip pictured with his younger daughter Ruby, 27, as they arrived at the F1 race course this morning His youngest daughter Ruby wore a Mercedes cap with a black jumper paired with white jeans, while Molly, who now works as his publicist, wore black trousers paired with a white jumper and black raincoat. For much of the last year Phillip has largely kept a low profile after he confessed to having an affair with a much younger colleague, however, in recent weeks he has started to creep back into the limelight. Almost a year after quitting the ITV daytime show, he was spotted laughing and joking with his close friend Declan Donnelly and his wife Ali Astall after reportedly enjoying a four-hour dinner. A few days later he ended his social media blackout of nearly a year by reigniting his Instagram with a sweet photo of his pet pooch Alfie watching Formula One on television. Within seconds his daughters had liked the photo, as well as his former co-host Josie Gibson in what appears to be clear signs of support. PR guru Mark Borkowski says his tepid return to the public eye has come after a year away to disappear and get himself together. Calling him a rare talent, Mr Borkowski said: 'He's testing the waters. But audiences are very forgiving.' Phillip told the BBC in an emotional interview last June the affair had finished his career and revealed that the fallout had left him feeling suicidal. Phillip wore a dark brown jacket, paired with a light brown zip-up on top of a pink shirt, paired with beige chinos He was snapped in London last week looking relaxed with a bag slung over his shoulder as he laughed and joked with close pal Declan Donnelly Phillip was seen puffing on an e-cigarette at a train station in West London last week Earlier this month Schofield ended his social media blackout of nearly a year by reigniting his Instagram with a sweet photo of his pet pooch Alfie He told how his two daughters had saved his life and had 'guarded me and won't let me out of their sight'. He admitted during the sit-down interview with Amol Rajan denied he had groomed the younger colleague, before telling critics: 'Do you want me to die? Because that's where I am.' Phillip quit This Morning in a cloud of controversy having first lied to bosses about the 'unwise, but not illegal' relationship with the male runner 34 years his junior. An external review led by barrister Jane Mulcahy KC concluded ITV had made 'considerable efforts' to find out the truth when rumours began to swirl about the relationship in 2019. But the repeated denials meant the broadcaster was unable to uncover the truth until Schofield's admission. The fallout from the scandal led to the breakdown of his friendship with Holly Willoughby. After Phillip left the show in May, his co-host Willoughby later quit in October due to an kidnap plot. Ex-security guard Gavin Plumb now faces life in jail for his terrifying plans. The pair were officially replaced by Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley in March as the two took on the show full time after a series of guest presenters had been rotating the daytime slot. Schofield stood down from This Morning last May after admitting he had lied about his relationship with a much younger colleague It led to the breakdown of his friendship with Holly Willoughby. He sent his ex-BFF a text message for lying to her about his affair His daughter Molly is now his publicist after she quit the talent agency that once represented her father Back in March friends of the star have said that he is 'quite certain' he will never work again. One said: 'Phillip has been very, very down recently. He doesn't know how he is going to work again. It's devastating for him to realise but he also knows that there is not a lot he can do about it. 'He doesn't know who will take him. He knows there is no way back to ITV or the BBC.' Sources close to the star say that his friends are trying to encourage him to think he can have a 'fulfilling life' away from showbusiness. One said: 'Just because he may not be on telly again doesn't mean he can't enjoy his life. Phil isn't so sure though.' The star, however, been tipped for a job on national radio his 'first love' with Britain's largest commercial stations said to be jostling to bring him in to woo new listeners from rivals, including BBC Radio 2. South Australian Police Commissioner Grant Stevens and his wife Emma have opened up about the heartbreaking moment their 18-year-old son was killed. Charlie Stevens, 18, was waiting for a bus to head to Schoolies celebrations with friends when he was struck by a car driven by Dhirren Randhawa in Goolwa, south of Adelaide, on November 17 last year. He was rushed to hospital in a critical condition but died the next day from a severe brain injury surrounded by his family. Charlie's life support was turned off a day after the crash, making him SA's 101st road victim for the year. 'It was good to spend time with him, but the hardest thing was leaving for the last time,' Mr Stevens said. Ms Stevens shared her last words to her youngest born. 'I just said, 'I love you. You're my baby, and you always will be',' she said. They also revealed the 18-year-old careless driver who killed their beloved son Charlie has written an apology to the grieving parents. Charlie Stevens with his father, South Australian Police Commissioner Grant Stevens Charlie's parents received an apology letter from their son's killer, Dhirren Randhawa, ahead of his sentencing next month. Ms Stevens said they appreciate the genuine apology from Randhawa during this tough time. 'And he's written it, and that it's words from an 18-year-old,' she told 60 Minutes on Sunday. 'I don't think he's been sat down and told what to write. 'I think it's him. In fact, I'm not so sure Charlie would be able to write something quite as good as that.' In June, Randhawa pleaded guilty to one aggravated count of driving without due care and leaving the scene of a crash after causing death. 'We're grateful that Dhirren has pleaded guilty,' Mr Stevens said. 'We think that's, obviously, it gives us some understanding of his acceptance, of his responsibility. 'But I think with what is left to occur in the court process, we'll just let that unfold.' Police commissioner Grant Stevens his wife Emma (pictured) received an apology letter from their son's killer Dhirren Randhawa has since pleaded guilty to careless driving causing death Ms Stevens said they feel a sense of 'sadness' and compassion for Randhawa because 'his life has changed now forever' since the fatal crash that killed her youngest child. 'You know he's going to have to live with this his whole entire life,' she said. 'I mean I think being a parent, you know being a mum of an 18-year-old, they're not that smart. 'Like you know they're 18 and I look at it and I think it also could have been Charlie.' Charlie died from his injuries in hospital after he was struck by a car while out with friends celebrating Schoolies at Goolwa Beach on November 17. His death sent shockwaves through the state, with hundreds attending his funeral service at Adelaide Oval. Charlie Stevens was struck by a car and killed during schoolies celebrations. Picture: Supplied Charlie Stevens was the youngest of five. Picture: Supplied As South Australia's top cop, Mr Stevens said he never thought his family would be the one to hear the news a loved one had been killed. 'I always thought that delivering a death message was the hardest thing police officers have to do,' he said. 'And as much as you empathise with the families that you give that information to, you have no concept, no appreciation of just how tragic it is, and how it just rips your guts out. 'You never think it's going to happen to you.' Daily Wrap, July 1, 2024 By Paulina Antoniak It has been three years since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan. Since then, they have been systematically stripping women of their rights. Now, in addition, the countrys ruling fundamentalists have reduced by 75% the salaries of the few women who are allowed to work. In August 2021, after the sitting president of Afghanistan fled, the Taliban entered Kabul and took control of the country. Women suffered the most, with their rights being regularly curtailed by the fundamentalists. From the very first moments of their rule, the Taliban began to introduce increasingly drastic restrictions, orders, and bans for women. Afghan women cannot leave their homes without a male guardian; they are required to cover their faces, and they have been stripped of government roles. In 2023, the ruling fundamentalists also banned contraception and ordered the closure of all beauty and hair salons.Afghan women over the age of 12 are also not allowed to attend school. As "Wysokie Obcasy" recalls, the UN Women's Agenda recently reported that the ban on education is linked to a 25% increase in child marriage rates and a 45% increase in early childbirth rates. The Taliban are imposing further restrictions on women's rights As if that were not enough, the Taliban have banned women from most professional activities. Currently, they are only allowed to work in professions which, according to Sharia law, men are not permitted to perform. These include, for example, teachers and nurses. In recent days, a new decree has been issued, under which all female workers monthly salaries have been reduced to around 55 per month, regardless of the type of work performed, qualifications, or experience. "For many women, this represents a drop of about 75% compared to their previous wages, which had already been cut by about 50% after the Taliban took power in 2021," we read on the pages of "WO". A mattress, a sofa and a piano were among the items being removed from Downing Street today after Sir Keir Starmer replaced Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister. In the wake of Labour's thumping general election victory, a team of removal workers were seen carrying a variety of objects into the back of a yellow lorry. Both Mr Sunak and former chancellor Jeremy Hunt and their families lost their residences in No10 and No11 during Britain's transfer of power. Sir Keir yesterday admitted he had 'not unpacked quite yet' as his own family prepare to move into Downing Street. And it has been revealed how the new Labour PM's wife, Victoria, has been 'dreading' becoming a resident of Britain's most famous street. Her friends also described the NHS worker as Sir Keir's 'rock', as well as a 'politically astute' primary confidante of the new PM who is 'able to cut through the bullshit'. A mattress, a sofa and a piano were among the items being removed from Downing Street today after Sir Keir Starmer replaced Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister In the wake of Labour's thumping general election victory, a team of removal workers were seen carrying a variety of objects into the back of a yellow lorry A bright yellow lorry from the Bishop's Move firm was parked around the back of Downing Street, with a steady flow of items being carried to the vehicle It has been revealed how the Sir Keir's wife Victoria has been 'dreading' becoming a resident of Britain's most famous street On Sunday, a bright yellow lorry from the Bishop's Move firm was parked around the back of Downing Street, with a steady flow of items being carried to the vehicle. A large mattress, a bright red sofa and an upright piano were carefully stowed in the back of the lorry by a team of workers. Mr Sunak lived in the flat above No 10 while Mr Hunt had the larger flat above No 11. PMs in recent years had favoured the No 11 residence, but Mr Sunak had lived above No10 as Chancellor and moved back in with his family when he became the premier. Sir Keir and Chancellor Rachel Reeves are the new occupants of Downing Street, although the moving process will take a few days. During the general election campaign, Sir Keir admitted his teenage children were 'worried' about the prospect of moving into the iconic residence. He said he and Victoria would 'fiercely protect' their children's privacy should he win power. Sir Keir conceded that his 13-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son were likely to be fearful of the possible disruption to their normal routines. But the Labour leader joked that they would probably 'ramp up their campaign' for a family dog to make up for the changes to their lives. One friend of Victoria told the Sunday Times of her family's move to Downing Street: 'She is dreading but accepting of it.' Her pals also described the considerable influcence Victoria, or Vic, has on her politician husband. One said: 'She is Keir's rock. He never takes any decisions without consulting her first.' She was also described as 'politically astute' and the new PM's 'anchor', with their marriage deemed 'a proper love story'. A friend told the newspaper: 'Unlike many people in politics she is able to cut through the bullshit and doesn't appreciate it when people try blowing smoke up their a***s. She is very grounded and clever.' Advertisement Joe Biden's future continues to hang in the balance after his debate performance spurred a chorus of calls from Democrats demanding he drop out of his reelection race. The president arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Sunday morning to rally support at a church after bombing his 'make or break' ABC interview, The post-debate sit-down aired Friday and was meant to quell concerns, but only led to more worries within the Party with just weeks until the Democratic National Convention. Biden is making a few campaign stops in swing state of Pennsylvania on Sunday to try and recover public perception. And Vice President Kamala Harris is going to Las Vegas, Nevada this week as her name is floated among those who could replace Biden for the presidential ticket in November. DailyMail.com's live coverage has ended for Sunday. For a full recap please read below: Two teenage sisters drowned while swimming together despite desperate attempts by their family to save them. Aisha Mohammed, 18, and Zainab Mohammed, 17, traveled from their home in the Bronx to Coney Island in Brooklyn on Friday for a beach day. The pair went back into the water for one more swim about 8pm when suddenly the sunny day turned dark grey and torrential rain began. Aisha and Zainab were at the beach with a dozen family and their cousins noticed them floundering in the water. Zainab Mohammed, 17, drowned while swimming with her sister at Coney Island beach on Friday night Aisha Mohammed, 18, drowned alongside her sister when they went in for one more swim Witnesses said a strong current grabbed them and pulled them out to sea as they tried to swim back to the beach. Their cousin Adam Mohammed saw his brother swim out to rescue them, but but he was unable to haul them back to shore. 'He didn't know who to help first. He reached for the one closest to him and she started panicking, so she started dragging him down with her,' he told the New York Post. 'By the time he managed to get to the surface, the two were long gone.' Zainab drowned despite the desperate efforts of her cousin to rescue her Aisha and Zainab were reported missing at 8.10pm and police and emergency rescue responded to the scene, the NYPD said. Their bodies were found on the shoreline about 9.15pm, and they were pronounced dead at Coney Island Hospital. The beach only has lifeguards between 10am and 6pm, which is the only time swimming is allowed. Elyjha Chandler, 16, and Christian Perkins, 17, drowned at the same beach on June 21 and their bodies were not found until June 29. Another two teens almost drowned at the beach on Saturday, but were able to be rescued in time. Aisha and Zainab's parents moved from Ghana decades ago and both the girls were born in the US. Zainab and a childcare worker and Aisha had a job at Panera Bread and styled hair. There will be a memorial service in the next few days. A Tennessee mother is fighting for her life after she was rescued by bystanders when her husband allegedly stabbed and set her on fire. Tessa Mowel was saved by two Good Samaritans on Monday when they found her ablaze and suffering from multiple stab wounds inside her home in Dickson. Her husband, 28-year-old Zachary Mowel, is accused of attacking Tessa, dousing her with gasoline and then setting their home on the 1200 block of North Charlotte Street on fire, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Tessa told her family the painful details of the attack from her hospital bed and said her two children witnessed the attack. 'This all happened with their 5-year-old and 8-year-old boys watching and pleading for their dad to not kill their mom,' Tessa's twin sister Tori Ila Elizabeth Trotter said in a GoFundMe for her recovery. Tessa Mowel was saved by two bystanders when they found her ablaze and suffering from multiple stab wounds inside her home Tessa has nine stab wounds, all her ribs are broken, collapsed lung, her entire right leg has severe third degree burns and she is paralyzed from the waist down The family claimed Zachary stabbed Tessa in the back with a kitchen knife, then slashed her eight times in the neck, chest and back while brutally hitting her face over 30 times. Tessa has nine stab wounds, all her ribs are broken, collapsed lung, her entire right leg has severe third degree burns and she is paralyzed from the waist down. 'The boys were sitting right there, my grandsons, and he grabbed her arm and stabbed her,' her mother Tina Trotter told WSMV. 'She told Jackson, her oldest child, to go call 911, and he wouldn't let him do it.' Two strangers from Alabama happened to be driving by to check out a Facebook Marketplace item in the area when they saw smoke coming out of the house. Her husband, 28-year-old Zachary Mowel (pictured), has been charged with attempted murder, domestic assault and attempted arson for the attack Court documents said Zachary returned to the scene on 1200 block of North Charlotte Street (pictured) and approached one of the officers at the scene and said, 'I did it. It was me' 'God bless you, and I will reach out to you once my family finds out who you are. Our family is so grateful for y'all because I wouldn't have her today,' Tina said. Zachary allegedly returned to the house as firefighters put on the blaze and confessed to the crime. According to court documents viewed by WKRN, the 28-year-old approached one of the officers at the scene and said, 'I did it. It was me.' He was charged with Attempted First Degree Murder, Aggravated Arson, Aggravated Assault (Domestic-Related) and Domestic Assault and is being held at the Dickson County Jail on $765,000 bond. The attack has shocked the family with her twin sister claiming Tessa was looking to divorce her husband. Tessa told her family the painful details of the attack from her hospital bed and said her two children witnessed the attack In the most recent health update provided her twin sister Tori, Tessa is hoping to be moved to a Trauma step-down room and out of the ICU so she will be able to see her children 'He's never been physical with her. He's been emotionally abusive towards her,' Tori said. 'She actually asked for a divorce back in May. She actually called a lawyer that morning and had an appointment set up, and none of us expected this, not this.' In the most recent health update provided by Tori, Tessa is hoping to be moved to a Trauma step-down room and out of the ICU so she will be able to see her children. 'She can move her left leg some but she has no feeling in it. Her right leg is completely paralyzed and also her waist,' Tori said. 'Next week she will get more skin grafts on her leg. She's improving well. She just misses her boys so much and hates having to be up there by herself most of the time.' Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has stunned The Project panel with a scathing attack on former Coalition colleague Peter Dutton, declaring that 'he's a thug'. Mr Turnbull left The Project hosts lost for words when he gave a blistering assessment on the federal Opposition Leader on Sunday night. When asked what sort of prime minister Peter Dutton would make if he was to win the next federal election, Mr Turnbull gave a blunt response. 'I think that's something we should contemplate with dread,' Mr Turnbull said. The comment sparked astonishment from the panel. 'Oh really, why is that?' host Sarah Harris asked. 'Don't hold back Malcolm,' panel member Peter Helliar added. Mr Turnbull responded with a smile on his face, 'Well, he's a thug.' Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (pictured) appeared on The Project on Sunday Opposition Leader Peter Dutton (pictured) was dealt a blistering attack by former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on The Project on Sunday The studio audience erupted with laughter at Mr Turnbull's comment. Mr Turnbull continued: 'Peter's got one tune that he plays and it's been all his political life and that is division and animosity, generally targeted at immigrants. 'I couldn't think of anyone less suited to be Prime Minister of a multicultural society like Australia. 'There's no point pulling my punches, it's an important question and I've given you an honest answer.' He was also asked if there was a chance he would vote Labor in the next election. 'Well it's always a chance I haven't done so there are all sorts of options,' Mr Turnbull said. Earlier in the interview, he was asked if he believes current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will call an early election. 'No, I don't think so,' Mr Turnbull said. 'It would be really hard to have an election between now and the end of the year, with state elections like Queensland and redistribution. 'I think he'll (Mr Albanese) go between March and May next year.' Sarah Harris (pictured) interviewed former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on The Project on Sunday Mr Turnbull quickly dismissed talk of returning to politics while admitting he was there for longer. 'No, Im happy to be out of it,' he said. 'But I really loved doing the work I did in politics and I would have liked to do it for a few more years.' While Mr Turnbull said he has 'absolutely' no desire to return, he joked with host Sarah Harris when she prodded: 'Just to keep Dutton out of the top job?' 'Well look, Im young enough for it,' he quipped. The federal Coalition has inched ahead of Labor for the first time in a key election battleground, according to a surprising new poll. The Liberal-National Coalition has overtaken Labor in NSW, where their primary vote lifted two points to 40 per cent for the first time, with Labor improving just a point to 33 per cent. It indicates that Anthony Albanese's Labor government could lose two seats in the state at the next election. The Coalition, lead by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, has also increased its lead in Queensland and is gaining on Labor in Victoria and South Australia, where Labor still remains in front. The state-by-state survey of almost 5,000 Aussies, which was carried out by Newspoll for The Australian over a three month quarterly period, found that Labor still leads the Coalition on a reduced two-party-preferred vote of 51-49. But the majority of male voters now back the Coalition for the first time, while the female voters still marginally favour Labor. The results signal that Labor could be forced into forming a minority government with independents at the next election, which is expected by May next year. The Prime Minister will be concerned with Labor's apparent loss of support among young voters, where its primary vote has fallen three points to 30 per cent. In concerning news for Anthony Albanese (pictured), the LNP has overtaken Labor in NSW for the first time, where the Liberal-National Coalition primary vote lifted two points to 40 per cent This demographic aged 18-34, has largely shifted to the Greens, which has seen support rise to 27 per cent. Support for the Coalition for the younger age demographic is also at 27 per cent. In the 35-49 age demographic, the Coalition has boosted its support by six points to narrowly trail Labor on the two-party-preferred support basis. Mr Dutton has also overtaken Mr Albanese in his home state Queensland as the preferred prime minister. In SA, the parties are tied at 34 per cent each on primary support, with the Coalition gaining a point and Labor losing one. Elsewhere, Pauline Hansons One Nation Party made strides, rising from seven to 10 per cent in Queensland and ten to 12 per cent in SA. Peter Dutton (pictured last week with wife Kirilly) has also overtaken Anthony Albanese in his home state Queensland as the preferred prime minister When asked who would make the better prime minister, Mr Albanese (48 per cent) maintained a 12 point lead over Mr Dutton (36 per cent). The remaining 16 per cent of voters were uncommitted. Only 44 per cent of voters were satisfied with Mr Albanese's performance as prime minister while 50 per cent were dissatisfied. Only 38 per cent were satisfied with Mr Dutton's performance as opposition leader while 51 per cent were dissatisfied. Sir Keir Starmer sheltered from the July rain as he headed away from No10 today to begin a triumphal tour of the United Kingdom. The new Labour Prime Minister was seen protected by an aide's umbrella as he carried a black suitcase while leaving Downing Street in a downpour. He was installed as Britain's 58th PM after winning a general election his predecessor Rishi Sunak called six weeks earlier. The Tory leader made the surprise election announcement during an infamously rain-sodden speech while refusing to use a brolly. Sir Keir is due to meet with Scottish First Minister John Swinney this evening, before travelling on to Northern Ireland and Wales tomorrow. He has promised an 'immediate reset' of Westminster's relationship with the UK's devolved governments under his premiership. Labour is boasting of a 'clear mandate' across the UK after being the first political party in a generation to win a majority of seats in England, Wales and Scotland. The PM earlier spent the day continuing introductory calls with world leaders, including Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu ans South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa. Sir Keir Starmer sheltered from the July rain as he headed away from No10 today to begin a triumphal tour of the United Kingdom The new Labour Prime Minister was seen protected by an aide's umbrella as he carried a black suitcase while leaving Downing Street in a downpour Sir Keir is due to meet with Scottish First Minister John Swinney (pictured) this evening, before travelling on to Northern Ireland and Wales tomorrow Sir Keir will meet with Mr Swinney after Labour replaced the SNP as the largest party in Scotland at Thursday's general election, by winning 37 out of 57 seats. The SNP slumped to just nine seats in a dramatic turnaround for Mr Swinney's party from 2019, when they won 48 seats compared to Labour's one constituency. Ahead of his trip to Scotland, Sir Keir promised to lead a 'government of service' for 'working people in all four nations' of the UK. He 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 government's 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. 'Together we can begin the work to rebuild our country with a resolute focus on serving working people once again.' Prior to leaving Downing Street for Scotland, Sir Keir held calls with Mr Netanyahu, the Israeli PM, Mr Ramaphosa, the South African President, as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed al-Nahyan. Sir Keir told Mr Abbas that recognition of the state of Palestine as part of a Middle East peace process is an 'undeniable right'. In his call with Mr Netanyahu, the PM 'reiterated his condolences for the tragic loss of life following the October attacks' and then set out the 'clear and urgent need for a ceasefire, the return of hostages and an immediate increase in the volume of humanitarian aid reaching civilians'. A Downing Street spokeswoman said: 'He added that it was also important to ensure the long-term conditions for a two-state solution were in place, including ensuring the Palestinian Authority had the financial means to operate effectively.' The oldest living organism in California is not a dinosaur or one of its iconic redwoods - it's a small oak shrub that survived the most recent Ice Age. Despite its resilience, the Jurupa Oak is now in danger of going the way of the Dodo, due to devastating wildfires and a 900-acre development now being considered. The plan, titled the Rio Vista Specific, would put more than 1,600 new housing units smack dab in the Jurupa's natural habitat. Environmentalists have painted the 1.4-square mile development as the biggest threat to the tree since the extinction event nearly 12,800 years ago. Estimated to be somewhere between 13,000 and 18,000 years old, the tree is older than almost any other plant on the planet Earth. Despite its resilience, the Jurupa Oak in Southern California is now in danger of going the way of the dodo, due to devastating wildfires and a 900-acre development now being considered The plan, titled the Rio Vista Specific, would put more than 1,600 new housing units smack dab in the Jurupa's natural habitat, seen here 'The main thing that strikes me is that we're literally looking at a bit of what the world was like in the ice age,' UC Riverside scientist Andrew Sanders said of the unassuming shrub in an interview with ABC 7 in 2009, when he and other scientists first calculated the tree's impressive lineage. 'We don't have to look at a fossil in this case, [but] we can see the living individuals.' That said, most of the tree is underground, with what's visible serving as just the crown of an ancient tree that spans some 90 feet long and 30 feet wide. The collection of shrubs sits atop a hill that overlooks Jurupa Valley, just a stone's throw from the desired building site. The Planning Commission of Jurupa Valley, a city of 100,000, is poised to approve it, to make the rocky gully an hour east of Los Angeles more habitable. The site's developer has said it plans to protect the tree, but environmentalists - already wary of damage caused by increased wildfires in the region - remain skeptical. Aaron Echols, conservation chair for the Riverside-San Bernardino chapter of the California Native Plant Society, told both ABC and The Washington Post the construction could prove deadly to the Jurupa Oak. 'It's unique among most things on the planet,' he said of California's oldest conifer. 'We need to be absolutely sure that we're not going to cause harm to this plant.' Environmentalists have painted the 1.4-square mile development as the biggest threat to the tree since the extinction event nearly 12,800 years ago Estimated to be somewhere between 13,000 and 18,000 years old, the tree - which is actually underground and is only visible via these shrubs - is older than almost any other plant on Earth 'The main thing that strikes me is that we're literally looking at a bit of what the world was like in the ice age,' UC Riverside scientist Andrew Sanders said of the unassuming shrub in an interview with ABC 7 in 2009, when he and other scientists first calculated the tree's age Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra, a professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California at Davis, added 'It's sort of a philosophical question,' citing the difference between the system of what is essentially one plant and more traditional trees. Unlike normal trees, he said, the tree will spring out new, genetically identical offshoots from burned stumps - none of which will bear the original tree's tissue 'If I have a tree in my backyard and I cut it down and a stem comes back up from it, I would generally think it's the same tree,' he said of the resulting ethical predicament. 'But if you do it 10,000 times in a row, is it still the same tree?' The shrubs, meanwhile, despite sitting in the South California sun for more than a millennium, was only actually identified in the 90s - by local botanist Mitch Provance. It took nearly two more decades, however, to calculate the tree's immense age, making it either the fourth- or third- oldest organism in the entire world. While perhaps a suitable environment back then, the rocky ridge today overlooks a series of warehouses and horse trails, and is common site for off-road revelers. One resident, Jenny Iyer, told the Post how she does not approve of the project due to the tree's history. Tim Krantz, the conservation director for the Wildlands Conservancy, added how the tree receives sustenance from groundwater trickling down its nearby hills, which are set to be covered with asphalt and concrete if the plan goes through The site's developer has said it plans to protect the tree, but environmentalists - already wary of damage caused by increased wildfires in the region - remain skeptical 'We have discovered a treasure on the world stage here in our humble city,' she said of the shrub whose leaves at one point may have been brushed up against saber-toothed tigers. 'Will one of the oldest living beings on the planet die just because Jurupa Valley okays industrial and business parks next to it?' Tim Krantz, the conservation director for the Wildlands Conservancy, added how the tree receives sustenance from groundwater trickling down its nearby hills, which are set to be covered with asphalt and concrete if the plan goes through. This could halt the flow of groundwater, he said - potentially killing the tree forever. The developer, Richland Communities, continues to insist this is not the case, and promises that it will take painstaking measure to ensure the tree is protected. 'Not approving the project does not protect the tree,' Jeremy Krout, a representative for the company, said at a recent meeting. 'If the project doesn't get approved, you won't have the protection; there won't be a responsible party to protect the tree.' He has promised not to build within 200 feet of the tree's last remaining remnants, which Echols on Wednesday reiterated has already been ravaged by wildfires as of late. Aaron Echols, conservation chair for the Riverside-San Bernardino chapter of the California Native Plant Society, this week also said the construction could prove deadly to the tree, which he said has already been ravaged by wildfires The tree not far from cities like LA and Valencia, the latter of which is seen during the historically bad wildfire year 2021, when 8,835 fires were recorded across the state 'It represents endurance and perseverance,' Krantz added of the ancient oak. 'It's survived fires and droughts and, ultimately, climate change. And yet here she is throughout all of that -very much like the hardscrabble people of Jurupa Valley - just trying to get by' The developer, meanwhile, has vowed to keep construction equipment 259 feet away from the tree's edge, and to give the land immediately around the tree to a nonprofit, along with an endowment of $250,000 to protect it. Amid these wildfires, California's largest insurer, State Farm, a few days ago asked California's Department of Insurance to let them raise home insurance rates for millions or face them pulling coverage from the state. The move indicates a growing insurance crisis in California, brought by the intensifying risk of climate disasters and climate change-fueled wildfires. State Farm, however, was the first to pushback on the concept of automatic coverage in the state, which was subjected to 7,127 fires in 2023. That was slightly down from the year before when 7,667 fires ravaged California - a relative 'quiet' year according to officials in terms of acreage. In 2021, a total of 8,835 fires were recorded in California - one of the worst-ever years on record. 'It's mind-boggling, it really is that we have this treasure that is not being protected,' Arleen Pruitt, chair of the Planning Commission, said a recent meeting in defense of the Jurupa Oak. 'It represents endurance and perseverance,' Krantz added to the Post. 'It's survived fires and droughts and, ultimately, climate change. 'And yet here she is throughout all of that -very much like the hardscrabble people of Jurupa Valley. 'Just trying to get by.' Congressional Democrats are growing increasingly concerned about their own races in November amid panic over President Joe Biden's rapid public decline. The 81-year-old incumbent has said it would take an act of God for him to drop out despite a chorus of calls for him to step aside in 2024 for a younger, more mentally fit candidate. 'The sh*t is going to hit the fan on Monday, when Congress returns,' a House Democrat told Axios. They added: 'People are scared about their own races. But they're also worried about the country, and about democracy.' Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is organizing a group of Senate Democrats to discuss Biden's future, and is pushing to meet Monday evening. Democratic lawmakers are growing increasingly worried about their races in November and are likely to up calls for President Joe Biden to drop out of the race this week Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told NBC's Meet the Press during a Sunday interview: 'The performance on the debate stage, I think, rightfully raised questions among the American people about whether the president has the vigor to defeat Donald Trump. And this is an existential race.' 'He should be mopping the floor with Donald Trump. Joe Biden is running against a criminal. It should not be even close. And there is only one reason why it is close and that's the president's age.' the California Democrat added. 'And what I would advise the president is seek out the opinions of people you trust. He's obviously talked to his family about this but he should seek out people with some distance and objectivity. He should seek out pollsters who are not his own pollsters.' 'Take a moment to make the best informed judgment. And if the judgment is run then run and beat that SOB.' Lawmakers grew antsy over the Independence Day break and are returning to Washington, D.C. on Monday after a week-and-a-half of Biden's team doing damage control after the debate. Rep. Adam Schiff (R-Calif.) told NBC on Sunday: '[Biden] should be mopping the floor with Donald Trump. Joe Biden is running against a criminal. It should not be even close. And there is only one reason why it is close and that's the president's age' 'I don't know that the interview on Friday night did enough to answer those questions. And so I think this week is going to be absolutely critical. I think the president needs to do more,' Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told CNN on Sunday Biden held a rally on Friday in Madison, Wisconsin and his first sit-down post-debate interview aired that evening on ABC, leading to even more concerns over his fitness for a second term in the White House. 'I think there's no doubt that the president's performance at the debate has raised questions for voters Questions as to whether this is still the old Joe Biden,' Sen. Chris Murphy told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday. 'Personally I love Joe Biden I don't know that the interview on Friday night did enough to answer those questions,' the Connecticut Democrat added. 'And so I think this week is going to be absolutely critical. I think the president needs to do more.' 'I'm not advising his campaign, but if I were I would probably suggest that the president get out there and do a town hall, that he do a press conference, that he show the country that he's still the old Joe Biden one of the best retail politicians that this country has ever seen,' Murphy concluded. A Democratic operative told Axios that 'every single person not named Biden,' or paid by the president, realized how deep a hole the president needs to climb out of. Several reports indicate that dozens of Democratic Representatives and Senators are close to speaking out against Biden or signing letters telling the president to end his reelection bid. These talks are likely to intensify with members returning to work this week. This video is no longer available This video is no longer available Police at the highest level are cracking down on deadly drugs that have been cut with the synthetic opioid Nitazene, which have already claimed at least 20 lives in Australia. Nitazenes are a group of synthetic opioids that are made up of several different types of drugs including protonitazene and metonitazene. The drug is usually laced in other substances including MDMA, ketamine, cocaine and methamphetamine, leaving those who consume it unaware they're at risk. Australian Federal Police Commander Paula Hudson urged everyone to be aware of the dangers of consuming Nitazenes, which is 1000 times more potent than morphine. 'Nitazenes have authorities very, very concerned, and we want to get the message out there to the community that what they're taking may not be what they're thinking it is,' Ms Hudson told 60 Minutes on Sunday. 'Nitazene is on the streets at the moment, so be very careful. Know the signs of overdose, and be prepared.' The chilling warning comes as Victoria Police continue their investigation into the deaths of four people in Broadmeadows, Melbourne, last month. Australian Federal Police Commander Paula Hudson (pictured) urged everyone to be aware of the dangers of consuming Nitazenes Authorities have raised concerns the deadly opioid Nitazene could be hitting Australian streets. Picture: Supplied/ Australian Federal Police. The bodies of Michael Hodgkinson, 32, Abdul El Sayed, 17, were found along with a 37-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman following a suspected drug overdose. The deaths are still being treated as non-suspicious at this time. Victoria police said preliminary tests have confirmed the presence of a synthetic opioid in the system of all four people. However, there was no presence of fentanyl detected during the initial testing, police confirmed. With 20 deaths and dozens of overdoses already reported in Australia, health authorities and experts are now on high alert for Nitazene. Uniting Medically Supervised Injecting Centre's medical director Dr Marianne Jauncey told the Herald Sun she was concerned the synthetic opioid detected in the Broadmeadows deaths was a type of Nitazene. Dr Jauncey said it was imperative drug checking services became more accessible. 'I think it's frightening that we don't know where to look next,' she said. 'At the moment, we aren't going to know unless people continue to overdose or die. 'Without things like drug checking, it's hard to know what's going on. 'If you're not looking, you're not going to find it. We need to be looking more. We need to heighten our surveillance.' Uniting Medically Supervised Injecting Centre's medical director Dr Marianne Jauncey (pictured) wants drug checking services to become more accessible Nitazenes are becoming a a growing problem in Australia Ms Hudson said the rise of Nitazenes throughout the community isn't unsurprising, after the AFP intercepted 37 parcels containing the synthetic opioid in mail shipments in the last year. She said four kilos were found in Melbourne during a search warrant last week. 'That's of great concern to us,' Ms Hudson said. 'What the public needs to be aware of is that two milligrams can be lethal. 'So even though we might seize 30 grams, that's enough for 25,000 lethal doses.' However, experts believe Nitazenes are produced in China, where it was previously legal to make the drug. The Chinese government has since committed to cracking down on the production of the drug. Police were called Broadmeadows in June after four bodies were found following suspected overdoses. 'The Chinese authorities will be able to actually enforce the regulation of Nitazenes through the fact that they have now been listed as a controlled substance,' Commissioner Hudson said. 'That will certainly equip us with much greater leverage offshore to work to prevent Nitazenes from flowing down into Australia.' Meanwhile, the Victorian Department of Health issued an alert for the synthetic opioid Protonitazene last week. 'There have been recent serious harms in Melbourne associated with a white powder sold as cocaine that contained protonitazene,' the alert stated. 'The product appears to produce strong adverse effects such as loss of consciousness, respiratory depression, and life-threatening hypoxia (insufficient oxygen for normal functioning).' Keir Starmer has said that recognition of the state of Palestine as part of a Middle East peace process is an 'undeniable right' as he told his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu that there is a 'clear and urgent' need for a ceasefire. The prime minister spoke to the Palestinian president on Sunday about the 'ongoing suffering and devastating loss of life' in Gaza after his Labour party's election manifesto committed the party to recognising a Palestinian state as part of a process that results in a two-state solution alongside Israel. A Downing Street spokeswoman said: 'The Prime Minister said he was pleased to be able to speak to President Abbas so early in his tenure... and updated him on his immediate priorities, including securing a ceasefire, the return of hostages, an increase and acceleration in humanitarian aid and financial support for the Palestinian Authority. 'Discussing the importance of reform, and ensuring international legitimacy for Palestine, the Prime Minister said that his longstanding policy on recognition to contribute to a peace process had not changed, and it was the undeniable right of Palestinians.' In his call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sir Keir 'reiterated his condolences for the tragic loss of life following the October attacks' and then set out the 'clear and urgent need for a ceasefire, the return of hostages and an immediate increase in the volume of humanitarian aid reaching civilians'. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said has said that recognition of the state of Palestine as part of a Middle East peace process is an 'undeniable right' In his call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured), Sir Keir 'reiterated his condolences for the tragic loss of life following the October attacks' and then set out the 'clear and urgent need for a ceasefire' Displaced Palestinians carry belongings as they walk in front of a destroyed building in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on July 7, 2024, after a deadly Israeli airstrike 'He added that it was also important to ensure the long-term conditions for a two-state solution were in place, including ensuring the Palestinian Authority had the financial means to operate effectively.' Sir Keir also said the situation on the northern border of Israel, where exchanges of fire with Lebanon-based Hezbollah have been taking place, was 'very concerning' and it was 'crucial all parties acted with caution'. Labour's position on Gaza and its initial refusal to call for an immediate ceasefire cost the party votes and seats despite its general election landslide. The party had faced challenged from pro-Gaza candidates in the general election as anger rose from within the nation's Muslim communities over its initial pre-election position on the conflict that was sparked on October 7. 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. Frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth was unseated by an independent in Leicester South in part because of the party's stance on the issue. Ashworth lost out to independent candidate Shockat Adam by less than 1,000 votes. Mr Adam stood on an overtly pro-Gaza ticket, pledging to place pressure on government to bring about an immediate ceasefire in the strip, and was endorsed by Jeremy Corbyn. His website alludes to a 'genocide' by Israel and said that 'many have expressed feeling betrayed and ignored on this matter'. The constituency has a strong British-Muslim population. A Palestinian boy checks the damage in a house hit by Israeli bombardment in Zawayda in the central Gaza Strip on July 7, 2024 Palestinians inspect the Holy Family School which shelters displaced people, after it was hit in an Israeli strike, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Gaza City, July 7, 2024 Before Sir Keir emerged victorious in the election, just four months ago, he and his wife were targeted by pro-Palestinian protesters while walking through London at night. In a video posted by Camden Friends of Palestine on the X social media site, the Labour leader and Victoria were seen arm in arm crossing a road. As security ushered the Starmers towards a car, the activists can be heard hurling insults such as 'you're not human' and 'you're complicit in genocide'. The Prime Minister's latest remarks come after David Lammy, the new foreign minister, said yesterday that 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. Lammy, while on a trip to Berlin, Germany - his first international trip following the Labour Party's thumping victory in Britain's election on Friday, said: 'The time has come for the United Kingdom to reconnect with the outside world. '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.' British Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lammy said in Berlin yesterday that he wanted Britain to 'get back a balanced position on Israel and Gaza' 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 on what exact efforts would be used to make this happen. 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 October 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 on Sunday travelled to Poland and Sweden, where he focussed on discussions on areas including cooperation on NATO and the war in Ukraine. A Labour MP has called out the 'toxicity' in British politics after some 'idiots' allegedly took a 'sledgehammer' to his home last night. Andrew Western, who was re-elected in Stretford and Urmston in Greater Manchester on Friday, said that the incident is being investigated by police working for Operation Bridger - a team focusing on the security of elected representatives. While the MP who was elected in 2011 said 'no one was hurt' he added that the 'harassment, intimidation and abuse of politicians is not ok and is not normal'. Despite this, he vowed 'not to be cowed' by the perpetrators but called on voters to recognise what MPs have to 'put up with ever more routinely'. Writing on social media he said: 'Considered whether to post this but sadly needs saying: 'Last night there was an incident at my home that is being investigated by police as part of Operation Bridger. Labour MP Andrew Western (right, pictured with Prime Minister Keir Starmer last year) has called out the 'toxicity' in British politics after some 'idiots' took a 'sledgehammer' to his home last night The MP who was elected in 2011 said 'no one was hurt' but he added that the 'harassment, intimidation and abuse of politicians is not ok and is not normal' Andrew Western has called out the 'toxicity' in British politics after some 'idiots' took a 'sledgehammer' to his home last night 'I am absolutely fine and no one was hurt but the toxicity in our politics at present must be drawn out. The harassment, intimidation and abuse of politicians is not ok and is not normal. 'That said it is becoming an ever more regular occurrence. I am proud to represent the people of Stretford and Urmston and I will not be cowed as I seek to serve them to the best of my ability.' 'I want to thank GMP for an excellent response and say that these idiots do not speak for our community and I will do all I can to ensure they never do,' he added. When someone suggested the incident was probably just someone 'taking the mickey' he angrily responded 'I'll tell you that when someone takes a sledgehammer to your property'. 'Eventually people will realise what MPs are having to put with ever more routinely,' he added. It comes as his colleague, fellow Labour MP Jess Phillips spoke out about the 'pretty gruesome' campaign she put up with to cling on to her seat in Birmingham Yardley. The politician, who narrowly held onto her seat beating an independent by just 693, said one of her volunteers had been 'screamed at by a much older man' while campaigning and had her tyres slashed. When the MP was told to 'grow up' by someone online, he revealed that a 'sledgehammar' was taken to his home Labour's Jess Phillips is booed as she wins her general election count after being closely run by Jody McIntyre, another pro-Gaza independent. The Returning Officer (right) tried to calm them down before she asked for them to be thrown out The crowd filming and heckling Ms Phillips last night She also declined the help from the family of murdered MP Jo Cox due to the spike in violence during the six-week campaign and would not let her children attend the vote count in the early hours of Friday morning. As Ms Phillips' majority was declared and she began her victory speech - claiming it had been 'the worst election campaign I have ever stood in' - she was heckled by boos and chants of 'Free Palestine'. It sparked a furious response from the MP, who yelled back: 'I understand that a strong woman standing up to you is met with such reticence' before pointing at them and saying: 'Can you throw them out?' When probed on the incident on LBC this morning, Ms Phillips was still visibly angry about the 'aggression' she had suffered after the vote count and during canvassing. She told the programme: 'These people were standing on a platform of helping the people of Gaza. It's too simple to say it was sectarian. People are desperate for me to announce that the people who were shouting at me and barracking me were Muslim men. 'The fact they were men is actually quite significant to me. The fact that they were Muslim is not significant because there are Muslim people in my constituency who didn't behave like this. 'These people were idiots. They didn't do it because they were Muslim, they did it because they were idiots and they wanted something for themselves and they used a terrible tragedy to get that.' The MP went on to add that those taking such a strong stance against her - resorting to aggression at times - were doing so to 'drive content' on social media apps, such as TikTok. Tory MP Mike Freer even announced that he would be stepping down from being an MP after describing an arson attack at his constituency office on Christmas Eve as being the 'final straw' Burnt out windows at the rear of Conservative MP Mike Freer's office in Ballards Lane in Finchley, north London 'Everything was about driving content so these people weren't ashamed of the way they were behaving they were doing it, then filming themselves and putting it on the internet,' Ms Phillips added. 'When Sadiq Khan came, men wearing masks shouting - I won't say what they are saying because it's a family show - shouting stuff about Sadiq Khan's mother and they are not ashamed. They are putting it on the internet to incite other people to do the same.' Earlier this year, a 75million spending package was revealed to improve the protection of MPs at Westminster. Three female MPs were also given taxpayer-funded body guards amid growing fears against the politicians. It is unknown if all three were re-elected last week. The unnamed trio, including Tory and Labour MPs, were understood to have close protection from private companies as well as chauffeur-driven cars, usually reserved for senior Cabinet members. Other MPs also turned to ex-SAS officers to protect them. Private security was also provided protection at hundreds of constituency surgeries in the wake of the murders of MPs Jo Cox and Sir David Amess. Tory MP Mike Freer even announced that he would be stepping down from being an MP after describing an arson attack at his constituency office on Christmas Eve as being the 'final straw'. Paul Harwood, 42, was charged with arson with intent after a shed was set alight at the former justice minister's office in Ballards Lane, North Finchley, on Christmas Eve last year. MailOnline has contacted Mr Western and Greater Manchester Police. A hitchhiker who survived a ride with a notorious serial killer learned the reason he was allowed to walk away in a jailhouse interview. In the fall of 1975 then 19-year-old Steve Fishman was hitchhiking from Boston to Norwich, Connecticut when he was picked up by a man in a green Buick sedan who called himself Red. Six months later Fishman saw that man again on a news alert that identified him as Robert Frederick Carr III, a murderer who confessed to kidnapping and raping more than a dozen people and killing four of them. This rattled Fishman who was left wondering how he was able to get away from Carr's clutches. Years later he would finally get his answer in a jailhouse interview. 'One of the questions that I had for him was, "Why not me?" And that feels like a really bizarre question to ask. But I did. And he basically shrugged and said, "I thought you were too big,"' Fishman told CNN. In the fall of 1975 then 19-year-old Steve Fishman was hitchhiking from Boston to Norwich, Connecticut when he was picked up by serial killer Robert Frederick Carr III (pictured) Fishman, now an award-winning New York Magazine journalist and hit podcast creator, was an intern at a local newspaper in Norwich when Carr picked him up. He recalled Carr being talkative but later realized he had missed several red flags including the car door latch on the passenger side was jammed and the driver had mentioned getting released from jail. 'Im an intern at a local newspaper. And Im thinking, "Wow, that could be a good story about a guy getting out of prison, trying to reintegrate into the community,"' Fishman said. 'I really didnt stop to think or ask him what the crime was. I didnt have any idea.' When Carr picked Fishman up, he was on parole after serving time in Connecticut for rape. Fishman (pictured) asked Carr in a jailhouse interview why he let him go that day which Carr simply said 'I thought you were too big' In 1972, he picked up 16-year-old Tammy Ruth Huntley and drove her from Miami to Mississippi before he strangled her. Later that year, Carr picked up 11-year-old friends Todd Payton and Mark Wilson from North Miami Beach, raped and strangled them, then buried them in Louisiana and Mississippi. He killed his fourth victim, Rhonda Holloway, 21, not long after his encounter with Fishman and buried her in Connecticut. While he was still an intern, Fishman reached out to Carrs family and tried to schedule an interview with the killer. In the mid-1970s he finally got to speak with the man who let him live. 'An interview with a serial killer was a big story. It was a big journalism scoop that really kind of sent me on the path to be a journalist. And yet, it was a story that I didn't really like to think about because I did it when I was 19 and 20, and I was really afraid of what my focus had been,' Fishman said. Carr confessed to kidnapping and raping more than a dozen people and killing four of them in the 1970s 'I was really afraid that I had gotten the story wrong, that I somehow didn't understand or appreciate the horror of the story. 'Back then, I looked at it as a societal problem of how do we treat criminals? How do we rehabilitate rapists? And the utter depravation of it kind of slipped by me. 'I'm a father now a few times over. I think about crime and victims differently.' Fishman recently teamed up with Carrs daughter Donna to unpack the serial killers heinous crimes in a new season of the Smoke Screen podcast titled, 'My Friend, the Serial Killer.' Public libraries across Idaho have banned children from entering due to a controversial law putting a 'bounty' on thousands of books. Conservative lawmakers pushed through legislation allowing parents to sue libraries over books they deem 'obscene' or otherwise inappropriate for children. Public and school libraries had 60 days to remove the book or move it to an adults-only area closely monitored by staff, or face lawsuits from parents. However, many libraries were too small to create a special section, or lacked the resources or appetite for risk, and instead banned kids entirely. A sign in the Idaho Falls Public Library, with a huge stop symbol, informed patrons they would need to show photo ID if they were under 30 Children could only enter if they had an unrestricted library card signifying their parents were happy with them browsing alone, or be accompanied by a parent who 'must sign an affidavit every time you come to the library' A sign in the Idaho Falls Public Library, with a huge stop symbol, informed patrons they would need to show photo ID if they were under 30. Children could only enter if they had an unrestricted library card signifying their parents were happy with them browsing alone, or be accompanied by a parent who 'must sign an affidavit every time you come to the library'. The sign sparked outrage online, and many critics contrasted it with abortions being banned under almost all circumstances, including rape and incest. 'Idaho: where a 13 year old is forced to carry out pregnancy but can't go to the library,' one wrote. The Donnelly Public Library, in a small rural town north of Boise, said it would be adults-only as it was too small to accommodate the law. Children couldn't even use the bathroom without being escorted by a parent, or be part of a program where their parents sign a waiver. ''Our size prohibits us from separating our 'grown up' books to be out of the accessible range of children,' it said. 'Because we don't have an attorney on retainer, we can't take those chances. We need to let it be fought out by somebody other than a small and rural library.' The library acknowledged the policy would have a 'drastic' impact on homeschooled children, but said it needed to 'protect our staff, library, and taxpayer money'. Conservative lawmakers pushed through legislation allowing parents to sue libraries over books they deem 'obscene' or otherwise appropriate for children Public and school libraries had 60 days to remove the book or move it to an adults-only area closely monitored by staff, or face lawsuits from parents Representative Megan Egbert said many libraries like Donnelly wouldn't be able to stay open as they weren't able to fully monitor an adults-only section. 'We're talking about one-room libraries throughout Idaho that might have one paid staff member, or they might be all volunteer. It's not doable for many of them, she said. The law allows parents to sue libraries and their staff for $250, plus 'any other relief available by law' - making potential damages uncapped. Governor Brad Little, a Republican, vetoed an earlier version of the law that allowed parents to sue for $2,500 every time their child accessed 'harmful material'. He said it 'would have created a library bounty system so egregious that smaller libraries would have been forced to close their doors to minors altogether'. 'This legislation makes sweeping, blanket assumptions on materials that could be determined as 'harmful to minors' in a local library, and it will force one interpretation of that phrase onto all the patrons of the library.' But in April he said 'I signed the stinking bill', explaining that he didn't want to keep vetoing it when lawmakers worked to address his biggest concerns. The law's opponents held protests outside libraries around Idaho last week when the law came into effect on July 1 A sign at a protest in Idaho on Monday, rallying against the law comin into effect A crowd rallies in support of libraries in Boise Critics of the law argued it went against free speech and parental rights, and its definitions were so vague it would even ban an otherwise benign book that had an openly gay character. Idaho Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow said there was no pornography in libraries, contrary to her colleagues' claims, and pointed to 'homosexuality' being listed as harmful as evidence of the bill's real agenda. 'There are people that are trying to ban books with LGBTQ themes, I think that's what this is about,' she told the Idaho Senate last year. There are growing calls for book bans across the US, with books about gender identity, sexual orientation and race topping the list of most criticized titles. 'When we see attacks on those books, we have to understand that those are attacks on those kinds of people as well,' Emily Drabinski, who is the president of the American Library Association and is gay, told AP. 'What could be more harmful to children than that? To stigmatize them and terrorize them in their own schools, in their own libraries,' Representative Ilana Rubel said at a protest in Boise 'To have my identity weaponized against libraries and library workers, the people and institutions I care about the most, has made it a difficult and painful year.' The ALA said it documented the highest-ever number of titles targeted for censorship in 2023 in more than 20 years of tracking - 4,240. That total surpassed 2022's previous record by 65 per cent, with Maia Kobabe's coming-of-age story Gender Queer topping the list for most criticized library book for the third straight year. The law's opponents held protests outside libraries around Idaho last week when the law came into effect on July 1. 'What could be more harmful to children than that? To stigmatize them and terrorize them in their own schools, in their own libraries,' Representative Ilana Rubel said at one in Boise. The law came about in part because of a years-long push by right-wing organizations like Parents Against Bad Books that drew up a hit list of 53 books it wanted pulled from library shelves The list curiously included Fry Bread: a Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard Wintrow, at the same protest, said it 'gave people the permission to basically haul librarians and their content into court. If they determine something's harmful, then they can drag them through the mud and cause a lot of problems'. 'People love their librarians and people trust them. They're tired of politicians telling them what to do, telling them what to read, and telling them how to think,' she said. Egbert said the law let anyone demand a book be removed and there were no limits on how many times they could do it, meaning a 'very small minority can decide what everyone can read'. '[The law] allows attacks against libraries for having any type of book that is deemed 'harmful to minors' without a clear definition of what 'harmful' includes,' the Idaho Democratic Party said. 'Books containing any gay characters or any discussion of race could be deemed 'harmful.' 'It takes away local control and could cost libraries thousands of dollars, ultimately forcing many small libraries to close.' The law came about in part because of a years-long push by right-wing organizations like the Idaho Family Policy Center, run by Blaine Conzatti, which claimed some books were 'X-rated' and 'pornographic'. The effort was helped by Parents Against Bad Books, which drew up a hit list of 53 books it wanted pulled from library shelves. Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris sparked more outrage when bodycam of footage was released showing him going through the young adult section of the Hayden Public Library, hunting for books he deemed obscene The list curiously included Fry Bread: a Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard. Others were The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Beloved, Sula, and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Forever by Judy Blume. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. The group claimed such books contributed to the 'impairment of the ethical and moral development of our youth'. Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris sparked more outrage when bodycam of footage was released showing him going through the young adult section of the Hayden Public Library, hunting for books he deemed obscene. On camera he claimed libraries were 'enticing' children with inappropriate books 'like the old-fashioned guy in the van with candy'. Westminster's new 'Baby of the House' today dismissed claims he doesn't have enough real world experience to be an MP. Sam Carling has become the youngest member of the Commons after being elected to Parliament to represent North West Cambridgeshire at the age of 22. He is Britain's first MP to be born in the 21st century after beating ex-minister Shailesh Vara, his 63-year-old Tory opponent, by just 39 votes on Thursday. Appearing on BBC Breakfast this morning, the Cambridge University researcher hit back at suggestions he was too inexperienced to be a lawmaker. 'No one has yet been able to explain to me why being older makes you better at the job,' he said. Appearing on BBC Breakfast this morning, 22-year-old Labour MP Sam Carling hit back at suggestions he was too inexperienced to be a lawmaker He is Britain's first MP to be born in the 21st century after beating ex-minister Shailesh Vara, his 63-year-old Tory opponent, by just 39 votes on Thursday Mr Carling has already sat on Cambridge City Council for the last two years and has insisted people in their 20s are just 'as capable as anyone else'. His parents were 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. Asked whether he can offer real-world experience when taking his seat in the Commons, Mr Carling told BBC Breakfast: 'Well, I have a lot of experience that older MPs won't. 'I've been renting insecure housing in the private sector for quite a while now. That's an issue facing not just young people, but people all across the age spectrum. 'And it's something that I intend to do a lot of work on now that I'm in Parliament. 'I always get a little bit frustrated when people mention life experience because no one has yet been able to explain to me why being older makes you better at the job.' He added: 'I've done quite a lot for my age as well. I mean, I've been a councillor for a couple of years and a cabinet member responsible for about 17million of public money over the last year. 'I've been a trustee of a university, and I've done a lot of other things that perhaps wouldn't necessarily be typical for someone of my age.' 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 on to 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 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 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 on to Cambridge City Council representing West Chesterton for Labour in May 2022, soon after which he was ruthlessly heckled online for his age and 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 per cent 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.' Officials in the House of Commons are still to confirm if Mr Carling is now Britain's youngest sitting MP. 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 general election. A scientist dubbed Britain's worst stalker is making a new bid for freedom after spending two decades behind bars. Richard Jan, 55, was locked up for life after targeting 200 victims, including a councillor whose home he fire-bombed. The biochemist also slashed tyres and made thousands of round-the-clock crank calls during a seven-year campaign of terror. Detectives branded him 'undoubtedly Britain's worst stalker' and he spent 13 years in prison on top of his seven-year minimum sentence. But Jan, of Streatham, south London, could be released later this year after the parole board agreed to assess him. Richard Jan (pictured) was locked up for life after targeting 200 victims, including a councillor whose home he fire-bombed A hearing will be scheduled in Autumn, potentially paving the way for the convicted stalker to be freed into the community. A source said: 'Jan makes Martha from Baby Reindeer look like a soft touch. He's a manipulative bully who ruined dozens of people's lives. 'It's a frightening prospect for his many victims that he could soon walk free.' Jan was jailed for life in 2004 after fire-bombing the home of a councillor and torching the car of a social worker. He vowed 'World War Three' against 200 victims he claimed were part of a 'fascist horde' plotting to section him. Police said 4,500 threatening calls linked to Jan were the 'tip of the iceberg'. Victims were subjected to 'trademark' tyre slashings, while others were followed home, sent unwanted pizzas, taxis and even a pest control officer. A flow chart found in his home contained entries like 'terminated', 'torpedoed' 'obliterated', 'bombed' and 'disabled' next to the names of some of his targets. One victim, a councillor in Ealing, west London, was lucky to escape when he fire-bombed her family's home. Another, a social worker, was twice taken to hospital after late-night attacks outside her front door in Hanwell, Middlesex. Jan, of Streatham, south London , could be released later this year after the parole board agreed to assess him Yet psychiatrists could find no evidence of mental illness with Jan, who has a genius-level IQ of 150. He was found guilty of two counts of arson with intent to endanger life and one of causing a public nuisance between November 13, 1996, and February 7, 2003 - a charge police felt was best able to embrace the many other aspects of his campaign of hatred. Judge Henry Blacksell branded the stalker 'devious, manipulative and a bully' and told him: 'You cunningly set out to unnerve and ruin people you thought had crossed you. 'Her Majesty's subjects need protection from you.' Some of Jan's victims were forced to quit their jobs, move homes or change names. Detective chief inspector David Poole said upon his sentencing: 'There has never been a case like this before. 'He is undoubtedly Britain's worst stalker, a very dangerous individual who ... ruined lives. 'This man was remorseless and relentless in the way he inflicted terror on people.' Jan was denied parole in 2021 after officials heard he had threatened staff behind bars. The Parole Board confirmed a new hearing would be held later this year. A fitness instructor who relentlessly stalked a married man and accused him of rape after he ended their sexual relationship to get back with his wife has been spared jail. Rebecca Hooper, 43, and her current boyfriend Brian Townsend, 47, made their victim's life 'hell' after telling his family that he was a 'predator' and a rapist. Townsend also turned up at the victim's house and place of work and placed trackers on his car. The unnamed victim, who was arrested and later released over the rape allegation, told how the accusations had tainted his and his family's life because 'mud sticks'. Both Hooper and Townsend were jailed for 16 months, suspended for two years, and handed 10-year restraining orders. Newport Crown Court heard how Hooper had met the victim at the Bridgend Life Centre where she worked and they began a 'casual relationship' which he described as 'friends with benefits'. But the relationship came to an end after the man got back together with his wife. Rebecca Hooper, 43, started stalking a man she had previously been in a sexual relationship with - and made a rape complaint against him Prosecutor Christopher Evans said Hooper called the victim and asked to resume their previous sexual relationship and sent texts multiple times a day. She would comment on Facebook posts related to his son and was looking at photographs going back years. The victim's wife received a friend request from Hooper and she commented on her posts. The victim was forced to block Hooper on social media and WhatsApp to stop her sending him messages. Hooper told the victim her partner Townsend had found messages between them and was 'upset' about it. The victim told Hooper he wanted nothing to do with it and ended the call but he started to receive abusive calls from Townsend who accused him of being a rapist. In June 2023, Townsend turned up at the victim's home and spoke to his adult daughter, screamed abuse at her and referred to her father as a 'sexual predator'. Hooper's mother also called the victim and accused him of forcing her daughter to have sex with him. Two of the victim's friends also received messages from Hooper requesting his address and his partner's details. On one occasion, the victim discovered a van tyre had been deliberately punctured and two weeks later a colleague saw Hooper interfering with the victim's van. When the van was checked it was found to have a tracking device, which collected information such as coordinates and speeds, which was registered to Townsend. Hooper, 43, and her current boyfriend Brian Townsend (pictured together), 47, made their victim's life 'hell' after telling his family that he was a 'predator' and a rapist The victim's wife later received a letter from Hooper in which she stated she had mental health issues and accused the man of raping her. She was upset and the victim felt his 'stomach sinking' after being told about the accusation. Hooper went on to make an online report to the Metropolitan Police who referred the matter to South Wales Police. The victim was arrested and interviewed but no further action was taken. He vehemently denied the accusations and there was no suggestion by the court he did anything wrong. Following his release from custody, the victim continued to receive abuse from the defendants with both driving past the victim on separate occasions and sticking their fingers up at him. There was further vandalism to his van tyres and the victim was fined for failing to attend swimming classes, which had been booked by Hooper without his knowledge. Mr Evans said: 'This conduct caused [the victim] great distress and paranoia. He was constantly being on the lookout for them. He started travelling with different routes and made his journeys longer than normal. He deactivated social media accounts so the defendants could not contact him and stopped attending the swimming pool, gym, and his son's rugby matches. He and his family were greatly affected by the complaint of rape.' The defendants, both of Llangewydd Avenue, Bryntirion, Bridgend, were arrested in October 2023. Both made denials at interview but both later pleaded guilty to stalking. The court heard they were both of previous good character. In a victim personal statement read to the court, the victim said: 'The past 12 months have been hell for me and my family. The suffering we'll continue to deal with today and beyond. 'I don't think we will ever recover from this horrific crime - something I never ever wanted to go through. Emotionally I am broken - my family are broken. I wake up with hot sweats, struggling to sleep, and am always paranoid and worried about my family. 'I am emotionally damaged by this and I'm suffering from serious anxiety and paranoia. Things will never be the same again. I am anxious they might turn up at the front door. I make sure windows and doors are locked in our homes. We feel like prisoners in our own home and our own community. I avoid the Bridgend area as I'm scared of seeing Rebecca and Brian. 'She accused me of rape - this is not true and was reflected in the outcome of that investigation but it will stick like mud. It breaks my heart daily worrying about what people might say as a result of their actions. I am always looking over my shoulder and paranoid. 'Myself and my partner go out in public very rarely - we're asking if people know us, what have they been told, and will they say anything to us. Our quality of life has been affected severely. Our whole life has been forced to change - it's violated our safe space and my home has been abused.' In mitigation the court heard Hooper has mental health issues and is suspected of having neurodiverse challenges but she has not been diagnosed. Giles Hayes, mitigating for Hooper, said her client had an inability to deal with the end of the relationship and described her conduct as 'dangerous and irresponsible'. It was said Townsend accepted his emotions 'got the better of him' and his behaviour was 'unacceptable'. Sentencing, Recorder Neil Owen-Casey described Hooper's conduct as 'an extreme reaction to the breakdown of a relationship'. Recorder Owen-Casey said: 'Any point of remorse, I am afraid, is absent in this case.' Hooper was sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years, and was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work, up to 12 days of a mental health requirement, a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement, and to pay compensation of 500 and costs of 150. Townsend was also sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years, and was made subject to a four-month curfew and ordered to pay compensation of 500 and costs of 150. Both defendants were made subject to restraining orders for 10 years. Hurricane Beryl is set to slam Texas with a combination of storm surge, rainfall, and damaging wind gusts Sunday, officials said. Dangerous flash flooding is possible in some areas, where as much as 8 to 12 inches of rainfall expected. A few showers have already been spotted, spurring evacuations for some coastal cities like those in Refugio County. There, towns like Bayside, Refugio, and Woodsboro issued mandatory evacuations - accounting for some 6,700 residents. The orders come a little less than a week after Beryl made history as the earliest storm to develop in into a Category 5 over the Atlantic, as winds and storm surge fueled by the ocean's record warmth. It most recently savaged Mexico after causing at least 11 deaths in the Caribbean, and by Sunday evening, will make landfall in the US. More than six feet of storm surge could be pushed into areas north of the impact zone near the coastal city of Brownsville. Scroll down for video: Hurricane Beryl is set to slam Texas with a combination of storm surge, rainfall, and damaging wind gusts Sunday, officials have warned Dark clouds hang over Houston, Texas, Sunday, as the city is one of many under hurricane warning A few showers have already been spotted, spurring evacuations all across the coast. Rain in Houston Sunday is seen here 'We're seeing the outer bands of Beryl approach the Texas coast now and the weather should be going downhill especially this afternoon and evening,' Eric Blake, a hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center, warned earlier in the day. 'People should definitely be in their safe space by nightfall and we're expecting the hurricane to make landfall somewhere in the middle Texas coast overnight,' he added. A staffer at an Ace Hardware in Corpus Christi, just north of the impact zone, added how foot-traffic has been nonstop for the past three days as a result, with customers snapping up tarps, rope, duct tape, sandbags and generators in bulk. 'They're just worried about the wind, the rain,' Elizabeth Landry said Saturday. 'They're wanting to prepare just in case.' As Landry indicated, no official evacuation order was given to Corpus Christi, unlike its neighbors to the south in Refugio County. That said, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, acting governor while Gov. Greg Abbott is out of town in Taiwan, issued a preemptive disaster declaration for 121 counties - Nueces County included. As a result, officials in coastal Corpus Christi asked those visiting for the Fourth to return home early if possible, as the city's some 316,000 permanent residents were told to secure their homes. Boarded up windows and sandbags to slow the forecasted floodwater's progress were seen as a result, especially in more low-lying areas of the city and others set on the Gulf of Mexico. Dangerous flash flooding is possible in some areas, where as as much as 8-12 inches of rainfall expected. A resident is seen preparing for such conditions Sunday in Port Lavaca, one of several cities on the coast that are at risk The outerbands moving onshore along the TX coast this morning. Hurricane warning in effect and storm surge warning. #HurricaneBeryl #txwx pic.twitter.com/JOtzc9h88R Jeff Piotrowski (@Jeff_Piotrowski) July 7, 2024 More than six feet of storm surge could be pushed into areas north of the impact zone, which includes Houston and nearby Galveston, seen here Sunday Ominous clouds were already spotted looming over coastal cities like Magnolia, seen here Sunday Some towns have issued mandatory evacuations, a little less than a week after Beryl made history as the earliest storm to develop in into a Category 5 over the Atlantic Despite being miles away, Tropical Storm Beryl already began to hit the coast Sunday morning, including places like Port O'Connor down south Poised to be one of the first - and hardest-hit US victims of the stubborn storm, Corpus Christi was joined by several other coastal cities in calling for voluntary evacuations Towns north of Corpus Christi all the way to Sargent, just south of Houston, issued identical orders, banning beach camping and urging tourists traveling on the Fourth of July holiday weekend to move recreational vehicles from coastal parks. Further south in places like Brownsville, the orders were not optional, due to those cities' proximity to the slice of land where the storm will make landfall, after refueling over the Gulf and hitting parts of Mexico. While no deaths have been recorded yet in the Central American country, it knocked out power and put authorities on high-alert despite devolving into a less-dangerous Category-2. Having since picked up steam over the infamous body of water, the storm is once again a hurricane - one of the highest degree. It is in this Category-5 state that the storm will slam into southern Texas around sometime Sunday night, officials said - much worse than when it toppled trees as a tropical storm when it moved across the Yucatan Peninsula. Now on a collision course with the southern part of the US instead of Mexico for a second time, the storm has already spurred a mass deployment of emergency responders, search-and-rescue teams, and other resources along the coast. Winds and storm surge fueled by the ocean's record warmth are now set to come to fruition along the Lone Star State's Gulf Coast, for a historic storm that could cause casualties More than six feet of storm surge could be pushed into areas north of the impact zone near the coastal city of Brownsville, not far from Port Lavaca where residents were boarding up windows He and other residents worked frantically ahead of the storm's anticipated arrival, likely late Sunday when most people will be home in bed A message for Beryl is left on a boarded up business in Rock Port, another city on the Gulf Coast deemed to be in danger Some gusty winds and slight rains have been seen since, but by nightfall, Brownsville will be battered by the southern part of the swirling storm, as Corpus Christie and cities just south of Houston will be subject to even more severe weather. There, the hurricane will make its final landfall over a range that spans hundreds of miles, If and when it happens, Beryl will become just the 10th hurricane to hit Texas in July since 1851 - and the fourth in the past 25 years, officials said. That said, Beryl's path remains unpredictable, and state authorities in Texas are warning people - particularly in coastal areas - accordingly. 'While Texans take time to enjoy the holiday weekend with family and friends, its important to stay weather aware, pay close attention to the rapidly-changing forecasts,' Texas Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd said in a statement. '[D]ont be caught without an emergency plan.' 'If I lived in Texas, and I have lived in Texas, this would be a storm that I would be watching closely,' FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin added. 'The possible impacts would be Sunday into Monday.' In Refugio County, just south of Corpus Christi, evacuations are already in progress, as Beryl's path still remains somewhat unpredictable That said, the county of some 6,700 residents will be among those hit, officials warned Sunday - citing how the storm will make another landfall further up near Houston Monday morning Boarded up windows and sandbags to slow the forecasted floodwater's progress were seen as a result, especially in more low-lying areas of the city and others set on the Gulf of Mexico Sandbag distribution in the city of Kingsville in anticipation of Beryl are seen here, as several cities are poised to be subject to of 96 to 110 mph, and storm surge of 9 to 12 feet On Monday, Beryl strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane for the first time, and by early Tuesday it was creating record-breaking 165 mph maximum sustained winds On Monday, Beryl strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane for the first time, and by early Tuesday it was creating record-breaking 165 mph maximum sustained winds. The small island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines were among those hit, with at least one person dead and more casualties likely as officials continue to probe flooded areas and wreckage. In Grenada, at least three people have died, after Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said an unspecified number of homes had been destroyed by the "Armageddon-like" storm. Venezuela was also hit by heavy flooding that caused the deaths of at least, as four more remain missing as a result of the storm, the country's president, Nicolas Maduro, said. In total, at least eleven people are known to have died as a result. An Antiques Roadshow guest was stunned to learn the wooden bowl she bought on her honeymoon is worth thousands of dollars. In the resurfaced clip, a woman brought a distressed wooden bowl to a 2017 Antiques Roadshow event in Fort Worth, Texas. She purchased the bowl she believed to be a Pacific Northwest creation 22 years earlier on her wedding trip to the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Appraiser Anthony Slayter-Ralph brought the woman to tears when he revealed the item she paid $400 for is worth tens of thousands of dollars. 'This is my wedding gift. Makes me want to cry because of the history of where I got it and how I got it,' she said. A woman brought a distressed wooden bowl to a 2017 Antiques Roadshow event in Fort Worth, Texas and was stunned to learn its real value She purchased the bowl she believed to be a Pacific Northwest creation 22 years earlier on her wedding trip to the Hawaiian island of Kauai The dark wooden bowl bares its age with some discoloration and features a unique decorative end with a hollowed out face. The appraiser determined the bowl is made out of spruce and was likely made by Native Alaskans in the beginning of the 19th century or even earlier in the 1780s or 1790s. 'It's quite extraordinary. I mean, I have never seen, and my colleagues also, one that has this head fixed on the top,' Slayter-Ralph said. 'The Eskimos don't really do decorative art. Everything they do has a function. And they also believed that each of these objects has a spirit in it, the yua, and I think that the head probably represents the spirit of the bowl. 'Mostly, you see these as finger puppets, and it's a strange notion. I mean, maybe this is meant to look like a mask and this is the body. One is inclined to think that it would be ceremonial. I mean, we don't really know. The woman to tears when he revealed the item she paid $400 for is worth tens of thousands of dollars The dark wooden bowl features a unique decorative end with a hollowed out face is made out of spruce and was likely made by Native Alaskans in the beginning of the 19th century 'The back, you can also see, it's actually hollowed out, which makes me think it is a mask in miniature. Very nice grooved carvings around the side here, traces of pigment. There's been some damage, which has been repaired. I don't know when-- before you got it, I think.' Slayter-Ralph determined the bowl is worth between $18,000 and $20,000 and with more research could go for much higher at auction. This valuation brought the woman to tears, leaving her with very few words to say about the piece that carries so much value to her heart. 'Oh my goodness,' the woman gasped. 'Oh my Lord.' A British Airways plane was struck by lightning on its approach to Heathrow Airport on Sunday afternoon. Passengers onboard Flight BA919 from Stuttgart to Heathrow - some returning from Euro 2024 matches in Germany - told of their 'shock' after the dramatic incident which forced crews to divert to Gatwick. The flight left Germany just after 1pm local time (12pm BST) and was due to land at Heathrow at 1.40pm. But the poor weather forced the pilots to divert to Gatwick, where passengers arrived at around 2pm before they were driven to Heathrow. One passenger, Jeco, told The Sun: 'The crew were amazing when our flight got struck by lightning on the approach to Heathrow. It was shocking. The flight had to divert to Gatwick.' A British Airways plane has been struck by lightning on its approach to Heathrow Airport. A passenger shared this image, which they said was taken from the flight A map showing the flight's route shows the plane travelling on a smooth course before suddenly circling and zigzagging away from Heathrow Another man, whose son and grandson were onboard, described it as the 'flight from hell' after passengers were delayed by over heated brakes in Stuttgart before being diverted in the UK due to lightning. Passenger Robert Rossall, who was returning from a trip to Germany for the Euros, praised the response by the captain and his crew, telling MailOnline: 'The captain made a decision to land at the safer airport given the conditions and lightning strike. 'Once on the tarmac he was informative and even walked the length of the plane to talk to all passengers. Cabin crew passed around bottled water and were calming. [It was] very professionally handled.' A map showing the flight's route shows the plane travelling on a smooth course before suddenly circling and zigzagging away from Heathrow. A spokesman for British Airways said: 'BA919 diverted to Gatwick earlier this afternoon due to weather related conditions in the region. 'The flight landed just before 2pm. Customers were driven from Gatwick to Heathrow.' Lighting strikes on flights are very common and are usually harmless. Experts suggest most planes are hit by lightning once or twice a year. Another passenger, who was on a different flight to London, also posted on X: 'Just got struck by lightning on the approach into Heathrow. 'It entered just underneath the flight deck and left the tail - we saw it shoot through the cabin. The flight left Germany just after 1pm local time (12pm BST) and was due to land at Heathrow at 1.40pm. But it had to divert to Gatwick. (File image) 'I'd heard of lighting travelling through the cabin before but it was my first time seeing it in real life.' And Daniel Bruce, who was flying from Dublin to Stansted after a heavy stag-do, also revealed his flight was struck by lightning. He told MailOnline: 'Our flight from Dublin to Stansted was also hit! We saw the fork of lightning out the window and heard the bang on the side of the plane - woke a few of us up! Cabin crew looked a little bit concerned! 'There were a lot of staff checking the plane over after we had a hell of a bumpy landing! Stag-do of 10 of us after a weekend of Guinness and watching the Euros, could've ended in disaster!' It comes after a BA IT failure left dozens of passengers stranded on planes and facing hours of delays collecting their luggage at Heathrow last week. The UK's busiest airport revealed passengers travelling from Terminal 5 were facing delays due to a failure in BA's Allocation systems, which no other airline was affected by. The glitch came a day after a ground vehicle caught on fire by a BA plane parked at Heathrow's Terminal 5. Locals were left stunned to find a cash machine installed on the side of a bridge in an apparent prank. The machine, fixed on the side of Sonning Bridge in Sonning-on-Thames, Berkshire was created by artist Impro in a protest against the widespread closure of high street bank branches. The installation is adorned with a logo bearing the name 'Impro Solutions' and is installed between two of the bridge's brick archways, just inches from the water. Impro, who lives in Oxfordshire, has previously installed a red post box set into the bricks in the same location. His other stunts have included a drunk Santa and a large Google Maps pin on a roundabout. Locals were stunned to find a cash machine installed on the side of a bridge in Berkshire The installation on Sonning Bridge is the latest stunt by artist Impro The artist had previously installed a red post box set into the bricks in the same location, and has also created other stunts including a drunk Santa The prank was an apparent protest against widespread closures of high street bank branches Referring to his latest prank, he said: 'Banks have reacted to complaints about branch closures and accessibility by opening cashpoints on river bridges for boaters within minutes of Keir Starmer walking into No 10.' Over 6,000 bank branches have been shuttered in the last nine years, around 60 per cent of the UK's total network, leaving some communities with little or no facilities at all. A recent surge in closures by major banks has been attributed to many customers' switch to online banking. But experts warn that while many are going digital, a significant number of people are not ready for the jump. A wave of bank closures has seen 6,000 branches disappear from the high street in the last nine years Initiatives to ease the impact of shuttered branches include new banking hubs, which allow banks to share facilities via a common counter at post offices. Around fifty hubs have opened so far nationwide which are capable of handling simple transactions. However customers are still required to go to proper branches for some services, such as registering power of attorney. Marine Le Pen's hopes of forming France's first hard-right government since the War have been dashed after a left-wing coalition took the most seats in the second round of the legislative election, exit polls predict. The New Popular Front (NFP) alliance is on course to have 172-215 MPs with Emmanuel Macron's centrists on 150-180 seats and the far-right National Rally (RN) on 115-155, according to projections by four leading polling firms. Veteran presidential candidate Le Pen's RN led the race after the June 30 first round, with opinion polls predicting that she would lead the biggest party in Parliament, but projections for the party were much lower than anticipated. The New Popular Front (NFP) was formed last month, bringing together socialists, greens, communists and the hard-left into one camp - but while it leads in the exit polls, it does not have enough seats for a majority. The lack of majority for any single alliance has plunged France into political and economic turmoil. Some 30,000 police have been deployed to keep order, and many voters expressed fears that rioting could erupt in some cities after the results were announced. Marine Le Pen's (pictured) hopes of forming France's first hard-right government since the War have been dashed after a left-wing coalition took the most seats in the second round of the legislative election, exit polls predict Supporters of The Ecologists-EELV green party celebrate following the first results of the second round of France's legislative election during the party's election night event in Paris on July 7, 2024 The New Popular Front (NFP) alliance was on course to have 172-215 MPs with Emmanuel Macron's (pictured) centrists on 150-180 seats and the far-right National Rally (RN) on 115-155, according to projections by four leading polling firms People gather at the Place de la Republique after partial results in the second round of the early French parliamentary elections, in Paris, France, July 7, 2024 Police chase demonstrators during reactions to projected results after the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Nantes, western France A supporter of the left wing coalition Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) gives the middle finger and holds a flare as she celebrates after the first results of the second round of France's legislative election during an election night event in Rennes on July 7, 2024 Supporters of French far-left opposition party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed - LFI) react after partial results in the second round of the early French parliamentary elections at Place Stalingrad in Paris, France, July 7, 2024 Supporters of the French left-wing Socialist Party (PS) watch a screen displaying the first results of the second round of France's legislative election during the party's election night event in Paris on July 7, 2024 People stand in Republique Plaza as they react to the projection of results during the second round of the legislative elections, in Paris, France French police stand in position behind flares during clashes with demonstrators as people gather at the Place de la Republique after partial results in the second round of the early French parliamentary elections, in Paris, France, July 7, 2024 Demonstrators set off smoke flares as they react to projected results after the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Nantes, western France Tear gas has been deployed as rioters clash with security forces following an election night event after the first results of the second round of France's legislative election in Rennes on July 7, 2024 Final results are not expected until late Sunday or early Monday in the snap election that was called just four weeks ago in a huge gamble for Macron. The deeply unpopular president lost control of parliament, according to the projections. The far right NR drastically increased the number of seats it holds in parliament but fell far short of expectations. France now faces the prospect of weeks of political machinations to determine who will be prime minister and lead the National Assembly. And Macron faces the prospect of leading the country alongside a prime minister opposed to most of his domestic policies. In a somber speech after the second-round legislative election, Jordan Bardella, the president of the far right RN, denounced the political maneuvering that led the National Rally to fall far short of expectations. An unprecedented number of candidates who qualified for the runoff stepped aside to allow an opponent to go head-to-head with the National Rally candidate, increasing the chances of defeating them. Despite projections widely considered disappointing for the anti-immigration, nationalist party, it still increased its seat count in parliament to an unprecedented high, according to polling projections. No party won a majority, threatening to plunge France into political and economic turmoil. 'Tonight, by deliberately taking the responsibility to paralyze our institutions, Emmanuel Macron ... is consequently depriving the French people of any responses to their daily problems for many months to come,' Bardella said. Hard-left France Unbowed leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, giving his first reaction, called on French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal to resign and said the left-wing coalition was ready to govern. 'The French people have voted with a conscience,' said Melenchon, a former presidential candidate and one of the main leaders of the NPF. 'Our people have clearly ruled out the worst solution to our problems.' Melenchon welcomed 'a result that had seemed impossible', adding: 'This evening the RN is far from having an absolute majority. This is a huge relief for millions of people who make up the new France.' Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said he would offer Macron his resignation on Monday but was ready to serve 'as long as duty demands', notably in light of the imminent Games. Demonstrators run from smoke flares during reactions to projected results after the second round of the legislative elections, in Lyon, central France, Sunday, July 7, 2024 Police chase demonstrators during reactions to projected results after the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Nantes, western France A demonstrator throws a smoke flare during reactions to projected results after the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Nantes, western France A photographer takes pictures of tear gas during clashes with security forces following an election night event after the first results of the second round of France's legislative election in Rennes on July 7, 2024 Supporters light red flares during the election night of left-wing party La France Insoumise (LFI) following the first results of the second round of France's legislative election at La Rotonde Stalingrad in Paris on July 7, 2024 Demonstrators carrying anti-fascism banners light smoke flares as they react to projected results after the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Nantes, western France Demonstrators run from smoke flares during reactions to projected results after the second round of the legislative elections, in Lyon, central France, Sunday, July 7, 2024 Supporters light red flares during the election night of left-wing party La France Insoumise (LFI) following the first results of the second round of France's legislative election at La Rotonde Stalingrad in Paris on July 7, 2024 Demonstrators light off smoke flares as they react to projected results after the second round of the legislative elections, in Lyon, central France, Sunday, July 7, 2024 People deploy a giant national flag reading 'France is the fabric of migration' and a banner reading 'stop genocide' during an election night event following the first results of the second round of France's legislative election at Republique Square in Paris on July 7, 2024 A participant stands among anti-fascist symbols during an election night rally following the first results of the second round of France's legislative election at Place de la Republique in Paris on July 7, 2024 People celebrate after the first results of the second round of France's legislative election during an election night event in Marseille on July 7, 2024 Victory for the NPF followed even Macron calling for a 'Republican Front' against the RN pulling candidates out of key constituencies so as to leave a single anti-RN one with a clear run at victory. Avoiding so-called 'Cohabitation' a lame duck President working with an opposition government will come as a huge relief to Macron, but he still has massive problems ahead. He called the snap election as a result of huge RN gains in the European Parliament, and had said a large vote for extremists could lead to 'civil war'. Former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said France needed a pact to make sure there is a stable government, adding that he was ready to take on this task and invited other to join him in the effort. 'I am ready', said Philippe. The RN deputy of the North, Sebastien Chenu, who was re-elected last week in the first round of the elections, reacted to the first results which placed his party in 3rd position. He denounced a France 'plunged into a quagmire' after 'unnatural alliances' were formed. Macron will attend next week's landmark NATO summit in Washington a diminished but not defeated figure and France has been left without a stable ruling majority less than three weeks before Paris hosts the Olympics. Rioters in Paris set off flares as thousands took to the streets to celebrate or protest the election results Hundreds of riot police officers were deployed all over Paris to patrol the streets ahead of expected riots Shops in Paris were boarded up ahead of the expected protests in the French capital on July 7, 2024 People react to the projection of results for the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Nantes, western France Jordan Bardella, President of the French far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally - RN) party, delivers a speech on stage after partial results in the second round of the early French parliamentary elections in Paris, France, July 7, 2024 High street stores across Paris were seen boarding up this morning ahead of the second round of parliamentary voting amid fears of protests Several central areas within Paris are concerned with the possibility of protests erupting, including Rue de Rivoli, the Opera area, and the Champs-Elysees Supporters of the left wing coalition Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) celebrate after the first results of the second round of France's legislative election during an election night event in Rennes on July 7, 2024 France's Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (L) gives a speech following the first results of the second round of France's legislative election at Matignon in Paris on July 7, 2024 Demonstrators light off smoke flares as they react to projected results after the second round of the legislative elections, in Lyon, central France, Sunday, July 7, 2024 In a somber speech after the second-round legislative election, Jordan Bardella (pictured), the president of the far right RN, denounced the political maneuvering that led the National Rally to fall far short of expectations Far-right National Rally party leader Marine Le Pen answers reporters after the second round of the legislative election, Sunday, July 7, 2024 at the party election night headquarters in Paris Hard-left France Unbowed leader Jean-Luc Melenchon (right), giving his first reaction, called on French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal to resign and said the left-wing coalition was ready to govern French far-right Rassemblement National (RN) political party MP for Pas-de-Calais Marine Le Pen during an evening gathering of French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) on second round of French parliamentary legislative elections at Pavillon Chesnaie du Roy of Parc floral in Paris, France on July 7, 2024 Supporters of the French left-wing Socialist Party (PS) react following the first results of the second round of France's legislative election during the party's election night event in Paris on July 7, 2024 Supporters of the French far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally - RN) party hold French flags as they react after partial results in the second round of the early French parliamentary elections, at the RN in Paris, France, July 7, 2024 Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (pictured) said he would offer Macron his resignation on Monday but was ready to serve 'as long as duty demands', notably in light of the imminent Games Partcipants react as they listen to the announcement of the projected results of the second round of France's crunch legislative elections during a rally in Nantes, western France on July 7, 2024 Rassemblement National militants during an evening gathering of French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) on second round of legislative elections at Pavillon Chesnaie du Roy of Parc floral in Paris, France on July 7, 2024 Supporters the French Left wing coaltion parties 'Le Nouveau Front Populaire' (The new Popular Front in French) react after the second round of thelegislative elections results at PLace d ela Republique in Paris, France, July 7, 2024 The snap elections in this nuclear-armed nation have potential impact on the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy and Europe's economic stability. They're almost certain to undercut Macron for the remaining three years of his presidency. The election campaign, the shortest in French history, has been marked by a febrile national mood, threats and violence - including racist abuse - against dozens of candidates and canvassers. Turnout was high, with left-wing and centrist candidates urging supporters to defend democratic values and the rule of law - while the far right scented a chance to upend the established order. By 5pm local time, according to interior ministry figures, some 61.4 percent of voters had turned out - the most at this stage of a legislative race since 1981. An outright RN victory would have seen Macron forced into an uneasy cohabitation with prime minister Bardella for the remaining three years of his term. Even without that scenario, France is left with a hung parliament with a large eurosceptic, anti-immigration contingent. This would have weakened France's international standing and threaten Western unity in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. EU officials, already learning to deal with far-right parties in power in Italy and the Netherlands and frustrated by Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, are watching France closely. With the country on tenterhooks, last week saw more than 200 tactical-voting pacts between centre and left wing candidates in seats to attempt to prevent the RN winning an absolute majority. Supporters of The Ecologists-EELV green party celebrate following the first results of the second round of France's legislative election during the party's election night event in Paris on July 7, 2024 Rassemblement National militants during an evening gathering of French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) on second round of legislative elections at Pavillon Chesnaie du Roy of Parc floral in Paris, France on July 7, 2024 People react to the projection of results after the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Nantes, western France France's President Emmanuel Macron (R), flanked by his wife Brigitte Macron (L), exits a polling booth, adorned with curtains displaying the colors of the flag of France, to vote in the second round of France's legislative election at a polling station in Le Touquet, northern France on July 7, 2024 People deploy a giant national flag reading 'France is the fabric of migration' during an election night event following the first results of the second round of France's legislative election at Republique Square in Paris on July 7, 2024 France's President Emmanuel Macron votes in the second round of France's legislative election at a polling station in Le Touquet, northern France on July 7, 2024 A barricade burned as protesters demonstrated against the French far-right National Rally party Anti-riot police officers pushed back protesters on Paris streets following the first round of voting on June 30 This has been hailed as a return of the anti-far right 'Republican Front' first summoned when Le Pen's father Jean-Marie faced Jacques Chirac in the run-off of 2002 presidential elections. The question for France now is if this last-ditch alliance of last resort can now support a stable government, dogged by a huge RN bloc in parliament led by Le Pen herself as she prepares a 2027 presidential bid. If no coalition emerges, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal could try to lead a minority government as, under French rules, the president can not dissolve parliament again and call a fresh poll for 12 months. 'France is on the cusp of a seismic political shift,' said analysts at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), warning of 'legislative gridlock' that would weaken 'France's voice on the European and international stage'. The House Oversight Committee is looking to understand more about White House Physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor's role after conflicting statements on whether President Joe Biden received a cognitive test after his debate disaster. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre repeatedly insisted during a press conference Tuesday that Biden had not been to the doctor to take a mental acuity test, which contradicted the president's own statements during a meeting with governors last week where he said he saw his doctor after the debate and they determined everything was fine. 'The statements by the White House Press Secretary and President Biden appear inconsistent, and the Committee seeks to understand the extent of your role at the White House at this time,' Oversight Chairman James Comer wrote in a Saturday letter to the doctor. O'Connor has never recommended that Biden take a cognitive test, according to a White House official who spoke with The Washington Post and now House Republicans are wondering if it's because there is a financial conflict. President Joe Biden's doctor, Kevin O'Connor (right), is being called to 'produce all documents and communications in your possession regarding Americore and James Biden' as questions emerge over his resistance in calling for Biden to take a cognitive test 'The Oversight Committee is concerned your medical assessments have been influenced by your private business endeavors with the Biden family,' Comer wrote. Biden denies that he has any long term mental issues and said in his first post-debate TV interview there are 'no indications of any serious condition.' Speaking with ABC's George Stephanopoulos on Friday, Biden repeatedly rejected the idea of taking an independent medical evaluation that would show voters he is up for serving another term. And now Rep. Comer is seeking clarity from Dr. O'Connor on his business involvement with Americore, where the president's brother, James Biden, was serving as principal. James sent $200,000 to President Biden while the company was experiencing financial distress. 'On March 1, 2018, the same day James Biden received the $200,000 wire transfer from Americore into his bank account, James Biden wrote a check to his brother, Joe Biden, for $200,000 for a 'loan repayment,' the committee letter reads. It added: 'In February of this year, the Committee conducted a transcribed interview with James Biden. During the interview, James Biden confirmed that you provided him counsel in connection with the alleged work he was performing for Americore.' 'Given your connections with the Biden family, the Committee also seeks to understand if you are in a position to provide accurate and independent reviews of the President's fitness to serve.' Britain's new Defence Secretary John Healey was forced to take cover from a Russian air raid in a bomb shelter during his first official visit to Ukraine. Mr Healey, who promised extra weapons and support for Ukraine immediately after Sir Keir Starmer's Labour government came to power three days ago, dashed for cover from Vladimir Putin's missiles as air raid sirens rang out across Odessa. On Thursday night, Mr Healey was at sports hall in South Yorkshire celebrating Labour's historic landslide victory which has seen them return to power for the first time in 14 years. But just 72 hours later, the new Defence Secretary was rushed to a bunker, where he pledged to continue backing President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine in their fight against Putin's army. Mr Healey had been welcomed by counterpart Rustem Umerov when they were alerted to the missile strike threat. The new Defence Secretary John Healey with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Odessa after committing new weapons and ammunitions to help in the war effort against Russia President Zelensky pictured visiting Zmiiny (Snake) Island to pay tribute to defenders on the 500th day of Putin's invasion of Ukraine Mr Healey leaving Number 10 following Labour's first cabinet meeting. Labour have committed to supporting Ukraine and pledged help within 100 days Along with Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, they were scrambled to the basement of a Soviet-era building acting as Mr Umerov's temporary base, The Sun reports. Mr Healy has directed officials to fast-track a package of support that was pledged last April by the previous government. He has promised desperate Ukraine forces that the much needed help will be delivered within the next 100 days. The package includes more artillery and 90 Brimstone missiles on top of more than 7.6 billion of military assistance sent to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. The announcements came after Foreign Secretary David Lammy said UK military, economic, political and diplomatic support for Ukraine will 'remain ironclad' under the Labour Government. Mr Healey said: 'As the new Defence Secretary, I will ensure that we reinvigorate Britain's support by stepping up supplies of vital military aid. 'Our commitment to stand with the Ukrainian people is absolute, as is our resolve to confront Russian aggression and pursue Putin for his war crimes. 'This Government is steadfast in our commitment to continue supplying military assistance and will stand shoulder to shoulder with our Ukrainian friends for as long as it takes.' The MoD said the new package of support includes ammunition, 90 Brimstone missiles, 50 small military boats to support river and coastal operations, 40 demining vehicles, 10 AS-90 artillery guns and support for previously gifted ones, and 61 bulldozers to help build defensive positions. The department said the UK's commitment in April included 400 vehicles, 1,600 strike and air defence missiles, 4 million rounds of ammunition and 60 boats, including offshore raiding craft. Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said: 'The recent milestone of 500,000 Russians killed or wounded is a reminder of how badly this war has gone for Russia. 'Over the past year, with British help, Ukraine has driven the Russian fleet from Crimea and reopened the Black Sea for exports. 'The battle on land is much tougher but Ukraine's future as a sovereign nation is not in doubt.' Ukraine's Defence Minister Rustem Umerov with Mr Healey. The government had said that aid, previously promised in April last year, will be delivered in the next three months Keir Starmer meeting with Mr Zelensky at Speaker's House in the Palace of Westminster, London. Despite claims by Rishi Sunak that help for Ukraine would be scaled back, Labour have committed to strengthening the UK-Ukraine relationship Viktor Orban and Volodymyr Zelensky meet in Kyiv. The Hungarian prime minister has told Zelensky that Ukraine should lay down its arms against Russia He added: 'By continuing to support Ukraine, and by helping to ensure Russia loses, Britain and Europe will be stronger and safer over the long term.' Mr Healey's visit to Ukraine within 48 hours of taking on the role is likely to be viewed as a signal from the Government about its commitment to supporting Ukraine. Former prime minister Rishi Sunak had claimed during the General Election campaign that multi-year support to Ukraine would be put at risk under Labour. The UK's commitment to supporting Ukraine contrasts to Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban who told Volodymyr Zelensky that Ukraine needs to lay down its arms in the war with Russia. Mr Orban Europe's most pro-Russian leader made the comments in Kyiv a day after Hungary took over the rotating presidency of the EU. Yesterday Ukraine launched an overnight drone strike on a Russian munitions depot, near the border region of Voronezh, setting it ablaze. Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russian territory this year, targeting both energy sites it says supply the Russian army and towns and villages just across the border. It comes after Russian strikes on Friday night 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. Russia is continually targeting Ukraine's badly damaged energy infrastructure, resulting in hours of rolling blackouts across the country. Ukrainian officials have warned that the situation may worsen as winter approaches. 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. A 17-year-old missing girl has been found dead in the woods near a busy road - and a teen boy is charged with her murder. Trinity Bostic, a Macon County High School senior's body was found on July 3, just five days after she was reported missing. A Tennessee Department of Transportation worker found her remains near the wood-line of Route 386 in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Now, a 17-year-old boy from Westmoreland is facing first-degree murder charges in connection with Trinity's death. Hendersonville Police have not released the suspect's name due to his minor age. Trinity Bostic, a Macon County High School senior's body was found on July 3, just five days after she was reported missing A Tennessee Department of Transportation worker found her remains near the wood-line of Route 386 in Hendersonville, Tennessee Trinity was initially reported missing on the evening of Saturday, June 29. Friends and family have been left devastated by the loss of the teen. Kathy Duffer, a close friend of Trinity, told Fox 17: 'She was excited about graduating. She was a very smart girl. She was intelligent, a hard worker.' Duffer and Trinity became friends as the two did projects together in the community. 'Trinity loved to talk; I would listen,' she said. 'I was just devastated,' said Duffer when she heard her young friend had lost her life. 'I just couldn't believe it... The last time I seen trinity was at Walmart. And she would hug me, and thank me for everything I done for her.' The Hendersonville Police Department suspects foul play as they continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding Trinity's death. Trinity was initially reported missing on the evening of Saturday, June 29 The Hendersonville Police Department suspects foul play as they continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding Trinity's death 'In order to maintain the integrity of the investigation, no other details surrounding this incident will be released at this time,' HPD said Friday. Trinity's classmates started a GoFundMe page to support her family during this time. 'The class of 2025 is saddened at the passing of our classmate, Trinity Bostic,' the organizer wrote. 'We are planning on raising money to help and support her family during these times. Any amount donated will be given to Trinity's family to help with expenses and is greatly appreciated. Thank you.' Trinity was described as a caring and thoughtful person by friends. 'Trinity was just a thankful person. She was kind hearted. She would help anybody,' said Duffer. 'Our thoughts and prayers are with Trinity's family and friends during this tragic time,' the police release read. Kathy Duffer, a close friend of Trinity, told Fox 17: 'She was excited about graduating. She was a very smart girl. She was intelligent, a hard worker' Trinity's classmates started a GoFundMe page to support her family during this time Just last week, the body of a missing autistic girl was found in a Tennessee lake just minutes after a statewide search was launched. Serenity Alanna Marie Kinsey, 7, was found by a dive team in Douglas Lake near Dandridge just after 11am last Thursday. She was reported missing by her family at around 5am after they realized she left their home on Indian Creek Road in the middle of the night. Pro-Palestinian protesters surrounded the car convoy carrying Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during his trip to Edinburgh. Demonstrators held Palestinian flags and attempted to block the Labour leader's car as he left Bute House following his meeting with First Minister of Scotland John Swinney. Police held back the activists as the newly elected Prime Minister left the building via the back exit and continued on his tour of the UK following Labour's landslide victory in the 2024 General Election. Sir Keir met with Mr Swinney after Labour replaced the SNP as the largest party in Scotland at Thursday's general election, by winning 37 out of 57 seats. Ahead of his trip to Scotland, Sir Keir promised to lead a 'government of service' for 'working people in all four nations' of the UK. Demonstrators held Palestinian flags and attempted to block the Labour leader's car as he left Bute House following his meeting with First Minister of Scotland John Swinney Police held back the activists as the newly elected Prime Minister left the building and continued on his tour of the UK following Labour's landslide victory in the 2024 General Election Sir Keir (pictured leaving Bute House) met with Mr Swinney after Labour replaced the SNP as the largest party in Scotland at Thursday's general election, by winning 37 out of 57 seats He 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 government's 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. 'Together we can begin the work to rebuild our country with a resolute focus on serving working people once again.' Despite a landslide victory in the UK general election, the party lost a large number of votes and several MPs to pro-Palestinian independent candidates in a number of seats with large Muslim populations. Prior to leaving Downing Street for Scotland, Sir Keir held calls with Mr Netanyahu, the Israeli PM, Mr Ramaphosa, the South African President, as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed al-Nahyan. Sir Keir told Mr Abbas that recognition of the state of Palestine as part of a Middle East peace process is an 'undeniable right'. In his call with Mr Netanyahu, the PM 'reiterated his condolences for the tragic loss of life following the October attacks' and then set out the 'clear and urgent need for a ceasefire, the return of hostages and an immediate increase in the volume of humanitarian aid reaching civilians'. A Downing Street spokeswoman said: 'He added that it was also important to ensure the long-term conditions for a two-state solution were in place, including ensuring the Palestinian Authority had the financial means to operate effectively.' Tomorrow, Sir Keir will continue his UK tour when he travels on to Northern Ireland and Wales. He has promised an 'immediate reset' of Westminster's relationship with the UK's devolved governments under his premiership. Civil war has erupted within the SNP in the aftermath of its humiliating July 4 General Election wipeout. Dubbed the independence day massacre, senior nationalist figures laid much of the blame at the door of former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. The bitter recriminations began just days after voters turned against the the SNP, which was left with just nine MPs after losing dozens of seats across the country. Prominent MP Joanna Cherry led the criticism of Nicola Sturgeon yesterday, by calling for the former leader to apologise for her role in the collapse in support. Other former SNP politicians also linked the decline to her authoritarian style of leadership, which saw the party being run like a personality cult. Much of the blame for the SNP 's atrocious election results has been laid at the door of former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon Ms Sturgeons own former chief of staff even yesterday distanced herself from the former First Ministers claim that the SNP leadership should have talked about independence more during the campaign. The bitter round of infighting comes despite John Swinney pledging to unite his party when he became leader. Scottish Conservative MSP Douglas Lumsden said: Following their drubbing on Thursday, the SNP are fighting like Nats in a sack, while Scotlands real priorities are being ignored. With the SNPs political elite clambering to distance themselves from the Sturgeon years, John Swinneys claim that he has united the party has become laughable. Scotland needs a government that is focused on the real issues facing Scotland, not one obsessed with infighting and independence. During an appearance on the Trevor Phillips on Sunday programme on Sky News yesterday, Ms Cherry, who was defeated in Edinburgh South West after nine years as an MP, said the SNPs core support was disillusioned at the partys failure to progress the cause of independence. She said the SNP previously won support from people who didnt support independence because they saw the party as a strong and competent government, but added: I am afraid to say, and ashamed for my party, that both our reputation of governing competently and our reputation for integrity - that we are different from what went before - has taken a severe battering in the last couple of years. She said that if Mr Swinney is to maintain support he is going to have to acknowledge the enormity of this setback and address the reasons why it happened. Asked if Ms Sturgeon owes MPs who lost their seats an apology, Ms Cherry said: I think she does. I dont think you can ever blame a setback like this on one person. However, Nicola Sturgeon was a very strong leader who brooked no debate and no dissent, as I know to my considerable cost. She ran the party the way that she wanted it. She inherited an incredible legacy from Alex Salmond and after the independence referendum, where although we had lost the independence referendum, we had advanced support for it very considerably. Ms Cherry said Ms Sturgeon was presented with a series of opportunities after the EU referendum and in the early years of Boris Johnsons leadership that should have been exploited to push forward the cause of independence - but said there was a huge strategic failure on that. Joanna Cherry, who lost her Edinburgh South West seat, called upon Ms Sturgeon to apologise to SNP members She also claimed that people with legitimate concerns about gender reforms proposed by Ms Sturgeons government were demonised, and added: It was an ill-thought through policy, it was never debated or voted for on the floor of the SNP conference, legitimate concerns were dismissed, those who had legitimate concerns were demonised, and we failed to take the public with us. That is a microcosm of how she governed. During an appearance as a pundit on ITVs general election results programme, Ms Sturgeon condemned the SNPs general election campaign because independence wasnt really put front and centre. But Liz Lloyd, former chief of staff to Ms Sturgeon and one of her closest allies, yesterday told BBC Radio Scotland: The SNP needs to be a bit careful about rushing to the judgement that more independence would have been the answer in this campaign. Ive heard that from a number of people over the course of Thursday night and Im not convinced it would have been. She said Mr Swinney was locked in to a position set by Humza Yousaf where independence was page one, line one of the SNP manifesto, but said: People know its not happening. They know that this side of the next Holyrood election its not going to move forward, they know there is not going to be a referendum in the next year-and-a-half. So as you talk up independence and you talk up what this election might mean for independence, the public are going aye right, thats not coming, thats not happening. It is a longer journey now. It is time to, we say step back, reflect, take a breath about a lot of things, but it is actually time to look at how the party moves forward on this. Former SNP MSP Joan McAlpine described the July 4 election reversal as an independence day massacre for the SNP. Writing in the Sunday Post, she said: The loss of 39 MPs represents a collapse of trust in a party which, not long ago, was the political force promising change. The rot can be traced back to Nicola Sturgeons authoritarian style of leadership. It camouflaged internal difficulties which imploded with her resignation and subsequent leadership race. She said a focus on divisive fringe issues like gender reform made the party a laughing stock and led to an exodus of members, and the police probe into the SNPs funding and finances further eroded trust and the party became distracted by internal difficulties. Angus MacNeil, the former SNP MP who was defeated as an independent, said people have been too scared to speak out against Ms Sturgeon, Mr Swinney and other senior figures. Former SNP MP Angus MacNeil said Ms Sturgeon had turned the SNP into a 'personality cult' amid the recriminations for Thursday's catastrophic battering at the ballot box He added: The personality cult of Nicola Sturgeon has to end - people saying Im with Nicola. The SNP was allowed to become a group to follow Nicola. They suspended their critical faculties and it is time now to go back to reason and good arguments and sound thought and make up policies that way, rather than doing whatever pops into Nicola Sturgeons head. Former Health Secretary Alex Neil called for a fresh start with a leader who isnt associated with the failures of the Sturgeon years. At the weekend, one SNP candidate claimed there would be a massive revolt against SNP headquarters because of the lack of support during the election campaign. Stephen Gethins, who was elected as an SNP MP in Angus and Broughty Ferry, said he can understand that people are frustrated but insisted the HQ team worked extraordinarily hard. He added: We didnt get the result that we might have wanted but I think that is something to reflect on as well and Ive spoken to people in headquarters who are reflecting themselves on the result and what they can do better, and that is something that we should always be doing. During her appearance on ITVs election programme, Ms Sturgeon said it would be the easy solution for people to take refuge in somehow its all my fault. A man has been jailed for beating and raping a woman who jumped out of a window to escape his flat. Oladip Oshodi was imprisoned for 25 years after he subjected his victim to beating and raped her twice at his home in Dagenham, east London in July 2023. The unnamed woman eventually escaped out of a window before she was found by locals having collapsed in the street. She was rushed to hospital for treatment and received support from specialist officers. Oshodi, 48, was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday after being convicted on two counts of rape, administering a noxious substance, threats to kill, grievous bodily harm and controlling coercive behaviour. Oladip Oshodi was jailed for 25 years after a raping a woman who escaped his flat by jumping out of a window He was found to have made several unwanted advances towards his victim at his home in Mayesbrook. After raping the woman twice and then proceeding to beat her up, she jumped onto the street from a ground floor window. Officers were alerted to the incident by passers-by who saw the woman collapsed in the middle of the road and helped her to safety. Oshodi was said to have shown 'no remorse' throughout the trial for his actions on the evening of July 11 last year. The rapist was arrested by police the next day and was remanded in custody throughout proceedings. He was convicted of all charges on May 10. Oshodi was sentenced last Friday at Snaresbrook Crown Court (pictured) after being found guilty on all counts of rape, threats to kill, administering a noxious substance, grievous bodily harm and controlling coercive behaviour Detective Constable Serena McGhee said: 'Oshodi is a dangerous man and it is right that he will now serve a long sentence in a place where he will not pose a threat to women. I commend the bravery of the victim and the witnesses in this case. 'Oshodi showed no remorse throughout the investigation and trial, and I am pleased that he has been made to face the consequences of his actions.' PC Kayleigh Grafton, a specialist officer dealing with victims of sexual assault said: 'The survivor in this case was fleeing for her life when she jumped onto the street to escape this man. 'I hope that the sentence handed down encourages other women who have been the victim of sexual offences to come forward. We are here to support you and our mission is to keep you safe and support you every step of the way.' Sir Keir Starmer yesterday served notice on John Swinney that he wants him out of Bute House in less than two years time. Speaking ahead of meeting the First Minister, the Prime Minister said that after toppling the Conservatives at Westminster, Labour intended to oust the SNP from Holyrood. Addressing a gathering of his Scottish MPs, Sir Keir told them: This is part one, part two comes in 2026 and imagine what we could do, what more we could do. We start the delivery now because that mandate we won on Thursday was a very clear mandate for change, for change across the whole of the United Kingdom, a mandate that we hold here in Scotland, in Wales, in England. He was echoed by Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who said the party was already working towards victory at the 2026 Scottish election. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he wanted a repeat of Scottish Labour's success in last week's General Election in the Holyrood elections in 2026 He said: People on Thursday didnt just vote for change from one failing government, they recognised they wanted change across Scotland too. Thats why yes, we get straight to work to deliver a UK Labour government, but we also redouble our efforts here in Scotland so in 2026 we complete stage two of change and elect a Scottish Labour government too. Sir Keirs first official as Prime Minister was to meet Mr Swinney before travelling to Northern Ireland and Wales as part of a round Britain trip. A protest by around 200 pro-Palestine supporters outside the building forced the Prime Minister to use the backdoor, rather than pose for photographs on the front step. However the visit to Mr Swinney was nevertheless a brutal statement of intent that Labour has its sights set squarely on removing the SNP from power north of the Border. Speaking to the press before the encounter, Sir Keir said he wanted to work better and more respectfully with the Scottish Government after years of constitutional feuding. He said: One of the reasons I wanted to come to Scotland was to make good on my promise to Scottish voters that I would deliver for Scotland after this general election. So we start that delivery now, that change now, thats why I invited the first minister to set the framework within which we can work I think, better for Scotland, more respectfully for Scotland, and that change starts now. We wouldnt have won if we hadnt changed the Labour Party. Thats why its very important for me to have my first engagement with Anas because it was Anass leadership that changed Scottish Labour and allowed us to return a team of 37 Labour MPs in Scotland. Obviously in 2026 we campaign hard and, you know, for obvious reasons want that success. Sir Keir said he wanted Westminster and Holyrood to work better together ahead of his meeting with First Minister John Swinney at Bute House Asked if he thought Mr Swinney was a lame duck leader, Sir Keir said: I am going to see the First Minister and I intend to reset the relationship between the Westminster Government and for Scotland, and that is because I have operated on the principle of country first and party second. Mr Sarwar added: Were going to respect the office [of First Minister], respect the role, because we need to work together for Scotland. Sir Keir said he was really pleased about meeting Mr Swinney so quickly after the pair spoke by phone on Friday and considered it was very significant for both of them. He said: I will work with anyone, whatever rosette theyre wearing, if they genuinely want to deliver change for communities. 'My door is open to anybody who genuinely wants to bring about change, because my mandate is for change and I intend to deliver it For Scotland and for the whole of the United Kingdom. The last Prime Minister to visit Bute House was Boris Johnson in 2019, when he was booed on his way to meet then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. The obvious tension between the two leaders led to an awkward photo op on the doorstep. Mr Johnsons successor, Liz Truss, did not visit or call Ms Sturgeon. And although he met and called both Ms Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf, Rishi Sunak never made it to the A-listed Georgian mansion on Charlotte Square. Scottish Secretary Ian Murray was jeered by protestors when he left Bute House to get a taxi shortly after 6.30pm. If the SNP thinks that it hit rock bottom in last weeks election then it is in for a shock. The loss of 39 Commons seats confirms a trend that has been evident for some time and is set to accelerate. Its problems have only just surfaced but have been growing for some time. Many Scots understandably wanted to believe the SNPs extravagant promises and gave the SNP ample opportunity to deliver. But patience has run out. High blown rhetoric could only work for so long. The SNP bubble has been burst. The fallout from last weeks devastating loss of seats will do further damage as SNP members search for scapegoats rather than solutions. The bitterness and backbiting that was already increasing has been ramped up. The SNP suffered the loss of 39 seats at the General Election, but this is only the beginning of the party's nightmare While responsibility largely lies with Nicola Sturgeon, most of the defeated MPs and members of the Scottish Government share responsibility. These people turned a blind eye to what has long been obvious. The lack of curiosity about how the party was run and the failure to stand up to an intolerant leader who was patently failing to deliver was staggering. The SNP was struggling financially before last week. It will now lose Short money, income given to opposition parties in the Commons based on number of MPs and votes. SNP staff will have to be laid off. SNP membership has declined significantly from the surge that followed the independence referendum. There was little sign of the army of activists that the SNP assumed it could rely on. SNP social media postings during the campaign do not suggest a vibrant young membership. The shrunken membership means a declining source for party finances and a party on the skids is unlikely to attract much funding from donors. And that is without a police investigation under way. Losing its status as the third largest party in the Commons means we will hear a lot less from the SNPs group leader in the Commons. The weekly slot at Prime Ministers Questions falls to the Liberal Democrat leader. The rump left in the Commons will struggle to get noticed. The loss of MPs does not remove the SNPs main problem as they were not the principal source of its decline. The SNPs main problem lies in Holyrood. And even if John Swinney avoids the word continuity, foolishly embraced by his hapless immediate predecessor, Scotland still has Sturgeon government. The current Scottish Cabinet was almost entirely made by and in the image of Nicola Sturgeon. The SNP leadership cannot address the problem because it is the problem. There is little sign of this being acknowledged, far less dealt with. An alternative Cabinet is unlikely without an almighty and damaging internal battle. The few who identified the source of problems were hung out to dry, undermined by their own colleagues. Rarely has the notion that the opposition are in other parties and the enemy is within been more true. Time is against the SNP, even if it managed to come up with more competent senior Ministers from amongst its existing MSPs. Once a reputation for competence is lost it is difficult to regain. The litany of failures will not be forgotten in two years. Short of some dramatic and unforeseeable shock, the SNP is set to stagger on for the next two years until the Holyrood elections. It is out of ideas, lacks credibility in government and there is no prospect of an independence referendum, which it would be in no position to fight anyway. The tragedy is that the Scottish public are the real losers. Analysis by James Mitchell, Professor of Politics and International Relations at Edinburgh University Joe Biden showed up late to his disastrous debate with Donald Trump, and then his staff bungled the days after so badly that it became a snowballing crisis. The president went from being a good debate away from resurgence against his bitter rival, to having Democratic lawmakers openly calling on him to quit. Biden blamed a cold and a generally 'bad night' for looking frail, confused, and struggling to finish sentences during the debate. He may have been able to convince politicians, donors, and the American voters of this as polls barely moved in the hours after. But instead a series of bungles by both his staff and Biden himself threatens to make his 'bad night' an unrecoverable disaster that hands Trump the White House. 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 Mistakes began before the debate itself. Biden was too confident in his skills having won many debates before, including against Trump. He left his hotel in Atlanta 27 minutes late and arrived with less than half an hour to spare, with no time to learn where to look when Trump was talking, the Washington Post reported. As a result, he often looked in the wrong direction and appeared like he was staring into space, barely aware of what was going on. Tens of millions saw the debate meltdown and reacted with shock, sadness, and fear of what it meant - and even Trump was among those in disbelief. 'No one was more shocked at Biden's performance than Donald Trump,' one of his advisers said. Trump skipped the spin room after the debate because he thought Biden performed so badly he would look like he was kicking him when he was down. Biden's staff devised a plan to brush the debate off as a blip: A huge show of force at a big rally. 'I don't walk as easy as I used to. I don't speak as smoothly as I used to. 'But I know what I do know I know how to do this job,' he said. 'When you get knocked down, you get back up.' President Biden and first lady Jill Biden appeared for a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina the day after the debate as Democrats try to flip the loosley red state to blue in November Biden's performance at Raleigh, North Carolina, was how he should have sounded at the debate - loud, confident, articulate, and energetic. The key difference was he was reading from a teleprompter after practicing a pre-written speech, not answering an off-the-cuff question. Raleigh was step in the right direction, but for donors, staff, lawmakers, and allies it was also evidence of the stark contrast in setting. Many had seen him not walking as easily or speaking as smoothly for years, he lost his train of thought more and more, and his energy was lacking. His supporters had reassured them he would show up in the big moments, and keep quietly getting the job done behind the scenes. But his debate performance shattered that facade for many, and suddenly every move he made was under a microscope, every misstep magnified. Biden shocked donors by only speaking for just six minutes at a fundraiser on June 29, still making a gaffe, and bailing without taking questions. Next he went to New Jersey to speak at Governor Phil Murphy's private villa, but spoke so softly, like at the start of the debate, the room of 50 struggled to hear him. Again, his speech was soft like at the debate, and he sometimes lost his train of thought even when using a teleprompter. Biden's performance at Raleigh, North Carolina, was how he should have sounded at the debate - loud, confident, articulate, and energetic Tens of millions saw the debate meltdown and reacted with shock, sadness, and fear of what it meant - and even Trump was among those in disbelief But the main problem was that these were the only events he was doing, instead of following up Raleigh with a media blitz to show he still had it. Biden spoke for just 32 minutes in public - all of them scripted remarks - over the next five days of private fundraisers and a family retreat. His Raleigh speech delayed true disaster, his absence created a vacuum his opponents, and worried Democrats, filled with drama. By Monday, the crisis was spiraling - his camp was leaking discontent, Democrats were discussing replacing him, and as it went on openly calling on him to step aside. 'Everyone lost confidence by Monday. I started hearing from donors, members, everyone on Monday. It was only getting worse,' one Democratic congressmember said. 'The talking points suck, totally suck. They did a terrible job after the debate. Terrible.' The situation created a mood of doom and despair, egged on by major newspaper editorials urging Biden to pass the torch for the good of the country. 'I would have been more aggressive if I was them. 'They needed to have him out earlier, to show there was nothing,' Biden ally Al Sharpton told the Post. 'The White House seemed surprised at the reaction. They should have fired right back. You don't give your enemies the chance to set your narrative. They let their enemies set the narrative.' Governor Tim Walz, center, Governor Wes Moore, right, and Governor Kathy Hochul, left, after their meeting with Biden at the White House on Wednesday Vice President Kamala Harris, barely used in the campaign, was suddenly being considered as she would legally be allowed to use Biden's campaign war chest - but shot down the idea Biden was forced to call his staff to reassure them they weren't to blame for the debate, and try to hose down reports of fraction between them and his family. Democratic governors demanded a sit-down with Biden and met with him on Wednesday at the White House. They made a public show of support afterwards, but privately told the president they were worried about losing Maine, New Mexico, and Colorado. Vice President Kamala Harris, barely used in the campaign, was suddenly being considered as she would legally be allowed to use Biden's campaign war chest. But she angrily shot down the idea at the governors meeting, declaring, 'This is about our f**king democracy' and demanding the back Biden. The same day, Biden made another gaffe in a radio interview, calling Harris 'the first black woman to serve with a black president'. His flub was despite the question being on of four his campaign sent to WURD host Andrea Lawful-Sanders in Philadelphia ahead of time, that she used in the interview. But instead a series of bungles by both his staff and Biden himself threatens to make his 'bad night' an unrecoverable disaster that hands Trump the White House. Biden's flub was despite the question being on of four his campaign sent to WURD host Andrea Lawful-Sanders in Philadelphia ahead of time, that she used in the interview Stuart Stevens, Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign lead consultant, said Biden should have immediately gone on a press blitz after the debate with town halls, interviews, and late-night rallies to make everyone forget the debate. 'There is a very simple path to this. You just have to go out and do it,' she said. 'If you can't do it, that is a different thing.' The stumble during the radio interview showed perhaps that qualifier was the central issue all along. Biden at 81, almost 82, is a different proposition than the 2020 campaign. He needs more sleep, different shoes, and even the steps to Air Force One are shorter. His rally on Friday in Madison, Wisconsin, followed by a 22-minute radio interview on ABC was a chance to stop the bleeding. Biden defiantly declared he would contest the November 5 election and win at a much more lively speech with the same energy as Raleigh But while the ABC interview was far better than the debate, Biden still lost his train of thought at times, appeared less sure of himself, and made factual errors Biden defiantly declared he would contest the November 5 election and win at a much more lively speech with the same energy as Raleigh. But while the interview was far better than the debate, Biden still lost his train of thought at times, appeared less sure of himself, and made factual errors. Unless Biden can pull his campaign out of a tailspin, things could get very ugly this week as Congress returns to session and Democrats squabble about whether he should stay or go from the race. 'This Democratic circular firing squad will continue, but it will also end,' Dmitri Mehlhorn, a donor adviser to LinkedIn co-founder and key Biden supporter Reid Hoffman, told the Post. 'The question is: Does it end in a couple weeks, which is manageable, or does it end in a couple months, which will be a disaster. 'It's a self-inflicted wound, and the question is: Do we keep shooting ourselves?' Democratic lawmakers held a crisis call on Sunday afternoon to discuss President Joe Biden's viability as their 2024 candidate amid growing concerns over their own political futures in November. On the call, at least five more Democratic lawmakers called on Biden, 81, to step aside, according to reports. And most agreed that Vice President Kamala Harris, 59, should be the nominee instead. Judiciary Ranking Member Jerry Nadler and House Veterans' Affairs Committee Ranking Member Mark Takano are among those who expressed they want Biden to end his White House bid. Reps. Don Beyer, Adam Smith and Joseph Morelle, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, also said Biden is done for. Democratic lawmakers held a crisis call on Sunday afternoon to discuss President Joe Biden 's viability as their 2024 candidate amid growing concerns over their own political futures in November Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries scheduled the call with caucus members as they prepare to head back to Washington, D.C. on Monday after breaking for the July 4 holiday Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries scheduled the call with caucus members as they prepare to head back to Washington, D.C. on Monday after breaking for the July 4 holiday. 'The sh*t is going to hit the fan on Monday, when Congress returns,' a House Democrat said in a recent report. They added: 'People are scared about their own races. But they're also worried about the country, and about democracy.' Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is also organizing a group of Senate Democrats to discuss Biden's future, and is pushing to meet Monday evening. Judiciary Ranking Member Jerry Nadler and House Veterans' Affairs Committee Ranking Member Mark Takano are among those who expressed they want Biden to end his White House bid Reps. Don Beyer, Adam Smith and Joseph Morelle, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, also said Biden is done for This comes after reports that Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) began organizing a group of Senate Democrats to discuss Biden's future. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told NBC's Meet the Press during a Sunday interview: 'The performance on the debate stage, I think, rightfully raised questions among the American people about whether the president has the vigor to defeat Donald Trump. And this is an existential race.' He should be mopping the floor with Donald Trump. Joe Biden is running against a criminal. It should not be even close. And there is only one reason why it is close and that's the president's age.' the California Democrat added. Democratic lawmakers are growing increasingly worried about their races in November and are likely to up calls for President Joe Biden to drop out of the race this week 'And what I would advise the president is seek out the opinions of people you trust. He's obviously talked to his family about this but he should seek out people with some distance and objectivity. 'He should seek out pollsters who are not his own pollsters.' 'Take a moment to make the best informed judgment. And if the judgment is run then run and beat that SOB.' An urgent search for three children has ended after they were found at a service station. Police issued an Amber Alert in the early hours of Monday for information about the whereabouts of the children aged three, five and six, who were last seen with their biological father on the Gold Coast. The siblings were spotted at a 7/11 in Mount Warren Park, south of Brisbane, at about 7am on Monday. Detective Acting Superintendent Mark White said police received information the children were in a Hyundai hatchback about 40m from the service station. 'They walked to the 7/11 which is nearby and obviously the employee there has contacted police,' he said. 'They will be medically assessed because the information we have is that they were in the vehicle overnight by themselves.' The father of the children, who had been with police since about 10.15pm on Sunday, has been arrested and charged on unrelated matters, Supt White said. The 27-year-old is expected to appear in court on Monday. Police believe the three-year-old girl (pictured), five-year-old boy and six-year-old boy were with a man known to them when they left a home on Victor Avenue in Paradise Point, on the Gold Coast, at 4pm on Sunday The children were found safe and well on Monday morning after an Amber Alert was issued Police are still appealing for anyone who may have seen the blue Hyundai hatchback registration 205SKW travelling between the Gold Coast and Logan areas between 4.30pm and 10pm on Sunday to contact them Supt White said there was no issue with the father having custody of the children. Police are still appealing for anyone who may have seen the blue Hyundai hatchback registration 205SKW travelling between the Gold Coast and Logan areas between 4.30pm and 10pm on Sunday to contact them. Truth be told, I was never satisfied with the result of the 2014 referendum. Fifty-five to 45 per cent was a little too close for my liking. As such, I am indebted to the SNP for its decision to make last weeks General Election a de facto referendum on independence and urging the electorate, on page one, line one of its manifesto, to vote SNP for Scotland to become an independent country. In the event, just three in ten electors did so, while a smattering backed other pro-independence parties. Pro-Union platforms, on the other hand, raked in almost 65 per cent of the vote between them. So the results of this second, de facto referendum were: Yes 34.4 per cent, No 64.7 per cent. The Scottish Government must stop using taxpayers money to pursue independence, writes Stephen Daisley I wouldnt normally agree that constitutional preference can be cleanly extrapolated from voting behaviour in a parliamentary poll, but those were the terms on which the SNP fought this contest and Im happy to accept them. Scotland has rejected independence in two referendums, the most recent by a margin of almost two to one. The Westminster parties have been given an overwhelming mandate to maintain the Union. The Scottish Government must honour this and stop using taxpayers money to pursue independence. The matter is now settled. Disconnect Is the SNP doing the honourable thing and accepting defeat on the issue? Not a bit of it. Ive lost count of the number of Nationalist politicians who have tried to disconnect Thursday nights results from independence. We shouldnt dismiss this point sight unseen. Savantas final pre-election poll showed a high Yes vote (49 per cent), a majority (51 per cent) for another referendum in the next five years, and a sizeable segment (39 per cent) who say the case for independence is stronger today than it was in 2014. And lets not forget demography. If only under-55s voted, Yes would win a referendum handily. The greying of the No vote is bad news for the Unionist cause and only a fool would dismiss it. But rather than lessening the scale of the SNPs defeat, these facts aggravate it. Almost half of Scots support independence, yet fewer than a third voted for the main pro-independence party. For a significant number of electors, the link between Yes and SNP has been severed, and the Nationalists cannot console themselves that these voters retreated to other separatist parties. Between them, the Scottish Greens and Alba took 4.3 per cent, meaning just one in three Scots voted for a pro-independence party. No, what happened on Thursday is the SNPs Yellow Wall was smashed to smithereens by an electoral bulldozer called the Labour Party. All those Central Belt seats that had been intergenerationally Labour but which switched to the SNP in 2015 snapped back into the red column, a feat for which Anas Sarwar deserves much credit. Another crutch the Nationalists are leaning on is that the SNPs vote was depressed by this being a get the Tories out election. This is unconvincing because it assumes voters in Scotland are unsophisticated and unable to understand how elections work. Scottish voters were well aware that the next government would be Labour; the only question was the size of its majority. We know this because every single opinion poll published between October 2022 and polling day every single one gave Labour a double-digit lead. You had to go back to December 2021 to find a poll putting the Tories ahead. If ever there was an election in which Scottish voters could feel safe to cast a ballot for the SNP without risking a Tory government, it was this one. Catastrophic The Nationalists can try from now till Judgment Day to spin this result but it will always be a catastrophic defeat. Unfortunately for the SNP, it only has till 2026, when voters go back to the polls to choose their next devolved government. It would be premature to say the outcome is a foregone conclusion: a great deal can happen in two years. But on the basis of Thursdays result and recent polling, the SNP is heading back to the Holyrood opposition benches. Of course, opposition is their metier. The SNP was cracking in opposition, at least under Alex Salmond, and turned blootering the Labour-Liberal Democrat Scottish Executive into an art form. As the third party at Westminster, and with no chance of making law or changing policy, the Nationalists mastered parliamentary spectacle, dramatically walking out in protest over this or that and piggy-backing on progressive pet causes to boost their media profile. Nowhere has the SNP been a firmer opposition than in government at Holyrood. For 17 years they have kept the reins of power by acting as though someone else was holding them. When they failed to keep their promises on education, they blamed the Treasury for not giving them enough money. When they couldnt meet their own targets on NHS waiting times, they blamed the pandemic even though they hadnt been delivering on emergency, cancer, mental health and diagnostic waits long before Covid came along. When their long-vowed road upgrades never materialised, they blamed the climate emergency. Crisis When they abandoned a key climate target, they blamed cuts and UK backtracking. When they recruited a fraction of the nurses they pledged, they blamed a Brexit that took place a decade into NHS Scotlands staffing crisis. When Scotland recorded the highest drugs deaths rate in Europe, they blamed Margaret Thatcher. When the economy failed to grow, they blamed austerity, then the block grant, then their lack of fiscal powers, then immigration policy, then Brexit, then Boris Johnson, then Covid, then Ukraine, then the global energy crisis, then Liz Truss and then Rishi Sunak. When their Deposit Return Scheme collapsed, they blamed Westminster. When their gender legislation risked interfering with Britain-wide law, they blamed Westminster. Need I say who they blamed when the Supreme Court ruled against their Indyref 2 gambit? For almost two decades, they have squandered an unparalleled electoral monopoly, an ever-expanding suite of devolved powers and a panoply of political opportunities. Not only have they failed to improve outcomes, they have often set them back further. On the attainment gap, health, drugs deaths, transport infrastructure and government transparency, Scotland would be better off today if SNP ministers had just left their predecessors policies in place. The SNP never was and never will be a party of government. It is in politics not to transform but to wreck, not to build up Scotland but to break up Britain. They are all volume and no substance. That is why they now have only nine MPs. They finally got found out. Renowned transplant surgeon Nadey Hakim, who also happens to be a distinguished sculptor, has created a bronze of Rishi Sunak. His previous works include a David Cameron bust which went for 90,000 at a Tory fundraiser. It now gazes down from the staircase at the Carlton Club, home of the Tory establishment. In 2000, Hakim helped perform the worlds first double-arm transplant. His greatest triumph as a sculptor was presenting his likeness of Pope Francis to the pontiff: a photo of which has pride of place in his studio. The Pope telling me he liked my sculpture is the nicest comment you could ever get, Hakim tells me. A bronze bust of Rishi Sunak will be a 'collector's item', it's sculptor has said Nadey Hakim, who is also a renowned transplant surgeon, has previously made statues of political figures including David Cameron and Boris Johnson (pictured) But who on earth will want a 35,000 bust of the former prime minister? No one's goig to commission another statue of Sunak after Thursday's defeat, writes ANDREW PIERCE But who on earth will want his 35,000 bust of the short-lived Tory premier? It will be a collectors item, says Hakim. Hes right. No ones going to commission another bust of Sunak now hes presided over the Tories worst defeat in history. Poll clear as mud for impressionist Bremner Rory Bremner on X: Exit poll predicting Labour Landslide. Ed Davey hoping for a LibDem Mudslide. Blur drummer Dave Rowntree (pictured, centre) went back to his day job after failing to win Mid Sussex for Labour, losing to the Lib Dems Blur drummer Dave Rowntree went back to the day job after failing to win Mid Sussex for Labour. The Lib Dems won after Corbynista rocker Billy Bragg urged a tactical vote for them to beat the Tories. Should be interesting if they meet next Glasto. With Britain hosting a big summit at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, for 50 European heads of state this month, lets hope Foreign Secretary David Lammy isnt quizzed on his French history. When on Celebrity Mastermind in 2009 he was asked which Marie won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1903. Newly appointed Foreign Secretary David Lammy once incorrectly said that Marie Antoinette won a Nobel Prize for physics on Mastermind in 2009 He said Marie Antoinette, executed by guillotine in 1793. The correct answer was Marie Curie, a Polish-French physicist. Is this Sir Keir Starmers first U-turn as Prime Minister? Labours manifesto talks of a retirement age of 80 for peers, to cut numbers in the House of Lords. Yet, on his list of new peers announced last week is Dame Margaret Beckett, who served in Tony Blairs Cabinet and stood down from the Commons in May. She is 81. Lets hope ex-Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie doesnt visit Labour-run Wales. He posts: How dim are the Welsh? Despite having the worst-performing education and health systems in the UK, they returned 27 Labour MPs, nine more than last time. Expect the country to become poorer, sicker and more stupid if thats possible. Former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie suggested the Welsh were 'dim' for returning 27 Labour MPs Reynolds' U-turn on polls As a keen young Labour MP, Johnny Reynolds tabled a Bill in 2015 demanding an end to the first-past-the-post voting system for general elections. He told the Commons: I make a plea today for not just a proportional voting system but a patriotic voting system, in which all parts of the country, and all shades of opinion, are treated equally and fairly. Before last weeks poll, Reynolds, now Business Secretary, was asked if he is still as fervent. New Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds appears to have changed his mind on reforming Britain's first-past-the-post electoral system If you look at constituencies up and down the country there really is only one... party that is competitive in all parts of the UK. That is the Labour Party which gives us a chance to form a government. Ill take that as a no. Maybe the Tories hoped for a miracle in Cardiff East by choosing Rev Beatrice Brandon, a C of E vicar, to fight the seat. She came a poor fifth. Also an exorcist, she helps souls feeling they may be haunted, cursed or possessed like any of 250 Tories who lost their seats. Labour has vowed to tackle Reform UK head-on as a senior minister branded Nigel Farage's agenda as a threat to 'economic and national security'. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said his party would now 'come for them', after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer largely ignored the party's rise during the campaign. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds (pictred) said his party would tackle the Reform party after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer largely ignored the party's rise during the campaign Nigel Farage and the party's chairman Richard Tice now claim Reform UK are now the 'real opposition' to Labour Mr Reynolds told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: 'I met in this election good people who were telling me they were thinking about voting Reform. That doesn't mean Reform are good people when you were able to tell them...they support the foreign policies of Vladimir Putin, people are horrified. 'But now a party like Reform, now it has members of parliament, will come under the kind of scrutiny which they maybe always shouldve come under, and they will find that very difficult and we will come for them. 'We will tell people what their agenda would mean for their economic and national security. We know we're in the right place and a party like Reform is frankly not. 'I think the people who voted Reform are good people, often didnt know the full agenda of Reform. 'Ive got to be frank, backing the Kremlins position in Ukraine is not in the national interests of the United Kingdom.' It comes after Mr Farage's controversial comments that Western nations 'provoked' Russia into invading Ukraine during the election campaign and which were seized upon by opposition parties at the time. Rishi Sunak said the comment was completely wrong and only plays into Putins hands, accusing Mr Farage of appeasement that was dangerous for Britains security. Sir Keir described the comments as disgraceful - one of his rare interventions addressing the Reform Party leader during the six week campaign - while Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey called Mr Farage an apologist for Putin. But Reform's chairman Richard Tice last night told GB News Reform UK were now the 'real opposition' to Labour. Mr Tice said: 'I think genuinely we do become the real opposition - the Tory party are not a cohesive force. Weve got the policies that will save this country. 'This is just the beginning - its a bridgehead, weve got five MPs - its a great start, and we can build from here.' Mr Farage is hoping to ride the wave of Right-wing populism in Europe albeit one that suffered in the French elections last night when the hard-Right National Rally party lost out to the Left. Rachel Reeves will declare war on Britain's planning system today. Vowing to take the 'difficult decisions' needed to boost economic growth, the new Chancellor will use her first major speech to reveal that the Government is beginning its assault on the planning rules. Before MPs break for the summer at the end of the month, councils will be issued with mandatory targets to clear the way for hundreds of thousands of new homes. And ministers will begin work on controversial plans to weaken protections for some parts of the green belt to make room for development. Ministers are also looking to relax planning rules for major infrastructure projects, such as the installation of hundreds of miles of new electricity pylons needed to link up wind and solar farms to the grid. Rachel Reeves will declare war on Britain's planning system today Vowing to take the 'difficult decisions' needed to boost economic growth, the new Chancellor will use her first major speech to reveal that the Government is beginning its assault on the planning rules (Stock Image) Before MPs break for the summer at the end of the month, councils will be issued with mandatory targets to clear the way for hundreds of thousands of new homes. Picted: Homes being constructed in 2020 Ms Reeves will today declare that, with the public finances already stretched, boosting Britain's sluggish economic growth is the 'only route to improving the prosperity of our country'. She will say last week's landslide election win gives Labour a 'mandate' for radical change and will insist that planning reform is among the 'first steps' needed to 'fix the foundations of our economy, so we can rebuild Britain'. 'Our manifesto was clear: Sustained economic growth is the only route to improving the prosperity of our country and the living standards of working people,' she will say. 'Where governments have been unwilling to take the difficult decisions to deliver growth or have waited too long to act I will deliver. 'It is now a national mission. There is no time to waste.' Ms Reeves was appointed as Britain's first female Chancellor on Friday, and warned that there was 'not much money around'. But union leaders, who have bankrolled Labour for decades, are already pushing her to open the spending taps. Ms Reeves will today declare that, with the public finances already stretched, boosting Britain's sluggish economic growth is the 'only route to improving the prosperity of our country' Unite boss Sharon Graham said there was scope for the Government to borrow tens of billions of pounds to 'invest' in the economy and public services. She urged Ms Reeves to scrap Labour's tight fiscal rules and pour billions into Britain's 'crumbling public services'. 'We are going to have to borrow to invest,' she told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. 'We have not got time to wait for growth. 'People are literally hurting out there and we are going to have to borrow to invest our crumbling public services need money.' Ms Graham's intervention is the first warning shot from the Left and an early sign that the Labour leadership may find it hard to resist reverting to its tax-and-spend traditions. The union boss warned that new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer 'won't have a lot of honeymoon period' unless he delivers quickly. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, on the same programme, called for a 'decisive break with austerity'. Sir Keir yesterday began a whistle-stop tour of the UK with a visit to Scotland, where he promised an 'immediate reset' of relations with the devolved administrations. The union boss warned that new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer 'won't have a lot of honeymoon period' unless he delivers quickly Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham (pictured), on the same programme, called for a 'decisive break with austerity' Tomorrow he will travel to the Nato summit in Washington where he will seek to reassure leaders that his Government can be trusted on defence despite ditching Rishi Sunak's pledge to raise military spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by the end of the decade. Labour's decision to target the planning system immediately is likely to bring it into conflict with both countryside campaigners and those communities that feel they are already at the limit of development their area can take. It could also trigger a backlash from some of its own MPs who represent a swathe of constituencies across southern England where planning reform has been resisted for years. During the election campaign, one Labour official said the party was prepared to 'flatten the whole green belt'. This was denied by Labour. Ben Houchen, Tory mayor of Tees Valley, said promising rapid growth on the back of planning reform could become 'a noose around the Labour Party's neck'. He added: 'How keen are the Labour Government to tinker with environmental regulations which is one of the largest delays in the planning system?' Just 395 American XL Bully dogs have been put down and some 57,000 remain on the streets after being exempted from a nationwide ban, figures show. All XL Bullies must be registered or euthanised under a law brought in after a spate of maulings by the breed. Since February 1, 2024, it has been made a criminal offence to own an XL Bully without a certificate of exemption. Former prime minister Rishi Sunak said the ban was necessary because of a 'danger to communities'. But just 0.7 per cent of American Bullies have been taken off the streets, new government statistics for England and Wales released under the Freedom of Information Act suggest. Just 395 American XL Bully dogs have been put down and some 57,000 remain on the streets after being exempted from a nationwide ban, figures show (stock image) The Government brought in the ban on the muscular canines after they were blamed for maulings which led to at least 11 deaths since 2021. Those killed ranged from 17 months to 84 years of age. The Certificate of Exemption entitles the holder continue to legally keep their dogs at a cost of 92.40. Exempted dogs must be neutered, muzzled and kept on a lead in public and their owners must insure them for third party liability. XL bullies that were more than a year old when the ban came into force must be neutered by the end of June. The new figures show only 400 owners have applied for compensation after their XL Bullies were put down with the 200 payments made to just 395 successful applications. The exemptions of 57,000 dogs is nearly six times Defra's estimate of England's XL Bully population, which it put at 10,000. There are also expected to be as many as 20,000 unregistered XL Bullies, adding to the likely population. Dr Samantha Gaines (pictured) is a dog welfare expert from the RSPCA Since February 1, 2024, it has been made a criminal offence to own an XL Bully without a certificate of exemption (stock image) Dr Samantha Gaines, RSPCA dog welfare expert, said: 'The RSPCA, along with other organisations, has been very concerned about the numbers of dogs affected by the XL Bully ban - with these latest exemption figures much greater than estimates originally provided by the UK Government - placing significant pressure on the capacity of services linked to the exemption process, like vets. 'But, positively, the high number of exemptions and low euthanasia rate shows that there are a huge number of responsible owners who want to keep their much-loved family pet. 'Given the number of exempted dogs, we continue to call for the UK Government to offer support for vets to ensure that they have the capacity and time to carry out neutering, which is a legal requirement for exemption.' Under the rules, unregistered pets can be seized and owners fined and prosecuted. Seized dogs are taken to kennels before a court decides if they should be destroyed or deemed not a danger to public safety. California Governor Gavin Newsom has said he has no intention of making a run for the presidency should the Democrats run an open convention in Chicago next month. The question came in the wake of President Biden's lackluster performance in a television interview on Friday and a disastrous debate performance last month. Both have left many Democrats with widespread doubts about his ability to campaign or govern effectively. A number of prominent Democrats are now desperately looking for possible alternatives should 81-year-old Biden exit the race. But Newsom brushed aside any suggestions that he might be the one to take his place in response to questions from a reporter. California Governor Gavin Newsom has said he has no intention of making a run for the presidency should the Democrats run an open convention in Chicago, next month Democrats have publicly aired their concerns following President Biden's debate performance 'No, I mean it's not even...' Newsom started. 'Absolutely not?' the reporter asked. 'To me, it's the hypothetical that gets in the way of progress in terms of promoting this candidacy,' Newsom continued. 'That's a legit question, but it's exactly where the other party wants us to be is having this internal fight and I think it's extraordinarily unhelpful. I said that literally the second after the debate. It was my first public comments. So I've been consistent in this belief, not just privately, but publicly.' Biden made it through the 22-minute ABC News interview on Friday without any major blunders but it appeared unlikely to fully tamp down concerns about his age and fitness for another four years and his ability to defeat Donald Trump in November. The interview left Biden in a standoff against a not-insignificant faction of his party with four months to go until Election Day, and with just weeks until the Democratic National Convention. Last week, Newsom offered a forceful defense of Biden telling Democrats in Michigan that he believes the president has the record and energy to win a second term. Newsom's pitch at a local Independence Day picnic is part of an effort from Biden's reelection campaign and the White House to reassure party activists and the broader electorate that Biden is up to the job. Last week, Newsom offered a forceful defense of Biden saying he believes the president has the record and energy to win a second term Newsom made his pitch for Biden at a local Independence Day picnic in Michigan 'This is a serious moment in American history. It's not complicated,' Newsom told Van Buren County Democrats at a July Fourth picnic. 'What I need to convince you of is not to be fatalistic, not to fall prey to all of this negativity... Do more. Worry less.' Newsom's plea highlights the tenuous balance for Democrats and party lieutenants like the 56-year-old governor. Newsom has long been a top Biden campaign surrogate and was among the governors who rallied behind the president after a private White House session on Wednesday. Yet Newsom himself is among those mentioned as potential replacements should Biden step aside and allow an open convention when Democratic delegates convene in Chicago next month. The governor has continued to sidestep questions about potential outcomes, including a question about whether he would support Vice President Kamala Harris, a fellow Californian, for the nomination if Biden leaves the race. 'I don't even like playing in the hypotheticals, because last night was about sort of locking down any doubt or ambiguity,' he said, referring to Biden's session with Democratic governors. 'And then we start running in different directions, zigging and zagging and all that kind of speculation. And that gets in the way of progress.' Newsom has long been a top Biden campaign surrogate and was among the governors who rallied behind the president after a private White House session on Wednesday. That pair are seen in November 2023 Newsom acknowledged 'a tough few weeks' and admitted he had to scrap his planned talking points when facing reporters in Atlanta following the debate. But he said Biden reassured him and other Democratic governors last Wednesday at the White House, where the president acknowledged his flop but expressed determination to win his rematch with Trump. 'That was the Joe Biden I remember from two weeks ago. That was the Joe Biden that I remember from two years ago,' Newsom said. 'That's the Joe Biden that I'm looking forward to reelecting as president of the United States, and I mean that.' According to three people familiar with the meeting, Biden acknowledged to the governors that he needs to get more sleep and limit evening events so he can turn in earlier and be fit for the job. Newsom did not address those explanations during his 15-minute remarks. He told reporters afterward that Biden referenced late nights 'with a smile on his face.' 'It was more of a rhetorical framework of just being fit and rested, because he was burning it at both ends that last last ten or so days (before the debate), and I think that was what he was reflecting,' Newsom said. 'It wasn't a literal "at 8 o'clock I will be doing things differently," it was more figurative.' Newsom said it's okay when a 'president acknowledges they're human' and added that people are 'reading between the lines too much' on what Biden said about his schedule. Despite the governor's confidence, leading Democrats remain concerned about whether Biden can rebound politically. Joe Biden is seen during the first presidential debate last month raising concerns about whether he is the best candidate to run for a second term this November The president's aides and allies agree that the coming days are critical, with Biden planning a visible, busy schedule that could stem any free fall in public confidence - or further solidify voter concerns that he is too old for another term. On Friday, Biden campaigned in Wisconsin, a key battleground that he won in 2020, before sitting down for an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos which failed to calm fears over Biden's suitability as he gave long, rambling, non-sensical answers to many questions. At times, Biden rambled during the interview, which ABC said aired in full and without edits. At one point, he started to explain his debate performance, then veered to a New York Times poll, then pivoted to the lies Trump told during the debate. Biden also referred to the midterm 'red wave' as occurring in 2020, rather than 2022. 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. An interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos which failed to calm fears over Biden's suitability as he gave long, rambling, non-sensical answers to many questions '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?" Biden plans to hold a full news conference during the NATO summit in Washington next week. Newsom, meanwhile, has attempted to urge the party faithful to embrace Biden's record and values. 'I believe in this man. I believe in his character. I believe that he has been one of the most transformative presidents in our collective lifetimes,' Newsom said. 'We're so good at focusing on what's wrong and not celebrating what's right.' An Illinois man living in an unincorporated suburban community outside Chicago got a ruinously high tax bill that threatened to drive him out of his humble 1950s home. Darryl Lloyd bought the three-bedroom, one bathroom house in 2006, and according to him, the home's current market value is just over $180,000. But when Cook County valued the home at $1 million, officials demanded he cough up over $30,000 in property taxes this year, FOX 32 reported. The previous year, Lloyd paid $1,800 - which means the county increased his tax bill by 3,811 percent from what it was twenty years ago. 'I was literally devastated when I saw that increase,' Lloyd said of the bill he received days ago. 'I see 960 square feet. I don't have a second floor. I don't have a basement.' Pictured: Darryl Lloyd's home in Chicago Heights, a property he insists is worth $180,000, which is nowhere close to the $1 million county tax officials assessed it at. As such, he was initially hit with a $30,000 in property tax bill An excerpt of the tax bill Lloyd received in mail, showing that his property was valued just over $1 million The houses in his neighborhood are modest too, prompting even more confusion on his end. 'Nothing over here is worth $1 million,' Lloyd said, adding, 'I will have to move in with a relative or something. You know, I can't afford it.' But before throwing in the towel, Lloyd decided to fight it, believing there had to be some sort of misunderstanding or error. He made the trek to the Cook County Tax Assessor's Office, an effort that proved both fruitless and frustrating. 'I said, "let me go to downtown city Hall, to the assessor's office." And, at that point, I showed them my taxes, and I told them that I had a substantial increase, and they were like, "everybody's taxes increase",' Lloyd said. The tax assessor's office only admitted fault once Chicago's local FOX affiliate contacted them on Lloyd's behalf. 'This property was given an incorrect assessment due to a permit that was unintentionally applied to the property. We will process a corrected tax bill for this property in the coming weeks, ensuring that the homeowner will ultimately pay the right amount in property taxes,' a representative from the office told FOX 32. Lloyd is not alone - he's just one property owner that got the attention of the media. This shows the dramatic property tax increase since 2004, since before Lloyd was living at this address. Now that he knows his tax bill was sent in error, Lloyd, pictured in front of his house, said: 'If it happened to me, it probably happened to other people. I'd like to see immediate action.' The Cook County Treasurer's Office produced an analysis finding that the county assessor miscalculated land values for more than 4,400 homes in the south and southwest suburbs of Chicago. The overassessments were made on properties sitting on larger plots of lands, and the errors were discovered too late before tax bills were printed and mailed. 'If it happened to me, it probably happened to other people. I'd like to see immediate action,' Lloyd said. Lloyd is now waiting for a certificate of error, though the assessor's office gave no exact timeline. Lloyd's one-story ranch-style house shown from the side. It has three bedrooms, one bathroom The hidden cost of skyrocketing property taxes are forcing Americans in many states, red and blue, to pack up and move. A Florida woman was left reeling when she received a 174 percent property tax hike on her dream home this year, from $2,700 a year to $7,400. She had to put her house back on the market after sinking most of her savings into it. And many longtime Colorado residents are also selling their homes as pandemic-era transplants send property values soaring - and tax bills climbing just as fast.